Browsing Through Jo Anns...

I love wandering through Jo Anns, running my fingers down the long aisles of luxurious fabrics, admiring the vibrant colors, drooling over the bins of chunky yarn....metaphorically speaking of course ;). (Cleanup on Aisle 3!! Puddles of unknown substance hindering sweet old ladies trying to buy craft supplies!!) Ahaha...my twisted humor aside, I hope you enjoy these records of my meanderings.

Look at all those colors!!

I will not drool, I will not drool...

I love these :)

Merry Christmas!

I know, I know, technically it's the day AFTER Christmas by the time I get this posted, but it still feels like the same day to me. Hope everybody had  great Christmas :)

Butterfly Mask

     My lovely mum gave me this gorgeous butterfly mask that set my artistic head spinning. I have no idea what I'd ever wear it to (anybody know of any upcoming masquerade balls?!?) but I love it anyways.

I took and edited this picture (a bit painstakingly!) and it is currently the profile picture on my Facebook =)

Doesn't Take Much To Crush A Day

So I'm going to a community college and that means I have to sign up for all of my classes, figure out my own schedule and other fun stuff like that. I'm also a freshmen going on my second semester. With lots of inexperience. Sigh...in other words, I just found out today that my carefully planned out schedule which I completed on the first day I was able to do so, after many hours of meticulous labor (with a few minutes of Facebook in between) has all been thrown to the winds by an overlooked mistake. I had signed up for classes online and while I added classes to my shopping cart, I did NOT actually complete the steps to enroll in them. Sigh again. I have now enrolled in them, actually ENROLLED, and I am on the waiting list for all but one. (Although you aren't technically considered enrolled until you pay for them but that's a different story.) The one class I wasn't able to get into is all the more disappointing because it has been open at the time I supposedly enrolled in it. I sent the teacher a polite, but desperate (haha) message, so please pray I'll be able to get in. I did want to go hide in a dark gloomy corner and whimper while listening to Gregorian chants and wearing black mourning clothes, but since then, I have comforted myself with my Mom's homemade, broccoli and cheese cream soup which is perfect for a chilly day and cheering up teenage sob stories.

That Time of Year

     Everybody knows Christmas is right around the corner. All the house are lit up with lights, there are hordes of shoppers, scores of Christmas decorations, and Christmas music blasting from just about every radio station. Now I love Christmas. But...I think people take it a bit too far sometimes. For example, there might be that one house down that one street whose yard is stuffed with inflatable reindeer, snowmen, Santas, lights, and enough candy canes to feed hungry children for a year (maybe not that long, but close!). And five of my favorite radio stations all playing different versions of the same cheesy Christmas song? Ugh, spare me. But I'm no Grinch...I love Christmas, but for different reasons. Presents are always amazing (I love scarves, hats, jewelry... *hint hint* :P). I LOVE giving gifts. I love finding the perfect gift for someone and seeing if they actually like it. I'm so impatient, I want everybody to open their gifts NOW!! Heheh. But I can wait. Just not for long... But the best reason for me is because we are celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ who came to earth to save the world. What a blessed thing to celebrate! Here are some mementos of preparing for Christmas...

     Yesterday, my mom bought two pine wreaths, brought them home and practically dumped them on me saying "Decorate!" Sigh. Thanks Mom. I was a bit irritated at first....(And I'm sorry Mom, it really wasn't THAT bad) but my artistic side soon took over and I had a interesting adventure, scrambling to find decorations and stretching my creativity (I mean, it's not everyone who can make ribbons out of old left-over aprons, is it?). The wreaths turned out pretty nice and Mom had bought two boxes of battery-operated lights to put on them (sadly only 1 light-set worked), and they are now both hanging on our front door, cheerfully wishing all a Merry Christmas!

I loved how the wreath completely matched the bouquet of lovely flowers on our dining room table!

The berries are real...they came from a plant in our yard, I'm not sure what it's called, but it is quite festive!

Etsy...oh Esty

     So if I could have a million dollars to spend at just one store, this online store just might be it. It's chock full of unique, hand crafted, beautiful delicacies that I love to spend way too much time browsing through and wishing I had an extra $100 lying around....sigh. I would love to start my own Etsy shop but for now, that's just a future dream :). Here are some of the reasons why I am in love with Etsy!

http://www.etsy.com/listing/63684566/diy-kit-crochet-your-own-circle-scarf?ref=fp_treasury_3

http://www.etsy.com/listing/64223542/meadow-antique-buttonc1800s-earrings?ref=fp_ph_1&src=favitm

http://www.etsy.com/listing/64286271/real-birch-leaf-earrings-24k-gold?ref=v1_other_2

http://www.etsy.com/listing/43413712/vintage-1950s-aqua-blue-full-skirt

http://www.etsy.com/listing/62043244/sensuous-swirling-earringspendant-horn

So the list could go on for a while. And on and on and on...well...you get the idea. Have any favorite Etsy pieces of yours?

Photography, photography...

     So if you don't know me well, I love taking pictures. Seriously. I try to carry my camera everywhere I go and when I forget it at home, or somehow misplace it, I miss it like crazy. My all-time favorite thing to take pictures of is nature. Talk about splendor! Rich, lush, and ripe with photogenic opportunities! Human-kind has been recording nature for centuries, so why should I be the one to break that honored tradition? ;) Anyways, I hope you enjoy a small selection of my work.

I wish I could take credit for how awesome this looks, but it happened by pure accident. I was editing a boring ocean picture, hoping to trim it up a little, when wham! I had somehow put the contrast on 100%. And you know what? I liked it :)

Oh, I love sunsets. I have scores and scores of pictures of them. I don't get tired of them either.

This is a picture of our van's window reflecting a pine tree. I turned it to black and white then made the window reflect color. I like how it turned out, don't you?

Wild oats lit up by setting sun. I told you I like sunsets.

Oh, all right, I admit I placed these lilies on top of the greenery, but they are such a nice vibrant orange, aren't they?