Welcome

* * * Canadian Craft Federation / Citizens of Craft.ca Podcast Series! : ) I'm in Episode #4... but you should listen to them all. : ) LISTEN

Friday 16 December 2011

This Little Light of Mine

Let's face it.  It's dark in the winter.  We don't have a lot of daylight hours through these months.  I tend not to do any handstitching or fibre art after dark because I just can't see the colors right.  I can piece quilts, cut & press... but that's about it.  So many people have recommended OttLite.  I've seen them in Michael's, ranging from $100 to well over $300 a lamp before tax.  Let's just say, I look over at my three kids and I think about how many bags of groceries that can buy.  So I make do with what I have.  I've bought the full spectrum curly bulbs.  They are pretty bright, but I have noticed that my evening photos look wayyy too warm - almost orange!  Yesterday I passed some Ottlites that were on sale for about $35 for the smaller foldable desk lamp, and into the cart it went!  So you want to see the difference?  Here are three photos I took without changing a thing on my camera.  I took these with the flash off, and none of the photos were post-edited.  See for yourself.

Photo #1 -  The curly bulb - Hallogen lamp.

looks orange, warm like a sunset.

Photo #2 - Natural Light on an Overcast Day


Photo #3 - The Ottlite


Crazy difference!  I typically post-edit my art photos by looking white things in the photo, and altering the hues until the white looks white.  Now go back through the photos, and look at the base of my white Ottlite.  See how clean, clear & white it is in photo #3?  Sometimes when I take photos of my art, the white matting looks either greenish grey, or pinkish orange.  The Ottlite looks pretty bang-on.

The only problem is... now I want a bigger Ottlite floor lamp!  lol

11 comments:

Wendy said...

Nice! Where did you pick up such a great deal?

Anonymous said...

Gee, why can't we just get Ottlite bulbs for any lamp? We just redecorated our living room and got two floor lamps but we can't stand the wall colour or the new verticals at night with the the lamps on. lol
Stay inspired!

fabriquefantastique said...

I've been thinking of buying one, never go to Michaels but saw one quite reasonably the other day at Costco ( hardly ever go there either)

Bernie said...

Where did you get the one you have? I bought mytwo with 50% off coupons at Michaels but woudl like two more.

Bernie

Monika Kinner-Whalen (MySweetPrairie) said...

Oh sorry guys... They are 50% off at Michaels now without a coupon. That is where I got it.

: )

~Monika

PrairiePeasant said...

I bought a slightly smaller one at Canadian Tire. It is a fabulous portable task light. I think I paid about $30 about 2 years ago. Here's the same light I have on their website today:
http://www.canadiantire.ca/browse/product_detail.jsp;jsessionid=TrnMG1X9nYH1DmNKp4xl19t8qg6nTn1MfJpwSMDGdCcznt3b7x7R!1270852755?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524443287983&bmUID=1324083116124
I also made sure that they sold the replacement bulbs at a reasonable price before I bought mine, but I haven't had to replace the bulb yet.

Brenda T said...

Check this website www.hofcraft.com
They have ottlites at excellent prices. These items ship from Minnesota so shipping is not free but service is excellent. I have purchased 2 desk/clamp units and love both of them.

Karen @ Pieces of Contentment said...

Great buy Monika. I scored mine through a scrapbook magazine subscription offer a few years ago. It's fantastic for any night work, even reading (we seem to have plenty of natural light in the daytime all year).

Anonymous said...

Big Sis Says: Managed to find single pack bulbs for this type of light in... TA DA! of all places our local Canadian Tire! $ 35 bucks later and Bob's your uncle

EVERYONE should have one of these!

Christie describeHappy said...

This is a big difference and pretty much the only way that I beat the winter blahs. I don't think I have that brand, but it makes me want to look for another task light.

Mary said...

Wow, I am definitely going to have to get one. We havd only had one snow so far this year, and it will be 55 on Christmas day. Scary warm and dry!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

* * * Here are some of the most viewed blog posts this month * * *