Tuesday, December 9, 2008

It's that time of year again



Christmas is just around the corner. It seems to come faster every year. Grace is also having her birthday just next week! This means that my blog and other online presense has been very neglected.I'll get back into it soon enough though.

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Carlos Lascano

http://www.carloslascano.com/carloslascano/Home.html

An amazing artist. A must check out!

A beautiful read

http://www.dayswithmyfather.com/#/0

This is just an amazing journal of a man caring for his aged father. Click on the link, then click on the pictures to advance through the pages.

Then make sure you have a tissue handy:)

Thursday, November 13, 2008

topaz again

This is an unaltered picture out of my camera. Pretty dang good actually considering the horrible lighting in there. That is another story about my new lens. Anyways, This picture does need some cleaning up, there is some noise happening and who doesnt like a little skin smoothing/evening out? This is after runing the picture through a plugin for photoshop called topaz labs. It was one click, all the noise is gone! Click on each picture to see it full size to really see the magic happen! I can hardly wait to see what it can do when I actually read the directions!


boat

Straight out of camera, resized only A quick trip through topaz labs.


Sunday, November 9, 2008

Friday, October 31, 2008

Head hanging in shame.....

I have completely put the blog, and my etsy store on the back burner as of late. I sure have missed it too! I have a fairly good excuse though. I litterally woke up one morning with a very very very sore shoulder. The pain was unrelenting and I'd rank it up there with the harsh part of labour, only it didnt end! I haven't dealt with chronic pain before and I must admit.... I am a whimp!! I also had no idea why I was suddenly in so much pain and frankly, I was putting off anything that aggrivated it. I am most comfortable with my arm resting up parallel with my shoulder, neutral position my dr calls this. It seems that I probably have a ruptured disc in my neck but am waiting for an mri and an appointment with a neurologist. I have not felt my finger on my left hand in over a month now! I still use my camera but I do NOT carry it around my neck and I am just being super careful with how I move around in general. Anyways, it is still problematic for me, but seeings as this doesnt seem to be going anywhere soon, I figure I'd better start back in with normal things again, bit by bit.

I have barely even been stalking the blogs that I love so much! I havent updated my store and certainly havent completed any sewing as the sewing seems particularly difficult on my shoulder/neck. But in bits, 10 mins a time I will be starting to get back into it simpley for my own sanity:)

I hope you enjoy the picture of the birds all dressed up for halloween!

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Things are Looking Up!

This top one is called 'blush'
(This bottom photo is called innocent)
Oh, it's good to be 'home'! I finally got my comptuer back so I can start to get back to 'work' again:)


I pretty much fell off the face of the net for a bit here. I have a lot of blogging to catch up to that's for sure!


I just can't believe how long it took for my comptuer to be fixed and sent back to the store. I kinda wonder if it hasn't been sitting there for a while without them calling me too as I called today to check on the status of it and they said it "just" got to the store. Seems like quite a coincidence to me. Anyways, it's just great to have it back.


I got a blogging award from Vanessa while I was MIA! How much fun is that! As I get things in order here, I will deal appropriately with it.


I am still bewildered about how long this whole computer thing took to get straightened out!


I just wanted to pop on for a quick yay! my comptuer is back post and will be back with a long overdue giveaway too!


A couple of quick pics of 2 prints I will be selling. darn, I accidently put them UP there, Oh well, you get the idea. :)




Friday, August 29, 2008

Celebration on the horizon!

I was just noticing that my shop hearts are nearing 100 which I think is a reason to celebrate! Be sure to stay tuned because there will surely be goodies to celebrate!

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Free stuff rocks!!

Check out this great giveaway happening over at The Ardent Sparrow blog! I am so excited to be a part of it!

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

What's with the big "O".......

Get your mind out of the gutter! I'm talking about the Olympics!

They are pretty much everywhere in your face while they are occuring. Everyone seems so excited and happy about it.

