Magenta and Mustard Treasury

Thanks to Pinterest, I have found an exciting new toy for my blog! Stylish Home's Etsy Treasury Posting Tool allows etsy-loving bloggers to post treasuries with click-able links! What a perfect way for me to share this beautiful magenta and mustard treasury created by Inbal from IN2BAGS. I love seeing my magnolia photo in such lovely, color-coordinated company. :)

Treasury tool by StylishHome.

21-day challenge wrap-up

Happy Memorial Day! What a great opportunity to give thanks for our freedom and all those who sacrificed for it. I must say, I'm also thankful for not being at work today. And... for Elle Moss for creating the awesome 21-day photo challenge that ended yesterday. I feel like I don't know what to do with my day off since I have no photo assignment! Here's a look back at what I did for the last 21 days:

I had so much fun! And I realized that no matter how busy I am, I can be creative every day. Looking at these photos helps me see that there's beauty all around me even on my long, stressful work days. I just have to put forth a little effort to find and capture it. No more excuses.

By the way, I'm thinking I'll offer a few of these photos as prints in my etsy shop. Which ones would you like to see there? 

21 Day Photo Challenge, Day 21: Breakfast

I made it 'til the last day! The theme for day 21 of Elle Moss Photography's 21-day challenge was breakfast. It's a good thing this theme was on a weekend day, because that's the only time I actually sit down to eat breakfast at home (shameful, I know.) My husband doesn't cook much these days, but he did make chocolate-chip waffles today!

I hate to end the challenge on a bad note, but I actually don't really like this picture. I wish I had moved to a different seat in the dining room to correct the lighting issue here. I think I was a little too excited to dig in. And rightly so--this breakfast was tasty!

21 Day Photo Challenge, Day 20: Symmetry

I spent the whole day at the beach and the yacht club today, and I took lots of pictures of sailboats at the beginning and end of a regatta. Fun times! Unfortunately, most of those pictures didn't fit the theme for day 20 of the challenge (symmetry.) So instead, here's a photo of a tiny plant growing in the sand.

Anyone know what this is called?

21 Day Photo Challenge, Day 19: What's in your bag?

This challenge is winding down! Day 19's theme was "What's in your bag?" Here are the basic contents of mine:

If you love that picture on my iPhone case, you can buy it as a print form my etsy shop! And if you love that miniature wallet (which has my etsy shop business cards in it), you can get a similar one from another fabulous etsy shop called Fireweed Lane. :)

21 Day Photo Challenge, Day 18: Pretty Patterns

I knew just where to go for my photo for today's challenge (pretty patterns): my closet! 

 I hate that I had to use flash due to the crappy lighting in our bedroom, but it's the best I could do.

21 Day Photo Challenge, Day 17: Music

Another long, exhausting day. Good thing I already knew what I wanted to do for today's challenge, music.

Not enough brain power for many words today, but perhaps that's appropriate.

21 Day Photo Challenge, Day 16: Warmth

Today's challenge theme was warmth. I could have done something a little more meaningful, but it seems I used up all my brain power for the day at work (and supervision), so I ended up with a literal interpretation: a pile of blankets.

Not my best, but at least I haven't haven't given up. Only five days to go!

21 Day Photo Challenge, Day 15: Travel

The theme for Day 15 of the challenge was travel. I love exploring new places and cultures, so I was inspired by this one. I gathered up some travel paraphernalia from around the house and created some still life vignettes on the dining room table. I thought I was going to love a shot of Bermuda stuff including a beautiful article in the newest issue of Garden and Gun... but once I got it on my computer, I decided it was ugly. The only photo I liked was one of this map, but it was a little boring on its own, so I spiced it up with some text.

These words of wanderlust from On the Road really resonate with me. I always think it's weird when people say things like "I want to go to Italy" or "My dream is to go Hawaii." Why just those places? How can you just pick one? Anytime anyone says they want to go anywhere, I agree. Because I want to go everywhere.

21 Day Photo Challenge, Day 14: Three Things

One of the cool things about this 21-day photo challenge is that it's helped to integrate my photography with my everyday life. Some days (like yesterday) I've had to go out of my way to find something that fits the theme, but other days, I've been able to snap a picture of something that would've been part of my day anyway (this was especially true on days 2 and 11). I've liked those days best, so I decided to use today's fairly ambiguous theme (three things) in a way that ties in with the normal (non-photography) goings-on of the day. I probably could have found three things at church, but I decided to go more mundane. So, here we have three pieces of fruit from my grocery-shopping trip. :)

I'm not sure that I love the picture. But the cognitive re-framing that happens when a weekly chore becomes an opportunity for artistic expression? That, I love.

