November Puff Prizes!

Let's hear it for the great Hufflepuffs who have been nominated for Prizes in November!  We walked away with 24 nominations!  Way to goooooooo 'Puffs!

First, let's break it down by Advanced Studies:

NEWTS:
smbennette
(I LOVE this Moyen Age!)

OWLs: Puffs have 4  nominations (way to dominated!)

seljatar 's spinning

AriadneWebb's beautiful shawl

craftyshanna's lovely shawl

humppa's nativity scene


The Extra Curriculars:

Order of the Pheonix:

frimptes's beautiful knee high socks

Quidditch:

costumer47's Ducky Blanket Squares

AriadneWebb's doilies


And now.... classes! 

Detention/Forbidden Forest:

Lepida's blanket square

nummanumma's sweater


Transfiguration/Fluffy:

lea67000's nativity scene

AriadneWebb's doily

KarenRedBaron's Star blanket


Potions/Seven Chambers:

Marushka's Shawl


History Of Magic/Mirror of Erised

Katelemmers's Shawl

Herbology/Devil's Snare

mma's spinning

Flying/Chamber of Keys

PrincessOnica's Shawl


DADA/Troll's Chamber:

frimptes's squirrel

Charms/Enchanted Chess

NarsissaM's Sheep Ornament

LadyDragonSinger's Tardis blanket

tinfu's Fairies

Astronomy/Philosopher's Stone

lea67000's fox sweater

AriadneWebb's Doily

clmnj58's baby blanket and sweater



Huzzah Hufflepuffs!

Photography Puffs: Make The Most of Your Pictures

Today we have a guest post from 'Puff photographer extraordinaire ashleybah!

So you've done it. You've finished knitting, crocheting, spinning, or dyeing your homework. You've written up a stellar story to make your homework fit the assignment. All that's left is taking a picture of the darn thing so you get those points that we all crave so much.

Unfortunately, as great as your story may be, the picture is all the professors have to see your homework. Don't just slap the first picture you take on your turn-in! You want to milk that project for all the points you can get. Here's a couple of things to keep in mind to make sure your pictures show the graders exactly what you've got going on! ;)

(Keep in mind that not every tip here applies to every situation. Take from it what you want. What's important is that you are happy with how your pictures represent your hard work. Take pride in your work! That's the Hufflepuff Way!)

 #1. Know your camera!

Whether you are using your cell phone, a pocket point-and-shoot, or a fancy DSLR, you need to get acquainted with your camera. Check out those settings. One big setting to look out for is "white balance." This is the setting that can make your colors look way different in the picture than what you see in real life.

Most camera phones and cameras have a white balance set to "auto." This doesn't always work out for all of us. If you find your colors are coming out funky, try looking for your white balance setting. You'll find options like incandescent and fluorescent (typical indoor light options), and daylight and cloudy (outdoor light options).

Here's some examples of how white balance can make a difference:



Sometimes it isn't even a huge difference, but the colors feel just a little cold or off. For example, the picture on the left below on "auto" isn't bad, per se. It's just not true to the real colors, which were warmer, and more fun! Just a little adjustment can make a difference in how the picture feels.
 

Another good setting to pay attention to is ISO. If the "auto" setting is giving you photos that are too washed out or too dark, try playing with the ISO setting. ISO is how sensitive your camera is to light. If you are outside in bright, direct light, you want to pick the lowest sensitivity setting, 100. If it's cloudy or shady outside, try a little higher like 200 to 400. If you are using indoor light, you want your camera to be more sensitive to light, so move that ISO on up to 800 to 1200.



Play with your camera and really look at your pictures after you take them. Adjust the settings and see what changes. You'll be a master in no time!

#2. Light, light, light!

We all know that our pictures just come out looking better if we can get a hold of some good ol' natural light. Even with all the settings adjusting tricks I've got, those indoor pictures just don't compare to natural light. So if you can, go outside!



Also, watch those shadows! Sometimes being outside can cast weird ones!



Sub-tip: Turn off that flash!

Now, I know a lot of us are crafting down to the last minute, leaving some of us stuck taking a picture at night. But even if you find yourself in this dark situation, flash is not the answer. Flash has a nasty habit of washing out your colors, making the shadows too dark, and giving people red face or demon eyes.

Find a room with nice light! Grab another lamp! Play with your settings! Make flash your absolute last resort.

#3. Find a warm body!

