Photo Challenge Themes for February... the final leg

Project 365 = Weekly Photo Themes is coming to a close this month. For those of you who made it through the year... CONGRATULATIONS!! I'd love to hear how the experience has impacted your photography. Sadly, I haven't done very well myself :( I think the themes were a bit much for my already overloaded photography schedule. For those of you looking forward, there are several other great Flickr groups to consider, including THIS ONE and THIS ONE and THIS ONE.

And now, the weekly themes for February:

January 31-February 6, 2010: All Things Sweet
February 7-13, 2010: Sky Shots
February 14-20, 2010: Color My World (every day a different color)
February 21-27, 2010: Macro Mania

Let me know if you have any questions!

Photo Challenge Themes for January

Here are the weekly themes for December:

January 3-9, 2010: Flat Shots (images taken while resting camera on flat surface; see image above)
January 10-16, 2010: Signs of Winter/Summer
January 17-23, 2010: Textures
January 24-30, 2010: Frame Your Subject (see image below)

If you'd like to join our Flickr group for ideas and inspiration, just let me know!

Photo Challenge Themes for December

Here are the weekly themes for December:

November 29-December 5, 2009: Windows
December 6-12, 2009: Rough Cuts (unedited images that somehow include the photographer)... after receiving a heads-up from Tilly, I realized that the style of photography I first referenced could be seriously misconstrued.
December 13-19, 2009: Over the Top
December 20-26, 2009: Signs of Christmas
December 27, 2009-January 2, 2010: Young or New

If you'd like to join our Flickr group for ideas and inspiration, just let me know!

Photo Challenge Themes for November

Here are the weekly themes for November:

November 1-7, 2009: Magical Places (thanks malansjan for the idea!)
November 8-14, 2009: Shiny
November 15-21, 2009: Little Known Facts About Me
November 22-28, 2009: Daily Gratitude

If you'd like to join our Flickr group for ideas and inspiration, just let me know!

Photo Challenge Themes for October

Here are the weekly themes for October:

September 27-October 4, 2009: Signs of Fall/Spring
October 4-10, 2009: Words
October 11-17, 2009: Trees
October 18-24, 2009: Black & White Images
October 25-31, 2009: Food

If you'd like to join our Flickr group for ideas and inspiration, just let me know!

Photo Challenge Themes for September

Here are the weekly themes for September:

August 30-September 5, 2009: Photo Free 4 All
September 6-12, 2009: Urban
September 13-19, 2009: Lines
September 20-26, 2009: Nighttime

If you'd like to join our Flickr group for ideas and inspiration, just let me know!

it's been a little scrambley

Life, that is. I am SO LATE in posting the themes for next month's weekly photo challenge. Sorry for the delay:

July 26-August 1, 2009: Forgotten/Abandoned

August 2-8, 2009: Doors

August 9-15, 2009: The Power of 3

August 16-22, 2009: My City/Town/Village

August 23-29, 2009: Things that start with the letter "s"

Have fun!

Photo Challenge Themes for July

Here are the weekly themes for July:

June 28-July 4, 2009: Signs of Summer/Winter
July 5-11, 2009: Landscapes
July 12-18, 2009: Motion/Movement
July 19-25, 2009: Quiet

If you'd like to join our Flickr group for ideas and inspiration, just let me know!

Photo Challenge Themes for June

Here are the weekly themes for June:

May 31-June 6, 2009: Highlight of My Day (a standout moment in your day)
June 7-13, 2009: Selfies (a.k.a. self-portraits)
June 14-20, 2009: Water
June 21-27, 2009: One Subject, Seven Different Ways (photograph the same person, place, or thing every day this week from a new perspective)

If you'd like to join our Flickr group for ideas and inspiration, just let me know!

Photo Challenge Themes for May

Here are the weekly themes for May:

April 26-May 2, 2009: Old

May 3-9, 2009: Soft

May 10-16, 2009: Yellow

May 17-23, 2009: Half a Face Is Better Than a Whole

May 24-30. 2009: Drinks

If you'd like to join our Flickr group for ideas and inspiration, just let me know!

