I love Trunkt!

Yeah, I do :) I can't say why one site appeals to some and not others, and I have had to defend Trunkt on a few occasions... Some people think they don't like Etsy, or that Etsy doesn't like them, I don't think that is true because they are completely different from one another.

Some people don't like the fact that they have to apply and be accepted but I do! Maybe that is because I was accepted the first time I applied, but that didn't really surprise me because photography is not my hobby it is my career. No offense to those who don't work in art full time, this is not a judgement, I am meerly saying that I have two University degrees in photography, have been interested in it since I was 7, obsessed with it since I was 15, have opened and run two successful photography businesses, and I do it EVERYDAY! No, you don't need to go to school to be a successful photographer or artist, but I do feel strongly that you need to do it everyday or at least every few days. Creating is what makes someone an artist in my opinion. Anyway, I think Trunkt is for professionals or at least to dedicated artists. There are so many photographer out there, thanks to digital cameras and everyone and their mother being able to own a camera, that I feel it is important for there to be sites for everyone and sites for serious photographers. It is nice to be included with 5 pages of photographers, not 50. And while I am on this topic, I feel it is awesome that if you have applied to Trunkt and been rejected that you can apply again. I know people who have done it and been accepted.

Some people question Trunkt's motives, like why you can have a free portfolio or only be charged once to upgrade. People have insinuated that Trunkt might be selling images on the black market... what?! Why would they screw the people the represent. I know someone who has a real issue with their use policy and how it is worded, and I also know that they told Trunkt this, and TRUNKT ACTUALLY REWORDED THEIR POLICY! For someone who they don't represent. That is pretty awesome. In fact, anytime I have ever contacted Trunkt, I get a response right away. I had some suggestions on better tagging for photography and Dev got back to me right away and was totally willing to implement them. Plus if anyone wonders about Trunkt, they should read "About Trunkt" on the website and then contact them with questions.

Other people want Trunkt to be a selling site, um, no. There are plenty of selling sites, most people on Trunkt are on them, and you can link to these sites from Trunkt. I love to have a place to send people to see my portfolio without having them be sold to.

Wow, didn't mean to go off on that rant. But I do feel better for putting it out there. What I was going to say about Trunkt, the reason I started writing this, is because I just went to check my portfolio, something I do each day, and MY SHOWCASE, where I feature the work of others on Trunkt, is ON THE FRONT PAGE :) I am excited about this because I really love the showcase I created. It is all black and white images. And it looks lovely! So many talented people!! And the front page showcase on Trunkt stays there for quite awhile. Not a couple hours. FUN, FUN, FUN! I really really wish I could copy and post it here but I tried and I only get one photo, not all 16.

Now, if that was not fun enough, BELOW THE SHOWCASE on the front page is an area called Premium Portfolio Spotlight, AND I AM THERE!! Of all the people on Trunkt, I am being featured there, too! Yippee :) When I refreshed the page, I wasn't there anymore, so I think it is random, but just for my own enjoyment it was cool to see my showcase and my portfolio featured at the same time.

Keats & Plastic Bags...

" books, fruit, fine weather, music..." John Keats 1795 - 1821

On Friday evening, my sis in law, Julie, and I, hit the streets of Banff for a bit of shopping. I picked up a copy of Craft Magazine, one of my favorites, at Indigo Bookstore. I actually picked it up to do some homework. I was one of just 36 people on Etsy who was quick on the draw and bought a $50 cooperative advertising space in Craft. I believe the issue is out May 1st. I have to have the ad copy & image in by Feb 28th, and I would like to try something new and different, something crafty with my images, since right now they are visual art but not cool and crafty for Craft... but I am getting off the intended topic of my post...



