my new toy

First of all, I hope you and yours had a very merry Christmas! I sure did. I am blessed to be spending time with my loving family, celebrating the greatest gift of all, Jesus. That's the important stuff, but this year (more than any other in my memory), I am really excited about one of the material gifts that was under the tree for me this year. I felt like Ralphie with his Red Ryder BB Gun when I opened up my brand new Canon Rebel t3i/600D. It's my first DSLR camera, and it is beautiful and wonderful. I have  a lot of learning to do, so I've only just begun to explore the possibilities of what I can do with it. At the moment, though, I'm having fun playing with bokeh--that dreamy effect that happens when points of light are out of focus. 

I'm looking forward to learning, practicing, and improving my skills, so stay tuned to watch my progress. :)

100!

I finally reached the milestone of having 100 sales in my etsy shop! I must admit I'm not great at setting measurable goals, but I had really hoped to reach this point in 2011, and I just made it! Here's a look at what was sold this year:

I am so grateful to all my fabulous customers who made this my best etsy year yet. Thank you so much! What shall I do to celebrate?

Christmas Spirit

It may have been 75 degrees here in Mississippi today, but I'm getting in the Christmas spirit. The tree is lit, carols are playing, the stockings are hung. I have four more days of work before we head to Kentucky to be with my family (not that I'm counting or anything.) I have enough Christmas cheer to not even be bothered by the lack of sales in my etsy shop this holiday season despite a "cyber Monday" sale. I'm content with having just put 100+ of my photographs in the mail in the form of Christmas cards for our friends and family. 

It really is better to give than to receive. :)