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DIY Vlog

How to Start a Video Blog or Vlog

02/04/2014

I reworked this article from a couple of past articles because I decided to give “vlogging” another try!

There have been quite few awesome recommendations for the DO IT OURSELVES feature on Miseducated (suggest to us what you’d like us to both make and share the process of making) and so I decided I would try something I was asked about years ago.. mostly because I’m a bit shy/critical of myself and it’s VERY hard for me to force myself to make a video blog. I’ve done a couple through the years but I’ve deleted or never published most of them.

What I’ve been trying to do is to be as relaxed as I am when I’m writing.. as though I’m just hanging out with my friends and you’re coming along on the sugar trolly.

This first try is my new vlog introduction. It’s not perfect, it’s not even that great but I did check off my long list of basics such as finding a setting (key!), making the intro using an image and the custom theme (I got tired of the animation — maybe later) and having an idea of what I might say (but not scripted and slow!). I tried to put forth the basic tips I’ve collected throughout the internet years when creating this quick and dirty video show introduction. Stay tuned for both my notes and steps to try it yourself!

Notes

1. Theme Visual & Theme Song (or voiceover)
2. Introduction
3. Video Blog
4. End / Bloopers / Goodbye / Theme Close (with a cute animation??)
5. Credits (if needed)

Theme

What do you need to do this? Do you have any friends that compose original music? Can you use music that is free for public use? The possibilities are endless.

Video Editing

Again you can use and get creative with videos of public domain or grab your webcam and record some. You can settle for Quicktime Pro for quick and easy editing such as cutting, copying and pasting clips. If you’re interested in more advanced video editing software you should try Final Cut Pro~ for quick and easy editing I used iMovie.

Content

Of course this depends on what kind of video blog you’re making — if you’re interviewing a guest or featuring an event then obviously you would prepare questions and feature them as much as, if not more than, yourself.

AND if Miseducated has taught you anything it’s to pay attention to your mise-en-scene. Actually pay attention to what’s in the frame. If you’re filming in front of a pile of dirty laundry it probably wont have the same effect as in your local soda-shop or your cute office.

So if you want to start, read the following steps and join me in this fun medium of communication.

STEPS: Try it Yourself!

1. Watch a lot of video blogs.

Check out your friend’s blogs, their friend’s blogs, you favorite model’s blog and more. Surf around Flickr and Youtube and see how other’s carry out their video blogs. Pay attention to the content, length and format. Note what you like and don’t like about them.

2. Create the actual content.

Write down what you plan to talk about, keep it short and to the point so you can freely elaborate on video. Make sure you don’t look like you’re actually reading the notes to yourself; make it spontaneous but don’t get too lengthy. I think the best videos are short and sweet.

3. Practice makes perfect.

Practice in front of the camera. Take long videos, short videos, videos of you talking with your best friend, whatever video ideas you have practice them. Pay attention to how you present yourself in front of the camera and take notes. Re-record re-record re-record.

4. Post your video.

After following all the above steps you may or may not be ready to post your video. Post it anyway. We all have to start somewhere and that only leaves room for improvement.

Don’t worry about getting it right your first video. It will probably be too long, you’ll look like a huge dork, and the guys building a hotel next door will probably take the exact moment you’re recording to use their jackhammer. Whatever.” – Kontrary

Have you given it a try? Are you considering it now? Do you think we should further investigate this form of blogging?

Design Your Life Diary

Getting Lost and Being Found

01/10/2014

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I’ve cleaning and organizing our studio because that’s often what I end up doing in times when I’m stuck at home (such as the ridiculous amount of time we’ve been snowed in lately). Our house and all of her cupboards, closets and drawers have slowly been organized and sorted since I’ve moved in but never so much as lately. I can’t get enough of discarding the old, jaded and faded and replenishing with all things good and sometimes new. In this spare time I’ve also found extra moments to spend sorting through packages, boxes and files filled with photos, letters, nostalgia and clippings. Things I had forgotten about and things I had chocked up as gone — casualties in the divorce, move and hard reset of my life.

