I've been Featured!

Jennifer of Merkaba's Musing, a great jewelry designer and online friend, featured my work in her blog. I feel so honored. Come and read the post at http://merkabajewelry.blogspot.com.

Thank you so much, Jennifer.



Don't forget to check out her Fabulous Esty shop Merkaba Jewelry.

Should have known better!

Have you ever done something that you knew better? That is, something you shouldn't have done. Have you done it just to save a buck or two?
I have, unfortunately, and it had been bugging me ever since.

What did I do?
Well, recently I sent two rolls of black and white film out to be developed...(Okay, okay, let me explain - I have the skills to develop my own, but I don't keep the chemicals around the house now that I have a three year old. If my house was larger and I had the space for a dedicated darkroom, or I lived in a city where I could rent space, I would. But it doesn't work that way right now)... and I shipped it via the US postal service. My biggest mistake was not insuring the package, although I purchased tracking. My second mistake was using a local postal outlet instead of driving the 20 minutes into town to mail it.
The postal outlet near my house leaves the tracking slip on the package for the postman to date stamp and then returns it the next day or two. Mine never came back. And days, weeks, and now almost two months later the package is nowhere to be found. The postal outlet said they couldn't do anything and that I needed to contact to post office. The post office said without my tacking slip there is little they can do. They have given me a new number, a reference number, for my lost mail complaint. That's it.
UGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!

Are you wondering what was on the film that was so important?
Well two things. One was photos of a friend and her children for my motherhood series. I was hoping to give her some of the photos as a gift, to add some great shots to my series, and I hate that I don't know where the images of her and her children have gone.
The second roll contained photos of a building in Florida that I photographed in College. I can't find the negatives anymore, but it is one of my favorite prints from that time. I was kind of hoping to recreate it and sell it. I hand colored the only print I can find and I just love it.
Kind of ironic that I lost the original negatives and now loss the replacement film I took.
I did shoot some color slides in Florida and those came out great and didn't get lost in the mail. I took a few shots of the building using color, but used mostly black and white (the rolls that are lost.)
Here is one of the color shots. The whole building is large and this is just one entrance. Oh how I wish I had just paid for insurance and gone into the real post office in town. Could have still be lost, but the chances would have been much less likely.
Next time.

FAM Spring Fling WINNER!!

The FAM Spring Fling has been a real success! We had over 50 participants in the last 2 weeks! I want to thank each and every entry for being a part of this Fabulous Spring Fling event! Winners will be contacted within the next week with your unique FAMBucks Codes along with instructions on how to redeem them in participating FAM stores on Etsy.

The following Etsy members are the winners of the
2008 Spring Fling Event!

GRAND PRIZE WINNER

$50.00

kutekipboardsbyamy

RUNNER UP

$20.00

twigsandberries

wdtine

oliebear

HONORABLE MENTION

$10.00

bufcharindy

backwoodsophisticate

melismatic

randa614

dayleesmom123

cblandcompany

skykhan

eleniz

jenlea76

eleniz

MissKnits

salla

hollylynn198

amyyyjosh

ana4sc

mymaeknits

cowboydehart

ChubbyTrubbys

designedbyRJ

Thank you again for your participation and for making this Scavenger Hunt such a success and so much fun!!!

The Desert in Bloom, more to enjoy

I'm home and trying to catch up with everything. Cleaning the house, RV, and clothes, updating my etsy store, and catching up with friends and family. Not really doing well at it, but maybe I'll be caught up soon.
I did finally get more photos on Flickr. They are of the flowers that I took during our trip. The drive to California was beautiful and the last night we spent all by ourselves camped in an canyon on BLM land. It was so quite and peaceful, sometimes I wish I could live there.

I was disappointed to head home, but the necessity of getting things done came to be as it always does. The next day after arriving home we had snow in the high desert. I live at around 3000 ft and the snow didn't stick by the house, but it did in the surrounding mountains. It is strange how warm an beautiful it was one day and how cold it was the next. Luckily it is starting to warm up again and hopefully the wild flowers will be around my house soon.

Enjoy the flowers. Oh, and you can click on them to reach my flicker account to see more.

