31 weeks.

One week closer to meeting this baby! 

One of the changes happening in the last couple of weeks is that I'm eating so little and getting so full! Also, no matter if I have dinner at 5pm, the heartburn and reflux is hitting me hard. My stomach must be all squished inside me! The baby must still have lots of room for moving, though, because he's pretty intense, kicking and punching and making the "wave" and overall I think changing positions all the time. I truly wish I could see what's going on in there :D

Good news: I went to the dr on Friday and the results from the glucose blood test came out NEGATIVE! After 3 months of glucose coming up high I was sure I had developed gestational diabetes so I was in shock, happily in shock to know things are OK after all and that I don't have to worry about that. But still, I plan to keep with the healthy, low sugar, low carb diet, just in case and also, because it's better for me and the whole family. Still, I ate a few desserts over the weekend and had white bread toast (homemade bread!) this morning for breakfast, LOL! But it was a sort of celebration, I'm getting back to good things already ;D

Thanks so much for reading this. Have a lovely week!
Iveth

Documenting

30 weeks + 3 days.

I've been so bad documenting the growth of the baby bump, I started to feel a bit sad not to have taken more pics from the earlier weeks. I think the reason I feel like this is because very probably this will be my last pregnancy, I mean, I'm 38 so everything feels like "I need to really enjoy this because maybe I won't experience this again!". 

I always dreamt of having at least 3 kids but of course, once I had one I realize that, as my mom use to say "no es de enchilada otra" which means "is not as easy as making enchiladas"(LOL!). Of course is not as easy, it took me a good five years after Amelia was born to feel like I could do this once more. And it worked great at the end, I've been so happy to have a family of 3 for all this time and being able to put all my attention on my sweet girl. And then when I felt that the right time to have another baby had come, nothing happened for 2 years. I started to think we weren't going to be able to have more kids and suddenly it happened *happiness*

But at the beginning I was skeptic, we had tried for so long that I was feeling all the time like something would happen so I kind of didn't let myself fill with illusion until we were sure things were looking good with the pregnancy and such. So not many things documenting the first trimester and even half the second trimester even when by this time I was feeling confident and finally allowing myself to get really excited about it. 

And then time has gone so fast in the last couple of months! We are close to the final line now, wuuut! So now I'm determined to keep a better track of all that happens and how I feel and how the bump grows, etc. 

I have this app called Baby center, where you see each week's progression and stuff and Amelia is a huge fan, she's checking on it all the time and discovered you can take "bumpies" each week and make a gallery. So it's been a few weeks since she's been documenting the baby bump, asking me to pose for pics or just taking pics of the bump without my notice. Obviously the pics are not the most flattering hahaha but I appreciate so much Amelia's initiative and care. She's just so sweet and interested on everything that's going on. 

Today I took a few self portraits, with my face freshly washed and my hair not looking a total mess so I can share them with you, haha!

I feel I have a huge bump but looking at the pics it kind of looks normal-sized I think! I guess is just how I feel, all clumsy and heavy and can't believe I still have a lot to grow in the next following weeks. I was gaining weight steadily but haven't gained in the last few weeks. Tomorrow I'll see my dr and see what he has to say about it. Definitely eating less than before, I feel like I get so full so fast + as I'm probably dealing with gestational diabetes, I've cut on sugars and reduced carbs so it may be that. Anyway, tomorrow I'll get the results for the blood test checking for diabetes and I'll let you know how that goes. Wish me luck!

Thanks for reading!
Iveth

Lately

Illustration by Rachel Levit

30 weeks pregnant.

I'd be nice to feel like the lady in the illustration. She seems to me relaxed and focused, exercising and stuff. It has been different here as I'm feeling particularly tired lately!

It's so weird and funny how the last months of 2016 I was so focused, so energized, so productive and now I feel completely the opposite. I believe is the third trimester of pregnancy hitting me hard and oh boy, can't wait (NOT) to see how it goes in the following weeks with this lack of sleep and feeling so utterly unfocussed and distracted, not to mention tired. 

Anyway, other than that, which is normal (just frustrating anyway), I'm feeling good. i'm having SO much fun with this unborn baby, who is so freaking active and keeps me looking at my belly at all the alien-like movements and making me smile, wondering what the heck is he doing in there.

