Focus on Life 201 - Week 9 - Macro

It's week 9 for the Focus on Life 2014 Weekly Photography Challenge and Sally over at The Studio Sublime has given us the theme of "Checking Out" for the month of March.

 

Sally explains this month's prompt, "March for me is the beginning of Spring and a good time for checking out!  There are many definitions of "checking out", but I'm talking about checking out and exploring the world around us.  Some times when we are checked out of life and checked in to technology we tend to not focus on the amazing things that are happening around us every minute of everyday."

 

 

 

For week 9, our prompt is:

 

Macro Shot
 

"This week we are going to get up close and really check things out!"
 

 

I just LOVE macro shots!

 

Click photo to enlarge :-)



I'm much better at drooling over them than I am at actually capturing them, but hey, I have fun trying!
 

 

 

 

 

 I spent last weekend 'checking out' Jerome, AZ with my sister and a couple of friends and was happy enough to capture some cool macro shots of the beautiful, fresh flowers that were on our table at The Flatiron.

 

 

 

Everything about The Flatiron was super!

 

 

From the relaxed atmosphere, to the awesome meals that Chad prepared, to the fun banter that could be heard between Jen and Amy behind the bar area.

This place was rockin' the cool-vibe! 

My sister's waffles on Sunday!  Yummy!

 

 

And, just so you know, they have the best coffee on the planet! (thank you Amy!)

 

And some really beautiful flowers that make for great macro shots, too!

 

Click to enlarge photo collage :-)

 

Please click on all the links below to check out what gorgeous, up-close macro shots the rest of the Focus on Life gang has captured this week, okay?
 

 

Until Next Time,
 

Peace, Love and Macro Lust!
 

Cheers,

~Shel~

 

  

An InLinkz Link-up

Focus on Life 2014 - Capture Color

It's week 8 for the Focus on Life 2014 Weekly Photography Challenge and Sally over at the Studio Sublime has given us the theme of "Cabin Fever" for the month of February and our prompt this week is:

 

 

 

Capture Color!

 

"For the last week of February, we will be focusing on something that can snap me out of 'cabin fever' and hopefully you, too! Bring on the Color! Capture color in all its vivid brilliance!"

 

I'm visiting the lovely little haunt of Jerome, AZ with my sister and some friends this weekend, but here's some 'color' that I was organizing this week and snapped a photo of!

 

 

 

 

Please enjoy all the other color that everyone else was able to capture this week, won't you?!

 

Until Next Time,

Peace, Love and Color, Baby!

Cheers,

~Shel~

An InLinkz Link-up

Earrings Everyday "We're All Ears" Inspiration Blog Hop

It's time to see what everyone created for the

Earrings Everyday monthly challenge.

 

 

 

 

I didn't think I was going to make it for this one since I was a bit late to the game (so to speak) because of playing catch up this week and all kinds of other stuff that was going on with work (day job).

 

But I did manage to finally get some earrings created and photographed and I'm glad because not being able to create almost daily anymore has left me a bit cranky and unhappy - just ask my hubby and son about that one!

 

The Earrings Everyday blog is hosting a monthly earring challenge and this month the inspiration was this colorful photo below.

 

Damselflies in Love
Photo credit: National Geographic, Yeo Weng Sang

 

 

Beautiful, Funky Bug "Love"!

LOL!

 

So, here's the earrings I created.

 

 

The faceted, rutilated quartz slices reminded me of the gorgeous and ever so delicate wings of these cute little 'love bugs'. 

 

I made the earrings 'move' by knotting the cord between the beads so as to mimic what I thought would be their graceful movement.

 

The pretty, bright blue Sleeping Beauty turquoise, cheery salmon colored glass beads and the faceted pearls are all the colors, shapes and textures that jumped out at me from this photo. 

 

I had fun using this photo as the inspirational jumping point for these earrings. 

 

Thanks to everyone over at the Earrings Everyday Blog for their daily inspiration. I look forward to next month's challenge and hope I'm able to jump in and participate again!

 

Please give all the other participants some love and see what they have created by clicking on over to the
Earrings Everyday blog
and leaving some feedback, won't you?

 

Everyone have a super wonderful weekend!

 

Until Next Time, 

Peace, Love and "Funky Bug Love"

Cheers,

~Shel~ 

An InLinkz Link-up

Earrings Everyday Challenge and Other Inspiration

Hey there, I just wanted to give a shout out and let everyone know of the monthly challenge that's happening over on the Earrings Everyday Blog.

 

 

 

I love earrings and 'haunt' this site regularly, commenting (when time allows) on all the super cool, drool-worthy earrings and information they post daily.

 

And, they're doing a give-a-way, too!

Click here to go to the post and get all the juicy details!

