Merry Christmas!

Don't Laugh Too Hard

Untraditional Shabby Chic

I got this idea in a dream! I often conjure things up while I'm asleep. I guess card making must be on my mind a lot. I really like how the card turned out. The ribbon is something I've had for at least a year. I wasn't sure how I'd use it but I knew one day it would be the perfect thing for a project and this was it. The snowflake is my favorite part. I used my Cricut to cut it and and then I covered it with diamond stickles. When it was mostly dry, I flocked it! The flock didn't stick all over and that's the shabby part of it. In the close up photo, it almost looks as if it's half melted. The woodgrain background just seemed to be the perfect thing for the shabby chic theme. It's untraditional and frilly...perfect for the girl who'd have a pink Christmas tree :)






Supplies used:
Stamps: Imaginise "Merry & Bright", Hero Arts "Designer Woodgrain"
Snowflake: Christmas/Noel Cricut cartridge
Paper: Neenah white card stock, Recollections pink & blue card stock, Basic Grey "Eskimo Kisses"
Ink: VersaMark, Tsukineko Dew Drop "Sea Breeze"
Embossing powder: Martha Stewart Dove and Crystal Clear
Ribbon: Michael's $1 bin
Diamond Stickles
Doodle Bug white flock
K&Company pearl
Signo Broad while gel pen
Various buttons I had on hand

Brownie Lovers Take Note!

I have not made these but I'm going to try them since they get rave reviews. I usually always have both ingredients at home....probably could make them tonight! Thought they would be a good option for the holidays to help watch the calories!

Diet Coke Brownies

1 Package Brownie Mix
1 12oz Can of Diet Coke

Slowly mix brownie mix and Diet Coke until well blended. There will be a lot of foam and the batter will be very liquidy.

Pour into a 9 x 13 pan which has been lightly coated with non-stick spray (bottom of the pan only), and bake for 30-35 minutes or as directed on the box.

Holiday Card Boot Camp ~ Week 1

Ho Ho Ho! It's starting to look a little merry at my craft desk ;)

Hope you like it!



Supplies Used:
Owl Card
Heidi Grace "Jolly & Bright" holly paper
Red polka dot paper (unknown brand)
Scallop Frame from Cricut Mini Monogram cartridge
Rock Candy Stickles
Pink Cat Studio "Stitched Owls" stamp set
Brown, red, yellow, orange & black Prisma Color pencils

Holiday Card Boot Camp ~ Week 1

Even tho I should be finishing my Thanksgiving cards, I took some time out to make cards for the Holiday Card Boot Camp :)

Hope you like them!



Supplies used:

Cat Card
My Minds Eye "Snowed In Winter Papers" 6x6 pad
Kraft card stock
Inkadinkado "Peppermint Twist" stamp set
My Sentiments Exactly "Party Animals" stamp set
VersaMark ink
StazOn Timber Brown ink
Tsukineko Sand ink
Martha Stewart white embossing powder
Martha Stewart brown/white bakers twine
Stampendous Crystal Snow glitter
Prismacolor dark brown pencil (tail)
White gel pen

30 Day Photography Challenge - Day 30

Happy Halloween, Everyone!

I'm sure it's no surprise that orange day was going to be a pumpkin. I have to admit tho, I like the gray pumpkin better than the traditional orange ones. It's soooo Halloween!

This is it for my 30 day photography challenge. I did have fun and it was good getting back into it. Thank you to the people who took the time to leave me a comment. It's appreciated :)

You probably noticed I missed Sunday (long exposure day). The truth is, I just didn't feel like doing this one. I had planned on going to Mt. Soledad and shooting the east side that looks down on the freeway. That would have been cool for long exposure....but oh well. So it's really been a 29 day photography challenge!





Self-portrait ***** What I wore today
Something green ***** Someone I love
Something new ***** Technology
Something I made ***** Something fun
Fruit ***** From a distance
Flowers ***** My shoes
What I ate ***** In my bag
Pretty pattern ***** Trees
Breakfast ***** Clouds
Sunflare ***** Bokeh
Something orange ***** In motion
Long exposure *****Purchased
Animal ***** Black and white
From a low angle ***** From a high angle
After dark ***** Close-up

30 Day Photography Challenge - Day 28

From a high angle day. A display of colorful vases at Crate & Barrel. Had to be quick about it ~ they get after you if you take pictures in there!



