abby try again

sponsor spotlight: Sprout Studio

 

(My blog sponsors  are paid advertisers who help me pay for all my film and developing and web hosting-basically-they make this blog possible. A huge thanks to all of them! If you are interested in becoming a sponsor , I am now booking 30 day spots- please email me at abbytryagain@gmail(dot)com. The ad spots are there on the sidebar and are available for indie businesses.  Thanks! All photos in "sponsor spotlight" post belong to the sponsor featured.)

Sprout Studio is a one woman show run by artist and maker Jennifer Lake. Jennifer works out of her San Francisco studio and produces all kinds of goodies from bobby pins to ceramics to wearables. She loves using reclaimed and recyclable materials and even likes to dabble in photography. Jennifer has been involved in art almost her whole life and creates things with care and love.

Basically, she makes all kinds of rad things.  : )

(Um how cool is this skateboard? )

I particularly adore her artist edition necklaces. Each month she chooses an artist to collaborate with. The ones shown here feature artwork by two talented San Francisco artists, Lisa Congdon and Kerstin Svendsen.

For abby try again readers, Jennifer is offering a discount of 20% off. Just type in "abby" at the checkout.

You can find out more about Sprout Studio and Jennifer over at her fantastic blog.

She's also got a great little vintage shop called the gleaner project. She's offering free US shipping if you mention "abby" at the checkout.

Thanks so much for creating so much goodness, Sprout Studio!

 And thanks for sponsoring my blog :)

pieces

 

 

sponsor spotlight & giveaway: Collected Stories by Marina Porter

(My blog sponsors  are paid advertisers who help me pay for all my film and developing and web hosting-basically-they make this blog possible. A huge thanks to all of them! If you are interested in becoming a sponsor , I am now booking 30 day spots- please email me at abbytryagain@gmail(dot)com. The ad spots are there on the sidebar and are available for indie businesses.  Thanks! All photos in "sponsor spotlight" post belong to the sponsor featured.)

Marina Porter is Boston based artist and photogrpaher who recently quit her day job to pursue her dreams. Marina resides in the heart of Chinatown with her best friend, her child and too many cats. It's from there that she writes her interesting, beautiful blog-Collected Stories.

Marina describes her blog as small motion documentaries-piecing together moments that make up a distinct memory or mood. She's even coined a phrase for this: Momentaries.

Marina just opened her etsy shop today where she sells gorgeous fine art photographs and vintage items (I'm particularly smitten by the ostrich egg). 

Marina is offering you readers a very special giveaway. She'll create a story inspired by some background information that we'll gather from a reader.  It may include a drawing, some special vintage item, a recipe, etc. It will be a small collection of sorts that she'll post on her blog and then mail to the winning reader. The winner will receive a very special small package of hand crafted & vintage treasures from their story as well.

Isn't that a great idea? 

So here's what Marina needs from you:

 

be as vague or specific as they'd like about your favorite:

 

1. color or pattern

2. flavor or flavor combination

3. mood and/or weather condition

4. animal, vegetable or mineral

 

Leave your answers in the comment section and Marina will pick a winner on Wednesday, October 6, 2010. 

We're both excited to see your responses! Thank you for sponsoring me, Marina!

P.S. Please note that due to SPAM I moderate comments. This means I get an email that someone posted a comment and I then go to my dashboard to let it be published. So, once you've posted your comment-know that the next time I'm on my computer, I will publish it -thank you!!

Laguna Gloria

 

 

Saturday we spent sometime hanging around Laguna Gloria. They were setting up for a private wedding reception and I imagine the beautiful grounds make for quite the perfect party setting.

Just think of those lights in the forest, magic no?

I got lost day dreaming...

 

sunday night

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Here's a little beauty for your Sunday evening.

And here's to hoping for a good Monday morning! 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

  

 

five senses friday

Hello and Happy Weekend to you all!

For those of you who are new readers (or maybe never understood what I was blabbing about) five senses friday was started years ago by my friend, Shari Altman. I use it weekly as way to sit down and reflect on what the past days have been like for me.

I would love it if you played along-you can leave your own version in the comments or on your blog.    

     

Tasting:

breakfast tacos filled with fresh tomatoes, eggs, avocados and more

Seeing:

the light change color as we move into autumn

Hearing:

 this beautiful song (click on Bowsprit) 

Feeling:

slight amount of pain as I move my cacti collection around the house

Smelling:

fresh flowers from a bouquet I was gifted

* * * * * * *

So I mentioned this earlier in the week-but just in case you missed it, I'm now responding to comments in the comment section using the new typepad feature. Hope that helps with questions, etc :)

Happy Weekend to you all...I'll be back later today with a new slice of life post.

