So here I am preaching to the choir again....

But I know *I* need the reminder, so I'm writing up this diddy.

Ever find yourself busily dropping bill and coin at the local craft hole/thrift shop/flea market/antique mall for yet another project copy you saw on some marvelous blog, only to realize halfway thru it (or sometimes a week or so later...or in my case a year later) it just isn't your thang.  Um yeah.

(um, not sure what I had in mind when I picked this booger up on clearance, 

but I'm hoping some paint will help it...)

Because of my extended holiday from blogging and shelter blog hopping, and my desire to unclutter my space, I've been able to really take a good look at the loot I've purchased over the last couple years since I started ::cottage instincts:: with no outside interference. It's helped me once again filter out what I LOVE as opposed to what I LIKE. 

(a wee cabinet that used to belong to my mama that's finally getting a paint treatment that better reflects my taste)

Ask yourself this (and it may hurt a little): What have I purchased because it would make a good blog post OR would make my house look like so-and-so's?  I see those hands.  How much of that stuff would you have purchased if you DIDN'T have a blog?

(this unfortunate purchase was thankfully not mine....my married daughter picked it up and is now begging me for help to 'make it right'. Yeah, right.)

It's my whole-hearted intention to make my house MY house.  Not some other blogger's English or French or Scandinavian cottage, not some other blogger's thrifty hive or on-trend hangout, not some other blogger's flea marketed vintage showplace or prairie farmhouse.....but MY nest.  As I've really studied my belongings, I continue to be drawn to themes that may or may not be what's hot on Etsy or what attracts blog followers. And I'm not going to spend one more flipping nanosecond trying to recreate someone else's house or some image in PB or Ballards or Romantic Country Homes.  Well, ok, I *might* have spent 2 hours scouring deco books and mags at B & N looking for inspiration.....and I might be oogling some of you's blogs for ideas.....BUT it mainly to get help with using WHAT I ALREADY HAVE.  Now there's an idea.

(this beaut has been languishing away in my garage for months 

and is now getting some new fancy pants.)

Folks, today I walked away from a solid maple hutch for $40 at Salvation Army.  I. Walked. Away.  It was painful, yes, but not as painful as watching it sit in my garage until I found time to do something with it, then wait for it to sell on craigslist as I don't have a freaking space left in my home for yet another hutch, thankyouverymuch.  Currently my garage is full of half-painted furniture for MY house.  Stuff I've been wanting to change and fit into MY nest.

(a $5 steal that is a perfect fit for a bedside table/vanity for my room.)

And just so ya know,  I'm not doing all this room/furniture painting and curtain/slipcover sewing and organizing/froufifying for the sake of my blog.  I'm doing it for ME ME ME.  I'm selfish like that.  Of course I *will* share the results with my readers.  I can be nice at times.  No really, I can.

(a project to make my heart sing....finally some organizers for our double closet...thanks hubs!)

So, as you can see, I'm up to my paintbrush bristles in projects.  I didn't even get pics of the room I painted, the other pieces of furniture I've completed, the homeschool office redo, or the sewing projects half-completed.  I've got plans in the works (in other words, the paint has been purchased!) for three other rooms and the hallway. I'll be helping my second daughter move into a new studio apartment in an old vintage apartment building too...helping make it homey and comfortable.  She's using all my old hand-me-down furniture, so I hope we can find a way to make it hers. I should be good for the next few months. When inspiration and energy strike, go baby.  

But do it your way.  That's all I'm sayin'.

Taking Great Pics: Part 1

I've been researching camera options since we got our $150 canon earlier last year.  It takes horrible pictures in 'auto' mode, and though it's fine for the blog, I'd like better quality for family pictures.  I've read up on cameras from about $400 down to $200 as that's our budget.   Here's what I'm going to look at today:

Canon SX 130 is

Anyway, in doing so, I've also been reading photography blogs and forums, learning about the settings Canon offers.  One of the most helpful has been Ken Rockwell.  He gives easy to understand, common sense advice on using both dslr and p&s cameras.

