Handmade Mixed Media Gift Card Holder

So now that there is the wonderful world of Imgur out there and it's much easier to upload there, I might just start posting more here and on my card making blog.

Aside from photography, which I haven't been partaking in as much of late, I have a lot of crafty, artsy, fartsy hobbies.  From card  and cake making, to glass painting, and acrylic painting.  I now have yet another one. Mixed Media art.

I made my first gift card holder with lots of goodies I had in my craft/art supplies and a few new things I bought to help my hobby along.  I've uploaded images of it here.  I'm quite pleased with how it turned out after initially not loving it too much.

Mixed Media Gift Card Holder

Made in China

I've been away from photography for quite some time. However, I am really beginning to miss it and with the advancement of cell phone cameras these days, and my $10 purchase of a 3 "made in China" lens set (macro, fish eye and wide angle) that I bought from some no name site, I think I am finding my motivation again. I snapped these with the fish eye and macro lens.

79-365 Run Jimmy Run

I was standing outside with my friend Chrystal on a break from a training class we were in.  Our co-worker Jimmy was down the sidewalk from us so I told him to smile.  The one fighting to get out of the picture is him...obviously.  LOL!  The funny thing about this picture is that I didn't even realize our other co-worker, Johnny was even in it.  I was so intent on getting Jimmy that I didn't even see him walk by until I looked up from my phone.  I am in love with this new app Instagram which is what was used for this picture.  You will likely see a lot of photos from that app because I LOVE it!  AND...I'm not sure how many photo settings I'll be posting on photos I take with my Nikon anymore because it's a pain in the butt to collect that info from my insanely long list of EXIF data my camera collects on each image.  So, I hope to be able to post more often though it's not going to be daily, I'm sure.  :o)

78-365 Couple of Irene

So some of my friends have asked me if I'll get back to my 365 Project.  I'm so super involved in my town's youth football program and love it so much that my project sort of took a back burner for a little while.  Now that all of my rosters have been approved and made active and my little man has decided not to play which means I don't HAVE to be at the field every night and every home game Saturday every day, I hope to be able to get back to my project.  I may not post every day or take a photo every day but I will do my best.  I had wanted to start this project so I could create a photo book including the 365 days of photos and though they may not be consecutive, I will still make myself a book of my years worth of photos once I've reached 365 days.

This past Thursday, I decided to take a trip out to Bogue Pier before Hurricane Irene because I had never been out there before a storm and always wanted to.  (I was sorry to hear that this icon of our coast, that the end of the pier where the observation deck was, had been destroyed by the storm.) I didn't know there would be as many people in the surf, nor was I prepared for the shaking going on, on the pier.  The waves weren't the biggest they could be at this point in the storm but they were still bigger than I had seen and I can't imagine what that amount of water must feel like when the surfers were hit with it.  I have a lot of pictures but out of all of them that I still haven't finished processing, this one I kept coming back to.  I love the scene.  I think it's simple, romantic and leaves an impact on me.  This young couple were hanging out on the beach together and the innocence in the young lady standing there with her boyfriend in this scene was beautiful to me.  Human nature made me want to know more about them.  I applied one my my favorite Photoshop actions called Midnight Sepia because it lends to the romanticism in the image.  I'm sincerely considering entering this into the Art Contest I plan to enter in the next few weeks.

My settings are as follows: Shutter speed - 1/1000 secs, Aperture - F2.8, ISO - 100, Flash - Not fired, Focal Length - 60mm, WB - Cloudy.

77-365 A Racing Legend

I was walking around the house trying to figure out what to take a picture of and saw my husbands Dale Earnhardt collectors shot glass.  I should have filled it up and celebrated afterwards but I didn't.  LOL!  My husband and I used to be pretty big race fans but after Earnhardt Sr died from an accident at Daytona (a race we watched) it just didn't seem the same.  We still watch it occasionally but with the retirement of some of our favorite generation of racers, the missing black intimidator car and the high number of rules and restrictions that have been added to nascar racing, it's just not as fun to watch anymore.  

