Thursday, September 30, 2010

Working on an e-course!

So I've talked a lot on here about being yourself on your blog, letting your authentic self shine through. I have lots of new readers who are relatively new bloggers and who seem hesitant to get beyond the superficial stuff with their blogs for fear that they'll tick someone off or lose readership. So the idea came to me to write up a course on a series of writing and art exercises to take place over a three week period to help bloggers dig deep, to give them the skills and confidence to write the type of blog they want to write.

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I also thought I'd include a few of the things that I do when I have absolutely no idea what to write. It would give a break from some of the deeper stuff and help develop some skills to use then the old writer's block hits.

This is going to be based on how I've approached my blog. But I'm certainly not trying to create Erin clones - one of me is quite enough, thank you very much!

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So what I'd like to know is if there is interest in this course. I'm going to charge a bit for it, but I'm thinking like $30, not the $150 that you'd usually pay. A girl who can't find a job's gotta find a way to make a living (by the way, have you seen my shop? I've been giving serious thought to donating 10% of all profit to a rotating list of charities that my readers can choose. My first one would probably be some Salvation Army effort directed toward the Gulf, but I think what I'd like to do is a poll every three months or so and the readers can choose from a list of pre-selected causes.) K. So if you are interested, please let me know! And if there's enough interest, I'll start writing!

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Wednesday, September 29, 2010

More Sponsor Love: Alaskan Purl

Alaskan Purl Blog Button

Alaskan Purl is a blog that I have been reading for a LONG time because it is such a great blog. If you are a knitter, you HAVE to read and subscribe to this blog (just look at that hat; do I really need to say more?). Allison's blog is just quality all knitting, all the time. Ah-Mazing knitting and all that stuff knitters love - talk about yarn, patterns, reviews of patterns from other sites, and giveaways!

Also, I just want to say that Alaskan Purl is one of those sites that when I was a greenhorn blogger I looked at and thought to myself, "Gee, my blog looks suckish compared to this!" It is really a beautifully designed blog as well.

So, there you go. I love this blog. I want all of you knitters to visit it and subscribe. If it isn't already, it Will become one of your favorites. It's one of mine.

Raindrops on Roses

I know I haven't been as consistent with my writing and I do apologize; I'm a bit drained at the end of the day. They have me down from 5 days a week to three in my Partial Hospitalisation and I believe that they are going to kick me out next week. It will be difficult to adjust to normal life again without stress, emotion, anger, etc. classes and the endless collages I've done in art therapy.

I got some good shots off of the camera that I'm going to share with you now. Used the macro lens and the goal was to capture the raindrops (even though there's lots of red rose pictures). I didn't manipulate the photos in any way.

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This is my favorite

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Now I'm just having problems with stupid things. Like if I wanted to take a picture of the entire rose, I'd have so much more junk in the picture that I don't want and the rose is really small. Do I have to stand closer to the rose maybe? I don't know. I'll figure it out. Then National Geographic, watch out!!!

Monday, September 27, 2010

Sponsor Love and Thanks!

I'd like to thank my two new sponsors. Make sure you check out their wonderful blogs

Kendra Kantor is an art journalist who does amazing work. My favorite posts are the Color Inspirations, where she takes gorgeous photos and pulls the predominate colors out of them; great for artists, quilters, knitters, home decor, and the list goes on. When I saw her page initially, I told her that we have similar aesthetic tastes, so if you like this blog, you're going to find a new one to like in Like A Bird.

Kamika Krafts is one of the coolest fashion blogs I've run into in a long time (come on, look at her button - she's cool!). She is starting her own journal project (but it's a bit different than Sandra's!) and has many other art journal projects from the past, gives some great styling advice(love), features cool music (love), photography (which is great and fun), and tutorials (yes, tutorials!). She's also got a great Flickr photostream and fun Tweets, but to read those, you have to check out her cool page!

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Thanks, Jenna for including my Linus the Cat card in your newest etsy treasury, For Ohio, By Ohio, From Ohio! I've talked about Jenna's cool jewelry on here before - we actually own a guitar string bracelet that rotates between my daughter and teenage guitar playing son (it is really so beautiful!). You aren't going to have to sell a kidney to afford her pieces, so please, help out a friend of mine and check out her etsy store!

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And that reminds me! I have some new cards in the store including a really cool snowman and snowy garden angel - Christmas is around the bend - think about it!

