Amazing Etsy Photographer -- ara133photography.etsy.com

The brightness and vivid colors found in the shop ara133photography.etsy.com are something I'd like to aim toward in my future work. Sure I achieve color, but in "Willow" you can feel the sunshine, and in "Berry Crush" the yellow and red play off of one another to create an eye-popping photograph. My favorite image however has to be of "On the Fence." I have a very similar photo that I took on a gallivant once. Captured is a beautiful silhouette of the bird, whereas mine was of a little sparrow in the mist on a dreary day. I like this one much better than mine. The artist also has a blog at ara133photography.blogspot.com."On the Fence"
"Willow"

"Berry Crush"

Amazing Etsy Photographer -- newamsterdam.etsy.com

I like the way the photographs in the shop newamsterdam.etsy.com make me feel. They are like a slide show from a vacation I never took, but would love to someday. Of memories I've never had, but that are somehow familiar. The artist does a good job at narrowing our focus onto details. He makes us look at things harder, and longer than we perhaps would if he didn't call our attention there. "The Plymouth--Part II," for example, shows us that there is beauty in a decaying car, and "The Beautiful Depression" shows that there is beauty underfoot. I like to take the time to actually be in my surroundings, and see what I might overlook if I was to be too busy. This mindset is what his shop reminds me of. I wish the artist had a blog because I bet I'd like what he had to say, plus if he posted photos like these it would be lovely to look at too.

"The Plymouth--Part II"

"The Cold Morning"

"The Beautiful Depression"

Amazing Etsy Photographers -- sharonmontrose.etsy.com

Talk about a woman with my dream job--this artist gets to photograph amazing animals for a CAREER! Not only that, but the shop sharonmontrose.etsy.com is packed full of those photographs and they are beautiful works of art. "Gray Goose No. 2" has such great movement and is so fun. "Camel" is my favorite though, because I have a life-long dream to have a camel for a pet--I think one would fit right in with my farmyard menagerie. On her blog, sharonmontrose.blogspot.com, she talks about her various photo-shoots and I love reading about them. She also has a website at sharonmontrose.com. "Gray Goose No. 2"

"Cow No. 1"

"Camel"

Amazing Etsy Photographers -- christinaperdue.etsy.com

This etsy artist's style is similar to mine -- christinaperdue.etsy.com. The photo "Summer Moments" could have been taken by me on some back road on many an occasion. The soft light she captured in it is very memory-inducing for me. Also, I think "Lost Cowboy" is a very genius composition--I could easily come across that image on our farm--it'd just be because one of our dogs stole a boot off the back porch and decided to drag it in the yard to chew. Go and take a peek at the rest of her photos in her shop, and be sure to tell me what you think.

"Summer Moments"

"Lost Cowboy"

"Afterglow"

Amazing Etsy Photographers -- emmalynne.etsy.com

In the shop emmalynne.etsy.com there some very lovely photographs. I like her compositions very much (like in "Spade") and also her depth of field--blurry in a wonderful way (like in "Rain on the Window"). There are so many works of hers that caught my eye, such a splendid shop. She also has a website at emmyludwig.com, and a blog at emmalynne.blogspot.com.

"Spade"

"Rain on the Window"

"Fool on the Hill"

Amazing Etsy Photographers -- jdmphotographs.etsy.com

Jared Douglas Martin has a shop on etsy that I found recently: jdmphotography.etsy.com. His style is quite different than any I've posted about so far. He takes his subject and puts them in an environment and allows you to become a part of that environment. According to his profile, he does this by the subjects' stare and the way that they are positioned in the photo. Personally, I think the environment itself is the draw because of the chosen lighting, and the depth of field. All of the photographs in his shop have a "story" in them if you allow yourself to look. I find them very beautiful, yet very mysterious. My favorite image is "Farmhouse" if only for the fact that my house looks very similar to the one in the photograph (disrepair and all). I've always been attracted to abandoned and run-down architecture (hence my house), so it makes me relate to the girl in the photo. I'm sure everybody can find something in an image to link themselves to it--and I think that's what he is going for with this series of photos. I hope you take a nice stroll through the rest of his work and tell me what you think. "Fawn."
"Farmhouse."

"Canal Road."