 

bit of news

 

 

Good morning.

I have just a little bit of news to share-Yesterday I was a guest blogger over at the Etsy Blog. I shared some of my favorite Etsy photographers. 

You can read my post here.

A few weeks ago marked my fifth anniversary as a seller on Etsy. Wow, I really can't believe that! Of course, so much has changed over those past few years and I do sell much of my work on the other site, but it's nice to know that Etsy helped me start out.

Thanks, Etsy :)

Happy Thursday!

    

ta da

 

 

 

 
I'm a person who gets distracted easily.

At times, I am easily swayed.

I have to keep a daily tab on what I think is important or else I slowly start to crumble.

This year there's been some crumbling. But I'm trying to build it all back up. 

As far as this blog is concerned I'm excited by a recent change I made. Some of you may have noticed that I started answering comments in the comment section using a cool reply feature from Typepad. I'm gonna be honest, I can be terrible about answering emails sometimes and I really love that this way-it's more like a conversation.

* * * * * *

I've been reading The Tipping Point. I like the subtitle of the book: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference.

 Wow, isn't that the truth?

I am totally intrigued by the idea of connectors. It's funny when you start to think about who those people may be in your own life.

Have you read this book? Thoughts...?

* * * * * *

I also came across this article and found it extremely helpful. 

* * * * *

Anyway, there you are. A jumble of thoughts that don't really go together along with some photos that have nothing to do with the subject matter. 

Ta Da! 

 
 
  

 

neighbors

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 I've had all different types of neighbors in my life. Growing up, our next door neighbor was one of my best friends. We were so close that we used each other's back doors. We'd climb almost everyday in her big magnolia tree and help ourselves to Kraft American Singles from their 1950's style fridge. 

  When we were first married James and I lived in the Mother-In-Law quarters of a beautiful old home. Beth and Bill lived in the main house and they quickly became close friends. We'd spend warm nights talking for hours on their back porch. They seemed so happy as a couple and I think in many ways they were good role models for us.

  In Portland we had all kinds of neighbors-the good, the bad and the noisy. One in particular was a conspiracy theorist. He'd play loud tribal music until all hours of the night and get gigantic scientific tomes delivered to the house weekly. He had a habit of chain smoking right outside our bedroom window at 3 am. A couple of years ago he was feuding with another neighbor over the placement of a bench. Yes, ridiculous would be a word I could use to describe the matter...

  In Austin, our neighbors so far have been nice. Very close, but nice. Fences here aren't the same as those in California or Oregon and everyone's yards just sort of run together. We live in an old duplex and share it with an artsy woman. I think she used to be a sculptor and a midwife but I'm not exactly sure-maybe a writer, too? Anyway, she has some very interesting plants, her little area is what you see above. 

  What about you. Are you close with your neighbors? Any funny neighbor stories?

   
 
 
 
  

 

change in the air

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

  

  

  

  
This weekend I experienced my first cool Texas breeze. Sure, it was no autumnal wind...but it makes me giddy.

James and I worked for hours out in our front yard. All summer long we've been fighting a battle with Texas weeds and unfortunately they've been winning. When we arrived our yard was covered in small gravel with the occasional shrub or flower dotted around. Literally one week later after a torrential downpour we had  knee high weeds coming up through the tiny stones and no action plan. The gravel now has a thick layer of topsoil and I'm hoping the wildflower seeds I scattered will take root and we'll have a yard full of flowers soon...we'll see. 

We wanted to work in our yard all day Saturday but when the weedwacker literally burst into flames, we called it quits. That afternoon we headed out to the Natural Gardener for some inspiration.

The Natural Gardener is a nursery in South Austin, but it's more that that. It's grounds feature beautiful gardens and are home to chickens, goats (!!) and donkeys. I'm convinced that baby goats are THE cutest animals in this world and one cannot help but smile when they are around.

We were happy to putter around the beautiful gardens and watch as one of the employees fed persimmons to the animals. That afternoon was grey and misty in Austin and all of the plants looked gorgeous next to the silver sky.

I cannot be happier about the arrival of autumn...

Happy Monday to all of you, hope your weekends were equally as nice!