In other things, I'm starting to feel the nesting instinct kicking in and I just want to give the house a huge cleaning and work on the baby's room and organize his clothes and go buy a stroller and stuff. I was so lucky my neighbour gave us so much clothing and baby things! She had a baby boy less than two years ago so she had all these things that we could use; I am so happy I won't have to buy them, it's so expensive and most get so little use, plus it feels good to reuse instead of buying and buying! now I need to go through all that and organize. We don't have much things from Amelia's baby years save the crib which I need to see if it's still in good condition and buy a new mattress and the carseat which probably has expired already. I saved a lot of blankets which is awesome and also almost all her clothing, unfortunately won't be of much help because probably half of it too girlish (yep, there was a lot of pink and ruffles and little dresses back them with my Amelia) and not many things gender neutral. I think I always felt I would have another girl if I ever became preg again but I was obviously wrong, this boy shook me and now I can't wait to meet him.

And about family, I am amazed by how loving and protecting Amelia already is with the baby bump, she's just SO sweet, so interested in all what's happening, reading pregnancy books with me and checking the Baby Center app. She's so curious, I can't wait to see her with her brother, I wonder how is going to be, but judging by how's she's acting right now, I believe she'll be a great big sister. Fingers crossed!

So now, let's hope that I find a bit of energy somewhere to at least do some stretches like the lady in the illustration.

Behind the scenes: 2016 Christmas cards

Oh, how I love paper!

I don't even know when it started but even since I remember I love everything to do with paper. From handwritten letters, to photographs and books and notebooks. Then, I'd start buying / hoarding paper, like, just because its pretty colours or interesting textures or cool patterns. I've tried to craft my way with paper too, from book binding, notebook making, to collages, to pompoms to piñatas, definitely an eclectic mix but it all for my love for paper. It's been years since I keep a drawer unit full of paper (told you, I'm a paper hoarder) and is always the best when I get to use it! 

All this to tell you a story: This summer we spent a week in Nova Scotia, a place that has the effect of filling me with inspiration. This time it was not the exception. One day, Amelia and I visited the Public Library and Amelia got into herself to play in the computers. While I was sitting, defeated in the fact that she wasn't in the mood to check out books with me but just play games, my eye caught the cover of this book that had colourful flowers on it. I lunged to grab it immediately, like a hungry person being offered a box of warm donuts and my, oh my it was love at first sight. I could feel the sparkle coming out of my eyes and heart in that very moment. The book is called From paper to Petal and if you like paper or flowers, gawd, you NEED to see it. After hungrily finishing it all in one afternoon I went straight out to the nearest Omer DeSerres (for those outside Canada, it's a art supply shop)completely set on getting crepe paper and all the supplies I'd need to start making paper flowers. Alas, it was a bit disappointing to find out this shop doesn't carry much interesting stuff for paper flower-making but, hey, what's Etsy and Amazon for, right? I made my first order of crepe paper that same day, eager to receive it and start making!

Once I got all my supplies and made my first flower, I knew I was hooked. I felt like paper had a bigger purpose in life now and that I had found it! Total revelation. Ever since, I've been dedicating a few hours a day to make flowers and beside finding it immensely rewarding, it's also a relaxing and calming activity, which is something that benefits me greatly. 

So, all this to tell you that after starting making these flowers I knew I had to find more ways to put them to use and share them with everybody and the idea of making holiday cards came up. Next, I invite you to see a few photos of the process, from flower making to  photography. I hope you enjoy it!

It was really fun to make all the flowers, practising my -poor- calligraphy skills and do paper cuts for the words. Then the photoshot was great and then the editing and looking forward to the final result after so many weeks of working on this project! Then the graphic design part wasn't going that well (I suck at it) but then I had lots of help when Christen Strang jumped in to save the day and helped me get ready for printing! Thank you so much girl! So as you can see, a long but very cool process.

If you'd like to see more about the finished cards, visit my previous blog post or simply visit my shop! Thank you so much for your support!
Iveth
SaveSave

Something new...

Things have been pretty busy lately, like, the perfect kind of busy. You know, the absolute fun things. The best part of my job is when an idea suddenly takes shape in my mind and I sit on the bench and it just FLOWS. 