Several of the things I fiddled with today were the Flash and Exposure settings.  I've read on most blogs to turn off your flash when taking indoor shots, and I've had reasonable success doing so except in my family room.  I got a cheapo tree lamp with two lamps, and one of them promptly fritzed out. It's useless now, but before I decide to go replace it, I was curious about whether just using different setting with my in-camera flash would produce the same kind of shots  for family photos (so I don't have to haul out a lamp tree everytime I want to take a picture for non-blogging!)


I used Ken's preferred default settings for my canon this morning....
Used a tripod. ISO and White Balance were set to 'auto', and I used the 'vivid' setting.
I did these in the darkest room of my house, with an overhead light and small side table lights on.  It's a cloudy winter morning out of the only north facing window in the room.  I didn't touch these in picasa or any other editing program...these babies are straight out of my camera.

First set:  Shot about 5 ft from subject in 'normal' mode.  Flash was set to 'slow synchro', Exposure at '0'.

Next I just moved the exposure to -1 which darkens the flash a bit:

Then I moved the exposure all the way to -2, which I think gives the best result.

This next set is without a flash.  First, exposure set to '0'....very similar to the above shot using the slow synchro, but cooler tones.  I like the warmth the flash gave better, but this is pretty good.

Then I moved the exposure up to +1...overexposed for sure.

For funsies (pull out yer sunglasses), here's no flash and +2 exposure:

Lastly, I set the camera flash to 'ON', to see the difference between the regular flash and the 'slow synchro' flash.  This is exposure set back to '0' again.  Compared to the first shot I took, this is much more harsh and greyed.

Exposure -1. Ick.

Exposure -2:  More ick.

So, bottom line for shooting in low light without a lamp tree:  Try the slow synchro setting.  Ken says the slow synchro is best for getting background brightness indoors (slower shutter speed).  I agree.  He also says the trick is to get the flash to match the ambient light already available, and using the -2 exposure setting with the slow synchro gave me the best match (this is what Ken uses as well).  I could actually see this on my LCD screen.  Different times of the day, or changing the lighting in the room would necessitate using different exposures.  One note:  Ken also uses gel filters, which I may experiment with as well, even on my wee in-camera flash.

Next up I used my Macro setting.  I did the same grouping of shots as above: First used the slow synchro and  fiddled with the exposures. Here's '0' exposure: Nice shot, but too 'flashy' for my taste I think.  Would prolly depend on the subject (ie: less glitter and gold might respond well to the warmer tones of slow synchro).

At -1:

-2:

Next I shut the flash OFF.  Exposure back to '0'.  This is the best setting for Macro IMO, as you'll soon see:

I upped the exposure +1: Not bad....kinda a pretty, artsy shot:

Exposure +2: Ick.

Then I turned the flash on, started back at '0' exposure...pretty standard type of shot seen on many blogs.

Exposure -1:

Exposure -2: Um, no.

So for macro shots, no flash, exposure '0'.  Maybe a +1 for an artsy shot.  For cooler toned subjects, the slow synchro might work as well.

Ok last round of shots is at my camera's wide angle and about 15 ft from the subject matter.  Again, starting with the slow synchro flash and '0' exposure:

Darkened the exposure to -1:

Then darkened to -2: Again, as in the first grouping with the beadboard doors, this setting is my favorite.

Next, flash OFF, exposure back to '0': And again, like the door pics, this is a decent shot, but I prefer the warmness the slow synchro addes to the pic above.

Exposure upped to +1:

Get out those sunglasses again +2:

Finally, set flash to regular ON.  Start back with exposure '0': Harsh and greyed.  Also too dark.

Darkened to -1:

And a yukky -2:

So what did I learn with these experiments?
That I'll be using the SLOW SYNCHRO flash option and a -2 exposure for low light, indoor shots of family in NORMAL mode.  Regular flash=bad pictures.  0 flash=iffy shots unless you're in macro mode and your subject is warm-toned.

My next experiments will be playing with White Balance.  Do you find this helpful?  Of course everyone's camera is different, but this gives you an idea of what to start fiddling with first to get better pics for your family and blog.

