12 Days of Christmas - day five

Today's find is a super cool piece of art by the Joni James Gallery, called a calligram.

photography or camera art calligram print

I ADORE this! I think it would make a fantastic gift for anyone who loves to take pictures, amateur or professional. I love the different font sizes and widths and how clever is it that things like hotshoe, lens, strap, shutter release button, etc are all written in the actual place they would be on the camera!! SOO cool!! They offer prints with or without a photo mat and in two different size options. Of course they have loads more designs (though I'm partial to the camera). This is DEFINITELY on my must have list. I love it!

In addition to the shop you can find Joni online here ------> artbyjonijames.blogspot.com/
and on Facebook here -----------------------------------> www.facebook.com/Art-by-Joni-James

Today's Gratitude: today I am thankful for MUSIC! The American Music Awards were on the night before last and they were so great! I got to see two of my VERY favorite artists on stage - Enrique Iglesias (OMG HE IS SO HOT! That accent just makes me weak in the knees!) and NKOTB (technically they performed with the Back Street Boys - but who cares about them... NKOTB were SO FREAKING AWESOME ---I may *POSSIBLY* have let a few shrieks and squeals go during their performance, but I'm not officially  admitting to anything) ;) and a bunch of other great acts (I thought Pink! totally rocked, Usher was amazing as always, Ke$ha is pretty wacky but cool and while I love Train's music, the lead guy is WAY too old to be wearing SEQUIN SKINNY JEANS, what is up with that!?!). The kids stayed up late and we watched the awards together, everyone collectively sighing when Justin Beiber won again and again even beating out Usher and Eminem! (and I laugh because, back in my day... that was NKOTB, snatching up all the awards). 

At any rate, it was a good time, watching with the boys and the music was great. :) LOVE

12 Days of Christmas - day four

Today's find is a total luxury that I haven't splurged on ONLY because I don't have a big heavy DSLR camera (boy does this make me wish I did!). But I know A LOT of people who do and Sew Tamz has the perfect accessory for those of you who do!

camera strap cover

This shop has a huge variety of strap covers, most of them with that amazing, luxurious minky fabric on one side. I LOVE minky, it's just so incredibly soft! This red damask strap cover is SO beautiful, but she has loads more to choose from if this isn't your style. You can have a little pocket added to hold your lens cap and you can even get an initial embroidered on it. Huge bonus: most (possibly all, I didn't read every listing description) are machine washable! THIS would make a fantastic gift for the photographer on your list this year (even if that photographer is yourself)! ;)

Today's gratitude: I know it's totally cheesy... but I bought a new Christmas tree this year (because I HATED the old one... it was just too big and too heavy and SO hard for me to put up on my own every year) and let me just say, I am SOO thankful for the person who invented the pencil tree!!! I put it up yesterday and it was SOOO light and so easy to put up by myself! It takes up almost no space, I didn't even have to move a single piece of furniture to fit it into my tiny townhome living room. LOVE!

12 Days of Christmas - day three

Today's finds totally blew me away when I stumbled upon this shop! Reclaim 2 Fame makes the most incredible art sculptures using old/vintage recycled items, including sometimes - CAMERAS!! Check it out!

Pepper - a perpetually perky robot puppy

Ozzie - robot dog assemblage

Tell me that's not just about the coolest thing you've ever seen!!! I'm totally in love! The puppy pieces pictured above are at the higher end as far as cost (though 100% worth every single penny!), but he also has some smaller, equally amazing pieces that won't break the bank if you're on a budget. ;) Something for everyone! I love that!

What a fun addition to a vintage camera collection these would be!

Today's Gratitude: today I am thankful for the many talented artists that call Etsy home! looking through pages and pages of all the wonderful handmade stuff, adding things to my favorites... it's ALMOST as good as shopping, but without the empty wallet at the end (though I do more than my fair share of shopping there as well, gotta support handmade). ;)

12 Days of Christmas - day two

I know there are a lot of people, not just professional photographers, that have multiple lenses for their cameras. So what do you do with your additional lenses when they're not on the camera? They're expensive toys that need to be protected from dust, dirt and moisture. That's where the lens huggie comes in!

Lens Huggie (you pick the pattern)

Phat Straps makes these lens huggies to order based on your measurements so they'll fit every lens. I think they're absolute genius! And adorable to boot! I had an SLR with two lenses years ago before I switched to the digital camera I use now. This would have come in so handy for my big zoom lens when I wasn't using it. 

If you are a photographer, or you know one, I think this would make a fabulous stocking stuffer! ;)

Today's Gratitude: Today I am thankful for time with friends... tonight is 'crop night'  and I'm so looking forward to it. I used to scrapbook at crop night, now I sew and work on orders. But the best part is getting together with friends. We don't see each other very often since LM closed last year so it's always a treat when we can get together.

12 Days of Christmas...

I am constantly adding things to my favorite folder on Etsy (it's embarrassing really how many pages and pages of favorites I have). I try to share two of my favorite sellers almost every Friday but for the next twelve days we're doing something new, and it's called... 12 Days of Christmas! All of the items I've chosen are photography/camera related. Some are art pieces, some are handy props and accessories for photographers. I hope you'll enjoy my finds and maybe you'll even find a Christmas gift or two! There's still time to order! ;)

12 DAYS, day one:

Say Cheese 8x10 Camera Print on Vintage Book Page

I LOVE the stark black of the camera against the small print on the white page behind it. Very striking! :) Winterberry Cottage offers a huge variety of prints on book pages so if the camera isn't for you, maybe you'll find something else to your liking! :)

Check back tomorrow for another fun favorite!

Today's Gratitude: Tonight I am taking my boys to dinner at their favorite restaurant (Bob's Big Boy - it was my favorite when I was little too) and a play at a local high school. I am so thankful that my boys still like to hang out with mom every once in a while, even now that two of them are teenagers. ;)