I'm working on a new collection! I was supposed to launch it last month but you know how these things go and I decided to just invest the time I need on it and let the work flow organically. But having said that, I do plan to launch at the beginning on May. Exciting times.

In other exciting developments, I received the awesome news that I'll be part of Puces POP spring edition happening at the beginning of May!! So, as you can imagine production has begun and the days at the bench are pretty interesting, with all the making of new things and old favourites.

Anyway, what do you think of the little sneak peek I just gave you with that GIF? You like what you see?! Wait until you see it finished, it's lovely! 

I still owe you the last instalment of the IG for creatives series, don't think I've forgotten is just that time on the computer right now is limited! 

Thanks for reading this.
Iveth

Instagram for creatives (part 2): Three basic techniques for great phone photography.

Welcome to the second part of my Instagram for creatives series! Last time, I took you on a little starters trip about Instagram and how to set up your account neat, nice and ready to present yourself to the IG world. This time, I'll let you know about my techniques for great phone photography, which are the very foundation for a great IG feed. Pay attention because this is the stuff that comes before all those fancy editing tools!

Truth is, no fancy filter can transform a bad photo into a nice one. Period. That's why this post is very important, as you'll learn to take a great photo to begin with, a photo that it's worth editing and post it to Instagram. Your smartphone is an amazing, easy to use, and always available tool and regardless what most people might think, you ABSOLUTELY CAN take amazing photographs with it.

People often ask me if the photos on my IG feed are taken with a regular camera, and the answer is that 99% of my photos are taken/edited using only my iphone (the occasional 1% is lookbook shots from my jewellery, taken with a regular camera by professional photographers). How do I do it? I just make sure to always apply these 3 super simple techniques:

1.- A clean lens.
This is such common mistake that I see happening all the time and it's truly a shame because is so easy to avoid! The thing is, you can be showing a gorgeous landscape, a lovely portrait or a beautiful piece of jewellery but if your lens was dirty when you took the photo, it’s going to be difficult to overlook the smudge and truly appreciate the image behind it. So, step number 1: make sure your lens is clean.

I use alcohol swabs to clean and tissue paper to dry when my lens is very dirty (having a messy 7 year-old grabbing my phone with food on her hands makes the affair a pretty common one!). For less messy situations I use a micro fabric and gently remove the smudge. Somewhere I read that using any sort of liquid to clean the lens is not the best way as it can damage it but so far, alcohol swabs have always worked fine for me. If you want to stay on the safe side, use only a microfibre tissue and steer off of any liquids near your lens. At the end, no matter how you do it, the important thing is to make sure you keep it clean and ready!

Let me show you a quick example of how things look when your lens is dirty vs what it looks like with a clean lens:

As you can see, the difference a dirty/clean lens make is HUGE. A clean lens will let you capture even the smallest details and create a neat, more interesting image, while the smudgy one, well, is just embarrassing.

2.- Focus. 
Unless it's one of those dreamy #BlurryOnPurpose pics (LOL!), you want to steer completely away form posting a blurry image. Blurry photos come up mostly due to movement or lack of use of the focus feature in your camera. Taking a clear, neat shot it's basic for making the image reflect the beauty of the object/moment you are shooting. But don't get me wrong, I do love a bit of movement in my pics, it adds deepness and life to them, but I always make sure I can control that movement by making it happen just in the part of the image I want to, by using my focus target. 

Take a second to steady your hand before taking that photo. If you are doing a product shot with your phone, I recommend to place your arm, elbow, hand or your phone to the table, wall or whatever you have close to help you keep as steady as possible, lightly tap your finger on the screen on the spot you want to focus, wait a sec for it to adjust and then shoot. This will make the image very clear and your be amazed at the quality you can get with your phone!

Let me show you some examples of a few of my photos where I used the focus target to get deepness, movement and even the smallest details of my subjects. 

Foreground and background. I wanted to show the details and the colours I got after soldering this piece and although I wanted my hand to show, didn't want to put any attention on it. The focus target helped me get the deepness I wanted by tapping on the jewellery piece and steady my hand for it to adjust properly before taking the pic. 

The light shone beautifully on the cedar leaves and I wanted to get the most of that backlighting glow. I used the focus feature for deepness and to get all the little details on the leaves by focusing on the illuminated branch while taking the photo. The leaves in the foreground became blurry and gave a cave effect on the photo, which I love.

