Etsy Treasuries

I don't know what's going on today but so far I've been featured in four treasuries today!
Seeing this inspires me to keep working. It also reminds me I should make a treasury soon.





Thank you for featuring my work in your treasuries:

plainNfancy
GoGoSnap
ZionShore
jewelsbyldesigns

Dog Walk Videos

Here are a couple of videos of my dogs.

Lizzie is a 2 year old German Shepherd mix. She's a little bit stubborn, but very sweet.

Bobby is a 9 month old Boxer mix and he's still full of puppy energy.

Help me help Blue!

I found this website via pinupsforpitbulls.com and have fallen in love with this little pup! He's blind and needs eye surgery but it will cost $2500 so I'm trying to help raise some money to send over to the animal rescue who's fostering him.
All week until Friday 4/16 I will be donating 100% of the profits from the sale of Tote bags on my etsy account evilneedles.etsy.com to help make funds for Blue.

These totes are soft and light, they have inside pockets, are great for spring and make really good gifts! The best part is that all of the money will go to save this dog's eyes. What could be better?

To Read his whole story go here: Last Chance Dog Rescue

Strawberry Popsicles and Girl Scout Cookies

I went to Publix this week to do my grocery shopping and found that they're almost giving strawberries away for free. I went a little crazy and bought four packages for only $5!

I didn't really know what to do with so many until I stumbled upon an amazing strawberry-popsicle recipe on the wholefoods website.
The best part about this is that they're vegan.
I'm not a big fan of dairy products so when I found this recipe I was so excited! The best part is they taste as good as they look.

This picture is taken from the wholefoods website because I forgot to photograph my popsicles, but they looked just as good.

I also realized girl scout cookie season is over and I didn't buy enough cookies. But I found a website that shows you how to make your own girl scout style cookies at home.
I haven't had time to make any of these yet but I planon making the Samoas over the weekend.

What I'm Listening To

With no time left for writing reviews, I've had to look to other outlets to stay in touch with new music. I decided to start using Pandora. Ironically I've totally gone backwards. Instead of finding something new I put my boyfriend in charge of the music and he (being obsessed with the song Rocket Man ever since he saw the Family Guy episode where Stewie re-enacts Shatner's version) created an Elton John station and found Hamilton Joe Frank & Reynolds.

Don't Pull Your Love Out On Me Baby, has got to be the cheesy-est song ever written. Click on the album cover to hear a sample on Amazon.

Outtakes from my last photoshoot.

I always like to show what was happening behind and around my photoshoots. Here are a few outtakes from the last shoot.

Here's the backside of Church Street Station. This exact corner is mentioned in Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God. All the Townspeople gather here as they put up the first street light - purchased from Sears. With the overpass and construction it's not much to look at, but historic none the less.


If you look to your left you get the image above, not very attractive. However, if you take a few steps to the right you get this very historic looking back alley. The haze from the sun was in just the right spot to give the pic a very nice washed out look. This shot was taken with a Nikon D40 set to P+.03 with a flash dampener. This pic will be in a six page spread on my new collection in the April issue of Brink.




My boyfriend took this (and many other) snapshots from behind. You can see me, the model, and the make-up artist approaching the train. We weren't looking for a place to shoot, we were trying to get out of the freezing cold wind. Don't be fooled, it isn't always warm in FL. Here it was about 48 degrees.

The train is the famous Orange Blossom Special which ran from 1925 - 1953. Most people probably know it because of Johnny Cash who named his 1965 album album after it.


Here's a look at the shot. We worked the suitcase in to kind of give it that 'traveling' feel. Once again, it might look warm and sunny, but it was about 48 degrees and we had to fight with the wind. It took forever to get a shot where the model's hair wasn't blowing all over the place.









Another one of my boyfriend's candid shots, this one actually ended up being very useful. Here you see all kinds of clutter and unattractive stuff. I'm in front of the model with my trusty gold warming reflector. The make-up artist is helping to set up the shot. There's even a random pedestrian in the background, BUT, if you scroll down you'll see that, with a little bit of cropping, this turned out to be a good picture of the back of the jacket.



Here it is cropped. Luckily he was using a very high setting on the camera. This way I was able to crop it and still maintain decent image quality. I know this isn't exactly a great pic, but it shows the back of the jacket in action. It looks like the model is dealing with the hustle and bustle of traveling in the big city.












Speaking of the big city, sometimes working conditions are less than perfect. Here Dez Leto fixes the model's make-up just a few feet from a busy road. I gotta tell you, men just can't behave. You have no idea how many guys interrupted us by honking and yelling.



