New Toy!

 Oh let me show you my new toy! Brenna got this for me for our anniversary in September as our old digital point-and-shoot will only take about 3 photos now before you have to change the batteries (which are not rechargeable and that makes me mad!). He got this one for a really great price and I have to say I am totally smitten with it :)

 Many of the photos posted on the blog recently have been taken with the new camera, it is so tiny and easy to carry with me everywhere, I take it on walks with Arwen, and even just when I go to the end of the driveway to get mail. This little guy was waiting near my front step when I came back from getting the mail a few weeks ago. The viewfinder on the back of the camera is huge, which makes for very easy picture taking (no more squinting and then having to use extra eye cream on that eye to remove all of the extra wrinkles afterwards - score!).

Here's another shot I took on the last weekend of the farmers' market in June. I love how crisp the colors are - it makes everything really pop!
Anyway, enough bragging, just had to show you all the great little camera :)
Soon I'll be showing you some new pieces of jewelry (don't think I've stopped that, I'm just catching up on some major photo-taking!). Stay tuned for new pieces!

Moose on Monday

This is Moose. He's a Neapolitan Mastiff. When he runs, it kind of resembles a tank, there is so much body and so much momentum, it looks like he's never going to stop.

This is Moose running. The only thing that keeps me from being scared of him as he runs full tilt towards me is the fact that his lips and ears seem to reside on a different plane of gravity than the rest of him... it made me laugh so much that it was hard to keep the camera still enough to get good photos.

This is Moose with his "sister", Bella, also a "Neo", showing how well the blend into the scenery.

Another flying lips shot. Makes me smile. Moose has joint problems, which is why he's so skinny, and now, worst of all, has just been diagnosed with incurable bone cancer in his hip. He hasn't got much time left (the vet says 6 months, but his owner says the cancer has doubled in size in the last week, prompting her to think maybe 3 weeks), which is why I was out taking photos for her to have something to remember him by. These are just a few of the 300+ that I got on Saturday morning. God bless you Moose, you're a handsome and entertaining boy.

Wonderful Wednesday - My New Baby!

 Woo! I got my new baby yesterday and I am so happy! I have never had a new one before. Can you guess what it is?

 YES! It is a brand new tripod! I know it sounds horrible, but though I have 2 old tripods, neither of them work and they are VERY old. Not that old ones aren't good, but man, having a new tripod where all the levers and twisty-things work is soooo nice :)

 Here it is! Well, in the box anyway. I got a stupendous deal on Amazon.ca - it was around $50 with shipping and taxes, and it got here in about 3 days! SO impressed.

 *sigh* look at it, it's so preeetttyyy. Came with a case and an extra mounting plate and goes to up to 72" high. wooooo!

And look! In the evening, in dim light, with NO flash on my camera, I got a perfect, crystal-clear exposure, no shake, no blur, just a great little photo. All thanks to my new baby, my tripod. YAY!

New Photo, Pledge Update and Glass Bead Demo!

Here is another photo of our rings - yes I had sapphire blue nail polish - I couldn't just go with traditional French, lol!

As for my Chatelaine pledge: Yesterday evening I rode my stationary bike for 30 minutes, and then did 40 minutes of yoga - feeling some serious exercise bliss and so proud that I did it instead of watching a movie and probably eating mindlessly (even if it is usually healthy stuff, it is still mindless eating - and I avoided it!). Woot!

Tomorrow I am going to watch a glass bead making demo with my friend Louise from Fireseed - we are going in together to see a woman make glass beads that look like the inside of an aquarium. I can't wait to see the demo! I am going to try to remember my camera to take some photos for you all :)

Have a great weekend!

Arwendnesdays: Outtakes

With me being such a super star, it is no wonder we have many, many photos of my gorgeous self. What is odd, is that there are so many bloopers! I never thought mommy could get a bad photo of me, but there it is: we have some, and we thought we'd share them. The above shot is from mommy trying to get photos of me asleep on her bed. I had been very still but a bird flew by the window, chirping at a squirrel at one of our bird feeders. Needless to say, I wasn't sleeping after that! You can see me opening my eyes REALLY wide - so wide the white shows all around! I promptly got up and barked at the squirrel. It ran. I was proud.
Here mommy was getting photos of me playing with my crab. One of my favorite things to do is to flip onto my back and pretend that my toys are attacking me. Unfortunately the crab decided to cover my face in this shot and it looks like the crab is getting the upper hand..er..claw, rah rooh!
Here is mommy's favorite blooper to date. Daddy was taking photos of me opening my Christmas presents and when I talked a thank you (rah roooh roooh is the correct term), I tilted my head up in the air, and daddy got the shot...right up my nose! Unfortunately it isn't in focus..or, well, the background is, because daddy doesn't know how to use mommy's camera yet. Rah rooh!

