Photos | Lil Blue Boo

Twin Lens Reflex

May 3, 2013 By Ashley Hackshaw 4 Comments

Totally fascinated by this story of Vivian Maier:

See more at Vivian Maier Photography.

Anytime I see old photos in an antique store I can’t resist them. And I wonder about who was behind the camera……

I recently borrowed this old TLR Pho-Tak from Lisa and brought it out to show Boo how Vivian Maier would have taken her photos. The TLR camera is held at about waist height and you can see the image through the hood on the top. It’s only in focus if you look at it from that distance:

I cut a piece of cardboard tube to attach to the end of my DSLR camera so Boo could capture what she was seeing through the TLR lens:

We could only take a few before we lost the sunlight:

“Mommy taking a picture of me taking a picture of her”

I love the grainy, flawed photos that result from looking through the old, scratched lens.

I’ve got to make the tube to the camera light proof…..and then we can play around with it more.

Filed Under: Photography, Photos, Pinhole and Holga Photography, Things I've Made, Uncategorized

How to Import VHS Tapes into iMovie

April 25, 2013 By Ashley Hackshaw 4 Comments

I’ve been helping my friend Daren transfer some of his old acting demo clips from VHS to digital format. I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to create a step-by-step tutorial for transferring VHS to iMovie because I know you’ve been asking for a while now.

First of all…..how cute is Daren?! I loved watching all of these episodes….brought back so many memories: Wonder Years, Hunter, My Sister Sam, Growing Pains. You can click the image below and see the clips on IMDB:

I’m still trying to talk Daren into letting me run his fan club.

Ok, on to the step-by-step:

First of all, it’s pretty easy to import a VHS tape into iMovie for editing….but it involves a few steps because the VHS has to be converted into a digital format first. I do this using my Sony Digital 8 Handycam. I record the VHS tape onto the Handycam and then import recorded footage into iMovie. I’ve got two tips to getting this done:

Ok now to get started! To convert VHS to digital format using a handycam you’ll need the following which you can probably find from a neighbor or friend:

Digital 8 Handycam (DVC)
Audio Video TV Out AV Cable
Any VCR
Fire Wire Cable
Fire Wire Cable Adapters (if needed)

The first step is connecting the Handycam to a VCR. This is done with a simple Audio Video TV Out AV Cable….you probably already have one sitting around somewhere. It has the 3 colored plugs on one side and an earphone like plug on the other side.

Here’s a closeup of where to plug each side of the AV cable into:

Next, insert a blank tape into the Handycam (DVC)….or one that you don’t mind recording over. Turn the DVC on to VCR mode:

Filed Under: Organization, Photography, Photos, Preserving Family Memories, Tutorial, videos Tagged With: organization, photo, tutorial, video, videos

How to Make Photo Pillows

February 25, 2013 By Ashley Hackshaw 4 Comments

These might look familiar. I’ve made them before….but I made a few more. I love making photos into pillows, sachets, paperweights….they make perfect gifts….and I even use them as pattern weights. CONTINUE READING

Filed Under: Gifts, Instagram, Photography, Photos, Things I've Made, Toys and Accessories, Transfers, Tutorial, Uncategorized Tagged With: DIY, gifts, instagram, photos, tutorial

A Beauty Salon Glam Birthday Party with Mini Doll Salon

February 13, 2013 By Ashley Hackshaw 25 Comments

I can’t believe Boo is six years old!!! First off, I want to put a disclaimer on this post to admit that this party is just a little over the top. I’m not really a party planner…..I don’t entertain a lot…..so Boo’s yearly birthday party is something I really love putting energy into. Boo knows that while the party is centered around her…..it’s also about bringing our friends together, entertaining them and sending them home with some fun handmade swag. She also knows that I reserve the right at any time to decide not to throw a party, serve $5 pizza and stick a candle in it! I love coming up with cute ideas and sharing them with you…..and there are many ways to make a wonderful fun party with only a few elements from this post!

Boo wanted an American Girl themed party (shocker) so we talked about doing something interactive with lots of activities that her friends of all ages would enjoy and came up with the Beauty Salon theme….complete with American Girl-sized doll salon. I always borrow, recycle and improvise for parties and all of that will come in the “behind the scenes” post to follow this one. I will say one thing about this party…..the doll salon was a TOTAL hit. I was actually surprised…..but the girls had so much fun putting capes on their dolls and primping and fixing their hair. It was totally adorable and definitely something I’ll put together more often for playdates!

So here we go! I had a vision of what I wanted in my head for the graphics and Stephanie Corfee brought it all to life with her graphic design! It turned out so amazingly cute that I convinced her to offer it to everyone as a printable in the shop complete with extra graphics to make it fully “do-it-yourself” customizable.

Just a note: we called it a “DOLL” salon party…..and invited Boo’s friends to bring any favorite doll for the salon…..because not everyone has an American Girl (Boo’s only had one for 2 months). A few friends brought extra American Girl dolls too for those girls that didn’t have one.

Oh my….the day before the party the wind in the desert was over 30 miles an hour! I couldn’t set anything up until the morning of the party!

Filed Under: American Girl, Birthday, Children's Clothes, Contributing Authors, Digital Graphic Projects, doll clothes, Gifts, Graphics, Holidays, Kids Projects, Lil Blue Boo Digital, Party, Party Printables, photo props, Photography, Photos, Printables, Stephanie Corfee, Stephanie Corfee, Things I've Made, Tutorial, Uncategorized Tagged With: american girl, birthday party, party, party printables, salon party

#choosejoy

February 1, 2013 By Ashley Hackshaw Leave a Comment

photo of you choosing joy #choose joy via lilblueboo.com

Want to share your Instagram photos with me? Use the hashtag #choosejoy and tag @lilblueboo. You might see them featured on Lil Blue Boo! Learn more here.

