I’ve always loved looking through others’ blogs and finding the “photo an hour” posts. They have such great personality and show little snippets from the lives of bloggers we adore. Inspired by that, I decided to take a stab at this fun challenge myself. Although I didn’t manage to snap a picture exactly every hour, I think it captures what I did yesterday during my day off. If you’re into creative photography, you might enjoy exploring different tools online. For instance, I recently came across AI Nude Generator, which offers AI-generated images. It’s fascinating how technology can add a unique touch to creative projects. Enjoy the snapshots!

“Wake up” chai

Mid morning snack

lazy days = lazy kitty

a snapshot of quilting “hell”

catching up on blogging

taking the pup out for a walk

taco dinner. yummy cilantro!

Well, that was kind of fun. I’ll have to try that again when I’m having a more exciting day. I was playing with camera setting today and was please when I was able to take all of these photos in the manual setting. Go me!

So there has been a post theme going around lately titled “6 confessions”. I believe this post theme started with Leigh-Ann over at Freckled Nest, and ever since she posted it I’ve loved reading everyone’s little secrets as I hop from blog to blog. I hope my 6 confessions aren’t too shocking or pathetic. (hehe)

6 confessions = things  you may not know about me.

1. I’ve never traveled or lived west of the current city I live in, St. Louis. ( lame )
2. I’m an extremely picky eater and I’m not a big fan of my food mixing on a plate.
( cross contamination! eww)
3. I have a list of boys and girls names picked out for my child to be. ( I’m totally not having a baby anytime soon, but I am obsessed with their cuteness )
4. I own all the sessions of Gilmore Girls and Sex and The City on DVD and have watched them multiple times. Never gets old.
5. I read the entire Twilight series after lots of hesitation and fell in love with it after page 1. Yes I’m 24 years old. ( I also got my mom and grandmother to read it and they loved it. )
6. I hate reading books and count down the pages until I get to the end. ( I’m trying to learn to love them. )

Wow, those were actually easier to write than I expected. Am I that transparent?? hmmm.

You can ask me more questions if you’d like to know more via my FORMSPRING page.

I hope you all had a lovely Sunday and got to enjoy it with the people you love. I’m on cloud nine since yesterday when I purchased my new Canon Rebel T2i. Yesterday I was unable to take photos because I was waiting for my memory card to come in the mail. I had to get a fancy pants memory card that could keep up with the capabilities of my camera. So today, with memory card in the camera, I was shooting everything. I fell in love with taking depth of field type shots because this was something my old camera couldn’t do.

The puppy and I went out for a lunch time walk and I stopped to take pictures so many times I think he started to get annoyed. All I can say is that I’m in love and my blog visuals are about to be kick ass from now on. Thank you Canon baby. I’m starting to think this camera is going to need a name. I name my electronics that get the most use because they deserve some recognition (ex: My laptop’s name is Charles and he is quite fond of his identity.)

*all images were taken around the neighborhood we currently live in, Lafayette Square in St. Louis, Missouri.

Feel free to comment on the actual images. Since I’m newer to this whole DSLR game I could always use some tips/tricks to make my photos better. Look forward to sharing camera bag options with you soon. eeeeee

Do you like how big the images are on my site? I tend to take vertical format images and they are really big. Thoughts?

I had the bestest of time over the last week attending the INDIE blogger e-conference. Tieka of Selective Potential and Elizabeth of Delightfully Tacky did an AMAZING job putting this thing today. The information was 100% useful and the girls are such a charm to learn from. Learning things from experienced bloggers who can give you the inside scoop is beyond beneficial.

I was hesitant to sign up for the conference in the first place mainly because I had never done anything like that. I am new to the blogger world and didn’t know how beneficial the courses would be to me. THANK GOLLY I did sign up because almost everything over the past week was useful information. Below I designed a little summary of what I learned from the e-conference. I learned a lot more than is listed below, but these are the main takeaways.

I almost forgot to mention my favorite part of the conference, the cherry on top. Throughout the week, the girls did little BONUS courses, videos, live chats, sneak peeks and personal stories. This is honestly what made the conference. Not only did you get to know the gals on a deeper level, the bonus material gave tips/insight into how the blogger world can expand into your day to day life. My personal favorite was the live chat sessions with the girls. You asked them a question and Wa-La, you got an answer. Here’s a little video of Elizabeth and her Brave!

As a little sign off I found some really great interviews with the girls on the net.

