Day 9, 10, 11

The surgery went well.  I was only in the hospital one night. I really don't enjoy being in the hospital.  My anxiety shoots sky high.  It's just one of those places that I'm glad are there...but I never want to have to use their services.  Either way- it's all over now and I'm on the mend.

Well- I was able to take pictures every day with the help of Matt on Tuesday.  He went around the floor I was on and took a few pictures for me.  I really liked them all (he took about 4) but I can only choose one.  I thought this one was pretty neat:

 

Day 9

I kind of love how quiet it seems at night.  During the day there's definitely more hussle and bussle.  

 

 

Day 10

Despite the pain last night, I had to get a picture of these beautiful flowers I got from my manager & boss.  I don't even know the names of half of these flowers to be honest.  I think I maybe know 1 and that's the gerber daisies that are hiding.  I took one out and put it into my vase on my night stand.  I'll be sad when these die.  These are probably the prettiest flowers I've gotten.  Then again- I did receive some wonderful flowers from Seth after I got out of surgery.  Little brother is the sweetest kid ever. 

 

 Day 11

I did kind of take the lazy way out and just took this picture while laying on my bed.  I'm not really feeling up to taking a picture of anything today.  I'm still quite sore.  Maybe by Sunday or Monday I'll be ready to put more energy into picture taking!

 

Day 8

I definitely enjoy writing in my blog in silence.  I can't concentrate too well with music on.

It was beautiful out tonight. I got to spend bit of time outside.  I went to my little brother's practice game for baseball.

We sat and talked with my mom for a bit.  I have an amazing boyfriend who enjoys spending time with me & my family.  [he makes me happy.  shh..don't tell:]

I have surgery tomorrow.  So, because of this, I will probably not update for a few days.  I will still take pictures though (hopefully).

Day 7

Today was Mother's Day.  It was such a beautiful day overall.  I'm so glad I was able to spend time with my family and especially my Mom.  She's an awesome woman and every day I'm so grateful for her presence in my life. 

The sun was shining all day and I came home and noticed my nose is slightly burnt & red.  I'm so thankful it's finally springtime.  It was such an incredibly long winter.  I can't wait for more warm weather activities.

 

I've had these 4x4 photos for the longest time just sitting in my nightstand drawer.  I came across them last night and decided that I really needed to do something with them.  I love how this turned out.  I used some of my favorite Washi Tape.  I love the theme of yellow, blue, & red.  They are such good colors together.  They compliment each other so well. 

  I've become somewhat opposed to just regular frames or photo albums.  I'd rather have my photos displayed in an unusual way.  I feel as if they draw more attention that way. Then whenever I have company they are much more compelled to walk up, examine, & enjoy my photo's.  It's a win.

Then just for the heck of it --> I decided to take a few old school blocks & glue them together.  I had gotten them from a little shop near downtown Peoria but haven't used them.  I've had them for probably about a year now.  The door knob was just one that had been attached to a wine stopper.  I had purchased it at the Expo Garden's Flea Market but it broke.  Not the best quality apparently but i figured I'd eventually have a reason to use the knob.  This display is much cuter.  I like it a lot better!

Photography is not my only hobby.  Lately it's seemed like my main go-to hobby though.  I also like to work in my art journals.  I have a couple of them.  I purchased one of them from Michael's a few weeks ago.  It wasn't going in the direction that I really wanted to go.  I found myself writing out my day rather then going to my art table and throwing paint on the paper.

I decided to make a new journal.  I went and purchased some regular paper, found a tutorial online, & set to it.  I watched this video: How to Make a Sketchbook: Coptic Stitch

The journal turned out well!  I was really happy with the result. I told myself tonight that I would not write too lengthy of passages & I wouldn't be so serious.  I feel like I'm too serious with my art.  I need to loosen up!  So, I had some fun & ended up with some work that I'm super happy with.  It was difficult but I was able to just paint in the moment instead of over think & analyze my next step.

Then I decided to paint something for my Mom for Mother's Day. 

They're both very simple and that's what I love.  I love simplicity. It speaks so much louder to me than a mess of paint, paper, pen...all the elements that I used to love in such a mess.  My art has evolved into something different & I plan on finding out where it's going.

Day 6

I spent the day with my family.  I went Mother's Day shopping with my Dad & then a little bit later we headed out to take some pictures around Chillicothe.  Which is a small town just outside of where my parent's live.  It's probably about 15 minutes away.  We dropped off Seth at a pool party and headed towards the downtown district.

When I'm out shooting, I really enjoy going behind the scenes.  I like to dig around a little and see what I can find.  I prefer going behind buildings into an alley rather than just walking the main streets.  What would the point be in that?  If I'm downtown somewhere in any town, I feel like I don't get enough satisfaction or inspiration when I just wander around past the shops storefronts.

 

I remember those chairs.  They used to sit out front on the sidewalk of The Hair Company when I was about 14.  There is a movie theater in town.  My friend and I would sit in these chairs after a movie was over & wait for one of our parents to come pick us up.

I love the blue and green in this picture.  Those color combinations are just delicious to me & I don't typically use the word delicious unless I'm referring to food.  Or my boyfriend.

Day 5

Well, it's Friday and I'm extremely happy about that.  Friday's are so good to me.  They mean relaxation from a hectic work week & Matt will be coming over to spend the night.  I basically live for Friday nights and the weekends. 

Lucky was laying in a sunspot with his legs sprawled out behind him like a dog.  I went to take a picture of him and my storage settings are full.  I have too many pictures on my phone.  It won't let me check right now because it's full but I'm pretty sure I have about 1,500 or so.  I still have the same pictures from when I first got it.  When I went to Chicago last January for my birthday.  All the times by the pool last summer.  Pictures from when Mary is home.  lots and lots of pictures.

 

 Taken with the Nikon. We went to the gas station earlier to get a drink & snacks.  I don't like any of the gas station snacks.  They're all pretty unhealthy.  I was standing there and all of a sudden realized I really wanted black olives.  So, we went to the store and that's what I got!  This was just a silly picture I took.   

Day What?

I cheated.  As I said before, life gets busy and I couldn’t find the time to write an entry.  So, I instead just posted a quick photo and called it done.  This is me making up for the lack of blog entry yesterday. 

I would like to get my Etsy shop up and running.  I already have some mixed media pieces set up for sale but I’d really like to take a big chunk out of my night and work on uploading photography to sell.  Sometimes, I think that I may be holding myself back subconsciously!  I really do need to let go of the fear of failure.  I may fail but at least I would have tried.  I need to remember that. 

So, once I’m satisfied with how my Etsy is running, I’m going to link it to my blog.  This is all so new to me.  I have no idea how to even go about doing that. 

 

Slow and steady wins the race. 

Taken with my Nikon. This little guy was recently bought at a fundraiser that was being thrown in my town.  I came across a booth that had some vintage items that caught my eye.  I’m always drawn to the booths that have random vintage objects mixed with some rustic and country looking items.  I’m always looking for quirky, unusual looking items for my apartment.  This little fellow was just the right fit for my apartment.  You can't really see it too well in the picture but his ear is a little knicked and imperfect.  I don't see anything wrong with it.  I'm the same way.