I have been trying to see where that all comes from. I really have been trying to see the overall goodness of the Olympics, however, I can't get certain things out of my head. Such as the overwhelming cost of prepration for only a very short time. I cant forget how China (and Canada too!) are 'cleaning up the streets' at the cost of the poorest people. I keep trying to think of how it actually benefits a place to have the Olympics there and I fail to find anything over a temporary increase in hospitality industry and minimum wage industry. If anything, every angle I look at it, the Olympics seems to strip the area that it comes to. It reminds me of a big colourful party, wild and crazy. Everyone dancing, and drinking like it will never end. Streamers, balloons, and confetti being the litter that everyone partakes in distributing. Then the party is over. The guests all leave quickly with barely a thank you and the host is left bewildered at the mess left to clean. It doesn't seem like so much fun now. A few, very few select athelets will benefit a great amount from thier endeavors. Not saying they dont deserve the recognition and the endorements, however, it seems like a huge expense in every way for the benefit of a very few people

*sigh*

Sunday, August 10, 2008

It's a sad day

I have a very sick computer and will not be able to do any photos for a while. I don't know how long:( I haven't forgotten about the blog, just am having to put it on the back burner.

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Really Feelin' it

Just really feeling comfortable behind the lens. It has been an absolute BLAST hanging out at all the different venues at the NAIG games here in town.
And such an amazing opportunity to take somewhere around 5000 or more pictures this week in so many different situations!

I have never had so many terrible lighting situations to really stretch my photography muscles! It was so much fun doing these outdoor concerts too! I really would love to photograph more concerts! They are so animated!

This performer here is George Leach. He had really wonderful music which my mom and I really enjoyed. I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to meet him later (lucky insider "media" leads..... and a fun story too, but that is for another time) and he is a really nice, down to earth kinda guy.

Monday, August 4, 2008

Sunday, August 3, 2008

NAIG

The North American Indigenous games are being held in town here this week. We have been told about all these thousands and thousands of people who would be comming to town for the week. I know I didn't really expect all that many people to come, till I saw this parade of athelets! It went on, and on and on. An impressive amount of young athelets thats for sure! There are teams from as far away as florida, North Carolina, Nunavut, and just about anywhere else!

It was pretty neat to see how far these teams came and in such big numbers! Some teams had traditional dress represented. And some were just so dang cute!
This week there is going to be entertainment all day every day, as well as a market all day every day. Not to mention sports on the go all day everyday too! I am looking forward to seeing everything!

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

I've been Featured!!

The lovely Vanessa over at Designs by Vanessa has done a feature on me at her blog! Be sure to check it out and then go take a look at how talented she is in her etsy shop! She has some very beautiful jewlery.

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Trying to improve

So, I have not been getting the sales for the amount of work I have been doing that I would hope to have gotten by now. It seems common sense that your photos are by far the most important thing to draw potential shoppers into investigate around your store. Photos are always so important but in this application, I suspect they are even MORE important!
I think my photos have been lacking interest. I don't think they have really been drawing in people. There is just so much competition out there that it's easy to get burried. I don't want to be one in a sea of many. I want to stand out! I have been revamping my products a little as well, jazzing them up with some embellies and getting more creative that way. There are mountains of plain little zippies out there but not too many that are embellished. I really enjoy doing the embellishment part. Right now I am just using ribbons, buttons and scraps of fabrics, but as I continue on, I am sure I will branch out.
Another improvement is the addition of labels! I really like the way they turned out! I ordered them from JennifersJewels
She was really great to deal with! She was great at listening to what it was that I wanted and she produced a great quality item.

So anyways, These are my new photos. I ended up not using a lightbox but just played around in the backyard. They may be a little bland, what do you think? I have been pondering the idea of using fun backgrounds but maybe that would just be a distraction? I am not sure. I do however, like the angles and how that worked out.
Head on over to my etsy

to check how they compared to my old photos. I would be grateful for any and all feedback and suggestions of improvments:)


Monday, July 28, 2008

I just couldn't wait!

I just couldn't wait (or risk the rain) to show you how the plate turned out once painted. It was super easy, accepting the paint very smoothly. I can see this as part of a very pretty afternoon tea set up, with pretty china teacups, tiny finger sandwiches and dainty iced cakes.
The occassion may even call for lace gloves and flowers in hats!
One lump or two, dear?

