gather: a stop-motion video & how-to

A short stop-motion video about ephemeral art. I went to Utah Lake, walked around the shore for 45 minutes listening to an Iron and Wine playlist. Every time the word "the" was sung I would pick something up. This composition documents what I gathered during the process of performance that day.
[Song: Generator (Second Floor) by Freelance Whales].

and now for the how-to, if you ever want to make a stop-motion video yourself:

{for mac users only}

1. decide upon a simple idea first

2. take stills of an object that you slowly move/add unto/take away from. {best if the camera is in the same position, so use a tripod!} take a picture for each frame, start to finish. for example, if you wanted to capture a toy moving from one place to another, take a picture of it, move it a small amount, take another picture, move it, take a picture, and so on until you are done.

3. upload photos to iphoto {edit accordingly}.

4. quit iphoto and open imovie. create a new project. 

5. on the right hand side of the timeline there will be an icon of a camera, click on it. select the pictures you want to use, they should already be in the order you uploaded them in. drag and drop them into the box of your new project. {on my screen it is the upper half section of imovie, above the timeline}. 

6. now that all your stills are there you can adjust the speed you want the photos to appear. hover your mouse over the first still and you will be able to change the settings of the clip. change the number of seconds. you also have the option to apply that time frame to all slides. 

7. to add music, select the music icon on the right side of the timeline and you can pick a song from your itunes. drag and drop that into the space as well. 

and voilá! if you want to edit it more complexly just look up tutorials online, there are lots of them! 

if you have any questions, you can ask me but i won't guarantee i know the answer. 

enjoy! 

DIY: homemade scented paper

homemade paper is easy to make, beautiful, and you can customize any color or scent you want! once you have made the paper they make great cards, announcements, or you can even use them to make crafts or collages. i made lavender, cinnamon, and grass paper. here are the instructions so you can do it yourself too:

supplies you'll need: 

a blender or food processor

window screening

a frame

white felt

a sponge

scrap paper or newspaper

lavender, cinnamon, grass, etc. (optional)

starch (optional)

dye or water-soluble paint (optional)

step 1:

tear up the paper to be recycled into small pieces. i used cardstock, construction paper, and newspaper.

step 2:

fill up the blender about halfway with the desired paper. 

step 3:

fill up the blender with warm water, also adding lavender/cinnamon/grass if so desired. 

step 4:

blend the mixture. slowly at first, and then speeding it up until the pulp is smooth. 

{if you want to use the paper to write on add 2 teaspoons of liquid starch to the pulp to prevent the ink from soaking into the fibers. if you also want a certain color added you can mix in water-soluble paint or dye}.

step 5:

prepare the screen and frame mold. before you pour in the pulp mixture place your screen over the sink {i got mine at lowes for a few dollars, but an old window or door screen would work- if it is too big just wrap it around a frame that is the right size and staple or tack it}. get an old frame {i bought mine from a local thrift store for a dollar} that is the size you want the paper to be. it works best if the frame can lay flat so that the mixture can be spread all the way to the corners. {optional: have something to spread the mixture handy if it doesn't cover the entire surface. i used i sponge roller. the spatula can work, but i found that the pulp stuck to it too much}. 

when you are ready, pour the pulp mixture into the mold, making sure that you evenly pour the pulp across the screen so that it also reaches the sides and corners of the frame. {after this smoothing it down is optional, but it does help get rid of extra water. just be careful not to disturb the pulp surface too much. if you do mess up the surface just place the pulp back where it goes and push it in}.

step 6:

after the pulp mixture is flat and in position, take the frame away and place the felt on top. once you have done this, you need to squeeze out the excess water, or soak it up. i used the roller sponge first to go over the felt to push out excess water and flatten it, but a regular sponge or even your hands will work just as well. once most of the water has been squeezed out, use a regular sponge and dab over the felt to soak up the water still in the pulp, wringing out the sponge when needed. keep doing this, you will notice that the felt becomes a lighter color from being drier. if you have done this right the felt will be able to peel from the paper cleanly. if it does not, keep dabbing it with a sponge until it is dry enough for them to pull away from each other. {be careful when helping it to come off, because it is easily tearable at this point}. 