Amazing Etsy Photographers -- erintyner.etsy.com

This next artist is one of the most inspirational I've come across yet: erintyner.etsy.com. Who would think to create fine art prints using miniatures? They are so very unique and creative--I love each and every one of them. How painstaking it must be to set up for just one photograph, and the effort really shows. My favorite three (it was hard to narrow them down to just these) are "Yellow," "Sometimes," and "Outskirts" all for the exact same reason--the question of what are the figures thinking. You can put so much of your own story into these images and that, to me, is what art is about--being able to connect with the image and the artist themselves. She also has a website at erintyner.com which is definitely worth a look. "Yellow"

"Sometimes"

"Outskirts"

Beautiful Frost

Frost on the weeds.
Frost on the cobwebs in the barn.

Frost on the grass.

Frost on the fences.

I may hate winter, but it can be pretty sometimes.

Joelee is three months old today!

So many hilarious faces--she is already a comedian

About this time 3 months ago I was in the operating room delivering my beautiful daughter by emergency c-section. She is the best--she sleeps all night, is so good during the day, and has an amazing personality. It's so neat to experience her 'firsts' with her. I'm looking forward to the next month because she's grown so much already!

Yummy Pumpkin Bread

Pumpkin Bread

(this is the recipe that I went off of)**

1-3/4 C. pureed pumpkin

1-1/2 C. brown sugar

1/2 C. (1 stick) butter, softened

3 eggs

3-4 C. flour

2 Tbsp. baking powder

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg

2 C. chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350-degrees. Combine pumpkin, brown sugar, butter, and eggs and mix until creamy. In a separate bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients except the chocolate chips. Mix 3 cups of the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, then mix as much of the 4th cup in as necessary to achieve a moist, but thick batter. Stir in chocolate chips. Pour batter into greased muffin tins or loaf pans. Bake on center rack for 30-40 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

**I didn't measure anything exact (I never do), and the bread came out perfect. I also added some ginger and vanilla to the recipe since I thought they sounded good.

I'm also proud to say that I grew the pumpkins myself and got the eggs from my hens--makes everything taste better when it's not store bought!

I ended up with 2 loaves--I froze this one because I've eaten almost the whole first loaf by myself and I figured I didn't need to eat both.

Amazing Etsy Photographer -- eyeful.etsy.com

Yet another photographer's shop to drool over -- eyeful.etsy.com. This shop has been listed on my favorites in etsy for quite a while now. I'm fond of the 'bird' themed images that she has, and my favorite of them is "Many and One." What a lucky shot to get that solitary bird separated from the group. I also really like the aged effect of "Pastoral with Tree (2451)" It's texture reminds me of when the sun is so bright that you have to squint and everything goes kind of hazy. It makes for a neat piece. She also has a website at triciamckellar.com and a blog at triciamckellar.com/note99. Please take a moment and look at her shop (her "Urban Decay" series looks like something I would've found--I love forgotten places), and the other links are worth a bit of your time too. "Pastoral with Tree (2451)"
"Memory"

"Many and One"

I've never been a fan of winter.

Photo I took of snow on top of a fence post February 2009

Sure the snow is pretty, but I'm leery of driving when winter-weather hits. Being that my favorite hobby is gallivanting you can imagine how this dampers my spirit a bit when I'm not able to venture out on the backroads. Not failing to mention the fact that I have a three-month-old who can't be taken outside to play because it's too cold. Combine those factors and I get a total of five minutes a day outside--that's just long enough to feed the livestock and dogs and then scramble back inside. Springtime is calling me big time--I'm craving sunshine and spring storms. I'm looking forward to exploring again (since last year had me close to home because of being pregnant--nobody told me I'd feel so crummy). This spring I've got HUGE plans to gallivant as much as I possibly can--venturing out with my camera and Joelee strapped to my side. We'll find all the cute small towns I used to come across and I'll show you what I find. That's what this blog was initially supposed to be for, but because I felt better staying close to home last year I started blogging about artists on etsy instead (and I intend to keep doing that even when I start gallivanting again). I've found so many artists that I would've never known existed by featuring them here. I've had a lot of compliments on them, and I really enjoy looking at all the inspiring art they've created. Isn't it funny how you think you're having to change your plans to something less exciting than what you went out to do and you find it's really great too? So...even though I'm a little delayed on what my true intent for this blog is, I feel I'm still right on target.

Keep sticking around--things are going to get good--as soon as this snow melts and the weather decides to come back up above freezing for a bit...brrr.

