Your Appointment with Friday

Happy almost Halloween to you! For this week's photo prompt I decided that it was finally time for.....

It's Tradition

Gloria and I enjoyed this photo prompt around the same time last year, and I thought it would be nice excuse to share another Fall tradition this October too!  In general I am not a traditional kind of girl, but there's something about Autumn that draws me towards loving some of the same activities.  Last year I shared my chrysanthemum planting tradition.  This year I am sharing the annual *Ponyo with pumpkins photo*!!!  You can see last year's photo HERE (and little Ponyo was only 13 weeks in that pic.....so sweet!).  Do you have any traditions during the Fall?

Love, Carrie

Your Appointment with Friday

Happy Friday everyone!  This weeks photo prompt is to.....

Take a photo with a pumpkin

For this prompt you can use your tripod, have someone else take the photo, or whatever else you think sounds nice.....like the photo I took of Ryan and my feet with our pumpkin choices in between : ) 

Ryan was sweet enough to happily take these photos of me while we were at the pumpkin patch by our house a couple evenings ago.  And he even let me take a couple pics of him with the green pumpkin (which I'll share on my Blume and Grow blog in a few days).  The ambiance was pretty cool since it was starting to get dark in this place filled with all these bright orange pumpkins, hanging lights, and the typical kiddie rides.

Enjoy your pumpkin time this week!

Love, Carrie

Your Appointment with Friday

This week's photo prompt was super fun to shoot and perfect lighting from the cool overcast day.....just like I imagine a tropical Fall would feel!  The prompt is to:

Explore Nature

(Photos of me taken by Nely)

For this prompt, sweet Nely and I visited the Quail Botanical Gardens! It is walking distance from my house, and a lovey place for exploring and snapping photos.  My favorite sections were the tropical rainforest's and a whole field filled with all different types of bamboo forests.  So beautiful!!!  I have a few more photos to share AND a giant minibook for my Project Monday, so make sure to check back for more fun.

Love, Carrie

Your Appointment with Friday

Happy last day of September! This week's photo prompt feels a bit darker and a little vintage.....perfect for the season changing into Fall. The prompt is:

Black & White

I took these photos at the Del Mar Racetrack.  Ryan, a friend, and I spent the early evening (a few weeks ago) soaking up the glow of the setting sun while placing crazy fun bets, cheering on our horses, enjoying a beer and popcorn snack (no beer for me of course), and walking from our seats to the paddock to look at all these lovely beauties in between races.....

It was exciting and fun, made even more enjoyable by our surroundings.....the beautiful racetrack grounds.  And I am so in love with color that I had to slip in a few color photos!  However I originally was inspired to take black and white photos here by all the beautiful vintage B&W prints that decorates the walls of this building.....

And to top it all off, Devo played after the races (no photos of them, sorry)!  Ryan and I enjoyed their show so much he bought their newest album, witch I absolutely LOVE!!!

Enjoy your black & white photo taking this week!  I hope you find it as inspiring as I did : )

Love, Carrie

Your Appointment with Friday

So this week's photo prompt is up a couple days early because I am planning on taking my photo on the.....

First Day of Fall 2011

I just loved documenting the first day of summer so much so that I thought it would be fun to do it for fall too!  So the prompt is to take photos of your day on Friday, September 23rd.  You can take as many or as few photos as you like of course, but make sure to have fun!!!

The photo collage above is from fall of last year.....I had taken a walk on the first day of fall and ended up taking photos of what I saw.  Things that reminded me of this wonderful season : )

Are you getting excited?!?  I am!

Love, Carrie

Your Appointment with Friday

Hello lovely people and happy Friday to you! This week's photo prompt is to.....

Go to a coffee shop (and take photos of what you see). 

Hmmmm.....I think I will always love amaretto cappuccinos! They are the BEST during cool weather!!!

The Pannikin is one of our favorite outdoor coffee shops.  The atmosphere is light and happy.  The building looks like a two story beach house washed with light yellow paint.  The second story balcony (where we usually sit) get a wonderful breeze and feels very open.  Honestly, I don't make time to go to coffee shops like I use to, but when I do it is a real treat.....and today was no exception.  Ryan and I had a wonderful time.

I know I'm a bit behind on my Project Monday's but hope to get caught up some time next week.  This month has been busy and LOTS of fun so far!  Have the best day today!!!

Love, Carrie

Your Appointment with Saturday

For this week's photo prompt I wanted to focus on summer as it begins to come to a close. The prompt is to capture something that has become.....

A New Summer Tradition

(These photos also happen to be my day 10 *something I made* photos for the 30 day photo challenge I'm doing this month over on my personal blog, Blume & Grow.  Fun!)

