Promo for a friend

This is the work of my beautiful talented friend Susannah. Just thought I would let you in on a great special she is running in her etsy shop.

She also takes fabulous portrait pics-like the amazing one above.

I wanted to share with you the 2 cards I got from the graphic designer I hired for my logo and these promo cards.














This first one is a general-useable postcard that I plan on sending out to all my old teacher friends, family, and anyone else I know...giggle....once my website launches. If you would like one email me your address to thea@theacoughlin.com





This is a smaller card that I will give to the photographers that would like to offer them to their clients. It only advertises my custom work. It is smaller and not a useable postcard.
















I had an appointment with my business/life coach yesterday. It was good. She helps me in very new and good ways. If any of you are thinking about trying a life/business coach out because you feel a bit buried or don't quite know where to start, it may help you too. If you would like to contact the one I use, email me and I will give you her email address.

Yesterday I was about 5 steps in on a custom order for Tara Whitney when I realized one of my sealers had turned the bw photos a yellow hue. I had to rip them apart-try different papers to print on etc. Sometimes this resin seems to get the best of me. I think I solved the problem but man this whole business thing is a huge learning process. I am really grateful I am waiting for some necklaces for the pendants for her so it didn't delay me getting the order out. It just took a lot of time:)

Ok babe is yelling. Gotta run.

rock a bye summer

rock a bye summer
Originally uploaded by colorsonmymind

Yesterday when my son went down for his nap (yeah he is napping a bit more lately-not long but consistant) I went out to take pictures of the trees.

I haven't been in the hamock much lately~all business. So I decided a good picture of it hung in my studio would be a good reminder to take a break every once in a while:)

I finally realized I could attach my duaflex to my tripod-can't believe nit took me so long. The pictures are a lot easier to take without trying to keep two cameras still.

Hope you all had a great weekend.

I still have many rose pictures from a fun photo date I had with my friend Genine a bit more than a week ago. The one where we met at 6am in the rain?

Anyway as I go through the pics it feels like a yearbook, so I decided to give each of them the names that pop into my mind when I look at them-no matter how silly.

Without further ado....

Meet.....
Suzie Q Delila

and Poppy

I just got an order of findings today. I am so excited. I ordered a whole bunch of new settings. This square is one of them. All the findings are sterling silver and a bit pricy, but I am thrilled to see if they will sell.

So I have 2 of the above bezels. What TTV print should I put in them? Or should I save them for a custom order? The good news is they came in fast so if they sell I can get more quickly.

I am dancing and clapping and smiling. So happy and excited to play with these new items. I will post pics of the other new stuff soon.

YEAH!!

Dictionary of an image ~ Namaste

Dictionary of an image ~ Namaste
Originally uploaded by colorsonmymind

This is an old picture I came across last night when trying to organize some of my pictures for galleries on my website.

I haven't writrten alot here about how I think my inlaws have come across this blog. It has made me more aware of what I write. How I come across. It has been a bit tough for me to edit myself in this way.

Last night I the fatigue of working tirelessly caught up with me.

My son has decreased his nap time significantly-my twice a week sitter went back to highschool -I don't have family around-and my son is really hitting the place where he gets frustrated easily.

So here I am at 4:30 am - up to get a bit of alone time, before the world around me stirs.

There has been some progress with the website but not much to show for it.

I have been spending so much time on the business end that I have begun to doubt my photography skills. I want all my catalogue pictures to be better. I want all of my photographs to be better.

Being a perfectionist is a tough thing.

So here I am taking a moment to get it out so I can move forward.

~Namaste~

Roar!

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us, it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others." - Marianne Williamson

Yesterday I started reading bloglines as I said I would in my previous post and I found the above quote on my lovely friend Megg's blog here.
As I read it I saw the truth as it has been ~ and decided that the truth I know now, is that our thoughts manifest things, so I think it would be useful to use this to create a powerful affirmation.

I am adequate and powerful beyond measure. I embrace my lightness, brilliance, gorgeousness, talent and fabulousness. My continued growth and expansion serves the world. I stand strong and proud which makes people feel the same when around me. As I let my own light shine I unconciously give other people permission to do the same. As I am liberated to faith my presence automatically liberates others!
Roar!

This is a picture taken of me by the talented beautiful Sarah. She just opened an etsy please stop by and give her some love......

and if you are up for some browsing here are a few more lovelies:

Deni~I am wearing this amazingly powerful and beautiful necklace by her in this photo

Susannah~oh angel your holga series makes me drool.

Georgia~aren't her pendants just breathtaking? Oh how I would love this one

Jen~I am so excited for her store to open so I can get some loveliness from her

Nina ~ wow I love her jewlery and her blog-she is such a wise beautiful soul

Misty~ oh my sweet friend your work stuns me how I would love this on my wall along the other pieces of yours I have

Liz ~ I have a beautiful prayer flag set of hers up in my studio

Kelly Rae ~ a true inspiration to me as a business woman and artist

Andrea ~ Oh I plan on getting myself this beautiful joy necklace from her store soon. She recommended my life/business coach to me-and I just love her to pieces.

Kelly ~ I love her messages and artwork this card from her is in my studio..

There are so many other lovelies to add....Leave a link to what makes you drool.....

Can you believe it took all my free time over the past 3 days to designs and make this banner?

My oh my, web design is a whole new (complicated) world. It is equivalent to learning a whole new language. Kudos to all of you who have done this already.

I am hoping to have my site ready and functioning in a week or two.

My thoughts are so steamlined toward this that when I try to think of a cohesive blog post, my thoughts come out choppy and scattered. I seem to revert to my old way of writing ~ with super simple sentences and a bullet like format. I hate writing this way!