 

I was trying to make time to create a pair of earrings for the monthly challenge and the link-up happening tomorrow - Friday, February 21st -  but with work and a few other things going on, it might not happening as I would like.  

 

  Please head over and join in the fun if you can find the time.

 

  At the very least, stop by to check out the blog and every one's link-up entries tomorrow.

 

I'm excited to see all the cool creations using the art inspiration they have provided!

 

I am packing up to head out to Jerome 

with my sister and some friends this weekend.

 

This little, old mining town is a wealth of cool inspiration - to say the absolute least!

 

Jerome, Arizona

 

 

With all its old doors, haunted hot spots, wicked landscape and amazing panoramic views, I'm hopeful that many of the artists shops that closed during the 'great recession' have re-opened because the talent and uber-cool vibe that fills this town is infectious and I'm completely ready to soak it up!

 

Via Margaret McDowell on Pinterest

 

 

Until Next Time,

Peace, Love and Finding Inspiration Everywhere!

Cheers,

~Shel~

Heading off to Haunted Places

Fun times are ahead as I travel to

Jerome, Arizona

with my sister and a couple of friends this weekend.

 

Janet, Kyle and Marsha - Desert Botanical Gardens, Phoenix AZ

 

 

We're staying the night in the Jerome Grand Hotel.

 

 

The Jerome Grand Hotel

 

 

 

Yes, the very cool, very HAUNTED

 Jerome Grand Hotel.

 

 

The Jerome Grand Hotel

 

 

I've stayed there before with my niece and my sis and had a not so pleasant 'ghostly' experience. 

 

 

 

Misha and Aunt Shelly - Jerome Grand Hotel - 2006

 

 

Some weird, dark, 'mass' thing tried to enter my body, on my right shoulder, while I was sleeping. It was super creepy and scared the daylights out of me.  My sister kept telling me to be quiet during the night because I guess I kept trying to call her name when it would wake me up and freak me out.   And when I would wake up, it would just 'hover' back towards the end of the bed and then fade away. Then, right as I would drift back to sleep, it would come back and start pushing on my shoulder again,...it was a very restless night!  

 

 

Misha and Marsha - Jerome Grand Hotel - 2006

 

 

The next day, at check out, the lady asked us if we had a nice stay and of course we said 'yes'. 

 

After all, it is a super cool hotel. It was decorated for Halloween the weekend we were there and the Otis elevator is like the oldest of its kind still in operation or something like that, and the restaurant/bar (The Asylum!) is great and the hotel itself is just a modern-day marvel,....built so long ago on the edge of a mountain on a slope - wowsers!

 

 

Misha and Marsha - Laughing while seated inside the Jerome Grand Otis Elevator - 2006

   

 

Anyway, after we answered the lady's question, my niece says, "Oh, except for the ghostly experience my Aunt had."

 

  The lady stops, looks up from her book she's writing in and says, "What did you experience?" 

 

My niece proceeds to tell her the story of my 'ghostly invader' during the night and the lady looks down at her book and back up to us and asks, "What room were you in again?" 

 

My niece tells her (I can't remember for the life of me what the room number was - sorry!) and the lady looks back down at her book, then back at my niece and says,

"Oh. Umm,...Uh-uh."

 

"I'm sorry?" I blurted out. "What exactly does, 'oh. umm. uh-uh', mean?"   And the lady looks over to me as I'm sitting on this couch by the front desk area and says, "We've had people tell us about similar experiences in that room before."

 

"Really!?!"  Alrighty then. Yep. Probably would have been good to know prior to check in and I should have read the little 'ghostly experiences of our guests' guest book before we were waiting to check out of the hotel. (It was in my hands as the front desk lady told me what 'oh. um,...uh-uh' meant!)

 

So, needless to say, I'm both excited to return to the Jerome Grand Hotel and a bit on the apprehensive side, too. 

 

I will definitely ground myself before walking anywhere near the hotel or it's grounds and will be keeping a vigilant eye out for 'things' as we walk around this time. Instead of like last time when I was practically skipping down the halls saying things like , "I hope I see a ghost!", "I wonder what rooms have ghosts?",  "Wouldn't it be super cool to see  something like that while we're here?"

 

Uh,....no.

 

Well,....maybe! 

Marsha and Shelly - Jerome, AZ 2006

   

Until Next Time,
 

Peace, Love and Ghost Town Adventures!