Self-portrait ***** What I wore today
Something green ***** Someone I love
Something new ***** Technology
Something I made ***** Something fun
Fruit ***** From a distance
Flowers ***** My shoes
What I ate ***** In my bag
Pretty pattern ***** Trees
Breakfast ***** Clouds
Sunflare ***** Bokeh
Something orange ***** In motion
Long exposure ***** Purchased
Animal ***** Black and white
From a low angle ***** From a high angle
After dark ***** Close-up

30 Day Photography Challenge - Day 27

It's from a low angle. Can't get much lower than the tile floor!



Self-portrait ***** What I wore today
Something green ***** Someone I love
Something new ***** Technology
Something I made ***** Something fun
Fruit ***** From a distance
Flowers ***** My shoes
What I ate ***** In my bag
Pretty pattern ***** Trees
Breakfast ***** Clouds
Sunflare ***** Bokeh
Something orange ***** In motion
Long exposure ***** Purchased
Animal ***** Black and white
From a low angle ***** From a high angle
After dark ***** Close-up

30 Day Photography Challenge - Day 26

After dark day! Another Vegas photo ~ had to use this one. It was taken from our hotel room at the Bellagio. We had the most awesome views from the living room area and the bathroom. The bathroom was crazy big...like the size of my kitchen! But I digress. The water show happens every 15 minutes so I had lots of chances to get pictures of it. Best viewed large.



Self-portrait ***** What I wore today
Something green ***** Someone I love
Something new ***** Technology
Something I made ***** Something fun
Fruit ***** From a distance
Flowers ***** My shoes
What I ate ***** In my bag
Pretty pattern ***** Trees
Breakfast ***** Clouds
Sunflare ***** Bokeh
Something orange ***** In motion
Long exposure ***** Purchased
Animal ***** Black and white
From a low angle ***** From a high angle
After dark ***** Close-up

30 Day Photography Challenge - Day 25

I love bokeh photos. Love. So beautiful. I probably like it so much because it's dreamy and looks like a fantasy. It's the little girl in me I guess :) Here you see purple glitter...well...glittering. View it large for best effect.

For those of you who don't know what bokeh is, here is a good explanation:
In photography, bokeh is the blur, or the aesthetic quality of the blur, in out-of-focus areas of an image, or the way the lens renders out-of-focus points of light.



Self-portrait ***** What I wore today
Something green ***** Someone I love
Something new ***** Technology
Something I made ***** Something fun
Fruit ***** From a distance
Flowers ***** My shoes
What I ate ***** In my bag
Pretty pattern ***** Trees
Breakfast ***** Clouds
Sunflare ***** Bokeh
Something orange ***** In motion
Long exposure ***** Purchased
Animal ***** Black and white
From a low angle ***** From a high angle
After dark ***** Close-up

30 Day Photography Challenge - Day 24

We've reached something fun day! I could not resist posting these pics. They are the shoes that were in the window at the Christian Louboutin store in Vegas. Of the two, I favor the red ones the most. They make me *swoon*.

When I saw these, I was in love. How could you not be!? They are modern day ruby slippers! If they did a remake of the Wizard of Oz, Dorothy would need to wear these ruby platforms. She'd just have to. I'd love to wear them! So so pretty. But at a cool $1,700.00, they are a few bucks out of my price range.



Then we have the mermaid shoe (that's what I've named them). It's impossible to tell from the photo, but they are VERY sparkly. Encrusted with crystals. Sparkly. When you're walking past this window display, you have to look. There is no way that sparkle isn't going to turn everyones head. Curious about the price tag? They are yours for just $3,295.00. *faints*



Self-portrait ***** What I wore today
Something green ***** Someone I love
Something new ***** Technology
Something I made ***** Something fun
Fruit ***** From a distance
Flowers ***** My shoes
What I ate ***** In my bag
Pretty pattern ***** Trees
Breakfast ***** Clouds
Sunflare ***** Bokeh
Something orange ***** In motion
Long exposure ***** Purchased
Animal ***** Black and white
From a low angle ***** From a high angle
After dark ***** Close-up

30 Day Photography Challenge - Day 23

It's something new day!