I have been thinking a lot about plastic bags lately and the awful impact they have on the environment. We have gotten pretty good at stock piling cloth and mesh shopping bags and I always try to remember my favorite fashionable colorful bag but had forgotten it for this journey. So, I did take my Craft in a plastic shopping bag. When I got home, I started looking at the bag because of the above quote by Keats which is written on it. Indigo is a big Canadian bookstore chain, the kind that is killing the small independent book shops. I do shop in those small shops, especially the second hand ones, but in Banff the small book shop refuses to carry magazines and I buy lots of magazines. I don't usually buy the common mags but specialty ones. The kind that only a large chain carries because they have hundreds of magazines. The Indigo here in Banff is a small shop compared to most, a new business concept that was possibly spurred by the local uprising about a chain book store coming to town. Anyway, you can tell I have a lot of guilt about both where I bought my mag and the bag I brought it home in (next time I will bring the canvas bag and since Craft is $15 each quarterly issue, and they only charge $40 for a Canadian subscription I am going to get one!!).

Back to the bag, I was reading the quote and noticed that the bag was made in Canada AND THAT IT IS OXO-BIODEGRADABLE!. Wow. Way to go Chapters, the parent co of Indigo! Now if only everyone who feels they need to carry plastic bags in their shops would switch to these we would be better off. I do think these bags are still an issue to marine and wildlife but now they will break down in the landfiles. Check out how Oxo-Biodegradable plastic works here. And some frequently asked questions here. There are many resources on the internet. I even found Oxo-Biodegradable bubble wrap! Items made from this can also be recycled. And apparently all biodegradable bags aren't the same:

Are all biodegradable bags the same? (from this site)

No. There are two broad categories – oxo-biodegradable and hydro-biodegradable sometimes called starch based. These starch based products tend to degrade slightly faster but not to not be as strong as oxo-biodegradable ones (e.g. they are too weak to carry liquor bottles). They meet the international compostable plastics standards that were designed for them (but performed no better in the CRIQ compost study than oxo-biodegradable bags) but they cannot be commingled in the existing recycle stream because they have a totally different chemical structure than conventional plastics. Both have market niches where they have advantages.

Coolio. I learned something new today. And I can't end this post without a craft. Thanks to Anda on Etsy (congrats on your new babe, Anda!) you and I can now turn bad plastic bags into upcycled/recycled fabric for imaginative crafts!! YIPPEE!! Here are the instructions and some photos on fusing plastic bags. Thanks, Anda!

The Crafting Continues...

And in the continuing saga we have amassed more creative items, with even more to come. We have been pretty good at sticking to our Craft A Day schedule but today was a day off skiing for the girls and we filled it with a trip to the Canmore Dollar Store (where I found wicked rubber stamps for $1 - $2 each, not much of a stamper but these are very graphic looking, in a design sense, not an ex-rated sense...) and the AMAZINGLY WONDERFUL, OUR FAVORITE SHOP IN CANMORE, the VICTORY Thrift Store (where I found a 1969 Snoopy lunch box, a very kitschy vintage Hawaiian doll, fabric, a rummy set with awesome tiles, the coolest old book with tons of drawings, and an old case to alter). The girls also went up the road to the indoor water park. We had a wonderful dinner prepared by my hubby, steaks, pork tenderloin, AND shark, and then webcammed one set of grandparents. Tomorrow will be another crafting day...

On Friday, we finished the pendants we started on Thursday (they took several coats of Modge Podge and then spray laquer). We live in Western Canada, which has oil, ranches, and cowboys... it is kind of the Texas of Canada. The big summer draw is the Calgary Stampede. We live in Banff, which is pretty much not like the rest of the province, but since my nieces live in the East and they are visiting us in the West, I finally made use of a bamboo tile collage sheet I purchased way back from Piddix. She has the best quality sheets and awesome selection! Anyway this one had caught my eye because it is all cowboy/girl themed. My nieces are into horses, as most 5 and 8 year olds are, so they LOVED picking. And even Mom made one :)

Crafting FUN With My Nieces!!

My nieces, Rheann, 8, and Dredann, 5, are visiting us from Ottawa, Ontario, the capital of Canada. Their parents, Dan, my husband's brother, and his wife, Julie, our sister-in-law, are here, too. Andre, my husband, manages a ski area, here in beautiful Banff, so they have been hitting the slopes. Luckily, the lifts close at 4 PM, so we still have plenty of time for crafts. We have been making a craft a day. The girls and I work while Julie spends time with her niece, my daughter, Quinlyn, who is only 21 months but already realizes the fun in crafting :)

Today we made glass magnets:

Cleaning, New Work, & Yippee for Karina!

