Monday, January 25, 2010

A little newness, my first blog button!

Well, today I decided to work on my very first blog button!

Creating the image for the button, was way easier than I would have though, I chose my photo, and did ALL the editing in Picnik (if you aren't too skilled or photoshop scares you, picnik is the perfect option for editing photos for all purposes, Sharon from MorganStreet recommended it to me, and I love it!).

Then I uploaded it in my Flickr page (Photobucket works too, of course) cause you'd need the direct link for later.

I was following another tutorial, cause I'm not the most internet/coding/IT savvy person, but I couldn't get it to work, I was getting the code, but the image didn't show (GRRR!), so I went and did a lil google search and found this super easy tutorial by Shabby Blogs with the code for it and it worked like a charm!

So here it is!:






Like it? Feel free to grab it!!

I'm now planning another shoot for photos to use on a blog button for the Two Girls & A Bar of Soap blog!

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Sunday Shots: Week 40 & 41!

Back again!


With Gaurav getting ready to fly back to India from the US, his 25 hours trip and his adjusting to Indianess & jet lag, we've again neglected our Sunday Shots a bit, so this is, once again, a combined entry for two weeks!


Week 40:

Gaurav on his drive back home.





It snowed over here! I took this shot in the morning after driving back home in the snow after night shift!





Week 41:

Gaurav feeling at home once again!





Myself summed up in a collection of objects.





That photo of mine is part of the shoot that I did this morning to figure out a nice shot to use as my blog button, what do you think?

Saturday, January 23, 2010

One Hundred Rambles later... Thank you!

Here it is! My 100th blog entry! =D


Who would have thought that my lil bloggie should reach such a milestone? Not me, that for sure!


I have to say I had lots of doubts when I started writing this blog in 2008, even if I started it just as a way of talking about what I love, and showing it off to the world, but my main doubt was: is there anybody going to read anything? & do I really care if they do?


Truth be told, there have been times when I have thought that it was a worthless effort, and why would anyone bother reading what I wrote, but both my very supportive boyfriend (who thinks that I'm a crazy shopper but supports my handmade interest and my blogging about it) and my increasing number of followers (81 already!) and of course, all the supportive and positive comments from fellow bloggers have helped me to decide to keep on going.





Regardless of the comments (which always make me smile and I'm always thankful for) and the people that might read but not comment, I like blogging, though work, life, the universe & everything don't always allow me to blog as often as I'd like sometimes. So my choice has been to keep on writing about what I love, to keep on showing off to any & all that care to look the handmade goodies I buy for myself or others, to share with other my lil efforts at photography (another love of mine) and to rant & ramble about myself on occasion.





This blog entry is not only a reflection on my blogging but a big THANK YOU to all my followers, readers and fellow bloggers who encourage me to keep on going, and of course, also a big thank you to all the sellers that put so much talent & love on their creations, cause they're the ones that inspired me to start writing this blog! I just want to return the love via my lil blog entries!





I had been thinking about what my 100th blog entry should be, and I just thought that saying thank you again was a good idea, but today while doing some grocery shopping an idea popped in my head, I've just decided to add a weekly feature to my blog, just like Sunday Shots are (I know, they aren't really all that weekly as they should be, and not always on Sunday... but you get my drift) and that would reflect another of my big loves: reading! I'm still trying to find a catchy name, and wondering what day should I reserve for it, so if you guys have any suggestions, I'd love to hear them! I intend to talk weekly about one book or series that I've recently read (that very week) or one of my all time favourites. I've just thought that along with my Shopping Handmade entries that show off how much I love gifting handmade to my friends & family, I love recommending books and gifting them, so I'd do the same in my blog!





I'm also thinking of getting my very good friend Lexie from Headless Tess to work on a button for my blog, but I'm not awfully inspired as of late, so I have no idea how do I want it to look... Any ideas? I was thinking about something featuring cupcakes, books & a camera? Would probably portray pretty well what I am, but I was also thinking that it should probably be made off one my shots, so now I need to start working on that!





In you're still awake after such a long rambling, I thank you, and hope you decide to not stop reading my blog from now on! I plan to update more often, call it a New Year resolution, let's see how good I am at keeping it!


So long and thanks for all the fish!