Amazing Etsy Artist -- ambera.etsy.com

I could find space on my walls for a lot of items in the shop ambera.etsy.com. Not only are her paintings beautiful, but her printmaking items are gorgeous too. My favorite piece is a painting entitled "Cloud Number 20" for the dark shadows and billowy clouds. I've been gallivanting in weather like this and it made for some memorable drives. I also really enjoy her "Sting Ray Intaglio Print" because I've always been drawn to natural history textbooks and have created pieces very similar to this in the past. I'm actually working on some drawings of animal skeletons for etsy right now. Her art is so beautiful I just thought I'd share it with you. Be sure to see what else she has in her shop. "Sting Ray Intaglio Print"
"Harbor Nocturne Lithograph and Intaglio Print"

"Cloud Number 20"

Amazing Etsy Photographers -- citylight.etsy.com

Yet another really inspiring photographer's shop is citylight.etsy.com. I find my gallivanting photography is very similar in style to this artist. My favorite piece in the shop is "Emma's" because there are many photos I've taken of where I've been that have that same travel-nostalgic feeling to it. I also really like the warmth of "red sky" and the starkness of "you are my everything." See what you think of the other pieces in the shop and also take a look at her blog at ourcitylights.org and her website at shuttergirl.net.

"you are my everything"

"red sky"

"Emma's"

Amazing Etsy Photographers -- raydelphotography.etsy.com

As you've probably realized I'm particularly drawn to photographers on etsy, but there are many other talented artists in other mediums on there I assure you. However, here is another talented photographer I found. The shop is radelphotography.etsy.com. The compositions are lovely and somewhat murky which creates a wonderful mood. My favorite is "Greener Pastures" because it gives off such a melancholic feeling which I find interesting for such a simple composition. I also really enjoy "Winter Baby" for the exact same reason. Go and see what other treasures are in this shop.

"Winter Baby"

"In Bloom"

"Greener Pastures"

Amazing Etsy Artist -- matteart.etsy.com

If you are looking for unique illustrations look no further than matteart.etsy.com. It'll surely remind you of the older cartoons from Warner Bros. and Disney. I know they are sure to make you smile if not for the illustrations themselves but also for the great titles he gives them. My favorite is "Edwin and Rosemary upon arriving at Yosemite for their honeymoon were lucky enough to spot a rare green friendly soft tooth bear, 1927." That's an amazing title. I also like the humor behind "Alfred was obviously underdressed for his induction into the Adventurers Hall of Fame." Be sure to take a look at the shop and his blog at matteart.blogspot.com.

"Edwin and Rosemary upon arriving at Yosemite for their honeymoon were lucky enough to spot a rare green friendly soft tooth bear, 1927"

"Alfred was obviously underdressed for his induction into the Adventurers Hall of Fame"

"Admiral Seymour Doughtridge was a stern man but always had a soft spot for sea lions"

Amazing Etsy Artist -- berkleyillustration.etsy.com

The etsy shop I'm about to feature you definitely don't want to miss out on. I've seen berkleyillustration.etsy.com artwork in a lot of places and you know it's theirs as soon as you see it. The hilarious animal "portraits" and other artwork are very unique and wonderfully executed. I do believe my favorite is "Number One Star" for no other reason besides the fact that a mouse is riding a rooster. I also find the "Seagull" print to be very nice. I think they captured the physiology of all the creatures so well. Take a look for yourself. Oh, and be sure to check out their blog at letsshare.typepad.com.

"Seagull"

"Number One Star"

"Meerkat"

Amazing Etsy Photographers -- shadedmemories.etsy.com

I've been working on this round of etsy artists for a while now. The holidays have had me extremely busy and not around a computer much, but now that the holidays are past I think I can safely say I'll be more blog-minded. The etsy shop shadedmemories.etsy.com is my next shop to feature. There are a lot of wonderful "Through the Viewfinder" photographs which are always a big hit with me. The compositions are very well executed and the focus is nice and soft. My favorite is "When Last We Met." I like how the colors of blue and tan are repeated horizontally across the image, and I enjoy the texture in the waves. The photograph entitled "Softly Sweet in Sepia" is also very nice. I thought the slight changes in shadow and light made for a very eye-pleasing composition. Please be sure to take a quick peek at the shop and tell me what you think.

"When Last We Met"


"The Happy Dance"

"Softly Sweet in Sepia"