21 Day Photo Challenge, Day 13: Into the Sun

The theme for Day13 of the challenge was "into the sun." I took some good sunset pictures earlier this week, but I'm not a cheater, so that doesn't count. I figured I could get another one today, but things didn't work out as planned. I was out sailing in the sun all afternoon with my husband and our friend, but we finished before sunset, and I wanted to wait for a better photo-op. My husband and I went home to change clothes to go out to eat and thought we had timed it just right, but unfortunately the sun was just below the horizon by the time we got back to a good photo spot (our house is so enveloped in live oak trees that I can never really see much sky from the house.) 

So plan B (props to husband for thinking of it) was this photo of a painting of the sun. It's part of a mural downtown and was painted by a much-celebrated local artist named Walter Anderson. He passed away in 1965, but his spirit still shines in this place, and it's a beautiful thing. Much more beautiful than this photo.

21 Day Photo Challenge, Day 12: Horizon

Today's challenge theme was horizon. It was the hardest day so far in terms of fitting this project into my schedule. The closest thing to a horizon line I saw on my lunch break involved an ugly interstate, so I nixed that. But I volunteered to be at Relay for Life from 6-9, so my only chance was to do something quick on my way there. Thus, I took this picture in our neighborhood. It's not really a true horizon line, but it's the best I could do. Better than giving up, right?

I actually hadn't taken a picture of this bayou for a long time, and this one is way better than the last one. It's nice to be able to see that I am getting better with practice. :)

21 Day Photo Challenge, Day 11: Words

Today's challenge theme is words. I had always planned on taking a picture of a book page for this one, but I didn't know which one. I'm a big-time bibliophile, so the possibilities were a little overwhelming. I already used the Bible for Day 9, so I figured it should be something else, but what? Harry Potter? C. S. Lewis? Emily Dickinson? So many wonderful choices. I assumed this would be an after-work decision. 

But then, I had a no-show at work. Sometimes--and especially on Thursdays when I work at a small satellite office away from all my stuff--this means I have nothing to do. So I always have a book in my purse for these occasions. I had just finished one (The Know-It-All by A. J. Jacobs), so it was time to start something new: The Schopenhauer Cure by Irvin D. Yalom. He is a brilliant psychiatrist and psychotherapist and probably my favorite living writer. He writes about psychotherapy in a way that reminds me why I love it and gives me hope that helps me keep coming to work everyday despite paperwork and bureaucracy and budget cuts and an overwhelmingly large caseload. His books have helped me believe (on good days, anyway) that in spite of all that junk, I can be effective by engaging with people in an authentic way and acknowledging all those existential issues that are hard to talk about. Like the fact that we are all going to die:

Yep, that's the first page. Good stuff, huh? I'm excited for the rest of this journey with Irv. (That's what his clients call him, and I kind of feel like I'm one of 'em.)

I guess the sentiment here isn't so different from Day 9. The grass withers, and bubbles burst, but life is beautiful in spite of that. Or, perhaps, because of it.

21 Day Photo Challenge, Day 10: Favorite Place

My bright ideas just aren't panning out today. It started at work. I had a therapy client who pretty much refused to talk to me. I spent the first 20 minutes asking millions of questions trying to get somewhere, to no avail. I asked if he wanted to talk about anything at all, and he said no. I asked if he wanted to leave, and he said no. That left one option: sit in silence for the remainder of the session. So I told him so. Because, of course, that would teach him a lesson, right? He'd see that he was being irrational and wasteful, right? He'd begin to take responsibility for his treatment, right? Wrong. We sat in silence for 40 minutes. It was a long day, needless to say.

After work and dinner, of course, it was time for today's photo challenge. The theme was "favorite place," and I had given it some thought. I have a lot of favorite places in the world: the swing on my  parents' back porch, the front porch of the old farm house I lived in in college... Look! A pattern! Porches. So I decided to photograph my favorite local porch, the one at the yacht club. I had it all composed in my head; I knew what angle I was going to shoot from and where I was going to position the rocking chair. When I got there, though, there were people everywhere. They were in the way of my intended shot, and I was too embarrassed to be moving furniture around for a picture in front of everyone anyway. I gave up and walked a couple of miles up and down the beach with my camera instead. I took a lot of pictures of egrets and the sunset and so forth, and it was a lot more enjoyable than that crowded porch. I decided that the beach itself is one of my favorite places, especially when I have my camera in hand. So I took a picture of a stranger who seems to agree. 

I wanted to capture her looking through the viewfinder, but I didn't want her to spot me photo-stalking her, so this is all I could muster. I don't hate it. It might even be better than the porch picture I had in my head.

