On to the next...

With the passing of another Thanksgiving, my mind turns towards Christmas.

I would like to hand make as many of my gifts as possible this year, but I am having a hard time deciding what to do. I want each item I make to be perfect, something they will love and cherish. but not something that necessarily looks handmade.

I have been scanning pictures of my husband and I, taken 10 years ago. Ahh, the memories they bring back!

We look so young... and thin!

Off to find my muse...

Better late...

Here are some of the photos I've taken in the last two weeks...

A Second Canvas... ABAA

I had such a good time making the last altered canvas, I decided to have a repeat, with some changes:  This one is larger, and I used a bunch of different stuff!  

I started by painting the frame and sides of the canvas in 2 shades of green and a rub of brown. Then I busted out the silver leaf and glued it over the frame and sealed it.  After it dried I used brown and black paint, brushing it on over the silver and then rubbing it off until I go the vintage look I was going for.

The picture is one taken at my wedding of me and my husband.  I altered it a bit so it would look older.  Then I covered some chipboard swirls with paper, layered everything up and finished  it up with a Hambly overlay, some ribbon, and a metal plate.

I have been looking for a way to use our wedding photos in an artful manner.  I think this fit the bill nicely.

The first photo I used the flash to take it.... in order to highlight the silver overlay.


This view was using the ambient light, I think the 3-d-edness shows up better.



Thanks for checking it out!

A couple of photos...

Trying to work on capturing texture. Of course the photos were all taken in my yard...

Of course, no photo session is complete without the boys playing along...

This is a macro of a bathtub foot I keep in my garden:

I am still working on my Macro Photography.  I have a hard time holding still - even when using a tri- or mono-pod.  But I have learned to hold my breath as I click the shutter, which has increased the number of clear photos I am capturing.  I enjoy the practice!

WEEK ONE

My favorite 2 for this week:

Happy New Year!

So, in order to have a reference for later in the year, I will now write the traditional New Year's Resolution post:

1. I resolve to live a healthier life (cliche, I know, but I need to write it down for the guilt factor later!).
2. I resolve to give Tony a great garage to work in.  
3. I resolve to take at least one great picture every week, and will post it here for you.
4. I resolve to participate in the Awfully Big Art Adventure (see: http://bigartadventure.blogspot.com/)
5. So 3 and 4 are the 2 major parts of this one:  I resolve to work hard on my creativity.  

I think that should about do it.  Oh, and I resolve to be content with what I have.

I think I will revisit this quarterly to see how I am doing - so the first marker will be in April.

Pictures of Puerto Rico

So here are some of the pictures I took while in Puerto Rico last fall.  It was one of the countries we went to on our cruise - this one for liberty. (We were in Central and South America doing a number of humanitarian relief projects.)

Friday views

Just a few quick shots from today:


The heat baked the petals to the porch...
Chillin in the grass~

Can you find the brown cactus in the photo above?

Photographising

Took advantage of a fantastic afternoon and went over to the Norfolk Botanical Gardens and fired off a few shots. I was very pleased to see that I was not the only one that had such a great idea - saw at least 4 other people also taking photos. Here are a few of my favorites - you can see more of them on flickr. (link to the right)

I'm back~

So, I think I can go down as one of the world's worst bloggers. Maybe not the worst, but one of them, I am sure. I returned from my cruise (of the Navy kind) about 3 weeks ago. It was an arduous 6 months, let me tell you. But we did go to some cool places, most of which I hadn't been to yet, so that was awesome. Most memorable was our stop in Isreal, where I had an opportunity to go to Jerusalem. I have yet to work up words on how that experience was. I've been mulling it over for a while.

But I have been busy since I've been back. Working on my photography, scrapping the tons of pics I took on the ship, trying to teach my undisciplined black dog to walk on a leash properly... never a dull moment! I have attacked life anew, just trying in general to be a better all around person. And not so selfish. Baby steps...

So today is my 34th birthday. Not that old, but somedays it feels like ancient. I have spent the day taking pictures, playing with the dogs and tidying up around the house. Not a real memorable birthday. Tony got me a fantabulous Canon Macro lens for the camera - and I'll have it in a few short days. I can't wait to play around with it! It is going to awesome, I'm sure. If spring would, well, spring, then I can take all the flower shots I am looking forward to taking! Fun!

Here is some of the stuff I've been working on:


These were taken when my sister and her kids were here for my homecoming. We went down to VA Beach because they had never seen the ocean before...




And this is what I did with the pictures:

I know, the background is distracting, but that recliner and curtain are pulling double duty until I get a photo studio set up! (dreaming big, now!)

Here are some silly photos Tony and I took last night:

Holy crap, we laughed so hard we almost cried while we were messing around with the camera!
You can check out some of the other stuff I have done by going over to 2 Peas in a Bucket and taking a gander. http://twopeasinabucket.kaboose.com/userprofile.asp?user_id=222065