So happy for Friday! Who’s with me?! This weekend we are celebrating our good friend’s graduation from USC on Saturday! We are so excited and proud of her I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and for all you Mom’s our there..Happy Mother’s Day!

Hello Everyone!! This post is one that is overdue for sure. A little while back I was contacted by Easy Canvas Prints asking if I would like to sample their services. I had sent them one of the photos from our wedding that is one of my favorites. The next day my order was processed and it was sent in the mail. I cannot tell you how many compliments I have gotten from this print. It is printed on a stretch canvas and looks like a painting. It is awesome! They did an amazing job and I wanted to post this and let everyone know that Mother’s Day is coming up and why not give your mom something different? Its a fun way to give a gift that she will love forever! I hope you all are having a great day!!

“Easy Canvas Prints – Custom Canvas Art”

Hello! I hope everyone had a great weekend! I am thrilled to get back onto my Mentoring Monday posts and I’m excited to start back up with Josh Hulstein. My friend, Theresa, had told me about him and showed me his website and I loved his photos! So, I’m excited to have him take part! Enjoy!

Born: Portland, Oregon

Currently: Fountain Valley, California

Turn Ons: Creativity, Comedy, Coffee, Cuddling, Teeth, Trains, Tacos

Turn Offs: Redundancy, Repetition, Arrogance, Air-heads, Auto-tune

Favorite Food: Pizza or Chinese

Favorite place you’ve traveled to: I hate to be cliché but I’m a pretty big believer of “its not the destination but the journey” or whatever that quote is. I’ve been to some pretty cool places but its all about the people I was with and the adventures of getting there. I’ve had better times shooting photos in the desert sun for 12 hours than I’ve had on vacation. If you surround yourself with awesome people it doesn’t matter where you are.

Favorite Albums: Oh man, way too many. These days I mostly use internet radio and I have a crazy variety of stations on it. What I listen to depends on what I’m doing and who is around. Music can go anywhere from hip hop, hardcore, 80s hair metal, 90s dance, all the way to classical/ ambient/instrumental stuff all in one day. Top five radio stations recently would have to be Stegosaurus Rex, Murs, AFI, Crystal Castles, and La Bouche. Judge me all you want but I ‘m a sucker for good synthesizer.

Favorite Books: I don’t think text books count but I’ve saved a lot of those. I try to keep a copy of magazines that have my photos in them but those aren’t books either. I have a lot of photo, street art, design, and comedy books. I’m a very visual person and I’m embarrassed to say that reading isn’t really my thing but some pretty inspiring books that will also make you laugh are George Carlin’s Brain Droppings and Napalm and Silly Putty.

What Inspires you?: Everything. A rainy day, a sunny day, a tree, a rock, an airplane, a wave, a song, a smile. There is so much out there in this big crazy world that its hard not to be inspired by it all. People’s reactions to what I do is something that inspires me too. A simple smile, laugh or “oh damn” coming from someone looking at my photos is awesome but when I got an email from someone I’ve never met telling me about a photo of mine and how it made them feel, that was pretty crazy inspirational thing to read.

How did you get your start?: Well, my first start in photo was as a sophomore in high school, the graphic design elective class was full so they tossed me into the photo class. It was a bummer at the time but looking back now I’m so grateful for what happened. After taking all the photo classes in high school and being a darkroom tech and teachers assistant I took classes at community college and had some random jobs where it was always, “hey you know photo stuff can you take photos for us” until that got old and I committed to a pretty well known photo school full time. I graduated with a BA in Professional Photography with a specialization in Industrial and Scientific Photography (microscopes, infrared, etc) and started shooting freelance weddings, catalogs, band promos, auto parts, etc, etc until I took a full time job for an action sports licensing company where I learned a lot about how to not run a marketing department, and at this point I’m back to the freedom of freelance, shooting everything from professional hockey to entire clothing catalogs.

Whats your favorite photo you have taken?: Thats a hard one but I can pick a few that a like a lot.

First one is a black and white 4×5 polaroid shot with my Horseman 4×5 studio view camera. For anyone who has seen this thing, its a beautiful beast. Every single thing on it is manual and it shoots film frames bigger than my hand. This particular image is a test shot of 3 of my (hetrosexual male) friends before we started shooting something important. I had to meter the light, adjust for the film and bellows and all that good stuff that comes with a 4×5 camera before I had them get together for me snap a shot and they hugged and one of them kissed the other as a joke, thinking I wouldn’t get that as the photo, but I did. The guys were somewhat embarrassed at first but now its one of the most adorably awesome (is that a word?) things I have caught on camera.

