Well, what happened to January? I started off so well but then life happened and things went a bit wonky for a while. Various hospital visits, one general anesthetic and one overnight stay are thankfully behind me. I tried my best to carry on like everything was OK but I'm admitting defeat. I missed two days in the photo challenge so I'm officially retiring from the 365 photo challenge. It was good while it lasted!
So, not to dwell on negative things we are moving onwards and upwards! I've been relearning some settings on the camera and can now custom set the white balance. Cue one homemade blueberry muffin and my Desperate Housewife mug. I know, life on the edge eh? Now I need to save up for a new lens. I would like a macro lens, no idea how much they are though so I could be some time saving.
I've been venturing back into the workroom and catching up on making some items. This brooch is my latest creation, quite sweet I think. Just right for Valentine's Day. I've got a shop order for some more coloured chalkboards and I'll show you those soon, they are awaiting some finishing touches.
And I couldn't resist making another felt heart. This one has some simple embroidery on it. I think I'll hang it on the mirror in the bedroom.
Happy weekend everyone!
Following on my from last post where I produced a Valentine's subway art print, I have been playing on Picnik again. During these damp, murky days of winter I've been thinking of ahead to spring, Easter and Mother's Day and generally all thing pretty and colourful. It is very easy to produce something like this: in this case I just thought of what Easter means to me and added the text in random fonts and colours.
Unfortunately Picnik is closing soon so I'm trying to make the most of it before it disappears. Pop over there and have a play, you don't have to register and it is very easy to use.
Update: I now use Picmonkey for editing photos. It is incredibly similar to Picnik and really easy to use.
Today's make is a name canvas in pretty pastels. I wonder if this is for a christening or new baby present? Very pretty! Available to order from nellie-dean.com if you'd like one too (sorry for the blatant plug!).
Here is the sea glass we collected on our last trip to the beach. I still have no idea what to do with it all. I've had a chat with a glass crafter about UV glue and allsorts but I'm still no further forward.
Until we decide what to do with it, it is kept in a glass jar on the windowsil to catch the light. That will do me for the time being.
A simple felt and button heart in pink and aqua for Valentine's Day.
Self portrait and I've hidden my face quite nicely. I could do with a manicure though!
Today was the last day of the school Christmas holidays so we spent a few hours in Tenby. It was a beautiful afternoon with a setting sun, empty beaches, no wind and no rain - result! I love these houses which back onto the beach. What a fab location and beautiful gardens too.
I also took the above photo which very nearly made it as today's main shot. It has lots of features I like: sunset - check, pretty sea view - check, interesting street furniture - check. But in my haste to get one more photo before jumping in the car meant that I dind't notice the great big bin and pole slap bang in the middle of the shot. What a numpty! But I do love a bit of solar flare, I'm definitely going to try and capture that again. Next time without the ugly interloper in shot.
I'm cutting back on my caffeine intake and as a coffee addict (no wonder I have so many Dowe Egberts coffee jars!) it has been hard! I've rediscovered peppermint tea and tonight decided to mix peppermint tea and hot chocolate. The result was quite nice - a bit like a hot minty Aero.
I've also been experimenting with the effects on Picnik. The one I have applied is 1960s, not sure if I like it though. My iPhone is not working properly at the moment and I'm missing the Instagram and Hipstamatic apps.
PS. I know, I need to get out more!
A Sunday morning dog walk in the woods. It was a beautiful walk as it wasn't raining, for a change! I heard 2 woodpeckers tapping away to each other, as well as lots of birds chirping away. Unfortunately I didn't get a photo of one of the woodpeckers as I don't have a telephoto lens and my wildlife photography is pretty poor! I only managed to get the dog in shot because I bribed her with dog treats (see the little orange and green things between my feet).
Aah yes, day 7 and I'm photographing random items because I forgot to take my camera out with me today. Sensei Woo to the rescue!
The tree was taken down on New Year's Eve but now it is time to take down and put away the remaining Christmas decorations for another year. The house looks bare, I might just leave the fairy lights up a while longer....
Another photo of my handmade Christmas decorations. This is a variation on my previous Christmas jar here, except this one is in a jam jar. The same cake decoration deer which has been covered in red micro glitter this time and a tree from a dolls house. The tree was bleached to remove the green colour and then more of the red micro glitter was added. A random pot of epsom salts was used for the snow and a recycled jam jar.
I love these Christmas jars!
I love the bokeh effect (although I have no idea what it actually means, to me it means out of focus blobs of light). I have pinned quite a few over on Pinterest and here is my version: the fairy lights on the banister before they get taken down and put away until next Christmas.
PS. If anyone knows the actual meaning behind the word bokeh, please let me know!
Another idea from the recent Lego themed party. Print off some Lego heads onto paper or card, cut out and slip onto straws. Easy peasy!
My son had his birthday party on New Year's Eve and we had a few Lego inspired party games. This one was simple: guess the amount of Lego in the jar. I took another empty coffee jar and filled it with Lego, addedd a Lego head and Lego font for decoration. I then enjoyed a peaceful minute whilst the boys decided on their answers.
I know I'm heading for a massive fail here but I'm going to have a go at the 365 photo challenge: that is taking a photo a day and posting the results on here.
Here's today's offering. I nearly failed on the first day as I totally forgot about the challenge and didn't take my camera to the beach and my iPhone is playing up so I didn't have my usual backup. It was miserable and grey down there anyway so it would have been a pretty dull photo.
So an indoor shot it was to be. This is my Christmas jar made from a coffee jar, a cake decoration, a tree from a model trainset stall at the market, some lefftover epsom salts and copious amounts of glitter of course! I loved it so much I made another one in red to go in an old jam jar, I'll post a photo of it soon before it gets put in the loft with the Christmas decorations.
