Archive for the ‘photography’ Category
Meredith wanted to bring her stuffed turtle “Shelly” for her first show-and-tell at preschool today. And whoever brings show-and-tell also provides a snack for the class. So, I thought that little turtles made from wheat bread, whipped cream cheese, cucumbers, and raisins for the head/arms/legs would make a cute snack! They kind of look like turtles, right? :)
Lucas and Meredith’s preschool has a Yankee Candle school fundraiser every year, and I just love it. Who doesn’t enjoy Yankee Candles? You can’t beat them ~ I have yet to find a candle that’s as fragrant. I just went through the catalog to see what candles we might want to purchase for our own home. The Sparkling Cinnamon smells so good! I also like Home for the Holidays and Eggnog (one of my favorite holiday beverages). Hard to believe that we’re thinking about Christmas goodies already, but Christmas is only about three months away!
If you’re interested in making a purchase to help out Luke and Meri’s preschool, check out YankeeFundraising.com. Send me an e-mail or leave a blog comment to let me know what you’d like to order, and I’ll get it taken care of for you. (You can mail me a check, send PayPal, or whatever’s easiest). Every dollar that’s raised goes DIRECTLY to Luke and Meri’s preschool class to benefit THEM, which I think is awesome. It’ll help buy new toys, supplies, decorations, activities, etc. as well as help cover daily classroom expenses. And when your order comes in, I’ll get it to you ASAP.
Thanks for your consideration!
Caught your attention with that blog entry title, huh? :) Well, don’t get too excited … I’m talking about felt as in the material ~ as in knitting a felted purse.
Now, originally I thought that felt was just something purchased at the craft store ~ three pieces for $1, or something cheap like that. I thought that felt was a fabric made by a machine, not something you could create yourself. Many years ago, I accidentally placed a wool sweater into the washing machine, with hot water ~ and it came out all felt-looking. Oops. But then, a few years ago, I saw my friend Carol’s beautiful felted bowl. And felted bag. And I thought, “How the heck would you knit something like that? I don’t see any stitches!”
I haven’t been taking very many photos lately, and that’s extremely odd for me. The biggest reason is probably because I haven’t been feeling very well this past week. Plus, our weather has been quite rainy. And sometimes I just kind of lose my photography motivation or something. But … now that our weather has turned beautiful and I’m beginning to feel better (thank goodness!), I can’t wait to get out there and start shooting again. Memorial Day weekend always puts me into a good mood, too, because I love summer. Hmm … maybe I should purchase some new memory cards in order to hold all of these photos that I’m going to take! :) All of you photographers out there … do you ever lose your “mojo”? And how do you get it back? What things are you looking forward to photographing this summer?
Check out this neat snowman that Lucas created while I was in my moms’ group meeting yesterday! Really cute! And what a perfect photo for a day like today … the snow has been coming down ever since we woke up, and we’re supposed to have six to 10 inches by tonight. I sure hope that Jeff gets to and from work safely. Boy, it’s pretty coming down right now. I’m looking forward to staying inside all day and hanging out with the kids. Lucas said that tonight, he wants to build a fire in the backyard, lay down in the snow, and look at the stars! Wow, that sounds so awesome. It might be a little chilly, though! LOL! :) I’m thinking about taking the kids outside to play in the snow for a while today, but it’s only 16 degrees at the moment. That is just way too cold. I asked Luke last night before bed if he wanted me to make some hot cocoa today, and he shouted, “YES!” What can I say … our kids love chocolate! :) (They’re definitely mine …)
I belong to a family photography e-mail group, and during the year 2009 we’re having a photo-a-day project (”PaD”). Such a neat idea ~ and much easier than Flickr’s “365 Days” project, where you have to take a self-portrait each day. Instead, this one photo per day can be anything. It’s nice not to have to take a picture of myself unless I just feel like it. For today’s shot, I chose to take a picture of a building not too far from where we live. It’s just a couple of houses down from the local yarn store, where I took a sock knitting class today. I’ve always wanted to pull over and snap a picture but have never had the chance, really. So today, since I had the afternoon to myself, basically, I figured that it would be the perfect time. :) Not too long ago, I started using the photo editing program Lightroom. I love it so far, but I’ve only lightly scratched the surface of what the program can really do. It’s amazing, though ~ Lightroom can work wonders! I love how the sepia tone of this picture really brings out the details and the antique quality of the building. So I’m curious … what have you been wanting to take a picture of but just haven’t yet?
