Social sharing through visual images seems to be the hot thing right now, doesn’t it? After being a quiet player on the scene for a couple of years, Pinterest has completely taken off with people repinning like crazy. I was actually on Pinterest from the get go but I, too, have started using it more in the past several months because of the fact that everyone else is using it.

So have you seen that there’s a new similar site called Clipix? Now I’m not typically one for jumping on the bandwagon of the latest new social networking thing. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t. In this case, I’m playing around with Clipix a bit even though it’s very similar to Pinterest.

Why? Well, there are two reasons. First of all, I’ve kept my Pinterest boards almost exclusively about crochet. I use it mostly to connect with people who know me through my crochet website, Crochet Concupiscence. I use it to share what I’ve posted on my crochet site and to find new things to post there. So I haven’t really used any of the non-crochet stuff on the site even though there’s lots of beautiful pins there.

That leaves Clipix open for me to actually Pin tons of different things. I’m playing around with that side of Pinterest, instead of focusing on crochet there, and that’s part of why I’m enjoying it so much. I’ve got boards for shoes, fashion, travel, art and beautiful things.

And I also have a board for interesting articles which brings me to the second reason that I like Clipix – you can pin links to articles instead of just pictures. It’s not the main feature of the site but it’s a feature that I really like. It gives me a different options than “bookmarks” for storing things I want to be able to come back to and I like that.

I also think that there’s a really good social aspect to Clipix, better than what Pinterest seems to be offering, but I haven’t explored it extensively yet. So, we’ll see. The jury’s still out but I’m enjoying playing for now.

Tags: clipix, images, media, pinterest, social media, social sharing, web 2.0

I’ve been playing around with Google’s “search by image” option and have to say that I’m just totally amazed by it. I’m not talking about the basic search within images where you enter text and find related images. I’m talking specifically about how you can upload an image into the search box and then genius Google finds where else that picture is on the web as well as many other visually similar images.

While I’m impressed with how quickly it finds the image everywhere it is located online (a nice tool for seeing if anyone’s using your copyrighted images, by the way), I’m especially awed and in love with the tool that shows you visually similar images. It’s just so strikingly beautiful!

For example, I was doing some research into crochet sculpture artist Anna Krystyna Casey so I uploaded this photo of her one of her crochet art pieces:

And the image search produced (in part):

Then I decided to input my own artwork from the other day:

And it came up with:

Then I wondered what would happen if I chose a photo of a person instead of just colors. So I picked a photo of myself:

And it thought I looked like, among others, these three:

It’s just a fun tool to play with!

Tags: google image search, search by image, web

Earlier this month I participated in the Second Annual Craft Social Swap via Swapbot. I hadn’t done a swap in awhile and I’d never made a mug rug, which is what we were swapping, so I thought it was a good swap to participate in.

I have just received my cute mug rug, along with an additional coffee cup cozy, from my swap partner so I thought I’d share it here.

And here’s a look at the two crochet mug rugs that I sent to my swap partner:

Have you ever made a mug rug? Using what craft?

Tags: craft social, crochet, mug rugs, sewing, swap

I’m decluttering and trying to get rid of some physical stuff I don’t need anymore like my random drawings and doodlings. Thought I’d share a few. For each pair of images, the first one is the doodle as I drew it and the second is a version edited with Fotoflexer.

Tags: art, creativity, doodles, drawing

‘That’s the Key!’ Etsy Treasury

I love the way that old keys, which have no real function, can be reinvented in creative ways.

Steampunk Skeleton Key Ring-… bellamantra $28.00	KEY to your heart three cha… touchsoul $4.99
150 Plantable Paper Skeleton… recycledideas $129.00	Amore is the Key to Life Nec… BeadedTreasure… $36.00
OLD KEY ornate pendant charm… PatinaWorx $1.95	Victorian Silver Dragonfly -… TrashAndTrinke… $38.00
Bird Skeleton Key Necklace mcstoneworks $32.00	8×10 Barnwood frame with vin… DelHutson $28.00
Vintage Bottle with Old Map … 505Vintage $42.00	Old Key Necklace – The Secre… HeatherBerry $19.00
Antiqued Brass Key Necklace,… Shininggift $2.99	brass Antique Pocket Watch s… baidns $3.99

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.

Tags: etsy, jewelry, keys, old keys, repurposed, treasury, vintage

I know that I watch a lot of TV. I usually have it on in the background most of the day. But I’m not quite sure how much is “a lot” so I thought I’d track what I watch for a week.

