Best Shot Monday, Sweet Yellow Daisy

I recently bit the bullet and bought the 18-300mm zoom I've been wanting for nearly two years now. It is by far the most expensive lens I own, but by far not the most expensive lens out there! When you really get to looking, it's amazing how much moola you could spend on camera gear if you had unlimited funds!

I took this shot at the zoo with that very lens.  The neat thing about a telephoto lens like this is you can get a short range of focus on a long lens.  That allowed me to get this sweet little daisy in focus while the pond behind it is completely blurred out.  I took this shot in the zoo's garden area. I was about five feet away from the daisy as it stretched its pretty little self out over the pond.  Lots more playing to do with this lens...and at the recommendation of a fellow photographer friend, I purchased a monopod to help me with it as one of things I learned while taking it on its inaugural shoot at the zoo is that it's darn heavy!

Hope you had a lovely weekend. The girls and I spent Saturday with several other moms and daughters for our Mermaids and Mamas mini camp. Even though we didn't get the overnight experience this year, it worked out perfectly doing it at the house.  We got plenty of art time, the girls got plenty of play time, and my studio was just steps away to grab last minute supply ideas.  Sunday, we had a family beach day, our first this summer!      

Have a best shot you'd like to share?  Post a link to in in the comments! 

A Little Book for Mermaids

Front Cover

The girlies and I have been getting ready our Mermaids and Mamas mini camp tomorrow! I think we may make some journals like this one. I made this basically from scraps. The three different sections of spray painting are from three different sheets that I cut down for another journal. I simply collaged them on to a piece of watercolor paper and added in the script scraps for contrast.

 

Back Cover

The signatures are mixed media paper left over from another project as well, sewn in with a butterfly stitch. Overall, the little book is about 4" x 6". I've recently joined the Art Abandonment group on Facebook, so I think I just might abandon this one somewhere when we finish with Mermaids and Mamas tomorrow! 

 

Memory Loss and Frantic Searches

It's amazing what you find when you do a major cleaning! This time around, I came across a whole little bag of sterling wire clasps I vaguely recall making over one weekend at least two years or so ago (this would also explain the 16 gauge sterling wire I have but couldn't remember why I bought...).  Not sure why I never used them, so now that I've rediscovered them I'm finally working them into bracelets.   I have nearly a dozen new bracelets I'll be loading into my Etsy shop and website over the next few days. 

Somedays I do feel like my memory is leaving me.  I'm getting more and more scatterbrained. Not sure if it's just a case of my brain being too full or if I'm showing early Alzheimer's symptoms (certainly hope it's not the latter as that's what I lost my grandmother to).  Case in point: a couple weekends ago, the girls and I went to the Avondale Arts Festival here in Jacksonville.  We stopped at the food booths to get some treats. Olivia wanted ice cream and Sarah wanted a cupcape, and since these were in neighboring booths, I pulled out my wallet to give Livvie $5 to get her ice cream and then I waited in line with Sarah.  When it was time to pay for Sarah's cupcake, my wallet was nowhere to be found.  I frantically searched my purse (guy next to me said "Dump everything out! That's what my wife has to do!"), looked all over the ground, asked Livvie if she had it, nothing.  The cupcake girl said, "Don't you worry, sweetie, you go ahead and take this one on me. Go find your wallet."  The girls helped me look and were beginning to panic. Then I found it. Know where it was?  Tucked under my arm the entire time.  No joke.  Does that sound like a woman who is losing it?  I felt a little better when the girls said they couldn't see it there either, but hey, it was under MY ARM.  You would think I would have felt it, right?  It's a thick little wallet, not filled with cash, but rather all my daily lunch haunt frequent visitor cards!  But no, it was at least five panicked minutes before I realized the darn thing was tucked under my own arm. 

Am I the only one losing her mind? 

Best Shot Monday: Meet Kay

Now that I've made it through my crazy April, I'm back to my weekly photo shoots at the shelter. I enjoy this volunteer work, I really do, and I feel like I'm making a difference. I wanted to share some stats with you.  In April 2012, Animal Care & Protective Services took in 1,462 animals (yes, you read that right: 1,462 in one month, which is not unusual). Approximately 73% of those animals were either adopted, returned to their owners, or taken in by other shelters; approximately 27% died or were euthanized due to illness, aggression or lack of space. In April 2013, ACPS took in 1,220 animals. Approximately 89% were adopted, returned to their owners, or taken in by other shelters, meaning only 11% died or were euthanized. I'd say that's a wonderful improvement!  I have to feel that my photos have been a part of that improvement. I started volunteering there in May 2012. 

But I will tell you this. As much as I love spending time with these dogs, it can be heart-breaking work. Take sweet Kay here. I photographed her this past Friday.  Do you see the wisdom and the hope in her eyes?  I haven't looked into her full story yet, but I can tell that she's suffered some abuse. She is such a sweet, sweet girl. And it made me so sad to see her cringe when I went to pet her, afraid maybe that I was going to hit her instead. That broke my heart.  I just sat down on the sidewalk next to her, let her warm up to me, and then just loved on her.

I've learned in my year there that Pitt bulls are incredibly wrongly maligned. They are not the mean, vicious monsters many people make them out to be. If you come across a Pitt or Pitt mix that's aggressive, it's because a human has made that dog that way; it's not a natural tendency. Sure, they are protective, but no more protective that many other breeds, including shepherds and even small dogs like Dachshunds and Chihuahuas (I grew up with Dachshunds, and they'd take your hand off if you came near me!).  And you try getting near our girls when Molly and Isabelle are around (both Lab mixes).  When dogs are given love, no matter their breed, they give love in return. Take a look at the website called "I Am Not a Monster."   Pitts are not monsters ... unfortunately, many people are. 

