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DIY Sporty Bikini

In this 3 part DIY sporty bikini swimwear project I am going to show you how to cut a pattern, dye your fabric and finally construct your swimsuit to recreate a popular swimsuit. the swimsuit ends up being seamless so you can use a two different colored fabrics on each side making it reversible. Below the videos you will find a materials list.

Protecting Your Work Online

Protecting your work online:

The toughest thing about being an artist and sharing your work online is where it may end up being shared without your consent. In a world where everything is a screen shot or a right click and save away, how do your protect your work from being stolen and used without your consent? How do you even begin to keep track of where it may end up? There’s honestly not a 100% full proof way to prevent your work from being taken or used without your knowledge.  You can try to watermark your work but a lot of times it can be removed with things like Photoshop you can try disclaimer messages but those often go ignored. I would recommend trying any prevention methods you can think of but some of the best things you can do are done after it has been taken and this is why monitoring your art work is very important. Here I will show you how you can  monitor your artwork and file what is called a DMCA Complaint (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) when you find your work being used without your consent.

Please keep in mind I am not a lawyer so take this advice at your own risk. I will tell you my experience and how I personally went about protecting my work and getting it removed but that does not mean every situation you may face will have the same outcomes as mine.

What is a DMCA?:

A DMCA basically protects you as a content creator online whether you create art in the form of pictures, text, audio, or even video. You do not need to have a legally registered copyright to file a DMCA complaint but please only file it if there is a legitimate reason to. It is important that the work originated from you because you can get into legal trouble for filing false claims. Here I am going to show you the steps you need to take in order to properly file a claim and get your content removed from where it is being hosted.

Be Your Own Boss

So by now most of you know me for being a full time creative and the question I get asked most often is “How did you get started?”. Well to simply put it, I got started very late in life and honestly by complete accident. I kind of drifted to the place I should be and NO it hasn’t been the least bit easy for me but I am hoping I can make that leap a little bit easier for some of you. Since I was little I’ve always been drawn to creating no matter what it was. I started drawing pretty young and loved to draw Disney characters & Sailor Moon. I also loved to make barbie clothes out of socks or with scrap fabric, sewing them by hand. In fact I got in trouble a few times for cutting up clothes that weren’t even mine. I made miniature stuff for my doll house and loved to paint and collage as well. Any way I could be creative I would find a way to do so. I took basic art classes in Jr high and high school but creating wasn’t something people took serious back then. Growing up I honestly didn’t know it was a serious career option so it was never something I pursued full time.

Back then computers were really just starting to be something more common in homes, we are talking dial up, AOL days. I didn’t have the luxury of being exposed to certain things like we do now. But I did eventually get a blackplanet page and took an interest in web design/graphics as a side hobby. I continued creating clothing and jewelry for myself through out high school, sometimes for other people. When I graduated I didn’t know what I wanted to do with myself I was always drawn to creating and never could shake it. I never really found my way into anything else. I got deeper into web design and graphics when I realized I could make money from it. I started building websites, making logos and flyers while holding down a normal job but that never lasted long because I got bored with them. I eventually up and quit my last job when I got my first check, I had enough of working retail and being miserable. There is nothing worse than counting down the minutes/hours until you get off a job you hate! I took on web and graphic design full time but I was still making clothing and accessories on the side for myself. I also picked up photography along the way. At some point I was posting pictures of things I made online and people started asking me how they could purchase them, so the light bulb in my head went off. I decided to start my first online store killture.com in 2008. Since I had a background in web design already it was easy for me to create a site where I could sell my items on my own. I know a lot of you may have absolutely no background in web design or graphics but it’s still quite easy to create an online shop these days, even if you don’t. So now I am going to point you in the right direction and give you a few tips and ideas to think about to help you start planning how to be your own boss and starting your first business online.