2.29.2012

March Photo A Day Challenge


Tomorrow marks the 1st day of March and what better way to start than with the March Photo-A-Day Challenge?! 


Are you ready for a month of photo-taking-fun? I am. For some of you this may be the first time you take the photo challenge, for others of you..you may have already started. This will be the 1st month I actually take the challenge and I can already forsee all the fun!

If you haven't played before and want to join, please do! If you want to skip a month and take a break, please do. I love that so many people are playing along and that's what makes it fun. So if you're finding it to be a chore, just jump in and out as you please.

Here's how to play:

♥ Starting on March 1st take a photo each day with inspiration from the prompt. For example prompt 1 is 'up', so take a photo looking up. Or of the word 'up'. Or something that lifts your mood 'up'. It it totally up to you how you want to interpret it.

♥ Once you've taken your photo you can share it on Instagram, Facebook {on your own profile or business page}, Twitter, Flickr, your blog, Pinterest, Tumblr or even just keep them in a folder on your desktop. If you're sharing on Twitter or Instagram add the hashtag #Marchphotoaday so others can find your photos too.


Good luck and most importantly...be creative and have fun with it!


I will be sharing my photos here with you as well! Stay tuned....

Happy Leap Year!

Let me start off by saying, "Happy Leap Year!" Haha...ok...that's odd!

There won't be another one until 2016!


Beading Time?

After visiting my crafting closet, I have come to the conclusion that these beautiful beaded boxes need a little loving. I have been neglecting them and have not made a single piece of jewelry in some time. Most likely because between work and the kids and house work I really have not had time to frequent my crafting closet.

Perhaps this weekend I will get a chance to make something nice to be able to share with you guys. Maybe I'll even have a tutorial to share?! 

With these pictures I wanted to give you a little inspiration and color selection so that you too can feel inspired. Let's get inspired together, what do you say?!

Is there anything you would like to learn to create when it comes to jewelry making? Feel free to write me a comment or email me and I will be happy to do a tutorial for it.

Happy Beading!

2.27.2012

Photo Editing Software


Do you have a favorite photo editing software? I can honestly say that I don't! I have never really determined which one I love more than another.

After looking at all my Android powered electronics (cellphone, tablet, etc.) I have come to realize how many different photo editing software/apps I have. Just to name a few that I have downloaded: PhotoFunia, LittlePhoto, PicsArt, Pixlr-o-Matic, BeFunky, Man with Camera, Camera360 and Camera+LightBox.The cool thing is that I use multiple to edit one specific photo at times. 

Not to mention, I have more programs for photos on my desktop as well. I have PhotoShop, Picasa3, Photoscape, Picozu and Picnik. 

I love photography! Pictures are so much fun to capture. It's like a moment frozen in time. Isn't it beautiful how you can capture happy moments in your life? Or even landscapes that remind you of a period of time in your life?

The majority of the apps that I have are free. Download a few, try them out. So go on ... take pictures...and have fun. These are just a few words to live by when it comes to photography that I found inspirational. 




 

2.26.2012

Strawberry Ice Cream


Last weekend we took the kids out for a real treat. We took them to Burr's Berry Farm to enjoy some homemade strawberry ice cream.

The ice cream they make there is from all natural ingredients and tastes delicious, does not taste like the store bought type. Their ice cream is delectable and delightful! It's the creamiest strawberry ice cream we've ever had.

The more you tell kids to hurry up and eat the ice cream before it melts, the less they listen. They had "strawberry goodness" everywhere! It was running down their hands, to their clothing and even down their elbows.Good thing I carry baby wipes in the car for moments like these.While at least they enjoyed the moment, I knew I had to snap a picture of them because it's times like these we remember most.

They had so much fun...can't wait for our next adventure. Next time you're in Homestead, FL you should pay Burr's Berry Farm a visit. Trust me, you won't regret it!

What's Your Fortune?

What does it mean if your bag has no fortune cookie inside? Is this good luck, bad luck or should I just take it as a sign of "no news is good news?"
Or what about if I got 2 fortune cookies in one package? Well these were all the case today! haha
At least I finally found a wrapper with one cookie inside so my fortune read as: "Find release from your cares. Have a good time."

I wish I could do just that but my son is super sick and I can't. So are these fortunes really real? I think not! In the meantime, while we have them, why not just pretend they are? Wish one would say that I am going to win the lotto or something. ;)

2.24.2012

Animated Rainbow Links on Blogger


Do you enjoy rainbows and a splash of color the way I do? I can't get enough of color. How boring would it be if we still lived in a world full of just black and white?! BORING!

So let me help you add a little color to your blog by presenting to you this amazing feature provided by Spice Up Your Blog. What this cool gadget does is transform all of your links on your blog into rainbow changing colors.

In this EASY one click step, they show you how to transform all of your links on your Blogger/blogspot. All you have to do is click on the link above and then click on the button that looks like this...
and it automatically sets it for your in your blogger page. What's even cooler than this is that you can remove it just as easy by deleting the widget right off of your elements page.

