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Friday, November 28, 2014

Ebook Purchase: The Unexpected Everyday

Black Friday has come and gone in my house. We are officially done shopping. Thanks Wal-Mart and Amazon. Anywho....I just wanted to share with you a quickie purchase I did just now in hope of growing my photography skills a little more. A lot of photography classes, workshops etc are pricey or far from my neck of the woods in "small town" Florida. This ebook purchase is a next great alternative I hope!


Click It Up A Notch is a blog/photography site that I stumbled upon via Pinterest and I have been hooked on the emails, stories and articles ever since! I love it when this happens.

Courtney does a great job explaining the meaning and purpose behind this e-book in the link posted above so please, go check it out.

I read her free book already and I have secretly had my eye on this one, but the price was holding me back, Luckily for me, she offered a discount for the first time TODAY and TODAY ONLY! 50% off! Holla---my kind of deal.

I will be sure to share and more on the book as I read it. I would also like to try the project 365 she talks about a lot. I am not sure I have it in me to commit to a year long project, but one of the rules is there are no rules and not to stress over a missed day here or there! So my outlook on that project looks more promising. I'm thinking that I should start sometime in the new year. Too cliche? Maybe. but it's about doing the pictures not so much when and how you start.

Well, that all for now. The Hubby is going to download my new book while he jumps on this here lap top and I think I am going to go to bed!

What did you buy today worth mentioning?

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Another Simple Moment: Merry & Bright

{my simple moment} – A new ritual. A single photo, maybe two – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, significant, blessed moment. A moment I want to treasure and remember
inspired by SouleMama
________________________
"Merry & Bright"



Sunday, November 23, 2014

30 Before 30 Update

It's been a few weeks since my original post on turning 29 and my list of want to do first published. So far, I have done a couple things off my list which is pretty cool {I think}. 
  1. Enter a photography contest
  2. Have a girls night at Painting with a Twist
The photography contest was my first cross off you might recall. I wasn't able to go to the actual festival where the winner were announced. It kind of coincided with nap time and  Little Miss has been getting over a sinus infection so I really wasn't too keen to taking her out and about {or leaving her behind for that matter}. I still haven't been able to find the results of the contest yet. Secretly I am hoping to receive something in the mail letting me know I placed in a category, but perhaps my wishful thinking is getting the best of me. I am also checking their website for a update....obviously nothing yet.

My friends Hannah and Jessica have planned our next girly adventure to Painting with a Twist. Our class is scheduled to paint this picture. 


Honestly, I don't particularly like this painting template much. I think it is the color combinations I am not fond of. What do you think? Who knows, maybe they will let you choose your own colors? I don't know. I guess I will have to wait and see. 

The big picture is not the painting itself, but more the fun and camaraderie of a girls outing!! It was a dreary and raining morning. Traffic was a little heavy on the interstate. I thought we were going to be late and miss our class. Luckily, traffic eventually let up and we made it with plenty of time to spare.


The studio was really neat. One of the first things I did was walk around and look at all the painting examples displayed on the wall. I found some other painting that I would love to come back and paint. I don't know if my house has enough wall space, but I do know that they would make lovely gifts.

As our session started, we listened to a variety of music. The instructor gave us really simple and easy to follow instructions. I think with a few classes one would learn a few good techniques which could be easily replicated outside the studio. For example, did you know that you could use white chalk to draw out your picture on the canvas? I didn't, but then again, I've never taken an art class.


Our class lasted a little over two hours. A lot of our time was spent waiting for paint to literally dry!  Going to PWAT was a super fun way to spend our morning out. I will say that we were starving when it was all said and done. 



I decided that my newest piece of artwork would look lovely in or near Little Miss' room. I am going to go to Wal-Mart or a craft store and get a paint pen and try to put a bible verse in my "best calligraphy attempt" inside the pink cross. What do you think? Good idea? 

I am definitely going to PWAT again in the not so distant future. 

Monday, November 17, 2014

Another Simple Moment: Christmas Time, Photo Time

{my simple moment} – A new ritual. A single photo, maybe two – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, significant, blessed moment. A moment I want to treasure and remember
inspired by SouleMama
________________________
"Christmas Time, Photo Time"

Monday, November 10, 2014

My First Photography Contest

I did it, I crossed something off of my 30 before 30 list!! Woot, woot.

As soon as a co-worker shared this small, local festival contest I knew that this was the one I was going to attempt. The rules of the contest are simple.
  1. All photographs must be taken in Florida.
  2. All photographs should address one of the following topics: Florida historic sites or landmarks 
  3. The contest is limited to 4 entries per person. 2 color and 2 black and white or sepia 
  4. All entries must be 5x7 or 8x10
Luckily, I live near a historical Florida site so that is where I went to take my pictures. This particular site is not large so locations are a little limited, but it is one of my favorite scenic places.

 I wandered, tried different angles and finally settled on these three pictures to submit. What do you think? My Hubby's favorite is the black and white one.




These are not the most artistically complex photographs. I'll be the first to say that out loud. I am by no means a professional who can work Photoshop magic with a flick and a click. What I love most about these pictures is the color! Do you see what I mean? Subtle contrasts and tones. 

We'll see what happens Saturday when the pictures are judged. My goal is not to win. Don't get me wrong it would be cool, but the 30 before 30 was my main motivation to enter. So I have done that and crossing off that goal is good enough for now. Who knows? Maybe I will enter another contest down the road or focus on my editing skills to more complexity. 

Have you accomplished a goal recently? I would love to hear about it!

Saturday, November 8, 2014

Not So Simple Saturday

Parents have a tendency to multitask. Kudos to all the moms and dads out there who juggle so much while attempting to maintain sanity and structure. The struggle is real!

Here is my so far and it is only 9:18 AM as I begin to write this post.

  1. Up at 6:00 am and after I finish making my cup of coffee my kiddo wakes up ready to greet the day.
  2. Make Little Miss chocolate milk.
  3. Use nasal aspirator to suck out buggers from sinus infection.
  4. Snuggle on couch and watch cartoons
  5. Offer former student help on Facebook with her college paper
  6. Make a pancake and bacon breakfast
  7. Post two pictures on Instagram for #ourthankful30
  8. Eat breakfast with kiddo
  9. Get kiddo dressed (mommy still in PJs)
  10. Do kiddo's hair and brush her teeth
  11. More bugger sucking
  12. Clean Up kitchen
  13. Remind self to drink water
  14. Fold two baskets of laundry
  15. Work on grocery list of morning trip to Walmart
  16. Meal plan for dinner this week
  17. Get kiddo a mid morning snack
  18. Try to get dressed and make self presentable to the world. 
  19. Put in movie for kiddo
  20. Write blog post after inspiration strikes 
  21. Still in PJs at this point--Hubby back from garbage run. Maybe now I can sneak away to bedroom and get dressed! LOL
Parents you are awesome! I hope you hear that today or at the very least feel appreciated. Have a great day.

Saturday, November 1, 2014

Another Simple Moment: She's Three

{my simple moment} – A new ritual. A single photo, maybe two – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, significant, blessed moment. A moment I want to treasure and remember
inspired by SouleMama
________________________
"She's Three"