This is the necklace Greg got me for our anniversary :)



Self-portrait ***** What I wore today
Something green ***** Someone I love
Something new ***** Technology
Something I made ***** Something fun
Fruit ***** From a distance
Flowers ***** My shoes
What I ate ***** In my bag
Pretty pattern ***** Trees
Breakfast ***** Clouds
Sunflare ***** Bokeh
Something orange ***** In motion
Long exposure ***** Purchased
Animal ***** Black and white
From a low angle ***** From a high angle
After dark ***** Close-up

30 Day Photography Challenge - Day 22

Today is something I made day.

For our anniversary I made Greg this card. If you're following me on Twitter you know that all the cards I'm making this year are owl cards. I had to come up with something unique and special. I cut the owls/branches out using my Cricut. I cut the tree trunk by hand. The owls are not actually supposed to be silhouette style but I used the shadow feature which cuts a solid image and is usually used as a base but it worked out well for a silhouette. I wrapped the owls with red thread and then twisted it between then and formed a heart. I thought this was going to be hard to do, but it was actually very easy. The sky was done on white card stock by sponging blue and gray inks and same for the moon in yellow and orange. I used a white gel pen to make stars. There's a line right across the middle of the photo and I'm not sure what it's from. Maybe from the reflection on the table. On the inside it says "owl love you forever" :)



Self-portrait ***** What I wore today
Something green ***** Someone I love
Something new ***** Technology
Something I made ***** Something fun
Fruit ***** From a distance
Flowers ***** My shoes
What I ate ***** In my bag
Pretty pattern ***** Trees
Breakfast ***** Clouds
Sunflare ***** Bokeh
Something orange ***** In motion
Long exposure ***** Purchased
Animal ***** Black and white
From a low angle ***** From a high angle
After dark ***** Close-up

30 Day Photography Challenge - Day 21

What I ate day!

While in Vegas we did a lot of celebrating. It was our 20th wedding anniversary on 10/19 and my birthday on 10/20. Two of the things on my 101 things list were to take Greg to a Bobby Flay restaurant and to go to Spago for my birthday. It was great to be able to cross both those things off my list. When trying to figure out what picture I'd post, I couldn't choose just one. So here are some memorable dining moments :)

First photo is the cake Greg ordered and surprised me with. He had it delivered to our room. SOOO sweet of him! It was chocolate with crushed praline filling and butter cream frosting. Isn't it beautiful?



Second is the salad we had at Spago. Very yummy. Sadly, I totally forgot to take a picture of my crab and scallops dinner :-/



Thrid is the ice cream we got for dessert at Spago. We were so full that having cake would have been too much. The ice cream didn't disappoint tho. One of them is brown sugar ice cream. I honestly didn't know if that was going to be good or not because it sounds strange to me. But it was so good! I'd have it again if I ever got the chance. And they wrote happy birthday on the plate for me :)



The foruth picture is my dinner at Mesa Grill. I got the grilled tiger shrimp tacos. Oh. My. These are by far the best seafood tacos I have ever had. They were smokey but not too much. So delicious. They also bring a basket of muffins and bread to the table so I tried a blue corn chile muffin. Awesome!



The fifth photo is Greg's dinner at Mesa Grill. He had the seared sea scallop salad. This was also really delicious and very filling. The scallops were perfectly seared and so tender. They look charred to death in the photo, but they really were perfectly done.



All in all, we had some wonderful meals!

Self-portrait ***** What I wore today
Something green ***** Someone I love
Something new ***** Technology
Something I made ***** Something fun
Fruit ***** From a distance
Flowers ***** My shoes
What I ate ***** In my bag
Pretty pattern ***** Trees
Breakfast ***** Clouds
Sunflare ***** Bokeh
Something orange ***** In motion
Long exposure ***** Purchased
Animal ***** Black and white
From a low angle ***** From a high angle
After dark ***** Close-up

30 Day Photography Challenge - Day 20

Flower day! This is the ceiling in the lobby of the Bellagio. I'm positive it's highly photographed, but I can tell you no picture can do it justice. You have to see it in person to really see how beautiful and impressive it is. All the "flowers" are made of blown glass and are gigantic. They are held up there on iron rods that look like stems. Some have patterns, some just solid colors and some are opaque. I can't even imagine what a nightmare it was to construct that whole thing but it's pretty!

