Positive Steps

Sunday - Coffee and Cake
weekly musings, articles and mostly babble...


Positive Steps It has been lovely this week to see Babamoon on Etsy take off with it's first 3 sales! 2 of them were back to back aswell, with the one listing only been put up hours before! I'm really glad for the signs of progression already as it took a LOT longer for me to make my first sales in my photography store, and to be honest I have faith that Babamoon may over take it quite quickly as the demand is probably higher for baby knits over wall art. I am not thinking negatively about that when it comes to my digital artwork as I seem to have progression there in other ways. Like my shop hearts, web presense, style, and of course my blog. So that for me is an incentive to keep it running along in the foreground alongside my other store.

One thing I am now gearing myself up for is a training course with Top UK photographer Mark Cleghorn soon, on the topic of family portraiture which is the career I am hoping to have in the time my partner is at home from work. The course itself is supposed to talk a lot about the business side of things which is what I am hoping for mostly as I am not as savvy with how to conduct the business, insure myself etc yet when it comes to babies I can quite easily and confidently turn into squish mode, and I know my camera plus all the related do dally inside out. It'll be a fabulous opportunity to ask important questions to someone who is ahead of his game, and has countless awards behind him to back him up. VERY excited about it all. As hopefully when I return, my business plan may actually go past the title lol!!! Once I am insured and upgrade some of my older equipment so it's suitable to go mobile, I'll hopefully get things ready before my Craft show in December which is where I am hoping to begin widely advertising it offline. Should be good!

So what's new in store then? Well I have made a new hat in Babamoon... well there are 3 actually but I have only listed one lately which is the Reversible Pumpkin hat! Very cute. And in my photography store I have listed 2 brand new prints which I am very proud of. They are in the mosaic below :)

Recent Altered Photography Posted to moonangelnay.etsy.com Warmth...


That's it for now. Have a great weekend all!


moonangelnay x

What's Different?

Sunday - Coffee and Cake
weekly musings, articles and mostly babble...


What's different? From the dawn of my blog donkeys years ago, I have been trying to find the formula that makes it seem right and connected to me. And I am still looking as with all web pages they also need to be right for the internet and the search engines. This week I did another layout change which I found a bit frightening because I didn't know how it would effect my current readership, which in terms of feed subscriber count is nearing to 600 now, on top of my already 650 odd follower count! (Thanks so much everyone!) I initially thought a change of color scheme was in order but I reckon a huge change like that could have alienated my followers as a lot of people are used to my darker layout. To be honest, excuses aside it's me that will be alienated by it lol! I think in time I will change the colors, but I'm trying to wean myself out of my comfort zone, and weaning is all I can comfortably muster lol! For now, I have included a recent posts list in my right hand navigation which to me is a million times better than my post archive (although I have kept it), as it gives more opportunities for my readers to check out my past posts, and in turn will be better for the artists I feature when it comes to more exposure. I have also changed the look of my Friday Finds interview which for those of you who know the format I used to use, will have noticed that it now resembles my Wednesday gratitude posts with larger-centered images. I think it's the best change I've ever made on the blog, as you will have noticed with my last post it looks a lot clearer now with the items featured being easier to see. The biggest success to come out of it is lissionetsy made a sale from the feature so I am really chuffed that my new layout worked for her fabulous interview and business!

Another difference recently has been my ability to function lol! It's getting a bit easier now that my daughter is in her fourth month. She is a lot more alert now, and is really smitten with her big brother, so there are more moments in the day of them interacting with eachother and less of me or my partner fretting over our son flattening her like a pancake. We purchased one of those awesome "Bumbo" chairs and that has been a a lifesaver for our sanity. No longer is her world full of ceilings and passing giants, but now the world surrounds her and she loves it! she can now watch my son play and he can play with her without the temptation to lie on top of her for cuddles lol! And importantly she can see where I am at all times which right now in her "seperation anxiety" phase (already yes I know) is seeming to make her feel a lot more comfortable. So now that I'm back in normality I have found more time to do things like housework, schooling my son and working on bits and bobs for my craft show at the end of the year.

I have made a start on making bottle cap pendants which are so frikkin cool, I am going to get a bunch up in my shop soon! I thought I'd include a picture as a sneak preview of what I hope to post on there soon (the image is of my print "Angels Glow"). I have also made a start on officially planning the start of my job venture in family portraiture. I will partake in a training seminar with multiple award winning UK photographer Mark Cleghorn on this subject infact which I'm very excited about! Onwards and upwards! :D And then there is Babamoon. I am just so happy that I have the time to knit and crochet with purpose now! I have found it relaxing just being able to do it in my free time, but so far it has been to make multiple things for my own children which as you can imagine has piled up over time! So now that I have my store of baby knits I can really apply myself to it and can be more productive about my outlook with each creation. I have also decided to use my shop accessories and props in my new business venture when it's up and running so I will have more images in my shop. But that may not happen until the end of the year. All in all there are big things going on and hopefully soon I will find contentment in earning a regular income, have a registered business, and be self employed on the days my partner isn't at work.

