SNAP Your Way To Great Photography!

I've been struggling with taking better
photos of my jewelry for quite some time. 

Once in a while I get a couple
of good shots off, but on a continual basis,
I'm due for some major improvement. 

This will become a thing of the past
(the so-so photo - not the clasp!)
 

I have been searching for a class to take here in the Valley
similar to the one I participated in a few years back,
but didn't turn up anything that fit my schedule 
or that wasn't clear across town.  

So, imagine how excited I was when I was reading
Erin Siegel's blog last week and she mentioned that
was now available as an E-Course
(insert image of Shelly jumping up and down with joy here!) 

"Woo Hoo!" 

Totally Twisted by Kerry Bogert


Aside from drooling over Kerry's
and enjoying her fun book, Totally Twisted:
I had seen her photographs on her blog and thought,
"Wow, this chic knows how to take some photos!"  

I hope you'll join me over the next five weeks
as I share some of the photos I will be taking
while attending Kerry's class and
let me know what you think.

I cannot WAIT to improve on pictures like this one!


This is gonna be a fun ride folks and I really think
you should go check out
 and if you jump on it (Today's the first day of class!!) 
you can join me on this fun adventure and
take your own photography skills to new heights!! 

What do ya say?  Are you up for it?!! 

Until Next Time,

Peace, Love and Great Photography is on the Horizon!

Cheers,

I Heart Macro - It's Sunday!!

It's I Heart Macro over at Studio Waterstone again this Sunday - You Do NOT Want To Miss This!!
 (Trust Me!)


Here's what I saw up-close this week.

(I messed with the settings and
it's not getting good ones up-close again!)

Wish my pictures were as good as the real thing!

(click on images to make them larger)

"Flying What? On My Roses"

Un-ripened Grapefruit

Little Bug Snug in a Rose



Where All The Pics I Take Come From - The Hubby's Rose Garden

Enjoy all the great pics over at Studio Waterstone today!

Until Next Time,
Peace, Love and Get Close-Up, Baby!
Cheers,

Shel's Friday Fav's

This Friday I'm starting something new
(well, new on my blog, anyway!).

I'll be sharing with you some sites I think are really worth stopping by and checking out! 

And, just so you know, I'm not talking all
bead and jewelry related blogs/sites here either. 

I'll be sharing all sorts of sites and blogs like photography, fashion, entertainment, etc.

But of course I'll have some fav's loaded with
artisan beads, fun tutorials, pearls
(you knew there'd be pearls - I mean, come on,....!!) 
and tons of handcrafted jewelry
to fulfill your fantasies as well!

So, please join me for "Happy Hour" and Shel's Friday Fav's!

Today I'm giving some blog lovin' to some of my all time fav's!

First there's Lori Plyler's Blog - Studio Waterstone

Lori does it ALL!
And, she does it all very well!

  Not only does Lori host "I Heart Macro" Sunday's
(Sharing the LOVE up-close!)


she designs some of the most amazing purses and bags you'll ever want to drool over and
she's the artist who put together my blog banner 
(along with many other people's).

Plus, she's always got something "cooking in the kitchen"! 

So, hop on over and enjoy all that Lori at Studio Waterstone has to offer!

Next up this week is Deb from Deb Duty Photography

I found Deb's blog while participating in
'I Heart Macro'  one week.

Deb's pictures caught my eye and she continues
to amaze me each week with her photos



Deb also hosts "This or That" Thursdays on her blog.

The  amazing photography these participants contribute,  I mean seriously folks - I just sit back in complete awe each week.

 Be sure to check out Deb's blog.
You will be so happy that you did!


Next up is a blog I read each day,....rain or shine. 
Okay, you jewelry peeps know who Kate is, but for those of you who don't know Kate,...She's this kick-ass, deep-thinking, creative genius! 