I have never really been a big ice tea fan, but this summer I started mixing homemade ice tea with different things like lemonade or flavored sparkling water.....and it's stuck.  I love it!!!  I've tried quite a few different mixtures and here are some of my favorites:

• Tazo Rest (rose petals, valerian root and citrusy herbs) mixed with Simply Limeade (pictured above).  This one tastes like you're drinking a flower.....it's floral and refreshing.
• Tazo Refresh (mint with a pinch of tarragon) mixed with Simply Raspberry Lemonade.  Mint and raspberry's are so great together, and this is no exception!
• Celestial Seasonings Black Cherry Berry mixed with Simply Raspberry Lemonade.  This ice tea is sweet and tart.....and so delicious.

If you're interested in the actual recipe I use, you can find it HERE on a guest post for My Creative Brightside.  I use the same steps and ratios for each one, so all you have to do is replace the corresponding ingredients with ones of your choice.  It's really easy, and a real treat to have at home or to throw into a travel mug for the road.

What's a new tradition that you've started this summer?

Have a wonderful day!

Love, Carrie

Your Appointment with Friday

I may have chose this week's photo prompt because I'm feeling sentimental and have awesome plans with this girl on my birthday, but whatever the reason I think it helps you feel thankful.  The photo prompt is to.....

Take a photo of a friend.





This pretty girl had asked me to do a new blog design for her recently and for the graphics we decided to do an urban themed photoshoot.  I love how it all turned out (her blog is done but private right now) and can't wait to share!!!  We had the best day traveling all over San Diego to get a variety of shots, but I think the two photos above are at my favorite locations.  And now I'm excited to do a layout of her which I'll share on Monday, and then the rest of the pics from this shoot on Wednesday!

Enjoy your holiday weekend!!!

Love, Carrie

Your Appointment with Monday

Happy Monday Bubblegum Life friends! I am a little behind schedule sharing my Friday photo prompt today, but I wanted my photo to be just right so it took a little extra work this week. This photo prompt can be as interactive or simple as you'd like it to be.....the prompt is to:

Tell a story with something handmade.

My photo tells a tale of a sweet little dinosaur named Stella that goes out on an adventure following a yellow brick road.

 

It all started with me wanting to spray paint my dinosaur pink. Then I decided that she needed a little embellishment, so I added some floral rub-ons. Just this simple process took a bit of a learning curve for me to figure out how to come as close as I could to the way I had pictured her in my head. And note to self: remember to spray sealer over the spray paint before using the rub-ons....otherwise you rub off the paint! Once I had her finished I knew that she would be the perfect handmade subject for my photo, and now she is hanging out on my craft table ready for more fun : )

When you go to take your photo, you can use any handmade item as your subject.....maybe it's a scrapbook you created for your daughter and you shoot a pic of her looking through it.....you can really do anything you want, but I think when you are done you will have a wonderful memory to do with as you please.

Have the best week!!!

Love, Carrie

Your Appointment with Friday

Happy Friday to you! This week's photo prompt is sure to brighten your day, it is to make time to.....

Paint your nails a favorite color combo.

One of my favorite color combo's right now is red, pink and yellow....I think they are soooo pretty together!  I set up my tripod, grabbed a bunch of yarn and squeezed them with love for my photos.  Of course at first, I wasn't quite sure how to photograph my freshly painted nails, but all it took was a little imagination and now I have a couple crafty photos in addition to pretty colors at the end of my fingers.

This week, if you find yourself asking, "What is something fun I can do for myself today?", I would recommend this.  Paint your nails a favorite color combo and then take a photo of them.  It feels great : )

Have a lovely weekend!

Love, Carrie

Your Appointment with Friday

This week's photo prompt brought with it a super fun photoshoot for me and my friend Stephanie (love that).  The photo prompt is to.....

Take a photo with a friend

We had an awesome afternoon at the La Jolla shores.....taking photos.....

The weather was just right, so we crafted on a giant quilt under a huge tree on the soft grass next to the ocean, took a stroll on the boardwalk, soaked up art at the Mangelson Gallery, and ate yummy gilato.  It was the perfect treat after my productive work week!

We specifically took instant camera themed photos since we both have a love for photography in common, and on Tuesday when I share my Project Monday you'll see why.....it's a really cool surprise!!!

I hope your weekend is full of creativity and happy times.

Love, Carrie

Your Appointment with Friday

Happy Friday everyone!  This week's photo prompt is to.....

Go on a picnic.

Ryan and I spent a wonderful afternoon relaxing on our soft quilt (handmade by his Grandma) last Sunday.  These photos are of what I saw from the quilt.....the palm tree view above us (witch also provided our shade), the ocean view at our feet, our yummy lunch, and little goofing off.....

I actually have a whole sequence of us making silly faces that I still need to edit.  The photo above is one of the only shots I got of us just being happy : )

Your assignment this week is to go on a picnic and take as many or as few photos as you like of what you see while you're there.  And honestly  it doesn't have to be a big ordeal.....for our picnic I just grabbed a couple dishes from the cupboard, some travel mugs, napkins, silverware and food, and it was perfect!