Boys Room Sneaky Peeky and what to do with heirloom pieces.

I've been working like a dog on my son's room: painting walls & furniture, sewing stuff, organizing, etc.  I hope to have the full reveal to share soon, but here's some teasers....

I've got a great idea for these red strips of molding.  Here's hoping what I see in my brain will actually work in reality.

And because the warm weather decided to revisit us for one more blissful week, I demanded asked hubs take apart my younger son's room as well, so I could take over the garage one last time before winter to paint his furniture too. So I've got two boys rooms in the works.  Yes, I'm a crazy person.  Yes, I am covered in paint most of the day whilst checking on math and english assignments. All in a day's work....

You might remember that their furniture is a set of Heywood Wakefield twin beds, 2 dressers and a nightstand that belonged to my Father in Law.  We've used it with all our kids thru the years, and it's gotten pretty beat up.  Because HW furniture is worth a heck of a lot of money these days, I looked into having them redone with the signature 'champagne' finish used when these were made.

How 'bout not.  It was just a wicked amount of money.  So I kept them as is for the last 20 years.  They have a modern vintage feel to them, but honestly, I was tired of working with the dingy, damaged champagne finish.  My choice was either give them to another family member (which I didn't want to do because my own kids have used these for so long), or just bite the bullet and paint them.

I opted to finally paint them.  It was hard putting that first brush stroke on, let me tell ya.  But I'm really happy with them.  Each boy gets 1/2 the set for their own room. One set is red (a mistint form Walmart), the other will get the denim blue color you can see below. These are actually chairs we picked up for $5 from hubby's work when they remodeled their atrium. Their modern curves work great with the vintage pieces.

This is my task for today...spraying each and every piece with the denim blue.  BTW, I found this discontinued color at my Restore for $2 a can.  I bought 14 cans.  It's Rustoleum, so I think that will cover it.*snicker*

Their rooms sit side by side, and will be different colors, but if I ever decide to put the set back together for grandkids (please oh please), it think the red and blue will work perfectly together in the same room again.

If you haven't already linked your kid's rooms to my impromptu linky....please do so!  There's TONS of inspiration down there.  You guys are wicked creative. I'll leave it open for another week or so.

One last thing...

If you're serious about making your blog more user friendly (for your visitors, not you!), you simply MUST read FJ Donna's post today.  It has tutorials and everything.  

Go to Funky Junk.

Do not pass go. 

Do not collect 200 little debbies.

I can tell you from personal experience that following her blogging tips WILL help grow your blog.  She's a rock star, she is. Thanks Donna for rocking the blogging world with your expertise, kind heart, and devotion to the blogging community!

A little Roll Call. Yes, that means you.

I just get curious sometimes.  How ‘bout you?  I saw another blogger do a roll call, and I thought it was a great idea.  So I stole it. (Thanks Sheri!) 
I’d love to know:

1.  Where you’re from and your blog address if ya have one.
2. Are you more interested in interior design or crafts (or both) or Mi4M?
3. You’re favorite post from cottage instincts (I know, it’ll be hard to narrow it down *snicker*) or why you decided to follow/subscribe.
4. And lastly, what nudges you to take time to comment (here or elsewhere)?

Call it market research.  Or just a curious blogger.  I see all these numbers, but I want to put a more human face to them.  The red parts on the analytics map don’t tell me much about you, and I’d like to get a better feel for who’s reading.  As I said, I’m a curious blogger. 
And no, I’m not adding sponsors or advertising.  I’m just nosey.

Now that the teen's room is done (and obviously already being used and abused) I’ve got lots of projects in the works (the never-ending office re-do, painting rooms and stuff, beginning the boys’ rooms, bathrooms, sewing a slipcover….)  And I still have a  list of boogers bloggers I want to introduce you to!  There is truly a ton of writing, crafting, and design talent out there to share.
I also am working on a giveaway, just to say thanks for reading my blog.
Have a great weekend full of doing stuff you love to do, be it family time, relaxing time, organizing, crafting, or decorating time……and hope to see ya back on Sunday night for Mi4M.