What I saw today...1.27.08

I had the pleasure of doing an engagement portrait shoot for Anna and Geoff out in East Troy today. Finally, the weather turned gorgeous and sunny and bearable. I also took my Kodak Duaflex for a spin while I was there -- Anna's folks have the most incredible farm, and I'd probably need to stay there for at least a week to photograph everything that caught my eye. Such a beautiful, beautiful place.

Here is what I saw...















And to top it all off, the portraits turned out fabulous as well. Best get to processing them. More to come!

What I saw today...1.26.08

$5 shoes. Worn once. Blisters galore



City sky.



The "mushroom table." For classy outdoor dinner parties.


Dead clematis.


Run.



Frosty cactus.


One of the many expressions of Dog.



Dog feels rejected and wants her bowl filled. Or she's sick of the messy living room.



New favorite shoes.



My favorite jewels.



Orb.



Dog rumpus.



Me. Without my trusty eyeglasses. Trying to wear contacts again is tricky.

A new business idea

Hmmm...not only is this hilarious, but the "undoing" of wedding photos might just be a good way to make some cash.

Making use of scraps

Last week, after some Design*Sponge inspiration, I transformed a blah Christmas cookie tin into something useful and reasonably attractive to hold more of my crafty odds & ends. You can still see through the paper a bit, but I'm okay with that.



And here's what I did during the Packers vs. Giants game Sunday night. (I have an attention span of about 45 minutes tops when it comes to sports. Thus the need for frequent breaks and reality checks to verify that, contrary to popular belief, the world does keep on spinning during Packers games.)



I dig this because it allowed me to put some really great vintage fabric scraps to good use. And also because it reminded me that projects need not be complicated. They can just be simple, fun, and pretty.

Well, since it's about -4 degrees outside and my fingers are frozen (and in pain, from where I sliced my middle finger with a carpet tack), I'm going to go find a warm dog belly to serve as my heater.

Want: Patina

I can't believe I've never heard of Patina. Perhaps it's because their stores are all in the Minneapolis/St.Paul area. But regardless, their selection of goodies is pretty awesome. I think I want just about everything there. But below are some of my favorites.



Top left: Bird & Book Locket -- I'm totally loving vintage lockets right now.
Top right: Hearts Seal Necklace -- Cast from a real wax seal. Freakin' awesome!
Bottom left: Recycled Circle Earrings -- Recycled + pretty = good
Bottom right: Multi Coin Bracelet -- I just dig it.



Top left: Crap Stamp -- perfect for the editors in your life.
Top right: Smiley Cheese Knives -- I don't eat that much cheese (although I love it), but these knives just look so dang happy!
Bottom left: Coin Beast Coin Purse -- Love, love, love this. Cracks me up.
Bottom right: Pewter Bird Feet -- What on earth would I use these for? Creeping you out.



Top left: Green Hobo Catalina Bag -- Did you know that my favorite salad dressing is Catalina, and that it's orange, not green, like this really cool bag?
Top right: Round Owl Magnets -- This looks suspiciously like Amy Ruppel's work. I bet it is. Yay Amy!
Bottom left: Jesus Ash Tray -- It's true. He hates your dirty habit. So knock that shit off.
Bottom right: Palazzo Plates -- If only I had reason to buy more plates.

Clever, clever.

Check out the work of Jon Gitelson.

I'm now inspired to create little projects for myself, using the mundane and everyday as idea fuel. Brilliant.

Be sure to look at:

The Garbage Can Project
-and-
Items of Clothing Secretly Hidden by my Girlfriend (So That I Wouldn't Wear Them Anymore)

His girlfriend would have a field day with my closet. I'm even getting a little embarrassed by it. But I just can't throw away my striped painting shirt. I've got sentimental feelings for paint streaks.

Link via Amy Stein Photography.

Whew.

Just finished updating my website with some new wedding photos. There's the wedding of some dear family friends from a blustery snowy December day here, and also a wedding from autumn here. Simpy lovely. Both groups were wonderful to work with -- I feel very lucky to have such stunning subjects.

I've never done a winter wedding before, and I've gotta say it was a bit of a challenge working with minimal natural light. I'm a natural light kind of girl. But the building was incredible, giving the day a very classy, warm and rich feel.

Mmm...warm and rich. I could totally go for some creamy hot cocoa with loads of marshmallows right now. It is freezing. And I have "computer hands" from working on the site update for the past two hours.

Even dog is cold:

Game plan (it's all a game, isn't it?)

Here's the plan:

1. Photograph more, and gain more confidence in the fact that I am perfectly capable of being a photographer.
2. Learn to crochet.
3. Learn at least one new knitting stitch. This sounds simple enough, but I am impatient and get frustrated easily.
4. Finish that graphite drawing of my aunt's dog, which was almost complete, until I mistakenly tore the drawing in half and used it as a palette for green paint, thinking it was scrap paper. That really sucked.
5. Read the book Craft, Inc.: Turn Your Creative Hobby into a Business by Meg Mateo Ilasco, which should be arriving at my doorstep any day now.
6. Learn how to successfully use layer masks in Photoshop.
7. Practice my Adobe Illustrator skills on my own, since taking classes was a total bust. Long story. Let's just say that attempting to take Continuing Education classes was a bad idea.
8. Wear more dresses.
9. Two words: Print gocco
10. Sell all that useless, dust-collecting photo equipment on eBay.
11. Have more confidence, overall, in all walks of my life.
12. Get used to wearing contact lenses again.
13. Ride bike. Walk. Ditch dependence on car.
14. Give some furniture a facelift, even if it's just with a nice coat of black paint.
15. And most important right now: Get the Etsy shop up and running. The test run was fun, but it's time to put in the effort and make it happen.

Make it happen.

Goods things for a new year

Well, it's been quite the uneventful holiday break. Every day went something like this: wake up, thought about posting something, and then pulled the covers back over my head with a groan. Just five more minutes. I had a bummer of a Christmas break, consumed by the World's Worst Cold. But now I'm on the mend and ready for action. And that, my friends, is a good thing. Speaking of good things...

Jamie came for a short visit from Seattle, and brought with her the world's best Christmas present: handmade lino-block prints. I love love love them. I promptly purchased a frame, and now they are gracing my walls, reminding me of her incredible talent and delicate way of looking at the world. Thank you, Jamie. This means the world to me.



I've been doing quite a bit of rearranging and decluttering. I should have done this over a year ago when we first moved into this place. But laziness and lack of funds and inspiration prevented it, and my art/computer room had been suffering under heaps of boxes and plastic target bags for months. Not anymore. Thanks to an ingenious, inexpensive shelving system from Ikea (which I was going to link to, but apparently it's so new that it doesn't exist online), I am well on my way to getting organized.

As I rummaged through my piles of stuff, deciding what to toss and what to keep, I stumbled upon this little gem created for me by a certain someone mentioned above. Hmm...not sure why she made this for me, but it's pretty special.



Mmm-hmm. I'm hanging on to that one. Everything else has been sorted, tossed, recycled, pondered over, or stashed in a shiny new box for safe keeping. As soon as my congested head clears a bit more, I'm tackling phase two.

So that's two good things: new art from a friend, and an organized work space. Other good things? New supplies. Cork. Linoleum blocks. Fresh paper. Inspiring fabric. Old books. Handmade paper.

Oh...and two more good things: my muses.



My loves, you make me feel full.