Picture Sunday

Ok well I know I said that I was going to spend today taking pictures and learning to apply the new things I've learned in my photography class. It hasn't been cold at all here in Alabama all year and of course today of all days I wake up and it's basically under 40 degrees and windy as I'll get out ALL day! It's beautiful and sunny but I sure as heck don't have the urge to get a nasty cold a month out before my wedding. Needless to say, as tempting as it is I know I would be miserable out there in the cold so I'll have to post pone that to another day and spend the afternoon knitting instead (no complaints there). I did however do one of the class assignment because it requires me to be inside :)


The object of this assignment is all about lighting. Be inside a room, position your object/model near a window with the light raining in and capture the highlighting of the light on one side right next to the darkness on the other.  I've seen a lot of pictures done this way and it looks really neat when done right. Here's mine: 

In all of these if you can't already tell the light is coming in from the left (that's where the window is).  Usually at this point I would load them up into photoshop and mess around with the brightness and other settings but since this is for a photography class, I figure I should leave it alone so I can be shown where to most make my improvements from my un-altered images. 


On the other hand I did want to share with you a few blogs that I have recently been turned onto while learning more about photography, and even more so photoshop. I'm a little more handy with that program then I am with a camera (although I am by no means a pro at either). I have another blog I want to share with you, but I'll bust that out another time - Keep you on your toes!


The first blog I want to mention is The Coffee Shop Blog. She posts free photography tutorials, free actions for photoshop, and free scrapbooking designs. Did I mention it's all FREE. I have downloaded a few of her actions and used them myself and they are really great. All of the files come with the action and/or scrapbook design along with instructions on how to use them. This blog makes it almost impossible to screw it up- VERY user friendly and FREE. Did I mention it's FREE??  It is definitely worth checking out! Here's a link to a page of the site where all of the free goodies that they've ever posted are available- there's a ton of great stuff: The Coffee Shop Blog Freebies.


I hope you guys enjoy! Time to go spend the rest of my afternoon knitting.

Weekend wrap-up ~Endless scarf photo shoot & new packaging

Here is my final blog post on the endless Celtic cable scarf. As many of you know I have been working on this scarf for quite some time for a custom order. It is finally finished, blocked, and now I have photos to prove it! Here they are!

I'm very pleased with the final product and know my customer will be happy. On to the next adventure!


Also this week I have added 2, count em' 2 more items to my Etsy store! Along with adding those extra items, I have changed my store to provide international shipping as well. Pretty soon my hand made goodies could be traveling the globe!


Another thing I have done with Innov8ive Knits is change the way people receive their new product. I went out and got a giant tag hole puncher and some decorative card stock sheets of paper.  Each new item that leaves Innov8ive Knits will have one of these tags with hand written instructions on how to care for their new garment attached with hemp string. On top of this being helpful information for the "end user", it looks more professional and gives a special touch that reminds people that someone spent time to make it by hand.

If you notice on the right side of my blog, there is a widget that shows what is for sale in my Etsy store. It's a fun way to get a glimpse of what's going on when you don't have the time to browse the store. What a fun little widget. 

I am working on the finishing touches on another Lion Toy and after that the bearded beanie will be on my needles!!! I can not WAIT until this premieres and the first giveaway takes place. This is going to be so much fun!

Rhythm Hat Finito!

OK well I don't speak Italian but I am super excited about having the rhythm hat finished. It has been finished for a little while now and I have been in search for a little boy model for the hat to add to my profile before sending it out (across the country might I add). What's more important than making my portfolio pretty is making sure that my customers are happy. I was unable to find a little model before it needed to ship out so I improvised. I actually made this hat display before I made any hats to add to my portfolio and decided that I wanted to use real models.  -From my research, real models make the item more attractive/relateable than hanging out on it's own. -

So I took my special hat display outside my apartment in this FANTASTIC weather and took some shots of it before it made its big adventure to the other side of the country.

I think this is such a cute hat that is perfect for every day wear. Innov8ive Knits style is: unique, trendy/stylish, boutique quality knits. This hat isn't particularly unique but that's what gives it the versatility it has. Sometimes you just want something clean and classy that you can tie into a wardrobe for every day wear. I think that the color work gives that traditional style hat a little umph of unique though. It's fun without being too much.

On a side note, if you are a local customer and interested in being a model for my work yourself or your child message me for details. (use the "contact me" tab on the top of the page). All participants receive a 15% discount on future purchases and copies of all edited photos as a special thank you.

Weekend Wrap-UP ~ Busy bee! rhythm hats, polar bears, and lions, oh my!