This image is just so alive to me. Photographing Lune (my little pet bird) is always very difficult because she won't stop moving of course! But the fun thing is that I got to get her shaking her tail and wings, but her head was steady so I focused on it and got this lovely image of her feathers "trembling". So as you see, by using the focus feature you can capture movement.

3.- Mind the light. 

I will never be able to stress how important this subject is. No matter if you prefer clear and bright images or dark and moody ones, you should follow one simple rule: always use natural light! Natural light will make the absolute best of your photos, whether they are landscapes, vignettes, studio/home photos, portraits or product photography.  

If you want to take a photo in a rather dark space or if it’s a cloudy day, get a little help from your focus target by placing it on the darkest part of your image, that’d make the camera automatically adjust the brightness a bit. If the image on your screen becomes over exposed, just move the focus target on different parts on the screen until you like the brightness. Your photo might still be a bit dark but then you can fix it by playing with exposure or brightness when editing it. Here I must mention that I always use the app VSCOcam to take my photos and that these features may not be the same on other apps or the regular smartphone camera. For the regular iphone camera, you can adjust manually the brightness by dragging up or down the little sun icon that comes up when you tap your finger on the camera screen.

But what about when you can’t possibly use natural light (because it’s night or you are doing bench work for example)? What I often do when shooting work on the bench (artificial light) or at night is to fix the image with editing tools or filters. Use a black and white filter or lower the colour saturation on the image to reduce the colours that artificial light gives to the photo. What you want is to keep away from yellow-ish or blue-ish images. 

Let me show you an example of how I try to get the best of natural light when taking photos, even on a cloudy day!

This is the shot I got in my studio on a rather dark day. The light from the window overpowers the light inside and makes all even darker, plus there's much going on outside which I'm not interested at all in showing as what I truly want is to focus on my bench. So the photo doesn't give me much to work with. 

But then look what happens by simply placing my focus target on the darkest part of my scene, which is the bench: the light automatically adjust and compensates giving me a much more workable photo. I don't regret loosing the trees and branches outside (which are the sad remains of my tomato plants that stayed there the whole winter!), on the contrary! 

This is the same last photo but here, I used editing tools to make it more compelling. I used a filter that amp up contrast and I made it a bit brighter to get rid of distractions and make the bench stand out. 

A note about editing and over editing 

Now, before we finish this chapter, I want to talk a little bit about editing. Having the means of photographing every bit of life in our pockets the whole time and so much creative minds all around, the amount of beautiful, truly beautiful images out there is something amazing. So in order to make your photos stand out, you gotta use a bit of editing. I mean, is not just editing for the sake of 'standing out', editing or using filters makes the image more you, more compelling and it's just so much fun. 

Whichever tool you use to edit or whichever style you have, be careful not to over do it. Go easy on the contrasts, cropping and use of colours. Most of the time, natural looking pictures work best. Unless you are doing some kind of fantasy imagery, of course ;)

The apps I use

When it comes to editing apps, my motto is the less, the better. On an ideal day, editing is actually just adding a filter. But of course just adding a filter sometimes is not the only thing you need so I have a few apps that make my photo-life much easier:

• VSCOcam: This app is LIFE. I do most things here, from taking the photo to cropping, fixing and adding filters. It has a lot of great editing features for any need + the filters are the most beautiful thing ever. Best thing, is free! Free version comes with a limited number of filters. If you decide to purchase more (quite cheap), you won't be disappointed. 
• PicFrame: to make collages!
• Squaready: To crop or post entire photos on IG without cropping (if you don't want the image in your feed to look cropped even when individually they are not).
• Easy Eraser: erase unwanted details in your pics, yeah. 
• Font Candy: to add text to your images.

Do you have apps you love? share with me in the comments bellow!

So that's it for now! Next, check for an interview with one of my faves IGers whith her advice for a successful IG account, identity is a surprise for now, stay tuned! And later next week, the third and last par of my Instagram for Creatives series: Key points to improve your Instagram account and reach a bigger audience. 

If you have an questions, share away in the comments bellow. Thanks for reading!

Iveth

Instagramming Ronbon, of course.

Instagram for creatives, part 1: About your IG account.

