homefront & a few of my favourite things!!

You know i talk about homefront a lot but i've never actually shown you some of my favourite things ... so here goes. All of this is made by members, ex member, spouses & families of the military. For many of them this allows them to work from home, to move their business where ever uncle sam sends them & to also show the world what they are gifted at!

Enjoy!!

LilacAve: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5998410

JrzyGirlPhotography: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=7395736

Geek Details: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6183139

Nikid: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6107008

TwoSeasideBabes: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6107008

TheYarnChick: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6391795

July 4th 2009

So yesterday was July 4th, a huge celebration where i live, but being as i'm British much of it is lost on me. I mean rumor has it the American's kicked our butts but since we never studied it in school it really can't be that important. So whilst it's not an "official" holiday for me, i understand what it's about & i the whole patriotic side isn't lost on me. I mean i hear someone singing "Land Of Hope & Glory" & all the hairs on my arms stand on end, so of course the exscuse to watch fireworks & have a day off work isn't one i pass up. Also it was the first day of my leave so i planned of making good use of the time & weather & taking as many photos as possible. 

So the day started early ... we're talking stupid o'clock early as a me & a few of my close friends headed off to a local flea market where i managed to only buy 4 cameras to add to my collection, photos of which i promise to post at a later date. After a post flea market nap i decided to head into "K-Town" & check out the Japanese Gardens. They are incredible pretty & peaceful, especially considering you're in the middle of a rather ugly industrial city. So here are a few photos from my trip there. 

After this is was heading to my friends for a bbq, which is always fun. Lots of food, some of my favourite people & i didn't have to clean up after. My friend's house is in this little German village, & the first time i visited i noticed the shutters on his neighbors windows. They are vintage, pealing wood, faded in colour & you can image how much i longed to photograph them, with yesterday being the perfect day.  I have to admit there is nothing about these shutters that i don't love, & having previously told another friend about them these shutters were what helped them find the house where we were going to be bbq'ing. 

& finally of course my night ended with a trip to base to see the fireworks. The show was awesome but firework photos aren't something that has ever appealed to me, so after a while i decided to get a little creative. The bold colours against the black sky, became way more interesting (to me) when i unfocused the camera, they just became circles of colour. So here's a more tradition photo & my abstract variation.

& i couldn't pass up the oportunity of getting a photo of my close friend & her youngest watching the fireworks together, this to me sums up what the celebration was about. 

I hope everyone else had a great day. 

cameras & cats

So i thought I'd share with you a couple of my favorite things!!

Firstly my cats, of which i had two but the second (damn-it) wasn't feeling particularly photogenic, as opposed to Cujo who loves anything shiny thus way easy to get her attention. Anyway these (along with my friends) are my sanity, keeping me company when the husband is at work, tdy or deployed, & scarily i can watch them play for hours on end. They're my family!!

& my cameras which are slowly starting to take over the house, i told my husband i wouldn't stop collecting until i had as many cameras as he has beer glasses. I love everything about them, from the small plastic ones, to the novelty & of course there's the classic box Bownie.  My plan is to start taking photos with some of them, experimenting & seeing what the results will be. It's amazing to look at where technology has come from the most basic to the digital ones of today. 

Chopper Club Rally

A few years ago i went to a chopper club rally with a close friend, a close friend who recently lost his life in Iraq. It was a fantastic weekend, with every kind of bike you can imagine & here are a few of the photos i took over that weekend. I miss Jase. God bless you!!

solitude

True silence is the rest of the mind, and is to the spirit what sleep is to the body, nourishment and refreshment.  

                               ~William Penn

new (old) photos

So in the process of making a sale today, my customer was looking for a 4th image to go with the 3 she's already chosen, following along the lines of nature. So i started delving deep into images i have on my computer to see what i may have missed & found these 3. Take last year in Yosemite, i'd forgotten all about them but with a little work i absolutely love them & i hope you enjoy them too.

oh happy days!!

So today is a much brighter more beautiful day! I made that illusive first sale Thursdaynight & i am all kinds of excited. On top of this i have another few possible sales, which strangely enough i am incredible excited about. My business cards arrived yesterday, & I'm going to be taking part in a craft fair on base in October which if it goes well, there will another in November & December. Wow so many thing's going on, but it makes me happy. Starting my own business would be awesome, it's what i want to do (in an ideal) as well as being something i can take with me. & as my friends & family have proved recently i have all kinds of support going on which makes it easier to do. But now it's a matter of trying to figure out where i go from here. How do i get my name out there, advertise & other such thing's. All this is new to me, & finding the direction i need to go in is going to be a challenge. But i like challenges & if nothing else I'm doing what i love. 

Here's an image I'm working on for one of my best friends. It was taking in Yosemite last December, somewhere i can't wait to go back to (thank goodness i married a Caliboy). I was never a big fan of "landscapes" & "pretty pictures" before that vacation but going somewhere so stunning, & being given the chance to see what Ansel Adams saw can change even a hard heart like mine. 

Here's a favourite quote of mine by Ansel Adams: 

"Sometimes I do get to places just when God's ready to have somebody click the shutter" 

I think he got it pretty spot on!!