The bird feeders are full – and within 10 minutes of filling them, a pair of nuthatches were all over my trees. I love how he’s stretching out his wing, as if to say “it’s been a long winter – I’m ready.”

Yep, me too!!

The ground was clear when we went to bed lastnight.

When we got up, we were covered in white stuff.
The black & white was still set on my camera, so I went with it.

Our snowman isn’t catching any flakes, but looks cool in B/W.

I liked the homey feeling of this shot. Nice big pine tree with branches weighted down by the snow, the dusting on the picket fence. I’m not one to be out in it, but it is beautiful and always has such a nostalgic feel to it when it’s freshly fallen and hasn’t been disrupted by man.

The holiday weekend is almost over, and then the Christmas rush begins. If all goes as planned, I’ll be finishing several projects this week!

I’ve also done pretty well on my Buy Handmade pledge, I went to the annual craft fair yesterday and found quite a few treasures, and I’m excited for my Handmade Gift Exchange to commence so I can send my partner their goodies. (Of course, it will include something hand made by me, too!)

Some of you may already know about my fascination with Johannes Vermeer’s Girl With a Pearl Earring. I even did a tribute to his painting a few years ago. There’s just something about the pose, the girl, the lighting, and the story that draws me into the painting.

Several weeks ago, I came upon a fortunate find – studio lighting. The good stuff. And a backdrop (that I used yesterday in my Girl and her Puppy photo shoot). I was able to pick it all up at an UNBELIEVABLE price, and by that I mean half the price of one brand new light, stand, and umbrella. I was finally able to set it up and try it out this weekend, and though I have a long way to go to get things perfect, I sure am having a lot of fun in the process already.

My cousin Emily was over yesterday, we had a bit of a bakeathon. We made an unhealthy assortment of goodies over the span of 7 hours, and when we were finished we played “dress up and pose”. Of course I really wanted to play with the dramatic side of things, so I posed her similarly to the Girl With a Pear Earring and the results were just gorgeous. Her eyes light up the same way, the same shade of green. The light bounced off of her earring just enough to notice – perfect. I had to share.

Then we had some play time, where I stood up on a chair over her and shot from overhead. This shot is among the favorites, as well:

She’s just adorable, and fun to shoot – and she’s offered to come over any time I want to try out new equipment. What more could a girl ask for?

I have a real live doll to dress up and photograph!

I had to share this – Hubby captured a Praying Mantis for Catybug’s collection, so I had a photo session with him this morning. What an incredible little creature!

I have to tell you a secret, though. I wore my gardening gloves when I was handling him – and when he started heading toward my bare arm, I squealed and got the heebie jeebies. You would have too, man. Those things eat meat. :shudders:

It’s been several days since I’ve updated – I’m still working on the new site and it’s coming along so nicely. I do have a portrait I’ve started too and I’m trying to hold off on posting until I’ve got everything complete and switched over. I hope to launch by Wednesday (or sooner), so keep your eyes peeled this week for a major change!!

I’m behind on my blog visiting, too! Hope you’re doing well, do leave a note and let me know what you’re up to!

This spider was sitting in the center of its web, at the intersection of the badminton netting in the backyard. He was not even as big as the tip of my pinky – Catybug noticed him and pointed him out to me.

He had woven this cute miniature web to catch cute miniature bugs, and live a teeny tiny life in this teeny tiny space he called his own. In a world full of bigger bugs, he seemed just fine with his size and location. Funny, how that works, how his place is just as valid as everyone else’s.

I have been busily preparing my own new little web. It is coming along quite nicely and I hope to have it ready by next week. It involves a total overhaul of my site, reorganization of categories, templates and my shop.

Among many of the other things I have been busy with, one thing that has changed quite drastically is that I’ve resigned my position as a freelance (blog/site) designer for EWebscapes. I am still tossing around the level at which I will make myself available for blog design – I will still offer it on my own, but I will not be taking on such a broad range of clientele. My goal, ultimately, is to retain creative license in the things that I do.

To those of you who have so patiently waited beside me through this time, thank you. I am really grateful and glad to have the opportunity to work on paintings in my studio full time again! Particularly during today’s stresses and worries, because there is such a sense of calm, peace and beauty that comes from nature.

So, though things may be quiet on my blog for a few more days while I get things set up, know that I’m busy behind the scenes weaving my cute little web in the center of my net. I can’t wait to share it with you!

Upon relaunch, I will be working on a custom cat portrait and a few other beautiful paintings. I’m very excited about that!

Have I mentioned lately how much I adore our little Quinnie the Quaker? I do. I had fun photographing him last week, and just fiddled with his portrait in PhotoScape a bit. I’ll try to get video of him soon!

That’s it for my daily distraction, I must stay on task. (rinse, repeat.)

Another bird from our local zoo, this is a Lilac Breasted Roller. I am always looking for these cute colorful birds when I visit the zoo, they’re stunning to look at. I rarely get a good photo of them since they’re kept behind plexiglass and their lighting is so blech, every time they move even slightly, the shot is a blur. They’ve recently relocated the Rollers to a better area near a door that has natural light filtering through it, so I’ve got a couple of decent shots now. You’ll definitely be seeing this bird become an oil painting!

See how easy that was? Aaaah. Much better.

In an effort to return the pretty to my blog, here. Here’s a pretty parrot. This is a Blue Fronted Amazon, and wow what a pose. I couldn’t take my eyes off of her. (Since she’s so pretty, she’s a girl. Only in bird world, it’s probably a boy.) I met her at the zoo last weekend along with a few other beautiful feathered critters that I’ll share this week, as I finalize some projects and move into a very special, very big project. Yes, there will be polls involved. I love polls. More than two of you better show up, too. There may be prizes. Or not. I could just be saying that. Unless you like pickles.

heh.

Like every normal family, getting everyone together in one family pose is like pulling teeth. Moaning and groaning and heavy sighs ensue while I beg and plead since we haven’t had a family portrait in a few years. Well, several burst mode 10 second delay shots later, and we have our family portrait for the year.

I paid a totally different kind of sitting fee.

Thank you, self timer and faux suede curtain panel. Thank you Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ50 and thank you Corel Paint Shop Pro. Thank you Photoscape and Adobe Photoshop, and last but not least, Dell for letting me merge, crop, save and re-save without delay – or malfunction.