Etsy Giveaway

Recently, I had the privilege of interviewing Etsy shop owner Yesie Machado about the creativity behind her photos. She offers a unique artistic perspective in each one of her photographs.

Tell us a bit about yourself.

Hi my name is Yesie Machado. I am a natural light Portrait Photographer based out of Southern California. I am a mother, daughter, girlfriend, and sister. I love taking photographs, editing them, creating graphic art prints, and being a stay at home mom. I love playing video games (currently playing Skyrim), collecting Lego sets, and building them. I am a huge fan of BTVS and Star Wars, a geek if you may. I also love the outdoors, because thats where I get the playing field with my camera. Shooting guns is fun, and well so is taking an exhilarating walk with my iPod :) I am me.

Where does your inspiration come from?

My inspiration comes from wanting to learn. I am constantly wondering how things are made, how they were put together, and how can I do that? Seeking and yearning for knowledge pushes me to the highest inspirtional level bar none.

Who has been most influential or supportive in your craft?

One of most influential people to date has been a close friend of mine that pushed me, and helped me get started in the very beginning of my photography career. I always think back, and thank her for believing in something...God, and of course my abilities to succeed. The second most influential person in my life, and the #1 most supportive, would have to be my boyfriend Anthony. I don't know where I would be without him, he is my rock, and my business partner. He pushes me to learn more, and do more...my biggest helper!

How would you describe your creative process?

My creative process is basically an instant flash to the brain. I see things before I even know I'm going to do them...an eye, or vision you might say. Once I get started on the project at hand, I try to replicate whatever is my brain envisioned. Sometimes it takes a lot of trial and error to create, or photograph what I see in my head, but it's all part of the process.
What handmade possession do you most cherish?

Handmade possession I most cherise? It would have to be my son's oil paintings from school (they are framed aroud the house) or possibly a ceramic snail he handmade, and glazed in the kiln for me. Nothing tops my children's gifts!

Thanks Yesie!

One lucky reader will have the chance to win ANY item of your choice from YMPhoto. Giveaway ends March 1, 2012. US residents only, please.

Requirements:

1.) you MUST be a follower of The Inspired Lens
2.) head over to YMPhoto & leave a comment here naming which item you like best

3.) follow Yesie on twitter  or facebook 

For additional entries:

Follow The Inspired Lens on facebook

Follow The Inspired Lens on twitter

AND THE WINNER IS KRISTIN FROM DOMESTICALLY UNEMPLOYED!! CONGRATS!

Changes for Google

Just in case you were not aware, or you don't completely understand the details of Google’s new rules and restrictions- I did a bit of researching. Google is doing away with Google Friend Connect (GFC) for non-Blogger blogs. The shutdown will officially happen on March 1, 2012.

My blog fortunately is run by blogger, meaning I’m in the clear for now but from what I gathered they will soon begin to phase it out completely and push for members to use google+ instead. I have to be honest; I’m not real excited about having yet another social networking site to learn and maintain. Twitter took me a few months and a detailed lesson from my 16-yr-old sister to figure out. Google Friend Connect was simple, easy, and available without the extra steps of social networking.

But I do not appreciate the way Google is handling this matter, so I have decided to disabled my GFC widget. Current followers with blogger will receive my feeds but new followers will not have the same option any longer. I would rather offer my readers a more long-term option of visiting The Inspired Lens where we can all stay in touch more easily. I encourage everyone to do the same regardless of who hosts your blog. 

This is definitely not meant to come across as a commercial screaming follow my blog but if you do enjoy reading and won’t have the option once GFC is gone; I suggest following by any of the options listed on the right side bar. Honestly, I suggest you do this for all of your favorite blogs (as I have) in preparation for Google’s phasing out of GFC altogether.

The goal is to make the transition seamless and avoid losing some great daily reads!

DIY clutch purse...

Another project completed (sort of)! I had originally bought the fabric/supplies for this little clutch over the summer yet never got around to finalizing it due to a very frustrating last step. In the beginning, it seemed incredibly easy to make and was marketed in such a way that “any beginner” could whip this up in half an hour. Really? Countless days of my summer had been spent on this “half-hour” project with no success.

The result was typically a broken needle lunging towards my face at the final sewing stage. There are a lot more layers to this bag than I had anticipated and still being a newbie I could not figure out the problem. I bought heavy duty needles, switched up the materials used for the layers, contacted the Etsy shop owner I purchased the pattern from (who shall remain nameless due to their lack of response) and still ended up with an unfinished bag.

At this point, I have decided that this bag is way too cute to leave on the shelf weekend after weekend. My issue begins and ends at the lass stage of sewing; a French seam on the corners. I’ve followed numerous tutorials, the original pattern makers directions, and somehow I just cannot win this battle. So, the edges are unfinished around the corners. The bag as a whole definitely does not have an unfinished look; it’s just not as polished as I’d like it to be.

Help, please?!

This weekend I tried again, the picture above was the result. Sigh. I  give up; I am turning to the experts of creativity & sewing in blog land for this one. If anyone has a suggestion or has encountered this issue, I would love to hear anything you might offer!

Thanks in advance :)