6 weeks worth of photography class goes by so fast.  I’ve learned so much from Maggie Holmes it’s amazing.  I popped in here to say Happy Valentines to you all and post some of my work.  Lately all I have been doing is practicing and doing my photography homework. Our last homework was to work on composition.  I had so much fun incorporating textures, patterns and COLOR into my work.

Would love to get your feedback on my pictures below…. good or bad i’d love to hear them.  I really do welcome constructive criticism… I know that’s how I learn.

Thank you Amir and Cece for being such great models for me.  Everything was shot in Downtown Sarasota.

BTW how was your Valentines Day??  Amir and I agreed to presents this year!  I just told him to feed me

I miss you all!  Hope to be back soon.  I start my Adobe Illustrator Online Class on Wed. with our local community college in town.  I’m so excited!!

1.) Settings:  f/2.8  1/1600 ISO 200
Composition:  Colors, Lines and Rule of Thirds

2.) Settings: f3.5 1/800 ISO 200
Composition: Color, Lines, Rule of Thirds, Pattern

3.) Settings: f3.5 1/2500 ISO LO 0.3 or 160
Composition: Colors, Pattern, Rule of Thirds
Headshots

4.) Settings: f3.5 1/2500 ISO 160 or LO 0.3
Composition: Pattern,  Color, Rule of Thirds

5.) Settings: f3.5 1/2500 ISO LO 0.3 or 160
Composition: Color, Lines,
Capturing subjects emotion

6.) f 2.8 1/640 ISO 400
Composition: Color, rule of thirds

7.) Settings: f3.5 1/250 160 or LO 0.3
Composition:  Lines & Symmetry

Mwah,

Today I’m Grateful for: The card I received from Ashley N.  Thank you so much!!!!  Totally made my day!  Plus I’m going to CHA summer in Chicago… anyone planning to go?

So I’m on week 4 on my photography class with Maggie Holmes….and I love it.  I have learned so much and I’m not afraid to shoot in manual mode anymore.  I’ve been shooting in manual since I got my camera but had no clue what I was doing.  Now I’m slowly getting it.  She is amazing.  I highly suggest her class for beginners.  She really dumbs everything down…no technical words used.  Lots of reading though but its all worth it.

I haven’t crafted at all lately so I’m sharing some images I submitted to Maggie as part of my week 3 and 4 assignments on metering and lighting.  For the first time in my life I took a picture of Amir with sun flare (lens flare).  I’ve always loved this technique and so shocked that I was able to do it too.

I would love some comments especially form photographers out there.  How have you guys been???  talk to you soon

note: I used Photoshop a tiny bit to enhance some of the pics

Back lighting: (lensflare)

Side lighting: (Catchlight)

Side light:

Front light:

Metering Assignment: both pics are SOOC (straight out of the camera..no PS here)

Mwah,

Today I’m Grateful for:  being able to submit my assignments on time.  I’m finally caught up in my photography class!

Just finished doing some work.  Currently watching Teen Mom.  Have you guys seen that show?  Its a spin off of 16 and Pregnant.  I’m addicted for some reason.  Random I know.  It’s pretty late but I felt like blogging.  I still have not had the chance to make anything.  But I did make some stuff during the holidays.  I made some necklaces for my co-workers in Charleston.  Totally inspired by Miss Ruby Sue over at Etsy.  Check em out. . .

Let me know what you think….feedbacks are always welcome.  I want to make more…. I’m thinking about joining the Etsy bandwagon if I do make these cute suckers.  Will you buy them???  Price range suggestions?

The Bridget:  I love the green on this cutie!!!

The Allesandra:  Plum….who doesnt love this color!!!

Mwah,

Today I’m Grateful for:  My new office!  I love the privacy!