Here’s what I’ve watched since last Sunday afternoon:

• Once Upon a Time
• Hoarders
• Intervention
• House
• Protecting Our Children
• Cold Case Files
• Alcatraz
• Glam Fairy
• BBC1′s Prisoner’s Wives (actually quite a good drama)
• Celebrity Wife Swap (that’s an embarrassing one to add to the list!)
• Snake Man of Appalachia (also a bit embarrassing, right?)
• The Good Wife
• Law and Order Criminal Intent
• Law and Order UK
• Private Practice
• Gray’s Anatomy
• American Idol
• Remodeled
• The Firm
• Fashion Fund
• A National Geographic Show on Wild Seahorses (see I actually do watch some educational stuff too!)
• Teen Mom 2 (I’ll admit that I actually really adore this show even though I realize how trashy it is)
• Confessions: Animal Hoarding
• Ally McBeal
• Kitchen Nightmares

Tags: television, too much tv, tv watching

Although I do watch a lot of TV I’m trying to see more movies instead of just shows. Last month I delved into experimental films a little bit. I have to say that although it was an interesting genre, it was a little too odd for me to get really wrapped up in it. This month, since it’s Valentine’s and all, I’ve decided to go with romance. More specifically, classic romance. I’m going to watch all of those love stories that everyone else has seen but I haven’t ranging from truly classic (Breakfast at Tiffany’s) to modern classics (When Harry Met Sally). We’ll see how this adventure goes.

Recapping the Experimental Films

I watched at least part of each of these films:

• The Eyes of Me. A documentary of students at a school for the blind. I actually didn’t see what was so experimental about this. It had a little animation in it but nothing too strange. It was a decent movie.
• Santa Sangre. A weird film I mentioned here before.
• Alice. Based on the characters of Alice in Wonderland.
• Queer as F**K. Which I didn’t get far into.
• Poison. Which I reviewed here earlier.
• Room. Couldn’t get into this either.

Starting in on Romance

I’m about to watch Breakfast at Tiffany’s now. We’ll see how this goes. Any classic romances movies you want to recommend for me this month?

Tags: classic romance, experimental film, film

Dezeen (a design blog I adore) just had an article about Sruli Recht. It was the first time that I heard of this fashion designer who has just put out his third menswear collection. What I saw was amazing. And what I read repulsed me. And I have to confess that gets me talking no matter what I may decide that I feel about it.

Why did it amaze me?

Take a look at a few of the photos. The clothing is interesting, unique from anything else that other men are wearing. And the photography is stunning (credit to the brand’s main photographer: Marinó Thorlacius.)

Why did it repulse me?

Dezeen says that some of the features in this collection include:

• Dolphin skin leather
• Horse hair woven fabric
• “Silk extracted from a spider’s gland implanted in a goat”
• Boots “made of the calloused skin over the spines of horses”

What it boils down to

This is an interesting designer who is doing some really different things from the materials he uses to some of his edgier feminine-inspired men’s designs (see the website for the full lookbook). I don’t know yet if I like him but I appreciate his uniqueness.

Thoughts on this Australian born Icelandic designer?

Tags: Fashion, Sruli Recht, style

Today I left the house to walk over to the park to take photos for my project 365 Ways to Wear Crochet. I’ve learned since starting the project that photos really are a lot better when taken outdoors in good natural sunlight. So that was the plan. However, when I got to my photo spot, I discovered that my camera battery had to be charged. Plan foiled. On the way home I decided to use the unplanned extra time to stop into the thrift store in my neighborhood. Thought I’d share some of my finds:

I’ve been wanting red boots forever!

It doesn’t look like much in this pile but this is the funnest scarf. I barely ever buy scarves but this was a must.

This dress is slightly more blue than the photo shows.

As you can tell, my camera is now charged

Tags: clothing, Fashion, thrift store, thrifting

Yesterday I went hiking with my best friend at a Mount Tamalpais Trail that is one of my favorite hiking trails in the Bay Area, a trail called the Matt Davis – Steep Ravine Loop. It’s a moderately tough trail that’s about 7.5 miles long and starts off with some serious climbing that I thought was going to beat me. In the end, I climbed the mountain and was rewarded with the last half of the hike which is a meandering, relaxing hike. The trail goes through beautiful redwoods with a creek running along most of it, the vegetation is lovely and there are views of the ocean that surprise you here and there throughout the trail. I brought back some photos for you.

Tags: bay area hiking, matt davis steep ravine, mount tam