We hope you enjoyed our bloopers, remember to enter the contest over at Fireseed.ca to try to win one of four fabulous prizes.

Have a great day!
and Arwen

Soulful Sunday: A Beautiful Visitor

UPDATE: The owl is a Barred Owl, I just identified it with my Birds of Ontario book :)
I saw a flash of something out of the corner of my eye this morning and when I looked up, expecting to see one of the many Blue Jays that populate my yard, I was astonished to find this magnificent owl perched not thirty feel from my office. I was so shocked I didn't move for a good 2 minutes, though I was desperately willing my body to move and get the camera. I finally did, and ever so carefully opened the front door and took a hasty shot...only to realize I had my short lens and the shot looked like I had been standing a good sixty feet away...which I was. So I ever so carefully closed the door and ran like stink to get my long lens and put it on my camera, hands shaking like mad the whole time. I ran back to the front door, edged it oh-so-carefully open once more and managed to take 6 shots of this beautiful, and very large, owl. I was shaking so badly from excitement (there is something about owls I absolutely love) that I only got one shot to turn out, and here it is, shared especially with you! I hope you like him/her as much as I do. When I got back to my desk, there was another flash and the owl was gone. I keep hoping I'll see it again, but I figure I was blessed enough to see it once and get a photo of it, I won't be greedy :)

Until tomorrow my dear friends, have a soulful Sunday of your own.

Cheers,

Soulful Sunday: A Little Belly Laugh

We all need a laugh now and then. Many medical studies say it is good for you. There is a great site, where this is taken from, called Icanhazcheezburger.com is full of funny photos for a quick laugh. If you need to lighten your mood a little, I suggest checking this site out - it never fails to get a smile on my face. This Soulful Sunday, I thought I'd try a bit of humor for a change - heck, if you like it, maybe I'll keep this the theme for Sundays from now on - a little bit of humor for you all. Let me know what you think.

Considering the time of year, and the fact that I just had a chipmunk with so much of my birdseed in its mouth it couldn't close it fully, I thought this photo was appropriate. I did try to get a photo of said chipmunk, but, somehow, he managed to keep his top-heavy head up and run away at the sound of the door opening. I'll try tomorrow :)

For now, I'm off to work out, and redo some product photos before Brennan gets his new Wii going (an early b-day present from me) as the sounds of that are likely to make me join in the fun :)

Have a great Sunday!

Fabulous Friday: Charity of the Month and Fall Photos

This month's Charity of the Month is being carried over from last month. Epic Farms is a wonderful charity, run by my good friend Jen. As sales last month were less than spectacular (thank you economy, lol), I wanted to give this month another chance to actually donate something meaningful to Epic Farms horse rescue. Click the image above to go to their website, or click the image below to go to their fabulous Etsy store.
They have many things to get you started on your holiday shopping, so please do visit them :)

Now, for my fall photos...
I awoke this morning a little later than usual...the fibromyalgia is always worst in the mornings, so I try to sleep in until 8 (bad, I know). When I went into my bathroom, I noticed something....odd. Everything was fuzzy! When my eyes had cleared I realized that it wasn't fuzzy, but foggy - VERY foggy! And at this time of year, with the trees changing, I knew I had to get this photo for you - it is on our road, just a few hundred yards from our house. I love this maple tree, especially when the weather turns colder and the leaves change - it is such a gradual change that the very outer leaves are often red before the inner leaves are even done being green.
This is a maple tree that is visible from our living room window. The sun always seems to catch it and make it look as though it is on fire.
And of course, when I got back inside, I was greeted by one of the best sights ever: My wonderful, faithful Wonder Dog, Arwen.

Have a great Friday!!

and Arwen

Arwendnesdays With Arwen the Wonder Dog!