Wendy & I at Midland Antiques

Wendy & I at Midland Antiques

I’ve realized that in finding these fossils of my past life I’ve also found a part of myself that was neglected to the inner and outer war that has been going on since around age 15. Losing yourself teaches you a lot about the hardships and the long journey you have ahead of you to try to find yourself again. It teaches you about the you you always hoped and planned to be, the yous that you left behind and want to find, the yous that you’d prefer to grow apart from for the extent of your waking hours.

In realizing these things exist you find you have changed, your life has changed and quite possibly you have found the person you know you will be. I believe this happens to each of us a bit with every new year, we reflect. However, in my experience, unless a grand change is made resolutions will be forgotten and old habits will resurface.

I lost myself once and I am still looking for myself. Who I wanted to be as a young girl, the things I wanted to do and see, the life I wanted to live. I’d gotten so closed in, I magnified certain aspects of my goals and forgot about others. For instance, I wanted to get married and have a daughter but I forgot I had wanted the most grand love there ever was. I forgot that I didn’t want to just be content, that I wanted to experience pure love for a beautiful man, to experience a love like we hear about in fairytales only more real and passionate. Someone I didn’t want to change but someone whose love changed my life. I didn’t just want to have a child but I wanted to bring a child into a love-filled family of magical wonder, a magnificent home life and many adventures lined neatly with security and stability. With parents who love one another more than anything else, with siblings that give, teach, take and give some more.

by David Cunningham

by David Cunningham

I saw that I wanted to write. I found many old memoir notes and pages of manga dialogue, articles, fairytales and more. I lost the motivation in trying to do anything other than to fix things that were far too broken and then zoning out completely when they appeared impossibly broken.

I saw that my art was a major focus in my life, other than true love and family, and designing everything I do. I saw my plans for paintings, illustrations and web sketches; designs that never made it off the paper and into illustrator because I lost the ambition and self-esteem needed to go.

Now that I am finding myself in so many ways, I figured there were others that have lost important pieces along their journeys as well. Others that might need a little push to gather those pieces strewn along the ground and trudge on through their own adventure of finding their true, superior self. The self they are, were and wanted to be. What have you lost and found along the way?

Happy New Year.

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Features His & Hers

His & Hers: Our Reads of the Moment

08/01/2013

his and hers

Once upon a time I met my match. A rock star artist, attractive man, best friend, beautiful person, wonderful father. I found that he brought an abundance of light into my life just by being a friend and mentor to me as a young adult. 9 years later the friendship grew into something unbelievable and now we are a completely inseparable and happy family.

We usually means us, as in this website and our community, but in the case of these new features it actually means Mister and Miss. Educated. This article is about the books we have nearby for reading and the blogs we catch up on often.

Her Books

Good Energy Book

I got this book for free during a promotion at the perfect timing because I was changing my life and my world. After reading it I became really addicted and got rid of the negative energy in my home and life. I knew most of the techniques from my past but this book explains everything in a very attractive way and is a great read even when you’re just feeling negative and hopeless. I highly recommend it if you’re into energy healing.

Blog Inc.

Mom Inc.

Renegade Writer

Achieve Anything In Just One Year

His Books

Surviving the Economic Collapse

I got this book as I was hoping for the best but studying and preparing for the worst. I have a lot to lose and I feel it is my job as a man to be sure everyone will be taken care of. The book is self-published so it’s a little brash and of course there are errors but I couldn’t put it down. It’s the actual account of a man who survived economic collapse in Argentina so it’s not a hypothetic response. It was very informative and I recommend it to anyone who wants to be prepared when the shit hits the fan.

