My New Camera’s Debut and a Few Wise Words

Last post I mentioned my new desire to become more adept at photography. I just snuck up on me, just like that. (Is snuck a word?) Really though, it was my husband who did this to me! Always observant, he picked up on my fascination with amazing photos taken by “regular” people and decided that my Christmas gift should be a more serious camera. I had rather mixed emotions at first -- for years I’ve been content with my mediocre knowledge and my faithful point-and-shoot and I wasn’t quite sure I was up to jumping into a whole new field of knowledge. My goodness, my brain is so full of knowledge as it is! (Can you spell LAZY? How about full of ****?!)

Well other than laziness, I don’t know why I waited so long! As with most things in life, I think the biggest hurdle is grasping the can-do attitude. I’ve been reading, taking notes -- yes I’m one of those uptight types, I have to read and digest every word of the manual before I can start. Then I chart, plan, and do outlines -- okay now I’m just kidding, I’m not that bad! But with all the effort, I finally felt worthy of picking up the camera to experiment. And dear Rusty was there when I needed him. Imagine that!




Isn’t he cute?







Aperture, shutter speed, exposure value - oh yeah!

(Current favorite toy "Duckie" made both photos, just barely.)

Since we have a doggy theme going today - how many of you love Cesar Millan? I do and my husband knows it. So when he had an article in this week’s Parade magazine, Randy brought it to me. In his article “What Your Pet Can Teach You”, he has these precious words:
“Celebrate every day. For a dog, every morning is Christmas morning. Every walk is the best walk, every meal is the best meal, every game is the best game. We can learn so much by observing the way our pets rejoice in life’s simplest moments. Take time every day to celebrate the many gifts that are hidden in the ordinary events of your own life.”

Words to live by. May you find joy in a simple moment today. God bless.

More Sewing and a You've-Gotta-Read-This!

Well . . . you know how one thing leads to another? You'll recall that my husband was so thoughtful to come up with the idea of getting me a nice camera for Christmas and one of my goals for this year is to learn about photography. Well, Amy over at Park City Girl shared that common goal and asked for any recommendations for on-line reading. Jackie, of Canton Village Quilt Works, suggested The Pioneer Woman Photography. If you have any interest in semi-serious photography you should check this out.

HOWEVER, here's your warning - don't visit unless you have some time because once you get there you won't get away soon. Ree Drummond is the "Pioneer Woman" and her blog is nothing short of AMAZING! Besides the photography info which is priceless (stunning photos too), there is cooking, home & garden and homeschooling -- but I can't even tell you about those because I clicked into her "wild tale of romance and cow manure" entitled Black Heels to Tractor Wheels. Now I'm no stranger to reading, I love a good novel -- but this is the best thing I have read in a long, long time! It is a chapter-by-chapter tale of how she met and fell in love with her husband. I am telling you, I can't come up for air. I'm on Chapter 29 and I'm dreading the moment I get to the last chapter. She is witty, hilarious and heartwarming. If you can spare the time and another "addiction", do click on the title above and link into her story. You will be so glad you did.
(She needs to write novels and I will definitely be in that waiting line!)

So with all that said, I will leave you with a few more Christmas items, previously made and completed but unable to show until now . . .





Three bags for very different interests . . .







It's hard to pick out the detail, can you see the distressed faux leather strung with pony beads?

Prairieland Pickers is a square dance club.

This looks pretty simple, but I designed and digitized that logo using a business card graphic as reference. Not rocket science but digitizing is its own art form; it takes a lot of learning and practice and I'm pleased that this came out as well as it did.

So that's all for now. Today I hope to finish a cute diaper bag I have underway. I also need to prepare for a weekend class at Jackman's which, the last I heard, was one seat from being filled to capacity! Mm, I'm having butterflies again.

Have a good day, wherever you are!