Self-portrait ***** What I wore today
Something green ***** Someone I love
Something new ***** Technology
Something I made ***** Something fun
Fruit ***** From a distance
Flowers ***** My shoes
What I ate ***** In my bag
Pretty pattern ***** Trees
Breakfast ***** Clouds
Sunflare ***** Bokeh
Something orange ***** In motion
Long exposure ***** Purchased
Animal ***** Black and white
From a low angle ***** From a high angle
After dark ***** Close-up

30 Day Photography Challenge - Day 19

Today I turned 44. Has to be self-portrait day. Ugh!!



Self-portrait ***** What I wore today
Something green ***** Someone I love
Something new ***** Technology
Something I made ***** Something fun
Fruit ***** From a distance
Flowers ***** My shoes
What I ate ***** In my bag
Pretty pattern ***** Trees
Breakfast ***** Clouds
Sunflare ***** Bokeh
Something orange ***** In motion
Long exposure ***** Purchased
Animal ***** Black and white
From a low angle ***** From a high angle
After dark ***** Close-up

30 Day Photography Challenge - Day 18

Today Greg and I have been married for 20 years. I thought it was fitting that today is someone I love day.

Isn't he the cutest? He was eating when I took this. Never know when you'll have your picture taken when you sit across from someone with a camera! The lighting was horrible and it's blurry, but despite all that, I like it! ♥

I'm so lucky he picked me. After 20 years, I love him even more ♡ ♡ ♡



Self-portrait ***** What I wore today
Something green ***** Someone I love
Something new ***** Technology
Something I made ***** Something fun
Fruit ***** From a distance
Flowers ***** My shoes
What I ate ***** In my bag
Pretty pattern ***** Trees
Breakfast ***** Clouds
Sunflare ***** Bokeh
Something orange ***** In motion
Long exposure ***** Purchased
Animal ***** Black and white
From a low angle ***** From a high angle
After dark ***** Close-up

30 Day Photography Challenge - Day 17

Today is From a distance. This is the Mojave Desert. Much greener than I was expecting it to be! And the mountains look soft and velvety from this distance. It's obviously impossible to see here, but it's so vast that is takes your breath away if you really take it all in and admire it.



Self-portrait ***** What I wore today
Something green ***** Someone I love
Something new ***** Technology
Something I made ***** Something fun
Fruit ***** From a distance
Flowers ***** My shoes
What I ate ***** In my bag
Pretty pattern ***** Trees
Breakfast ***** Clouds
Sunflare ***** Bokeh
Something orange ***** In motion
Long exposure ***** Purchased
Animal ***** Black and white
From a low angle ***** From a high angle
After dark ***** Close-up

30 Day Photography Challenge - Day 16

Most important meal of the day ~ it's breakfast photo day!

Note that after today you won't see any posts for the rest of the week ~ vacation baby! Have no fear, I'll be taking pictures daily while I'm gone and post the missing days when I get back :)



Self-portrait ***** What I wore today
Something green ***** Someone I love
Something new ***** Technology
Something I made ***** Something fun
Fruit ***** From a distance
Flowers ***** My shoes
What I ate ***** In my bag
Pretty pattern ***** Trees
Breakfast ***** Clouds
Sunflare ***** Bokeh
Something orange ***** In motion
Long exposure ***** Purchased
Animal ***** Black and white
From a low angle ***** From a high angle
After dark ***** Close-up

30 Day Photography Challenge - Day 15

I see clouds in my cocoa... marshmallow clouds, that is! It's clouds day :)



Self-portrait ***** What I wore today
Something green ***** Someone I love
Something new ***** Technology
Something I made ***** Something fun
Fruit ***** From a distance
Flowers ***** My shoes
What I ate ***** In my bag
Pretty pattern ***** Trees
Breakfast ***** Clouds
Sunflare ***** Bokeh
Something orange ***** In motion
Long exposure ***** Purchased
Animal ***** Black and white
From a low angle ***** From a high angle
After dark ***** Close-up

30 Day Photography Challenge - Day 14

And we're on to animal day. Just so you appreciate my final photo, I'm posting a few of the many attempts I made to get a decent shot. Why do they never sit still as soon as the camera comes out?! I also attempted to take photos of Suzie but she wouldn't even look in the direction of the camera!

