begin again...

12.31  

The new year marks the one year anniversary of my blog. It started out as a mac blog and I didn't know how realistic it would be to post a picture a day, and sometimes it wasn't possible, so the collages were developed to show the pictures I had taken on the days I was away. I have some new ideas for the blog and hope to expand my business adventure in 2009. I'll post a list of things I plan to accomplish in 2009 as I did for 2008 in the next few days. One thing I know I would like to work more on this year is people photography, a photojournalistic approach to everyday encounters.                                                                                                                                                  

12.30  Wild Animal Park

I love this quick shot of my sister, Pam, entering the park under the fake snow, surrounded by lights and delighted children. 

holiday     12.25 to 12.29

What a wonderful Christmas I had with my family and the many days following it, I was reluctant to even get on the computer today, for as much as I love to be connected it has been oh so very nice to be disconnected. Above are some snippets from the extended holiday, looking forward to the new year and many fresh ideas for the shop...

christmas wishes     12.22 to 12.24

Merry Christmas!! Some images from the past few days which have been full of merriment and fa la la la laing... exchanging gifts, walking downtown, kitties enjoying their kitty grass (early gift), dinners out, knitting, movie watching, baked goods from friends (thank you Carrie & Rachel), hot chocolate and packages arriving in the mail just in time! 

an itty bitty house 

Case and I have some friends who are in the process of building their own home right now, and it is a wonderful thing to see this dream coming true for them. Last night I made this little house ornament to hang on their tree in celebration of the new home they will have very soon. 

baking for days      12.18 to 12.20

Each year Case and I enjoy putting together baked goods for the people he works with.  This year's boxes included Case's Elf Cookies, Angelettis, Chocolate Gingerbread Bars, Chocolate Espresso Snowcaps, and Lemon Pistachio Wreaths. In retrospect I may have eliminated the lemon wreaths and included my mom's mint chocolate cookies, I think it needed a little mint to balance out the selection. As you can see I have been away from the computer as I was in the kitchen baking up a storm then resting and receiving goodies and cards in the mail, like the felt ornament from Holly in New York, I think it's my ninth one from the ornament swap, the Bumble looks so sweet holding it. Happy holiday making...

it's raining kitties & hermies

I haven't seen this much rain...ever! It is quite enjoyable when you are in all day, but not so much when you have to go out. This sweet bird ornament via the ornament swap arrived all the way from Cape Town, South Africa, thank you JoAnne! 

christmas time is here

A stop at the post office and twinkle cards and some special packages were on their way...

sleep     12.11 to 12.15

Hello! I am taking a pajama day (as you can see from the top photo) to rest after a very busy four days. Unique Los Angeles was a fantastic show in every way, Sonja is an amazing person to have gathered so much talent under one penthouse roof and to have the entire weekend go perfectly wonderful! I shared a booth with my friend Sasha, you can find her artistic silver jewelry here and you still have a day to order something in time for Christmas, her work is gorgeous (for yourself and as gifts). My mom and Case came on different days to help work the booth (thank you!). We had a corner spot right across from Johnny Cupcakes (wow, and I traveled all the way to his Boston shop this summer) I met all sorts of artists I have admired from Etsy, I was particularly excited to meet Elizabeth from esoule, her work is absolutely beautiful and  I appreciated it even more seeing it in person. It was such a treat to sell to customers in person and hear how much they loved my work. I discovered Cake Monkey (everything they make is delicious!) and The Poster List, where Case and I purchased a poster from Adam. I felt like doing a little baking on Saturday night (banana cream cheese cupcakes) to express my thanks and appreciation to a couple special people. Finally, the Bumble photo is me feeling a little scattered on Thursday, while I was prepping for the show. Now I'm off to curl up with Hermie and enjoy every second of my pajama day.                                   

p.s. There's a new item in my shop that I think is pretty darn cute!

peace

Three packages from the Ornament Swap arrived together, my little mailbox was overflowing with good things! The peaceful tree is from Becky in New Mexico, the beaded star is from Haley in South Africa, and the birdie is from Jeanelle in Colorado. Thank you, each one was made beautifully and I love how they are all so different from one another. 

merry reindeer

I photographed these festive reindeer this morning just in time to get the images done for a cute Christmas card. The littlest reindeer wasn't so fond of the antlers on his adorable head, but it made for a great shot.

found pods

Nothing can compare to the pure beauty of the shapes, textures and colors we find right outside our doors. Sometimes I'm not even looking for it, it finds me, manages to end up in my pockets and then I take it home. 

giggle smiles

What a fantastic way to start the day...with an adorably happy family. The girls were giggly and smiley from beginning to end, and as the title of this post alludes to, they don't just smile they actually giggle smile (too cute!). The morning was one full of love and joyfulness, it is clear Jean and Larry know how lucky they truly are to have such a beautiful family and it was wonderful to capture so many sweet moments. 

*Thank you, Jean, for the extra surprise of homemade red velvet cake, it was absolutely delicious!!*

cookies + monkeys

This morning I photographed the Bronsons in jammies for their holiday card. Above are a few fun ones that show the many moods of the brothers when the camera was pointing in their direction. Not many people would let you just come over at 7:45 in the morning, stand all over them and takes shots of them in their pajamas, but luckily they are very very dear friends and were awake and with smiles, too. 

lost

After a long day out of running errands and eating only tangerines I realized once I got home that I'd lost my comfy cotton scarf. Along the way I did see all sorts of things I wanted like the crazily adorable red-orange coat (I have actually seen this before and wonder if I will still love it the same the next time I see it, and I do) at Anthropologie and the sweater  at Free People and the  Moleskin planner at Paper Source, maybe I will find one of them just lying in a parking lot somewhere, as I imagine my scarf was found...hope it went to a lovely home. 

oh..an opossum!  12.3 to 12.4

Last night I was out back with Hermie and felt eyes watching me, there in the corner of the fence, not far from where we were standing was an opossum. I know they are good to have around but it was creepy the way his face was just staring at me. So I took Hermie in and grabbed a camera...I am not proud of the quality of this image which makes him look two headed and is beyond blurry, but I was honestly scared if I used a flash or stayed out longer or got closer he was going to jump on my face. So here is yesterday's picture and today's Self Portrait Thursday pic. Happy Thursday!

handmade holiday

In the spirit of making the holidays more handmade I've been working on these felt flowers from a supply of felt I already had. I think they'll be pins, hair clips and gift embellishments and they're just nice to look at all together. 

noel

Several ornament swap packages arrived together, an extra special treat. The Noel ornament (that's Ladybug's nose checking it out) is from Rochelle in Ireland, the birdie atop a branch is from Kate in Florida (if you go to her shop you'll see there are a few for sale) and the detailed fabric bulb is from Becki in Missouri. My swap tree is looking quite festive, thank you, I love them all! 

                                                                                                                                       

Also, I found a charming blog done by Julia Freund, she is doing an advent giveaway, go here to see more about it!