Woohooo!  I’m so excited about this.  Sally Lynn MacDonald taught the class.  She is amazing!!!  Former DT for Nestabilities, DT for Prima, DT and Regional Instructor for Copics!!! Ok I’m going to try to give you the short version of what happened to me this weekend.  If I dont…sorry!! Saturday I took a Copic class in St. Pete at a store called Whimsodoodle and it just wasn’t enough.  I wanted to learn more.  So at the end of the class I asked Sally Lynn if I could join the Certification class on Sunday and she said to call her after 8pm that night she thought that she may be able to squeeze me in.  So I did…no answer.  Called her again at 830pm…no answer.  930pm…getting ancy….no answer!!  Ahhhhh!  I called the hotel….left a message at the front desk for her.  Yikes!  Stalker!!!  I couldn’t sleep that night.  So I talked to my husband Amir (every weird decision I make goes through him….he’s the sane one in the relationship) and asked him what he thought about me showing up at the Hyatt Sarasota at 730 am? Keep in mind the class starts at 9am.  He said he thought it was a cool idea.  So I was at the hotel 730am sharp the next day.  I saw Sally Lynn..asked if I could still attend the class….she said yes and I was so excited!!!  I offered to help her set up that morning……I became her assistant and learned a lot from her!!  More than I could have ever imagined.

Sally Lynn, if you ever read this THANK YOU!  Thank you for letting me join your class, letting me become your assistant and for enlightening me in ways you don’t even know.

Ok so I finally understand how to use Copics!!!  I love technical things.  I’m really a geek at heart.  I’m looking forward to doing tutorials on my blog.  I have Copic’s blessing to do so since I’ve been certified.  Happy Dance Happy Dance!!!!  Be patient…. I just need to buy some markers first.  I had a bag of sample but forgot it at the hotel and accidentally mixed it up with Sally Lynn’s supplies.  Im such a mess.  So bear with me.

Anywhoo check out my pictures below.  BTW I met some awesome people there.  Guess who else was there?  Kelly Landers DT of Ippity by Unity and Splitcoast Dirty Dozen!!!  I was talking to her after the class and didn’t even realize it was her.  What a small world!!!  I love meeting blog friends!!

Here’s a pic of my frog….. I think I did pretty good.  Just need to practice some more!!

There’s 334 Copic Sketch markers.  I want them all.  I’ll have them all one day…. or at least most of them.  I’m kinda sick like that.

By the way its been freezing in Florida the past 2 weeks.  Every night its been in the 20’s.  Very very cold for Florida.  Check out my pics….  i had to do an Ace Ventura last week.  I got in my car…didnt think…drove off and then realized that i had frost/ice on my windshield.  Had to roll the window down with my head out while I could find a neighbors driveway and stayed there till I could defrost the ice.  Hahahaha!!  We don’t own Ice scrapers here.  Though a co-worker suggest that our badge worked great!!!

Talk to you all soon!

Mwah,

Today I’m Grateful for:  Complete strangers that end up having a huge impact in our lives.  Thankful for Sally Lynne!!!

GCD
New tool, chipboard & Stamps
Embellishments
8x8 Paper
Homespun Chic
Independence Collection
Forever Friends & English Garden Collection
Lydia Collection
Ella Blue Collection
Smooth Shop Collection
Zippity Collection
Ava Collection

My Little Shoebox
Winter Release

Nikki Silvis
New Line

Prima
1st Peek
2nd Peek
3rd Peek
4th Peek
5th Peek

SEI
Claire
Happy Day
Jocelyn

Shabby Green Door
Wings of Dream

Studio Calico
Anthology

Tattered Angels
Glimmer Glaze

Tim Holtz
Distress Inks
Sizzix-Alterations

Check out the Scrapbook Update blog too.  Nancy Nally does a good job keeping up with the CHA Sneaks!

Mwah,

Today I’m Grateful for:  finally we figured out where to eat dinner!!! Why is it always so difficult?

Talk to you guys again tomorrow!

Sweet Wishes:  I made this card for a co-workers birthday!

