Stuff that rocks! The future is NOW

For Christmas my loving husband bought me one of these bad boys. Love!

Wait. He didn't buy it for me.
I bought it for myself.

He just said "go buy it" after I kind of insisted it's really what I wanted that instead of the stuffed bear he was thinking of getting me. 

No.  Not a big old teddy bear.

A big stuffed taxidermy bear on a log.  That hangs on the wall.  Staring at me with it's cold dead eyes, only to awake and eat my face off as I sleep. wtf?
Yeah that's what I said too.

Rest assured, I love that guy.  He does have some pretty big quirks at times.  I still have not mastered what he's thinking.  I'm sure he says the same thing about me.



So anyway, pretend like you're old like me, and adventure to the inner recesses of your memory banks.  You there yet? 
Yeah, I lost part of mine back when I had toddlers too.

Anyway, I remember as a kid, thinking about the future and what things might be like.  I realized the other day, that the things I thought about were like the Kindle , nearly inconceivable, yet here we are today sitting on our couches or in a coffee shop chatting with people around the world, reading a book on a tiny screen.

Before you know it, phasers will be standard issue.




This is so amazing really, the stuff that it can do.  I have downloaded a couple dozen apps which allow me to see things like the weather at a glance, the phases of the moon, keeping track of what I eat (meh), etc.  Almost anything you can imagine.

It's also connected directly with Amazon so it's easy to download books, magazine subscriptions, music, etc.  Like... too easy. LOL.

I now have a subscription to 3 magazines that I don't normally get the paper version of.  I think it fixes a problem for me!  I can keep magazines virtually forever if I want to, and there's no clutter.



Of course you can use it for the really useful stuff too.  Like youtube and angry birds. :)

Tanner got me a really cool cover very close to this one and I bought a stylus which I have found very necessary with these apparently huge fat fingers of mine. The ones I bought are actually pretty good and a reasonable price.  No worries if I lose one.

Anyway, I highly recommend the kindle.  I absolutely love it!  I know the ipad is pretty awesome too, and I thought about it and I think I'd prefer reading books on the smaller "book sized" screen.  Plus it would fit in my purse.

I don't do big floppy purses. bleh.

When you think back to man landing on the moon (and I do believe that we did), think about this for a moment.  There's more power in a kindle, then what it took to accomplish a space mission.

Think my kindle could get me to say, Florida?  It snowed here.

Stuff that rocks - Eagle cam

Norfolk Botanical Gardens has a really wonderful bald eagle nest cam. Currently there are 2 eaglets and a 3rd egg that should be hatching at any moment. If you watch for a little while, you'll see her get up and feed the little ones.

It's also very distracting.

Sorry about that part ;)

But wait! There's more!

If you haven't heard the news (and you probably haven't if you're not local) the New Nodaway Humane Society is having a little bit of trouble. They have been a no-kill shelter for many years, but the economy has not been a friend to many of us, including the shelter.

I've always been an animal lover, probably more than I really should - this is why I don't volunteer there, I'd come home with so many kitties it would be against the law. So I wanted to do *something* to help them out. Yes, I gave them a donation (there is a link at the top of their main page), but I felt like I could do a little more.

Christmas this year, I made as a gift to several people, a little 4x6 photo calendar (above). I ended up making a few extra of these calendars which are all nature related photos. How does this effect you? Welllll.... here's how. I had a few extra of these calendars and I decided that rather than just give them away here, I would offer them up to those that have made donations.

I only have a few, so the first TEN people that donate $10 or more to the shelter (that's 2 coffees at starbucks!) and forward the paypal receipt to me (along with their mailing address) to lana at ceasefirestudios dot net ... I will send you this little calendar for free!

See how easy it is to help little critters?

{Pulling out the big guns - sad puppy dog eyes}

This is wrangler, isn't he adorable? I want this dog!!

Even if you can only give a couple dollars, it would be helpful. I have hundreds (thousands) of readers, if each person could even send $2.00, this would cover there operating expenses for more than a month!

My goal? To make sure that this does not become a kill shelter!

THANK YOU!
{and spread the word!}

Stuff that Rocks - Figgie Shoes

As a photographer, you want to better yourself once in a while. It's a constant learning process. In that process, I am a member of a few groups and ended up friending another photographer on Facebook - Figgie Photography.

Deborah is a very talented photographer. (To be honest, sometimes I look at her pictures before I go out on a shoot to get myself all pumped up and in *photo mode*)

Lo and behold, something popped up on my feed the other day, it was these shoes - Figgies shoes. I was so intriqued and checked it out. It turns out, that Deborah isn't just a creative photographer, she's an artist too!

{Photo courtesy Michele Bowman}

*swoon*
I'm so in love and want a pair of these. It's on my Christmas list!