Second would be a pair of photos from a shoot I did with Alan Parsons (yes from The Alan Parsons Project. He was also the Engineer of Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon and The Beatles Abbey Road, just to name a couple) at his home studio. The pair of photos shows Alan in his home studio, one in black and white with him sitting, (waiting for me to finish lighting setup) and one in color with him on the phone (I don’t know who he was talking to but he sure did let them know they were interrupting a photo shoot) both photos show his workspace complete with his numerous gold records, a lava lamp, 70s style window curtains, light fixtures, and a desk full of new sound recording technology. I like them because they show an intimate view of a world famous musician (if you don’t think so, ask your parents) and the juxtaposition of his old school style but progression into new technology.

My third favorite photo is a studio shot done with the 4×5 camera on chrome/transparency film. Be careful though, if you’re squeamish you might react like most people do because its decently gross. It’s the “after” of a before and after pair of photos of oral surgery, but don’t worry, the blood isn’t real, only the tooth is, its one of my wisdom teeth, because I couldn’t find a real enough looking fake tooth. I can’t even explain why its one of my favorites, maybe I’m a little morbid, or maybe I just really like the contrast of that red on bright white. Whatever it is, its gross, so gross that I had to stop using it as one of my promo card images because it was bad for business. However, I did give a print to my dentist where the general reaction of the office was “that isn’t even that much blood, we’ve seen way worse” haha!

Who do you want to work with?: Anyone! As long as you’re not completely insane, or even if you are, that might actually be fun. I like working with all kinds of people on all kinds of projects. The variety and change of scenery is something that keeps me doing what I do. The creative field is always changing and peoples ideas, tastes, likes, and dislikes are always changing with it which makes for a challenging but amazing profession to be in. I wouldn’t ask to have a different career. So far I’ve been lucky and gotten to work with a ton of awesome people but I’m always looking for creative individuals, companies, or groups to work with so we can all continue down the path of awesome!

What is the most challenging part of being a photographer?: There are a couple things that I find challenging in my line of work, one being Photoshop. Not using the program, I can do that just fine, but the fact that human clients think that a computer program will compensate for their complete lack of ideas/skill/creativity/knowledge/direction/effort etc etc. I’ve been in too many situations where the solution is “we can fix it in photoshop” instead of taking the time to come up with ideas or make a decision about something. I don’t mind spending hours doing post production on something that could have been handled in a few minutes of creative thinking in pre production, because I can bill for it, but clients aren’t too excited to get that invoice. Second is this whole “everyone is a photographer” trend. Competition isn’t the problem, because there really isn’t any, and I’m always up for a good challenge. The part I have a problem with is the out pour of less than mediocre images coming from every middle school kid or soccer mom with a camera, and even worse, is the fact that people are viewing those images as acceptable/quality work. I hold myself to a higher standard and with that comes higher quality, higher caring, but also a higher price tag. Sure you could get someone off craigslist to shoot your wedding, catalog, portraits, products, or what have you for $50, but then you’re going to have the quality of a $50 photographer shooting your wedding, catalog, etc…

Any advice for anyone who is just starting out in a career path similar to yours?: Don’t. There are enough photographers out here already. But I guess if your heart is saying that you just absolutely have to pick up a camera, shoot film. I know its expensive these days but if you really want to be a photographer, do it. If you have before, or are now, keep doing it, it’ll keep you sharp and creative. If you never have, get a cheap/used camera, put it on completely manual and shoot film. Experiment with it, see what happens, don’t be afraid to make mistakes , but learn from them. Take notes, shoot everything. If you can get exactly what you want on film, that’s a step in the right direction. Never stop learning, experimenting, and being creative. If it turns out that you really want to do this, you better plan on being the best, or at least better than me. Good Luck!

Thanks Josh, for taking the time to take part in Mentoring Monday and for your great responses! To find more on Josh you can find him here:

Website

Blog

Happy Friday Friends! I hope everyone has a fun weekend planned! We will be busy, but we have some fun things planned. Saturday we are heading over to Beer Fest in Irvine this weekend to finish off Dave’s Birthday celebration! Yummy beers and good company, sounds like a fun day to me! I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Last night Dave and I had a wonderful dinner at the Crowbar, celebrating his Birthday. Delicious food and yummy beer is just what Dave was looking for! I’ve been listening to Spotify lately, and I’m not sure why I didn’t get on here sooner. Spotify allows you to listen to share your music with your friends and listen to what they have in their play lists as well. My friend, Tommy, had Cochella Night one and two on his play list and I stumbled upon Miike Snow doing a remix with Mark Ronson. Its really mellow and overall a really good tune. Its been on repeat the last couple of days for me!

I hope you all have a great Thursday! Enjoy!

Today is my hubbies 31st Birthday!! I want to wish him a very Happy Birthday and tell him just how much I LOVE him <3! I hope your day is awesome Babe!!

