You are probably wondering where I have been! Some days I seem to wonder that myself. But I have been busy. Traveled to Seattle, saw great friends that we miss dearly. I have been designing great pieces for my husbands place of work. Most are up in my portfolio, but I'll show you a few here soon as well as some shots of Seattle that I am pretty proud of.
And while the list can go on to what I have been up to, what I haven't been up to is posting here. I don't want what small followers I have right now to leave. Hang in there with me and send some friends over this way if you can. I have been churning in my head ideas to talk about. Things that may be of interest in the way of design and marketing, but in the mean time if there is something that you would like to know about or for me to talk about, send me a line.
For now here is an ad I created that is published in the Hilton Head Monthly Magazine for September. It is part of their bridal section. (I didn't want to leave you without a little taste of what I have been up to!)
The past year I have gained a great appreciation for reading. Maybe it's because my 6 year old loves to pick up books, or have mommy read him a story at night. But I think in my "old age" I have found a new world to escape to.
First and foremost, I love movies. There is nothing more exciting then immersing yourself into a character and their lives. Or seeing the visual splendor of a fantasy world portrayed so visually you could only dream of stepping through the screen and it becoming your world. I can only imagine movies getting better and better as technology grows.
But something that will always be constant is reading. Books, magazines, newspapers, the list goes on. And while getting lost in a movie, a visual eye candy set in your brain, the things you read can get you lost in so many ways you are only left to your own imagination.
I have begun my exploration into reading and connecting it with the movies. While most times the movies are adaptations to books, I love being able to explore more of the characters. Their little nuances that movies sometimes have to leave out because of time. Now usually I am always late to the party. Never one to crack an obsession over something until the novelty and hype is all over. ( I'm sure you know what I am talking about!) Yes I was sucked into the Twilight Saga. But it wasn't until after I had watched the first two movies that I began reading the books. Showtime was running Twilight and New Moon almost exclusively everyday, practically all day. And of course my curiosity became the best of me and I had watched both in the same night, back to back. Great because I didn't have to wait to see the second, bad because I stayed up wait too late that night. From then on I knew I had to get the books. I couldn't wait to find out what happened to Bella and Edward but I knew that I wanted to read about it before I watched it. I started from the first book, rapidly reading it within 2 days. Then the next, just as quick as the first. Next thing I know I had finished all fours books within 2 weeks. Accomplishment I might say! Now I am dying for Breaking Dawn 1 and 2 to come out and I am biting at the bit so much I may pick up the books again just to get my fix.
Before I decided to read the Twilight Saga again, I had seen the previews for Water for Elephants. I love Reese Witherspoon, and yes, Robert Pattinson just about makes you melt. But I really loved the era they are portraying. 1930's Great Depression Era with love, escape, vulnerability. The author has even included a circus and one of the main characters being an elephant. Again this is a book where I am late to the party, being out since 2007 and becoming a #1 New York best seller within that time. See I am always behind!
Now April 22nd cannot come fast enough for me. I am finished with the book and the movie will be out that day. I wonder if i can convince the hubby to see it, but of course I don't mind going alone. I guess I'll just have to get my fix watching the trailer until it comes out on the big screen. All the glitz and glitter, love and despair. Hmm what a way to get lost!
Water for Elephants: by Sara Gruen
Hey stay tuned to the Tutorial side of my blog. I am going to show you how to add a Welcome page for your Facebook page. I may even be nice and give you the code to pop it in yourself! DISCLAIMER: I am in no way an HTML guru. I love to dabble in it, so if something is off I may have to research to find out what it is. But I assure you, this is really easy to do and it's a great way to gain a little more exposure FOR FREE!!
A Veteran is someone, who at one point in their life, wrote a blank check payable to the United States of America for an amount up to, and including, their life. That is beyond honor, and there are way too many people in this country who no longer remember that fact. Thank you to all who has served, is serving, or will serve in the future for protecting our country and our loved ones. And we cannot forget the families of those serving who give the greatest sacrifice of all, and that is letting their loved one's go in danger to protect us.
You will always be remembered and never taken for granted.
I have to say that I am not big on promoting something if I am not totally satisfied with it myself. If I am going to spend the money, then it better be worth it. Well Photovision's DVD is totally worth it. And the best part is I can get it for you for $39. You save $110 off the regular price.
The 2 hour DVD's are packed with great information from leading photographers in the industry. Things like branding, workflow, techiniques in lighting or how to work a session. Plus I love how it can give you a little boost when your creative flow just isn't flowing.
