where i go....

i was waiting. praying. hoping for good weather.

finally it showed up. tuesday was beautiful.

so i trespassed. 

{abandoned farms with multiple outbuildings just make me so happy}

and

i took photos of my favorite neighborhood kids

{more to come}

and

i went to a gluten free bakery

{oh my gosh do they ever make eating gluten free easy. 

they even had donuts. total yumminess}

and

i went to one of my favorite little parks and played with my lens baby.

{fortunately she loves being outside with me and was very cooperative

for the flowers above and the tree below} 

i think it only fair that i tell you about trespassing.

{the very first photo is from trespassing}

first, you have to conquer the ignored and unmaintained landscaping that surrounds the abandoned buildings. also, watch where you're walking. if you fall and get hurt and you're there alone, well you're somewhat screwed. i always send a text to my hubby and let him know my location. just in case.

second, you need to have a story already made up about why you're there in case the police find you.

{tuesday the abandoned land i was on is for sale, so my story was that we are interested in buying the property but my husband is out of town and needed me to take some photos of it for him}

third, you need to be relatively quick. in and out.

and

unfortunately now

it also means a long hot shower when you get home and a full body tick check.

~

you're welcome

rotted out tree stumps....

i'm a natural light photographer and take pride in that.

~

unfortunately i'm a fair weather photographer, too.

so when the weather is just a bit too cool or windy, i'm a big wimp and stay inside.

april is being a bit chilly this year for wimpy me. just saying.

if someone twisted my arm and said i could only choose one thing to photograph 

in the woods, it would be fungi without question. 

don't you think they have the best disposition for something that usually grows in and around damp and dark rotted out tree stumps. i do.

i even think flowers found in the woods are prettier then flowers found out in the open.

what is it with me and the woods. 

well, it was an amazing relationship with lots of love until that deer tick came home with me. 

so now we're working on things. me and the woods.

a few more counseling sessions and we should be good to go. snort.

most of you don't get to see into my jewelry box, so today's your lucky day.

well, only if you're still here after that intriguing little fungi blurb.

i was told i was being a smart ass this weekend and was sure monday would send her butt running for the hills, but i think she likes it here.

keep your fingers crossed for me that tomorrow is warm enough, without any wind, to get out and shoot something beautiful. otherwise, i'm going to have find something more exciting then my jewelry box to share with you. wait. you should see my sock drawer.

*

muskrat love....

please tell me you remember muskrat love. 

i don't want to feel old all alone.

{suzie and sam. and they shimmied. sam was so skinny}

our son lives for and loves anything music. 

including old albums for his new {and recently found old} record players.

my parents are moving across town after living in the same house for 37 years. mom pulled out these old albums to add to his quickly growing pile of albums and the old record player {and an old rca radio} i found in my dad's garage.

score !!

~

the best part. our son loves something we grew up with. 

now granted, he couldn't really breathe without all of his high-tech equipment, but it melts my heart a little bit knowing that record players and old albums are what's making him smile the most lately.

what are these blossoms. 

they're in a beautiful tree right outside my studio window and i honestly don't know what they are. 

BUT 

these i know. gypsy moth worms. gross.

their nest was on a branch in my beautiful tree. 

gross again. 

so i cut off the branch as my neighbor walked by and then he grabbed lighter fluid and a lighter and we burned those little suckers to smithereens. that's always kind of fun to do.

i'm still playing with my {lens} baby. i think i'll like her best at the beach. or a farm.

or maybe even the zoo. inside the house bores her a bit.

just another try at a "still shot"

{the wood is the top of my 100 year old table that i use for my desk}

the last three photos were taken at our cottage. it's for sale.

want to buy it.

{no my antiques are not included. well maybe if you really beg}

*

i had a baby...

her name is lensbaby. she arrived this weekend. 

she's a tiny thing, weighing almost nothing and has a mind of her own.

i love her, but i'm not so sure she loves me. yet.

~

the photos above and any other ones in this post 

that have a more than noticeable blurry edge to them, were taken with her.

~ 

oh gosh, i have SO much to learn.

{slight interruption regarding my baby}

remember when i returned the sabrina ward harrison book that i didn't like. well the one thing i did like about it, were the collage pieces inside a vellum envelope, attached to the inside cover.

well, mostly i loved the word collage pieces. 

so without her book,  i made my own.

lots and lots of them.

for some reason, i feel that i want to get close to my subjects while shooting with my baby, but that's not really what she wants to do. so we're working on a compromise. the stairwell is a good example of us playing well together.

~

when i shoot with her, i'm on manual. manual forces me to use my eye to focus. 

you see, for 4 years now i have always used auto focus. auto focus is not the same as auto.

so i'm still shooting on aperture, my favorite mode, but manually focusing the lens.

this my friends is not the easiest thing to do.

~

this child of mine is talented though. 

with my help, we can focus up or down and left or right.

have you ever ridden a unicycle. while juggling oranges.

that's how hard it is to find the the off center sweet spot my baby has.

did i mention i have lots to learn.

so just like anything else, you practice. and practice some more.

so i will be practicing for hours and hours and days and days until this new child of mine and i

can finish each other's sentences. seriously, that's how close to her i want to be.

*

ps....i could care less that brad and angelina are engaged.

what did you say....

since i've been playing in my studio,

i feel the need to declare that "creativity requires a mess."

{umm...hi honey, i love you}

 do you ever wish you were a better listener? i do. all the time.

i swear that sometimes my thoughts are like a raging river in my head, flooding my ears and preventing me from grasping what is being said to me. 

~

i can look you in the eye, watch your lips move, nod my head in agreement and yet my thoughts, that i must somehow believe to be more important then your words, won't cooperate. 

they won't wait. they have no patience whatsoever. 

and then they team up with my tongue in a "hey, what about me" kind of way and take off in a full sprint for a cross country run. it's rude. 

~

i am working on being a better listener.

i don't care for silence. i consider it a void that has to be filled with something. 

music is the best void filler.

when i go somewhere that has a specific time for my arrival, i'm early.

i'm always early. i'm never late. ever.

just saying

*

happy weekend everyone. i mean it. 

sometimes i'm a little crafty....

forever now, i've been making my own journal covers. 

unfortunately, i haven't made any in a few years, 

since my photography addiction has been holding me hostage. in a good way.

so when i saw a blog post {that i can't find anywhere}

where someone was making one, the "journal cover making" bug bit me once again.

the original journal i used was a hard covered, circus themed one from michael's {1.50}

i took the latest anthropologie catalog and cut out a few of my favorite photos.

then i used scrapbook paper scraps to cover up my uneven lines.

i kind of liked it like this, but decided to add a bit more oomph.

a butterfly rub-on

and then some word stickers and flower rub-ons.

the white flower rub ons were too bright, so i dulled them up with stamping ink and q-tips.

i like it

but you can't leave the back undecorated, right ? 

so before i used masking tape to finish the spine, i added a little bit of fun to the backside.

and to finish it, i personalized it with my little "be yourself" stamp.

these are a few of my old journals. i've always used scrapbook paper, but now

i'm totally in love with using magazine photos. but be careful. 

it's easy to get bubbles with the thinner paper, so make sure you have something to smooth them out with. like a bone folder.

*

if you want to make your own and have any questions, feel free to ask !!

a story without any words.....

okay....just a few words

easter at my sister's house

~

unbelievably great food. a paper sack easter bunny head. eggs to be found. hot tamales to be hated. an unexpected skull. candy negotiating. wild wicked wind. the best cut out sugar cookies ever. laughs.

~

it was a great day

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