I just read Erich Von Daniken's Chariots of the Gods YIKES!

I try to read every night before I go to sleep. Sometimes I post pics of my house and you can see my enormous bookshelves. These are usually double stacked, so the rows of books you see are hiding more rows of books. I read and re-read books: I write in them and fold pages and put the dates I read them on the inside covers.

A couple months ago the Discovery Channel (maybe it was National Geographic Channel) was running a two hour special on Erich Von Daniken's Chariots of the Gods. It was fascinating. A book about aliens inhabiting the Earth before humans or co-existing with them, written by a guy who was locked up when it hit the stands, what's not fascinating about that.

My boyfriend is utterly intrigued by people and their crazy obesssion with religions: Scientology, snake handling, purple Kool-Aid, you name it. So when I saw the documentary I immediately recognized the book as one that was on one of our shelves - somewhere.

It's only about 150 pages long and is a pretty easy read. I've already mentioned the premise: that aliens visited Earth sometime in the past and left their marks in the ruins of civilizations. Most of the stuff is way too far-fetched for me. For instance, Von Daniken proposes that giants from Mars could be responsible for the pyramids or Stonehenge - GIANTS FROM MARS - funny.

Even more out there than theories of giants using 10-ton blocks as Legos are this guy's interpretations of the Bible. Only a few ticks shy of having the J-man partying with little green men, and Moses smoking spacegrass from a titanium bong with cruise control, the author does more than read between the lines: he reads above, below and all around them.

The book was written in 1968, and according to Von Daniken the readers' childrens' children will probably live on Mars. By that logic the girls who model for my site should be missing photo shoots because they got into a wreck with a meteor that ran a red light and not because they were hung over.

To sum it up, Erich Von Daniken's Chariots of the Gods is hilarious. It's well worth the $7.00 and few hours it will take you to read it.

Fall/Winter Shoot with Meg Schutz and Mandy Murphy

I finally got to shoot with Meg Schutz today! I've been wanting to take pics with her for a long time and after a lot of emails and date setting it finally happened!
I was also super excited to shoot with Mandy Murphy again. I've worked with Mandy before but it was when I was reconstructing band shirts. I'd been dying to get her in some of my original designs.
I designed a mini Fall/Winter collection since it's going to start getting cold soon.

We were originally going to shoot outside around downtown Sanford, but while we were getting stuff out of my car Meg met the owner of a super cool bar who let us shoot there. Very lucky for us because it was about 100F today.
By the way, if you live in the Central Florida area you need to check this place out. It's super kitschy. There are all kinds of crazy things hanging for the ceilings, walls and chairs. And the women's bathroom is insane.
They have cult movie nights and punk shows too

www.littlefish-hugepond.com

I should have most of these items up for sale by the end of the month. Some will be up tomorrow. Here's a sneak peak:

End Of Summer: Why Not Save Some Cash?

Time to clear out the last of the summer items in my shop. You can get a heck of a deal right now.

Early CD REVIEW of Chuck Ragan Gold Country

I don't normally let reviews leak out early, but a great many of my youthful memories somehow have this Chuck Ragan's voice in the background - usually on CD, but a few times live. People from the Orlando/Gainesville area look to Hot Water Music like most others look to their local sports team. So when I get an advance of any band that involves Chuck Ragan or Chris Wollard; both former members of Hot Water Music I like to do what I can to help spread the word.

Chuck Ragan's Gold Country will be released on Side One Dummy records on September 1st 2009

It was once the “Hot Water Music” sound. Then it became the “Gainesville” sound. Shortly after that the progenitors of that sound went their separate ways. Former HWM front man Chuck Ragan has now established the “Chuck Ragan” sound, and it is captured in its purest form on Gold Country, Ragan’s second proper release on SideOneDummy. The new album boasts of that familiar coarse voice, deep acoustic guitar, and harmonica. While all of the material on this release is new, you will most likely feel like you’re listening to a set of bonus tracks or b-sides from 2007’s Feast Or Famine, as many of the melodies and chord progressions are very similar.

My black and gray racerback top made it to the front page of etsy today!

150 yards of black & teal just came in.

I just got 100 yards of black 5oz 100% cotton and 50 yards of teal 5oz 100% cotton. These fabrics are made in the USA. I will be turning these rolls into gather tops, flounce dresses, and maybe something new for the Fall season.

Easy photos using the Nikon D40

I make it a point to do everything the easiest way possible. When you're as busy as I am there's no other way. I normally shoot with a basic Kodak Z650. This simple point and shoot camera is good enough for pics for use on the web and small magazine photos (when set to 6.5mp).

The other day I needed a camera with more power and a higher resolution. In addition, it needed to be easy to use, light, and durable. A friend let me use his Nikon D40 and it was all that and more. I found it easy to handle throughout the entire 4 hour shoot. The onscreen instructions were very clear, and best of all, I was able to take decent photos on the AUTO setting. Keep in mind, I'm not a professional photographer, I'm a clothing designer. The pictures were for an 8X10 semi-glossy magazine. I used a polarizing lens and UV filter to help with the sun (even on a cloudy day it's sunny in FL) I left the rest up to the camera.

Most casual picture takers can get by with a point and shoot camera, but if you step up to the next level of picture taking (i.e sports, concerts, nature, or any kind of print) I found the Nikon D40 to be the perfect entry level camera. Prices range from $200 to $600 depending on age and condition.

New Sewing Video Out!

I made a full length video on how to reconstruct a t-shirt. But when it was all done I realized black thread is impossible to see on a black t-shirt even in HD resolution. I'll be re-shooting the video soon and I'll have patterns available on my site but for now here's a video on how to thread a serger. This is by far the most frequently asked question.

historic baptist church for photo shoot

Way too many models have been standing me up. That doesn't mean I'm not still constantly on the lookout for cool locations to shoot. I found this historic church yesterday. The ominous sky and looming clouds probably wont be in the photo shoot, but there will be a cool southern style dress and hot sun - maybe.