Ok, so what do you have to do to get it. Click this link , fill out the information, and then make sure you put in PVFAN in for the promo code. That's it!! You get 6 2 hour DVD's for a one time price of $39 a year. They will come every other month in neat little packaging. And you can also have it set up to automatically deduct from your account each year. That way you never miss an issue.
So go and add these great DVD's to your collection of resources. I think you will be very pleased.
Look what I found in my driveway this morning.......
To my surprise as I was going around my jeep to take my son to daycare, I almost stepped on this little guy. We've been getting quite a bit of rain lately and I think this little one came up from our pond behind our house. I guess it needed to be a bit of a land lover for a bit.
Living in the south you can come across some neat things. We have seen our share of alligators.. there is a pluthra of turtles and egrets... and I have seen my fare share of snakes that are poisness. This little guy though seems to top it all!!!!
This past weekend I have to gloat on a milestone. No it is not mine, plus I can't even remember when I had this one. Hmmmm? Well... While hubby and I were putting together our new grill, oh by the way.... you really should have Lowe's or the place you by it from put it together.... don't get me wrong, it wasn't hard, but when you seem to mix up the nuts and bolts you appreciate the "already assembled" theory.... Anyway, our little man decided to ride his bike. Now that might not seem too exciting, but it is when after months and months of getting him to grasp the concept of feet moving forward results in bike moving, it's pretty exciting to us.
He did it all on his own. No mommy and daddy showing him, not even grandma, grandpa, or Mimi showing him. I guess it holds true to the idea that someone other then next of kin should show a child how to do something. They never seem to listen when you tell them what they should do. He must have listened to his inner self and figured it out. Stubborn stink he is!!!
Now that he is riding his bike, I have the wonderful idea of going for walks. It's more my agenda then really his, but he gets to benefit from it as well. And today what I thought would be a quick little 15 minute jaunt really turned in to 45 minutes. I wasn't expecting to be out that long or that far really. But to top it all off, I was not wearing the proper attire. I mean really, I love me some flip-flops. Wear them everywhere and all the time. But walking on hot pavement in the middle of the day chasing a child who has just learned to ride a bike is really not the time to do it. Oh and I have to mention that we went the equivalent to a mile. Might not seem long to most people, but remember that it's eternity when you are wearing flip-flops. Thin wonderful Reefs flip-flops!!!
Maybe some day I'll learn. How about tomorrow?
Well, I didn't take my camera along with, although right now I wish I had. To get his first long bike ride. But I'll share another photo with a little processing that I am stumbling across. Lately you have been seeing moody type of processing, and while it has taken me a while, I think I have figured it out without having to purchase actions. I am sure to many of you, it's really easy and you probably think I am lame and dumb for just now getting it, but that's ok.
Here is what I have, and I am going to do some tweaks to it, and then I'll post a little tutorial on how I did it.
Have a good Monday.
Disclaimer: Now I know there are so many technical things wrong with this. But I just loved his face and his expression especially after playing in the water. And I felt this type of processing worked with this image.
I have been beginning to feel that maybe my college professors were on to something. Well, maybe even my high school teachers if we really want to go that far back. Hmm!! Well I guess I have been too stubborn to think that by just jumping into things, I can still accomplish what I set out to do. For instance, come up with this really great and wonderful design that everyone in the entire world just has to have. Something that one person buys today, will go and tell all of their friends tomorrow they just have to have it.
But that lies the problem!!!
I am the type of artist who does not always follow the rules. Or the one's that can keep you from going totally out of your mind. I like to jump in, both feet sopping wet just because I have a thought in my mind. You know it's always a great idea, swirling around in the vortex of many thoughts, just trying to get out.
Yah, ideas are great!
They get you all excited and tingly!! Like a school kid playing on the playground.
That's until you start creating them. Well, at least for me anyway. Now don't get me wrong, I am a creative thinker. I have many years of experience, talking about 30 years of experience to be exact. But it still doesn't take away from the fact you have to work through those ideas. What lies in your head, does not always come off well on paper, or for my case most of the time my camera or computer. This can all lead to hours wasted, when all that needed to be done was doing a little brainstorming first.
College was tough years for me. I tried hard to define my place among the artistic. Many classes taken, many mediums studied. But one thing that seemed to be the unifying plot, was thumb-nails. Yah, working through your ideas on paper. Whether you draw them out or you write a sentence visually allowed you to see what your mind is conjuring up. And let me tell you, there are a pluthera of ideas running rampid in my mind. Some days it doesn't seem to stop!!