Hello! It's me, Arwen the Wonder Dog, here for your weekly fix of ME on Wednesdays, newly rechristened Arwendnesdays With Arwen the Wonder Dog :)

Mommy hasn't been bringing her camera on our walks lately (something about me catching she scent of all the deers in the area and trying to run after all of them at once with her attached to my leash...she says she doesn't want her camera filled with gravel if I accidentally pull her onto her belly, rah-rooh!), but she DID find a really cool program for free collages at Shape Collage and tried this one of ME (of course!). I think it turned out really well, but then again, I might be biased, rah-rooh rooh!

It is a very easy program to use - you just select the photos you want to import into the program, select the shape you want your collage to be (rectangle, heart, etc.), then click "create" and you're good to go! I am thinking of asking mommy to print this one so that I can sign it...I just need to figure out a way of holding the pen with my paws, ha-rah-rooh.

I think I am going to try and get mommy to do a heart collage of me next - then she can print it and paste one over her desk, one in her bedroom, one in the kitchen....you get the idea ;-)

Until next time, thanks for tuning in, mommy says she'll have some more new things for you soon!

and Arwen

Thoughtful Thursday with Arwen

Hello! It is ME, Arwen the wonder dog and I am here to tell you about my photo shoot with my mommy. See, she is a professional photographer and when daddy said he needed some business photos of him, she did - with the one stipulation that I get some nice photos too!
There was just one problem....I don't like having my photo taken! I look all sad, or worse, scary, because as soon as mommy points the flashy thing at me I lower my ears and try to look cute, not realizing that my lowered ears in photos look mean, Rah ROOH!
Mommy thought that after the first photo she took (at the top), that maybe daddy should come in and help me out....that didn't work, 'cause I thought it was love time and proceeded to try and kiss him and get as many scratches as possible, ri-roh!
When it was apparent that he didn't want to show me affection, I quickly ran out of the room, up the stairs and got my seal. Then I ran all the way back downstairs, and sat in the studio with my seal, ready for my closeup.
Still no perky ears, but I think the seal definitely shows my good side. That is all for now, until next time, my blogger friends :)

Mommy thinks she has a good idea for the next contest, so she says to please keep checking back (as if you wouldn't keep checking back to see more of me! Rah Rooh!)

Fabulous Friday!! I Got a Surprise Package!!

~The Best Surprise Package EVER!!~

A few weeks ago my new friend Jen, from Epic Farms in Alabama, and I decided to do a trade: she was eyeing a few pieces of my jewellery and I was very interested in some of her die cuts and tags. I've been wanting to have some nice tags to include with my packages when people order from me so I can include another heartfelt, hand written 'Thank You" and Jen's descriptions of her new tags sounded absolutely scrumptious! She also informed me that she had "a little bit of yarn" that she wasn't going to be using and that she would gladly give to me so that I could make some more amigurumi dolls to sell for charity. I was thrilled! I waited.....and waited.....(Okay it was only about 5 days to come allllll the way up here!) and finally it came! My little package from my new friend....except that this wasn't the little package I was expecting - it was a veritable treasure chest full of goodies! It was HUGE! (see above) She included a wonderful thank you letter for my donation to her farm in December:

And an absolute TON of beautiful yarns in all sorts of shades, even a sparkly one that I had seen in a store and loved but didn't have the money for (Jen didn't even know that but included it anyway!!). She suggested I make a cute little kitty out of it and call it "Sparkles the Cat" - I love that idea! Check out all the yarn! I am so excited!!
Then she included her tags - take a look at these, they have to be the most beautiful tags in the world, and most of them are 2 layered!! I told her to get these on her WYSIWIGS Etsy Shop to sell as they are SO gorgeous and the paper quality is stunning - not too thick and not too thin with the two layers. AND these ones even have ribbon! One tag even had a little cut out flower on the reverse with a little rhinestone carefully glued on (I got the reverse side in the photo - it's the Easter egg looking one)
Finally, she even included a magnet and a photo of one of her equine residents (and my favorite) Shadow. He is one of her rescue horses at her Epic Farms and needs a yellow security blanket! Isn't that adorable? These pictures are so wonderfully cute:
What an amazing day! I have to say I almost cried with happines - it's not every day you get to meet someone with such a large heart as Jen's.
Now I just hope she likes the jewelry I sent her....maybe I should send some more... :)
You really should check out her shops, Epic Farms and WYSIWIGS, she does amazing paper folding pieces, drawings, you-name-it, she has something beautiful (and affordable!) for everyone. You can also see her farm's website, Epicfarms.com to see more horses and read all about her farm.
Have a great weekend everyone! I'm off to list more items in my Etsy shop - some REALLY cool necklaces, and I've re-done many of my older photos to show the jewelry there more clearly, I hope you like it!
Meghann

Fabulous Friday - I've Got Project Wonderful!

