Dogs In Motion

My two girls, Phoebe (yellow lab) and Bailey (All American Mutt) love to play fetch.  Bailey gets down right crazy about it.  She will be so excited that her jaw will actually click.  Usually our ball sessions last about 10 or 15 minutes and my arms get really sore from throwing.  I stand on the deck and throw the ball and they fly down the stairs and fetch it.  If Phoebe gets the ball, she runs up the stairs and tosses at my feet.  If Bailey gets the ball she brings it back up the stairs, places both paws on top and "shoots" it to me by popping it out from under her paws.

A few weeks ago, I got this great idea to get my tennis racket and hit the ball out to them.  I can hit it way farther than I can throw it and the girls love it.  I can also last longer so our sessions are closer to a half hour.

I love how they look when they run...I live vicariously in their motion.  We could all learn from the simple happiness of a dog chasing a ball!

Is Photography Art or Indulgence (on my part!)

So my Pentax K-X is a perfectly fine beginner DSLR camera...and mine is red! But as much as I liked my red beginner DSL I felt like I needed something with some advanced features.  So I got myself a Canon T2I -- 18.2 megapixels, shooting capability in "the RAW" (still not sure what that means yet except that it will be better to manipulate in Photoshop), and a bunch of other features that I'm still working through.  Photography is an expensive habit!  I could take a second mortgage out just on the lenses that I want!


But in addition to my new camera, I also invested in Lens called the Lensbaby.  This is a very cool lens kit that "bends" the image providing a lovely sweet spot of focus and feathers out the rest of the image.  There are multiple optics you can add to your Lensbaby.  I bought the "Composer" and several optics and special effects.  Check out their website and gallery for some very cool examples in their Gallery Lensbaby.

My favorite, the fish eye optic!

But as I struggle with the new equipment, I also struggle with photography as an art form.  I've always like to take unusual angles of things...more interested in the composition of a picture than documenting an event.  But what makes my shot better than someone else's?  I mean, if I get a great picture is it because of my artistic insight or is it because I have a great camera?  I struggle with this...

So here are some photos that are what I call my Seinfeld Series -- pictures about nothing...but I like them!  What do you think?

Macro 10x and 4x together

Macro 10x and 4x together

Double pane optic

Double pane optic

Macro 10X

Double pane optic

Double pane optic

2010 -- The Year of The Crafty Girl Project

Welcome to 2011 Crafty Girls and Guys everywhere.  I've seen a lot of my fellow bloggers posting a year review on the blog and I thought I would remind my awesome readers of some highlights of my 2010. 

I would definitely say 2010 was a growth year for me -- or the beginning of the mid-life crisis as my husband puts it!  My main focus for 2010 was how can I live a more creative life.  I asked myself the question could I do something creative every single day?

Well, the answer is yes, sort of.  What I mean with this vague answer is that a majority of the time, I thought or did something creative.  Some days there was no tangible thing that said, "Look what I made!"  But there's been a lot of changes in my mindset to get me doing more creative projects.

Some highlights of my year include these major life events:

1)  Became a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator in January 2010

Not only do I get a discount off my supplies but I'm awed by the creativity of my friends at Stampin' Up!  Being able to go to the convention this past July was incredible!  I took home more ideas--both business and creative -- then I had room for in my suitcase.  Plus it was held in beautiful Salt Lake City and I've got some fantastic shots of the city.

I held regular Crafty Girl nights and was able to teach friends how to make fun projects...even if they weren't crafty! 

2)  I became Copic Marker Certified so I could start teaching beginning classes on copic marker coloring.  I love these alcohol-based, refillable markers.  I've created some cool mixed-media pieces using the airbrushing techniques as well as just had a blast coloring stamped images. 

3)  I went back to school and am hoping to get a Bachelor's in Fine Art at Kennesaw State University.  In April 2011, I will officially submit my portfolio to gain entry into the School of Art.  I'm going back and forth between a BFA focusing on photography and printmaking or a BS in Art Education but leaning more toward the art education.  Ultimately I'd really like to have my own business -- maybe an art supply store that offers classes in different mediums.  Right now if I want to go to an art store I have to head to Alpharetta, Buckhead or downtown Tech area.  It would be nice to have one that caters to us KSU and Polytech students!  But then I'd like to make art assessable to the masses -- to all the people who say they aren't crafty but would like to try. 

The Crafty Girl Project is far from over.  It is now a lifestyle rather than a project with a definite start date and end date.  What this journey has led me to is a clarity of my love and passions. 

What will 2011 bring?  More projects, more drawings, more paintings, more cards, more scrapbook pages, more workshops, more classes -- teaching and attending, more fun!

What are you doing to be crafty today? www.craftygirlga.stampinup.net