With Sympathy: I made this card for a friends loss

Assignment 1: Design a card via Illustrator

Assignment 2: Design Layout Templates (masks) via Illustrator

sweet wishes
cardstock: su kraft
stamp: pti retro bacground, my cute stamps sweet chocolate
ink: pti vintage cream
embellishment: felt from joann fabrics, cupcake copied from sassafras lass
misc: uniball white gel pen

with sympathy
cardstock: su kraft & razzle berry
stamp: pti turning a new leaf, mega mixed messages
ink: pti vintage cream
misc: su ribbon polka dot razzle berry, button by pti

Mwah,

Today I’m Grateful for:  the past 5 days….it’s been great, relaxing and quiet!!!

I don’t know where to begin.  First of all Hello! Happy New Year!!!!  I’m so looking forward to 2010.  Are you?

Today was my first time to login to my wordpress blog and actually clicked on my blog.  I can’t believe that the last time I wrote a post was waaaaay back in November 19th.  Yikes!

Long story short….. I’m ok.  I just had to decide what had to come first.  I had to put work first…since that pays the bills.  My day job got a tad bit demanding (tad bit is an understatement).  I’m an amazing multi-tasker at work.  However  in my personal life I can’t seem to do it.  Once I get home from work I just have to crash..on the couch in front of the tv…get my mind off of things and eventually fall asleep.  So my creative alter ego had to stay on the DL (down lo) for a bit.  I even became a hermit for awhile…. it was really uncharacteristic of me to do that too.  I felt the need  to hide in a shell for a couple of months to decompress and find the balance in my life.  All these became a distraction to me.  I felt the need to focus my attention on work so I disconnected from Twitter, FB and my email accounts via my phone.   It just became too much at one point. I think I was being more social online too than in person.  Haha!  Anywhoo. . . .

My craft room temporarily transformed into an office

If only data sheets and numbers were as colorful and cute as stamps and paper

I bought Amir an early Christmas present…. a 2000 piece puzzle of Las Vegas.  Good Luck!  I was luring him to spend time with me while I worked.  This was our way of spending time together.  Poor Cece passed out due to boring parents.

I have a few days off for the holiday and I intend to do some crafting and catching up.  I’m so sorry if any of you felt like I left you hanging.  Trust me it was not my intention at all.  It was a decision I just had to make.  If anyone sent me messages via Twitter, FB or email I will respond this weekend.  I have to sift through my 1000+++ of emails (im sure mostly junkmail) during my time off and finally read some blogs in my reader.  I think it has stopped working now.  I’m going reconnect to all social media sites once again via my Blackberry and communicate with you all.  Im looking forward to it.  I sure have missed it and I have missed you all.

I haven’t done much crafting but I did make several handmade presents this year.  I’ll share those pics this week.  I still took my camera with me wherever I went so I’ll post pics and share what I did while I took a break from here.  Oh and I’ve been reading.  HOLY CRAP that’s huge for me!!!

Last…. I’m doing the Ali Edwards my little word.  I did it last year and it has helped me tremendously.  I really did live my 2009 based on the word “Positive!”  Boy has it changed my life.  I eliminated everything negative in my life and made it a point to be positive and to find the good in everything.  It changed my life.

So to welcome 2010 my word for this year is “PURPOSE!”

We are all looking for our purpose in life and we may never know. But for the coming year my goal is to try to seek it. To try everything thats comes my way, to continue to learn as much as I can, to contribute to society and to be a good influence to people.  Life is so short, I’d like to make the most out of it and possibly leave a mark in this world. I’d like to find my purpose in life… whatever it maybe.

Do you have a word for 2010?  If so what is it?

Mwah,

Today I’m Grateful for:  The New Year!  I look forward to the amazing things 2010 will bring.

Hello!  Hows everybody doing???  I’m home for my lunch break and I wanted to just post this and share my newest creation with you.  Isn’t this airplaine just freakin’ cute????

That airplaine stamp is from the Sept KOTM from Unity.  I used some yellow zing on the Hero Arts Background image.  The Navy blue cardstock is from SU and that matching ribbon is from Offray.  I’m so loving that Navy Blue color.  I have got to buy more!!!

BTW eeek I got picked as one of the top 6 for Embellish Magazines What’s hot Challenge I sent in this Owl Card.   Check out the others that got picked…they are so awesome too.