Enjoy your weekend!

Love, Carrie

P.S. I am planning on sharing a peek into my 2011 Album for my Project Monday.....it will probably be up sometime later in the day on Monday <3

Your Appointment with Friday

Since summertime means warm weather, fans, AC, cold drinks, smoothies, swimming, evening dinners outside and all the other things we do help us enjoy the warmer temperatures.......this week's photo prompt is:

Keep it Cool

I asked Ryan to take this photo of me with my iced Starbucks, a special treat that has been helping me say cool during the heat wave we've been having here in San Diego.  Raspberries are my favorite fruit this summer, so lately I have been enjoying my iced raspberry vanilla latte (with a little cream)!  Hmmmmm....soooo good!!!  Oh, and right now I also really love my trusty Starbucks mug.....it often holds yummy lattes (pictured above), ice water, ice tea, or cherry coke zero with a little cinnamon.  It's kinda like icing on the cake for me <3

What have you been doing to keep cool?

Love, Carrie

P.S. I've decided to skip most of my Project Monday's for the month of July to give myself a short break.  However, I do plan on sharing a little peek into my 2011 album in it's place either this Monday or next.  xoxo

Your Appointment with Friday

This week I thought it would be fun to go out and take a photo during your favorite summer time of day.....

Your Magic Hour

My favorite time is just before sunset, so these photos were taken between 6:30 and 7:30 pm.  I love the way the sun makes everything light up.....

Plus, this summer has been pretty warm the past week, so evening hours have been heavenly.  What's your favorite summer time of day?

Have a wonderful weekend!

Love, Carrie

Your Appointment with Friday

Happy 4th of July weekend to you!  For this week's photo prompt I though it would be festive to try a little experiment with.....

Light bokeh shapes.

Bokeh is the pretty light that is out of focus in the background of your photo.  You can make this light turn into a shape by creating your own lens hood.  Cool, huh?!?  This is my first try, so my shapes aren't perfect.....but it shure was fun taking my pictures.  They are from the fair.  There were so many pretty lights on all the rides : )

Also, I have to say that I first learned about bokeh photos last summer while taking Kara Haupt's awesome "Summer of Love" class (if you haven't bought the class pdf yet, you should).....ever since then I'm always amazed with how much beauty they add to a photo!!!  Thank you Kara for introducing me to this lovely effect!  I learned a lot from your class while having a blast <3

And now back to our photo prompt.  For my bokeh heart shape I used this tutorial to make my lens hood.  I hadn't figured out the exact ratio of the size that my shape should be before taking these photos, so I improvised.  However, later I did find these instructions so when I try again it will be easier to be more accurate.  One thing I would like to mention though, is that I found it is really important to keep your aperture as low as it will go, and then looking at your light meter to just under expose a little.  It will help keep your shape crisp.  And just as a reminder, don't forget to turn your lens to manual focus so you can blur your background.

If you have an extra 5 minutes to make your own lens hood, you won't regret it.....it will make your holiday photos extra special.  Have a fantastic holiday weekend!!!

Love, Carrie

Your Appointment with Friday

Hello lovely blog readers!  Happy Friday to you!!!  As promised, here are my summer solstice photos, along with a new spin on last week's prompt.....

On a Tuesday

My first day of summer was great.  I did the following.....

• Had my first product photoshoot....yay!!!
• Ate the best Philly cheesesteak covered fries EVER for lunch (was a dork and didn't get a photo)
• Picked up photos from Costco for scrapbooking and hanging around my living room
• Took both Gatsby and Ponyo on a long walk
• Wore my summer shoes
• Got lots of photos of different wildflowers
• Turned on the fan (cuz it was hot) and inspired by all the pretty flowers decided to watch Marie Antoinette
• Enjoyed a couple pieces of my favorite chocolates for a late afternoon snack
• Spent the rest of my day playing on Pumpkin, editing photos, soaking up inspiration from some of my favorite blogs, and created a few blog posts on both my blogs

And here is a pic of my little boy playing in the flowers.....

I just love all the layers in this photo.....I think I might blow it up to hang on my inspiration wire.....

Well, I hope you enjoyed a little peek into my day : )  For this week's photo prompt the challenge is to pick a day of the week and document it as much (or as little) as you would like in photos.  It's pretty much the same as last week, except instead of documenting the first day of summer, you document a Tuesday, or Wednesday or Saturday, etc.  For me, honestly, the day started out with me not really feeling the whole taking photos all day thing, but once I was warmed up, I really enjoyed it a lot.....and I think you will too.  I hope you get a chance to play along!

Have a wonderful weekend!!!

Love, Carrie