Happy productive weekend time! I just LOVE the feeling of getting things accomplished. Although my poor fiance has been left to his own devices this week because I've been so busy, I have been tearing up my to do list and taking names! I was quite sure at times I had taken on too much this week and my head was going to explode but it didn't and I feel so relieved to be able to look back on what all Innov8ive Knits has gotten done this week:

Polar Bear photo shoot & edits. I finished up the polar bear set sometime last week and since my customer was in need of them for a shower fairly quickly I found a last minute model and did a shoot after work one afternoon. We met up in a grassy area near an abandoned church that my model's mommy recommended. I would have never thought to go there but they turned out very good. I got the chance to finally sit down and narrow down the pictures I took and edit them. Put to work some of the new things I have learned in my much valuable Photoshop class- taking out odd things in the background, adding my business name in the photos, making the pictures have brighter pictures and softened them with more light. I'm so thrilled with how they turned out. I was concearned with that after I looked at the original pictures because my settings weren't right and they turned out a little blue straight from the camera. I'm really pleased overall with them and quitr proud of them. Each time I do a shoot like this I do new edits and new angles, and they look better. You can almost see the progression in my albums. Photography is so important in a mostly web based business.

You can see the full set of pictures on my Facebook under Polar Bear hat & diaper cover set in my albums.

Also this week I finished the Lion Toy. I must admit that this project entailed a bit more than I exptected! There's about a MILLION strands of hair this bad boy needs to have individually cut and attached to his head. I have taken some pictures but haven't gotten the chance to edit them just yet because I want a couple more first. I do plan on sometime before this weekend taking him to the park and photographing him in places children would play- sitting in a swing, on a see-saw, climbing ladders, etc. I think this will bring a fun, playful element to the pictures.

AND I started the rhythm hat from last Future Friday's post. It is coming along fairly quickly and the colorwork is very cool. I love watching a project take shape, I think that is my favorite thing about knitting/crocheting is watching a shape develop from nothing. It's like magic.

On the business side I have also put together some spreadsheets to keep track of profit, what has sold, and what hasn't. And I'm preparing for doing a grand opening on Etsy. I was going to wait until I had a few more things in stock to add but what time is better than the present right?  I am planning on having it open by the end of the month! I've also created a new cleaner/professional Quote & Invoice template. On top of that I have hired a graphic designer to create my logo and we are working on the details of the design and soon it will be on EVERYTHING. I can't wait to get new business cards, make new website banners etc.

 Things are really coming together, and although it's not at the point where it pays all the bills it makes me happy and it certainly is growing. I've picked up 4 custom orders just this week! Once the Etsy store is open I hope to be selling stock and picking up more orders. Especially with Christmas on its way I need to take advantage of that and be prepared. If only I had more time to knit!

Weekend Wrap-Up- Newsie Hat photo shoot/ editing

This week was a short one thanks to the holiday but man was it smack full of adventure! From last week's weekend wrap-up you all know I finished my new favorite children's hat - the red newsie! This thing just has such a classic look I couldn't wait to get it on an appropriately sized head (and not just mine). 


This week I got the chance to use it in a photo shoot on the most precious little blue eyed boy I know! He was such a trooper for the shoot and was surprisingly content sitting in the grass for a nice chunk of time. Special thanks to Valerie for letting me borrow him :). Since this hat has such an old fashioned style, I really wanted to convey that in the editing of the picture. Give it an all around look of refined & antique. Valerie dressed him in sweet little overalls with no undershirt and brought some antique looking toys along for the shoot, which not only helped him keep occupied it really added to the effect.

Little story about the photo shoot ~ Sometimes when your brain starts leaking out of your ears and you start acting like a crazy person, you know that you are doing too much in too little time. Prime example here. This whole week I have been doing strange things at work like scrambling simple paperwork, forgetting to do routine things, etc. The night before the shoot I made sure to charge my camera and have it ready to take with me to work in the morning because I was heading to the park right when I get off. I was so totally excited and prepared. Once I made it to the park after work I realized that I had brought the camera and totally FORGOT to bring the hat! I mean HELLO it was main reason for the shoot. So last minute I got my sweet fiance to save the day and interrupted his studious homework time to bring it out to me so I wouldn't be late. After he so kindly saved the day and I was on time (being late is a huge pet peeve of mine) I couldn't find my little model and his mommy. Why might you ask? That would be because I was at the wrong flipping park on the other side of flipping town! I can't even begin to explain how embarrassed I was. This type of behavior is so unlike myself and I could have just DIED! Luckily, I was able to make it to the other park in a somewhat reasonable amount of time (although late grrr) and got to do the shoot in plenty of time before sunset. Little Mason (my model) really kept his cool for me keeping him waiting so long and close to bed time. I still can't believe I did that :-/

I hope that the photos will end up useful in the future for sales. They will be the only impression that most of my customers or anyone interested for that matter will come across before they make a decision. I am learning slowly how to use photoshop from trial and error and I must admit I'm pretty proud of these edits. (BTW I am taking a photoshop class at the local university and plan on sharing some of the tips & tricks that I learn with you- if you bought Photoshop like me and then realized it's a little more in depth than you anticipated) If they don't sell before my grand opening of my Etsy store, the goal of these is to really catch the eye and show the attitude and quality of the work for customers. We will see how affective it is here soon enough :) Wish me luck!