Hello and welcome to my blog and to the first of a series of blog posts about Instagram! For those new to my blog, my name is Iveth Morales and I'm the designer/maker behind The Angry Weather, a playful and simplicity-oriented line of sterling silver, bronze, brass and gold jewellery. One of my favourite things, beside making jewellery, is taking photos of anything that I find interesting, beautiful or inspiring, so it's no surprise that when I joined Instagram in 2011, I fell head over heels for it and the love story just keeps growing.

Before we start, I want to put out there that I don't have a "recipe" for a popular account and/or thousands of followers, I honestly don't. As with most things I enjoy, I don't overthink about what I do nor do I tend to plan that much (in short, I like to go with the flow!), but that doesn't stop me from always taking notes of the things I discover are useful along the way, and then applying them again and again with great results. And this is where my experience on IG comes in handy: along the years, I've learnt a thing or two to make the best of Instagram and taking my account from a humble start to 50K+ followers and what's most important, having fun with it! 

Now, I decided to start these series of post with the mindset of giving a bit of guidance to people who are starting IG or are struggling to reflect their creativity on their IG images, which makes the first two chapters of these series a bit like an IG 101, basically. So, if you are an IG veteran, you may feel like skipping this chapter and maybe check out the next or the last lesson where we'll discuss a bit more about what makes a successful IG account, but remember, a little reminder of the basics is always a good thing so you are cordially invited to keep reading and, if you fancy, share your IG story/experience in the comments!

I've divided this project in three parts that will be posted one every week + three interviews of some of my favourite creative Canadian Instagramers that kindly jumped in to this project! Their names will be revealed in due time, don't you love a good surprise?! for now, let's focus on the lessons: 

1. Your Instagram account (which you are about to start reading!).
2. Three basic techniques for great phone photography.
3. Key points to improve your IG account + reach a bigger audience. 

So, why is Instagram important for creatives? 

There’s no doubt that having a great social media presence can help you make your business/brand,creative endeavours flourish but it doesn't stop there.

For me, it's about the community your build around you: from local organizations, craft shows, fellow creative peers, fiends, schools, shops, etc to global marketplaces and social media. The most rewarding way to grow in what you do is to have the support of a community; people who understand your struggles, cheer your endeavours, celebrate your victories, give you advice and put their money, literally, on your dreams. Social media helps you connect with people who enjoy what you do and that otherwise, you might not have had the chance to meet (due to geographical reasons, age differences, etc). And right now Instagram is probably the easiest, most enjoyable and rewarding way out there for building a supporting social media tribe.

About your IG account.

So, if you have a creative soul and need to find a way to put all this energy out there, document your journey or are planning your next creative adventure and don't have an IG account or you do but seldom use it: hi, you are in the right place! 

When it comes to IG, I tend to pick who I follow consciously. Why? because I enjoy looking at the photos, I enjoy making connections with whom I follow/follow me and if I go following a ton of people then how can I possibly keep up with them in the 10-20 minutes I have to cheek IG? Sometimes I'd come across a very interesting account with beautiful pics or what looks like interesting content but if the account is not properly filled up (profile pic/name/description) I would not follow. Why? because I don't have 10 minutes to go though a feed to figure out who is this person, what he/she does and why I think it'd be nice to start a connection with him/her. I want a hint, a trace of personality, a preview of what I can expect if I start following. I want to make connections with people, I want to know stories, I want to see how life is in other places of the world and if this person is not giving me any of this on their intro, how could they temp me to make room for them on the 20 minutes I spend checking out IG? This is why your should introduce yourself properly.

Username. 

A name carries a lot of weight. The simplest, most straightforward your name is, the easier will be for people to familiarize with you and remember you, and believe me, you WANT that. Stay away from usernames that don't say anything to your followers and to you, specially if your use your Instagram to promote your brand, blog or any creative venture. Good thing about IG usernames: if you don't like your current one you can always change it, YASSS! But beware, don't change it often or you'll confuse your followers and they'll be asking themselves who are you and why are they following you!

Profile picture. 

This is the first thing people will see when finding your account. Never, never leave that space empty! If you don’t have a profile picture, most likely people won’t even bother to look at your account as there won’t be a connection to the person behind the photos. The best thing to do is to post a clear picture of yourself or your logo. Personally, I enjoy seeing a photo of the person behind the brand, it makes me feel more interested in knowing about what this person is up to and thus follow. A logo works great, too, especially if your account is mostly business related. 