Hey!! I hope everyone has been doing good! I swear months are going by faster and faster and I’ve been getting busier and busier! Thanks to my contributors who have been writing articles for me and doing an excellent job. I hope you all have enjoyed them. Things have been pretty busy lately. I’ve been meeting with my friend, Dominique, and her and I and my friend Kari are working on a little side project. More will be revealed later on. My nephew, Jude, has his 3rd birthday party which was Angry Birds theme. We had a blast that day! Thank you all for bearing with me, posts are going to be sparse for a bit as things start to work themselves out.

If you haven’t yet you can follow me on

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When it comes to modern chic, nothing beats Chanel, and the house’s spring show provided nothing but. From fluffy feathers to modern prints, Chanel’s take on spring is the perfect inspiration to re-vamp our decor for 2012. Try these five steps to add this sexy combination of sleek lines, neutral tones, girlish fabrics and metal accents to your space now.

1. Geometric Prints

One of the strongest presences in Chanel’s spring show was a subtle, chic geometric print casually splayed across separates. Rather than looking for complicated geometric designs, try to find simple, even delicate, lines. This will add the flair provided by geometric patterns, but keep your ultimate design sexy and chic. You can add a geometric element anywhere from pillows, to wall hangings, to full wallpaper.

2. Feathers and Lace

Although the show didn’t feature many feather or lace pieces, somehow the fabric use and cut worked to evoke a sweet, girlish feel, with tulle so light that it looked like fluffy feathers. That, coupled with Chanel’s classic crochet, accomplished a cool, feather and lace vibe. Adding fluffy feathers or lace accents to a room will provide an unexpected touch, especially if the rest of your décor is ultra-modern. Take a cue from decadent feather centerpieces, and try toning down the idea to make a smaller version for your living room or bathroom. Or throw a feather-trimmed blanket or pillow on your couch to change up the feel of the room.

3. White and Cream Tones

Chanel’s spring colors featured a wonderful array of whites, off-whites, and creams. Not only are these colors simple and clean, they always give a modern feel to a space. Go for whites or creams in pieces that take up space, like couches, chaise lounges, rugs, or blankets.

4. A Dash of Cool

The reason Chanel still represents the epitome of chic is because, no matter how girly a show may feel, the final look will always convey a casual cool. Models strutted down the runway in skirts layered with light sweaters that, when worn together, ended up looking like playful party dresses. The trick to Chanel’s chic is that, even if a look is ultra-feminine, it always feels a bit thrown together. The same should go for your décor. You never want it to seem too pristine, or you lose the feeling of effortlessness. Try integrating grittier pieces, like classic photos of rock or soul musicians, or sturdy wood or metal pieces, to create balance.

Alvina Lopez is a freelance writer and blog junkie, who blogs about accredited online colleges. She welcomes your comments at her email Id: alvina.lopez @gmail.com.

Thank you Alvina for the amazing write up!! I love all of the ideas on how to incorporate a wardrobe with styling your house! I hope you all have a wonderful day!

Hometown: Orange County, CA

Turn Ons: My husband (of course), thrillers and the outdoors!

Turn Offs: Girly glam, being cold and flying

Favorite Food: Tacos!

Favorite place you have traveled to: Islamorada in the Florida Keys

Favorite Albums:  I’m so bad at getting new music. But I love listening to The Fray, Sara Jarosz, and Ella Fitzgerald.

Books or Magazines: Real Simple, Elle Decor and maybe some guilty pleasure readings (like People!) when I’m at the beach

What Inspires You: My husband and family are great creative encouragers for me. They are eager to see me try things that I want to do and see me be happy and succeed in them. But when it all comes down to it, I really strive for a simple lifestyle where I can have a healthy life/work balance and still love what I do, whatever that may be.

How did you start Nook and Sea: Last June, I started a blog called Something 2 Write About after moving to the beach area for a new job. It was a real crap shoot – I had always loved writing, but didn’t know exactly what to do with a “blog”. But I decided to stick with it, brand it to my specifications and now see it as an extension of my schooling and an amazing way to meet new people and make connections that could someday turn into a new career that I love.

Do you have a Day Job: I do! I work as an Office Assistant for a country club, 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. As much as I wish I could blog full time, my day job isn’t all that terrible. I enjoy my co-workers, have a stable source of income, and the ability to have health and retirement benefits. I’ve really learned to be content in maintaining both jobs. And I know it’s not forever!

What part of having a blog do you find challenging: When you first start off, consistency and purpose are extremely hard to maintain. Why am I blogging? Does anyone care? What am I going to write about today? These things are fleeting, but they’re huge roadblocks in getting started!