Many of the shots were taken in the garden at Orlando's Social Chameleon. Bret, the owner, saw us out front shooting and invited us back to check out the garden and it turned out to be the best spot of the day. If you're ever in Orlando and you want to see where the locals go for chow, this is a good place to start.

Here's our home base. Etoile boutique provided all the accessories for this shoot. Katie Reynolds was a big help too. Etoile is on Robinson St. in Downtown. It's now called the 'milk district' by some because the TG Lee plant is right across the street. On this strip you'll find skate shops, pool halls, indie record shops, and all kinds of fun stuff.

Should I Buy This Serger? Advice For New Sewers

I often get emails from new sewers asking for advice on buying a serger. I've done posts about sergers before, but I've never done one that specifically addresses buying your first serger. So here it is:

First off, this article is intended for novice sewers who have never purchased a serger and have very basic sewing skills. Advanced sewers have completely different needs so this article probably wont be applicable.

There are too many brands for me to go down the list and do an in-depth review of each one - besides, I've never used half of them. What I can do is give you some advice that will help out with the basics of the first-time buying process.

I tend to over-simplify things, but the way I see it you have two options. You can either buy a new serger or a used one.

Let's start with buying a new serger. For your first serger I think it's a good idea to start off with a cheaper machine. Yes, I said it. Buy a CHEAP machine to start. Have you ever searched for sergers on Craigslist or Ebay? You know all those high-end machines you see on those sites for half price? They all say, "perfect condition, only used once." Those people didn't start out with cheap machines. The truth is, most people don't turn out to be awesome sewers right away and they're not willing to practice. Be honest with yourself. If you're just starting out do you really need a $2000 machine? If you don't like it you're gonna have to sell it at a huge loss, whereas if you buy a $200 machine you can probably resell it for $150 (a very small loss) if you don't like it.

What kind of CHEAP machine should you get?
Get a Sears machine. Don't get me wrong, Sears machines aren't very good, BUT if you pay the extra $50 for the maintenance agreement you can take it in anytime for repairs and tune-ups. I will warn you: the guys who service these things are not very good at what they do so you'll have to take it in three or four times for each repair. But it's free. The Sears machine will cost you about $200 - the same as a Target or Joanns machine. But you don't get the maintenance agreement on the Target or Joanns machine.

What about all those other $200-$400 machines, should I buy one of those?
No. The Sears warranty is invaluable. The bells and whistles on the Super-EZ-Stitch-2000 might look cool, but when they break you're sure going to hate paying an average of $75-150 to get it fixed. As far as cheap machines go, it's Sears or nothing. Think about it this way: when you get that new machine home you're going to want to play with all the fun settings, and there's a good chance you'll mess them all up. If you bought the Target or Joanns machine - forget about it. It's done. The thing will sit in the closet until you pay someone to adjust all the settings or you throw it out. With the Sears machine (if you buy the maintenance agreement) you just take it in and tell them it isn't sewing properly. They'll reset everything for free and even replace parts if needed.

But I found this really neat-o machine on Ebay and the description says it's the same as a $2000 machine, but since it's made by a sister company they're selling for $199 - and it's new in the box: should I get it?
Okay, sure. Ebay sellers are usually the most honest people in the world. Just kidding. I'm telling you - stick with Sears for your first machine. If you get the maintenance agreement you'll get your money's worth out of it. Quit trying to find a better deal and just go with a Sears machine.

What do you think about used machines?
I think you can probably score a great deal on a used machine at an estate sale. Don't be afraid to haggle on the price. But, before you go shopping, get to know the name brands because, at an estate sale or on Craigslist, you should NOT buy a cheap-o machine. You can find a high quality name brand one for the same price as the crappy one. But, since you're getting such a good price I think you should invest a few dollars and take it into a local repair shop for oiling and adjusting.

Should I get a machine with all kinds of options? More is better, right?
To start out I think it's best to go with a more basic machine. You gotta walk before you can run. Keep it simple, learn how to use the basic features really well, then worry about the advanced options later. Superfluous features add to the cost and they add to the list of things that could go wrong. Remember, you're just starting out, be logical.

Do I need a 4 or a 5 thread serger?
You really only need a 4 thread machine. The 5th thread is an added option that most novices wont need. A 4 thread machine will serve as a great starting point for most beginners.

I didn't read the article, I just skipped to the conclusion. What's your conclusion?
Don't buy a new expensive machine. If you're buying new start out with a Sears machine, but be sure to buy the maintenance agreement. If you're buying used, don't buy a cheap machine, go with a good one. But be sure to get it serviced. Start out with a simpler 4 thread machine. You don't need an elaborate 5 thread right away.