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Walls

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So Jerusalem's wall lay in waste, the gate had been burnt down, and a man named Nehemiah decided that he was going to rebuild that wall. Wall building is difficult, sweaty business, especially in the days before cherry pickers and dump trucks. Yet God blessed Nehemiah's work and it began. He sent him workers to help him. People mortgaged their vineyards to come up with the money. The wall was built in record time and was even protected from the people who decimated it in the first place (don't you go messin' wit' the hand of God!). Jerusalem was once again protected.

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This all got me thinking that during all of my therapy I have had walls crashing down about me. Acknowledging that, yes, I was abused, and yes, I am scarred by it, and yes, I have a mental illness and I need help has all crumbled the mortar of some of the strongest walls that I have: pride, Independence, deniability, and my favorite wall - the "If I just don't think about it, it will eventually go away" wall.

So now that these walls are down, I have to figure out what is going up in their place. What sort of halo does God want surrounding me? What will the purpose of my halo be? What person am I becoming? Who are the people who are going to take the journey with me?

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My life certainly has not followed the plan that I had laid out for it. I'm sure that there are many of you that can relate. The only plan I ever had led up to being a doctor and ended up with me being a sort of grizzled but pretty white haired woman still taking care of kids. Well, that plan went "kerplewie!" I have found artistic talents within me that I never knew existed and that thrill me and ground me. The other day I was talking to my mom and she said to me, "You know, I always saw you as more of an artistic type, but you were so hell-bent on being a doctor . . ." People all around me are giving me the permission to become this person that is emerging, this writer/photographer/indie artist, and it feels good (it'd feel a lot better if I could start taking amazing pictures with my new camera, but that will come). My husband gave me the go ahead to write; not blog write per say, but write - fiction, non-fiction, free lance, all that jazz. God is forming a path for me. One that I could have never saw coming, but a path nonetheless.

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Do you have walls that need to be rebuilt? Walls that need a good whacking down? Are you unsure of your direction or place in this world? Let God lead you to it.

My faith walk still has its ups and downs. I went to my old church today, but it didn't feel like the right place for me still. So I'm homeless, in a way. Prayer doesn't come naturally to me (yes, I know all you have to do is talk to God, but you have to remember, I'm conditioned to be independent and solve all of my problems myself). I see my husband bow his head in prayer in the middle of the day out of no where and it makes me feel like I'm not doing something right, because it sort of irritates me. But day by day I start to feel a bit more whole. A bit more like that girl that shone with the love of God a few years back. As the walls become what they need to be, that light shines a little brighter.

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Saturday, September 25, 2010

They Make Me Happy

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:: souvenir Eiffel Tower statues
:: stained glass windows in old churches
:: glittery nail polish

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:: old button jars
:: candlelight - everything looks more beautiful in it
:: Krispy Kreme glazed donuts hot from the oven

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:: vintage prom dresses
:: Indian summers
:: that TOMS shoes has now donated 1 million pairs of shoes.

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:: rose petals
:: soft kitty bellies
:: Chinese lanterns

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Thursday, September 23, 2010

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Dropped Stitches is looking for sponsors!

This is a great way to advertise your etsy shop, new blog, or other site.

I currently have over 1200 subscribers between Google Reader, Feed Burner, and Blog Lovin'.
On Twitter, I have 1,050 subscribers and am adding more daily. My personal Facebook page reaches 493 people and my new blog fan page has 63 followers. I am a member of Triberr, and through my tribes my tweets reach 54,750 people. Dropped Stitches had 5500 pageviews last month with approximately 2400 unique page views

I am offering sponsorship opportunities by either buying a slot through Paypal or to sponsors of giveaways on the blog. Adds are 150x75 pixels and will be placed in the order payment is received. They will be located in the top left sidebar. You may order multiple months if you desire. Each sponsor will get a short write up on the blog dispersed throughout the month in the order in which payment was received; giveaway sponsors will have their write-up on the giveaway post.

Giveaway sponsors: You item must be valued at least $10. I would like to do a giveaway each Wednesday; I am focusing on products that will pamper moms and other women (creams, soaps, jewelry, candles, etc.). If your item is over ten dollars your add will remain on the blog longer, each $10 will earn 1 month of ad space. I use Rafflecoptor for giveaways.

150 x 75 pixels

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$10 per month

Full payment is due before ad is placed.
Paypal, cashier's checks, and money orders will be accepted.
Ad prices will be locked in for one year after date of purchase.