Art and Fear

Rich Dad Poor Dad

The Way of the Superior Man

Think and Grow Rich

Blogs

And while books are rad, blogs are like the newest imagery-stuffed zines, you can visit millions of them over every delicious topic you can imagine. You can even find some not-so-delicious topics if that’s your fancy and with that we’d also love to leave some of our current favorite blogs~

Her Blogs

1. puglypixel
2. Design*Sponge
3. Independent Fashion Bloggers
4. Thompson Family Life
5. A Beautiful Mess

His Blogs

1. Lines and Colors
2. Art21 Blog
3. Design For Mankind
4. The Jealous Curator
5. Co.Design

Make sure you’ve added your blog in the comments if you aren’t listed in the link directory! We’re beginning to get very serious about blogging and active within the community again, now that life has been settling down, and we’d love to see your blog and get to know you, too!

Design Your Life

Maintaining a Healthy Brain While Working Online

01/18/2013

I’ve recently had the pleasure of chatting with the media-proclaimed “Poker Barbie” Lacey Jones about playing poker on and offline and actually making a living doing it. It seems rather strange to me to rely on a chance game to supply your income but I suppose many people feel the same about freelance design work and professional blogging (sometimes you have tons of jobs and advertising opportunities, sometimes just a few) and so, having had several friends that seem to successfully live this way, I had to learn more about how they are able to make the most of the unconventional (Miseducated) lifestyle and career they chose.

One topic we kept coming back to in our discussion is how to stay healthy while spending the majority of our time sitting down doing mostly brain work and very little body work. In being a blogger and artist I can definitely relate to my body getting the short end of the deal and began to realize that our work actually holds many more similarities than I had previously thought.

So what exactly is needed to run both a healthy brain and a healthy body while sitting for long periods of time? I thought you’d never ask! Let’s take a look at some brain foods, unhealthy foods and health tips used by professional poker players around the globe and use this information to our own benefit whether we be playing poker for money or blogging for fun.

“Add these ‘superfoods’ to your daily diet, and you will increase your odds of maintaining a healthy brain for the rest of your life.” ~ WebMD

Brain Foods

Blueberries
Wild Salmon
Nuts and Seeds
Avacados
Whole Grains
Beans
Pomegranates
Tea
Dark Chocolate // Cacao

“Whether you play live or online, poker guarantees one thing; you spend plenty of time sitting in a chair. In order to be profitable in the long run it’s crucial to revitalize the body and mind with exercise and healthy food.” ~ 9 Essential Health Tips for the Online Poker Grinder

Health Tips

Ergonomic and Comfortable Chair – Make sure your chair is supportive to your back, your monitor is at a comfortable height and your wrists are relaxed.
Take Breaks – Take 2-5 minute breaks every 30-60 minutes to maintain high brain performance and productivity and don’t forget to take a 30 minute lunch in the middle of your work day.
Rest Your Eyes – Remember to look away from the monitor throughout your workday and focus on something farther away for a short time.
Use Routine Exercises and Good Posture – Don’t simply melt into your chair and write away, be sure to keep moving throughout your work day even in the smallest of ways. Roll and stretch your wrists, contract and hold your abdominal and gluteus muscles, exercise your calves by pushing up onto the balls of your feet. Utilize a routine which allows you to be habitual in your seated exercise regimen.

“By reducing or eliminating the foods that should be avoided you will optimize your brain power today and reduce your risk of developing brain related diseases in the future.” ~ LIVESTRONG

Foods to Avoid

Processed Carbohydrates
Trans Fat and Fried Foods
Meat
Fatty Dairy
Sugary Sweets

Diary

Keeping Up is Hard to Do

03/24/2011
Found this tiny cactus at the supermarket, repotted it, put it under a sunlamp and it bloomed, best dollar ever spent!

Every time I start to write a post lately I psych myself out of it. Like one single post is a huge, uncompletable task. My medication seems to make me feel calm and completely, utterly uninspired. I’m very close to konking myself on the head just to knock something loose from my pre-medicated, crazy and endlessly inspired days. I couldn’t be sure I was going to make it through the day but I sure did produce content like no one’s business.

However content can be anything really.. it can be a diary post, a tutorial, a recipe, images, a collection of links, an article, etc. What is your favorite type of content?