I am so proud to announce that I am now on Project Wonderful! You can advertise yourself on my blog for not very much money (not that I'm cheap, but...) and be part of a cool online community. I don't have any ads yet, but I hope that will change soon :)
In other news, my SUPER 50% OFF SALE is coming to an end so if there is something you like, grab it now before it is over!
I also have lots of new photographs and jewellery items on my Etsy Store at great prices, so if you missed out on your Valentine's favorites, grab a cup of coffee, sit down and have a gander at my shop :)
Also a big thank you to everyone who has been dropping (clicking) on my Entrecard! I am trying to reciprocate as much as possible if you have a blog. Click the link to the right for some cool blogs.
I'm now realizing I may need to get a new blog layout - one of those fancy-dancy 3 column ones...maybe if I make a few sales I can afford to have someone do it for me....Any suggestions?
That's all for now, tune in tomorrow for a cool heart-warming announcement.
Meghann

Fabulous Friday - I'm on a Fabulous Blog!

Well I must say that after having a VERY bad night last night (a bad asthma attack that lasted 2 hours in the middle of the night), I woke up to a fabulous morning: one of my rings is featured on amazing blogger Beaded Tail's blog! Every Friday she does a feature of beautiful items starting with a particular letter. Today's letter was 'F' and she featured my FibroAware 14karat Gold Filled Wire and Swarovski Crystal Wrapped Ring alongside some very, very beautiful items from other sellers. Thank you so much Beaded Tail, you started off my weekend very well!!
In other news, I have more photographs for sale on my Etsy site, and more to come. Please keep checking back for more great items, and new photos on already listed items :)
Meghann

Wordless Wednesday (Mostly)

New Prints!

Meghann
P.S. Check out my Etsy store and see the great items and fantastic sales! Also don't forget to enter the monthly blog contest :)

January Contest!

How do you beat the winter blahs? Tell us and you will be entered to win a 5x7 photographic print of my "Backlit Bleeding Hearts" photograph (shown above, without the border). This print is ready for framing in any 5x7 frame or mat. This is also available for sale in various sizes in my Etsy Store. I will randomly choose a winner and announce the winner in early February.
With vibrant color like this, it is guaranteed to get rid of those winter blahs in a hurry!
My Super 50% OFF SALE is still going strong in my Etsy store, so check out the great deals before they are gone forever!
See you soon!
Meghann

December Contest Announcement!

What's your favorite part of this time of year?
Visiting family? Driving around to see Christmas lights? Turkey? Presents? Aunt Mabel's inability to sing carols in tune, making your brother shoot milk out his nose (ok it's early right now and I'm not fully awake yet).
Your answer could win 3 different sets of 4 photo cards, just in time for sending out those thank you's after Christmas and New Year's!
I hope you like them!
Don't forget to check out the SUPER BOGO 50% off sale to get lots of affordable gifts for your friends, family, neighbors and coworkers. At these prices, you'll be surprised at how much quality gift-giving you'll be able to do!
Also check out our charity of the month, Epic Farms and see what great things they are doing for horses in need (I always have a soft spot for my 'neigh'-bors!)
Have a great day!
Meghann

Charity of the Month!

~One of the Residents of Epic Farms, Max~

A new month calls for a new charity of the month! Last month, sales weren't that great and only $0.40 was donated to the last charity, so I am hoping that with the run up to Christmas, and with my SUPER SALE going on, we'll be able to help out this charity a little more :)
What is the charity, you ask? Well, I suppose an introduction is in order, so here goes:
Please meet our Charity of the Month for December, EPIC FARMS in Alabama! See their website here: www.epicfarms.com
This is a wonderful, small farm that is still in the process of getting its non-profit status (it takes forever, trust me). They do, however, give a letter on letterhead stating your donation amount if you ask them nicely :)
This wonderful farm, run by a selfless family, comprises of a few rescued horses who are gradually being rehabilitated from various traumas. One horse, name Shadow, seems to have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and actually has a security blanket!
With stories like these, I am proud to be helping out in any way possible, so please browse my BOGO 50% off sale and help a charity at the same time as being able to cross people off your gift-giving list!
Also, stay tuned for this month's blog contest.
Happy trails,
Meghann