Note that the 4th photo is Abby with mouth open going for the wrist strap of the camera.








Self-portrait ***** What I wore today
Something green ***** Someone I love
Something new ***** Technology
Something I made ***** Something fun
Fruit ***** From a distance
Flowers ***** My shoes
What I ate ***** In my bag
Pretty pattern ***** Trees
Breakfast ***** Clouds
Sunflare ***** Bokeh
Something orange ***** In motion
Long exposure ***** Purchased
Animal ***** Black and white
From a low angle ***** From a high angle
After dark ***** Close-up

30 Day Photography Challenge - Day 13

It's black and white day! I had to go to the doctor this morning so I took my camera with me because I knew I'd find something there to take a picture of. Remember what I was saying about people looking at you if you have a camera? It was worse at the hospital. And I took my little Canon PowerShot because there was no way I was walking around with my big camera. At one point I had a security guard hanging about 20 feet behind me just watching me. I do realize photos in a hospital are not the same as just out and about. But I was taking pictures of signs that direct you from x-ray to neurosurgery to nuclear medicine...blah, blah, blah. Really boring stuff. It was actually turning out to be a little disappointing because I wasn't getting anything very interesting. Then it happened. I was just hanging out....clicking through the setting on my camera when this guy opens the doors across from me and goes in. It was an employee only area and the doors were wide open but I knew they were about to auto shut. So I quickly snapped a picture! Honestly, this was the best thing I got the whole time I was there. Unless you think signs are interesting. Once the doors closed I looked at the picture to see if it was clear. I had no idea what setting it was on since I'd been clicking through them all. As I was looking at the picture, I noticed all the silver domes on the ceiling. Uh oh. Video cameras! So I left and checked in for my appointment early. Not that they wouldn't have found me, but I figured I better just put the camera away and end it. There you have it. The story to this rather boring photo of some dude walking into the back of the emergency room area. Sadly, no blood or guts. But it's better than pictures of signs.



Self-portrait ***** What I wore today
Something green ***** Someone I love
Something new ***** Technology
Something I made ***** Something fun
Fruit ***** From a distance
Flowers ***** My shoes
What I ate ***** In my bag
Pretty pattern ***** Trees
Breakfast ***** Clouds
Sunflare ***** Bokeh
Something orange ***** In motion
Long exposure ***** Purchased
Animal ***** Black and white
From a low angle ***** From a high angle
After dark ***** Close-up

30 Day Photography Challenge - Day 12

My shoes day! I got these in the mail yesterday! So excited! I'm taking them on vacation with me. And I know what you're saying....what the heck are they!? All I can see is the zipper!! They are boots that come up to my knee and they zip up the back. And the zipper is purple! I just love that part of them so I made it the focus :)

Self-portrait ***** What I wore today
Something green ***** Someone I love
Something new ***** Technology
Something I made ***** Something fun
Fruit ***** From a distance
Flowers ***** My shoes
What I ate ***** In my bag
Pretty pattern ***** Trees
Breakfast ***** Clouds
Sunflare ***** Bokeh
Something orange ***** In motion
Long exposure ***** Purchased
Animal ***** Black and white
From a low angle ***** From a high angle
After dark ***** Close-up

30 Day Photography Challenge - Day 11

It's in my bag day! I love doing these. And I love looking at other "in my bag" photos. Not sure why exactly....maybe it's just the mystery of what's hidden in those deep bags that look so heavy. There has to be something interesting in them, right!? I say that hoping there's something interesting in mine!



Here we go from left to right:

Pink butterfly wallet
Round sliver compact mirror
Toothpaste
Barrette
Campus ID
Kiss My Face lip gloss
Smashbox lip gloss
Chapstick
Little plastic container (empty)
Purple ear plugs
Ibuprofen
Old receipt
Lost earring (now found)
Pen
Orange pencil case with monthly girl stuff in it
Ugly purple/yellow leopard change purse
Lotion
Instruction book for my new phone
Cortizone cream (I have a bug bite)
ridiculously large carabiner clip with unknown tiny key on it
Memory stick
Very annoying green flash light that's too heavy but looks light
Flap of my Juicy messenger bag (yes, there are pom poms on it)
Set of keys - no idea were in there & would have never found had I looked for them
Cell phone not pictured because I'm using it to take the picture :)


Self-portrait ***** What I wore today
Something green ***** Someone I love
Something new ***** Technology
Something I made ***** Something fun
Fruit ***** From a distance
Flowers ***** My shoes
What I ate ***** In my bag
Pretty pattern ***** Trees
Breakfast ***** Clouds
Sunflare ***** Bokeh
Something orange ***** In motion
Long exposure ***** Purchased
Animal ***** Black and white
From a low angle ***** From a high angle
After dark ***** Close-up

30 Day Photography Challenge - Day 10

Today is Technology photo day.