Please email me at wallacedesignsoh@gmail.com to discuss these opportunities.

Fragile

I have a bit of a mush brain recently. I've been trying to keep up with my general routine, but it's been difficult. Therapy for 5 hours 5 days a week really takes it out of you. BUT, I'm beginning to feel better. Still sort of fragile, but better.

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Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Some Photos and a request for HELP!

So here's what I've taken. What I'm going to do is show the altered photo and then the original. The photos were taken on a VERY sunny day, no shade, no shadow, no flash, ISO 100, 1/250, very low f-stop. They turned out Dark. What am I doing wrong? They turned out beautifully when I used a Cannon tool to adjust the histogram, but I want to take pictures that I don't have to manipulate like crazy to publish. Any help would be appreciated. And remember, I'm totally new to this!

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(Used Rollip.com on this one, too)

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These were taken with flash. Oh! And I used a macro lens.

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Sunday, September 19, 2010

Birthday

I'm 38 now. I got a DSLR Cannon Eos Rebel with 4 (count em - 4) lenses and a few filters (they are not Cannon - we are not the Hiltons). It is quite quite different than a pocket camera and I've been all over the internet learning about how to set my aperture speeds and f stops and giddeldybits and whosewhats. Now I have to start taking pictures! I'm thinking that my macro lens will mean that it won't take me 45 minutes to take a picture of a cricket, though! Oh! And it's a lot bigger than my Cannon Cybershot - not like I can just throw it in my purse now!

Question - do you have your cameras insured and if so is it through your home insurance or in another way?

xo Erin

Friday, September 17, 2010

They Make Me Happy

First of all, I want to say to each and every one of you that you are amazing and SO supportive people. I usually respond to everyone's comments but I just haven't had the time. So when I can get back to doing that, I certainly will.

Yesterday we did a workshop on co-dependency which TOTALLY explained my issue from the last post. I feel so relieved to know how I developed my quirks. So I'm feeling much happier about that. And, about these things:

:: Living in the Midwest, where I can watch the leaves change color in the fall
:: Having two teenagers that can rake said leaves when all 13 of our trees decide to drop them.
:: Magazines. I just LOVE magazines
:: People who have enough moxie to wear horn-rimmed glasses
:: Paisley. In fact, if I were to ever get a tattoo, the permanent thing on my body, it would be a paisley design.
:: Will sitting next to me watching while I write my blog (many Hot Wheels are involved).
:: Peanut butter. I eat it by the spoonful sometimes from the jar.
:: Vintage crocheted oven pads.
:: Wild rabbits skittering across the yard.
:: Malted waffles. The flat kind like they make at Waffle House.
:: Pedicures. With garish red hail polish.
:: Champagne (so that you can feel giddy like Marilyn Monroe or as elegant as Audrey Hepburn).

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Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Collage and a Good Cry

I don't know what it is about collaging; the last time I was in IOP I decorated EVERYTHING. The art therapist actually said to me "I was excited to see you were coming because I missed your collages." This is what I did to my folder today.

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I learned something about myself that really shook me. And I cried for a long time when I came home. The thing is, this thing that I learned is something that my husband has been bugging me about for a long time. I love him because he never said, "I told you so." He listened and talked and heard my pain and then repeated everything he had told me in the past as a solution to this issue. And I'm so exhausted from crying and so scared of the solution that I don't know if I can go through with it.

I didn't expect to be so shaken by something. Erin, you say, you are in an Intensive Program. They are gonna dig. I just hope I don't dehydrate myself tomorrow. And I hope I'm not bringing you down! It's just my life right now, and I feel stripped down to the bone at the end of my second day. To the bone.

And with that, I'm making dinner.

It is such a secret place, the land of tears. ~Antoine de Saint-Exupery, The Little Prince

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Wierd Day

Intensive Outpatient Therapy is weird. You have to bear your deepest stuff to complete strangers who are having psychiatric issues as well. But what I will say is it makes you feel better because you know you aren't the only crazed person out there.

But I don't really want to talk about that. It was such a beautiful day here in Marysville. The sun made your skin feel warm like it does during those first days of summer, when you've been dying to wear short sleeves and sandals. And the hospital has an incredible rose garden in front of it and I HAD to take some pictures (which I wish I could have just done all afternoon since our next session illustrated just how jacked up my coping skills are). Wish we could have had class outside!

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