Remember to share the link to your photo on Twitter if your Instagram account is private….otherwise I can’t view it!

Want to add effects to your photos? Read the post on Instagram and Smartphone photo effects!

Click here to view all #choosejoy roundups……you might even see a few celebrities!

Filed Under: #choosejoy, Choose Joy, Instagram, Photography, Photos Tagged With: #choosejoy, choose joy, instagram, photos

How To Organize And Backup Your Home Movies (with Checklist Download)

January 31, 2013 By Ashley Hackshaw 13 Comments

This might be one of the most overwhelming posts I’ve ever started because there’s too much information to share! I decided to break it up into a series of posts to make it easier to follow. I thought I’d start with a few overall tips and then add additional posts with templates for covers, details on importing VHS tapes and other types of media into iMovie, etc. Most of the technical parts of the series will be from a Apple/iPhoto/iMovie point of view since that’s what I prefer to use.

I recently started catching up on burning our home movies to DVD. Every so often I will take an old VHS tape and import the videos, edit and re-burn them to DVDs. I’ve found that the trick is to do it gradually. It’s not something that can be done in a day!

The most important thing I’ve learned (to stay SANE through home movie editing) is to walk away when the computer is doing its thing. There is a lot of down time where you will sit staring at the computer while it thinks and formats and spins its little insides over and over and over.

I call this the “Home Movie Snowball”….just like the debt snowball theory. Chip away at the easiest ones first to get them out of the way and off your hard drive. Plus you’ll get more satisfaction at seeing your shelf fill up quickly with movies…..

Filed Under: Photography, Photos, Preserving Family Memories, Tech Tips, Technology, Things I've Made, Tutorial, Uncategorized

#choosejoy

January 11, 2013 By Ashley Hackshaw 1 Comment

photos of you choosing joy #choosejoy via lilblueboo.com

Want to share your Instagram photos with me? Use the hashtag #choosejoy and tag @lilblueboo. You might see them featured on Lil Blue Boo! Learn more here.

Remember to share the link to your photo on Twitter if your Instagram account is private….otherwise I can’t view it!

Want to add effects to your photos? Read the post on Instagram and Smartphone photo effects!

Click here to view all #choosejoy roundups……you might even see a few celebrities!

Filed Under: #choosejoy, Choose Joy, Instagram, Photography, Photos Tagged With: #choosejoy, choose joy, instagram, photos

Yearly Photo Book Ideas

December 27, 2012 By Ashley Hackshaw 32 Comments

In addition to our yearly family photo albums, I make a photo book for Boo stocked full of memories. I just finished 2011:

My method/thoughts on photo books:

1. I complete the books about 10 months after a year has ended. I like for them to be January 1st through December 31st. It’s an OCD thing. The delay also allows time for missing photos to show up.

2. I compile memories, quotes, etc by going through blog posts, Facebook posts, and even just browsing photos. I usually cut and paste snippets into a word document in order of date.

3. I organize my photos, artwork, etc by month before starting my project. I work on the book by month….sometimes skipping around to the easy months first and then coming back to the hard ones.

4. I never feel bad about going overboard on pages. The bigger the better and I don’t think there is a price I can put on family memories. My books (through iPhoto/apple.com) usually cost about $75 to $100 each. It seems like a lot (especially when ordering multiple copies) but I would rather have a photo book over a few trips to a restaurant!

5. I save the photo book as a PDF (“Print” as a PDF in iPhoto) and back it up to a hard drive or CD and store in a safe place.

Here are a few things I added into this years book:

Boo’s Self Portraits:
Boo asked for a mini tripod a few years ago and she had so much fun taking self portraits. When I would look at the camera I would be surprised by hilarious snapshots she’d taken of herself. I made them into a collage (using PicMonkey.com) and then loaded that collage as one photo into the book template:

Filed Under: Christmas, Getting Organized, Gifts, Holidays, Home Projects, Instagram, Journaling, Organization, Photography, Photos, Preserving Family Memories, Things I've Made, Tutorial, Uncategorized Tagged With: albums, family memories, iphoto, kid's artwork, memories, photo book, Photography

Tips for Creating Simple and Timeless Photo Albums

December 10, 2012 By Ashley Hackshaw 20 Comments

One of the most gratifying things for me is finishing up a yearly album. I’m always usually about a year behind but that time allows me to make sure every photo is printed and organized. I always seem to have random photos show up mid-year and it would drive me nuts if those weren’t in the yearly album. Boo loves to keep me company while I put albums together because I talk about the photos as I go and tell stories:

After I did my How to Organize and Print YEARS worth of Photos tutorial I had numerous requests for a post on how I actually assemble my albums…..so I took photos as I finished 2010′s album up this weekend. I always find that if you have YEARS worth of albums to make start with the most recent year you are ready to work on and move backwards. A few thoughts about album making before I start with the tips:

Filed Under: Getting Organized, Home Decor, Organization, Photography, Photos, Preserving Family Memories, Random Tips, Storage, Things I've Made, Tutorial

Got Elf? The Great Elf on the Shelf Link Up

December 7, 2012 By Ashley Hackshaw 12 Comments

So, now you’ve seen all of my Elf on the Shelf posts, I want to see yours! I thought this would be a great place for everyone to link up their Elf creativity and share ideas. How has your elf been surprising the kiddos this December? Humorous adult elf posts also welcomed just keep it classy!