Photo Challenge Themes for April

Here are the weekly themes for April:

March 29- April 4, 2009: Out & About
April 5-11, 2009: Signs of Spring
April 12-18, 2009: Family
April 19-25, 2009: Transportation

If you'd like to join our Flickr group for ideas and inspiration, just let me know!

wow, i really need to get moving

I finished up the edits from Heather's session and just wanted to share a couple more of them here:

He's just so darned tootin' cute, I can hardly stand it! A good portion of my day was also spent messing with these little guys:

Though it's difficult to tell from the images, the charms have the Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep angel logo on them, with "NILMDTS" engraved on back. Just preparing for my on-call day tomorrow...

I know I'd promised to post the February faithbooking lesson. I'm still working on it. I do have the March themes for our new 365 photo challenge ready. (Click HERE for details on the challenge.) If you're interested in participating, just let me know so I can send you an invite (the only way to plug into the online group). The themes for March are as follows:

Week 1 (March 1-March 7): Look Up

Week 2 (March 8-March 14): My Home (meaning YOUR home)

Week 3 (March 15-March 21): Shadows

Week 4 (March 22-March 28): Routine

Obviously, there is quite a bit of flexibility within the challenge but it is supposed to push you outside of your comfort zone. If you miss a day, don't freak out - just pick up where you left off. The advantages of taking daily photographs are numerous: (1) you will become very familiar with your camera; (2) you will be practicing which means that in the process you will be strengthening your photography skills; (3) you will begin noticing DETAILS like never before... you might even find yourself taking more than one photo per day. (Really. It can happen.)

I've gotta run. If you have any questions about the challenge, just post a comment or shoot me an email.

happy belatedvalentinesandpresidentsday

Just a reminder... the countdown is on for the $50 photography sessions. The sessions can be booked anytime in 2009 but you must contact me by February 20th to take advantage of this offer. Click HERE for details.

Too, I'm almost at the end of my photo-a-day challenge (a.k.a. Project 365) and am gearing up for the next, which will begin on March 1st (I'm hoping to convince a few of you to join in). My hubby gave me a great idea for shakin' things up... there will be a weekly theme for the photographs, for example: Reflections, Old, Signs of Spring, Family, etc. I would like it if we could share our images with one another (assuming I won't be doing this alone) and will be creating a Flickr group for that purpose. If you decide to take part in this challenge, one thing is certain... you will become a better photographer.

As for the Flickr bit, you can open up a free account HERE. There's a monthly upload limit you might reach by posting a daily photo but you can get around it by reducing your image size or deleting older photos. To upgrade to a Pro account (with unlimited uploads and storage) the cost is $24.95 a year. Details for both accounts are HERE. You can post images as public, friends, or family - which means you decide exactly who has access to your images. If you have any questions, just let me know.

I'll be posting the photo topics by month to give everyone time to prepare. (I'm not yet ready for March but hope to have the themes up this week.) If you're interested in taking part (or at the very least, giving it a shot) just let me know!

Project 365 Ideas (and more!)

I've been brainstorming for my next Project 365 and thought I'd check with all of you to see what other ideas might be floating around. (And yes, I did say my next Project 365. I've learned so much about my camera and lighting and different subjects that I want to continue to challenge myself.) This is a great time for gathering ideas because the topic is on a lot of bloggers' minds with the start of the new year. This is not strictly a year-to-year project, you can begin this daily project at ANY time.

