Sunday, 26 October 2008

I've Been Tagged - part 2

I've been "tagged" – a great way to introduce yourself to other bloggers. Judi tagged my blog, so now it's my turn to tag a few other bloggers.Here are the rules:

Link to your tagger and list these rules on your blog.

Share seven facts about yourself on your blog – some random, some weird.

Tag seven people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.

Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blogs.

Well, there's a lot of tagging going on at the moment and many of my fav bloggers have already been tagged so if you are reading this and haven't been tagged yet - drop me a comment to let me know you're playing and I'll come be nosy and say Hello :)

1) I love dogs - all shapes, sizes and breeds but hubby is allergic so I have to fuss other peoples' dogs (usually in the street!). (The photo is my bro, me (aged 6-ish) and my dog that we grew up with).

2) I have freckles - lots of them all year and even more in summer.

3) I'm not really a chocoholic - although I do usually choose a choc based dessert - if there's cheesecake on the dessert menu (whatever flavour), the cheesecake will win everytime!

4) If my old English teacher knew I had voluntarily started a blog to write stuff, she would probably die of shock (so don't tell her please - she was quite old 25 years ago)!

5) I talk - a lot! Hubby's best friend once said that until I'd spoken to a stranger, my day wasn't complete and I think he may have been right. I also carry this over to forums and chat rooms - one or two word answers just aren't within my capabilities. LOL

6) I love maths and science - if I hadn't messed up at school between 16-18 - I would have studied toxicology at university.

7) Before I was made redundant, I used to read a book almost every day (or at least every 2 days). Since then, I've probably only read about 20 books but I now have a blog list of over 100 blogs that I read regularly and also the Etsy forums keep me reading for hours sometimes.

Results!

Better late than never, best laid plans and all that - big apologies to all my friends who played in my giveaway - but here are the results.


BIG DRUMROLL!




And who made comment number 5?


Well Done to Handicrafts - also known as JMcGuiness over on Etsy - a fellow member of POE and a very talented photographer too :)

Thank you for playing everyone - I'm sure I'll do another giveaway soon :)

Monday, 20 October 2008

Giveaway Deadline Extended

I posted my giveaway then got busy on other stuff so I haven't had chance to really promote it so I'm extending the deadline to Midnight Wednesday 22nd October (wherever you are) and I'll pull a name out of the hat on Thursday evening.

Thank you for those of you who've answered already now I'm off to drum up some more entries :)

Saturday, 18 October 2008

Darn - I'm so slow sometimes! - Giveaway Too :)

I've just popped over to the POE team blog to have a look at some of the fantastic images produced by this talented bunch and spotted this link to a video slideshow on Youtube which the lovely, generous and patient Bill (Houseofsixcats) has put together for our team. I had the email and put it in my to-do folder and then missed the deadline completely! DOH :(

Anyway, there will be more slideshows up coming so now I have to decide which ones to submit. I'm currently on a bit of an abstract/high key kick so I'm thinking Pink Blush and Delicate but my Green Ladies and Three Fishing Boats always seem to get the most reactions - what do you think my lovely readers?

Pop over to my Etsy shop and suggest your two favourites for me to submit for the next slideshow - I'll put all the names in a hat (metaphorically at least!) and the winner will get a 7x5 inch print of each of their 2 suggested prints.

Make sure to leave your contact details, either via a blog link or shop link in your comment so I can contact you if you are the winner. Deadline is midnight Sunday 19th October (wherever you are) and I will post a winner on Monday 20th.

Wednesday, 15 October 2008

I've been tagged - Twice :)

I've been "tagged" – a great way to introduce yourself to other bloggers. Sakura tagged my blog a few days ago, so I'll do that one first whilst I put my thinking cap on for Judys'.

Sakuras' challenge was to reveal 6 secrets and tag 5 other bloggers so here goes

1) I have a tiny dolphin tattoo at the top of my thigh. I love tattoos on other people but wasn't brave enough to have mine on show. It hurt a fair bit too so I'm glad I didn't dive in at the deep end and start with a large one!

2) I have never wanted children and nothing has made me change my mind yet! It's not that I don't like them, I do, I'm just not maternal I guess.