Diary

Everything is Changing

03/02/2011

I’ve been working like crazy lately and unable to respond to many of your messages but I am getting them and I will catch up eventually. Everything’s changing from winter to spring now and it’s caused quite an overload of work. I understand wanting to start anew and get new collections out, whew so much to do and so little time to blog!

Speaking of collections I’m collaborating with one of my dearest friends, Chelsea of Paper*Cakes on a new project that will be out soon~

I miss the days when I could sit and produce several visual blog posts in no time. I feel like all of that drive has to be focused on Colette and work right now and I just cannot find that same inspiration for blogging. That explains all the rambling diary posts.

Did I tell you my schedule totally changed? We all have to get up before dawn now due to my husbands new job. I’m still trying to get motivated in the early morning but so far I’ve just been sketching, working and chugging lots of tea and vanilla coffee. I’ll get the hang of this!

Miseducated is also going through some changes.. I’ve been reorganizing and there’s much more to go so stay tuned.

Artist & Designer Features Visual Splendor

Audrey Kitching Knows Fashion Blogging

01/04/2011

Audrey is one of the sweetest girls I know. She’s always been able to fit in a brainstorm or girl chat into her busily-blogging lifestyle. She’s a cat lover, a fashion addict and a teenage icon. Lately, she has been putting a lot of time and energy into her new lines Tokyolux and Coco De Coeur (if you haven’t taken a peek yet get ready for an eye-candy overload).

If im inspired by something I dive into it without hesitation!

You’re a blogger and always have something new to say, how do you maintain your blog and all of your websites with so little free time?
Its something I love to do. I wake up and I’m thinking of fashion ideas, styles and shoots. I live it. I don’t mind having little free time because I enjoy what I’m doing so much. It’s not a chore by any means, when I’m out of town or away from a computer I crave it.

Ever since we became friends we’ve been totally connected.. is friendship something important to you with your lifestyle?
Of course, I’m just really careful who I let into my life. Living in Los Angeles people befriend you for the wrong reasons and it’s actually hard to find people who just want to order takeout and watch a movie. I have hundreds of acquaintances and a handful of friends.

How do you find new inspirations to blog about?
From everywhere and everything. I’m always watching movies, listening to music, researching, buying magazines. It’s an overload of inspiration everyday. I never have the problem of being uninspired, if anything im over inspired and it makes my head spin!

What’s inspiring you right now?
Marie Antoinette, the ocean, 60s, mods, punks, 90s vogue, japan street style, velvets, lace, tea partys, the germs, cat ladies … I just watched this documentary on cat ladies and it was out of this world. One lady was living with 123 cats! My inspirations are all over the place. Im never inspired by one idea, I take everything and mix it into something new.

Are you miseducated and why?
I’m miseducated because I do things my way. I’m a Leo; I was never a follower. If im inspired by something I dive into it without hesitation!

I’m miseducated because I do things my way. I’m a Leo; I was never a follower.


Escapeland Giveaway

Our Very First Etsy Goodie Bag Giveaway WINNER

10/04/2010

CONGRATULATIONS to the winner, Kate Barber!

(and a HUGE thank you to everyone who entered)

An ezine about this and other new features was sent to all fans on Facebook, if you would like to receive these rare but important messages and are not a member of Facebook you may also submit your email address.

Stay tuned for another exciting giveaway coming up soon!

[Giveaway Closed: Sep 24th]

Hello and welcome to the second ever Miseducated Giveaway! We plan to have these much more often, it’s been way too long! Check out the details here.

We wanted to especially thank our readers and guests for being so creatively cute and wonderful to us everywhere we go. The truth is giveaways are a great way to find new friends and readers and to expose them to new and seasoned artists. We select our giveaways from our favorite handmade art shops, antique shops and more.

