Friday Features - Graduation

Graduation time is here again! How exciting for these graduates to be moving on to the next stages of their lives, be it college, grad school or work. A new life awaits!

As you know, I'm partial to gifts involving photos :) I love to make scrapbooks as gifts and personalized gifts are always on the top of my list. I searched Etsy and found awesome photo gifts that would be great for any grad!

Graduation Gift, Personalized Custom Picture Frame Gift

by YourPictureStory

Unique graduation centerpiece block set

by dwdoublemintdesigns

Graduation Gift - Personalized Plaque

by janetarizona

Congrats to all the grads out there :)

Photos...A Work In Progress

Photos are something I think every Etsy seller struggles with! We want our photos to be the best they can be as our customers can't touch, feel or handle or items. My photos are a constant work in progress! I've updated some of my Custom Listings with new, brighter photos. I think they are "better" but not the "best". I like that they are brighter, but some of them are too bright! They went from underexposed to overexposed in some cases! My light box is made of foam board and has a shiny surface. I think this acts sort of like a flash and makes some areas brighter than others and makes it difficult to adjust the white balance. I tried to cover it with a white sheet thinking that would keep it from being too shiny, but that just showed wrinkles...ugh! Let me know what you think of my Custom Name Album listing. Are they better? Too overexposed? Here is the photo I was using for my first photo: And here is the new first photo. You can also click on the photos to be taken to a sold listing and a new listing to see all the new photos. Do you struggle with photos too? Have any great tips you'd like to share? Let me hear 'em :)

All is New Again

Isn't it wonderful how spring can make everything seem new again :) I've been taking quite a few outdoor pictures lately and I started to notice that I take the same pictures every year. I take photos of my flowers, my trees, walking Harley, etc. But each year they are such a welcomed sight after such a long, cold winter that I want to document them each and every year :)

I've been watching these trees all week! Each day I notice more and more white buds starting to pop up! I couldn't help but get my camera out to share them with you :) In the next few days there will probably be more white than green!

What do you find yourself photographing over and over again?

Drop me a comment...share a photo :)

New Guest Book Design

As promised...I finished one of my new guest book designs this week :) I am really pleased with how it turned out!

As you can tell from my shop, I like custom work! This guest book is no different :) You can customize the front any way you like with your photo(s), names, date, or any other info you would like! You can also choose what color to use for the inner covers and whether the book has photos and message areas or simple sign-in pages!

P.S.-Don't forget to enter my OWOH Giveaway!!!

Lake Photos

Okay, I've been telling you long enough that I would share my pics from the lake...so here they are :)

Jesse being ornery and shooting his uncle with the water gun!

The sun came out for one day so the guys took advantage. Here are Jesse's brothers jumping off a cliff!

Here we are celebrating Jesse's birthday :)

I met Sadie at the bar on our last night. My nickname has always been Legs...but I think she put me to shame! She was so cool and nice :)

Of course I took more than this, but I didn't think you wanted to be here all day...LOL :)

I've Been Tagged...Twice!

I must be popular today, because I've been tagged by two of my fellow EtsyBlogger friends :) I love any game that allows me to show off photos :)

The first tag comes from Deb at StoryBeader. I am to show off my 10th photo in my 1st folder. Well, this folder only had one picture in it, so it was pretty easy to find :) This is a photo of Jesse on one of our trips to Wyoming. He had eaten hot wings and I was trying to get a picture of his messy face and he was attempting to hide from the camera :)

The second tag comes from Sharla at BeadedTail. I am to show off my 6th photo in my 6th folder. This one doesn't fit well with the season, but it's a good one :) This is our friend Jeff on one of our snowmobile rides this past winter.

Who knows how my folders will be organized next time I get tagged. I am always moving them around and refiling them. They start as folders marked by the day they were taken, then they get organized by the month they were taken, and finally they get organized by year. I try to keep everything in place so I can find them when I need them. I think I just found my next project!

Oh yeah...I need to tag 5 friends.

1. Lily at Tulips Talking

2. Terronda at Unique Commodities

3. Mandi at Rock-n-Royalty Photography

4. Alicia at Boylerpf

5. Eileen at Dorset Hill Beads

My New Do :)

I finally did it...I finally cut my hair!!! I have had the same hair cut since I was in about 8th grade! Straight, all one length, long...in a word: Boring! I started adding some layers in the last year or so and started parting it on the side rather than down the middle a few years back, but it's still the same cut no matter how you look at it.

For you to understand why I haven't ever cut my hair, I thought you needed to see this photo:

My 4th grade school portrait...hideous hair cut! Thanks Mom!!! This hair cut was not my choice...but Mom thought it looked so cute...GAG! So cute in fact that I had to get my ears pierced so everyone would know I was a girl! From the time I started growing it out after this...it has been the same. I was too afraid to ever cut it again!

But yesterday I got brave. So brave in fact my hair stylist didn't know if she could do it...which I thought was funny :) She took off about 6" in all!!!

Here are the shots from yesterday right after I got it cut:

And here is another one I took today after I did a little work to it. And I do mean little...that's all I know!

It must be something in the air because Harley got his hair cut this week too. Doesn't he look cute :)

Fall is in the air!

Can you believe tomorrow is the official start of Autumn! This time of year is sort of bittersweet for me...I hate to see sunny summer days go, but I love wearing sweaters and jeans and being a little less busy.

Luckily our weather has warmed back up a little, because last week I could have sworn fall was already in full swing! I've even started seeing combines out already. They say it will be an early harvest with the weather conditions we've had this year.

I thought I would share a layout I did about Fall In Iowa and what it represents to me.

What does Fall represent to you? Do you love or hate this time of year? I'd love to hear your responses :)

New Photo Purse

I'm so excited! I finally got layouts done for my new purse! I am so happy with them too :) It's kind of strange scrapping in a different size than I am used to...these are 8x10 and I am used to 12x12. It keeps my creative juices flowing!

The purse isn't exactly what I was looking for, but how can you pass up a purse you can scrapbook on :) Now I just need to try and keep up with changing the layouts every month or two!

Summertime Flip Flop Album

I was so excited to get this cute little album done and in my shop!!!

I've been working so hard on getting custom orders done that I haven't had a chance to stock my shop with new items in a while. It was like a breath of fresh air to finally finish this!

You can see it in my shop here: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=13722487

There is room for a whopping 24 photos in this album! A great way to showcase all your favorite summer photos!

Hope you are enjoying your summer :)

Featured...Yeah!!!!

I'm starting to get the hang of this blogging thing...at least I hope so. I've been linking to others, looking into groups (and joining one-Etsy). I viewed one blog and sent them an email with some of my work and they featured it on their site...how exciting!!!

Check it out here: (Flip Flop Scrapbook)

http://tinsiders.blogspot.com/2008/03/flip-flop-scrapbook.html#links

Here are a couple pictures to show you what a Flip Flop Scrapbook is. You can always remember summer with one of these cute little albums :)




You can also check them out in my etsy shop here:
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=9168412
and here:
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=9146165

I love making these and have given SO many away as gifts. Now I just need to make one for my self :)

They do take a little time though. I hand cut each page to match the specific pair of flip flops I am working with. I roll each page through an adhesive machine to completely cover the entire page and then cover it with patterned paper and cut around the page. I then flip it over and do it on the reverse side. I cut photo mats for each page and embellish them. The fun part is getting to use power tools...okay, just a cordless drill, but still fun. I drill holes in the flip flops and use a hole punch to make holes in the pages. I bind them with cute, fun ribbon and they're ready.

Hope you enjoy them :)