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These are my pastels from my first year in college.

...when I had starry eyed dreams about being able to make a living as an artist...

I cleaned them up a few years ago for a commissioned photograph, but I'm thinking they need to be roughed up again with some actual use.

Talking about the shot itself...I'm not entire sure what my opinion is of the rug.

On one hand I love the stark contrast...the light vs dark; texture vs smooth; vertical vs horizontal.

But on the other hand I feel it's almost too much.

What do you think?

Scavenger Hunt - Beautiful Things

1. Windows/Doors
This shot is from a long time ago...




2. Eyelashes
and freckles!



3. Paint
Anyone who has been around my photo blog for very long knows I am a sucker for photographing art supplies!



4. Leaf Veins




5. Faceless Portrait
This is pretty lame. I had wanted to do a shadow shot with the kids, but they were less than cooperative when the sun was out...so I settled for this spur of the moment shot of the kids and Daddy walking to the mailbox.

Color My World

I want to thank whoever it was for sending a prayer up about this creative funk I've been feeling - yesterday the sun came out and so did those creative juices! It was just what I needed - thanks to you and the awesome God who makes the sun shine! :)

***

If you follow Katie Lloyd Photography on Facebook you may already know about the series of fun shots I took yesterday...Hot Wheels! It's all still in the editing process at the moment, but my plan is to end up with 9 square shots of my son's various and awesomely cool cars! I'm hoping to get the bulk of that editing done very soon. 

One of the other shots I took was a total 180 from cars: Thread.

If you've been 'hanging out' with me for a while, you probably remember those other sewing related shots. 

Like this one. Or this one. And of course, this one that also serves as my header...for now.

Yesterday, as I was hunting down Hot Wheels, this small tray of thread caught my eye.
I've had it for years and am not sure how it went unnoticed for so long!

Paying It Forward on Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day!!




  


***

Pay It Forward

Remember back at the beginning of the year when a lot of blogs were participating in Pay It Forward?

Well, now it's my turn!

PAY IT FORWARD - 2011

I promise to send something handmade to the first 3 people who leave a comment on this post saying that they will also participate in Pay It Forward - 2011. 

Those 3 commenters must fulfill the following requirements:

1. You must also participate in Pay It Forward on your blog, making this same offer to 3 other people.

2. The rules are that it must be handmade by you and it must be sent to your 3 people *sometime* in 2011.

I will probably send postcards or note cards and will ship them to the proper recipient once they have posted the Pay It Forward challenge to their blog.


***

Questions for You
aka: I Need Your Help/Opinions

I also have a favor to ask of you...would you mind answering some questions pertaining to marketing and my etsy shop? I'm planning a March Madness month of promos and want everything to be spot on!
Answer one, or all, or none. I appreciate whatever input you have time to give!!

1. What kinds of discounts are most attractive to you?
- percentage off?
- free shipping?
- buy one get one free?
- other?

2. Would adding a photo of each print in a matted frame help visualize the print as a piece of art?

3. Is there anything that turns you off from my shop?
(please be honest with this - you will not hurt my feelings...unless you tell me I have zero talent. ;) )

4. What are the first 3 words/feelings that come to mind when you view my shop?

These can be positives or negatives.

I know many of you are busy, so please don't feel obligated to answer these Qs!
I hope you have a fantastic Valentine's Day!!

Valentines on a String

Our toy room wall really is that color.
When we moved in, I really disliked it.
But now that we've been here a while, I'm finding it makes a colorful backdrop!
:)

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

Texture
These are the leaves on our lime tree. They have an awesome texture and color!
Now if only it would produce a lime.
:)

Fog
I was clueless as to what I was going to use for this prompt...so I did the easy thing and dug into the archives.

Button
Buttons on my raincoat!

Beverage
You've probably seen this one before - I had an idea for this prompt, but never got around to setting it up and getting it shot. This photo, although an oldie, contains two of my favorite things: delicious homemade lemonade and a super clean house!

Seventies
All of these items have been a part of my mom's sewing basket for as long as I can remember...and I'm assuming they're from the 70's, but I ran PW's Seventies action (set at 50%) on this for good measure. ;)

The Winner & Some Watercolors

First things first.
It's time to announce the winner of the 11"x14" photo print from my Etsy shop, MommyMakes!!

I used Random.org this morning to select the winner.
And that winner is lucky commenter number 8!

Congrats, Melanie!
(I've sent you an email.)

I also have a wonderful 30% off Valentine's Day coupon code that I'd like to share:

VDay30

It's good through January 31st and is valid on anything in my shop.

I'll be adding postcard sets in the next day or two, so be sure to stop by MommyMakes later this week!

***

Now on to the photos...

My two year old daughter got a lot of art materials for Christmas!
Crayons, markers, paints, coloring books - it is wonderful!
This is the awesome set of watercolors she received.

 

And one more view of those beautiful watercolors.

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

1. A Different View

This is my daughter having a snack of shredded cheese, straight out of the container, while sitting on the floor.

2. Looking Up

In this shot I was laying on our basement stairs, looking up at my daughter who was hiding behind the wall.