21 Day Photo Challenge, Day 9: Grass

At first, I was a little uninspired by today's challenge theme (grass.) My husband suggested I find a picture of grass in a book and photograph it in the yard. I started searching but then realized I already know a good book with some serious grass-related wisdom. Isaiah says that grass withers while the word of God stands forever, so I photographed the two of them together. How's that for contrast and symbolism? 

Plus, I now have "Immortal, Invisible God Only Wise" in my head, so it's pretty impossible to remain uninspired.

Lord, help us to see 'tis only the splendor of light hideth thee.

21 Day Photo Challenge, Day 8: Dress

I'm not much of a self-portrait person usually, but today's challenge theme (dress) seemed to call for it. Technically, my husband was the (somewhat resistant) photographer on this one.

I am still unsure about the crop. I keep changing it, and I think I actually like it better with no arms, but since the theme was dress I didn't want it to look like a skirt instead. It's an over-analyzing kind of day.

21 Day Photo Challenge, Day 7: Signs

Today's challenge theme was signs. I took a stroll downtown after church and took quite a few pictures, but I settled on this one. Don't you just love that woman on her bike? So spunky! I think she fits in perfectly in this town. :)

21 Day Photo Challenge, Day 6: Low on the Ground

The theme for Day 6 of the challenge was "low on the ground." It rained mostly all day again, so all I got was this picture of a puddle at the end of the driveway.

I think that's a W for "water line," but I like to pretend it's an M for Miller--or Montague. ;)

21 Day Photo Challenge, Day 5: Architecture

I almost didn't make it today! It was a beautiful day while I was at work (inside), but all the remaining daylight hours were rainy. I had planned to wander around downtown with my camera to see what architecture (today's challenge theme) inspired me. Instead, I drove straight to the prettiest building in town (the amazing and wonderful Mary C), ran outside in my raincoat, and took one single picture. With my iPhone. It doesn't exactly do justice to this awesome place, but I feel pretty good about it given the circumstances.

By the way, I have really been enjoying seeing what other people are doing for this 21-day challenge. Check out the Elle Moss Photography blog to see it all!

21 Day Photo Challenge, Day 4: Rainbow

Today's challenge theme: rainbow!

I didn't have much spare time today, so I squeezed in this book shot in a hurry between work and a lovely evening out. My book collection is color-coded already, so it was pretty easy to organize quickly. I like it a lot, though! Colors and books make my world go 'round. :)

21 Day Photo Challenge, Day 3: Little Things

The theme for Day 3 of the challenge was little things. I had a few ideas for this one, but I ended up with the smallest (visible) things I could find in my house: grains of rice.

21 Day Photo Challenge, Day 2: Trees

The theme for the second day of the challenge is trees--my favorite photo subject! Good thing it was an easy one today, because I didn't see much daylight today between my windowless office and the windowless office where I have my supervision after work every other Tuesday. Part of my effort to maintain my own mental health in the midst of caring for everyone else's, though, is that I eat lunch at a nearby park every day. I would go nuts without this daily dose of fresh air and natural light. Here's a treetop shot from today's lunch break. :)

21 Day Photo Challenge, Day 1: Favorite Color

What a day! Six hours of driving and two hours of test-taking. Not exactly the perfect ingredients for creative inspiration, but I managed to take a picture for Day 1 of Elle Moss's 21-day photo challenge nonetheless. 

It's just an out-of focus shot of the ground at a rest stop on the way home, but I like it. I'm loving this challenge already! I was paying a lot of attention to green everywhere I saw it today, and it made the (mostly rainy) day a lot prettier. :)

21-Day May Photo Challenge

Need some inspiration? I do! Elle Moss has come to the rescue with this 21-day photo challenge!

It really will be a challenge for me, because I tend not to take many pictures on work days. And tomorrow is even more busy/stressful than a normal workday, because I have to drive to Jackson to take a test. But the challenge starts tomorrow, so I'm going to make it work somehow! I will do my best to participate daily and to post each photo here. Let me know if you're participating, too! I'm looking forward to being inspired by others' work, too! :)

Mother's Day Auction

Exciting news! One of my photos is going to be auctioned off as part of Handmadeology's Mother's Day Auction this Saturday! Hundreds of etsy shop owners applied, and I am thrilled (and shocked, frankly) to be among the 40 who were chosen.  I had not used tophatter before, but I checked it out last night, and it's pretty darn cool. And definitely potentially addictive. If you want to check out the auction (this Saturday at 7 central time), go here to RSVP. :)

Bidding for my 8x8 print starts at $3!