Day 6

This is going by kinda fast. And I'm rather liking how it's forcing me to use my gear. And I'm so in love with this camera! Anyways, here's day 6. My horse Mickey and a picture I've been considering for a while...

Diamonds are a girls best friend

You all are absolutely correct. Darn! I thought I made that one harder. I will just have to try my best next week to stump you!

Diamonds

is the answer to the Word of the Week. Thanks for playing! And please spread the word and come back next Monday for another one.

The last 3 days

Jumping

Fast

Ireland in Colorado

Word of the Week.

Here we are again. At the beginning of another beautiful week. And welcome everyone to this game, word of the week. I will give you four etsy sellers' products. You must guess what word they have in common. You can click on the pictures to go directly to the items, or click on the shop names below the pictures to go to the sellers shops.

seababejewelry.etsy.com

steeldreamingdesigns.etsy.com

sushipot.etsy.com

SarahsSmile.etsy.com

Thank you for joining in this week! Tell all of your friends about our fun little game here. Perhaps one day I can turn it into a give-away! And I will post the answer tomorrow, so until then my friends...

On a happier note

Still working on the stupid problems...

But here's photo #2.

This butterfly was struggling with the heat and a torn wing on the sidewalk. It managed to flutter away just after I snapped a few photos. Isn't that orange just beautiful?

Aaagggghhh!

Is it not just the epitome of things that EVERYTHING stops working correctly when you are exhausted and beyond your limits? And then everything everyone says is the wrong thing in the worst way? Like how my black and white cards refuse to print correctly. And how the comments on this blog aren't compliant and don't work? Or how I have worked for five days this week and am getting ready for two more? Oh, and then it doesn't stop there because Monday is back, I hate Monday. Well, except for Word of the Week.

And now that I've ranted, and could go on for hours and hours...I'm going to go and try to attempt to fix things. And if things still don't work I'm going to scream and take a hot shower. And then fall into bed and sleep away my stress.

My Niece

Please enjoy this slide show of my niece's first nine months of life. She is a sweetheart and a very happy baby. We are all very much in love with her. The photos are by me, the music is "Picture This" by Jim Brickman.

100 Photos in 100 Days

My computer is fixed. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to start this challenge. But I received my new camera on Tuesday and am beginning my 100 photos in 100 days challenge. I may not post every day. But you will get to see all 100 photos. And as a photographer I will not take exactly one photo each day. It will be many and you will get to see the best. Today I have three great ones, but I'm only putting one up here. And this will be part of my next set of photo bottle cap magnets! I'm getting side-tracked. Here is the first photo...


Title: Ladybug (I know, innovative, right?)

And look for a tutorial on my bottle cap magnets soon!

Please go vote!

I am entered in a contest over at Cat's Corner.

http://amazoncat.blogspot.com/2009/06/let-voting-begin.html

My photo is number 3 on the list. It is a picture of my baby niece Samantha.

100 Twitter Followers

Well, I am a tad late. It's 101 now. But I'm having a deal for this new milestone. My shop is 10% off and you will receive a free bookmark of your choice with your purchase. So in the notes to seller when you check out just mention the "twitter deal" and let me know which bookmark you would like.

www.iamalive.etsy.com

I will refund through Paypal.
Sale ends Monday.
Current sale items excluded.

New Blog!

My blog will soon have a new layout! One that is that much fancier and beautiful. It'll be up soon. So look at my blog in the next few days.

Life has been hectic lately and I'm learning to balance. Both work and other work. I work a full time job along with two part times, and then my photography. My husband feels a bit neglected at times. And lately I've been so exhausted I have nervous breakdowns on the weekends. But I'm learning to level out and not overwork myself. Priorities and a to-do list really help.

If anyone is reading this and looking for a little encouragement...just keep going and make sure to have fun along the way. It's not worth it if you just work your life away and then get hit by a bus. It's over at any moment, so live in the moment.

The Answer

Thank you all for playing! And EVERYONE got it right. Butterfly is the word. Thank you to the shop owners who put such great products up. And I look forward to next week.

On another note, before I head off to work, I should be getting my new camera today. So I will be starting tomorrow 100 days of photographs. I'll be posting those photos up here so keep an eye out for that project.

Word...of...the...Week!

Welcome back. I hope we have as good of a turn out as last week! And hopefully I do better. Here they are ladies and gentlemen...guess what is common between these etsy seller's products!

www.solohandmade.etsy.com


www.kimbolio.etsy.com

www.kaleidoscopestudio.etsy.com

www.SimpleSweetDesign.etsy.com

There they are. Let me know what you think the word is in the comments. I will post the answer tomorrow. You can click on the photos to go to the item, and you can click on the website links to go to their shops.

Thanks for visiting!

New product

I'll be working on my stationery today after a nice breakfast on the patio with the hubby. But I'm also considering an idea for the holidays that I need some feedback on.

Many families have their yearly letter to family and friends of all the updates and a family photo. So what do you think of stationery that their family photo is printed on as well as their letter? I could offer to design their family letter with a photo and a font specifically for them. And then I could print however many they want and send it back to them.