Settings for this shot were: Shutter speed 1/15 sec, Aperture F3.2, ISO 400, WB Auto, Focal Length 60mm, Flash not fired.

76-365 Laguna Bay

I took this in a subdivision called Laguna Bay.  It is a very pretty area with prime lots by the water.  Unfortunately the owner is having a hard time selling the lots due to the neighborhoods you have to drive through to get to it.

75-365 Noose

I took this at a pier visit and thought it turned out pretty neat.  I called it noose because it looked like one once I saw it on my computer.  I cropped it to have 13 rows which if I remember correctly is the number of loops that you used in a noose knot though I didn't confirm it prior to posting.  Settings aren't anything special as this was taken with my cell phone.

74-365 Clips that Shine

These paperclips actually looked neater in real life than they do in this picture I think.  It still made for a nifty macro shot.  I hope that Saturday I'll get to use my wide angle lens some because I think I might be getting bored with macro.  Is that possible when macro opens so many doors?  Maybe I'm just in a slump on ideas. 

Settings for this shot were: Shutter speed 1/30, Aperture F5.6, ISO 400, WB Auto, Focal length 60mm, Flash not fired.

73-365 Violet Wilds

These were in my backyard blowing in the wind.  Way too much for me to focus well on it.  So...I grabbed a handful of them and stuck them in the flower vase my son had filled earlier in the week with azaleas.  I had them under my LED light strip in my kitchen and I think it really brought out some neat shadows and textures.  

The settings were: Shutter speed - 1/125 secs, Aperture - F4.0, ISO 400, WB Fluorescent, Focal length 60mm, Flash not fired.

72-365 Yellow Winds

These yellow flowers are on a vine hanging over my fence in the backyard.  I adjusted the levels like usual and got these great colors.  The flower isn't as clear as I wanted but it was windy before the bad storms we got a few hours later.

The settings were: Shutter speed -  1/125 sec, Aperture - F8, ISO - 200, WB Cloudy, Focal Length - 60mm, Flash not fired.

71-365 Berrylicious

I bought strawberries, angel food cake and whip cream for strawberry shortcake and boy was it yummy.  I thought a macro shot would be great on the bright red strawberries.  Not sure that I'm too happy with the final product though but I'm sure I'll have another shot before the spring and summer is over.

Settings for this were: Shutter speed - 1/30 sec, Aperture - F3.5, ISO 400, Focal Length - 60mm, WB - Cloudy, Flash not fired.

70-365 Rio's Toucan

I got this cute little character in my happy meal and thought he was cute enough to take a picture of.  I was going to put my cheeseburger in his wings like he was holding it but it wouldn't stay there.  LOL!  So...while slightly unfocused and technically a nightmare...I wanted to post my cheesy snapshot for today's photo of the day.  :)

69-365 Butterfly

So I'm wayyyy behind this time.  The most behind as I've ever been.  BUT...just because I haven't been able to keep up my postings, it doesn't mean I haven't been taking pictures.  So my 69th photo of my 365 Project is a butterfly I saw on the ground when a co-worker and I were leaving a job site.  It's my first ever butterfly shot and I wish I had had my macro lens with me.  Taken with my cell phone, I still like the shot.

Catching Up

I am the most behind that I've been in my project since I started it...but no worries...because I'm getting caught up tomorrow.  I have all of my pictures from the last few days...I've post processed them....I just haven't had a chance to post them yet.  (I was more consumed with the storms last night that were occurring in this area...and I hope those of you who follow me that live in or around the areas that were hit with tornado's are praying for the healing of those who were directly affected.  Many places and folks lost a lot during these storms and I pray for their safety and immediate recovery after a very scary night for us all.)

I'll have my photos up tomorrow so those who are saying "ah...she's always behind"...stand by....because I'll only be behind...for one more night".  Isn't the anticipation worth it, though?!?!  ;-)

Thanks so much for your patience.  I'm especially happy with the photo that will take tonight's slot!