Is your homework something that is worn? That object actually being worn in the picture can do wonders! It gives the project more life and makes the picture much more interesting. The picture below of my Hufflepuff cowl laying on my table is pretty boring and doesn't tell anyone much about how it fits, or even what it is. If you've got a cute kid, adoring significant other, or even a pet that doesn't mind posing for a few minutes, GRAB 'EM.

Even a mirror shot is better than just laying your homework on the ground and shooting it flat.



#4. Watch your backgrounds!

First of all, you want to chose a background that complements your project. At the very least find a background that isn't too similar to your project, which will make your project disappear.

The picture below on the left has a distracting background because it's all bubbly, much like the puffy charm. Also the positioning of my hand makes the charm sort of disappear into the shadows, so it's not easy to see what it going on, especially at a smaller resolution. The picture on the right worked out a little better because the background is darker and my hand is out from behind the charm, which makes it pop a bit more!



Also, you want to make sure there's nothing in the background that you don't want other people to see. I can't tell you how many pictures I thought came out perfectly, only to find that my dog was standing beside my face in the background doing his business in the backyard. Needless to say, I had to take those pictures again. :|

I was going to include a great example picture I found while digging up samples, but I decided to spare your eyes. I'll describe it to you instead. I was sitting on the ground with my knees to my chest so my boyfriend could snap a quick picture of my socks. Well I didn't put much thought about what I was wearing or the pose, and with my rather short shorts and my boyfriend's up-close angle of the socks, the background ended up being my butt! So, you know, watch out for stuff like that. ;)

#5. Take LOTS of photos!

I can't stress this enough. For every one picture I upload online, I promise there were 10-20 pictures just like it that were either not in focus, or my face was doing something weird, or my dog was pooping in the background. Take a lot of photos, and take multiple pictures from each angle you think you might use.

 

Check your pictures out as you go along so you can look for all the things we talked about: lighting, backgrounds, and settings. Change things up as you go along and see what happens. Play and have fun with it, and I'm sure you will get the most points for your project! ♥

Staff Chocolate Frogs: Winners Announced

Congrats to LadyDragonsinger and KalmiaLatifolia who tied with 22 points each. I hereby award you these awesome badges:

And a $5 pattern download each! PM baxgirl with the pattern link to redeem!

The rest of the leaderboard was:

3. ashleybah - 6 points

4. lucamama - 3 points

4. MKmaineknitter - 3 points

6. Vampiratknits - 2 points

7. AuburnChick - 1 point

And now for what you've all been waiting for: the answers!

1. Cariboustar is in charge of placing all students in Cetes and is also cete mama to her own cete. She's been a cete mama since before Headmistress Yarnvista was a cete mama (did you know she was a cete mama before becoming headmistress?). Her crafting pursuits including knitting, weaving, dying, and spinning but weaving is her current passion. She is also a huge Seattle Seahawks fan. 

2. JMN is in charge of excusing students from class, answers questions, and organizes a lot. She knits, crochets, and spins a little. She also owns 1 donkey, 6 chickens, and 7 Soay sheep!

3. craftshanna is new to staff this term and is a cete mama. She knits, crochets, spins, and dyes. She loves to knit up her handspun! She can also do the wave with her eyebrows! Cool!

4. Marushka keeps lots of things organized around the house! She mostly crochets but also knits, spins, dyes, and is learning to quilt. She also collect amber jewelry! (And another fun fact - nobody got this right until after the fact)

5. texaninalaska stalks your projects and posts them on your special day! She also spends a lot of time in the Huffletainment center. She knits, weaves, dyed, and crochets. She loves being a grandmother and has an awesome yarn room in her house!

6. theresmiling also spends a lot of time in Huffletainment. She knits, spins, and dyes. She is also starting to crochet more and more. She's also a lefty!

7. kirsts supervises and runs many extracurricular activies in Hufflepuff! She mostly knits but does do a little crochet and dying. In college she spent a few months each year sleeping in a tent to sit in the front row at Duke basketball games. 

8. ChellBelle does a lot of organizing of Hufflepuff Advanced Studies students, keeping them motivated and being an awesome cheerleader. She is a knitter and a crocheter, having knitted longer. She also loves spreadsheets!

9. KirstiRose has been helping in one of Hufflepuff's newest activities this term - tracking everybody's contributions! She has two very cute cats and learned to knit so she could make herself a Harry Potter scarf - and hasn't stopped since!