Take a look at what it looks like right here on this test page or simply by hovering over any of the links on my page.

Let me know how you like it...leave me a comment! :)

2.16.2012

Shamballa Bracelet

Here is the late Valentine's Day gift from my husband ;) I love my new shamballa bracelet. It's so cute!

Feeling Blue

Wearing my blue dangle earrings and flower ring
Ok...not feeling Blue literally, just figuratively speaking. Don't know what got into me today, but just felt like wearing blue.

Always wanted to do these...love nautical

O.P.I's Meteor Shower Polish

2.14.2012

Love Bangles

I saw these and could not resist posting...perfect for V-Day!
It's just so cute and simple to make. You can find the link to this website here.

2.13.2012

Love Is In The Air

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day...The day of LoVe...

I usually don't celebrate Valentine's Day because I feel like every day should be full of love with your significant other. I am truly lucky and blessed to be able to say that my spouse loves me unconditionally every single day of the year.

I want to take re-take this picture like this when we're old & gray together.
So what does Valentine's Day mean? How did it come about? Do you know the reason for the holiday? If not, then allow me to explain.

St Valentine's Day was supposedly started in the time of the Roman Empire. In Ancient Rome, the date of February 14 was a holiday to honor the Queen of Roman Goddesses and Gods, Juno. Juno was known as the Goddess of women and marriage. The next day February 15 was the first day of the Festival known as the Feast of Lupercia.

On February 14 is was said that the young boys and girls of the villages would write down the names of every girl and place these names in a jar of which each young man would have to draw a name of a girl and this particular maiden would be their partner for the duration of the festival. Sometimes these parings would last a year and end up in marriage.

These rituals under the laws of Claudius were banned as the Emperor believed that the reasons why men would now go to war were because they did not want to leave their lovers or families. As a result all marriages and engagements were canceled as a result Saint Valentine a Roman priest was said to have married these couples in secret and for this he was executed on the 14th day of February.

While St Valentine was in jail it is said that he fell in love with the jailers’ daughter. By a miracle or some say by the prayers of Valentine she gained her sight and as a last farewell in a note he was to "From Your Valentine".

Another story as to the origins of Valentine's Day was that he was a priest who was also a physician and would cure the sick. He was also said to have tried to cure the jailers blind daughter, but, was arrested and on the day of his execution he wrote a note as a final farewell saying "From your Valentine" which some say is what caused her to gain her sight.

It is also said whilst he was in jail awaiting execution that he was sent little notes and flowers from the children whom he had helped when they were sick. This also may have been one of the reasons why he sent a farewell note to the jailers’ daughter and why we send valentines.

St Valentine's Day is celebrated on February 14 of each year; the reason why it is celebrated on this day is because this was the day that the Patron Saint of Lovers "St Valentine" was supposedly executed on. On this day lovers all around the world mark this occasion as a day for sending poems, cards, flowers or candy, etc. They might also be a social gathering or ball to mark the occasion.

Another Interesting origin is that St Valentine was the patron Saint of Epilepsy reason was that he was supposedly a sufferer and took a keen interest in those who suffered from this affliction and also that those who suffered this disease were suffering from Valentine's sickness.

2.11.2012

Decorative Pillow

I am so proud to announce that what would have cost me about $40 each to purchase...I made with materials I had at home and some other items I had to purchase in order to complete the project.

I am really happy with the outcome of it. It goes so well with the green pillow that we purchased at Big Lots a few weeks ago. The hubby is a wonderful inspiration, he always gets these great ideas that gets the creative juices flowing, then I make his vision a reality. What a team!

I'm off to make the 2nd pillow now. I am already dreaming up the 1 pillow that I will make for the center to bring it all together. Let's see what happens.

Turned these 2 ribbons into 1.

Don't you just love the glittery ribbons?


Here it is completed with the exception of the center pillow.

2.10.2012

Peacock Theme



This is our new pub table lamp that we purchased at IKEA at a bargain of a price...only $20. They were actually white, but we painted them to match the color of our theme and they actually look so pretty lit up and even off. You can see the picture of it below as it is lit. The bulbs are LED lights so they're really cute. Too bad the picture does not do it justice.
We really loved the outcome of our new painting to go with our peacock theme for the dining room. My husband and I painted it together. We decided to try out oil pastels on the canvas. It was nice using the oil pastels since you can always blend the colors in together with your hands. Of course, he is always the inspiration and once we started, it was tremendous team work. 
What love does to people huh? <3
For a little glitz and glamour, we decided to add some peacock colored rhinestones to highlight the major areas of the peacock feather, more specifically the "eye." I think it came out really cute.
 

Here we are trying to be real artists and signing our names in a gold leafing pen.
Here is the final photo all tied together. We added a 4th frame to the picture. I love it!