I spent a lot of time cleaning my house today. Ick. I really don't enjoy cleaning. I really don't see the point of it when there are so many other things to do. I feel guilty when I clean because I could be using the time to create. And today was such a nice day. I could have taken Quin for a walk and brought my Holga, my Polaroid back, maybe my fish eye lens... I could have photographed bare, beautiful, winter trees. But instead I got one order packaged up, drive to the post office, and then spent all evening cleaning. I hate it. In fact, if we didn't have so many guests so often, which I LOVE, our house would never be clean. André is a wonderful husband, and we do a good job of sharing all the work but he isn't much for cleaning either. I mean, we always keep up on the dishes, the recycling, the laundry, and the house is always picked up and presentable. I sweep and vaccuum once a week (actually I do like vaccuuming but Quin is phoebicly afraid of the vaccuum) but dusting, mopping the floors, cleaning the mirrors and windows, scrubbing the bathtub, ugh.

I did get a few new transfers made yesterday. I have never printed the first one or third ones, and only printed the second one, one other time but it was too dark. I now have a trick for my too dark images...

I am not sure I like this image. I feel like I could have done a better job if I had gotten her profile.

This is her side. I should have composed with a bit more of her upper back and shoulder.

I really love this image. It was taken at Eastfield, of Hannah, the owners' daughter, who was dressed in a period gown. I was there taking a collodion workshop with Will Dunniway. I need to work on it so there is more definition in the hands.

And a happy note to end this post on... My very good friend and fellow artist, Karina Bermans, is going to be featured on the tv program Region Contact!! This program is based out of Ottawa. It will air on Saturday, February 23rd, at 6:30 PM EST. She will be on for 11 minutes, so she has 4 minutes of fame left, HAHA! According to Karina go ahead and "Straighten out the rabbit ears, grab the remote, program the VCR, align the satellite dish and tune into CTV’s CJOH (Ottawa) for a romp around the K. Bergmans studio, a floor painting commission in-progress, and interview with Regional Contact’s Kathie Donovan." I can't wait!

Here is an example of Karina's work. I photographed it in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, on our recent trip... K designs and sews the pillows, then takes them out and photographs them in ironic situations. You can see more on her website.

Art O Mat

What a cool concept! Taking something that is bad for people, and could be bad for the landfills now that people have wised up, and turning into something that dispenses art and happiness? Brilliant! What on earth an I babbling about? ART O MAT! Check out the link... go... now.... it is really a wonderful thing. And I plan to become one of their artists. No, it doesn't pay big bucks but most of my favorite projects don't pay anything at all. I want to thank Robayre, one my fellow Create-A-Dayers, for telling me about this wonderful organization. She is not only one of their artists but she has met the owner because her art group and her collage bought one of these machine in the honor of a favorite art teacher who was retiring. So cool! I have many friends who will want to submit work as much as I do! Thanks, Robin!

This weekend I did do a lot of creative things. Or many things that aid in my creativity, such as trying to organize my studio, finally matting and framing a bunch of personal, family photos (you know what they say about the cobbler's kids having no shoes, it is the same for a photographer...), and mulling some current projects over in my brain. I also made banana peanut butter chocolate chip bread. A favorite in this house.

Tomorrow, new transfers.... I need to get some sleep!

DIY City

Congrats, Wendy & Deb! You did it! All the hard work paid off. I can't even imagine how much love, dedication, comment, & time you put into it :) Yes, DIY City Mag is now online.DIY City is an online magazine that celebrates the independent artist and the DIY spirit. "DIY City is an online magazine that celebrates the independent artist and the DIY spirit. "

I am one of the featured photographers in the premier issues "DIY Media & Photo" section. Wendy found me on Etsy and featured me on their blog.


They have also created a new social networking community! Wow! A bit like Facebook, or IndiePublic. It is called DIY City Community. Kinda fun to be a member of a brand new community of creative people!