10. JessiaSott is in charge of Hufflepuff Athletics. Beyond that she loves roller derby, books, and the Oxford comma. 

11. Along with #4 kimanneberly has been helping in one of Hufflepuff's newest activities this term with tracking contributions!  She has five children and two grandchildren. She loves pink and is also an OWL Mistress

12. baxgirl pulls double duty as a cete mama and being in charge of a Hufflepuff publication. She has a dog and cat, both named after Harry Potter characters, and loves the color blue.

13. Lyonette stalks your projects and asks you to come show them off in her thread. Besides that  she is a scientist by day and a singer and cookie baker by night. She also has an almost 3 year old son.

14. LuckyNumbers helps you keep on track in a recently re-named Hufflepuff thread.  She also has a young son and another son on the way very soon! Her favorite "curse" word is "dangnabit!"

15. cowgirlknitz is one of three who can help you fit you projects into various prompts. She also is in charge of shipping for one of Hufflepuff's newest activities. She has five kids and loves colors of any kind.

16. Our youngest witch on staff, NarcissaM, is a cete mama. She is a homeschooling student, loves homemade and handmade items, and besides knitting and crocheting also sews, embroiders, and draws.

17. PollyWoggers loves to play games with you in her thread! Besides crocheting and knitting she teaches swim lessons, spends time with her 6 kids, 4 grandchildren, 3 dogs, & 2 tutrtles. One year her whole family dressed up as characters from Harry Potter for Halloween!

18. brighteyesjessy is a cete mama in what I hear is a rather chatty cete. She has two sons and has started designing for knit and crochet recently.

19. While Hydra-star was SOS this term she was still on staff helping you find people who had something you wanted or wanted something you have. She began knitting in 5th grade and crocheting more recently. She began designing around the time she learned to crochet. All of her patterns are free!

20. This sweet cete mama, RavenLuna, is also a mama to four children and also has 5 hens!

21. This cete mama, midwestAliceAnn, has 2 kids, 4 grandchildren, and a spoiled rotten West Highland White terrier who is named for a Harry Potter character.

22. clmnj58 helps you fit your projects into various prompts throughout the cup. She has two kids, two grandchildren, and two dogs (lots of twos!). While she's been crocheting her whole life she mostly does granny squares. She also dabbles in design.

23. This cete mama from "down-under" , kazpatch, has two daughters, a cat, a dog, and two budgies (I'm pretty sure these are birds). She loves TV shows, mostly sci-fi and crime shows from both sides of the pond.

Thanks for playing!

Guest Posts: For the Love of Hufflepuff

From this break month's PuffleCards II comes three guest posts about the loves of Hufflepuff.

Honey Badger Cete
by thatgirl1225

This was my first term as a full student of the House Cup. I knew very early on in my NQFY term that I wanted to be sorted into Hufflepuff. I could feel a sense of family, here in Hufflepuff. As a Firstie, I was not let down at all! Between the camaraderie in the Uncommon room to the warmest welcome and embracing I received in my cete (go Honey Badgers!), I felt like I had snuggled into my perfect corner of the Den. I knew I didn’t ever want to leave! I have truly enjoyed the competitive push I got from my fellow Puffs; I wanted to contribute as much as I could to our points, but I also never felt like I was being pushed to give more than I could (for several weeks, I was out with an elbow injury).
My hats are off to all of our staff members in Hufflepuff! Between the activities, spreadsheets, cheerleading and help, our Puff staffers have done a fantastic job making this term go by so smoothly (and quickly!!). I know that I used a ton of the tidbits throughout the Den, as well as getting direct help from my cetemamas (craftyshanna and RavenLuna) and cetemates. One day, I hope to be in a position in my life where I can be a staffer, give back a little of what I’ve gotten during just my first term!
The people in Hufflepuff have been the warmest, friendliest, and most encouraging folks that I’ve met online in a very long time! I used to be part of an online community, where I felt like I had found a family, but it unfortunately didn’t last. Now, in Hufflepuff, I’m feeling like I’ve found that again and it feels so good! I’ve made quite a few friends, particularly in my cete, although when looking back I realize that it wouldn’t have been hard because Hufflepuff is filled with such awesome people!
I love Hufflepuff for all these reasons, plus it would just be plain hard not to! The muffins don’t hurt, either!

