Wordless Wednesday - Hen House

Hen House

While apple picking last Saturday we got to see some chickens...

They were pretty cool to watch. They looked like they were on the lookout for something.



Don't forget to enter my giveaway for the decoration pictured to the left, here.

Take Me Back Tuesday

September 1983

I was almost 10yrs old in these photos. (my birthday is in Nov)

When I was a kid we had lots of pets (dog, 3 cats, hamster(s), chinchilla, rabbit, & lots of fish). One of our pets was this bunny named Bugs (as in Bugs Bunny). I remember getting this rabbit at a farmers market of some sort. I think my sister wanted a chicken and we ended up with the rabbit...? Not sure on all the details. We kept our rabbit behind our garage in a cage. I can vividly remember walking through the backyard in snow to give the rabbit fresh water in a tea cup because the water would freeze.

On another note...look at my sisters Care Bear t-shirt. Too cute! Also look at our braids, I had my braids until I was in 7th grade...but that is another story.




Don't forget to enter my giveaway for the decoration pictured to the left, here.





You can participate and/or check out other Take Me Back Tuesday posts at A Giveaway Addicted Mommy.

I ♥ Faces - Week 38

This week’s theme is: "Blue"

This photo I took of my friend's son at his first birthday party a couple months ago.



Don't forget to enter my giveaway for the decoration pictured to the left, here.



Check out more photos at i ♥ faces.

Sunday Citar

"Children are the anchors that hold a mother to life."~ Sophocles

I took this on the train while we went Apple Picking yesterday. While scrolling through my photos this morning it completely melted my heart.



Don't forget to enter my giveaway for the decoration pictured to the left, here.








Thank you for stopping by Sunday Citar! This blog quote meme was created by Fresh Mommy. You can stop by her blog to see the quotes and photos that she and everyone else is loving right now.

Tags and Awards

So I have received a couple awards recently and have been tagged. So if you would like a laugh or to know more about me, grab a cup of coffee and read the following...


I have recieved 2 lovely awards from Ave from Made in the Canarias. Thank you!

First Award is...

This award comes with some rules and a survey I have to fill out.

Rules

1. You Can Only Use One Word!

2. Pass this along to 6 of your favorite bloggers!

3. Alert them that you have given them this award!

4. Have Fun!

The Fun Part

1. Where is your cell phone? Purse

2. Your hair? Brown

3. Your mother? Home

4. Your father? Working

5. Your favorite food? Subs

6. Your dream last night? None

7. Your favorite drink? Diet

8. Your dream/goal? Martha

9. What room are you in? Livingroom

10. Your hobby? Blogging

11. Your fear? Fire

12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Happy

13. Where were you last night? Home

14. Something that you aren’t? Quiet

15. Muffins? Blueberry

16. Wish list item? Disney

17. Where did you grow up? Oakfield

18. Last thing you did? Eat

19. What are you wearing? PJs

20. Your TV? on

21. Your pets? Cat

22. Friends? lots

23. Your life? Happy

24. Your mood? Happy

25. Missing someone? Family

26. Vehicle? Elantra

27. Something you’re not wearing? Contacts

28. Your favorite store? LOFT

29. Your favorite color? Pink

30. When was the last time you laughed? Today

31. Last time you cried? Hmmm

32. Your best friend? Sharon

33. One place that I go to over and over? moms

34. One person who emails me regularly? Sharon

35. Favorite place to eat? Jades

____________________________________________________
2nd Award...
The rules here are to pass the award on to 7 bloggers who I think are honest in their blogging and to list 10 honest things about myself.

1. I love fall. I love the colors and my birthday is in November.
   
2. I love blogging. I have "met" so many cool people on the internet. Thank you!
   
3. I have an AS degree in Engineering Science and moved to Buffalo because I was going to UB for Chemical Engineering. I never finished my BS.
   
4. I am not a fan of ice cream & candy. I really have to be in the mood to eat it.
   
5. I do not wear make-up.
6. I love scrapbooking (I am a Creative Memories snob). I go on a scrap & spa weekend once a year with friends...I can not wait until this year.
7. I love to take photos. Everything is a photo op for me...at least my husband thinks so.
8. I talk to much.
9. I live by the Buffalo border. You can walk to South Buffalo from my house.
10. I love going to see bands live. I saw Alice In Chains (with the new lead singer) when I was 7mths pregnant with my daughter on my birthday almost 3yrs ago. BTW...awesome concert! Sad thing is my husband HATES concerts...I usually go with his brother.