A Desert Full of Flowers

Many people think that the desert is a dry inhospitable place with very little life or color, but this is not true. The desert is always teaming with life and during spring it is alive with color. This week I took a trip to the Sonoran Desert to see the carpets of wildflowers. The Joshua Tree National Park rangers said that there were about 80 different types of flowers in bloom in the southern half of the park.

Because of the rough road and little chances to pull over safely in an RV most of my photos were taken at the Cottonwood Campground. Some were taken as we exited the park on the southern end and headed to the Salton Sea. It was a beautiful drive and a great way to spend some time with my family and getting new photos. Here is just a quick sample of some of the beautiful flowers.

Fabulous Artistic Mom's Spring Fling Event is Here!!!!

Are You Ready?
Then lets Play!!!

A little Spring Fling Scavenger Hunt promotional game FAM-style, where each of us have hidden a little green frog in one of our Etsy listings, or find the text “famfrog” in the item description. All you need to do is find one of those frogs in five different participating shops, submit your answers to BAMDesigns and you’ll be entered to win one of several FAMtastic prizes! In addition to the FAM Spring Fling Scavenger Hunt, all purchases made through the participating FAM Shops on Etsy (please scroll down for shop links) will automatically be entered in the drawing.

HOW TO PLAY:

Each participating Etsy store has hidden the image of our FAM Frog or the text “famfrogs” in one or more of their listings or listing photos. Find the frog image or text in 5 participating shops and be entered for a chance to win! All purchases made from participating shops during the promotion will also be entered into the drawing.

Send your guesses to: BamDesigns on Etsy and include the following information:

- Your Name
- Your Etsy Username
- The URL to the item where you found the frog!
- You need just one frog from 5 different shops!

Drawing will be held on March 26, 2008. The winners will be notified by convo or email. All entrants agree to have their names announced in the Etsy forums and on blogs.

PRIZES:

The prizes being awarded are FAM Bucks which are coupons used in participating FAM stores on Etsy. FAM Bucks are codes that entitle the bearer to receive discounts in participating FAM stores. FAM Bucks allow the winner to choose their prize from participating FAM stores!

Grand Prize: $50
Runner Up (x3): $20
Honorable Mention (x19): $10

Participating FAM Spring Fling shops on Etsy:

LJDesignPhoto
AndreaBaker
AnnieHowes
Antoinettes
Beanhank
TadaDesigns
ChamberryCherry
CraftMom
MacaroniAndGlue
KrystalMoon74
ASugarAffair
Luv4Sams
ElegantSnobbery
StudioDuSoleil
SewingGranny
PrettyBowtique
BamDesigns
TraciSase
ValeriesGallery
NikkisNacs
CraftyBagsEtc
AbleMabel
NewEnglandQuilter
Winklepots
MerkabaJewelry

I'm offering an extra bonus for those who purchase from my shop during the spring fling. A free note card for each item purchased.


Now lets get going and play!!!!

Postcards: an influance, a collection, and obsession

I love postcards. I collect them from wherever I travel, even if I've been there before. I buy them from antique shops, search though my relatives things, and ask friends to send me one when they go traveling. I have postcards that are over 100 years old and some that were just made this year. I have hand-made ones, limited edition ones, and ones from the drugstore counter. Some of them advertise products, announce art openings, and some were made just to have something nice to write on. I love postcards.

About a month ago my brother said he liked my photos because they looked like postcards. I know many photographers who would have taken this as an insult, but it made me happy and I said, "Thanks." I think postcards have a large influence on my work. The idea of capturing one image that stand for everything that one place has to offer, or at least what someone wants to remember and boast about a place is interesting. Postcards can also capture the era in which they were produced.

One of my favorites from my collection is of the "Chasco Fiesta" in New Port Richey.


The background is quintessentially New Port Richey when one is down by the river. The era is set by the models clothing. It is also gives me a bit of a chuckle to see these young people dressed up in bad Indian costumes to represent a festival celebrating the founding of the town. Even today the celebration is a bit cheesy. I moved to New Port Richey when I was ten and I marched in my elementary's band in the parade. I guess this is why it is one of my faves.

By collecting, I have beautiful photos from all over the world and sometimes bits and pieces of other people's lives. This postcard from Kyoto mailed in 1946 is a great example.




Even though I have boxes and boxes of postcards (I had thought they would be a great thing to collect and not take up too much space, LOL), I'm always happy to get more (Hint, Hint), because I love postcards.