Spiral Journal Spread 6...and a Confession or Two

Well, let's see. Today's May 8. Last time I completed an art journal page (other than at An Artful Journey)?  Apparently it was February 19, if this spread is any indication. And flipping through my Flickr sets, I realized I never shared it with you here.  This spread includes several of my secret addictions:  magazines (the Coach perfume bottle probably came out of Glamour), old books, and old maps.  When you work on a college campus and are good friends with the dean over the library, you get first dibs on the old books and maps they are purging.  The circles are cut from painted and inked coffee filters. I also used gesso, acrylic paint, spray inks, Sharpie paint pens, and alphabet and swirl stamps.

So about those magazines...they are my husband's nemesis. And I will confess that I'm a "piler." Recently in one of those magazines I subscribe to, I believe it was Redbook, I came across an article that talked about the different ways people manage clutter.  When I saw the description of the "piler," I yelled from my reading perch, "Oh my gosh!  That's me!" and immediately read it to Benny. He wholeheartedly agreed (yet I pointed out that my piling tendencies are better controlled and neater than his "leave it wherever I put it down" tendencies).  So to come clean, here is the long list of periodicals that appear in our maibox on a monthly, bimonthly or quarterly basis (it should be noted that not ALL of these are for me): Glamour, Redbook, Coastal Living, Good Housekeeping, Better Homes and Gardens, Better Homes and Gardens Do It Yourself, HGTV Magazine, National Geographic, National Geographic Kids, American Girl Magazine, Sports Illustrated (weekly! you know how those can pile up!), Florida Sportsmen, Cloth Paper Scissors, Somerset Studio, Artful Blogging, and Art Journaling (okay, so MOST of these are for me....but I will add that Benny is a closet Glamour and Redbook reader--yes, now his secret is out--and the girls will read anything I do).  My longest standing subscription is National Geographic.  My mother got me a subscription when I was in middle school, and I have received every issue since. For a while, I couldn't bear to part with them and kept every one in one bookcase dedicated just to those yellow spines. Finally I realized we were about to be overrun, so I donated my entire collection to a couple of local schools (but they are piling up again...).

Then there are those that I just happen to pick up in Publix or Books a Million: Flea Market Style, Flea Market Finds, Sew Somerset, Somerset HandMade, Better Homes and Gardens 100 Storage Ideas (because, obviously, I need storage ideas), the occasional quilting magazine, and random others that just happen to jump out at me. I confess. I am a magazine junkie. But I do read them all!  Cover to cover!  Once my "I've read these" pile has reached the point of consistently toppling over, the girls and I have a big cutting session, cutting out images to use in our journal pages before I sadly put them in the recycle bin.  But it's not just magazines; I'm a big reader in general.  In addition to my magazine addiction, I also read two to three novels a month.  And I'm a want-to-feel-the-real-thing in my hand kind of girl. I don't have, nor do I want, a Kindle, and I don't like reading magazines on tablets. Last night I started The Sugar Queen, by Sarah Addison Allen, and I've read several of her books recently (The Peach Keeper has been my favorite of hers so far). I also fell in love with Jacqueline Sheehan and have read every one of her books over the last few months (it should come as no surprise that all of Sheehan's books have strong canine characters).  I'll have to do a post on all my favorite reads...

...and then there is that HUGE pile (well, to be honest, about four piles) of vintage Popular Mechanics magazines, courtesy of eBay, piled up next to my book table in my studio...don't even get Benny started on those.  Sometime this summer, I'll be flipping through those searching out vintage automobile ads, a whole other addiction I'll spare you from for the moment.  So, hmmm, back to the point of this post: sharing an art journal page. In a round about way, I believe I have just proven that you truly can share all your deep dark secrets through a journal page, even if they start in your mailbox. :-) Any secret addictions you want to share? 

Best Shot Monday

We've had an incredibly rainy four days with extremely high tides, so the girlies have been having a great time kayaking in the back yard during high tide (yes, I said kayaking in the back yard...when the tides are this high, the river moves in!). As I mentioned in last week's Best Shot Monday (on a Thursday...) we have several pots of daisies on the back deck. I was lucky enough to catch this one during a break in the rain with some pretty raindrops still hanging on.

My craziness finally wrapped up yesterday with our Commencement ceremony. We do two ceremonies in one day, so it makes for a very long day, but at least we get it all done in one day. With a good nine hours standing on a hard concrete floor, my back and knees are always screaming by the end of the day, but I love Commencement.  So fun to see all those happy students cross the stage, particularly those I've had so much direct involvement with.  Now that the Spring term is over, I'll be able to catch my breath a bit and hopefully be able to catch up on some art-making and listing new jewelry pieces I haven't had time to post yet.  Things slow down a bit in the office for us during summer term as well, so it's end of the academic year report writing time.  I hope your May has started off bright and sunny!

Have a Best Shot Monday of your own you'd like to share?  Post a link in the comments!

Time for May Free Bling!

Time for Free Bling Friday!  Congrats to Patti from Lafayette, Louisiana, for winning my April Free Bling! 

May brings Mother's Day, so to get your name in the hat for these abalone and sterling earrings, tell me about a favorite memory you have of your mother.  It could have happened many years ago, or it could have happened yesterday, just as long as it's a favorite!  Along with your answer, include your location and a way to reach you by midnight June 6. Want more entries? Tweet, blog or Facebook this giveaway and leave another comment with the link. The next winner will be drawn via random.org Friday, June 7.

My favorite memory of my mom?  One that particularly jumps out is when I was in 10th grade, when Michael Jackson's first album came out.  I was singing along to MJ in my earphones and then realized my mom was standing in my bedroom doorway watching (and listening to!) me.  We both cracked up.  :-)

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