Better late than never, right? I’ve been extremely busy working on my photography stuff (site, business cards, receiving sample from pro printers) that my poor little blog has been left high and dry. Well, no more I say! I’m back. And best of all, I’m announcing the Giveaway Winner.
Thanks Random.org!
It’s Joye, from The Joyeful Journey. Her blog is filled with the trials and tribulations of motherhood, bright and cheery colors, and she’s got bangs!! My fave. Congratulations Joye!
Wait, you didn’t win? Aw man, that sucks. The good news is that I’m offering 20 % off everything in my store, Sweet Averie. Just type BIRDNEST in the note to seller when you check out. Mother’s Day is just around the corner…
I’ve just updated my etsy store, Sweet Averie with lots of pretty jewelry. You’ll find dangle earrings, necklaces, and a ring or bracelet or two. The collection will get you nice and ready for spring and it features seaside blues and greens, sparkly pinks, and freshwater pearls. I hope you like it!
So, lets celebrate! That means a GIVEAWAY. Just imagine a bunch of confetti falling from the sky, kazoos blaring, and YOU winning a piece of handmade jewelry. (Made by me, of course.)
Here’s what up for grabs.
It’s a wire-wrapped nest pendant with three freshwater pearl eggs. The pendant is about the size of a quarter and I’ll send it to you with two yards of white vintage lace trim. That’s right, vintage lace.
How to Enter:
Please visit Sweet Averie and check out the goods. Then come back here to this blog post and leave a comment telling me which item from Sweet Averie is your favorite.
Don’t forget to leave an e-mail so I can contact you. The giveaway will close on Friday, January 29th.
Dameian and I were lucky enough to travel down to Florida for the holidays. After months of boots and coats, the sunshine felt really nice. Here we are on Miami Beach.
D has a hard time staying serious for pictures.
Here’s my mom with her husband. Yes, I realize that I am a serious whitey compared to my mother. (She’s wearing the necklace that I made her for Christmas!)
Wish this was my every day view.
Dameian and I have deemed 2010 “The Year of Kicking Ass.” This means really working out (like running, ok, more like jogging and speed walking), eating at home the majority of the time, flossing every day, celebrating each day, and making a buck. Hey, I’ve got bills to pay. Ya’ll know about my Etsy shop already. I plan to keep adding little tidbits to it here and there. BTW: If you have an idea for a project, don’t hesitate to contact me.
My newest plan, edeavor, wish, and dream is to start a photography business. 2009 was the year of the Nikon (on the Ashley Calendar it was). I rocked that baby out. I even read the entire manual! I’d rather read the back of a lotion bottle, but I did it anyway. Why? I needed to know. I needed to know everything about my sweet Nikon. What tricks did she have up her sleeve? What in the world did all those settings do? What is her favorite food? It’s macaroni and cheese, see, we’re like twins. Did she love Dirty Dancing?
If you were wondering, her name is Julie. Maybe I’ll start calling her Jules for short.
Little by little, hour by countless hour, I started to figure things out. OMG I finally get aperture. Like, I really get it!
Which brings me to these photos that I am itching to show you. I’m really itching, winter eczema on my hands sucks. Over the next few months, I’ll be taking photos of family and friends who don’t mind me telling them what to do for a few hours. It’s called “portfolio building,” ya’ll. Lucky for me, a wonderful friend of mine birthed recently a terribly handsome little man named Jaxson James.
Whatcha think?
As you well know, I’ve been really crazy about photography lately. I’ve gone so far as to learn how to edit photos in Photoshop. Its actually not as hard as I thought it would be. So I thought that since I’ve been learning the Photoshop ropes, it would be simple to design my very own holiday card.
Nope, I was wrong. The design process was not very hard. I found some digital scrapbook paper, picked out a font, drew out a design and put it all together. Easy. The bad part came when it was time to print. If your a graphic designer or photographer, you know what I’m talking about. WHY WON’T THE PRINTER PRINT THE SAME COLORS THAT ARE ON MY MONITOR? Why? Somebody please tell me. Pretty please.
After doing some research, changing settings a million times, printing more than 20 tests, banging my head on my desk, freaking out, yelling at the printer, recalibrating my new monitor, and basically going insane, I finally got what I wanted…a mere FIVE hours later. (That’s five hours spent on the printing issues alone!)
Here it is.
The inside:
…and the back.
I found the little deer in a dingbat font collection. Isn’t he the cutest ever? I put that little heart on him. Really, it was the moment I was most impressed with myself all week. I even made a custom shape. You want it?
Here ya go. Just click on the deer or the link to download.
deer-heart-ashleysbusy
UPDATE: After being asked where the digiscrapbook paper came from, I searched my files and realized that the paper wasn’t labeled. I then scoured the web trying to find it again. Finally, I found it. Only it wasn’t scrapbook paper, it’s a fabric swatch. Ha. Here’s the link: Panda Print Lemon.
