DIY by Design: A New Camera for a New Year and DIY Camera Case Tutorial

Happy New Year! It feels like I have been away forever. This was the first time in over ten years that we traveled during the Christmas break. We went to Florida to visit with my mother in law for a few days and then spent the rest of the time at Universal Studios in Orlando. By the way...it was not warm in Orlando. Mostly in the 50's and mostly overcast or raining, but that didn't dampen our fun. We had a great time. We came home on Thursday just in time for the big snowstorm that hit the New York area. Timing is everything, and ours was great because our flight home was completely uneventful and we actually landed early. We were home by 4pm on Thursday and we spent the rest of the day taking down all of the Christmas decor. As much as I love the holidays, there is nothing like the day you take down all of the decorations...the house feels huge. I love that feeling.

Christmas was wonderful. One of my favorite gifts is the new camera my husband bought me. I have really wanted to improve the quality of the photos I take for my blog and had tried using our "real" camera the last few months, but honestly, I am just not that good at it. I spent hours reading the manual for that camera, and it would take me hours to just get mediocre photos. I read tons of tutorials online as well and couldn't get the right settings no matter what I tried. My old point and shoot camera was also an Olympus and was great for it's time, but it was over ten years old and it too was only taking mediocre photos. So I asked for a new point and shoot camera for Christmas knowing my husband would do the appropriate research to get me the best camera for my needs. He got me the Olympus SH-50 digital camera. The coolest thing about this camera and why I am so happy with it already is it has anti-blur technology. No more blurry photos. No more fighting with the camera to focus. Another one of it's awesome features is it is great at taking photos in poor light. As a blogger you know that having the perfect light happens less often than we would all like, so I am very excited for this feature as well. So far I love the camera. I can't wait for a new year of blogging with it.

We left on December 27th for Florida, and with not much time available, I needed a case for my new camera. So I decided to whip one up using scraps of fabric (isn't this what everyone does the night before their early morning flight??).

Actually, to be more specific, I used fabric samples that have been cut over the years, mostly from Calico Corners. I love these fabrics, I just haven't found the right place in my home to use them yet.

I decided to use four different fabrics...mostly because I didn't have enough of any of them to not use so many. But in the end I love the patchwork effect. For the outside of the case I used an aqua and cream, heavy-weight fabric and matched it up with the blue and green floral for the flap. For the inside I used a piece of pink basket-weave fabric the same dimensions as the houndstooth fabric and another piece of fabric the same dimensions as the flap fabric. I was going to use batting in between the layers, but in the end the fabric I used was substantial enough that I didn't have to. If I were using a lighter fabric, batting would have been a must. I sewed a ribbon to the flap and then used it to close up the case. The case was perfect because it protected my camera and it fit easily into my handbag.

Can't wait to hear what you think about the camera case and the new photo quality.

-Judy