Mood:
celebratoryNow Playing: "Herbie: Fully Loaded" - for the second time today...
OK, I got a gorgeous new digital camera for Christmas two months back. I mean, it's a beautiful camera, outside and in. But my photos still looked messy, boring, and not at all engaging. Our old camera was a fixed focus one, but it enabled me to get nice and close to the dolls...and that was all I thought would matter.
Today, Dearest Son's grandparents came over for a visit, mostly to give me a chance to get out for a while, and they could have some granny and granddad time. How sweet ! Beloved Hubby came home for lunch at nearly the same time, so we munched on frozen pizzas boosted with extra cheese first. Son ate most of his, and it was wonderful to see his appetite roaring back.
We visited for a bit, and I realized they'd be here for hours if I didn't split soon. Had to return something to the Mart, and while I was there, I looked at dolls and fabric. Not much new. I'd like the skates that come with the My Scene Roller Girls, but not enough to pay $12.50 for them.
Had to pick up soda, so I cut through Linens...and I saw a hook. A grey fabric stuffed hook. And a rather familiar-looking set of eyes. Oh, they've gotta be kidding ! Here, in our Mart, in the kids' bedding section, was the internet-only Tow Mater pajama carrier ! It's basically a stuffed toy version of Mater, about sixteen inches long, with a zipper through his 'underbody' to store nightwear. I'd wanted him for Dearest Son's Christmas, but it was internet-only, and also sold out. But here he was !
Only $10., too. Boy, won't Son be surprised, I thought. There was also a Sally, which I never saw on the Mart website, and I got her sold to the bank teller. She saw Mater in my cart and asked. While Tow and Sally were the only ones, and they only had one of each, she wanted Sally, bad. A quick hop over, and she had Sally firmly in her grip. Beloved Hubby wondered if Sally was for a fortunate child...or for the teller ! :)
From there, I hopped over to Hobby Lobby. Man, was that place a mess. Took me five minutes just to find a parking space in the Back 40. I still got in before that one woman I had to drive around - she was still waiting for a more choice parking spot, but the current inhabitants were taking their sweet Saturday time.
I planned on using my newspaper 40% off coupon on the packet of tiny pastel buttons - now I only need the bright 'flirty' set - but I took my time and wandered around. I figured it was crowded, because it was the day before the coupon expired, but the cashier said he'd only seen two of 'em all day, counting mine. And here's where it gets good. While there, I wanted to look at their foamcore, poster board, science-project tryptichs, and matboard. This HL is also a frame shop, so they have lots of matboard available.
Lovely colors of foamcore, but not many textures, which is what I was really looking for. Plus it was still mostly glossy, something I'm already having trouble with in photos. Darn flash bounce ! Posterboard wasn't anything I couldn't find at Dollars Tree or General, and the tryptichs were expensive. Matboard, however, was 50% off, and a $6. sheet could cover Room With A View twice over. Just wish it came in colors like marble or brick - or even better, looked like marble and brick !
Eventually, I found some bundles of matboard - a grab-bag of sorts - and with the discount, I'd have lots to work with for just $2. True, the pieces were all 9" x 11", but if some colors repeated, it'd be more than enough of a background for the sixth-scale and the Tonner dolls. Heck, even the Crissy dolls could pose with two stacked one on the other !
I even had a piece of foamcore that was a bit dinged, but it could be used to securet the matboard, with push-pins. Could use ribbon or trim to hide the two-pieces-stacked seam, or just position it right behind the doll's head. It was non-reflective, so maybe that would help with the flash problems I've been having.
Picked through the bundles - they're all white on the back, but I couldn't tell what colors I'd be getting - so I chose one with a nice medium blue showing. Once home, I found that I'd gained 18 uniform-sized pieces, two each in black, lilac, robin's-egg blue, medium blue, and forest green. Also singles in Williamsburg blue, sky blue, eggplant, navy, pastel green, Christmas green, forest green, and an unusual - but probably Barbie-friendly - shade of fuschia.
To say I was very happy with this $2. purchase is understating it a bit. I barely looked at my buttons ! I grabbed Midge and posed her up against the medium blue that caught my eye from the beginning, and took a few shots. Then, I remembered that Hubby once said I was getting a bit close for our upgraded flash. So I backed up and used the zoom lens to get what I wanted.
And whaddya know, it works ! I left plenty of cropping space, but between giving the photo some flash space, and the new matboard absorbing some of it, the photos came out a lot better ! It's like the flash bounced off the white foamcore towards Midge's face, but the matboard absorbed enough to keep from removing her eyebrows and eye color in glare. Wow. THIS is my Midge ! Pretty, direct, and playful. Half her photos used to come out with her eyes buggy-looking and her nose barely visible. True, I should have combed her hair, but I was eager to experiment. Also true is that it's nearly dark in the living room - Son's asleep on the sofa - but I used to avoid evening photos when I could. The flash always made the doll look terrible. Doesn't look like that's a problem now ! :)
Of the thirty photos I took, nearly all were good. Much better than usual ! I found that I liked the whiteboard showing, and kept it in the top for several crops, but it made the photo unbalanced, with all that 'dead air' above her head. The only thing that got holes in it was the foamcore - I balanced the matboard on pushpin stems. Some of the matboard is dinged on the edges, and one has a tiny dark spot, but for $2., it's very usable stuff.
I just regret that the sale ended today. I'd love more colors, like burgundy and cream. Guess I'll keep my eyes open for another 40% off coupon !
And listen harder next time Hubby gives me photo tips !
