365 photos

This will be my third year of taking (at least) one photo every day. 2010 started out stellar... but when the sock monsters and Lens Pets took over, my camera had no choice but to take a backseat. This year I am re-commiting myself to taking at least one photo every day. Not only because I love the end result and having a record of the entire year (especially since I have no time for scrapbooking right now), but I really LOVE taking pictures and I miss it when I don't do it. So far so good as the first week of 2011 comes to a close, though I could have done without today's perfect opportunity for a photo of the day!

guardrail-1 / bumper-0

On my way to pick up my son from school this afternoon I had a minor collision which resulted in a big hole in my bumper. I was already slowing down since one of the cars ahead was stopped to turn left, so when the car right in front of me stopped to turn I wasn't going very fast at all (thank goodness). My tires suck though, so I braked... and kept going. I didn't want to slide into the car in front of me so I turned onto the shoulder and the guardrail stopped me :p Thankfully no one was hurt (I was the only one in the car), no other cars were involved and my headlight is intact! :) I was hoping to wait a while on new tires but even driving carefully I've been slipping and sliding whenever I drive in the snow. Next week I'll have another perfect photo opportunity when I go buy four new tires. ick

If anyone else is interested in trying 365 (POTD)  this year my FAVORITE site for keeping tracking of my pictures is Shuttercal! You can upload your photo and add some journaling about the day (or not if you don't want to). Then at the end of the year you can get the whole thing printed on these super cute cards that look very much like polaroids and all twelve months worth of photos fit into a little shoebox (included in the price). You can't beat it. You can also keep up with friend's calendars so if anyone joins (it's free! though there are perks to being a paid member) feel free to add me as a friend! Me ----> http://www.shuttercal.com/calendar/mzelenka/

the perfect beginning to a new year

I am a BIG fan of sunsets! (sunrises as well, of course, I just have more opportunity to catch the sun going down than coming up) I am always amazed at the number of colors the sky can turn during one amazing sunset! On January 1st I left the house just as the sun was beginning to set on my way to the airport to pick up my kids (who spent their Christmas break with their dad in NC). I noticed the first bit of pink in the sky and was glad I had my camera with me to snap a couple pictures. The first one I took at 6:09 pm looked like this: 

But just a few minutes later at a stop light and I'm seeing this!

6:15 pm

6:16 pm

6:17 pm

6:19 pm

6:20 pm

6:21 pm

Simply stunning!!! I think this definitely means 2011 is going to be a GREAT year! :) In fact... I've got a little bit of shop gossip for you. I'll be working over the next few weeks to really get orders shipped and get my wait time down to something much more manageable. I *might* have to close the shop for a few days in the next couple months to help with this. BUT the good news is that not only with there be NEW Lens Pet designs and NEW ready to ship sock monsters, I also have a completely new product line that I will be debuting this year! :) I haven't been able to come up with a suitable name yet though so I might just need to create a contest to get some help in that department! Lots of fun stuff on the horizon! So thankful for everyone who has ordered and supported me over the last seven months! (can you BELIEVE it's only been seven months?!?!) Thank you thank you thank you!

Back to work I go! Hope everyone has a great first week back to school and work! :)

Fall photos...

Today I went out with a couple friends to take some pictures for them for their Christmas cards. I *hope* we got some good shots, I know they looked great through the viewfinder. :) My kids were off school today so Connor and Carter tagged along (my oldest is in Indianapolis right now at Marching Band Nationals after they won FIRST place at the State competition a couple weeks ago) and managed to insert themselves in front of the camera a few times so I thought I'd share some of those shots. :) These were my favorites, they'd found this huge pile of leaves and buried themselves in it.

Shortly after we got home I was sitting at my desk sewing and I happened to look up and notice the sky. It looked kinda pink through the back door so I ran out with my camera and snapped a few pics like this one... Of course this doesn't even begin to show how beautiful it was. The pale blue against the pretty pink and the clouds making lines across it all (there were  a whole bunch of cloud lines behind those trees but they're kinda hard to see here). At any rate, it was incredibly cool! I love that we get to see such amazing sunrises/sunsets where we are! The only thing that could make it more perfect is if I could see  the view from the other side of those trees!

Today's gratitude: Mother Nature rocks my world! ;) The colors she paints with are always so beautiful and I'm so thankful I am able to capture even a tiny bit of it on camera.

Matthaei Botanical Gardens

I'm a few days late posting this but I wanted to share anyways... on Thursday (07.29). I took a few hours off and went to a friends house. We had a delicious lunch then went for a walk at Parker Mills Park. There was a nice winding boardwalk all the way through, lots of HUGE trees and dragonflies... and mosquitoes but I'm refusing to acknowledge those pesky little critters. On the way home we stopped at Matthaei Botanical Gardens and it was just as beautiful as I remembered it. The same friend and I went there last year. I am just a total sucker for a pretty flower. Can't get enough of them! Nature photography is a passion for me. I absolutely adore getting up close and personal with flowers and trees and bugs and birds! It's definitely been too long! I've been so busy sewing for the last couple months I haven't done much else. It was very good to get out for a few hours. :)

Here are some of my favorite shots from today... beware, I had a hard time narrowing it down. :)

love how you can see right through his wings!

he loves me, he loves me not, he loves me...

pointy!

adore these super teeny tiny little blossoms

PINK! LOVE!!

check out that bug hanging out from underneath the petal... peek-a-boo!

PURPLE!

garden serpent

I think this one totally looks like a painting!

baby sunflower :)

fuzzy wuzzy

these hibiscus' were AMAZING!!! I don't think I've seen one in real life before and I didn't realize how HUGE they could get! they were as big as a dinner plate!! and just GORGEOUS hot pink! they didn't even look real (but I got VERY close, they were definitely real)

stars! so pretty and delicate

I know, not actually a flower but I LOVED the texture on the leaves! so cool!

flower have layers... like an ogre... or like an onion. but they smell better! ;)

more layers!

this was the last shot I took as we were walking out. it was a tiny little flower sitting all by itself screaming LOOK AT ME LOOK AT ME in that bright orange coat. plus that tiny bud right next to it totally looks like a little gnome hat! lol

and now it's back to sewing. ;)

thanks to a fellow blogger...

My very first day of blogging and I've already bumped into some wonderful fellow bloggers. Michele of The Scrap Shoppe gave me a heads up on another fun link party happening over on the Oopsey-Daisy blog. She suggested I post there with my Lens Pets™ since they're specifically made to capture the attention of babies and toddlers who might otherwise not want to look at the camera. SO I posted my link, now to jump over to some of the other great blogs linked there...

I definitely see how this blogging thing can become an overnight addiction! I've already posted here 3 times today and I've spent way more time surfing from blog to blog today than I should! Better get back to the sewing table now! ;)