Wrapping up RED

I'm in a photography group called, "Colors of 2013 with Eva Ricci Studio," and we've been focusing on creating photographs with the main color "Red." 
It's been a lot of fun getting feedback, seeing all the beautiful images 
and being completely in awe of each person's creativity. 

I'm looking forward to next month :) Which, ironically, starts tomorrow...

anyone else thinking January went by incredibly fast??

My trio of red veggies...

 I also like them displayed as a pair...

Once my camera battery is charged, I might slice up the pepper 

to add a different image to the trio...stay tuned :)

Albert Einstein quote about the Heart...

My wonderful husband got me a remote shutter button for Christmas
 and I finally got to play with it for a while today...

I love this quote!

To create this shot, I had to "hold" the remote in between my chin and neck and 

press the button with my chin to release the shutter.  

It took a bit of practice, but I figured it out :) 

  What do you think? 

Valentine's Day preview...

2012 review...Plus what's new in 2013

I am a terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad blogger!  I said I was going to post about my 2012 year-in-review a while ago....and, well, I didn't.  Though, that pretty much sums up my 2012: behind on everything...blogging, 366 Project, photo/video editing, project creation, and more.  I did struggle quite a bit with being depressed about my work (sporadic sales, no feedback on my images, no time to finish projects, etc.) throughout the year.   I realized that sometimes I needed to take breaks and just breathe...

I did have some wonderful things happen in 2012...

1) I had my first large print (56x33) order...which was a learning experience and absolutely AMAZING!

2) I had a new gallery, Revelry Boutique Gallery, in Louisville start selling my photography...Mo, the gallery owner, is wonderful!!

3) I had my first international customer on Etsy...one of my prints is being displayed in Australia!

4) I had my first two sales on Society6...thank you to my first two customers! :)

5) And I had many wonderful customers in my Etsy and CafePress shops! 

6) I did complete my 366 Project (chronicled on my Facebook page and some on here), but I didn't quite meet the photo-a-day requirement.  I do have 366 images from this year that chronicle my interests and 2012.  One great thing that came out of my 366 Project is my "Stuffed Animal ABC Book" that I made for my son (which he still reads ALL the time!) and have for sale on Blurb.

I have MUCH to be thankful for and I am looking forward to all the exciting things that 2013 has in store :)

Speaking of 2013...I have been pretty busy so far!  I was invited to join a new team on Etsy called "Team Jabez."  It's a small group of Christian Etsy sellers devoted to praying and supporting each other and each others shops.  I'm very excited about developing new friendships, learning more about how to get my shop/work out there on Etsy, and promoting my teammates beautiful work!  Here are two treasuries that I created specifically for our team (click on the title below the picture to see it on Etsy):

L O V E

Still Waters

I am also working on a new product for my Etsy shop...more details to come!  Currently, I have a lot of items in my Etsy shop that are READY TO SHIP...certain 5x7 prints, 5x7 prints in textured blank cards, and a pillow.  I would love for you to stop by and check them out :) 

Well, I think that's all for now :)  More good things are coming soon...just have to find the time!  Thanks for reading!  Have a great Monday!

Happy New Year!!

Welcome 2013!!  I'm really looking forward to all the fun, creative opportunities and projects that I already have lined up for 2013.  Plus I've decided on a motto for this new year...

I'll be working on a 2012 review post in the next coming days.  It was an up and down year for me and I wasn't a very good blogger (I'm SO sorry!).  Thank you for following along with me in 2012 and here's to many opportunities to "take flight" in 2013!

Merry Christmas Eve and...

From my home to yours!!  I hope you all have a lovely holiday with friends and family!!

My Christmas kittens approve :)

My latest work...

My busiest part of this holiday season has passed...last weekend on Friday and Saturday night I lead children's crafts for the Candlelight Christmas Tours at Historic Locust Grove in Louisville and on Sunday I decorated for the Jane Austen Society of North America- Greater Louisville Region's December Tea.

The children's crafts were great fun and messy :)  The kids got to make a cinnamon applesauce (made with just cinnamon and applesauce) ornament, evergreen and rosemary (organic from my garden) sprigs ornament, and fruit print and letter stamp Christmas card (not pictured).  It smelled wonderful too with the cinnamon, evergreen and rosemary wafting around the room...it smelled like Christmas :)

For the December Tea decorations, I based my design on the theme from this year's JASNA Annual General Meeting, which was "Sex, Money, and Power in Jane Austen's Fiction."  Our region focused on "Lady Susan" this year, so I also added elements from our study on Jane's only epistolary novel. The color scheme was white, yellow, red, grey, and black.  Some greenery was added to bring holiday cheer :)

 I have many decorating items at my disposal and procured several new items to add to the specific design.  I also included hand-made paper origami flowers (lilies), which were gifts to all the attendees for coming to the event.

I had letters from "Lady Susan" enlarged at Office Depot to hang around the room to help fill the space and tie in the decor theme.  My wonderful, crafty husband built the wooden stands that allowed me to hang the letters.

 To safely add to the lighting in the room, I added LED tea lights in votives and LED candles.

We also celebrated Jane Austen's birthday with a toast.  I hand painted a special birthday sign that my wooden Regency man held as he greeted all the attendees. 

It was a lovely event!!  Our JASNA National President, Iris Lutz, spoke on "Houses in Jane Austen's Fiction," which was a fantastic tour of Jane's homes in England and houses that Jane may have modeled her "parks" and "cottages" after in her novels.

If you have any questions about these decorations or would like some ideas for your next party/event decor, feel free to leave a comment or send me an email, mariaroseaprimecollection@gmail.com.  I'm happy to help!