3. Abstract

This shot was probably my favorite to take.
I stuck crayons into styrofoam and did some editing to boost the colors.

4. Hair

This one's from the archives.
I had something else in mind, but I didn't like the first take and planned to re-shoot this morning.
But we woke up to water in a small part of our basement, so I've spent most of the day cleaning and rearranging.

5. Half


This is the morning sun coming in through our kitchen window.

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

I can't even remember the last time I participated in Scavenger Hunt Sunday.

While I love Christmas time, I do not enjoy the stress and busyness that comes with it each year.

So now that life is back to a normal pace, I hope to be more consistent with my participation.

1. This is Me

Yes, it is an odd shot for this prompt. Maybe I should explain...
On this particular day I had started making a grilled cheese sandwich for my son. About 30 seconds after getting it on the stove, he yelled for my help with something. So, I went to help. After I was done helping him, I started cleaning the bathrooms.

Tick tock.

Probably 30 minutes into that I ran downstairs to clean our half bath and noticed a burning smell, accompanied by a lot of smoke! Whoops.

I'd love to say that this was a one time thing, but truth of the matter is...this is me. Flighty and forgetful.
When I made it back upstairs to our bedroom, the smoke was there, rolling in the sunshine. And oh so beautiful!

2. Resolutions

I have been saving specific pieces of our children's baby clothing - the ones that were given to us by someone special, ones that have adorable embroidery on them, and the ones that have great solid colors - with the idea of turning them into full size quilts. So far, idea conception and fabric collecting is as far as I've gotten.
(just for clarity, the fabrics in this shot are not from baby clothes)

3. Treasured

Snow.
Yes, we treasure it! I have been waiting for it to snow for what seems like forever and last night it finally did.
So today the kids and I went out to play in it.

4. Innocence

Children in general are so innocent, and in many ways we should strive to be more like them.
"And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." - Matthew 18:3

5. Primitive


Pooping where you stand...doesn't get much more primitive than that.

Sewing Light

I am completely stoked that I was able to 'fix' my sewing machine! I worked for hours and hours on it, trying to figure it out before getting online to find a solution.

Turns out, it was threaded wrong.
Good thing I didn't take it in to be fixed...that may have been embarrassing.
;)

I suppose now I should get it cleaned. That bulb is a little dusty!

Of Jackets, Crayons and Eggs

Oh, I nearly forgot to tell everyone what my shot is from Macro Monday. I didn't plan to make you guess and then never tell!
It's a strainer spoon, kind of like this one.

And on an unrelated note, today is my one month blogiversary!
1 down, 11 more to go!

Happiness is...

Being able to wear my denim jacket.
This is one of my very few clothing splurges. (meaning I paid near-full price for it!)
I don't wear it a whole lot, but when I do it always makes me feel pretty and happy!



and

Robin's Egg Blue.
My favorite color is blue. And of all the various shades of beautiful blues, my favorite of them is probably Robin's Egg.  It reminds me of Spring and life, which are both happy things!

 

I actually have a story attached to this color...When I was little I found a gorgeous nest with the most beautifully colored eggs I had ever seen! I wanted to share this beauty with my family, so I stuck my little hand into the nest, started up the deck stairs with an egg in hand and
OOPS!
I dropped it.
This cycle continued until I had accidentally smashed all those poor baby bird eggs.
(It must be noted that I was an insanely clumsy and stubborn kid...and now adult, if you ask my husband.)

They hadn't developed yet (or maybe hadn't been fertilized? ...I'm not sure how that works with eggs) but now that I'm a mother, it still makes me sad.

...And now that I'm done with my story, I realize it's neither happy or lovely...




_________________


It is completely coincidental that my next photo is of eggs!
I honestly did not plan this at all. I took the shot of these eggs early last week, before I took the shot of the crayon. And it was only after adding the crayon to my post that I thought of my sad little story.

Nonetheless, here's my shot.
It was a lot tougher photographing eggs than I thought it would be!

It's Tuesday Already?!

 You know how times seems to fly by faster the older you get?
I think my time to age ratio was a little off this past week,
'cause it felt like 3 days, which I'm pretty sure correlates to 80 years old...

Anyway, here are my entries for Sweet Shot Tuesday and Shutter Love Tuesday.
Thanks for stopping by!!
:)


Gastropod Seashell



This is my favorite shell of all time.
(I had to look up the type of shell this is...I'm not a shell genius or anything.)

My Dad got this for me when I was really little and I'd almost forgotten about it until recently when I found it in my keepsake box.

***

Blue Buttons

I have a ton of buttons and wanted to photograph them, although I don't think I'm doing them justice in this shot...
But I really wanted to participate this week, since it's been a while!

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

Miniature
I chose one of my son's thousands of Hot Wheels for this.
They're all so cool and unique!



Water Droplet
This is a thorn on our lime tree. These suckers are huge...and hurt! But they are handy for water drops. :)




Bedhead
My son's hair is long enough now that it succumbs to bedhead quite easily!




Colorful
Crayola sure does make it fun to be a kid...or an adult.
;)




Eyes
Do y'all know how tough it is to get a 4 year old to hold a magnifying glass just right?!