Its taken me awhile to warm up to

Its taken me awhile to warm up to the idea of using my iPhone as a camera but I’m finally starting to enjoy the immediacy I have and all the fun and funky apps that let me manipulate the less-than-high-quality images into something interesting.

Thanks to apps like Hipstamatic ($1.99 with additional “packs” for about $0.99) and Instagram (FREE), I can add texture, blur, smudges, dirt and then process my images into black-and-white, “infrared” or a myriad of other combinations. As a result of so many options, I really needed a cheat sheet to help me figure it all out. That’s where Photojojo steps in with their Ultimate Hipstamatic Guide featuring 366 different images showing all the possible combinations using Hipstamatic.

Instagram is a little easier to use since each effect is a package of image treatment and border but it has great sharing options. Each image can be immediately uploaded to Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and several other services as well as keeping a feed of your contacts’ images that have been posted via Instagram right in the application. Instagram recently added a tilt-shift function that lets you control where and how much blur is in your images too.

(The image above utilized the tilt-shift feature in Instagram and the Earlybird filter)

I’m speechless! Pencils with magnetic ends allow them to be attached to metal objects and surfaces. I think this would be particularly fun if you have an old Steelcase desk. No need for a pencil cup, just line them up along the desk like little graphite soldiers!

(via Viarco)

When your pencil sharpening needs go into overdrive, you might need the drill-powered pencil sharpener. Available from C. H. Hanson and touted to be the World’s first chuckable drill powered pencil sharpener. Just another reason I need more power tools!

C.H. Hanson also carries Rite in the Rain water-resistant notepads and Pencil Armor for carpeneter pencils. What a treasure trove of hardcore writing tools!

(via (NOTCOT))