As for ideas, here's what I've come up with so far:

1. Daily Routine;

2. The City Around Me;

3. Everyday Happenings;

4. Self-Portraits;

5. Family (could be specific to your family or just family images in general);

6. God Moments;

7. Strangers on the Fly;

8. Baby or Child 365 (take a daily photo of your child to track their growth over the course of a year);

9. Gratitude (take a photograph of something you are grateful for each day);

10. Meals (take a photograph and include recipes, receipts, and/or ingredients for one meal each day).

Be sure to check out Becky Higgins' blog for some great Project 365 ideas (click HERE). If a photo-a-day seems a bit daunting, you could also work any of the above ideas into a weekly photo challenge (i.e. Project 52). Here are a few ideas that might work well as a weekly project:

1. My Neighborhood;

2. My Job;

3. Bits of Love;

4. Weekends;

5. Friendship.

Again, I'd love to hear from you! Please share any ideas you might have for either a daily or weekly photo project by adding a comment to this post.

PS: I almost forgot to add the "and more!" part. Check out the Inauguration Lunch Menu (a.k.a. President Obama's first meal as president) by clicking HERE - recipes included.

two down, a zillion more to go

I've been messing with my new digi kit. Love it. These two pages are Week 1 of my Project 365... only 51 more weeks to go. By the way, I discovered another cool digital site - Scrapping with Ikea Goddess (Angie posts only digital freebies on her blog). Be sure to check it out!

Too, I thought I'd pass along a great series of books that both of my boys are into - Alex Rider. (I think the spy-theme appeals to most boys.) I've read one book in the series and it's pretty intense. You'll find the books in the teen section at your local bookstore or at Amazon by clicking HERE. The first book was made into a movie (Alex Rider: Operation Stormbreaker) which starred Ewan McGregor, Mickey Rourke, and Alicia Silverstone. The trailer is below:

It can be purchased through Amazon (just click HERE). Looks like a fun family flick.

BTW, today is my sister Stacey's birthday. It could even be a big one. (Welcome to the club.) I hope you have a very Happy Birthday!

Mmmm... cookie.

Stacey stopped by with a surprise last night, just in time for the crop. Whilst cropping digitally, I stumbled upon a very cool website. Many of you know about my year-long photo project (if not, click HERE or HERE for a peek). With only 40 days remaining, my thoughts have been tied up with the best way to preserve the images. The answer fell into my lap last night when I stumbled onto this very cool digital website, called "Weeds & Wildflower Design." They just came out with a killer 365 album kit (what timing!), you'll find a preview below:

Just click on the image above and you'll be sent directly to the website. You'll even find a gallery chock full of ideas using the entire Life 365 collection. (Click HERE for the gallery.) I cannot wait to get started!! (For all of you digi fans... be sure to check out Shabby Princess, ScrapWow - they have some great tutorials, and Free Digital Scrapbooking.)

I forgot to mention some time ago that Crystal now has a blog! Many of you know her from our scrapbooking retreats and workshops (she was the main instigator of Mellissa's surprise baby shower in December). Just click HERE to get to her blog! Speaking of blogs, I'm not sure if you've had a chance yet to read Mellissa's post about the chalkboard wall (click HERE), but the thing seriously rocks. (Okay, the post wasn't really about the chalkboard wall... it was about the baby 'n all, but the chalkboard thing is so very cool. Especially with the picture frames. And the fact that it is painted in a strip.)

Okay, I think the sugar is kicking in.

Speaking of sugar, someone shared some AWESOME monster cookies at the Faithbooking Crop last weeked, reminding me of Sue Ostrowski's ginormous cookies. (Sue was a neighbor friend's mom.) After a bit of Googling, I discovered a Paula Deen Monster Cookie Recipe. Can it get any better than that? Just click HERE for the mouth-watering details.

I'm off to hang with the kids. Have a great weekend!

Not only am I on a roll...

I am eating one, too! In case you're interested in a year-long project, check out this link for some great ideas for Photo Resolutions. You'll find lots of ideas and tips to help you stretch yourself as a photographer. Here's another great link for a 365 day project (the first of the year is always a great time to start). It would make a great album project for 2008!

The above ideas came from one of my favorite scrapbooking ladies (Ali Edwards) and you can check out her blog by clicking HERE. She's also the designer of my favorite t-shirts which are HERE and the author of two of my favorite scrapbooking books which are HERE and HERE.