_____________________________________________________
I was tagged on facebook by my friend Amy.

Can you fill this out without lying? You've been tagged, so now you need to answer all the questions HONESTLY. At the end, choose at least 8 people to be tagged. Don't forget to tag me! To do this, copy this entire message, then go to “notes” under tabs on your profile page, paste these instructions in the body of the note, delete my answers, and type yours.


1.What was the last thing you put in your mouth?
Diet Coke.

2.Where was your profile picture taken?
It was taken in Niagara Falls. (this is my profile picture right now)

3.Can you play Guitar Hero?
Never tried it.

4.Name someone who made you laugh today?
Lily.

5.How late did you stay up last night and why?
9pm watching tv with Jeff. Yes we were both pathetic and went to bed early on a Friday night.

6.If you could move somewhere else, would you?
Only if it was larger and someone else would pay for it.

7. Ever been kissed under fireworks?
Probably

8. Which of your friends lives closest to you?
Sharon & Julie

9. Do you believe ex's can be friends?
Probably, although I am not friends with any of them.

10. How do you feel about Dr Pepper?
Don't like it.

11. When was the last time you cried really hard?
Not sure. Probably when I read on-line Cora Paige died. I could not stop sobbing.

12. Who took your profile picture?
Me.

13. Who was the last person you took a picture of?
Lily

14. Was yesterday better than today?
No.

15. Can you live a day without TV?
Probably! Internet would be harder though.

16. Are you upset about anything?
Not really.

17. Do you think relationships are ever really worth it?
Absolutely.

18. Are you a bad influence?
Depends.....lol.

19. Night out or night in?
Night in.

20. What items could you not go without during the day?
My laptop.

21. Who was the last person you visited in the hospital?
My brother in law...long story.

22. What does the last text message in your inbox say?
Do not text message...definitely behind the times.

23. How do you feel about your life right now?
Pretty good.

24. Do you hate anyone?
Nope.

25. If we were to look in your facebook in box, what would we find?
Messages from friends.

26. Say you were given a drug test right now, would you pass?
Yes.

27. Has anyone ever called you perfect before?
No.

28. What song is stuck in your head?
...nothing comes to mind, thank God.

29. Someone knocks on your window at 2:00 a.m., who do you want it to be?
Someone better not be knocking at my door unless they are giving me money or it's something important.

30.Wanna have grandkids by the time you're 50?
Nope.

31. Name something you have to do tomorrow?
Go through wedding photos with my friend.

32. Do you think too much or too little?
TOO MUCH

33. Do you smile a lot?
Yes
______________________________________________________
I was tagged on Facebook by my friend April...

Here are the rules:
Test your memory and your love of live music by listing 50 artists or bands you've seen in concert. List the FIRST 50 acts that come into your head. An act you saw at a festival and opening acts count, but ONLY if you can't think of 50 other artists.
List the first concert you ever saw as #1 (you can remember that, can’t you)?

Should you choose this challenge, here's what you do:
Copy my note. Click on “notes” under tabs on your profile page (look in the "plus" area. Select "write a new note" in the top corner. Paste the copy in the body of the note. Make your list. Once you've saved, don't forget to tag friends (including me) on the right.

So I could not remember 50, but these are the ones I remember...

1. Bell Biv Devoe
2. Keith Sweat
3. Monie Love
4. Johnny Gil (1-4 were my first concert)
   
5. Pearl Jam (2x's)
   
6. Megadeth
7. Korn
8. Rush (2x's)
   
9. Queensryche
10. Tragically Hip (3x's)
    
11. Metallica
12. Suicidal Tendencies
13. Alice In Chains
14. Pantera
15. Lenny Kravitz
16. Green Day
17. The Cranberries
18. The Tea Party (2x's)
    
19. Jeff Martin
20. Pat Benatar
21. Goo Goo Dolls (2x's)
    
22. The Headstones (got hit in the head with the microphone at that concert)
23. Moby
24. The Cult
25. The Watchmen
26. Counting Crows
27. Weezer
28. Garbage
29. Smashing Pumpkins
30. Candlebox (2x's)
    
31. Gin Blossoms
32. Flaming Lips
33. Alanis Morissette
34. Tesla (2x's)
    
35. Aerosmith
36. Tori Amos
37. Grateful Dead
38. Fuel
    

________________________________________________________

Well, I am supposed to hand out these awards and tag people, but I am going to break the rules.

Hope you are having a great Saturday.

My Photos...

Kimberly from Altering Life asked a great question yesterday about my product photos. BTW, you should really check out her blog, her photos are amazing!

"Hey, do you use a light box to shoot your photos? You get such great even lighting..."