{Photo courtesy Michele Bowman}

I'm passing it along because first off, I know many brides to be read here, and secondly, I think that creative people should be rewarded, even in just a little way in a small blog post.

Plus I want one of my dang brides to buy a pair so I can photograph them.

And fondle them.

But not in a creepy way.
LOL


PS - Deborah has also said that she would do kids shoes and non-wedding shoes. I'M SO IN! I want shoes with chickens on them. No, I'm not kidding lol.

PPS - To see more stuff that rocks (In my opinion) click the "stuff that rocks" tag at the end of this post.

Stuff that Rocks - Pomplamoose

I'm not much of a music person. No idea why considering that I was in choir and swing choir throughout high school... I NEVER listen to music on purpose. A friend of mine has been dragging me onto youtube on a daily basis and I found this awesome couple that you MUST HEAR. Pomplamoose Music (Grapefruit in french). They create some really cool remakes of songs, by themselves, laying their voices and instruments until they sound like a band.

This is "all the single ladies" which is a remake of Beyonce. Honestly, I love this version so much more! That's saying a lot considering I hear this song at EVERY SINGLE WEDDING. *eyeroll*

Brides. Play this version instead.
I'm just saying.

To see more of their music visit their channel on youtube. You must listen to September by Earth Wind and Fire :)

Stuff that Rocks - attention Pattern and sewing wizards!

For one week only, you can have access to thousands of sewing patterns--for free! The Commercial Pattern Archive (CoPA) has thousands of archived patterns available to print for free.

Use login "guest" and
password "pattern"

Thanks to courtney lynne for sharing this!

Stuff that Rocks - Laura Mehmert, Colorado Artist

When I travel anyplace, I rarely buy a souvenir anymore. I have no desire to have a shot glass with a picture of sitting bull or a spoon with an engraving of the grand canyon. Sorry, It just doesn't float my boat.

I used to buy postcards and I would say "I can't take a photo as beautiful as that, so I'll just buy some postcards." However, I don't feel that is the case anymore, so now I just say that the photos are the souvenirs for me, after all, how better to remember a beautiful place, than with a beautiful photo, correct?

So when we went to Colorado, I didn't really intend to buy anything. It makes for a cheap trip anyway! Oh, of course I have my obligatory T-shirt (as does Tanner, Seth and Gene) but mainly, it's just the photos.

I did make one exception tho. I found this beautiful little art gallery that obviously was owned by my shopping soul mate. Even at check out, I was still walking away saying "oh I missed that!".

Maybe it's because it was filled with beautiful little art pieces in most of the things I love... watercolors and sculptures. Sadly, I forgot to write down the name of the shop, or even where we bought it! *sob*.. and I paid cash so I can't even check my bank account.

Anyway, we walked out with this wonderful watercolor print by Laura Mehmert.

I am unsure what my obsession with horses has been lately. Gene says he's concerned, because if I love horse stuff, someday I'm going to want a horse. That might be true, but to be fair, it's been something like 35 years since I've been on a horse. So yeah, I was just an egg back then :p

I doubt it's gonna happen any time soon.

The down side (up side?) to buying a print, is that then you have (get?) to go on a shopping trip trying to find the "perfect" frame. Oh, and the perfect mat. Rock on Michael's for having both.. and the frame on sale.

Of course, it never fails, why is it the thing that is so absolutely perfect, is so absolutely the most expensive too? really. I talked to Gene, he said "let's just wait" and then before I could get out of the store, he calls back and says "Ok if it's perfect just get it."

This beautiful rusty orange mat perfectly matched the highlights in the horse's neck. It was also three times what I figured I'd have to pay. Then I realized it's not 1992 anymore, and prices go up.

It was because of this, that I turned down a second print I LOVED, later on in the vacation. Gene offered to go back like 7 times, I said no like 6 times. Secretly I want that print too. OF A HORSE! (srsly, I have issues). This one was a photo, if that makes it any better?

Right now, it's still sitting in my living room, waiting for the perfect home, which might end up being next to that unbearably huge deer head that's collecting dust on my wall over my couch.

But, you know, we gotta share the decorating right?

Right?

Stuff that Rocks

It's been a while since I brought you something that I felt was really rock worthy. Today I felt like I needed to glean off of someone else (that someone being the talented photographer Tara Whitney).

She shared a link on her blog to another creative photographer named Katie who thinks of creative things to take photos of like her cat sitting on the faucets on the tub, shadow puppets or weddings. She also loves to leave random happiness around her in the way of fuzzy heart stickers on subways, ladybugs on trash bags or eyeballs on trash cans.

She makes me happy. She's going on the blog roll.