Cheers,

~Shel~

 

**Please click on all the above links to read more stories and 'visit' the Jerome Grand Hotel for yourself!!**

Focus on Life 2014: Week 7 - Collage of LOVE

It's week 7 for the Focus on Life 2014 Weekly Photography Challenge and Sally over at the Studio Sublime has given us the theme of "Cabin Fever" for the month of February and our prompt this week is:

 

 

 

Collage of Love

 

 

"One of the best ways to beat the feeling of cabin fever is to feel the L❤VE!  It may be as simple as that warm and oh so  inviting cup of coffee, the cold nose of your four legged family member or the smell of a certain flower!  This week l❤ve is everywhere and it's your job to capture it, no bow and arrow needed, just a camera! "

 

It's been a very packed week this week, so I cheated on my collage and grabbed pics I had already taken.  But, they are things I love and it was a good thing I looked for some photos because I found there's tons missing on my computer and they're not on the back up hard drive either.

 

Were'd they go?  Your guess is as good as mine.

 

But, we are in the middle of retrograde, so this is not a surprising discovery.

Disappointing yes, unexpected no.  

 

I even searched some of the sub-folders thinking I'd dropped them in to the wrong place by accident. Nope. No luck. So, I spent a good portion of time searching and backing up newer things.

 

Back to this week's prompt,...

 

I snagged a silly shot of my boys awhile back and although it's blurry, I still love it.

 

I love them!

 

I love Pearls (ya, think?!!)

 

I love where I live.

 

And I love Coco and Kiki. (Crazy Lovebirds!!)

 

 

 

 

On Valentine's Day, Arizona celebrated its 102nd birthday.

 

On Valentines Day 20 years ago, Mike proposed.

 

On Valentine's Day 6 years ago, Iron Man (aka-Mike) got a 'defib' put in his chest that they now say he doesn't need (figures, right?!) but that we have been thankful for.

 

Valentine's Day is a good day!

 

Until Next Time,

Peace and LOVE!

Cheers,

~Shel~

 

Please check out all the other participants this weekend and see what they LOVE!!

 

 

 

 

An InLinkz Link-up

Focus on Life - Quiet Calm

It's week 6 for the Focus on Life 2014 Weekly Photography Challenge and Sally over at the Studio Sublime has given us the theme of "Cabin Fever" for the month of February and our prompt this week is:

Quiet Calm

 

 

 

"The world begins to emerge from its wintry blanket quietly, calmly.  Subtle cues emerge with very little notice. For this week's photo assignment we will focus on the quiet calm of the world re-energize around us."

 

Well, for those of you experiencing the winter blanket coming back to hit you yet again this week - I feel for you.

 

Here in the desert of central Arizona, we're getting hit with possible record breaking temps and it's going to be topping out this week in the mid to upper 80's.

 

Just like those of you who are tired of winter, we're ready for winter to actually begin.

Or 'semi-continue' as I heard someone say.

 

With our warmer temps, things have really started to bloom.

The trees that line the streets of my subdivision, which just finally lost all their leaves around mid-January, are starting to bud and bloom again and little signs of bright green are bursting from their naked little branches.

 

I traveled to Tucson last week/weekend for the Tucson Gem and Mineral Shows and our friend's that we stay with have lots of cacti in their yard and surrounding area. I went for a little 'walk about' and found some great colors in the 'Quiet Calm' of the desert.
 

 

 

 

I hope you are all having a great week and staying warm where it's cold and 'chillin' where it's hot!

 

Please take a look around and see all the great shots everyone else captured this last weekend, won't you?

 

Until Next Time,

Peace, Love and The Quiet Calm of the Desert!

Cheers,

~Shel~

Jewelry of the Day (or week, rather)

It's time to share more "Jewelry of the Day" shots.

Last week was pretty much all about pearls.

 

 

 

No surprise for you there. 

I mean, when is it not about pearls for me, right?

Even though my day-job is based out of my home, I still dress for work. I'm always pretty casual (jeans or long skirts can be seen most days) but I come to work 'put together' and of course that means jewelry.

 

 

I used to wear the same jewelry day in and day out, but for the past several months I've been wearing more of the jewelry that's in my collection (mine and other designers) and trying different styles and colors to see what works and what doesn't for me. 

 

It's been fun and a bit of an eye-opener, too.

 

I am still very much a 'Plain Jane' though.

Not straying too far from my 'jewelry comfort zone'.

 

 

 

If you care to follow along, you can catch me on Instagram

(thank you Samantha!!).

 

I've also got a Jewelry of the Day board over on Pinterest.

 

And then there's always Facebook.

You'll catch shots there every once in a while, too.

 

I really gotta quit messing around w/overlays, etc. on Pixlr! LOL!!

 

 

Please, join in the fun and post pics back.

 

I'd love to see what Jewelry you're wearing for the day! 

 

 

 

Earrings by Jennifer Hanscom of Jenuine Article and
Copper Owl Pendant by Kristi Bowman of Kristi Bowman Designs

 

 

Until Next Time,

Peace, Love and Pearls, Baby!!

Cheers,

~Shel~