Every year my department has a faux pumpkin decorating contest. A few years ago a group of guys I work with made this pumpkin out of various computer parts. The Blackberry "face" is actually a just a display and isn't real. I thought it was really creative with the wires for the hair and everything :)


Self-portrait ***** What I wore today
Something green ***** Someone I love
Something new ***** Technology
Something I made ***** Something fun
Fruit ***** From a distance
Flowers ***** My shoes
What I ate ***** In my bag
Pretty pattern ***** Trees
Breakfast ***** Clouds
Sunflare ***** Bokeh
Something orange ***** In motion
Long exposure ***** Purchased
Animal ***** Black and white
From a low angle ***** From a high angle
After dark ***** Close-up

30 Day Photography Challenge - Day 9

Today is tree photo day. I know it says trees...but...you know. I don't live in a forest and finding a group of trees that are picture worthy isn't as easy as you'd think it would be. So it's singular. And only the trunk. This is a pine tree and it has the most beautiful bark on the trunk. I had to use this as my tree picture to show it's beauty. As with my other photos, this is best viewed large by clicking on it. The small image does not do it justice.

Okay, now I need to digress for a minute. I got some crazy looks when I was taking the photos of this tree trunk. This happens a lot. When I was taking the picture of the sky on sunflare day, you'd have thought I was trotting around in a leprechaun outfit. People just do not get it. They look at me confused and bewildered. I don't even need to be taking pictures of anything...just holding the camera is enough to draw crazy looks. This happened just last week when I was at the hotel taking the fountain photo. I was walking back and this woman was walking toward me and scowled at me. I could just hear her saying to herself:

"what the heck is she doing walking down the street with that camera!?"

Now, I know taking pictures of a tree trunk isn't something most people do....maybe something no one you'd ever know would do this, but that doesn't make it crazy. So....next time you see someone taking a picture of something that seems unusual...like, the sky or a tree trunk, think about this post. Think about me and my 30 day photo challenge. Maybe they aren't crazy or doing anything seedy. Maybe they are just looking a little closer at the things around them and finding beauty in uncommon places :)

Self-portrait ***** What I wore today
Something green ***** Someone I love
Something new ***** Technology
Something I made ***** Something fun
Fruit ***** From a distance
Flowers ***** My shoes
What I ate ***** In my bag
Pretty pattern ***** Trees
Breakfast ***** Clouds
Sunflare ***** Bokeh
Something orange ***** In motion
Long exposure ***** Purchased
Animal ***** Black and white
From a low angle ***** From a high angle
After dark ***** Close-up

30 Day Photography Challenge - Day 8

Today is Purchased photo day. Joe Joe's from Trader Joe's! If you have a Trader Joe's in your area, you should give them a try. These are special for Halloween and it's the first time I think they've done them this way. They are the traditional vanilla cream center. In December they'll do peppermint Joe Joe's ~ oh so good!

Self-portrait ***** What I wore today
Something green ***** Someone I love
Something new ***** Technology
Something I made ***** Something fun
Fruit ***** From a distance
Flowers ***** My shoes
What I ate ***** In my bag
Pretty pattern ***** Trees
Breakfast ***** Clouds
Sunflare ***** Bokeh
Something orange ***** In motion
Long exposure ***** Purchased
Animal ***** Black and white
From a low angle ***** From a high angle
After dark ***** Close-up

30 Day Photography Challenge - Day 7

It's fruit photo day! Grapes....pretty obvious.