Splendid Spectra

Lately, I work mainly with Polaroid film, but usually the two part pack film that is used with a Daylab system, Polaroid back on a Holga or pro film cameras. I don't usually use the instant consumer film you find everywhere (or shall I say used to find everywhere). However, I do have a 600 series camera that uses this kind of film. We used at our wedding back in 2003, for guests to photograph each other and then stick in the guestbook along with whitty comments and well wishes. I dug it out the other day as part of a project I am working on, which I am sure I will post here at some point. Basically I need 2 Polaroids, a before and an after... set out to find the film, had a heck of a time finding it where I live (partially because there are no big box stores here but also because Polaroid quit making these cameras last year and they quit making the film basically this week). I found it today at Venice Gifts in Canmore! AND in the process of going to every store I could think of that might have Polaroid film (all local camera shops have quite carrying it), I found a wicked closeout deal on Spectra film at Safeway, of all places. So while in Canmore today I went to the Victory Thrift Shop, a weekly haunt, and found a Spectra camera for $5!! Yippee!! I love serendipity. Snapped up (pardon the pun) the $5 camera, went to the grocery store that was selling the cheap film, bought one pack to test the "as is" camera, and then went home and had some fun. The camera works! And not only that, but because I have no manual, I think I stumble upon a way to make double exposures that I am not so sure would have been written about in the manual (or could be common knowlegde to everyone...). If I had known it was so great for making double exposures I would have bought one years ago... Here are a couple of the fun images I made. Tomorrow I am going back to buy out the rest of the film... :)

Polaroid is dead...

Geez, that sounds positively dire, doesn't it? Seems to be a big topic of conversation for anyone who knows I do a lot of work with Polaroid processes. Yes, a big deal, historical in fact, but not so dire as to need such a dramatic headline. Polaroid quite making film cameras last year, so the rumor has been coming down, and funny that this all happened this week when 1) I am looking for consumer issue 600 film for a project I am working on and need to document and 2) when I went looking for a pack, I was told by one of the local camera store owners that Polaroid was going to quit making film. The thing is, I generally don't use comsumer grade Polaroid film. I use pack films, the kind that used to go in camera backs, to check lighting for pro shoots, BEFORE digital. The two part stuff that you need a land camera, or camera back, or Daylab for. These films, too, will not be made anymore. However, I am pretty much ok with all of this, a surprise even to me. I LOVE Polaroid! I will be sad to see it go but I don't think it will be abrupt. Maybe I am in denile, but I think Polaroid will die a slow death. I have read reports that there will be enough to fill the shelves until 2009 - 2011. I have quite a bit now, and can stockpile more. And I truly think that someone will buy the technology and keep making it. As far as the consumer stuff, Fuji does make an instant film already. And for the artists, well, I think it will be something a place like Photographer's Formulary may handle. There are always small niche markets that someone will supply. So, I am optimistic, and have too much info to sound the alarm like all the people who doesn't even use the stuff. And it has been a good run for me and Polaroid. I have worked with it and taught it to many. For generations photography barely changed, but for me, since I have ever gotten into it, it has been changing. When I was in University I had the distinct honor of being one of the few classes that was working both in traditional darkroom, while using and learning the very slow and frustrating first version of Photoshop. Photography in my professional life has always been changing. So, if Polaroid goes down in history, at least my work will be a part of it...

Memories Evoked by Food

This weekend, while driving home from a Photoshop CS3 course (more on this soon), in a snowstorm, my nerves were calmed as I listened to a radio program on the CBC, called Talking Books with Ian Brown. There were only about 10 minutes left in the show, so I never really got the title of the book that was being discussed (and for some reason the website has not been updated) but the gist of the conversation seemed to be about food in varioud generations and cultures. One particularly interesting observation was how food is now a way to divide people, or almost put them into classes, like a cast system. I agree with this. I am a foodie, and I don't like to act better than anyone else, but I have observed how food snobs can put on an air of superiority via the food they eat. Of course restaurants can discriminate against people by being out of the reasch of afforability for some. But aside from that, organic foods, which have made sense to me from a health stand point for a long time, are now all the craze amongst people who can afford them but who don't really care, if you ask me, whether they are more healthy or not, they are just jumping on the band wagon, and leaving the "less fortunate" people who can't afford them in the dust. I have always felt one should buy the best food they can afford, from both a health and taste stand point, but I love a good vegie dog, mac and cheese, or poutine. Anyway, it was interesting to hear something I have often thought but not really talked about with others discusseed.