But I decided last night that I need to try to write here more often.

A few weeks ago I was speaking to Jen on the phone (I have a much easier time talking on the phone than typing-I am a super slow 4 finger typer:) and she was speaking about Darlene. I had connected to Darlene online but not yet on the phone. It seems a bit tough for some reason to take that step with my online girlfriends to ask them to talk on the phone. I am not sure why.

So I asked Darlene if we could chat and after a few days of phone tag, I was lucky to speak to Darlene on the phone the other night. It felt so nice to make this new connection with a blogger friend. I was amazed that although I had never spoken to her on the phone before, I had such ease talking with her and felt like I could stay on the phone with her forever. This has happened with every single one of you lovelies that I have had the chance to talk to! Darlene and I talked about babies ~ whether either of us is ready to try again, or if we should keep following our bliss. It made me long and miss all the connections I have been less present for lately. Luckily I have stayed connected with the girls I met in Seattle through phone chats but the rest of you........I miss you.

I know I have written this before, but checking in on you is like pulling a stray thread on underwear-it just won't end. My bloglines is so full that I get completely overwhelmed. I feel so driven-almost to a fault to try to get the underpinnings set for my business , that when I have my free moments, that is all I focus on. I am a very all or nothing kind of person. I haven't felt like this since I started teaching biology in 2000. So passionate and motivated. It is a great feeling, but I can't help but think of the community that lifted me to the place where I am confident enough about my photography and art to actually start this business.

So I have decided that I will go back to my old plan of reading the blogs that I have randomly put into days of the week folders. I will not make it daunting by expecting to read all the posts I have missed-instead I will do the manageable thing of reading the most recent post and letting you know I miss you.

I have been doing my power yoga a few mornings a week, and Brian Kest (sorry honey but he is super hot) always says the goal is Aquanimity. I had never heard this word before, but I love it. It is exactly what I am looking and striving for.

Ok ...so embarrassed-I just looked up the definition and I spelled it wrong:)

Equanimity (E`qua*nim"i*ty) (?), n.[L. aequanimitas, fr. aequanimus: cf. F. équanimité. See Equanimous.]Evenness of mind; that calm temper or firmness of mind which is not easily elated or depressed; patience; calmness; composure; as, to bear misfortunes with equanimity.

YESTERDAY I GOT MY CAMERA BACK!

I cannot express the joy this brought me. I think I hugged it for at least 5 minutes with the biggest grin on my face. I called my hiusband at work to tell him how thrilled i was-I just jabbered on and on through my grin...after a few minutes he was like "I have work to do....." which really sounded like "your cute but there is only so much of this I can take:)"

So after dancing and jumping around like a lunatic I went outside to take pictures of two new pendants I made before going on vacation.

Today I took lots and lots of rose photos. Here are 2 I had time to play with:

I am back from a great family get away. I can't say it was a vacation. In my mind a vacation is when you get to take a load off from your normal responsibilities. Vacationing with a 2yr old changes this possibility into a family get away:)

The lake we stayed by was beautiful. We were right on our own little piece of beach which felt extra special because the water is so shallow. You walk out at least 100 yards where the water gets no deeper than your thigh. My son doesn't really like the water all that much so we spent most of ou time on teh beach, playing in the sand.
My husband and I got to go out in our kayaks-the ones that have been hanging in our garage unused for 2yrs since the boy was born. These pictures are a few we took with our old canon power shot. Oh how I miss my rebel! Canon said I should get it back next week. Boo hoo:(
My ttv pics were really tough to take without my rebel. I did get a few nice ones though.

I mentioned in a previous post that a lack of new pictures has inspired me to start playing more in PS. Well there are two photographers I admire that have inspired me to start playing with textures. These are two pics from our vacation that I have played with. It is very fun to build the layers and watch the effects deepen and become more complex.

I love this one I took from my kayak.

I love to sit and paddle so close to the water. It almost feels like a dream. I attribute my deep sense of calm from water and water signs (my husband and son just to name two people)to the fact that I have no water in my chart:)

For me, being out on a quiet lake with my guy,who always makes me giggle and laugh, is one of my favorite things to do on a sunny day. We also got a chance to play some tennis. I guess we did get little bits of vacation in there:)

One of the most fascinating things about the trip for me, was that there were a ton of Monarch butterflies flying around the beach all week. They must have used the beach as a resting place while migrating to Mexico. I felt so heavenly being surrounded by them. Have you ever held a monarch? They are so strong-and beauiful. They look right at you-turn their head-almost cock it to the side as they check you out. They have a really cute fuzzy back. Oh how I adore them.

Speaking of Monarch.....I think I am going to have to release it as a business name. There is monarch design in NY so I can't get an LLC. Instead I got an LLC for Photography. I don't know how I will transition my etsy packaging logo etc. I am trying to wait for it to become clear.

It may be a blessing. I had signed up for monarchdesigns.net with lycos-but when I tried to get some help there I stumbled upon their confusing system-lack of phone support-live online help seems like it is never up. Their help center is a message board they direct you to with the explanation that your question has to have been asked before. I stumbled upon a lot of complaints that indicated a change may be the best. I still haven't gotten an answer from an email I sent 4 days ago, so I dropped lycos as a webhost by cancelling my payments through paypal. I still have not been able to cancel on lycos/tripod website because their cancelation screen brings me back to my account page every time.

I decided to sign up for Yahoo ecommerce webhosting. I will be spending alot of time trying to get my website up and running. It is pretty exciting. I will let you know when it is done.

I am off to bed - my body aches from the past two days back to doing power yoga and a spur of the moment painting job I did today in my sons playroom.

It was a good day:)

XO