a cheery sight on a dreary day.

February is probably my least favorite month. Winter is in full swing, all the holiday excitement is over, football ends, need I go on? The funniest part is that while it's the shortest month it always feels the longest. Especially this year as I await the arrival of our little man in a few short ( or long) weeks.  

Anyhow, my husband works next to a hot air balloon manufacturer or distributor and I was helping do an odd job at his work this week (so much for maternity leave!).  This sight was what greeted us yesterday morning when we pulled into the parking lot.  I am usually not one for taking phone pictures but I couldn't resist. They made me smile and I wanted to share that with you all :)

What brightens your day during this dreariest of months?

Project Life: Baby's First Year

I am so so so so excited to start this project and share it with you!!!  I have decided to be a part of the Project Life movement that is going on in the scrapbooking world right now.It was started by Becky Higgins a couple years ago and has really caught on and taken on a life of it's own.

Most people do one two page spread consisting of 4x6 and 3x4 pockets for photos, journaling, etc. for each week of the year, thus documenting their lives as they go along, as opposed to the traditional one-page-per-event/ topic scrapbooking style.  It is a great way to capture all the little bits of life and is more like a journal and scrapbook all in one.

Mine is going to be a little bit different in that instead of one spread for each week of the year, I will be documenting Baby G's first year of life.  I am still in debate of whether to start it with the week he is born, or sneak in a few of the weeks leading up to 1) because I am excited to start and 2) to share thoughts feelings and preparations for his arrival.  I am slightly hesitant to start early because I still have a lot I want to put into my pregnancy journal so we shall see.

I have started gathering supplies and prepping them to use in the album, by pre-cutting them, etc. Below is a glimpse at some of what I have collected so far.

I will also be adding my own take on some Project Life inspired products to my Etsy shop VERY soon, and using them in my album as well.

Below are some links to various sites explaining and illustrating this project for you to check out, all of which are very inspiring!!

           Project Life at TwoPeas
           365: Project Life by Ali Edwards
           Project Life by Becky Higgins
           Meet the BH PL Designers Here
           Elsie Blaha's Project Life 2013

I am not sure how many, if any scrappers read my blog, but if so is this something you would consider doing, have done, or just any thoughts on the project in general?

have you ever been to the zoo in the winter?

a few weeks back my family and i went to the Toledo Zoo for my sister's birthday.  now, while the weather here in the mitten has been ridiculously warm ( i mean 84 degrees in March?!) lately, on that particular saturday it was a balmy 38 :) not exactly ideal zoo-going weather, but surprisingly there was still a lot to see. the polar bears we actually active and playing and swimming instead of the lounging in whatever bit of shade they can find from the summer sun.  the siberian tiger cubs were also playful and right at home in the chilly air.  taking photos is one of my favorite parts about going to the zoo and here are some of the shots i got that day.

footearth.

I wanted to share a neat new site that I stumbled upon called footearth. It is a project where people from all over the globe upload photos of their feet on different parts of our planet and document where they have been and the ground we walk on. I have a thing for taking a picture of my feet while on vacation or for special occasions and have a nice little collection of about 10-15 photos that show where I have been so this site was PERFECT for me :) Check it out, it's easy to sign-up and upload a few photos. It's amazing where your two feet can take you!!

**pssst! a link to footearth was also added to the cool beans links list in the right sidebar, along with a new link to the wonderful Leigh-Ann's blog, Freckled Nest**

photoshop elements 8.

I am SO SO SO excited to finally have this program on my computer!!! One of the families I nanny for recently received this for Christmas and was gracious enough to share the wealth :) This opens lots of possibilities for me and I have been playing all afternoon. Here is a sample of one of the cards that will be available in my Spring line coming out on April 5th.

It screams Spring!! I took one of my original bird drawings and converted it. Speaking of sneak peaks....look for a sneak peak of the Spring line this weekend :) Have a great Thursday!

light box: take one.

So, one of my big goals for 365 is better photos. I cannot afford a new camera right now and I am currently working with a Canon PowerShot A630, 8.o megapixels. I am thankful that I at least have that and can usually make the best of it. However, my apartment has terrible natural light and this camera is NOT good at taking darker photos. So, I decided to construct a light box, at least to use for photographing my products. I cut the sides out of a cardboard box, covered them in tissue paper, put a piece of white poster board inside and used two shop lamps with 100watt daylight bulbs. It was very cheap to make and will be easy to improve upon. Here is a sampling of my first pictures with no Photoshop touch-ups.Pssst....this is a sneak peak of something coming to my Etsy shop in the spring, but with many more styles and colors. Shhh!

Overall, I think they are not too bad, but I think I could use one more lamp and a bigger box. Mainly, because there are still some shadows and getting the images to not be blurry was still tough (a tripod would help and that is on the wish list). If after that I am still unsatisfied with the results I am going to build one out of all white foam core board. I will keep you updated :)