Everything she touches, from seed beads to PMC to photography to writing - you name it - it just ROCKS

The Jewerly Architect by Kate McKinnon


And, I love the fact that she's not afraid to use the "F" word weekly (if not daily!) in her blog!  It cracks me up!   

She packs her blog full of super advice, lovely designs,  mouth-watering inspiration, and so much more!

 AND she shares it all with this "free-living-spirit, take-no-shit attitude" that's so refreshing, and she shows lots of pictures of Tucson (where we used to live) and so I love catching those!! 

You'll seriously want to check her out!

So, there's my line up for this week.

There's so many more,
but I won't hold you hostage any longer!

Go check out these super great blogs and please feel free to send me some really cool, "kick-ass" blogs you think I should check out and possibly feature here for Shel's Friday Fav's!

Until Next Time,
Peace, Love and Blog Lovin'!
Cheers,

This or That Thursday!

Treat yourself and gaze at the amazing photography
over on Deb Duty's Blog today for



You will be delighted!

I'm in awe of all the talent and the gorgeous photography - what absolute works of art they are!

I play along, even with my little point and click camera, just because I love to see everyone else's pics and because I would love to someday be that talented with a camera in my hand!



So, today, for "This or That Thursday"
I believe that the chili peppers need dusting
(along with probably everything else in my home!)
and that this little bracelet needs a name.

What should her name be?


Now, back to hammering metal for my
mega earring wire orders this week!

Until Next Time,

Peace, Love and This or That,
Odds and Ends,.....Bits and Pieces!

Cheers,

Bead Table Wednesday


I'm trying to stay organized today,...might be a bit hard to do, but I'm trying! 


Aside from the 'to-do' list of things here on my desk,...I have a huge earring wire order that's pending - over 80 pairs,....that's a lot of cutting, forming and hammering.  

So, time to get started!

Have a great Wednesday and feel free to hop on over to the Flickr group and see what everone else is up to and what's on their bead table today!

Until Next Time,
Peace, Love and Happy to be Busy!
Cheers,

I Heart Macro - It's Sunday!!



Sunday - Up Close! 




Until Next Time,
Peace, Love and Macro Shots!
Cheers,


**Note**
I keep trying to post my pics for I Heart Macro over at Studio Waterstone,
but keep getting this error message:

An error occurred trying to retrieve images from that page.
Please try again. Be sure your address is exactly correct.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Some blog sites block any attempt to read the code from a page.

If you continue to see this note, try another blog address OR download your image to your local computer, and use FROM FILE to upload your image.


If anyone knows what I've done to my blog that won't allow me to post to the linky tools things on Studiowaterstone - please let me know. Thanks!

This or That Thursday!




You should see the amazing photography that goes on over there  - I mean really, from all over the world - it's breathtaking to say the least!

Here's what's happening this Thursday with me,...I've been having trouble posting to people's blogs for over a week now.  I put the comment in, type in my name and url and then hit the comment button and it just makes the things I typed disappear - "POOF"!

Or, it will tell me that I don't have the authority to comment and asks me to sign in again, and again, and again.

So, I've somehow managed to completely mess something up.  I even googled things to find out I'm not alone in being computer challenged, but nothing suggested has helped (because I probably didn't follow their advice right!).

Needless to say, this has frustrated the daylights out of me to the point where I think I might seriously want to think about switching to de-caf, but only AFTER I chuck the computer into the lake and then lock myself in my studio with some great tunes and a nice bottle of wine this weekend and forget about cyber space for a couple of days!!

Poor Spider - his home was blown away!


I'm sure this little spider, who dashed under the leaf right before I 'clicked', felt the same way this week as all his hard work was totally destroyed in one teeny-weeny second by this big gust of wind - just poof - gone, like my blog comments!

What Lovely Color Will This One Be?


However, seeing there's some beautiful roses ready to burst on to the scene made my computer problems seem completely insignificant - as they are - and both the spider's web and the budding roses made me reflect on how magnificent and fragile, yet strong life, in all forms, is. 