From WAgirl98

I am a Knitting Ninja. At least according to the pin I have on my knitting bag. I stealthily transform ordinary yarn into extraordinary things.
However, this year, in the midst of making numerous items for Christmas gifts I found that I lost my drive to make those extraordinary things. I was ending up with Works-In-Progress, not much drive to finish them, and nothing made for myself.
I have actually been a member of the Cup group for awhile, but never participated. After a couple others, a fellow Hufflepuff and a Slytherin, encouraged me to try it I signed up and am so glad I did! The class assignments gave me fun ways to finish many of those Works-In-Progress, start and finish other projects, and to make myself something in my queue I had wanted to make for a long long time. It was structured without boxing me in. I had a deadline, but was able to fit whatever I wanted to make into the prompts.
This is why I love my Hufflepuff Family and the HouseCup! Now I have my Knitting Ninja mojo back again and I’m looking forward to Pufflecards during the break month, and a second tearm next month!

Ch-ch-changes, The Hufflepuff Way
by LadyDragonsinger


I hate change.
Totally absolutely can’t stand it.
Doesn’t mean I won’t do it but I don’t like the upheaval involved.
I took a rather long sabbatical from the House Cup after it’s second year. It was the fact that some changes had been made in how it was organized that allowed a friend to convince me to do so. This was not enough change to terrify me as it really did not fully affect me. It was a change that I did not actually have to “live through” as it were.
However, when I left, Hufflepuff Common Room was simply one thread on the House Cup Group so I was a bit surprised when I didn’t see it (or any common rooms) on the discussion board there. That is until I found out it was a group of it’s own.
Now, we’re getting into scary territory. BIG change. Whole new group. New ways of interacting in the group.
Cue me being dragged into this virtually kicking and screaming. I had decided it was too big and too scary for me to do anything more than maybe converse in the Common Room thread. That lasted one day when I woke up to find several pages of conversation that had to be read.
Okay, fine, I decided. I would just do my projects, post my classes, notify the Den with posts in the Common Room thread that I had posted my classes and Advanced Studies. That worked fairly well for my first term back.
Then the Pufflecards post went up and I thought there was no way I’d do much there. coughcough managed to get a complete set coughcough
But I still wasn’t thrilled about how the simple thread for the house had become this big active group. However, it turns out there was another change in store. This term we were required to be in a cete. I’m not a joiner and, in case you hadn’t realized it yet, I’m not thrilled with change. I had no idea what cete would be a good fit but I remembered posting in one last term for a challenge so when we had to fill in which one we wanted, I picked that one.
Change can be good.
waits for audience to recover from the shock of me saying that
This one was. I found the cete to be warm, welcoming and supportive. I even branched out and posted in and used “The Hufflepuff Way” thread and Huffletainment and a few other threads I’d never thought I’d be involved in.
Change can be good. Cetes can be and are very good. The Hufflepuff Way does work.

See your name on the blog and get a PuffleCard in this month's PuffleCards II
 

Staff Chocolate Frogs: Final Round

So real life has been hectic so here it is: all the last hints from the Fall 2013 staff. The current standings are:

1.  LadyDragonsinger - 7 points
1. Kalmia Latifolia - 7 points
3. lucamama - 3 points
3. MKmaineknitter - 3 points
5. ashleybah - 2 points
5. VampiratKnits - 2 points
7. AuburnChick - 1 point

However, as I'm posting a mass entry now - this is anybody's game! Winner gets a special badge all for them an a $5 pattern download. So let's look at the rest of the staff!

Answers for this week are due Tuesday 12/10 by 9pm EST (New York)

9. This witch has been helping in one of Hufflepuff's newest activities this term - tracking everybody's contributions! She has two very cute cats and learned to knit so she could make herself a Harry Potter scarf - and hasn't stopped since!

10. This witch is in charge of Hufflepuff Athletics. Beyond that she loves roller derby, books, and the Oxford comma.

11. Along with #4 this witch has been helping in one of Hufflepuff's newest activities this term with tracking contributions!  She has five children and two grandchildren. She loves pink and is also an OWL Mistress

12. This witch pulls double duty as a cete mama and being in charge of a Hufflepuff publication. She has a dog and cat, both named after Harry Potter characters, and loves the color blue.

13. This witch stalks your projects and asks you to come show them off in her thread. Besides that  she is a scientist by day and a singer and cookie baker by night. She also has an almost 3 year old son.

14. This witch helps you keep on track in a recently re-named Hufflepuff thread.  She also has a young son and another son on the way very soon! Her favorite "curse" word is "dangnabit!"

15. This witch is one of three who can help you fit you projects into various prompts. She also is in charge of shipping for one of Hufflepuff's newest activities. She has five kids and loves colors of any kind.