I thought it was a great question and that I should do a blog post about it. I am not an expert at all, but after playing around this is what I do to take my photos. I personally do not use a lightbox. Lightboxes are wonderful and very useful. I, personally, am too lazy to build one and living in a small house have NO where to store one. And besides I found something else that works for me.

You may remember this photo of my daughter helping me the other week when I was taking the photo for my header.


This is typically what I do to take photos of my creations. I usually use a smaller white piece of card stock paper instead of the big poster board, but I needed something bigger for that tree.

I take my photos usually in the am by the window in my dining room with the light on. My camera is set to macro mode and I turn off my flash.

This is typically what my photos look like when I download them into my computer, way too dark. So I edit the brightness in PhotoScape. You thought I was going to say PhotoShop didn't you? Well, I do not own PhotoShop. So what is a girl to do without PhotoShop? She uses PhotoScape by google because it's FREE. Thank you Marisa for telling me about this FANTASTIC program! Anywho, in PhotoScape there is a brightening tool which allows me to brighten my pictures.
When I am done brightening my products look just like they do in real life.

Here is the before and after.

I used Photoscape to create my header, buttons and all of my collages. While someday I wish to own Photoshop, I LOVE Photoscape and use it all the time.

If you have any questions about anything (blog code, polymer clay, photos, etc)...please feel free to leave it in the comment section. I try to e-mail everyone back (as long as your e-mail is public...or leave your e-mail in the comment). I would love to use some of these questions as tutorial blog posts. I may not be an expert, but I can sure tell you what has worked for me.

Don't forget to enter my giveaway, here.

Hope you have a fabulous weekend!

Please mommy...

My daughter decided the other day she wanted her own gnome. She pushed me over to my dining room table (where my clay is out) and said "please mommy, now". So who am I to disappoint my little sassy girl? She is too sweet to say no to. I was really pleased with how my little gnome turned out. I love how the hat looks like an upside down flower.
She measures 3 inches tall. I am thinking of making them as ornaments and personalizing them. I can add names to their bellies. What do you think? Any color combo suggestions?
I also was contacted by my friend, Amy's mom to create some custom Christmas Ornaments. Here is what I made... On another note

Don't forget to enter my giveaway, here.

Have a great Thursday!!

Wordless Wednesday - Sunshine

I need a little sunshine today. I took this photo this summer when we went berry picking. I can not wait to go back to the same place next weekend to go apple picking and get our pumpkins.

Don't forget to enter my giveaway, here.

Take Me Back Tuesday

1993
College Art

In college I took a painting class. One of our assignments was to find a famous painting and paint only a portion of it. For some reason I picked the most creepy thing I could paint. Once I painted it I had to turn it around because it creeped everyone out. (BTW...I also painted a trio of Mickey Mouses in the class, one of which hangs in my son's room & 2 were given to a friend for a shower present.)

The Nightmare by Henry Fuseli (1791).

Don't forget to enter my giveaway, here.




You can participate and/or check out other Take Me Back Tuesday posts at A Giveaway Addicted Mommy.

I ♥ Faces - Week 37

This week’s theme is: Completely Candid

I took this photo at the Erie County Fair this August. I loved the bright colors of this photo.

Don't forget to enter my giveaway, here.

Check out more photos at i ♥ faces.

Sunday Citar

"Flowers really do intoxicate me." ~Vita Sackville-West

When we were driving from Olcott to Marjim Manor on our staycation in July (remember here), this is what we saw on the side of the road. What a beautiful unexpected pop of color.

Don't forget to enter my giveaway, here.


Thank you for stopping by Sunday Citar! This blog quote meme was created by Fresh Mommy. You can stop by her blog to see the quotes and photos that she and everyone else is loving right now.

Watkins Glen

Two Weeks ago today we went to Watkins Glen. It was a beautiful day! We left home around 7:30am and we saw these beautiful balloons along the way...
After arriving we met up with our friends who were camping there. Here is a picture of our 6 kids...(the baby is in the carrier)

We went on a hike through Watkins Glen in 2 groups. The dads took all the kids except Lily on the first trip. Lily stayed behind with us moms.

After the guys were finished hiking, my friend & I decided not to take Lily with us because it was a bit dangerous. Besides we never get to do anything by ourselves. The view was just breathtaking.





After our hikes we went to a winery, then a quick stop at the beach...



And then we went to dinner. After dinner we went back to their campsite and had smores. We got on the road shortly after that and got home at midnight. It was a long day, but definitely worth it. We will be definitely be going back to camp next year with my friend and her family.

Don't forget to enter my giveaway, here.