So after all these years, being taught by countless teachers and profs, maybe they were right after all. Ok, you can insert "I told you so" at this point. You know I was never one to admit when I was wrong. I mean come on, how could drawing small little representations of what my mind was playing behind my eyes actually free you of any questions you have about that one idea? Something to think about I guess. But also something to take advantage of.
I feel as if I have neglected this place in a while. And for the most part I have, but it's only for good reasons. So many things lately have been keeping me from here. Paperwork to do, designing, all kinds of things. And to make it more difficult, the little guy is only in daycare part days which makes for a long day sometimes. Ya, he can play on his own just fine, but that doesn't excuse the fact I feel bad for not playing with him when I am trying to get work done. It's that whole balancing act that mothers have to do. You know be everywhere and anywhere at once. Multi task!!!
Here he is at his finest.
(This was image that was part of an assignment, and I loved it so much I had to post it here!)
On to another topic. I received in my email the other day a promotion. I was kind of excited because it's something that I love getting. Well, a little history. Many women know about it. It's been around for many many years and the styles just keep getting better and better. The coolest part is it's based where I am originally from, Ft Wayne, Indiana. And they do amazing things. And I am not talking about creating bags, or luggage, or even house wares. They, well I mean She, does quite a bit for breast cancer research.
I'm sure you have figured it out by now, but just in case you haven't, I am talking about Vera Bradley. All I have to say is I have many pieces, probably not as much as some people. But this one was really fun. The promo they sent out was for their new lunch bag. Yup, she has created a lunch bag design. Well $10 off their lunch bag. It's very cute!!
I was hoping to find other colors, but since I already had some pink pieces, I thought they would blend nicely. Sorry guys for the girly post. I just couldn't help myself!!!
For some reason this past week my brain has been on empty. I think part of it has to do with getting up now at 6:30 a.m. because I need to get my child to daycare by 7:30, when before it was around 9 he would be strolling in. I mean everything I have layed my hands on, just doesn't seem to produce the results I had in my head. Like a design or even a photograph that I have been trying to attempt. And with that I haven't posted anything here. Again, empty brain.
With all of this said, I have been taking a little time to thumb through magazines and the internet to see what pops out at me. A little inspiration. Something to drum up the creative juices and let it all flow.
I really believe that mother nature is having words with us this year. And actually my thoughts on that really hasn't changed from year to year, it just seems it is more pronounced at different times. Like for instance right now the tornadoes and storms that have been popping up seems like a cry for us to sit back, evaluate our lives and remember to be humble. Now for the weather channel, I just believe for them it's just another excuse to create drama and pandemonium. I mean really, V2! And don't you find it kind of funny how every one of them always seem to have a smirk on their faces, like "this is great, I want the whole world to end due to this catastrophic storm converging, and blah, blah!!!" And you better believe that when I see Jim Cantore anywhere near where I live and they are predicting some catastrophic storm, my butt (along with my family!!) will be heading out of town. Because really there never really seems to be any good when he's in the area...
Last night we have a little storm come through, and yes it scared me a little. It's not the rain and such that scares me, just the lightening. And the sad thought of it all was this little turtle who seemed to be out roaming the streets while this is all happening. But I have to say he/she was a smart little one because it seemed to either follow the side walk or the curb where ever it went. Like a mother, I kept my eye on it as long as I could before it went out of site. I was worried, and I prayed that little turtle would find a safe haven. Away from the passing cars and the lightening.
Right at the end of the storm, my husband had to show me the clouds. And I am glad he did. I had never seen such clouds. They were like billowing smoke from a burning building, all fluffy and light. And the sunset accompanying it was just spectacular. I only wish I had been at the beach to capture it with the ocean, but my back yard will have to do.
A little break from the norm will never hurt you, although my normal hasn't consisted of too much, but I can still say that I didn't mind the change of pace. And even though the weekend was for a sadder occasion, we still seemed to enjoy our time with family. I just hope my little man hasn't been scarred too much by his hoodlum cousins to the point of making mommy and daddy totally loose their hair, that remains to be seen at this point!!
So I am now home again and ready to get to work. I am really hoping to get more in my shop. I have to get my poop-in-a-group and start designing. But I'll leave today with something from our travels. Ya I know, you've seen it before. But it's been like 2 years since I have flown and gotten the chance to get it for myself.