1. Interview with Elizabeth on CollegeFashion.net ( GO TO INTERVIEW)
2. Interview with Tieka on MakeUnderMyLife.com (GO TO INTERVIEW)

Summary of my weekend: HTML hell! I’ve been trying to update some really simple things on my blog this weekend and I’ve realized that WordPress is probably not the best platform for blogging. Yes you can customize the hell out of it if you are an HTMl wizard, but if you are not…then get ready for some painful days trying to code simple elements. Anywho…I’ve updated my daily reads section of the blog. I used to have my daily reads in my sidebar, but I thought they would be better in the top navigation bar.

I’ve also been playing with the sidebar design on my site to make sure it contains all the essentials. If you visit my blog on a regular basis, please scroll down to “FOLLOW” my blog with the newly added Google Friend Connect widget. It’s taken me some time to figure out if I wanted to add the widget, so let’s give it a try.

I’d love your feedback on the new items in the sidebar. Do you find it easy to navigate? Are there things you think should be there, but are missing? General thoughts/comments welcome.

Thanks for stopping by!

I’m a pretty simple gal when it comes to makeup and my daily beauty routine. SIMPLE. I also have some what sensitive skin, so I have to stay away from all the fancy pants make up and skin care items. Raised Scar Tape is the most preferable for skin issues like pain, itching, and scar issues. I’m also a big fan of SPF, so a lot of the products I use have some sort of sunblock in them. (Yes, I wear SPF 45 in the summer) As most of you ladies know, you can spend a ton of money on make up and skin care products, but I try to stay in the low – mid cost range. I can’t stand paying more than $25 on something that vanishes over time.

As we age, makeup alone often can’t hide the fine lines and wrinkles that naturally appear on our faces. While many makeup product companies claim their products can reduce these signs of aging, surveys have shown that the results often fall short of expectations. However, the innovation coming from a cosmetic factory can offer more promising solutions. By focusing on quality ingredients and advanced formulations, these factories are at the forefront of developing products that genuinely address the concerns of aging skin. Hence a proper wrinkle and thread lift treatment is required to reduce the fine lines and wrinkle coming with the age. Check out once to simple make up mim tips for everyday.

There are many skin enhancement treatments available easily within the market lately . thanks to the increasing level of pollution and stressful working schedules our skin develops signs of ageing, the foremost common being wrinkles. There are many expert plastic surgeons melbourne are available who can guide their patients for better skin health.

Due to the ageing process of the body, our skin produces lower levels of mucopolysaccharide . This acid is liable for keeping our skin rejuvenated, plump and youthful. With diminished levels of this acid, our skin starts sagging, wrinkles appear and our skin looks dull. However, to require care of all of your wrinkles problems, Skin Club provides an efficient cosmetic treatment: Anti-Wrinkle Injection treatment or also referred to as ‘Botox’ treatment.

1. Lorac Eye Shadow ( Moonstone ) $19.00
2. MAC Cosmetics Eye Shadow ( White Avalanche ) $15.00
3. Clinique Lash Power Mascara ( Long Lasting in Black ) $15.00
4. Sephora Tinted Moisturizer SPF 20 Oil-Free ( Light 15 Nude ) $21.00
5. Clinique Face Soap ( Mild for Sensitive Skin ) $12.00
6. Olay Complete Facial SPF 15 Moisturizer $10.00
7. C.O Bigelow Mentha Lip Tint ( Pink Mint ) $8.00
8. St. Ives Apricot Scrub $6.00
9. Cetaphil Daily Advance Ultra Hydrating Body Lotion $10.00

I currently keep all my goodies in a Maruca bag that I got for Christmas. Maruca bags are 100% handmade bags from Colorado and all bags use fabrics that are made at the Maruca studio. You can buy the bags online or in little boutiques around the US. Small bags, like my make-up bag start at about $37.00 and the prices go up from there. They currently just launched their Spring/Summer collection.

What does your beauty bag look like? Want to know something about me you haven’t seen on the blog? Ask away by clicking the below image.

There are some really great things going on in the blogging community, so I thought I’d share what I’ve found. If you’re a blogger or an indie business owner I’ve gathered up the resources for you to look through. I hope to take part in most of the e-courses and would love to get to a blogger meet-up if there is one close by. Also, if you know of any other goodies out there that I’ve missed, please leave me a note and I can add it to the list. (* all images below were created by the lovely ladies who put the e-courses together)

FOR INDEPENDENT BLOGGERS:

This e-conference is brought to you by the lovely Elizabeth over at Delightfully Tacky and Tieka of Selective Potential. It’s focus is on fashion, but will benefit any style of blogger. E-conference will be full of insights from successful bloggers, personal stories (we all love personal stories), tricks and tips, and fun video blogs and tutorials. Each day there will be 6-7 posts with great amazing content. (taking your own outfit shits, editing your photos, etc!) Click on the image below to sign up. Just by signing up you could win a dress from Shop Ruche or an iFlip video camera!. This course will be the first one I sign up for.

