I'm getting so frustrated with my creativity. I have all these amazing ideas in my head, but I just can't get them to come out! Whether its a lack of tools or lack of knowledge I don't really know, but it's really bothering me. I want to be amazing. I want to create beautiful things, but I'm just struggling right now. I don't know what it is.
I look at other peoples work and I think, Wow, I want to try that. Wow, that's amazing. Wow, I bet I could do that too.
But I can't.
I will attribute some of my frustration today to the fact that I only had about an hour of sunlight to work with. Once the sun goes down, it makes achieving my ideas that much harder. Especially without the proper tools.
Plus, with little kids running around the house, "Whatcha doin, whatcha doin?" Knocking over my tripod, dog barking, tv blaring...
It's not a very creativity conducive environment.
Oh well, I'll just have to try again tomorrow.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!

Here's my latest creation. I had a lot of fun making this one.
I'm already on Day 6!

SONG OF THE WEEK
Brad Paisley & Dolly Parton-When I Get Where I'm Going

I've started a new project.
Now that I'm officially a Flickr addict, I've decided to really get into the spirit of things.
The mission, you ask?
Document my life.
How, you ask?
Self portrait. One photo a day for one year.
Why, you ask?
Why not?
Here is Day 1. Pretty cool huh? This was also my first experiment with my new cloning abilities. Ya, I bet you didn't know I had multiples? Well I do. With a little help from Photoshop that is...
I've decided NOT to post every single picture on my blog. It would take a lot of room and there would be no point. You can just click here instead to see them all!
I'll probably show off a few of the more interesting ones. This one included. It's my favorite so far. Haha. (So far....)

This needs no introduction.

It's things like this that inspire me to be an obsessive Photoshop geek.

ob·ses·sive /əbˈsɛsɪv [uhb-ses-iv]
–adjective
1. being, pertaining to, or resembling an obsession: an obsessive fear
2. causing an obsession.
3. excessive, esp. extremely so.
–noun
4. someone who has an obsession or obsessions; a person who thinks or behaves in an obsessive manner.

There wasn't a dictionary entry for Photoshop.

geek /gik/
–noun Slang.
1. a carnival performer who performs sensationally morbid or disgusting acts, as biting off the head of a live chicken.
2. a peculiar or offensive person, esp. one who is perceived to be overly intellectual.
3. an expert in computers (a term of pride as self-reference, but often considered offensive when used by outsiders.)

I especially liked the first entry for geek. It speaks to me at 3:52 in the morning.

So...this was my weekend. Subzero temperatures.
It was not fun.
Minus the weather though, I had a blast. Lots of fun, lots of friends, lots of socks, coats, hats, boots, gloves, scarves, slippers and blankets.
Weird Shift Weekend. What can I say about good ol' Weird Shift?
I noticed a few things that were different from last year. I was a lot less shy. I was a lot less emotional. I had even more fun. I danced exactly the same.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE the people I get to spend time with there. No judgements, no expectations, no conditions. Just lots o' lovin.
Too bad love doesn't warm up my feet though. Snow and ice everywhere. Brrrr!
We had an awesome pool to warm up in though. It was pretty neat to be swimming in minus degree weather. Pitch black, clear sky, steam everywhere....
It was pretty fun. Except for the part when you have to get out. Can you say icicles in my hair? Ya. The frozen water kind. It was that cold.

My mission as of late, is to buy a new camera. I'm just bursting with creative energy, but lack the tools to let it out in the way that I want. I have a nice Canon point & shoot that serves me quite well for average, day to day photography. But I just really want to take some good, quality photos. I want people to say "Wow" when they look at a picture I've taken. Something along the lines of my reaction when I saw this and this.

I'm eyeing myself a nice Digital SLR, but am pondering how to aquire one without having to eat Top Ramen for the rest of the year. This beauty is the Canon Digital Rebel. It exactly what I want for my purposes right now, but he's looking to set me back $800+.

Camera #2 is the Nikon D40. Significantly cheaper, but has one major drawback. If I want to use the wonder that is auto-focus, I have to purchase a certain type of lens with the auto-focus motor built in. It is an unexplained mystery as to why they didn't put that part into the actual camera. I'll just have to wonder.
So, dilema. Do I spring for the one I really want even though it has quite the price tag? Or go with the cheaper version and worry about hunting down the right kind of lens, which possibly could end up making my total about the same?
I don't know. I'm waiting for divine inspiration to deliver one to my doorstep.

I tried something a little different tonight and I still haven't perfected my technique. But hey, its ok. I'm still learning.
Bark, vine, and butterfly all came from seperate pictures.

I'm so proud of this one! It should be on the cover of a bridal magazine.

Here's the result of another all-nighter.
If you've ever been dying to know what I'd look like all Photoshopped up, tonight is your lucky night.
BEFORE & AFTER

So, this is what I did tonight. It's hard to see all the details with the pictures being so small, so just click on them for magical enlargement, if you even care.
BEFORE & AFTER

And so it begins...
The end of my "normal" life as we know it.
The dreaded graveyard shift.
For the next two months, my exposure to sunlight is going to be very limited. My social life, already impaired, is going to suffer immensely. My sleep schedule? Let's not even go there.
Welcome to the world of dragging myself into bed around 7am. I'm so excited. (Heavy sarcasm.)
BUT! I am determined to make the best of it. I'll try not to complain. Much.
I will have you all know that I'm making great use of my hours and hours of free time. Filing my nails, shopping online, reading the obituaries, researching my next big purchase (new digital camera), watching the Food Network, eating Spaghetti-O's, learning new tricks on Photoshop, cleaning out my purse, disinfecting my keyboard...
I want to prepare you all right here and now. My sanity prognosis for the next several weeks is looking very grim, so you must bear with me. I can promise many more 3AM posts so, it would be very logical for all readers to disregard anything I write until well into March. You are likely be exposed to the deep, dark, crazy, sleep-deprived recesses of my mind and I can't promise what you'll find there. I won't be offended if you run far, far away and never return to what was once my blog.
I have given you fair warning. Continue reading if you dare.