Friday, October 29, 2010

FotoFriday - 10.29.10

Instructions for a Happy Halloween:

1. Have your kids draw funny faces on construction paper


2. Darken the faces (with cutting out shapes in mind)


3. Cut out the shapes


4. Tape the paper to the pumpkins


5. Color in the shapes and remove the paper


6. Cut out the shapes from the pumpkins


7. Nola's Jack O'Lantern (with three "goobelie" eyes)


8. Logan's Jack O'Lantern (pretty good for a 2 year old)


9. Place all Jack O'Lanters on the front porch and light up


10. Place children between the pumpkins and take pictures!

Happy Halloween from the McFarlands!

Monday, October 25, 2010

What a Treasury?

I was asked by a sister-in-law-esque friend of mine to add some St. Louis type things to my Etsy shop so she could include me in a Treasury. A What? Huh? I tried to get a hold of her to ask what that meant, what I had to, how long I had...

I knew she had mentioned them before on her own Facebook page about her Etsy store being selected for this or that Treasury, but I still wasn't sure on the details.

Then the very evening I was waiting for her reply I get an email from a woman through Etsy telling me she has chosen one of my photos to be in a Treasury. Really? Okay! After some hard investigation (ie. a few clicks) I figured out that a Treasury is a group of 16-20 items for sale that all fit a category or group or theme, chosen by the Treasury creator.

My very first Treasury: Artistic!!! Yeah!!

And as I was slowly waking up this morning my cell phone chirped at me to let me know I had a new email... and whadda you know? Another photo has been selected for yet another Treasury!

My very second Treasury: World Pasta Day ... :o)

Saturday, October 23, 2010

A Closing Door

A door is closing today. Hopefully another will open again soon.
For those of you who don't know, my husband lost his job. Today is his last official day of working. The entire store closed because the lease was not renewed. So it wasn't due to any fault of his own but never the less, he's out of a job. And we are now a no-income family of four. Boy oh boy, that's scary.

So the job search is on and even though he has had a few leads so far, they haven't amounted to anything yet. Being given only nine (yes, that's 9) days notice that you will no longer have a job, a career, a paycheck... is quite a blow. Not even the standard two weeks. So although he's discouraged, I'm not. Not yet. It takes time and patience to find a good job. Hopefully not too much time.

But we have family to help and support us if the need arises. And there's always savings and collecting unemployment (which neither of us know anything about but will quickly learn I guess). So far we haven't told the kids anything. We've done pretty good at talking in code and hiding the stress of the situation from them. But after today they just might notice somethings up when Papa doesn't head off to work every day. I guess we can say he's on vacation. But after a few weeks or months of being home (which hopefully it won't come to) they might catch on... The jig will be up... especially for Nola, she's a smart one. How do you explain that to a kid? Not that she'd even know to judge him... but in my opinion it's just not something they need to even concern themselves with. That's our job (unpaying as it may be) to hold that weight on our shoulders. I'm actually looking forward to having him home a little more for a while. For purely selfish reasons... like having more personal freedom...

So if anyone out there in the St. Louis area knows anyone who knows anyone who might know someone looking for a management position in the restaurant field, you feel free to let me know!

Friday, October 22, 2010

FotoFriday - 10.22.10



Butterfly Reflections
~for sale at Yellow Mug Photography

This was taken at The Butterfly House in Chesterfield, MO.

Pardon me for promoting myself but I just can't help it! And by the way, I made my very first sale! And it wasn't to a family member or a friend. A complete and total stranger loves me! A wonderful woman named Megan from MI bought the 5x7 Utensils Set of Three. I don't know her at all but I think I love her! And I really hope she loves the photos that she bought. (And then of course tells all her friends and family and comes back for more!)

One sale down, billions and billions to go! Hey, a girl can dream, right?

Have a wonderful weekend everyone and I hope to have a new batch of photos up next week for sale on Etsy so don't forget to check it out!

Monday, October 18, 2010

GRAND OPENING!

So... I did it. I got it together and opened up my Etsy site. It's Yellow Mug Photography.

www.yellowmug.etsy.com

I've just started listing things... but I hope to have a full shop in a week or two.

Anyone need any art for their walls? Need gifts for the holidays? Tell all your friends and family and keep coming back... Coming soon I will have the full line of Alpha Art up and ready sell. I must say, I'm hopeful. And excited. This might actually work. Yippee!

And as always, tell me what you think! Any suggestions, requests, anything... I'm all ears!