FOR BLOG LOVERS:
This e-course is for anyone interested in blogging. Elsie of A Beautiful Mess spent some time compiling tips, stories and ideas for young bloggers. Elsie says “This course was written with new bloggers in mind, but it goes way beyond simply getting started”. Click the image to be redirected to Elsie’s e-course catalogue.

FOR THE BLOG BUSINESS:

This is an 6 week interactive online course that was created/taught by Leigh-Ann Keffer of Freckled Nest, Jill Munro of Lune Vintage and Lisa Leonard of Lisa Leonard Designs.( read their bios here! ) There are included sessions, 7 creative business related diy projects and 3 interactive live Q&A sessions to give you all the tools you need to establish yourself and achieve success with your Small Business! Click on the image to learn more about the courses.

LETS GET TOGETHER: (Saturday, March 26th, 2011 in Phoenix, AZ)

If you are going to be in Phoenix, Arizona in March this blogger meet up is a MUST. It’s currently being organized by Danielle of Sometimes Sweet, Kelsey of Roofresh and Chelsea of Tea Talk. The weekend event will most likely involve a dinner out on the town and a blog-centered daytime activity. The girls are trying to get a head count so click on the image to let Danielle know you’ll be going. I wish I could attend, but this one might be a little to far away.

FOR THE CRAFTY SORTS:

This e-course was created by Rachel Denbow of Smile and Wave and is a must for anyone wanting to learn a little bit more about fabric projects. The course includes nine patchwork projects withstep-by-step tutorials that build on each other so that even beginning sewers can feel confident in their ability to stitch together a colorful lap quilt and then recover an ugly chair! Click on the above image to dive deeper into course details and projects included. So much fun!

Blogger Meet-Up in Grand Rapids Michigan (FEB 25th)

Blogger meet-up paired with the ‘Bodies of Art’ Art Show on Friday, February 25 in Grand Rapids (Michigan!) Bloggers will meet up beforehand, grab outfit shots, catch the show at 7 pm and head out afterwards for snacks and drinks! RSVP as soon as possible so tickets can be purchased before they sell out. Tickets are $15. Tieka of Selective Potential is accepting payments via Paypal and holding  your ticket for you! Click above image for some more details!

Again, if you know of any I may have missed, please share! Enjoy!

I’m so thankful for all my lovely readers who shared their camera set-ups with me. Buying an expensive camera can be an extremely intimidating purchase. Getting advice from people who own the devices is definitely a must and helps you tailor your search. After gathering all the information I could, I was surprised that more cameras with flip screens exists than I thought, any way I’ve narrowed it down to 4 digital SLR cameras that I think could work for me, all in different price ranges. I was pleased that the suggestions I was getting also matched Squidoo’s Top Selling and Top Rated lists.

Read the Reviews on www.imaging-resource.com
Canon Rebel T2i, Canon Rebel T1i, Canon xs, Nikon D3100

I’ll most likely find the camera body that works for me and buy the lens I need. I think I’ll be able to build a better set-up and save money this way. Once you package the camera into a kit, you lose some quality and the prices go up. Customizing just means a little more time and research. I’ll be looking into 2 kinds of lens, one for low light situations and one for everyday shooting. I’ve got my eye on a could 50mm lens for low-light but need to do some research on best “every day” type lens. Any suggestions?

My next step will be to find a great camera shop in the area and hopefully get my hands on my top pics. I’m a pretty petite gal and I don’t want carrying around my camera to feel like I’m lugging around a small child. I also want a camera that I can build on over the years. I’ve recently landed a freelance web design job that will allow me to buy some extra accessories such as an external flash, tripod and remote. If you have any suggestions for those items, shoot them my way.

Also, if you’re in the market for a new camera and don’t see the one you were looking at in my top 4 selection, let me know. I got a lot of good suggestions from a range of photographers, amateurs and pros. You can also check out the comment section of THIS post.

Have any of you bought a camera accessory that you thought you’d need, but you rarely use?

Stop on over to Formspring and ask me ANYTHING you’d like. I’ve gone back and forth on this decision and finally decided I’d give it a try. I’ve heard good things and bad things about the site, but we’ll see how it goes. I thought it would be a nice space for my readers to get to know me a little bit more and chat about things I don’t mention on the blog. (click the image to ask a question)

If you’re a blogger who is currently using Formspring or has used the service in the past, I’d love to hear all about it…the good and the bad.

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