Almost Ready!

How precious, special and what a blessing to be in the midst of it!
(even with computer woes!)

So Precious!


Until Next Time,
Peace, Love and "Life", Baby!!
Cheers,


BTW - Bead Table Wednesday!

There was a hodge-podge of projects going on today,....it was a busy day with nothing on the bead table able to be finished - that's all I gotta say!

Leather Crochet Bracelet - Broken
Hand Knotted Necklace - well, that did get finished!
Leather Knotted Bracelet for my sis - not finished before I saw her today - bummer!!
And all sorts of other goodies laying around


But  you should hop around and see what everyone else is doing today - probably some really cool stuff going on!!


Until Next Time,
Peace, Love and Busy, Busy, Bead Table Wednesday!
Cheers,

The Very Vintage Fall Challenge Blog Hop

 Michelle Mach hosted this

We all purchased these really cool Fall Challenge Kits and
were then 'challenged' to create something with them and
reveal it today.



I decided to stay as close to the theme of "Very Vintage" as I could - especially since this is completely out of my realm of "Norm".

I quickly realized while searching online that "Vintage" today
means soooooo many different styles! 

What yummy inspiration I  discoved and what a treat to tap into my
creative side and release something new! 

Don't be surprised if you start seeing more 'Vintage Inspired' looks popping up on my site here and over in my Etsy store - this stuff is fun (interpretation: addicting!)  and searching for oldies but goodies in antiques stores is something the hubby and I already love to do!!

These gorgeous leaves that I just love from the Vintaj Natural Brass, Co. were in my kit, so I sat down and created these.

 Of course there's pearls in them, you all know me well enough by now to know I'd pop a pearl in somewhere, right?!

If you look carefully, you'll see there's a pearl in everyone one of my designs here today!

"Vintage Autumn Leaf" Earrings



I couldn't figure out what to do with this Vintaj Natural Brass 'branch'.  I've seen tons of these worked beautifully into so many designs over the past year, but nothing was speaking to me - until, I came up with this "Vintage Brooch". 

I even tried to hammer/texture the back pin portion so it would look a bit more 'tree like'.
(which was silly - cause no one's gonna see that part, it's going to go into your scarf or sweater, etc. - but, live and learn!) 

"Colors of Fall" Vintage Inspired Brooch




And, then there were still so many components staring at me, but I kept going back to this piece of "Candy". Well, it looks like a "Vintage" piece of candy to me! 

I love it but all I could think of was "Coffee".  So, this is "Coffee with Cream, Please."  A very simple and not so very vintage looking necklace, but vintage enough for me.

"Coffee with Cream, Please" Vintage Inspired Necklace



I still have several other things from my kit on my bench that need to be made into something.  Especially this one really cool lucite tear drop shaped component.

It keeps screaming "70's" to me, 
but since that's not very 'vintage'
(hey watching it for those of you who just said out loud
"The 70's are very vintage!" )
I'm saving that for a more 'retro' piece!

Thanks to Michelle Mack for hosting this lovely challenge.
I'm glad I participated ~ I had a lot of fun!

I hope everyone enjoys hopping through all the other particpants blogs and seeing the wonderful designs they've created. 
Don't forget to leave a nice comment for everyone, too! 
And, thanks so much for stopping here, too - I appreciate it!


Until Next Time,

Peace, Love and "Falling For Vintage"!

Cheers,
~Shel~

Here's the list of everyone participating in this current challenge:





Michelle H.
Firefly Visions

Sneak Peak!

Okay - so tomorrow's the reveal date for



This is gonna be so much fun! 

I wanted to give you guys a little bit of a
'sneak peak",...well, sort of!


Check back tomorrow and I'll have a link posted
so you can go check out everyone's creations and drool all over your key boards, okay?! 

Until Next Time,

Peace, Love and Very Vintage Fall Challenge Anticipation!!

Cheers,