I took this picture of her yesterday when we had just gotten back from CVS and were still sitting in the car. I love how the sunlight/reflection off the snow was illuminating her face.
Last night, I was so excited to finish the Indiana dishcloth that I’d been knitting. Unfortunately … I think the size 8 bamboo needles that I used were too large. You can barely see the pattern. :( It’s there, but I think that size 6 or 7 would have brought the design out more. I enjoyed knitting something red and Indiana-related, though! :) Oh, and I also messed up the top part. Those stitches were supposed to be on the other side, and I have no idea how that happened. Live and learn! I really need to buy some size 7 needles the next time I’m at our local yarn store. Next up on my needles ~ a tank top/perhaps tank dress for Meredith. I bought some really pretty turquoise-colored yarn (a color that she looks great in), but it’s going to be a huge project. I don’t have any circular needles yet, so I think that I’m going to have to knit the front and back separately and them seam them together! I have no idea what the heck I’m doing, LOL! :)
For some reason, when I post photos online to my e-mail groups, they turn out *very* pixellated. So strange. I wonder what’s causing it? That never happened before until just the other day. I can’t imagine that I would need to check out new video cards ~ it’s not a graphics problem on my computer; maybe it has something to do with editing the pictures in Lightroom? I’m looking forward to getting the new battery charger for our DSLR. I can’t find our old one ~ what a bummer! It was a beautiful sunrise here this morning, and I wanted to snap a picture ~ but I also didn’t want to get up out of bed to get the camera, LOL! :) We bought a point-and-shoot Nikon Coolpix not too long ago, and it’s literally the size of a credit card. So lightweight. It’s nice to have for quick shots.
Our friend Jeannie came over to visit yesterday afternoon, and we had such a great time with her. She’s a student at Marist College (currently studying psychology and also on the tennis team) and recently got back from spending a semester in Greece. We loved hearing about her travels and experiences, and the kids had an absolute blast with her. Lucas drew her a map (so that she would know how to get back to her house!) and kept showing her our map of New York City. (He’s really into maps lately, if you couldn’t tell!) Every time I see Lucas and Jeannie together, I think about how she was the very first person to hold him right after he was born (besides us, of course!). It’s so cool that Jeannie got to see the old and modern Olympics stadiums in Athens when she was there. She also brought me a Greek olive oil soap, which I can’t wait to use! I think that she was really surprised at how much Meredith in particular has grown. It’s fantastic that she has gotten to travel so much.
So … I’ve been thinking about doing something different with my blog, but I’m not sure yet. Not too long ago, I came across a French word that I thought would make a perfect blog title: “lisible.” In French, it means “legible” or “readable.” The “lis” part sounds like my name, too. :) I hadn’t intended to change the name of my blog, but that word just kind of jumped out at me. Unfortunately, that domain isn’t available. :( Next, I thought about “lisanne.net,” but that too has been taken. So has “lvj.net” and even “summerset.net.” And understandably, “jensenfamily.net” and variations thereof have already been claimed. I’ve been “Bathtub Junkie” for so long ~ almost eight years ~ that maybe I just shouldn’t mess with it? I guess that I’m just feeling like doing something new, though. Any ideas? I thought about going over to WordPress.com and giving up my own domain just to save some money, but blogging is something that I enjoy so much. My domain is up for renewal at the end of February, so I guess that I have some time to think about it.