Another interesting line from one of the guests (who ironically was the one to talk about food and classes later) was that he had never met someone who was not interested in food whom he found interesting. LOL! I agree, but wouldn't that make me a bit of a snob?


I love the CBC, and love conversations on food, and the best part was at the end of the program the four guests got to tell us what foods remind them of their childhood. It was a fun question to hear the answers to. I started thinking about my childhood and my food memories. I have too many to list, as my mom always says, "Honestly, Tiffany, you can remember what you ate somewhere even if you can't remember the exact location or who you were with." That is completely true, my memories are attached to food. Here are a few:

~ When I had the chicken pox, I as about 6 or 7, the neighbor, Gloria, came over with rocky road brownies for me. I was in the bathtub. I don't remember itching, or how bad the chicken pox were, I just remember the arrival of those brownies.
~ I remember watching them make our pizza through a window into the kitchen at Shaky's pizza (green olives, pepperoni).
~ When I would go visit my mom's cousins in North Dakota, Tori, the wife of one of the cousins, would help me make Special K bars, which later my grandma and Aunt Jackie would make a lot. I actually took a 9 hour bus ride to get there one summer and I dreamed of making those the whole way there.
~ After my brothers and I would go to bed my mom would make popcorn. The smell of it was too much to bear! She could have eaten so many things for a snack that I never would have known about but she could not hide that smell. Popcorn is my biggest snack obsession to this day...
~ Ice cream at Bridgeman's. They had one of those giant sundaes that if you ate it you got it for free but otherwise it was like $10. I never ate it. But my nickname in high school was Princess Ice Cream.
~ My mom would make these amazing caramel rolls, fresh fruit salad, and brunch eggs (eggs, cheese, bacon, & bread in a casserole dish) for brunch when special people were coming over or visiting from out of town.
~ My dad would make some kind of cocktail when my parents were having guests over, that involved crushed ice and beaten egg whites with sugar. I got to like the beaters.
~ Licking beaters for pretty much anything a beater was needed for.
~ S'mores at summer camp, or any place else I could get my hands on them.
~ Giant turkey legs, the size of caveman clubs, at the Rennaisance Festival.
~ Fried cheese curds and mini donuts at the Minnesota State Fair.
~ Wedding cake, any kind of wedding cake.
~ Making gourmet pizza from scratch (anything gourmet from scratch) when staying over at Aunt Helen and Uncle Ben's.
~ Going to amazing restaurants with Helen. especially Figlio's, which is still in Uptown, Minneapolis, and eating their fancy onion ring loaf, pasta, and either Death by Chocolate (chocolate layer cake with chocolate frosting and chocolate ice cream with chocolate sauce) or Tartufio (a round ball of cherry vanilla gelato rolled in chaved white chocolate) or chocolate gelato with espresso poured over it and chocolate covered coffee beans on top.
~ Fried ice cream at Chi Chi's
~ Lefse, a traditional soft Norwegian flatbread made out of potato, milk or cream and flour, and cooked on a griddle, made by my Meme.
~ My great grandmother passing me sugar cubes under the table. I would sneak them into my mouth and savor them as they melted slowly. Probably the only time I was quiet ;)
~ My mom making artichokes, and how we would pull off a leaf and dip it in butter, then scrap the "meat" off with our teeth.


I could go on and on... I am sure I will in another post one day...

Oh Well, C'est la Vie!