About. 

A simple “your-name + what-you-do” works fantastic but you don’t have to stop there! Elaborate as much as the space allows if you feel like it: you can describe yourself, your interests, what you do or in which city you live (remember IG is a global community and it’s nice to know where people are from and enjoy knowing about life in their particular geographical point), etc. Having a strong About section makes easier for people to have a better sense of who you are and make them interested in keeping up with you. 

Links. 

If you have a working online shop, blog or website, this is THE PLACE to put that link! Give people interested in knowing more about you and what you do the information they need to support your creative adventures outside Instagram. Never underestimate the power of sharing your links!

So now you know why it's super important to have a strong IG profile!

And with this, we finish the first IG lesson. Keep an eye open for an interview with one of my fave local Instagramers this week and for the next lesson happening next Monday: Three basic techniques for great phone photography. If you have questions or want to share your take on the basics of having a great profile on IG, please share in the comments bellow. Let's keep the conversation open!

Thank you!
Iveth

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Instagram workshop for Les joailliers du dimanche

 

If you kind of have been following this blog for a while, you may have noticed that I'm a huge supporter of the idea of joining creative communities. Being an active participant in the Etsy and Montreal community has helped me get to places that otherwise would have been a struggle to get to on my own or without advice and support of like-minded people I admire and respect. Plus the journey wouldn't have been half as fun as it has been! 

Some of you also know that as part of my involvement with my local peers, I'm part of the Joailliers du dimanche collective. Les joailliers du dimanche is a network of local jewellers that support each other through advice, counsel, events and online promotion. Being part of the collective for a number of years now is one of the most rewarding things I've got to experience since I started working independently as a jewellery designer/maker. 

As part of our support projects, I decided to give a couple of workshops regarding social media, specifically, Instagram. Is no secret that I freaking love Instagram and that is by far the social media channel I enjoy the most. Taking photos is part of my everyday life: I love to document the little things that inspire me and how I see the world around me. Thanks to this, it wasn't hard for me to pick up IG and love it from the start plus develop a certain understanding on how the thing works. 

So, for the workshop I prepared a lot of info to share with Les joailliers du dimanche about my experience and advice on IG and I was so motivated by the response and feedback I got from the workshop that I don't want to stop there: I would love to share it with you, too! 

If you want to read about my take on IG or need to learn a thing or two, from how to take great photos with your phone to how to reach a bigger audience and run a successful IG account, don't miss out the series of blog posts I'm preparing! I'll be posting them here and also in Les joailliers du dimanche website, weekly. First one goes live tomorrow so stay tuned!

Thanks so much to Les joaillers du dimanche for your interest and attending this workshops in great numbers! As always, I feel immensely satisfied of being part of such a great group of awesome creatives!

xx
Iveth 

One of the two groups of joailliers attending the workshop, it was great fun!

Studio tour

Last month I was approached by Michelle from the blog Roasted Montreal for a little Q&A and took the opportunity to send her some updated photos from my studio. As I have hardly made any update on that here, I though I'd show you the photos so you see how things look around here, at lear, how they look when it'd clean and tidy ;)

My studio is located in my home's basement which, thank goodness, is very bright, have lots of windows and during the day it doesn'tt look like a basement at all, with all the sun coming in. That may be my favourite part of it. On the downside, it's not very private. I share the space with my family: there's our tv space and library too. The idea is to close my space with a glass wall (we don't want to lose that light I told you about) but when is that going to happen? alas, I don't know. It's kind of a big project that won't come cheap and there are already other big projects for the house that are more urgent. But I'll stay positive and hopeful that this year I'll make enough dough to make my studio private! 

In the first pics you can see my desk, AKA packing station with all my bric-a-brac. Most of the time I work on my laptop there, too. As you can see window sill space is very well used with lots of curiosities and also tools and jewellery stuff. The there's my bench which I love to pieces. In the bench I do most work except soldering and oxidizing (for that nasty stuff I prefer to work on a restroom where we placed a special ventilating system for all the fumes from soldering) so it's always full of tools and current works and experiments. 

Overall, I enjoy this space so much and appreciate the fortune of having a place to make all the jewellery my heart desires. 

I hope you enjoyed the photos!

xx
Iveth