Ok gotta go now peace out!!!

cardstock: su navy, crushed curry, riding hood red
stamp: hero arts background stamp, unity sept kotm, pti mega mixed messages
ink: versa mark
embossing: zing
punch: fiskars upper crest
misc: offray ribbon, uniball white gel pen

Mwah,

Today I’m Grateful for:  Vegetarian Lasagna for lunch….I made it last night and it only has 300 calories!!!

Enjoy the photo’s.  At the end don’t forget to check out a video that I created on Zingfu the White Tiger and another video I found from youtube that brings awareness to White Tiger breeders.

Note: All exotic animals in the sanctuary have been rescued from abusive owners and owners who can no longer take care of them.  They were all purchased as pets.

A Liger in the sanctuary:

Bear kissing his caretaker:

Florida Panther….look at those eyes.  What a beautiful creature:

Amazing pics of the goats playing…or fighting.  I’ve never seen this in person before only on Planet Earth

Eli the baby chimp…. he’s so cute:

Dinner at Pho Cali:

Hahahah….these two love spicy food.  I think they made their soup too spicy:

Desert at Whiteberry….I love their Green Tea Frozen Yogurt:

If you have time please watch the video’s below.  I created the first video, “Meet Zingfu”…. he was rescued from an abusive owner.  He’s such a beautiful creature.  I learned so much about Big Cat abuse, cruelty and breeding from this non-profit organization.  It’s so wonderful to see that these animals are now being loved and taken care of.

I’m not an activist.  Just an ordinary person that was exposed to this yesterday.  If you are interested to learn more I encourage you to visit Big Cat Rescue’s website and read this article HERE

About Ligers:

Mwah,

Today I’m Grateful for:  people who care…..big cat habitat and all animal rescue organizations!!!

Hello!!!  Happy Friday the 13th!!  Anybody out there dislike this day?  I guess i just treat this like any other day..maybe i like it more because its a Friday I dont know.  So I’m still here in Jacksonville.  But this is my last day here and we are heading out this afternoon to go back home to hot and humid Sarasota.  I’m crossing my fingers its cold there right now like it is up here.  I’m loving it so much.

Last night was fun…. got to hang out with everyone and we ate at a seafood place.  I forgot the name… but it was awesome.  I always like the last night out of town because its when everyone lets their hair down and just enjoy each others company.  Like I told my GM (who was wearing jeans…rather than his usually dress pants)…. he looked human.  Hahahahah!!  He got a good laugh out of that.  It’s also pretty cool how we all just talk normal….different from the usual corporate demeanor.  Anybody else out there work for Corporate America like I do?  Do you feel the same way??   I also love the bonding time I get to have with my team…face to face rather than over the phone.  We’re pretty lucky that our department gets to see each other at least twice a year.

Anywhoo…. ok about my card.  Tricia if you are reading this…. this is what you are going to get in the mail as soon as I get back.  Sorry it’s not a surprise anymore.  But I just had to share it.  Trust me it will be better in person.  On this card I used a hero arts background stamp and PTI’s new giga basics.  Finally i got to use a Christmas gift from Julie last year.  My Martha Stewart glitter.  I have the 30 pack.  i think it came out great and the image wasn’t compromised at all.  The glue pad is awesome!!!

A little background about Tricia.  She is a newly wed, a fellow blogger friend and a friend.  Love her to death.  We have so much in common.  Check out her blog HERE.  On my sidebar you can find her under Tricia Blanco.  She is an awesome cardmaker and scrapbooker too!!!

Talk to you all soon!!!  Have an awesome day!!

cardstock: su kraft, pti dark brown & rustic cream
stamp: pti scattered showers & giga basics, hero arts background stamp
ink: versa mark, marth stewart glue pad, pti dark brown
punch: fiskars lace
misc: kaiser craft pearls. martha stewart glitter, twine from walmart

Mwah,

Today I’m Grateful for:  the last night out of town with my team and the rest of my coworkers across our region.  good times…good memories  I’m thankful I got to know you all better!!!