I have been checking the mail lately, waiting for a copy of a book my work was featured in, called The Handbook to Handmade, Etsy Artists, Volume II. It finally arrived yesterday but I didn't have a chance to sit down and open it until today (since I love to savor these kinds of things). Well, all was going well. I opened the package, enjoyed the cover, which features my Etsy friend, Serena, excitedly flipped to my 2 page spread, and then got bummed. Now, I paid to be a part of this book. Not a lot but I did pay and I was going to use it as a portfolio piece but now I won't show it to anyone... Why? Well, because the nice person who put this book together is more used to product shots than art and photography because HE CROPPED MY IMAGES WITHOUT TELLING ME!! And in doing so he ruined the impact on two out of three of them and actually ruined one image completely. Usually with this kind of thing I am given a proof to approve and since I was not in this case I really assumed that he was going to use them as I had sent them. And the biggest bummer is that the color of all the images turned out perfect, which NEVER happens! I know that an artists usually makes a bigger deal about this sort of thing than is necessary, and of course I care more about how my image looks that anyone, and generally I would think that people would not even notice but imagine the image below with 3/4 of the orange pepper cropped off the top of the image, so basically you could see there is something colorful there, but hey, what the Hell is it? Oh Well, C'est la Vie!

Too Much Popcorn...

Urgh, I am ILL! Too much nasty movie theater popcorn. It used to be my favorite snack, I would get huge cravings for it, but after tonight I think I may be off the stuff. Went to see Juno, which was really good. Very real. It didn't glamorize teen pregnancy but instead showed a smart girl, and a sweet guy, a dad and stepmom who were unconditionally loving, and the realities of life, both good and bad, that we are confronted with each day, whether being a teen who is pregnant or not. Plus it was based in my home area of Minneapolis, or just outside of it. I didn't know that when I went to see it, but they started mentioning Stillwater, Mankato, St. Cloud, and then Ridgedale Mall which was the closest mall to me the who time I was growing up! The lead actress who played Juno is really cute and funny, and I have always loved the guy who played her boyfriend, from Arrested Development.

So, I was going to talk about all the recent opportunities. I will do my best here, but really should go to bed because I feel sick.

One, is that Shady Lanes, who curated the Gimme Polaroid V show in San Francisco. emailed to say it wasa a great success and that she is going to be making a book from the show! I am getting the hi res images together to send her, and she mentioned something about including additional images that may not have been in the show, so I may have more (or less) than my 5 original images. I am waiting to hear back from her about whether any of my pieces sold. She has images from the opening in Flickr.

I received an email from Tracy Midulla Reller, the curator of [5]Art, in West Tampa, Florida. The 5 Polaroids that I sent as a submission for the Instant Gratification Polaroid Installation were accepted! Now I just wish I could go to the opening. I believe I sent Ferntebrae 1 & 2, Pink, Bound 1, & one of my papaya images... The are "straight" Polaroids, not transfers. The show opens on February 8th.

Things have been rockin' on both Trunkt & Etsy!

I added about 12 new images to my Trunkt portfolio and it continues to be one of the most popular in photography category :) They have added some new changes that I need time to check out. One is that I can make an ad for galleries, wholesalers, licensers, which is awesome! I really love Trunkt and feel I have received great exposure and results from having my portfolio with them.

On Etsy I have been on two front page treasuries within 48 hours. And Anda from admin put me in an Etsy Picks treasury that highlights a new feature called Suggestions. This is the image that was used:



And there is a lot going on in the Poe forums. There is a great group of photographers in this group. So talented and committed to promoting photograph on Etsy. It does some to be having an impact on both the number of treasuries featuring photography and the number sales people are having. Here are my two latest sales:





In addition to that street team I have joined the Free Thinkers, "a group of Artists, Craftsmen, and Designers who feel that we should live and let live. We are Atheists, Agnostics, Christians, Jews, and Buddhists who try to be respectful of the religious, political and philosophical beliefs of other people: we don't try to change anyone's mind and we try not to be judgmental. We believe in peace, laughter, and giving a helping hand when and where we can."

AND a new group started up on Facebook called Interior Design Etsy, lead by Kristina Law. It is currently an open group that will eventually be closed. "The purpose of this group is to network among fellow Etsy Members and/or Artists that offer things that apply to Interior Design, Home Decore and related topics. It is required that you have an etsy shop and you sell things that fall into Interior Design/Home Decor/Art/Furniture/Housewares etc. category."

