So Long, Farewell... {plus a giveaway}

Well, it's time for me to close down this blog. I've so enjoyed having it, but I feel that at this point I need to stick with my main blog - The Road Goes Ever On.

So head on over there, and while you're at it, enter the giveaway I'm holding in celebration of the re-launch of my business! I'm giving away two big branding packages (containing a website, blog, and much, much more), and gorgeous art print that was donated, and some adorable notecards.

I want to thank my faithful followers for sticking with me for this long! You all are wonderful, and I hope we can keep connecting in the future.

Well…

I haven’t posted much, have I? Photography, unfortunately, has had to take a back seat to other things as I’ve been building up my web design business, getting ready for NaNoWriMo, and graduating. Most of you know that I have quite a few blogs and websites for the different things I’m invested in – and I finally decided that I would just simplify everything and have one personal blog. It’s been too much trying to keep up with four blogs! =D So I won’t be posting on my writing or video blog anymore – and I won’t post often here. This is a photography blog for what will hopefully be my future business, but I can’t take much time for photography now. (And that makes me so sad. Really.) So I’ll be popping up here every once in a while.

In the meantime, I would love to connect with you all on my new personal blog The Road Goes Ever On! I will be combining all my interests – writing, videography, some personal photography, sewing, and so much more on this blog. That and my web design blog will be plenty to keep up with! ;) I’ll leave my wonderful followers with a few photos taken last week (and edited in Photoshop CS5 Extended!! I bought it from the student/teacher store for $200 instead of the normal $1,000 – AMAZING!! I ♥ Adobe!!).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fair 2011

(My dad wasn't able to come that day - but he's coming with us later in the week! =D)

And Just to Let You Know...

This is going to be a hodge-podge post. ;) Because I'm such a bad blogger, things have piled up without me writing about them. So you, my dear readers, will hear about them now. All at once. Bullet-point style.

• I've re-done the design for hannahrosephotography.com and this blog. Some things are still in the works, though, which means that the navigation on this blog and the website are *ahem* not functioning quite right yet. (I still have to write and configure the website pages)
• Blogger is trying to take away our ability to edit HTML (more info on that here), so I've come up with a petition, asking them to give us back that ability. I would be so happy if my readers would sign it! ;)

• I am taking all of July off to participate in Camp NaNoWriMo, and hopefully finish writing my historical-fiction novel. That means no graphic/web/blog designing, no fiddling around with my own blogs (except maybe a post or two on my writing blog), and no Facebook games. ;) And speaking of which...
• ...I now own withawarbetweenthem.com, and have the site and blog design set up. So yep - go check it out! =D

• As we're talking writing here - I'm going to be publishing under the name of Belle Stone. After thinking about it, I thought it'd be best to do that, so that when I'm married I won't have to worry about changing my name. (And besides, I really like the name. A tip of the hat to Belle Boyd, a bow to Stonewall...pretty nice there. ;)  )
• I just guest posted over here! 

 So that was my hodge-podge post. Oh, and like the cover for my book? I'm going to be getting a proof copy with the first 35,000 words here in a few days - I had to use my discount from NaNoWriMo by the thirtieth, which is why my proof won't be complete. But wow! will it be cool to see it when it comes, cover and all! I can't wait. And with that I'll leave you all - I need to get some more outlining done before "Camp" begins!

A Retraction and a Prom Dress (JoAnn Prom Dress Contest 2011)

So, I freaked you all out with my last post. =( Sorry. After about a week of experimenting with Wordpress, and then doing a new website for my Dad’s new book, I’ve decided NOT to go with Wordpress. *Cue cheers*
Frankly, I’ve just decided that knowing Blogger templates like I do, it would be pretty silly to try and learn all about Wordpress, pay a host, and spend ten times more time on one website. I just don’t have the resources for that right now. (And of course, I’m much more comfortable with Blogger. ;)  ) So that’s my retraction. Hannahrosephotography.com is now waiting to be designed, and this blog is back to normal with its usual url.
Now, on to more interesting subjects. =D I just finished the prom dress I’m entering in JoAnn’s 2011 prom dress contest this week, and I got photos last night! =D Here they are…my sister Maria is modeling the dress.
First off, here’s my inspiration for the dress – (that’s Carrie Underwood, by the way.) Unfortuantely, JoAnn had a very limited supply of purple, fancy materials. (In order to enter the contest, you have to buy your supplies from JoAnn) So I had to go with a darker dress and lighter skirt – the opposite of Carrie’s. I do think it works, though…at least I hope so! =D
There’s obviously not a pattern you can buy to duplicate the dress, so I took a whole day to study that picture, come up with my own pattern, and cut the dress and skirt out. It was very hard and intense (especially when I thought about the fact that I spent over fifty dollars on the materials!) but I was so relieved with how things turned out.
The beading took forever. I spent three whole days on it, and used almost two large bags of glass beads and quite a few sequins. But, as Maria and I have been collecting Little House seasons, I had plenty of episodes to watch while working on it. ;) So here are photos of the finished product…