Self-portrait ***** What I wore today
Something green ***** Someone I love
Something new ***** Technology
Something I made ***** Something fun
Fruit ***** From a distance
Flowers ***** My shoes
What I ate ***** In my bag
Pretty pattern ***** Trees
Breakfast ***** Clouds
Sunflare ***** Bokeh
Something orange ***** In motion
Long exposure ***** Purchased
Animal ***** Black and white
From a low angle ***** From a high angle
After dark ***** Close-up

30 Day Photography Challenge - Day 6

Today is pretty pattern photo day! This isn't technically a pattern, but I'm going with it anyway. The pink ruffled edges remind me of a fancy skirt :) No idea what the plant is called, but it's lovely.

Self-portrait ***** What I wore today
Something green ***** Someone I love
Something new ***** Technology
Something I made ***** Something fun
Fruit ***** From a distance
Flowers ***** My shoes
What I ate ***** In my bag
Pretty pattern ***** Trees
Breakfast ***** Clouds
Sunflare ***** Bokeh
Something orange ***** In motion
Long exposure ***** Purchased
Animal ***** Black and white
From a low angle ***** From a high angle
After dark ***** Close-up

30 Day Photography Challenge - Day 5

Today is close-up photo day. These are the hydrangeas in my front yard. I think it will be the last of them since it's getting cooler. It's a new bouquet so the flowers are still pretty tiny and green. Interestingly, they are more blue this season. We usually get a bubble gum pink color every year but this year they have a purplish blue hue to them. Not sure what's changed, but I do like the color change :)

This one is also best viewed larger by clicking on it. Probably they will all be best that way!

Self-portrait ***** What I wore today
Something green ***** Someone I love
Something new ***** Technology
Something I made ***** Something fun
Fruit ***** From a distance
Flowers ***** My shoes
What I ate ***** In my bag
Pretty pattern ***** Trees
Breakfast ***** Clouds
Sunflare ***** Bokeh
Something orange ***** In motion
Long exposure ***** Purchased
Animal ***** Black and white
From a low angle ***** From a high angle
After dark ***** Close-up

30 Day Photography Challenge - Day 4

Today is n motion! I walked to the Estancia Hotel & Spa that's 2 blocks from my office today. I had my camera with me and just looked for inspiration. They have a fountain in the middle of one of the courtyards and I walked past it but then went back. I've seen it before and it's....well....just a fountain. But something made me go back and look at it and I'm glad I did. As I watched the water flow, I realized it would be perfect for the in motion photo. I had been thinking I would photograph cars as they drove past us on the freeway, but this is much more beautiful option. And the car thing probably wouldn't have turned out very good. I had several to choose from and it came down to two. Then I figured....I just post them both. So it's a twofer! They are both best viewed large (click on them).

Self-portrait ***** What I wore today
Something green ***** Someone I love
Something new ***** Technology
Something I made ***** Something fun
Fruit ***** From a distance
Flowers ***** My shoes
What I ate ***** In my bag
Pretty pattern ***** Trees
Breakfast ***** Clouds
Sunflare ***** Bokeh
Something orange ***** In motion
Long exposure ***** Purchased
Animal ***** Black and white
From a low angle ***** From a high angle
After dark ***** Close-up

30 Day Photography Challenge - Day 3

This started out being the cloud photo day but then quickly turned into sunflare photo day. I walked down my street to get a better shot of the puffy clouds and suddenly the sun popped through the clouds for a few minutes behind me. I quickly turned around and only got about 5 shots before the sun was eclipsed again. Right place at the right time :)

Self-portrait ***** What I wore today
Something green ***** Someone I love
Something new ***** Technology
Something I made ***** Something fun
Fruit ***** From a distance
Flowers ***** My shoes
What I ate ***** In my bag
Pretty pattern ***** Trees
Breakfast ***** Clouds
Sunflare ***** Bokeh
Something orange ***** In motion
Long exposure ***** Purchased
Animal ***** Black and white
From a low angle ***** From a high angle
After dark ***** Close-up

30 Day Photography Challenge - Day 2

Ok, this is proving to be harder than I thought it would be. It's only day 2 and I already forgot to take a picture! I got to work and all I had is the camera on my phone. To make things harder, I'm at work! Not too much inspiration around here. I went outside at 7:20am and started looking around. This was the most interesting thing I could find. So day 2 is something green. This is the ornamental grass they have outside my office. It had just been watered so it has some water droplets. Best I could do with a camera phone and being stuck at work.