Monday, January 11, 2010

Sunday Shots: Weeks 38 & 39 (Monday Edition)

Hiya there!!


I know, I know, going back to work has meant a total push back on my blogging, even the Sunday Shots... So much that we're now on a combined late entry for 2 weeks! But here they are!


Week 38





Week 39







Now, my next blog entry is gonna be my 100th entry!! And though I've asked around and got a bunch of suggestions, I really can't decide what to do for it... Hopefully inspiration will struck soon!

Any & all suggestions welcome!

Sunday, January 3, 2010

Shopping Handmade: Secret Santa for Al

Hello everyone!


Having a good Saturday? I've arrived home only a lil while ago, after going to Madrid with my friends to see the Christmas lights (a bit late, you might think, but we have still presents day on Jan 6th, so Christmas holidays are still not over), and we did a bit of walking around, some picture taking and some eating around!






We also exchanged gifts, since we had set up a Secret Santa (we call it the Invisible Friend over here) among us four. I got my friend Al, and I went the handmade route to keep with my ongoing resolution of buying as much handmade as possible!




Since he works in a bank, I decided to get him a tie, but I didn't want a boring store-bought tie, and upon Amber from RockerByeBaby recommendation, I went to RokGear's Etsy shop, and found that I really had some issues choosing just one! I was lucky and scored an amazing periwinkle tie that was on sale (which mean I could get another gift, and not just one!).






Al really liked the colour and the design, and the fact that it is hand-printed, he says he can't wait till he can show it off at work!




For my next gift I was looking for something B&B related, cause he's one of those guys that likes taking care of his looks, and is one of the few straight guys I know that uses a moisturizer daily! So, I got him a Shaving Gift Set from Red Leaf. It includes After-Shave lotion, Shaving soap and a super cool chrome stand to keep the soap! They offered good variety of scents, and I chose Black Tea, and wow, it does smell great!






This, once again, he liked a lot, kept on sniffing everything and already put some of the after-shave lotion on his face to see how it felt! I suspect he'll ask me to get him more once he runs out of it!




I really like the scent, so I might get Gaurav a set too, with the Black Tea scent or the English coast one... or both!



See you later, with the Sunday Shots!

Friday, January 1, 2010

Wicked Bad Naughty Glass!!

Happy New Year!


And as my first blog entry of the new year 2010 I decided that it should be about Angie from WickedBadNaughty and her amazing glass art!


Angie is one of the many amazing ladies I've met in DIYscene, and she is a very talented artist! She makes stained glass necklaces, magnets and even tiles! And she also makes stunning flamework beads for jewellery!


Her talent and how she shapes glass leaves me truly breathless!! Working with glass is something I always found fascinating, and a glass artisan that makes beautiful art from a shapeless blob is truly talented in my view!


My first purchase from Angie was a set of four glass magnets that I split into two sets to give to a pair of friends of mine who had recently got their own homes! Both of them were stunned with the magnets and they're now displayed proudly in their fridges, make sure they're high enough to not be knocked down my pets or lil people!






With that order Ang was super nice to include a necklace she made for me, a Psycho Kitty made after my own nickname! (if you are wondering about it and my mental health... well, let's just say I'm a kitty with a bad temper ;) ). It's a beautiful pieces of gorgeous blue (my favourite colour) glass with a kitty wearing a collar with a P. Certainly has become one of my favourite pieces!









Her glass pendants are so beautiful that I had to get myself a pair more, so I ended up getting a lime green butterfly and a grey Egyptian bust! Truly gorgeous pieces! The lime green butterfly I wore for this year's work Christmas dinner, and got loads of compliments from my co-workers!











She's planning to make a whole line of glass pendants with Alice In Wonderland characters, that I just can't wait to see ( and probably buy a few!) but if you wanna take a look at a sneak peek, the first piece, a White Rabbit, is available at the DIYscene's charity shop!


And though I don't have a place of my own, and doesn't seem too probable that I'll have one any time soon, I got myself a gorgeous trio of glass magnets! With the same artwork, but in different colours, and they look absolutely stunning together!







If you're looking for something unique either for your fridge or your neck, I can recommend you check her amazing Etsy shop, where you can find even work-badge holsters!