Now you can WEAR thingsthataremade's photos!!

Somehow I stumbled upon Mark & Emi's (amazing!) photos at F2Images. They had a link to their blog. On their blog, they had a post about a giveaway they were having on another blog, oh, hello friend. I love giveaways, so I of course I checked it out! Not only have I come to totally adore "oh, hello friend," but I was fascinated by the giveaway! It was a collaboration between F2 and a jewelry maker named Cat, of Polarity. She had the absolutely genius idea to make lockets out of a recycled CAR PART!! I LOVE it! So I emailed her. And she ever-so-graciously agreed to use some of my photos on her lockets too! We've been talking for a few weeks now, and she has designed this amazing locket with my coffee photos:


Cat explains the locket:

"This adorable, industrial little locket is created from a recycled steel auto part to which I have silver soldered a little eyehook. The locket has FOUR magnetic interchangeable lids - 3 with gorgeous Things That Are Made photographs and one with the definition of MORNING - this can also be changed to refresh, brew or any other word just leave me a note in the comments to seller section of your order! Your locket comes on an adjustable length 30" 2mm nickel plated brass ballchain. Locket is 1 1/4". "


Here's the photos up close :)



What a blessing this is! Praise the Lord!

"Spotlight on Photographers" By Simply Hue

Vicki over at Simply Hue is doing 2-weeks of daily features on photographers! I am SO blessed to be featured on Day ONE!! (Thank you so much, Vicki!) Click here to see her feature of Things That Are Made. There are some great photographers out there, so check back every day for the next couple weeks to see all the amazing photos that are yet to come!
Today's featured photographers:

Things That Are Made

A Yummy Life:
Orange Sparrow:

Misty "Spraybow"

These vibrant hues weren't found in the rain, but in the spray coming off of Nevada Falls in Yosemite! We spent Mother's Day weekend with my husband's family in Yosemite this year. It was PERFECT. The weather was warm & sunny and perfect for hiking! When we arrived at the top, we looked down and this is what we saw!
I just put cards and prints in my shop of this lovely rainbow in the waterfall's mist.

My good friend, Flo Paris, has a new album out!

4th of July

It was a busy weekend, the 4th of July. Some friends came over to swim on Friday evening, and to play with our pup. On Saturday morning, the wheat harvesters arrived from Kansas and began to give the fields a buzz-cut. I have never seen such machinery! They are a little more efficient than I was with my machete!

That evening we visited some friends and tried to be creative with the little fireworks. My husband tried to write "John 3:16" with sparklers:
He succeeded in writing "Love" with the camera, and the full moon as his pen! (It's totally a challenge, you have to write backwards & upside down. I couldn't do it!)

Fireworks!

I just LOVE fireworks! Don't you?
My husband & I went to Chicago last summer, and their weekly fireworks display (over Lake Michigan) is far more amazing than any 4th of July fireworks I've ever seen! These images are from that trip, and I adore them! I love the fantastic lines, the vivid colors, and the contrast against the night sky! They're obviously not typical fireworks photos; they were taken with the camera in motion-and what fun that turned out to be!
Fireworks most often are a celebration, a rejoicing, in our country's independence and freedom. Our founding fathers wanted a place where we could be free to worship God, where no one would tell us we couldn't! Likewise, we were once ruled by sin. When Jesus died & rose again, He conquered sin's grip on us, and has given us the chance to be FREE! We're now free to do what's right in God's eyes. Romans 6:22 says, "But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life." We're free now to depend on Jesus! How sweet is that!
On another note, we may not always be so free to worship Jesus in this country. Enjoy it while you can (dont' take it for granted!), and pray for the joy (which is our strength) when persecution comes (Matthew 5:11-12)

Daddy

Father's Day always seems to get left behind...Mother's Day gets all the attention, and all poor Dad gets is another tie. My dad won't even wear a tie. Ever.

So, in honor of my daddy, I've created a special treasury just for him--full of some of his favorite things! Check it out here! (Here's a sample of it)
...and I've made a special section in my shop for cards especially for Dad.

I've learned so much about my Heavenly Father from my dad. Every time I get myself into messes, it's always my Dad who's been there to help me out of them. Like the time my friend and I accidentally ripped the door off my car...and dad left the friends' house he and my mom were at to come rescue us...He is always serving and giving, and he never complains. He has such a soft spot for his kids! Not to mention his little grandson! You should see him!

One of my favorite things about my dad is that he's willing to admit when he's wrong and say he's sorry. Because of his example, it's so much easier for me to do so too.

I'm also thankful that he kept us in line. Hebrews 12:6-7, 10-11 says,
"'My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD,

Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him;
For whom the LORD loves He chastens,
And scourges every son whom He receives.'
If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten?...

For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness.

Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it."

How good it is when the Lord disciplines us! His heart is to see us partake in His holiness and yield the peaceable fruit of righteousness!

