Just for Fun

These are just a few of the fun little things I've cooked up lately (hee hee). I've been playing around with shrink plastic! Its so FUN to watch it shrink down in the oven. I know, I'm a little too old for that kind of "thrill", but really am easily amused. These are available in my Etsy shop. And because it so fun to do, look for more soon!

Etsy Vintage LOVE

Lately, I've become more than a little obsessed with one of the coolest Flickr groups in existance. Wardrobe Remix has inspired me to get back into thrift stores, scour Ebay, brake at garage and estate sale signs and have some FUN with my clothes again. This mommy is stuck in the jeans, t-shirt, flip flop waltz! Well, not for long.

This obsession inspired an Etsy treasury that I made today. I can't believe how many exceptional vintage shops there are on Etsy. Below is a list of the shops I highlighted in my treasury. Click on them and have some fun!

GetReadySetGO

GreasyWaitress

vintagerevolver

shopambrosia

RedoRedux

greygardensvintage

IronHorseVintage

GoodEye

SantokiVintage

thevintagecloset

allencompanyinc

MaidenRaptureVintage

New Photos

I've been in bed this week, thank you to strep throat that I caught from my husband. We TRIED to stay apart, but I guess we caved too soon. At any rate, bored with silly television (yes, there really is a show about celebrities without makeup) and not in the mood to read, I searched through some old photos and played with them. The TtV is available in my Etsy shop. More posts soon....

Truly Honored

I am so truly honored to be included in a Treasury with some really amazing photographers. These are Etsy photographers that I have admired and who have inspired me to learn more and more about photography. Here's a complete list of the photographers and links to their Etsy shops.

Susannah Tucker

Friendly Made

Ketzelphotography

catherinebuca

AliciaBock

CitrusTree

sweetblue

ScarletBeautiful2

viewfinder

everydaymoments

Be sure to check out each shop. There are some truly amazing things in each.

Thank you SOOOO much jjbackman! You've made my day!

The Whites

A new series of polaroids called "The Whites". More to come. These are available in my Etsy shop as 6 x 6 Prints. I'm thinking of also offering these images with some others in a set of cards. I'm having so much fun with my cameras. I'm wondering if I will ever put pen to paper again....

Playing with Polaroid

I've pulled my two Polaroid cameras out of the closet and played with them a little over the past few days. Here's a sampling. You can see more on my Flickr.

Also, I've found an AMAZING blog project that I plan to check every day. It's called the Noticing Project. Each day, two friends and artists, Alicia Alferman and Heather Smith Jones, post a photo each. They decided to do the project together when they discovered that they noticed similar things on the same day, photographed them and posted them on their Flickr's. The blog is both beautiful and educational. I particularly appreciate how they each tell a story without including all of their subject matter in the frame.

Stay Awake!

Just back from a FANTASTIC trip to Los Angeles, California. I spent some time alone wandering around Beverly Hills and some time with friends reminiscing and laughing. It was the perfect holiday. When I got on the plane, I thought it was over. Oh was I wrong! These are just a few photos I took from the window during the flight. Go to my Flickr site to see more. I'm so happy I stayed awake for this. Stay Awake!

Pay Attention

Every day I walk with my son to school and every day I see something new and beautiful. Today it was these tiny little orbs in the field we walk through. Mistaken for some sort of half eaten jawbreakers at first, then maybe some weird fertilizer put out by the school district, these tiny little things turned out to be a fungus. Mushrooms! I captured a few photos in the morning, but when we were back after school they were gone. These tiny mushrooms remind me of how quickly things change and to pay attention, to take time to see. We walk through that field every day and today was the first time we noticed these. I wonder what we'll see tomorrow.

We've Been Very Busy Painting Together

I love working with my husband. First of all, he's cute. Secondly, he's very talented. Thirdly, he's SO funny!

Over the past two weeks we have been completely repainting my brother's new house. Its been so much fun working together like we used to. And my brother was blasting 70's tunes all day, which made the days go by quickly. But we're finished now. This is just a sampling of our work.

You can see our decorative painting portfolio here. Most, if not all, of the work you see there was done by my very talented husband, Scott Dykema.

New Photo Cards

This morning an idea struck me as I was doing the laundry (a good time for ideas) and I just had to see it's fruition. So I spent the morning making some of my Through the Viewfinder prints into 4 1/2 x 5 1/2 Cards. I like how they look like there's an opening in the card that takes you to another time and place. Well, at least that's how I see it.

I printed these cards, as I do all my non-gocco printed cards, on Crane Museo Artist Cards. They're much higher quality than ordinary card stock. And my printer ink LOVES them. There's a slight texture to the cards, but not enough to look like watercolor paper or those Strathmore papers you see in the craft stores. They come in a couple different sizes - even a square size. But if you use the square card, be aware that the post office charges extra postage for this. Click here to find out more about Crane Museo Artist Cards.

All of these cards are available in my Etsy shop!