3) I can talk to almost anyone, anywhere so I'm definitely not shy but I still lack confidence, no matter how I come across :(

4) I miss my grandmother so much.

5) I love nutella and peanut butter but I can't eat them on bread - I have to eat them with a spoon (but not at the same time)! Just a few spoonfuls is usually enough to satisfy any nibble cravings.

6) I have an addictive personality - I get really into something and I have to do it at every opportunity for about 6 months - then one day, I'll give it a miss for some reason and never go back to it. That's why I have a box of knitting stuff, one for ceramics, one of genealogy papers and one of part finished cross stitches. It's also why I don't gamble, play fruit machines or computer games - I just don't have time! Photography is about the only thing that has lasted - 6 years and counting :)

So who to tag?

Nodins Nest
BlueBoyGifts
Rain(Notebook)
Debsmuddle
AllieArt4Children

Come on then my lovelies - let's hear some secrets :)

Saturday, 11 October 2008

Woo Hoo! I've been featured :)

You may remember me talking about We Make craft fair back in June - well, I got a bit carried away when they were discussing a Xmas Fair and signed up even though I have no stock or any clues on how to 'do' a craft fair. I'm beginning to get my act together and have ordered a couple of card display thingies and priced up various supplies but today, I'm the featured seller on their blog and oh boy, have I got a big grin on my face!

Maybe the Elves of Hyperspace have a magic wand or something! LOL

Thursday, 9 October 2008

More Shots from the Sea Wall

Just a few shots from yesterday lunch time and again today - the sun was shining brightly and I even sat there in shirtsleeves, enjoying the last (probably) of the sunshine for a while anyway.
Some of the houses along the river side, near the quay - long lens shot from my bit of sea wall.

Looking the other way and to the left, you can see the new houses in the distance and the old tyres and traffic cones stuck in the mud in the foreground.

An old, washed up bottle near the grass/reeds - I thought it looked best slightly sepia-ish toned.
More debris washed up by the tides - this time an old bike and what looks like the handle of a saw! - Again, slightly toned but this time with my texture added to darken the corners a bit.

Wednesday, 8 October 2008

Project 365 - Day 29 Outtakes

I took a walk lunchtime down to the seawall as the sun was shining so beautifully. I took almost 80 shots - obviously, not all good ones - I was using my zoom lens and I sometimes have trouble holding it steady enough and with a light breeze, it was giving me more trouble than usual. But I did get some really nice shots to choose from for my shot of the day on my other blog and these are the ones I decided to count as out-takes :)

I don't know what this fiery red plant is but it was lighting up the wasteground in bright autumnal patches.

This teasel was beautifully backlit against the strong sunlight - you can even see the little cobwebs in amongst the spikes.
I have some more to process so maybe I'll load them up tomorrow evening for you to see. Don't forget, I'm running a giveaway so have a look at the post below for details on how to enter - good luck :)

Sunday, 5 October 2008

Day2Day - Skies and an odd one

I started off this week with the idea of a Sky theme but I didn't fancy pointing my electronic camera upwards in the heavy rain that fell all day Friday so there's an odd one at the end!


Monday - grey all day but then the sun came out long enough to do this.

Tuesday - very grey again and this weird cloud formation.

Wednesday - More rain for most of the day but the evening had some lovely white fluffy clouds and the starlings were flying high as usual. I also shot some textures today so had a play by overlaying a dark edged texture over this and playing with blending modes in photoshop. I think this was a colour burn mode in the end.


Thursday - I got my car back from the garage yesterday so I planned on taking my camera to work but the weather forecast was horrible so I didn't. This is a camera phone shot of the bit of estuary near my office. I just made it back before the skies opened once again.

Friday - I did take my camera with me but even though I went back down to the river estuary, the heavens opened whilst I was there so I made a run for it. Standing getting my breath back and chatting to a colleague, I spotted this angle on the arches so grabbed my camera phone again for an insurance shot! I didn't like any of the shots from my brief excursion in the rain but I did like this one - especially after I played with it a bit. Converted to mono, added a slight sepia tone then overlaid with the same texture as the blue sky shot on Wednesday. Hidden in the shadows are a couple of cars and a few bits of building site so definitely needed to do something in Photoshop! :)