Ephesians 1:3-6 says,
"Blessed [be] the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly [places] in Christ,
just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love,
having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,
to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved."

Praise God, the Father who loves us with perfect, complete love, even better than our human dads can!

Flickr, Finally!

I now have a Flickr account! And it's full of photos you'll find in my shop, and ones you don't see in my shop anymore, and maybe even a few new ones! They're organized by sets off to the right side to make your search more logical :) I can make prints and cards from any of the images you'll find here. Just contact me (or leave a comment here)! Check it out!

Featured!

How fun is this! I've made two new (Christian!) Etsy friends recently, and both have featured "Things That Are Made" on their blogs! How fun is that! Praise the Lord for the body of Christ :)
I've included a picture of a snippet of each; click on the photo to read the whole article! They have Etsy shops too, check them out!

The first is "Christian Stewardship," by Brittany:
Her Etsy shop is zosai.etsy.com

And the second is "Pruitt Handcrafts" by Linda:
Her shop is pruitthandcrafts.etsy.com

Santa Margarita Lake

My husband wanted to go camping last year for his birthday, so we tried Santa Margarita Lake. I have lived on the Central Coast of California for about half my life. All that time I had no idea that this lovely place sat nestled among the hills only 15 miles away! What a remarkably stunning spot!
Fishing on the lake:
The view from our tent at sunrise:
Along the hiking trail:
Cards in my shop made from Santa Margarita Lake images:

Rusty Wheels

I know that not everyone will appreciate these the way I do...but humor me and look for a moment anyway :) It was a foggy morning on the farm, and I had noticed this old trailer with a flat tire, retired along the orchard. Each of its four wheels had been painted and repainted numerous time, and strangely enough they all looked completely different! The colors fascinated me, and these photos are almost abstract. In short, I am SO thankful that God created color, and for the way colors compliment and contrast each other. Now do they appeal a little more?
I've just posted two new sets of notecards featuring these very images! Click--here--to see!

Promontoire de Cafe

The smell of fresh coffee brewing makes me stop and stand still for a minute and just breathe in the scent. I love these images because they bring you up close, out into the fresh air, and wanting to share with a friend!

The Little Hills Rejoice!

Photography Treasury

I often think about what constitutes a photographer. What makes anyone more than just another joe with a fancy camera? I think some people have a gift--a a natural eye for composition, color, and expression. Others learn it. Your comments and thoughts are welcome. In the meantime, I have found some incredible images on Etsy that I've compiled into a treasury! I think these images help define good photography. Click to go to the treasury and enjoy!

Delightful Tulips!

I am delighted to present my three newest sets of tulip notecards!

"Sunlit Tulips"

"Pink & White Tulip Bundle"
"Stunning Tulips"

Learning Through the Lens

I'm amazed at the way the Lord seems to parallel life lessons with whatever stage I'm in photographically!
It started with the first black & white film classes I took; what struck me then was the CONTRAST. I loved to push my film so the blacks and whites were stark and clear. Shortly after this, I started Bible College and began to learn so much from God's Word! As I studied, I found that God is holy, set apart, and requires holiness from us (Leviticus 20:26, I Peter 1:16). Right and wrong became stark contrasts, and I was forced to sort through things in my own heart and life. I loved that (after a few open-ended philosophy classes) there is ABSOLUTE TRUTH, and I talked about it, and defended it. I also hurt some friends in the process.
I came to understand why it is so necessary to speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15), and how gentle our heavenly Father is when He teaches, disciplines, and directs His children (Hebrews 12:5-7, 11 and Revelation 3:19). At this same time (though I didn't put it together until later), I had begun to appreciate the different tones of black and white, which give an image depth and detail. Don't mistake me; these tones don't subtract from the blackest of blacks or the whitest of whites, just as speaking the truth in love doesn't make the truth any less absolute.
An intermission in Bible College gave me the opportunity to live out what I'd been learning in class. God took my lessons beyond mere words and academia to life! It was at this point that I began to explore COLOR photography; it was really the first time I'd even been able to see in any way but black and white, so trained was my eye. I found the color truly made my images come to life! This is when I started to see the parallels between God's lessons and my photographic studies.
I put my camera down for awhile, and have only taken it up again this past year. And with it, comes another lesson, maybe less technical and more artistic: My husband and I moved recently from the gorgeous California coast for life in the dusty, flat, often smoggy valley. With this move, God has given me a desire to search for the beauty here, amidst that which is commonly considered not beautiful (I've even heard it likened to armpits and hell!).
I realized--and this part is much more difficult--that I must find the beauty and rejoice in my circumstances, and in every trial I face! (I Peter 1:6-9) Because the beauty is there, the Lord promises it is! (Romans 8:28 says, "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to [His] purpose.")

Here is a bit of the beauty I've found around my new home, and I pray it stokes you like it stoked me:

The almond groves in full blossom:

Rusty wheels on an old trailer:

Tulips from a friend:

The peach orchard in bloom: