Blah,Blah,Blahg

REFUSE TO SAY CHEESE AND OTHER PEARLS OF WISDOM....

Okay, I am going to share with you the single most important bit of information I have come upon while embarking on this new love affair with my DSLR camera. I bought this DVD called 'Beyond the green box' and although I am loathe to recommend you buy anything in these economic hard times (and I will share some free links, I promise) this DVD was so very simple and comprehensive that even I, someone with an attention span of a gnat figured out my camera and the basics of photography in no time (real basics, I am no pro).  Really, it's laid out so simply and visually you will be thanking your lucky stars if you get it.  There is one problem with this DVD and it's the teacher's husband, whom I  am sure is a great guy, well he's just really weird in the DVD and it's a little hard to stomach.  I'm sorry I don't want to be mean, but I don't think it would be fair not to share that little bit of info with you.  It turned Ace off totally but he was already apprehensive because the DVD does read 'documenting your child's life' and well, we don't have any children, but don't worry if you don't the DVD is VERY helpful for beginners with or without the kidlettes...

{get this super duper dvd here}

I have mentioned my friend 'The Pioneer' woman' on many occasions, yes it's true that she probably doesn't know I exist, so again I am using that term loosey goosey but I think we would be friends if she knew I was alive and all.  She has a series of great posts that explain the very basics of photography. Not everyone learns by reading (some are visual like myself) but I do think she has a very unique style of teaching and you may just find that you are following along quite nicely and then you can save yourself the 30 bucks on the DVD, because you know that the DSLR camera you just bought has you nearly bankrupt now anyway, so free is a good price and you can get your free lessons here.

AND you don't need a fancy 'ol camera for basic photography since PW (how she likes to be referred to) starts with composition and the fanciest camera in the world won't help you compose a picture you actually need to think a little for that.  I know sometimes you'll get real lucky on some shots but if you want more than luck on your side read a little bit about composition, it'll improve your captures immediately.
                                                                                   
Okie dokie, there's my spewing for the day, I need to get over the The Bright Side Project to fawn over my favorite lil' lady Jen Gotch, you know one of my idols and the newest cover photographer for Real Simple and a Polaroid savant and general coolest girl ever...

I just found Mrs. Limestone via the comments and she has some gorgeous shots and some wonderful info on photography basics here.

HAPPY MONDAY!

Monday's, now that I am part of the corporate cog are not as fun as they used to be, that's why I need the extra something something to remind me that my life is not my j-o-b.  I found this little lovely and instantly felt better, please, how could you not?

 
Yes Shannon I LOVE Polaroids and most of the time I think life is RAD! I thought these engagement images she captured were super duper unique and qualify as art in my book and that you pretties would appreciate....

 

{photo's by shannon leith}

AND those above photo's are of this gorgeous girl (hello, cutest banner award, right?)

{vist miss mae mae gonzalez here}

Now back to trying to make Monday less mundane for you.  If you got the Danny Gregory book, I am sure you have been 21 kinds of inspired and drawing up a storm (even if you think you can't draw, I know you can, I believe in you...). Here's a sweet (free) font for you that always makes me smile...

{find font here}

 

I'll be back tomorrow with a bunch of photography how-to so we can embark on this love affair together (never fun to not be able to share your love with someone, right?) I miss you already...xx, Miss B.

I'M POSSIBLE....

As promised a sweet download made 'possible' by the lovely Cathe of Feterie and her pet project: Goods for goodness sake!    Cathe also has a 'French Friday' on her blog where she explores her Francophile leanings...

 

{download it here}

Thank you Miss Cathe!  And on another note, have you been reading The City Sage yet? It's one my new regular reads when I have a chance to do anything like that. It seems stealing a moment to procrastinate has become a thing of the past, sigh.... Anyways, Anne Sage has impeccable taste and is very clever with her design posts, this one on the ubiquitous egg chair is just brill:

 

{visit City Sage here}

This is what I will be reading in my copious spare time this weekend. It's like 'The Artist's Way' for, well artists, instead of writing everyday, you draw:

{creative license by danny gregory}

And I think I will be checking into rehab. Brooklyn rehab that is:

 

Have a great weekend my pretties!  As always if you miss me madly I will be over on the Bright Side...

WHILST STROLLIN' THROUGH THE BLOGOSPHERE...

It's Thursday I can taste freedom, it's nearly here oh yes it is...In the interim while I count down the hours to the weekend like a prisoner in jail I thought it might be fun to share with you some goodies I stumbled upon whilst strolling through the blogosphere. I understand this little tutorial has been floating around but I just caught wind of it yesterday and I hope you haven't seen it prior because it should make you feel all giddy, it's sort of a crib note calligraphy course.  I can't wait to try it and I promise to post pics if I do (and if it turns out okay)...

{the crib note calligraphy course here}


{photo by rinze van brug}

This photographers portfolio is like skimming through the glossy pages of the best European fashion magazine. It is a visual delicacy.

{interesting and very cool new blog}

Until next time my pretties, have a blast procrastinating, tomorrow we have a free French download by Cathe of Feterie, just for you. So swing on by before your weekend begins and offer me moral support for one more day down and swipe yourself some goodness...

P.S. Thanks for all the sweet comments yesterday, I am a total sucker for that kinda stuff...

DRUM ROLL PLEASE....

Okay, so I am a little late on the reveal here and it's only going to be the tiniest of peeks because I am rushed.  Unfortunately I am a grown up (well sometimes being one really does has perks) and I have to do grown up things like get ready for a big 'ol bid'ness meeting this Wednesday morn. Oh what I wouldn't do to just have the only thing on my schedule being to play a mean game of tether ball at recess and then take a nap. Alas, I have to bring home the metaphorical bacon and fry it up in a pan....But a girl can dream and while I toil away in corporate land, here's what my lovely business partner Julieta and I have been cookin' up in our spare time:

What have we here? Only the loveliest labels in all the land, that's all.  They are lightly textured, like fine Italian writing papers, just the slightest touch of creme mixed in with a pure white label, making it the perfect 'vintage white', not too blue, not too yellow. They come in sheets so you can completely customize to your little hearts desire. Jules likes running hers through her ink jet printer. I on the other hand am not as adept with home printing as the masses, so we made coordinating rubber stamps so you can hand stamp to the cows come home. The first image is our 'adhesive paper ribbon' I do believe it even makes a paper bag look good.  I hand stamped the 'merci' we have a whole collection of stamp additions being lined up and I might even be able to convince Jules to give it a go. 

This is a really light sampling, we have many more shapes coming with the coordinating stamps and we can't wait to share some ideas with you on how to go crazy with these beauties.  This to me is a true 'craftista' masterpiece, since it's first and foremost functional it allows you to customize and get creative (and call it your own) and they are a lot of fun.  Yes, if you must know I have labeled nearly everything in my home and would be more than happy to come over and label everything in yours (it gets quite addicting). We won't be putting them on the market for another month or so but since you and I are very special friends I wanted to share and we all know I can't keep a secret so there...

To see one of the labels in the 'wild' check it out here on my friend Sarah's blog, it's  on the back of the mailer...

I AM HAVING A LOVE AFFAIR...

Yes, it's true. It's been going on a little while now and whilst I try to control myself it just seems I am going deeper and deeper.  As is the case with love one tends to see things one might ordinarily miss.  In fact, the ordinary has become the extraordinary.  Don't worry the Fancy knows all about it. He has encouraged me in this affair and has even pursued his own.  I wanted to start sharing about my new love more because it really has changed my life and maybe it's something you have considered but felt too intimidated by and well I want to be here for you and maybe some of you that have already taken the plunge and can share your two cents as well, because I need more information all the time...My new love affair has a name, it's called Photography and it's derived from the Greek word for 'light'.

I have always thought I was hyper aware of my surroundings, but I suppose I wasn't until I started this affair and now I feel like I have been given a brand new set of eyeballs.  I see EVERYTHING and life, even the mundane has become magic. To me it's a gift so big that it's  just as good as winning the Lotto.  Who wouldn't want to see a cup of tea as something dynamic instead of another dirty dish? Or the way the light falls so perfectly in our bedroom in the late afternoons making the leaves on the tree outside our window seem to sparkle like diamonds made from sunshine?  I never realized that we had cotton candy Cherry Blossom tree's that burst into bloom in January.  How could I have missed something like this living in the same city almost my entire (long) life?

 
 

I know many of you have kids or are in love, or have shops, etc. and may be just overwhelmed by all the photography mumbo jumbo that's out there but wish you could take a better photo because you need to (babies first step I would consider a need, you just got a new mini donk totally need to capture that).  I am hoping I can share some of my best finds for tutorials, what I have learned from trial and error and what it means when something is S.O.O.C, which the first pic is (straight out of camera no fudging with) and when a photo has been manipulated (the 2nd image, thus the vibrant pink).  Why some pics look so lovely because of that 'fuzzy' background.  Well, I am hoping I can be here to shed some light on all that and maybe you too will be having an affair soon.  So if you want to throw out some questions in the comments the next post I write about my new (everlasting?) love, I will try to answer...

SARAH PARROTT::PRESS & POST

My friend Sarah Parrott, okay she's not my friend per se but I think we would be great pals if we lived in the same city, but until then I don't really know her but I like her plenty.  We share a very similar aesthetic and maybe that's why I like her so much, is that wrong? They say you marry the person that reminds you the most about yourself or looks the most similar to yourself, so 'hearting' Sarah for her great taste ain't so bad.  Well, my friend Sarah started this lovely new project called Press & Post.  Here's some images to start the drooling effect, did I mention that Sarah is a master printer? Both her Gocco and letterpress skills are sublime...

{stop by press & post here}

Press & Post by Sarah Parrott  is a monthly delivery of one letterpress card complete with a kraft envelope & vintage postage stamps for those who love to write & send beautiful notes.  As a Press & Post participant you will receive one limited edition letterpress card, at least two, often more, vintage postage stamps, & one kraft envelope - a pretty little package ready to drop in the mail. Why participate in Press & Post? To carry on the art of letter writing & sending mail, as well as spread the joy of receiving a handwritten note.

I do think Sarah is on to something here, who wouldn't want gorgeousness delivered monthly? I know that I would, which makes me believe this would make one great gift, especially to yourself...

BESOTTED...TRULY,MADLY.DEEPLY.

Happy Friday lovelies!  I know, I know, the Blahg has been under construction and it has been a mess, so forgive the changes and the changes back.  I didn't have time to repair my ugly pixelated banner so best to just throw a sheet of the prior banner over it, right?  So, it's bid'ness time, I will get the other images up on our new products sometime soon, but I wanted to reveal the new name AND new logo....

Okay, the name.  I was formerly "The Bella Bella co.", which we (yes, I am now a we ) will phase out because we have a new name and a new game; we are Besotted Brand...Because we are totally, head over heels in love with everything we do and we will be doing quite a lot.  Our emphasis will be on one of our first loves-- paper and the accouterments that enhance the whole paper experience (wait til' you see what we have up our sleeves...).  We are not ruling out building an empire and I wouldn't mind slipping in some of my fine parfumerie skills to make some extra special lovelies for the line. We just want the company to be a repository for creative bliss and to be able to share that with you.  So the fabulous part?  Our logo, our identity, our newly minted company and tag line on show for the whole wide world to see:

Another reason we adore our new name?  Well we are both Latin and the first part reads 'beso' which means kiss in Spanish, sweet right?  A lot of times you will find that your friend or your (crazy) family member has signed off their note with a 'besos', 'xx', which means 'kisses'. I don't know why Latin's don't usually sign off with hugs as well (well perhaps because in Spanish 'hugs' is a much longer word). 

So there you have it this is Tristan B. & Julieta K's lovely new life, or in Spanish our Vida Bella....Have a great weekend! I will be at our other 'pied a terre' on the web 'the bright side project' causing mayhem, we'll just leave those elephants to their waltzing, cha cha or tango now.....

xx,

Miss B.

EVERYTHING IS ILLUMINATED....

This image is from one of the most delightful posts I ever did have the pleasure to read. I admire anyone with a powerful imagination. You can be delighted too, just drop by here...

 

{image taken without proper permission from pretty. little. world}

Btw, if you want to have your photo look like the one above, you don't need a Time Machine (but it would be nice), but you can use my friend, The Pioneer Woman's FREE Photoshop actions.  Okay, she's technically not my 'friend' (yet), but you can still download her actions for free.  I used the 'Heartland' one on the photo above, I really like it but all of the actions are pretty darn swell.  Don't know what the heck an action is?  Well, Miss Pioneer Woman, a.k.a. P.Dub  explains that little mystery quite well here...

CUMIN OVERDOSE ET AL...

I had a little run in with some cumin o.d'ing last night. It's a little long of a story and not that exciting. I will NEVER be able to smell cumin again, just saying it makes me weak in the knee's. No, I am SOOO not procrastinating on showing my new goodies, pinky promise....I am on deadline for work (for my allegedly big, bad boss man) and a major media outlet asked me to jump and I said, 'how high?', that's the kinda professional I am.  In the interim, you may find this lovely blog so much more exciting than mine today...

{visit cookie crumbs here}

xx,

Miss B.

P.S. Can that banner be any more fab?  I think not...

P.P.S. Jane formerly of the 'Speckled Egg' has a sa-weet new site.  Seriously, I wish she would tear down the Blahg and build me a 'Simple + Pretty' one (that's the name of her new digs).  I promise you will have serious blog envy so whatever you do don't go visit if you are prone to bouts of blog design lust...Okay, if you insist here's a peek:

Ahhhhhh it's killing me how gorge it is! If you must torture yourselves, go on go explore and drool and oh gosh it's so pretty....Okay here's the key, make yourself at home...