Special THANKS for Reading THE KITCHEN DANCE by Geri G. Taylor

I want to thank all my friends, family, fellow authors, and readers who have supported me on my first novel, The Kitchen Dance.

I just received the rights back from Melange Books, LLC, and, at this time, the Kindle version is no longer available on Amazon but the ebook can still be purchased directly from me for $2.99 (via PayPal) in a mobi file that can be read on a Kindle.

Plus, I still have paperback copies for $14.95 (via PayPal) that I will personalize and autograph.

Also, you can still find good deals on used books on Amazon as low as $4.75 (including S&H)!

^{I appreciate you reading my book and I sincerely hope that you enjoy it and find it entertaining. If so, please take a few moments to share your opinion on Amazon and, if you are a member, Goodreads or other sites you like to visit.}

^{If you haven’t visited my website at www.g2taylor.com, please do so, and watch my book trailer. Also, if you haven’t already done se, please visit and “LIKE” my Facebook page for The Kitchen Dance. Feel free to post an encouraging comment. :D}

^{I enjoyed writing this book, but the promoting can be overwhelming. This why it is so wonderful when readers like you spread the word.}

Bouquet Enterprises Timeless Collectible Santa "Jule Nissen" by Jena Hall Gets a REDUX!

Check out my original post at: http://365daysofsantaclaus.blogspot.com/2015/11/scandinavian-jule-nissen-bouquet.html And if you love collecting or crafting Santas, be sure to follow my blog!

As the holiday rolls around, I will be posting more stories and reduxing more Santas!

365 Days of Santa Claus: Joseph, The Gift Giver. A Very Special Santa Claus...

Since I have more followers on this blog and this Santa is an example of my all consuming creativity...I wanted to add this link and share my recent post with my other readers. Please read and follow if you love collecting and crafting Santas as much as I do!

365 Days of Santa Claus: Joseph, The Gift Giver. A Very Special Santa Claus...: I just love this Santa! Although, I really don't him "Santa" I call him "Joseph, The Gift Giver" because every ti...

How to Turn a Hobby Lobby Plush Bear into a Stylized Antique Steiff Bear

Last year I wrote a blog about creating your own A Simple Way to Make Your Own Heirloom Santa and other posts on how to add goodies to your Santa Claus figures to make them your own Heirloom Santa. 

I'm on the hunt year round for little toys, wreaths, trees, and ornaments that will add to my Santa's stash and I try to find ways to make them more personalized as in the case of this Hobby Lobby craft bear.

He's only about 4' tall and originally cost $3.97. 

I actually picked him up for 55 cents at my favorite place Rolling Hills Ministries.

He's quite a fuzzy mess with no details. He looks more like a baby wookie than bear!

So...I took a pair of scissors and gave him a little trim.

And this is how to make a craft store bear look like a well loved antique Steiff bear.

Or close enough...

I use hair cutting scissors (shears) that I picked up at Walmart. 

This isn't the first time I've trimmed down a teddy. If fact, I usually trim them around the eys and the top of the nose to make their eyes more visible and give him some personality.

The bear isn't changing color, that was the lighting in my kitchen.

But you can see the vintage, well-loved, personality coming out.

I accidentally pulled off one of the arms...but it popped back into place. It would have been much easier to trim if ALL the appendages had come off that easily, but they didn't and I did not want to risk breaking on of them.

I just want to make a note here that I snipped the fur over a plastic bag so the mess would not be as...well...messy!

Several snips later, I was done (this one took me about 30 minutes)...

I tied on a bow and added him to one of my own Heirloom Santas!

This is a 15" tall Santa I found on eBay. He is handcrafted with a sculpted face, rabbit fur trim, and a mohair beard attached in strands. He came with nothing so I am enjoying this opportunity to start fresh and I think my trimmed down teddy is just the place to start.

I also added a special pewter millennium ornament that is too heavy for my other Santas to hold. 

This guy was constructed on some seriously strong wire so his arm is sturdy enough to hold the ornament. He is sitting on an antique tapestry doily layered over a vintage linen Battenburg doily that I picked up at an estate sale.

I also have a small silver pocket watch I want to add to him. He's the only Santa that already has silver accents. Most of my other Santas have gold.

Anyway...

Just some fun ideas to make your favorite Santa Claus figures even more special.

365 Days of Santa Claus: Figures Finally Laid to Rest

My other blog 365daysofsantaclaus.blogspot.com does not get the traffic that creativedazewithgeri.blogspot.com receives, so I thought I'd try re-blogging some of my articles.

If your are a Santa artist or collect, please follow!


But read my re-blog first!

365 Days of Santa Claus: Santa Claus Figures Finally Laid to Rest: I’ve collected Santa Claus figures for well over twenty-five years but this year is about letting go of at least ten percent of my over on...

I Should Star as Jennifer Lawrence's Mother in a Major Motion Picture!

I recently saw a Facebook post of a friend of mine where a website compared  her image to that of celebrities and Angelina Jolie was chosen as the celebrity she most resembled. 

Okay...not really JUST LIKE HER, but sure. I could see something around the eyebrows, maybe the length of her nose.

So I checked it out for myself by following the link to My True Self and the comparison said that I looked like Jennifer Lawrence.

My Facebook Page Profile Image is of my book instead of me,

but there are other photos of me posted on my page.

I would NEVER have guessed Jennifer Lawrence! Don't get me wrong, I really like Jennifer and I believe that she is a very beautiful and talented actress and I have enjoyed watching her career take off since the first time I saw her in "Winter's Bone". 

Still, I could not understand where the website came up with that comparison.

That was until I found a photo of her with brown hair.

So, now I'm thinking sure...in the right lighting, etc., I could at least play her mother, although I look nothing like her actual mother.

This is a photo of Jennifer and her mom.

But I thought I'd throw this photo of me in for fun. 

This is me the night I met my husband, Phil.

Love the tan and the PERM!

Of course, photos of Jennifer Lawrence are easy to find. Finding photos of me at that age...well, that is another story.

Rarely was there a camera around, but I have to thank my friend, Tracy. She always came prepared and it is because of my friendship with her since college, there is some recorded history of my existence.

Still, having gone through photos, I do see some similarities.  

But I see some significant differences as well. I've got crazy arching brows and she's got smoother straight brows. We've both got wide smiles, but my upper lip has more prominent points. My hairline is little more squared off where her's is more rounded and where we both have rosy cheeks, mine is a little tighter than hers.

The funny thing is that I am usually compared both in looks and my acting to Kathy Bates.

So I was surprised when her image didn't show up when I did the comparison.

Another actress that I have been compared to that might strike you as a bit of a stretch is Joan Crawford.

Oh, well!

I guess when people say that I look familiar...I probably do!

To check out more about what celebrity you most resemble check out this post What Celebrity Do You L@@K Like? and find out for yourself.

In the meantime...HELLO, HOLLYWOOD? 

How NOT To Take A Headshot Part Deux

Okay, I have to pick on my husband once again.

He is very good at many, many things, and he's not that bad with operating a camera, it is just that he does not have what you'd call "the eye" for it. Usually, I can take one of his images and crop it and make it AWESOME...but when it comes to portraits...neither he nor my younger son, Ross, have a natural talent.

If you read my previous post, How NOT to Take A Headshot, then you saw the images Ross took of his Dad.  If you haven't read it, scroll down a few blog posts or just click on the link.

Now, both of these photos needed to have a professional look to them for the purposes of which they were to be used.

I am not a professional photographer. I am more of a hobbyist, but I do read about how to improve my shots. That, and my husband has gifted me some very good lens and flashes for my Nikon Cameras.

I also have a back drop which they set up and lighting which they did NOT set up.

So first, here is the best of the portraits my husband took of Ross who has completed all his requirements for Eagle Scout and needs a portrait.

The only lighting was coming from the ceiling fixture.

This is my unedited version.

And my edited version:

I cropped it in a bit, and darkened the background because there was a slight shadow cast by the flash and I toned down some of the reds in his skin tones and ears.

In my version, he is shaven, has a new haircut, and a new but a bit too large BSA shirt his Dad bought, complete will all his latest patches.

Unfortunately, the color of the shirt does wash out his skin tones.

Also, Ross has a prominent chin like his Dad's and a 5 o"clock shadow immediately after he shaves, so I toned down the high lights and stubble on his chin.

It's all about the eyes and I did bump up the sharpness just a touch.

I turned his right shoulder towards me for two reasons. I feel it showed off his patches and it helped keep the oversize shirt from looking as large.

I don't typically follow the rule of thirds on portraits to the exact measurement because I don't like a lot of empty space above the head. In fact, some of my favorite portraits skim off just a bit of the top of the hairline because it makes the hair appear fuller.

For example:

Do you think my hair looks fuller and thicker on top? Or maybe at least you don't notice how flat it actually is.

FYI: My husband did take this photo of me. To be frank, I picked out the location according to the sun and time of day and I told him where to aim. However, there were a LOT of outtakes. Still, you'd think he'd pick on a couple of my tips.

Speaking of tips!

Don't forget my number one tip!

Have FUN!

I really like this one but he needed a different t-shirt. Darn!

Fun with Riker Display Cases! Express Your Own Collection of Found Objects in a Clever Way.

I just wanted to share this photo I took at an art gallery in Minneapolis, MN.

I know it is kind of tacky to be taking photos of art in a gallery, but I though this was such a wonderful idea and where I love how this artist displayed these "found" objects. I was more interested in displaying objects that I found.

Anyway...

You might remember Riker Display Cases as something as scientist, museum, or a bug collector would use.

However, you don't need to be a scientist, a museum curator, or a bug collector! Just a regular collector will do!

Also, you don't have to stick with the grid pattern used by this artist.

Riker Display Cases come in a variety of sizes so you can have fun with hanging them any way you choose.

Check out Pinterest for more great ideas!

https://www.pinterest.com/chdisplay/riker-mount-displays/

Wouldn't it be awesome to have themes.

For example: Sporting event or concert ticket stubs and a photo of you with your friends that went with you. Add a couple of beer caps from a local microbrewery and you've got a fun night and a collectible memory!

Or better yet...

If any of you "Scrappers" or Scrapbooking fans are looking for something different to do with all your scrapping materials, just fill a Riker Display Cases with your favorite things and hang them on the wall!

I keep thinking this is something I would love to do. I have SOOOO many tiny things that I've collected and I hate the thought of glueing them down as I have seen in collage art or assemblage art.

Forearmed by Alfonso A. Ossorio, 1967

I prefer the way the Riker Display Cases preserves the collectible. 

I've seen some Riker Display Cases with the clips, but I prefer the old fashion pins that keep them together. 

I also like how neatly items can be displayed. It make even a dead bug look like precious gem!

I hope this post has inspired you in some way. Perhaps you are not ready to dedicate a wall or a stairwell to to Riker Display Cases full of treasures, but you might want to start with three. Because everyone know, three is considered a collection!

Creative Mailboxes: BoHo Home: Mailboxes put the ho-ho in boho

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/11/cute-mailboxes-etsy_n_3061212.html

These images and blog posts were so funny that I just had to share.

My plain, faded black Rubbermaid mailbox is so pathetically sad that I'm embarrassed to admit that TWO artists live at our address!

So, I'm hoping this blog and some of the other images I found online will inspire me to do something creative with my mailbox.

BoHo Home: Mailboxes put the ho-ho in boho: Snailmail, as we've come to call U.S. Postal Service delivery, has fallen out of favor in recent years. But just so you know: It's n...



However, I'm afraid that IF I did something creative with my mailboxes, it would probably end up like this:

How NOT To Take A Headshot

Let me begin by saying that I am NOT a professional photographer.  I'm definitely more of a hobbyist with a purpose.

My first "good" digital camera was a NIKON D50. Then I moved up to a D80, then a D90 and now we have a Nikon d3100 and I have a few extra lens and flashes to go with them.

But I'm not going to bore you with the technical jargon...

I want to cover the basics.

My husband needed a photograph wearing his pilot uniform and because I asked him and my son to set up the backdrop and lighting for me...they decided to stop at the backdrop and do the job themselves.

To be fair...my 17 year old son doesn't take many photos and my husband wasn't "aware" that the ceiling light in our den would cast such an unflattering lighting across his nose, hair and wrinkles in his shirt.

HOWEVER...
I do want to point out how just a few simple changes made a big difference in the images I took.

First was makeup.

Yes, I put make up on my husband because he had some serious shine going on so I dulled it with powder. I also touched up the eyebrows with a light brown flat eye shadow because his eyebrows, especially the outer half,  has a lot of gray and that is just something you can't fix in Photoshop as well as adding a bit of make up.

He suggested I add some to his mostly salty Salt and Pepper hair, but I didn't because I think that's kind of sexy.

POINTERS:

No, seriously, POINTERS:

LIGHTING:
Make sure the lighting is flattering to the subject matter.
I turned off the overhead lighting and opened the blinds. Since my son and husband refused to set up the lighting...I depended on the camera's flash to achieve Phil's headshot.

PLACEMENT:
Don't...I REPEAT...don't stand close to the backdrop (or up against a wall unless that is the look you are going for) because it comes into focus and you loose your depth of field.

CAMERA SETTINGS:
I forgot to check to see which setting they had put the camera on before I started taking the headshots. I would have thought they would have set it on PORTRAITS (I would have) but both their image and my image of Phil was taken on full automatic. Still, you can see a difference.

LENS:
I actually own a portrait lens (don't ask me the technobabble) that is an 85mm 1:18 D that I love using. It just makes everyone look better but you have to get up close and do at least a head and shoulders shot or closer.

FRAMING:
He needed a head and shoulders shot...that's what I took.

TOUCHING UP:
Thank you PHOTOSHOP and all of the other wonderful photo enhancing softwares out there that make us look our best!

I also used the bandaid tool to touch up some blemishes and gave his face a softer (Gaussian Blur) and did a color wash to even out his skin tones. Then I took an eraser and removed the color/blur from his eyes, nose, mouth, and hair.

This is my quick fix trick I add to the headshots I take for our local theater.

However, don't over do it!

I lightened Phil's teeth one shade lighter (Color Enhancements/Color Variation on Photoshop Elements) but when I adjusted the Lighting Levels...the teeth really popped! This was not my intention, but I did several versions and let him pick.

Basic Touch Up

Adjusted Contrast

Darker

Anyway...

The most important thing is to HAVE FUN and take LOTS of photos...you can always delete the bad ones!

This is actually an exercise where you have your subject blow out their cheeks when there smile is getting tense and fake looking. Try it! It really works!

Before you go...please check out the link on the German Shorthair Pointers. Travis and Gus have become and Internet hit with fur baby mom's beautiful photographs of this heartwarming pair. 

In memory of Travis.

https://www.petfinder.com/petdetail/25898933/

https://instagram.com/p/5r6hCXECK7/?taken-by=ifitwags