Is that something you would want? Is it something you think others would want? How best could I market this?

Anybody have any ideas?

20 sales...

And guess who got me there? My bestest friend Cora! It's great to have a milestone reached and to be able to give the 3 bookmarks to a good friend. Thanks so much girly. Here's to many more milestones in both our lives...

10% off!

Here is a small thank you to my first 10 followers. I will give you 10% off in my shop on anything (excluding sale items) if you comment on this blog post and mention it in the notes to seller when you check out. I will refund it back to you through Paypal.

And remember, whoever gets to it first as my 20th sale gets 3 FREE bookmarks!

So thank you for supporting me and wanting to read my blog!

www.iamalive.etsy.com

I feel so loved!

Well, I am just astounded. 18 comments! Thank you to everyone who played along on the game. You're all so wonderful to have stopped by and contributed. Remember, I'll have this game each Monday so you can come back and play!

And the answer is...summer!

Aren't we all ready for it? Smoothies and lying on the beach/pool side. And summer fruit and art fairs! And those light, comfortable sun dresses that just feel wonderful when you're walking the slightly breezy boardwalk.

I probably should have had more variety because other answers worked like shape or sewing. So I will be much more specific and difficult next week. Thank you again to everyone who stopped by.

Word of the Week!

Alrighty, I'm seeing this word all over the place right now. So tell me what it is!

MallorysTreasures.etsy.com


Morettis.etsy.com

cottonfields.etsy.com

PlusSizeDesigns.etsy.com

So guess that word and let me know in the comments what you think it is. Also, do you like the new title? I'm trying different ones out. I'll post the answer tomorrow!

On the Other Hand

Cat's Corner is having a photography contest.

http://amazoncat.blogspot.com/2009/06/sorry-for-another-missed-post-yesterday.html?showComment=1245008876855#c5022179619530869227

Here is my entry of my sweet baby niece Samantha.

20th Sale!

I'm giving away 3 FREE bookmarks with my 20th sale. Get on it people, I'm at 19, it's goin' fast.

New Product

I'm developing a set of stationery. Small sheets for letter writing and envelopes. We'll see how they turn out this coming week (if I have time!). I might even try to print some out today and see how I like them.

There are a few things I can't decide though...

- How many to a set? 10 or 20 or more?
- Should one set have just one photo for all the sheets or should I put four or five sheets of different photos?
- Should I print on the envelopes?
- And I'm sure more will come later...

Anybody got any pointers or ideas for me? They will basically be a small sheet with one of my photos up in the top right corner. Let me know what you think!

The Word Answer

So the answer is fast but I like Kelli's answer of horsepower! That works so much better for the pictures I found. So there you have it, come back again next week to play again. And if anybody has an idea for naming this game, let me know.

Yart Sale!

I am participating in the etsy Yart sale. That's art+yard=yart! I will have a special yart section in my shop with discounted prices. And am giving gifts with purchases.

If you purchase $10 or more from my shop you will receive a free small photo notepad.

If you purchase $20 or more from my shop you will receive a free large photo notepad.

Both are just a little journal for you to jot down ideas and notes with one of my photos on the cover. Can't wait for it to begin!

Find out more information at my shop - iamalive.etsy.com

or at the Team ESST blog - http://teamesst.blogspot.com/

It's time for...guess that word!

Welcome to another week of guessing on my blog. This one is a bit tougher. I've got three products that all have something in common. If you click on the pictures or the shop links you can view the etsy sellers' shops.

giddyupstudio.etsy.com


laurelwhite.etsy.com


Daydreamers.etsy.com

Venture a guess and leave it in the comments. I'll post the answer tomorrow!

Magnets

Finally figured out the best process for making my photo recycled magnets. I'll put a tutorial up here next time I make them. The first set is up for sale on my site now. Let me know what you think of them. Things can always be improved!

I have 50 hearts!

Of course by the time anyone reads this the link will have more hearts...but that's a good thing! Woo hoo!!!

Purple

Well there you have it. Everyone guessed correctly! The word was purple. Thanks so much for playing. And I should have another one up on Monday.

Have a good night and a good weekend.

Guess the Common Word

Ok, here's my first attempt at this weekly game idea. I'm going to put a few products from etsy sellers up here, and you're job is to guess what they have in common. No, there are no prizes. But it'll be fun! And prizes may come down the road. Remember, this is the first one so the next few will be tweaked and messed with until I get it exactly how I want it. If you want to when you leave your answer you can put a link in the comments to another item that follows this weeks theme. I'll start with one of mine...

iamalive.etsy.com

kyleannemetals.etsy.com

thenook.etsy.com

We'll start with those three and see what happens! Go ahead and guess in the comments (I made this one easy to see how this works). Let me know if you like this or what I can do to change it. Have fun. I will post the answer at a later date.

50 Hearts

I know it's a bit meager compared to some other Etsy sellers. But I'm almost at 50 shop hearts! Very exciting. My first milestone.

http://www.etsy.com/hearts_me.php?user_id=6818576

Also, I am putting together a little weekly game that involves other etsy products. I'll probably start my first one later today, but usually it will be on Mondays.