step 7:

i placed the felt back over paper, carefully flipped it over, and took it off the screen. {if it is having trouble coming off, lightly tap it}. if you are not planning on making more paper you can always just let the paper dry directly onto the screen {this method is probably faster}. next i placed the paper & felt onto newspaper to dry. now just let it sit! if you want to speed up the drying process you might be able to blow-dry them or something similar, but i have not tried this so i don't know how well it works.

enjoy your scented, homemade paper! 

DIY || bokeh heart tutorial

i have always seen examples of bokehs, but i have never tried them until now! this was a bit tricky to figure out at first but after searching the web i figured it out. 

{supplies needed}:

- black paper

- sissors

- tape

- dslr camera

- lights

{step one}: get black paper or something similar and cut a small heart {or preferred shape} into it. then shape it to the size of your lens, taping it so it fits on like a cap. 

{step two}: put all your camera settings on manual and set your aperture as low as it will go. my nikon will only go down to about a f3.5, but it is best to have it as low as an f1.4 if you can. the lens should be set at about 55mm {or more in my case for some of these pictures} and the focus ring all the way up {to the left}. you need to have a lot of lights in the background for this to work. i used christmas lights that were still up, but a city scape at night would work great. and the more colors the better {i only had white available}. 

this is what it should look like without the bokeh cap off: {the first one is more out of focus than the second, which creates a different size of shape for the heart once the cap is on}

f5.6, 1/25, 80mm

f5.6, 1/25, 80mm

{play around with it if you want to put an object in front of the lights. it helps if the lights are farther away and the subject is closer up. then adjust the focus and zoom accordingly to what looks the best}

f5.3, 1/13, 66mm

{step three}: add the bokeh cap on to the lens to create lights in the shape of hearts! again, play around with it until you get the desired effect. but keep it around 55mm or more, and out of focus. 

f5.6, 1/15, 80mm 

f4.8, 1/13, 56mm

f5.3, 1/8, 66mm

{this is what it will look like if you are doing it wrong and you aren't zoomed in enough. it creates a heart vignette, which does look cool as well anyway!}

f3.3, 1/25, 28mm 

nikon love! {bokeh cap added in front of iphone camera}

and there you have it! now go out and create your own! and don't forget to add a comment, or share if you do it yourself! 

DIY || eraser stamp

this is the simplest DIY ever guys. it took me no time at all and looked really cute. eraser stamps can be used for everything. from birthday cards, to packaging, tags, and school art projects. in this DIY i will be using no.2 pencils but if you carve designs into larger erasers as well they can make great stamps too. it is a great art project for kids as well. 

{first step}: take a pencil eraser and outline the area you want to cut {or freehand it if you are like me!}.  i decided to do a triangle. i chose to use a larger pencil and a regular-sized one so i could have varying stamp sizes. 

{second step}: cut away the excess area to create the shape of the stamp you want. i have access to a scalpel, but you could use an exacto knife or even a regular knife.  

{step three}: pick out colors of choice. i used really cheap craft paint, but anything works and if you already have a stamp pad laying around, then you are set!

{step four}: dip your eraser into the color and stamp! i played around with it for a little while to make sure i was getting what i wanted consistently. 

{step five}: create something! i chose to make an example of a quick birthday card. i used the triangle shape of the eraser to make bunting on the front...

and a cute little cake on the inside! {the colors came out a little off, but i did take these with an iphone}

see, simple right? and fast too! plus you can keep the supplies for a later date to make a quick card or tag and they will already be prepared! now go out and try this or make something of your own to post on your blog. and if you do please share by posting a link to it in a comment.