There is more to share but it can wait for tomorrow. Here is my newest image, I LOVE it! I shot it in Vermont, at Jay Peak, back in 2001 but never made it into a transfer until this week. I hope to start showcasing the talents of others here soon...

Ask and You Shall Receive...

In last night's post I was talking about all the opportunities and how little time I have. Well, today I had oodles of time! My love took my little love to work with him AND shopping and to dinner after work so I was free ALL DAY and EVENING!! I even spent two hours cleaning my house... shouldn't have done that because here it is 1:45AM and I am still working :)

I sent my loves off after a wonderful breakfast, here is the image to prove it...



I HAVE SO MUCH TO WRITE ABOUT!! But I am falling asleep... I need to try to do these posts earlier in the evening. So, I will post my newest transfer and then be off to bed. This is called "When Life was Simple" because it reminds me of childhood. I like the fuzzy, dreamy quality. I like to work with the theme of memory in my art. Now I am off to bed with a smile on my lips :)

So Many Opportunities...

Now, I know I just stated yesterday that I am not an early-to-bed. early-to-rise sort of girl. Still true! However, when I do finally roll out of bed in the mid morning, I AM SO HAPPY TO BE ALIVE! I take in a deep breath, filling my lungs with life, kiss my wonderful child, and then head off for COFFEE and FOOD! Today, the food was Spelt Sunflower Pancakes, MMMMM, good! Spelt is a whole grain flour that is lighter than whole wheat flour. These pancakes were so fluffy and oh so good.... but I am getting off the subject. What I wanted to gush about is how every day is filled with SO MANY OPPORTUNITIES (and so little time, which is why I get so pissed about wasting it!). I am anxious to wake up each day because of all the opportunities. Today was FULL of them, so full in fact, that I need to go to bed NOW (plus I promised hubby I would get up early and make him pancakes if he will take my darling little miss to the drop in daycare at the ski resort, his work, tomorrow so I can work). So, I will write about these wonderful little gems tomorrow. And will head off to bed being extra happy that "Cold Heart of the Sun" was featured on the Etsy Front Page this evening! 14 people Favorited it, about 250 people looked my shop, and my hearts went from 390 to 410 (but who counts this stuff, eh? ;) )!!

Image by Tiffany Teske

Night Owls, Create-a-day!, & Sale to Aus

Sheesh, 12:36 AM ALREADY?! How come this always happens to me? I do love being a night owl. I would NEVER switch it for being a morning person. EVER. My daughter and husband are sleeping peacefully, it is dark, and quiet, and I am getting so much done. I am lucky that even when I was pregnant I went to bed after midnight, because Quin learned in utero the sleep in and stay up late. She goes to bed about 10 PM and gets up about 9:30 AM. She has always been like this. I LOVE it. I get to work after she goes to bed and get up when she does. Yeah, I know, all the morning people tell me how someday she will have to go to school, ya da ya da, but that is SOMEDAY. For now she is 20 months old and its all good. I am a professional artist/photographer, I chose this life. I don't have to get up at 6 AM. If I have a commercial shoot it is always after 10 AM. And anything else I do can be done whenever it works. I hate to break it to all those people who told me I would HAVE to get up at 6 AM "when you have a baby" because honestly, babies adapt to their situation, and she fits into ours perfectly.

Guess what?! I joined another blog (this is the third including this one, I will talk about the Etsy Mini Blog tomorrow), it is called Create-a-Day. I saw Sheila, or Sheasy, in a forum on Etsy. She was talking about Create-a-Day. I checked it out an wanted to join RIGHT AWAY. It is just what I have been looking for. I have been wanting to create on thing a day for about a year now, so this will give me the push I need. I am excited to be surrounded by more Etsy talent. The blog has good energy. I have already been welcomed by Lady Arwen of the Silver Rose (who has a daughter named Tiffany, who is a photographer!) and Robayre (who was kind enough to heart my Etsy shop, thanks!). Let the creative games begin!