16. Our youngest witch on staff is a cete mama. She is a homeschooling student, loves homemade and handmade items, and besides knitting and crocheting also sews, embroiders, and draws.

17. This witch loves to play games with you in her thread! Besides crocheting and knitting she teaches swim lessons, spends time with her 6 kids, 4 grandchildren, 3 dogs, & 2 tutrtles. One year her whole family dressed up as characters from Harry Potter for Halloween!

18. This witch is a cete mama in what I hear is a rather chatty cete. She has two sons and has started designing for knit and crochet recently.

19. While this witch was SOS this term she was still on staff helping you find people who had something you wanted or wanted something you have. She began knitting in 5th grade and crocheting more recently. She began designing around the time she learned to crochet. All of her patterns are free!

20. This sweet cete mama is also a mama to four children and also has 5 hens!

21. This cete mama has 2 kids, 4 grandchildren, and a spoiled rotten West Highland White terrier who is named for a Harry Potter character.

22. This witch helps you fit your projects into various prompts throughout the cup. She has two kids, two grandchildren, and two dogs (lots of twos!). While she's been crocheting her whole life she mostly does granny squares. She also dabbles in design.

23. This cete mama from "down-under"  has two daughters, a cat, a dog, and two budgies (I'm pretty sure these are birds). She loves TV shows, mostly sci-fi and crime shows from both sides of the pond.

Remember! Your answers are due by PM to baxgirl by Tuesday, December 10th at 9pm EST (New York)

Staff Chocolate Frogs: Round 2

Sorry for the delay in Staff Chocolate Frogs! I was on vacation and then moved...crazy!

The standings currently are at:

1. LadyDragonsinger - 3 points

1. Lucamama - 3 points

1. KalmiaLatifolia - 3 points

1. MKmaineknitter - 3 points

5. Ashleybah - 2 points

5. Vampiratknits - 2 points

7. Auburnchick - 1 point

There will be a total of 23 points so it's not too late to join!

Now for this round. Answers are due Thursday, October 31st (Happy Halloween!)) by 9pm EST ( New York time)

4. This witch keeps lots of things organized around the house! She mostly crochets but also knits, spins, dyes, and is learning to quilt. She also collect amber jewelry!

5. This witch stalks your projects and posts them on your special day! She also spends a lot of time in the Huffletainment center. She knits, weaves, dyed, and crochets. She loves being a grandmother and has an awesome yarn room in her house!

6. This witch also spends a lot of time in Huffletainment. She knits, spins, and dyes. She is also starting to crochet more and more. She's also a lefty!

7. This witch supervises and runs many extracurricular activies in Hufflepuff! She mostly knits but does do a little crochet and dying. In college she spent a few months each year sleeping in a tent to sit in the front row at Duke basketball games. 

8. This witch does a lot of organizing of Hufflepuff Advanced Studies students, keeping them motivated and being an awesome cheerleader. She is a knitter and a crocheter, having knitted longer. She also loves spreadsheets!

PM your guesses to baxgirl by 9pm on Halloween!

All Hallow's Homework

Like most of the internet, it seems, Halloween is my absolute favourite holiday, so I've been eagerly keeping track of the many wonderful Halloween-themed turn-ins you badgers have been making for classes.  Here are some from September, to start.

ThatTessGirl outfitted her husband with a truly awesome Princess Leia hat, which I believe earned her a nomination (well-deserved!) in the September prizes thread.

krazykt82000 dyed this enviably beautiful roving.  I love a good spooky-monsters type colourway.

bbhatsnstuff knitted an adorably expressive ghost/pumpkin minisock.

Melanthe knitted a perfect candy corn hat.

CraftyShanna created an amazing turn-in for these cute little vampire bats.

KarenRedBaron made an amazing improvised cat's-eye eyepatch.

Moving on to turn-ins from this month, Lea67000 (the World's Fastest Hexipuffer!) made this fantastic jack'o'lantern puff.

 Pumpkins abound this month.  Here's a perfectly-knit specimen from Maylablue.

And LittleFit added a face and limbs to her pumpkin for extra Halloween goodness.

 broknmachin14 made her decorative gourd in hat form to donate to her local NICU.

Kirsts worked some magic that will transform her baby into a carrot!

Rikachet is helping us haunt the Den in the cutest possible way with this little ghost.

Luckynumbers has been sewing up a whole party's worth of super-cool superhero capes.

Wrapping things up with some sweetness, JessiaSott created this delicious-looking little candy corn.