Thrifting adventures

I love looking through thrift shops and seeing what castoffs I can find to give new life to. I must admit though, I haven't been doing this very much for a while now. I just got overwhelmed with how much space and clutter it can produce. I just needed a bit of down time but I am starting to go on the hunt again! It is so satisfying if you can take something otherwise "ugly" and make it into something fun, useful or beautiful. This light jumped out at me like a lightening bolt. It is dusty and the wiring is old. But I just love the design on it! I am planning on taking it apart, rewiring it, painting it white, and replacing the chain. I may hang this up in my sewing room, or maybe in my bedroom.... even the living room could use a new light. I am planning on making it a plug in one instead of hard wired as I think this will give me more options as to where I put it. The design looks very graphic to me. I can hardly wait to see this one in action! Oh, I paid .75 cents for it!
This little painting jumped out at me too. I did have to dig through a slew of stuff to find it though. I am planning on taking the painting out, paint the frame white, distress it, and then replace the picture. I like the picture it came with, it is a soothing scene. This picture was 1.50
Now, this is something I have been looking for for quite a while! I have had visions of these embossed aluminum platters and tiered platters painted up in a light cotton candy pink for ages! I can remember when these used to be seen a plenty in the thrift shops but now, they are scarce. I snagged this one up right away, it is even nice and straight and in excellent condition. No dents or wiggles in it at all. For 2.50, I had no choise but to make it mine!
I imagine the embossing will really look pretty when it is all painted up. I started painting this one first this afternoon because I am most anxious about what it will look like. I have some pretty vintage table cloths too. I think this will call for an afternoon tea in the backyard when it is all done!
It is suposed to rain here tomarrow so taking a picture of it all set up in the backyard may prove difficult but I will try to get a pic of it as soon as I can to share how the project ended up going.

Wish me luck!

Saturday, July 26, 2008

A little more of what has been keeping me busy

It was already a week ago, but we all gathered to celebrate a 50th birthday with a surprise party for this guy. Yep, he does look surprised doesn't he!? It was a really nice celebration, it was pretty neat how all these people managed to keep it a secret from him! He truly was surprised!
I just had to snap a picture of this car, look at it! It is beautiful! I love the character and flair in these old cars. This one has been lovingly restored to perfection. The owner of the car shared his album documenting the process of restoring this gem and some of the shows and awards it has won. I was tempted to ask him to move it out to the field so I could get some better pictures with a nicer background, but eh, that wouldnt be cool lol

This is one of my sisters horses. I just loved the way it looked there pondering life........ and laundry. We also went to see the tall ships that came into Maple Bay. There was 2 of them when we were there but the day before there was suposed to be 3. They were neat looking, but I had my fill of them very quickly. Not to mention that I forgot to check the settings on my camera for about 100 pics all of which were all washed out and had a blue cast. Pfft. All of them are trashed. Oh well. I wasn't emotionally attached to any of them. This was about the only one that had any salvagablity about it.
There have also been crafty and sewing adventures as well. I am just way behind on my pictures! They should follow soon:)

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

MIA

Oh my poor poor blog! It must think I don't love it anymore, I have neglected it so much! In my defence I have the weather though. It has been picture perfect around here. Just gorgeous! I have so much to share with you all too! It will take a few posts to get everything in but I will start off with my latest listings seeings as that is what I was just doing. Stayin with the flow, ya know?

I love scrapbooking. I really do. I love putting different textures, patterns and colours of papers together and then topping it off with some fun trinkets. I haven't used any of my scrapbooking stuff in way too long and I have been missing it a lot! To satisfy that scrapbooking monster in myself I decided to play around with these little pouches I have been making. Hhhmm, it seems as though I have uploaded these backwards, but oh well, we will take the reverse guided tour:)

This is some quilting cotton that I have had kicking around for ages, unsure what the heck to do with it although I love the yellow colour. Finally this fabric has found its purpose. It has a reason for being.
A few little scraps, some buttons and voila! a cute little one of a kind pouch. This one has the same linning inside as the scrap on the outside. I think this one will translate nicely into a greeting card. I think I will make one or a few this afternoon. It has a very free form flower made out of scraps. I just love using up scraps iin this way, it makes me feel so productive and green.
You can't see it in this picture here, but the linning sparkles. Yes, really, it sparkles! What girl doesnt love to have sparkles and glitz!?
Using a salvaged zipper is a rewarding endeavor. Mostly because in my experience, they are just a little cuter and all of the ones that I have found so far, have a nice smoothness to them that the newer ones just don't seem able to live up to. Not to mention some of the funnest colours too!

Been a while since I pulled out the lace bag, but oooooooooo love the way it looks!

kitschy? Kitschy? Kichtsy? How do you spell that word! I think this pouch fits that word though, what do you think?

This is the biggest ric rac I have ever seen! It is HUGE!
I have had an exciting week besides sewing! I won the friday freebie over at lemon tree studio's blog, I got to have fun with my camera to the tune of 500+ pictures! and It was our anniversary yesterday! Gee, and it's only Wednesday! After I go through all those pictures I will have some fun things to share.