Any Advice for anyone who is looking to start their own blog: My biggest piece of advice is, if you have your own business (no matter what it is) – start a blog. Bakers, photographers, social media experts, health professionals, those in real estate, finances, etc. – you wouldn’t believe what opportunities and conversations come from it. And if you do not have a physical operating location quite yet, having a blog gives you the freedom to play around with your branding so that you can figure out what best suits you and your business. It’s a wonderful growing zone, but you have to keep it up!

For more on Kristina you can find her:

Blog

Facebook

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I hope you all have a great Monday!

Spring 2012 fashion is about being seen and being noticed. This season, designers appeared determined to shed the dour effects that years of recession have had on fashion. Color was one of those victims of the recession. Few customers seemed in the mood to wear bright colors that seemed incongruous with the general mood of the world.

Although the economy is still years from a full recovery, it appears that things are on an upswing, and for spring 2012, designers shook things up on the runway, injecting lively colors and bold patterns back into their lines. Luckily, adding just a few of these new spring 2012 pieces to an existing wardrobe can quickly update any woman’s wardrobe.

1. COLORFUL DENIMS AND CAPRIS

One of the biggest trends this season and one that will be shouting from retail display windows everywhere is the brightly colored jean or capri pants. Bottoms long relegated to being the subtle backdrop to flashy tops are now taking front and center stage in unexpected colors, such as cherry reds, vivid turquoise blues and citrus bright yellows and tangerines.

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Many celebs have been photographed rocking these colored denims and capris lately, including Dakota Fanning and Kim Kardashian. The best part about these Technicolor bottoms is that they will work with simple pieces fashionistas already have in their closet. In fact, because these bright splashes of color are so eye-catching, it’s best to let them do the shouting and pair them with things that won’t vie with them for attention.

For Spring 2012, these bright pops of jewel and candy colors are just the thing to freshen up a wardrobe.

2. COLOR BLOCKING

The color block look was showcased in two different ways on the runway. Some designers used color blocking on individual pieces. For instance, a dress would combine two bold swatches of color, such as tangerine and neon pink. Other designers just mixed and matched brightly colored pieces together to get the same effect. A neon lime skirt, for example, would be played off against a flashy fuchsia top. The look is bright and fun.

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Brave fashionistas can take their cues from the runway and mix existing dramatic colors in their closets in unexpected combinations Even something as simple as adding a brightly hued belt worn over a black jacket and white pants can make an outfit look 2012, instead of just blah.

Of course, women that are afraid to try their hand at mixing unexpected colors on their own can just pick up a few color blocked pieces and mix them in with their current wardrobe. These spring 2012 color block pieces will instantly refresh a wardrobe.

3. BOLD FLORAL PRINTS

The spring 2012 runaways were also filled with bold floral designs. How bold? Designers were definitely thumbing their noses at one of those longstanding fashion don’ts, wearing big floral prints from head to toe. Designer Peter Som, for instance, showcased a bright floral jumpsuit, and famed stylist Rachel Zoe recommended a Topshop floral print jumpsuit to her fans.

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For a more subtle look, women can add just a touch of this 2012 trend to their wardrobe by purchasing a pair of floral jeans or a flowery skirt and then combining it with pieces they already own, such as a simple lavender tank.

4. PASTELS

For those fashionistas who are not quite up to being the center of attention in electric bright colors, pretty feminine pastels are a good spring 2012 alternative trend. These subtle additions of color will freshen up a tired wardrobe just as effectively as their louder neon and candy-hued cousins, but just in a quieter manner.

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Adding pastels can, of course, be as simple as mixing in a new cotton-candy pink shirt. However, trendsetters may want to consider purchasing an unusual pastel item, such as a lemon-yellow blazer, to really liven up their wardrobes.

5. GRAPHIC PRINTS

In addition to vivid florals, designers were showing a lot of bold graphic prints. Eye-catching black and white geometric patterns can have an instant refreshing effect on an old wardrobe. Fashionistas should look for pieces flaunting big, bold patterns in sharp tones, not muted, as these items will add instant 2012 verve to your wardrobe.

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6. CROP TOPS

Flirty little crop tops were all over the fashion runways, including at the Missoni and Prada shows. Women who have been hitting the gym or the yoga studio hard and want to show off their fab abs will want to pick up a few of these tops that will give a peak at their figure without giving it all away. Fashionistas can pair these little tops with a long skirt or jeans that they already own.

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Luckily, fashionistas don’t have to break their banks to add spring 2012 flair to their wardrobes. Just a few of these eye-catching pieces will be enough to reenergize anyone’s closet.

This guest post is by Edwin who regularly writes about celebrities, TV, movies, and fashion for the Celebutaunt blog on USDish.

Thank you Edwin for your post for the Spring Season. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!