Art Fairs & Art Links!

My husband, Chuck & I love to explore art fairs but find little time to do so now that we have three kids. They don't seem quite as interested in them as we are! We used to love going to the Plaza Art Fair in Kansas City, the Cherry Creek Arts Festival in Denver & the Fairhope Art Festival on Mobile Bay in Fairhope, AL. I was also lucky enough to attend the Broad Ripple Art Fair in Indianapolis with my mom -- great show! I love art fairs because, regardless of budget, you can usually find some little work of art or craft that was created by hand, something not always possible in galleries.

Now that we have little time to travel to these events, I'm loving the internet and the surge in popularity of sites like Etsy, Poppytalk, and papernstitch. Soooo many creative minds out there just creating like crazy and many of them doing it as their sole source of income. I encourage you to browse these sites if you haven't. Make it a goal to find something for your home. This morning I've been surfing papernstitch & found the following items that I would love to add to our decor....

With my love of Airstreams, this caught my eye by the talented Jenni Horne.

Love this planter by Irene McCollam & Leslie Greer of Greenware Design. I want to hang one in my bathroom. Or a couple of them together! This is a favorite shop because I have a soft spot for succulents.

One of my favorite artists, Sarah Ahearn, has a great little shop with delightful collage art. Check out her blog too for some inspiration! I dream of taking one of her classes someday!

Finally, I love these little magnets & think I might have to get them while Brooks is in his robot/monster phase!

So Glad I Went....

Today, Kris Allen, one of the American Idol Top 3, came home to Little Rock & Conway to perform and film footage for the Homecoming show on Tuesday night. I am sooo glad I decided to go. It made me really proud to be an Arkansan & really proud to be a part of something, that for Kris, is HUGE. The turnout was wonderful, especially considering that he is appearing more than a couple of times today in different venues. It made me hope that I do as good a job turning out a boy as his parents have. Not a star, but a good boy. He just reeks goodness and humility. His family made an appearance about an hour before he did & his mother just seemed to be bursting with pride and overwhelmed by the support for her child. It sounds corny but the entire experience was just heartwarming. I really can't say enough good things about Idol, because I think it's been a great catalyst to bring families together. I can't tell you the last show we all viewed together before Idol began. And although our teenager is a bit too cool to join in now, it really is something that we all enjoy watching and commenting on. Overall, it's fairly positive, feel-good, reality tv, and that's something that's hard to come by these days. And have I mentioned how much I truly love Simon???

Summer...

I had my eye on this book when it was first released. Summer is my season. I live for it each year. I spend the winter in complete hibernation, decked out in old sweatshirts & jeans, waiting for the leaves to turn green, the neighborhood pool to be filled to the brim & the humidity in Arkansas to reach unbelievable levels! I love not having to get up & get the kids out the door. I love for them to be able to play in the neighborhood late in the evening. I love an impromptu firefly hunt with no rush to get to bed by 8:00. I love our day trips to Albert Pike Recreation Area to play in the river and grill hot dogs. And I LIVE for our annual beach vacation. Summer is nothing but good for me. And this book embraces it wholeheartedly. Author Suzanne Brown has done a great job of capturing it in all it's essence. The subtitle, "A User's Guide", could not be more perfect. Filled with gorgeous photos that are an inspiration in & of themselves, the book includes such things as:

* a great recipe for key lime pie

* ideas for planning an awesome 4th of July

* how to grow a herb garden

* how to hang a hammock

* how to make a tire swing

* how to lure butterflies to your yard

* how to use a skim board & ride a boogie board

* how to fly a kite

* how to skip stones

* how to run a lemonade stand

* how to whistle on a blade of grass

* how to identify stars & constellations

* history & information on summer staples, such as beach cruisers, margaritas, the bikini, the

Adirondack chair, flip-flops, etc.

I plan to try several of the ideas & hopefully I will remember to post them as I do. If you enjoy summer, this is a must-read for you. If you don't enjoy summer, maybe it's what you need to change your mind....

Reminiscing...

Our annual beach get-a-way is exactly two months away. Every year when the time draws near, I really enjoy reminiscing by going back through the photos that were taken the year before. It never fails to amaze me when I notice how much the kids have grown and matured. Although Brooks looks pretty much the same - piercing blue eyes, shaggy "do" and a smattering of freckles across the nose - he has a more mature look that makes me just a tad sad. Every day he loses a little more "baby" and gains a lot more "boy"! There are so many things that I'm soon going to miss - his love of monkeys and how George, his best monkey, is still his favorite companion, his sweet little accent that is unique to him (& his buddy Sammy!), and the fact that he still likes to snuggle. I guess it's always hard to see the last one grow up, even though there are habits and stages that I will gladly usher out as maturity bears down on him! It does seem though, as they age, what we remember is the sweetness and not the fits and mischief. I think that's exactly how it was intended to be & although I often struggle, I'm trying so hard to cherish the good stuff! Remind me of this tonight when I attempt to get him to go to bed.

Note: Letting this shot of Brooks serve as today's photo of the day!

Photo of the Day

This shot was also taken on my little photo safari last night. As I was rounding a curve in Little Rock's Stifft Station neighborhood, I caught the reflection of the neon signs in the window at Pizza D'Action in my side mirror. Not swift enough with my reflexes to safely grab the shot, I had to circle two more times and make a conscious effort! Totally worth it. I think my ISO was set at 1250 or 1600 and I think I used Program mode on my Canon 5D. Focus was manual and I had to hurry before a car came up behind me. Thankfully not many out on this rainy night!

Official White House Photostream

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Originally uploaded by The Official White House Photostream

I think it's pretty cool that there is an official White House Photostream on Flickr. This was one of my favorite shots, though I couldn't help but think of the criticism that would abound if the same shot was a Republican office holder. "What?? The economy & swine flu & war and pestilence & Britney possibly pregnant and he has time to play with a football?" Love that the photostream gives a glimpse into their lives and shows that they're just human like the rest of us. You should browse it. Just click the link under the photo. The shot of them watching a 3D movie is pretty neat too.

Photo of the Day

Technically I missed a day because it's 12:36 on the 2nd but I'll just do two today! One really early and one late! Tonight I went on a little creative photo safari, shooting at night, in the rain. Loved it. One of my very favorite types of photography....and soooo fun to experiment with!

This photo is of a string of lights that hangs over the entrance to the Flying Fish restaurant. To get this effect, you need to have a lens that is "fast" which means it has an aperture that will open wide (f1.2, 1.4, 1.8, 2.0, 2.8, even f4). For optimum creative control, you should also be able to focus the lens manually (AF lenses usually have a switch on them that you can flip to MF). Your ISO will depend on how fast the lens is. I believe this was at 800 or 1000 speed because it was black dark outside. Experiment with different ISO's until your histogram pleases you. I set the control to Av or "aperture-priority" which means I selected my f-stop (in this case f4, I think) & the camera did the rest. Turn the focusing ring until you see the blurry dots in the viewfinder and snap away. You can do this with most kinds of light bulbs, Christmas lights, even sparkles on water....I shot with a Canon 5D and tweaked the saturation a bit in Photoshop CS3. Feel free to leave a question in the comments if I left something out & I will try to reply soon!