32 - Model Seventeen

This is a thrift store treasure my partner Meg found long before we met.

31 - Margin Release

And I still can't find the editing function that dusts my photos. Guess maybe I'm supposed to do that before the shot.

This is a shot of one of our antique typewriters, the "Remington Rand Model Seventeen". The model debuted in 1939 and became the primary workhorse for government offices during WWII.

More Model Seventeen pics to come.

30 - St. Elmo, ILL.

Is it technically "loss" if you rescue it from a dumpster? We found this awesome trunk next to a dumpster shortly after we moved to the Twin Cities and it has served as our coffee table ever since. No, we will not be returning it to St. Elmo. Sorry, guys.

29 - Sweet Bunnyman

28 - Sweet Gypsy

27 - The Girls of Glass Block F

Our home is filled with large glass block windows. They are beautiful and very functional - letting in light, maintaining privacy, and being art unto themselves.



(Bonus points to anyone who gets the titular reference!)

26 - Leather

I love the level of detail I can get with my $200 P&S.

25 - Tools of the Trade

My netbook was battling a duel with photobucket over the weekend, so here is Sunday's picture. More office supply goodness.

24 - Let There Be Lamp

Our house is sort of an Ikea showroom. We live quite close to an Ikea and you really cannot beat the value/quality combo. Today's pic is a shot of one of my favorite Ikea lampshades, treated with the "fresco" application on photobucket.

23 - Well Read

Are you one of those people who holds a book so delicately you can't even tell it's been read?

Not me. I'm a book lover. I like to take them with me wherever I go. I like to wrap my hands around them, bend them to catch the light, and apparently, on occasion, drive a snow plow over them.

22 - The Elevator Guys

Last night while leaving work, I decided to take a photo of the elevator button panel for my 365 shot. I assumed (wrongly) that I would have the elevator to myself because I left rather late in the day. I decided to take my shot anyway and sort of explained to the two men riding with me what I was doing and why. They were fascinated by the concept and asked rather excitedly if they could be in my 365 collection.

I give you, "The Elevator Guys"

21 - Name This Photo

Can you correctly identify what the subject matter is in the photo below? Only then will I know you're a True Believer.

20 - Seeing Spots

Sweet Maiseypotatocakes used to be solid white, save for her ears and her tail. At age 2+, she's developing random spots, called ticking. It's so much fun to see where the next one will pop up.

19 - Macro Love

I'm learning to use - and love - the macro feature on my Sony CyberShot. This is a cone of yarn and a set of antique knitting needles.

18 - Yesterday's News

During a visit to a local art museum last year, I purchased a pack of colored pencils that were made without using wood. In place of the wood, the manufacturer used tightly rolled newspaper (from China, I believe). The case, pictured below, is as beautiful as the pencils and the art they create.

17 - What Rules?

This rules.

Yet another quasi-antique office supply purloined from a past job. I have a habit of nosing through recently vacated offices to see if there are any treasures. There's usually at least one good score in there. I love this ruler. I keep it with my art supplies and use it often.

16 - I Have a Not-so-secret Love Affair

with office supplies.

15 - The Limitations of Photo Editing

I tried to find the photo editing tool called "wipe the dust off the object I just photographed" but was unable to find it.

14 - Mark Twain Called

He wants his nibs and his ink back.

13 - They're a Classic for a Reason

12 - Draped

11 - Room Service

10 - Many Media

This is a photo I took
of several photos I matted
of art supplies I use
to create pastels.

9 - Olan Mills, Redux

One of my favorite ways to experience photography to do is take pictures of pictures. While this might not make sense on the surface, what it allows me to do is have high-quality images of photos that are not mine. When I visit the homes of relatives, I love to photograph the pictures hanging on their walls, images I would not otherwise have access to. There's a trick to it - you have to do it without flash and without inadvertently catching your reflection in the glass.

I give you Babs - age six months, more or less.

8 - A Tisket, A Tasket

A mostly green basket.

This is a close-up of a basket we bought in Redwing, MN last year. It is made of bamboo and is a brilliant shade of green. We weren't quite sure what we were going to do with it, but we found it compelling and brought it home with us. I use it as my "couch purse" which is to say it sits on an end table next to me on the couch and houses my chapstick, camera, the remotes, and other sundry items.

7 - The Key

This is the typewriter on which I first learned to type. It originally belonged to my maternal grandmother. For decades, it sat in my parents house, used rarely. A few months before she died, my mother passed it on to me. I treasure it.

6 - Babs + Harry Potter = TLA

I have a birthday coming up, a big one in fact. So I am celebrating the anniversary of my birth with the following gift to myself. It arrived last night!









We already own the books in paperback. But we have read, reread, and annotated the books so many times over that the thought of a perfect stack of pristine hardcovers seemed the perfect way to honor a lifelong love of books.

5 - making a shift

I feel like making a shift in 2010. Like taking ctrl of something in my life that needs some attention. Guess the only way to do it is to start, or, maybe, to Z.

4 - getting perspective

Sundays are great because there's generally time to make art between laundry loads and such. I find perspective maddening (vanishing point, anyone?) but I know it's important. So today I did a rather elementary exercise in perspective for the sake of skill-building. Get it? Building?




And because I have a love affair with pastels, I added color.

3 - for those who read via google reader

I'm a big fan of Google Reader. Big fan.

The one downside is that unless you click each link to read the blog entry on its original site, you never get to see the layout of the blog. And I respect that. Time is precious and it can be so much easier to do all your reading within Google Reader.

So for those readers, I share a cropped version of my banner for my 365 blog, because it illustrates how my 365 blog is about finding beauty in simple things, like a messy box of pastels. Enjoy.

2 - the other love of my life

I've taken a few art classes over the past year and I'd always dread the part where we worked with pastels. I wanted to love them, but I found them ineffective and clunky. When I complained to my teacher, Jordan, she looked at my box of supplies and said, "Babs, your art sucks because your materials suck. Buy some better pastels."

She was right.

1 - Because I'm a Fan of Irony

Welcome to Project 365, which is an effort to take at least one photo a day for an entire year.

Because I'm a big fan of irony, I thought I'd kick off my "non-dog blog" with a photo of Gypsy. She's in the Cone of Confusion because she injured her paw back on Christmas day. Here we see her trying to manipulate a treat-dispensing toy. But, since she's protecting it from Maisey, our other dog, she won't loosen her grip enough to get to the goodies, which come out the ends.