In the wee hours of the morning, yesterday, I received a convo and order from G in Sydney, Australia! This is my first "international" Etsy order that is not to the US (I am in Banff, Canada). It is a Polaroid transfer of Pemaquid Light in Bristol, Maine, my favorite lighthouse (I am getting nostalgic just thinking about it, I lived in Maine for almost 10 years). Thanks for being my "first", G! I hope to make it to Sydney again someday...

Wasting Time & Candy

The title of this post has something I hate and something I love... I don't love wasting time. In fact, I HATE it so much that it makes me mad. There are only so many hours in a day and I have enough ideas and work to fill a day countless times so when I lose time..... EEK! I just spent what must have been an hour trying to make my Flickr badge. Now, it is pretty simple. Just follow the steps. However, when I put in the tag for the photos I wanted the badge to use, it says there are no such photos. Nope, wrong, there are hundreds of photos with the tag Polaroid in my Flickr. Then, I think I will use the public sets open, but it will only let me select from four of my sets, which are TOTALLY NOT the sets I wanted to use. Three of them contain lots of nudity and the other set is not a Polaroid set but a set for a group I started for photographs of stickers which are NOT for my portfolio, just for fun, but don't look good on my blog as a badge because the stickers are really small so the photos look strange.... urgh! I know EXACTLY what I want to do, just spent an hour experiments and searching forums, but I have ended up with a nudy badge I hate, not because I hate nudity, I love nudity, but I didn't want every image that ever shows up on my badge to be nudity. So frustrating...

Luckily, I have been doing this while eating these amazing gummy bear like gum drops that I bought in Guanajuato, Mexico, a couple weeks ago. I was there teaching a digital travel photography course (more on this soon, I SHOULD have been editing photos from the trip while I was "playing" on Flickr). These candies are the only thing keeping me from quitting. Although half way through eating them I did pause and regret the fact that I had not photographed them first. The colors are so pretty and now there are not enough of them left for a photo. Oh well, I will keep on eating.

I had grand plans for my post tonight but now I have just complained about Flickr and praised candy. C'est la vie... It's 1 AM, time to sleep. Here is a candy image...

Belly Dancing Bliss & "Bound"

Today the sun was out, the birds were singing, and it was finally not so bloody cold. Quin went with Papa to the ski hill so Mama could get some work done. She was all thrilled to leave, holding up her pink back pack and making truck noises when he came in the door. It was like, "I'm finally busting out of here!". As much as I know we both like it, I think we spend so much time together that she is happy to do things without me. Which is much better than having her leave kicking and screaming :)

Yesterday on Esty I FINALLY sold my first original Polaroid emulsion lift. My transfers are the most popular and I have been doing well with them, but I listed some emulsion lifts months ago and was beginning to wonder when one would sell. Bound, seen below is one of my favorites, and while I always love to sell a piece, I am also sad to see them go. I get attached to them. They are each like a little child I gave birth to. And since I have yet to make any reproduction prints of any of my Polaroid work I have made in the last five years, the are all originals and difficult sometime to part with. Oh, geez, I am so emotional, eh? I just try to remember that if I created that one, I have the ability to do it again if need be, and maybe it will be even better! Anyway, I am very happy for the person who bought it. When I convoed her to say I had shipped it this afternoon she wrote back saying, "Excellent! It's so pretty, I can't wait : )". That is sooooo nice!



After a great day of getting lots accomplished and a trip to the post office I made it to Weeds & Seeds, our local health store. Derek, the owner, is really great and he gives 20% off everything in the shop on the last day of the month. And as luck would have it, I needed pretty much everything we buy there (vitamins, fish oil, nutritional yeast, shampoo, lotion, body wash), which never happens, so I SCORED and saved like $30!

And this evening was my first belly dance class at the Banff Center. I am taking it with Mariana. She wanted Latin Dance Cardio, which sounds fun, too, but it was cancelled, so she decided on Belly Dancing. I really love Kim, the instructor. She teaches the Mom and Tot class Q & I go to. And I need some exercise, good energy, and fun with a group of women. There were about 25 people in the class! WOW! It is good to dance again.