Katie also is part of a group of ppl that get together for a little group called "Improve everywhere". They do fun stuff like setting up a wedding reception for strangers that just got married at city hall, high-fiving 2000 ppl on the subway escalators in 45 minutes or buying balloons and making signs and welcoming home strangers at the airport.

I think for the first time in my adult life, I want to move to NYC so I can hang with these ppl. I'm fairly confident I'd be shunt the first time they found out I voted for McCain. Oops.
;)

Now I am feeling creative.

Maybe I'll go swimming in my skivvies instead. LOL

Hodge Podgery

You know, I love to share local businesses. Especially the small guys trying to get ahead. Well, if you are local to Maryville, or even kind of local - it's worth the trip to check out Hodge Podge.

These sisters-in-law, conspired (would only be the best word) to create a little sometimes business for them. They repurpose things to make beautiful home decor. Creative stuff that you would never ever think of on your own. Who'd want to when they'll make it for you... only cheaper. :)

Anyway, I happened across their blog yesterday, and just wanted to share it with you so that you can follow them and watch for their next show.

Give them money... they rock.

Stuff that Rocks

I often find things online that I think are awesome, and that I think you should think is awesome too. I'll update it randomly as I find stuff that YOU HAVE TO SEE.

OK, so like, I know this is soooo 2007, and I'm the last little trailing duck, but I finally decided to sit down and read Pioneer Woman and see what all this "PW" and "Marlboro Man" is all about. I admit, I've been over by there a couple times, went "ehh" and moved on.

Well, a few days ago, I sat down and read about 4 months worth of the photography section, then ventured into the cooking section. She totally sold me on this recipe, (meatballs, currently at the top) and that's what I'm making tonight.

See, I'm a decent cook. I CAN cook, I just generally choose not to make anything extravagant. I don't need to when one of the glassman's favorite dishes is spaghetti (with sausage) (sauce on top ONLY). I mean, seriously, how easy is my job?

Once in a while I see something that strikes me, so I whip out the big guns and bake/fry/grill/saute/whip away to a masterpiece.

Which is usually followed up by... "that was nice, when are we having spaghetti again?"

*head desk*

ANYWAY....

I laugh at how much PW (I'm an insider now, I can call her that) and I are alike. You see, we both are beautiful, wonderful photographers, have hot cowboys, ranches and are rich. Well, ok, so my version is watered down a bit a lot.

Today:

For no reason in particular except I wanted yarn, I went to St. Joe, and stocked up on enough yarn to crochet a house cozy. Well, not really, but feels like it. How do ppl make something as big as an afgan, heck that crap is expensive. And I just make simple lil' things like scarves, flowers and wash clothes. None of which are "economic" except that I only buy the stuff that's discontinued. *ohhh* I likey.

I will say, that I have used almost every single thing I've bought. There's nothing like having too much of a good thing, that ends up in a storage unit and then tossed in the garbage 10 years later. *srsly* Lots.

Just sayin.

when I get up to downloading and editing some pics, I'll have a few to share. Tonight? (probably not... tomorrow?)

This rocks

Another installment of stuff that rocks.

I wanted to share something from my good friend Kal Barteski. Now when I say "My good friend" I mean that lady whom I share my Honeybunches of Oats *with almonds* every morning. I'm sure she just knows me as that nutjob that comments on her posts.

Kal is an incredible artist, and mom to 2 cutie patooties. (Pilot and Penn). Oh yeah, and then there's Dan the only hot accountant I've ever known. LOL. Sorry Kal. Sorry Dan.

A couple months ago, Kal started making "you are awesome" prints. They were customized for each person including their name, a favorite critter, favorite colors and exactly why they are awesome.

I know lots of you. I know lots of reasons why you are awesome. Heck I think *I am awesome* (sometimes). But alas, I have not bought any yet.

So maybe holding out was a good thing.

{image used with permission from Kal}

Kal made a set of mini prints! 10 - 5x7's for $27 USD (free shipping).

Ohhhh... pretty. Now my mind is wondering again.... where would I hang 10 (because I'm selfish and want them all), would I break them up and give everyone I know a cute Kal print, or would I put them in a scrapbook? and if so, for who? (me probably cuz I'm selfish remember? LOL)

*I want*

I Love them, and I think you should love them too!

Stuff that rocks

I often find things online that I think are awesome, and that I think you should think is awesome too. So I'm starting a little section called "stuff that rocks". I'll update it randomly as I find stuff that YOU HAVE TO SEE.

Period.

I said it, it is ordained.

First thing that I found that rocks is this cute crafty blog:

Lollychops

she makes stuff that's not junky, really cute and to top it all off darn it she's funny. You should go there. You need to like her.

Just sayin.