The Prize

You can win a Hello Kitty tote bag filled with handmade and diy goodies from great sellers on Etsy!

giveaways

1. Sweet Star and Strawberry accessories from Strawberry Latte

On hold for alidahb

2. Limited Edition Miseducated Deericorn pendant

Original DEERICORN Pendant - limited edition-1 Original DEERICORN Pendant - limited edition

3. Victorian Spats by Mademoiselle Mermaid

Victorian Spats with Bows in Oatmeal by Mademoiselle Mermaid-1 Victorian Spats with Bows in Oatmeal by Mademoiselle Mermaid-2

4. Paper glittery macarons by PaperCakes

il_fullxfull.141139590

5. Postcard set by Amber&Co with cupcake pencils

6. Bag o’ kitsch charms, beads and goodies to get your DIY tastebuds wet especially from Miseducated

The Rules

To enter simply leave one comment below, make sure to include a correct email address in case you win. This giveaway expires in a week on Friday, September 24th and the winner will be chosen at random and will be announced on Monday, October 4th. All readers, including international readers, are welcome and encouraged to participate!

Bonus Entries

All entries will be checked for accuracy!
+1 Entry: Become a fan of Miseducated on Facebook and add a comment below announcing you’ve done so.

+1 Entry: Subscribe to our blog by using Google or another reader and let us know by leaving a comment below.

+1 Entry: Link to Miseducated on your blog and comment with the link here.

+1 Entry: Feature this giveaway on your blog (or tell others about it) and let us know here.

If you would like to be featured in a future giveaway, let us know and Miseducated might purchase something from your shop for our next goodie bag!

Thanks so much for all of your support.

DIY

Let’s Do It Ourselves: What do you want to learn/make?

09/22/2010


Remember in the past when I had spoke of tutorials lasting several articles, learning to do things together and tackling more wonderful worlds of expression?

Well..
that time is now and I need *you* to suggest your absolute best and worst ideas for things you’d like us to learn to do together.

Please make suggestions here, by email or on Facebook.

I’ll keep all of your ideas, add my own and soon we’ll be sucking up a whole new rainbow of creativity!

Escapeland

Adopt a Deericorn: Blog Widgets of Color & Whimsy

09/21/2010
clouds
Deericorns live in a land in the clouds, protected by starlight.

Adoptable ‘cyber’ pets.. what are those? The largest agencies took a delight in hightening the imagination and fantasy. They spoke of their pets and the history surrounding them, carfully woven together to produce a cute, pixelated web dream escapeland.

So what do you do with these little images? You add them to your website generally, sometimes even devoting whole pages and areas specifically to them. That’s what we did then. I suppose now you add them to your blog’s sidebar or somewhere on your online profile?

Sometimes adoptables are limited, only one of each kritter to be adopted. When you adopt the website may give you a silly certificate to place with it and a link back from their website — if they’re a big artist, this can even bring similar funloving visitors.

My favorite adoption agency was Starluck’s Sweetwater Valley. The combination of Erika’s art, imagination, fantasy tales and passion for creating fantasy worlds created a very sweet and fun site to explore. I remember I was always so excited when there were new areas updated with new images inside — pixel art was a bigger deal then. haha.

I believe it’s common to trade or sell adoptables now on Gaia, artists create adorable pixelated creatures and goodies for others to buy and place on their signatures. Starluck even created a few! 😉

HERE’S YOUR VERY OWN MISEDUCATED ADOPTABLE to shoddily place somewhere on your little web presence for both protection from webasaurs and to proudly display your support for pointlessly cute things. If you appreciate the love for cute things (no matter what your age!) show it, always. Also remember that these were inspired by one of my favorite artists Ayumi Uyama.

How to Adopt

1. Upload the image to your server.
2. Link it here.
3. Enjoy Deericorn protection.

Dainty Deericorns

Spread whimsy and the love of Miseducated with your own Deericorn!

pink: love & friendship
purple: status & power
blue: happiness

Adopted

Because you know there are other dorky artists like me, right? These adoptions are simply one of the cutest, most magical and most nonsensical ways to express yourself online. <3