Self-portrait ***** What I wore today
Something green ***** Someone I love
Something new ***** Technology
Something I made ***** Something fun
Fruit ***** From a distance
Flowers ***** My shoes
What I ate ***** In my bag
Pretty pattern ***** Trees
Breakfast ***** Clouds
Sunflare ***** Bokeh
Something orange ***** In motion
Long exposure ***** Purchased
Animal ***** Black and white
From a low angle ***** From a high angle
After dark ***** Close-up

30 Day Photography Challenge

I saw 2 different 30 day challenges on Pinterest last month and thought it would be good for me to do since I haven't picked up my camera in ages. Problem was, some of the things on the lists didn't appeal to me. For example, one had "a bad habit". How do you take a picture of a bad habit? A bag of chips or something? I don't know, just seemed like an odd thing to dedicate a picture to. So I decided to take things from each them and make my 30 day list.

Here's the list in random order:

Self-portrait ***** What I wore today
Something green ***** Someone I love
Something new ***** Technology
Something I made ***** Something fun
Fruit ***** From a distance
Flowers ***** My shoes
What I ate ***** In my bag
Pretty pattern ***** Trees
Breakfast ***** Clouds
Sunflare ***** Bokeh
Something orange ***** In motion
Long exposure ***** Purchased
Animal ***** Black and white
From a low angle ***** From a high angle
After dark ***** Close-up

Day one is: What I wore



Today we went to my nephew's wedding today. The location was really beautiful. I really should have taken advantage of it and gone out and about looking for photo opportunities...but I wasn't thinking I guess. I should have taken a picture of the bride and groom, but there never seemed to be a good moment for it. So I took a photo of the necklace I wore. Love this necklace. Greg got it for new about 5 years ago :) We'll see what I come up with for day 2!

Calvin

Calvin passed away last Monday (8/22).

I've been thinking of posting something here but it's been too hard to "talk" about. It's still hard and will always be hard to talk about. I'm sure you understand. He was a special little thing. We miss him a lot. I'm having a hard time just typing this.

He'd been having trouble with hairballs over the last month and we had taken him to the vet in July for it. On Sunday (8/21) it seemed like he had another one so we took him in again. We got a liquid medication that would help greatly and were feeling very confident that this would take care of the problem. Sunday night he wasn't social and just wanted to sleep in the corner of my craft room. He'd done this the previous time, too. We thought he'd perk up by the next day. Monday morning Greg woke up around 5am and went to check on him. He wasn't doing well at all. I got up and we put him on the bed and he took a step and collapsed. We rushed him to the vet hospital. We usually put them in the pet carrier but he always seems so terrified in it so we wrapped him in a blanket and Greg cradled him in his arms like a baby. He barely made a peep the whole way. I know he felt safe in Greg's arms. While driving to the pet hospital I looked over at him a few times. It's really hard to explain, but his pretty green eyes were very expressive and were telling me something that I kept to myself. When we got there they whisked him away and we waited. It's hard to wait for bad news. After some blood tests, they determined he was in renal failure. He'd probably been in renal failure for a month and the hairball issues were actually masking the real problem. Chances are he probably didn't even have hairballs but it presented like that because he has a history of problems with them. His little body just wasn't working well enough to keep things moving in his digestive system. They told us that morning his condition was terminal and he would not recover.

For us, our pets are our children. Loosing them is a pain like no other we have experienced. We find little comfort these days...it's heartbreaking to know we will never see him again.

I took this of him and it captured his personality pretty well. He was so curious. Can you see it?



He was into everything all the time. And always wanted to be with people. Such a charmer. I can honestly say that everyone loved Calvin. But no one more than Greg. They had an extraordinary bond. Cat's tend to be aloof but Calvin was more like a dog in that he always wanted to be with people. But no one more than Greg. They were like two peas in a pod. This will sound exaggerated, but it's not. When I was home and Greg would come home, Calvin would run circles around the coffee table until he came in the house. Calvin was so excited to see him. Not a few times ~ every time. Wouldn't it be cool to know someone or something was that excited to see you every single time you came home? I love to see Greg, but I'm not running around the coffee table when he comes home. This is how much Calvin loved Greg. And Greg loved him, too. So much.



Every story has an ending....for us, this one came too soon.



“Those who bring sunshine into the lives of others, cannot keep it from themselves"
~ James Matthew Barrie

Is all true. If only I had the nerve to follow every one of them.