Recent Altered Photography Posted to moonangelnay.etsy.com Fall Colors...


That's it for now. Have a great weekend all!


moonangelnay x

Party Time!

Sunday - Coffee and Cake
weekly musings, articles and mostly babble...

HandmadeSpark NEW TUTORIAL POST...

My article on Handmade Spark is up! Finding your Spark : Product Photography - The "BIG NO" For Your Product Photos

You can still catch my previous posts here:
* Finding Your Spark - Product Photography - Lighting
* Finding your spark : Product Photography - Getting The Best Out Of Your Photography
* Finding your spark : Product Photography - Making A Lightbox
* Finding Your Spark - Photo Composition
* Finding Your Spark - Got The Shakes?
* Finding Your Spark - Easy Post Production - Contrast Adjustment
* Finding Your Spark - Product Photography - Layering And It's Benefits
* Finding Your Spark - Product Photography - Motivation and Inspiration
* Finding Your Spark - For Photographers - Creative Bokeh



Party Time! Today is my son's Birthday Party, although he won't officially be a year older unil Tuesday. But wow! 3 years old! where does the time go??? It's so weird... Each year I love to make a year-gone-by montage of my little mans antics to put on our kitchen wall and looking back at just after his 2nd birthday, I can't even imagine him being so different. I can only expect changes because he is so young but to look back and remember what he was like and just how far he has come is still pretty incredible whther i expect it or not. As this is the same boy who was walking at 7 months! And now he's ruler of the house... He certainly knows how to prepare himself that's for sure lol! Aw I'm so proud of him. He was told today by his Tot's Drama teacher that he should go to theatre school because of his confidence and inventive nature. I just beamed! It'll be a wonderful opportunity for him, and his birthday will incite the period of time that he can apply for things like that. Very exciting!

I won't make this long as I have a tonne to prepare (and sleep to catch up on... i should be in bed really!) But yes finally a happy day to conclude a painfully tiring week! :D

Recent Photography Posted to moonangelnay.etsy.com...


That's it for now. Have a great weekend all!


moonangelnay x

Carnival

Sunday - Coffee and Cake
weekly musings, articles and mostly babble...

HandmadeSpark NEW TUTORIAL POST...

My article on Handmade Spark is up! Finding your Spark : Product Photography - Creative Bokeh

You can still catch my previous posts here:
* Finding Your Spark - Product Photography - Lighting
* Finding your spark : Product Photography - Getting The Best Out Of Your Photography
* Finding your spark : Product Photography - Making A Lightbox
* Finding Your Spark - Photo Composition
* Finding Your Spark - Got The Shakes?
* Finding Your Spark - Easy Post Production - Contrast Adjustment
* Finding Your Spark - Product Photography - Layering And It's Benefits
* Finding Your Spark - Product Photography - Motivation and Inspiration


Carnival ... For those that follow me on Twitter and like me on Facebook, you probably caught a glimpse of a short enthusiastic message i wrote about yesterdays local Carnival in my hometown, and my plans to be snap happy with my DSLR ♥ lol! Apart from not going to a small time fairground in DONKEYS years, it was just a brilliant opportunity for me to obtain some new fabulous vibrant photography for my portfolio. On Etsy I mostly focus on nature, very slowly bringing in form (like my print LUST), and I hope to expand the inventory to include other subjects like architechture and more fun time photography to showcase everything else that I work on away from Etsy (there is a lot...). I hope to someday have local listings to offer my portrait photography to UK families in the West Midlands in and surrounding Birmingham as it is now a service I am working on registering as an official part time business that takes me out of my home and working with people. That is still in the works but I am hopeful like I've said in a previous post that I want to be doing that regularly by the end of this year once I am registered and insured.

So the carnival! Well, we started the day having a bit of a disappointing (although not entirely unrewarding) morning driving out to another town to take our son to his drama group and finding that it wasn't on despite it being on the group timetable, but then visited the nearby traditional sweet shop to drown our sorrows ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ before taking ourselves back home for a bite to eat. When it came to the afternoon we made our way out to the carnival which my son was really excited about, having had rides on the odd kiddy carousel that we've spotted in past shopping centre visits. So the prospect of trying out a variety of new rides that were bigger and faster induced in him the likeness of a sugar rush! For me I had my tripod at the ready and my DSLR in hand ready to shoot at will LOL! But... for me when we arrived I was a little disappointed to discover that some of the more traditional rides in the advert imagery weren't there like the ferris wheel and chair swings :( It was very modernised actually, so my snap happy venture ended up being channelled into being a pap for my son whilst he enjoyed the rides. I did capture a few interesting shots, but I'll have to go out of my way I think to get the more traditional shots I hoped for some other time and look for older fairground rides. It's a shame as their have been so many fairgrounds in my hometown already but I have avoided them all photography wise for the fact they are chocka with modern rides. Until next time I suppose! In the meantime I should have 2 or 3 new non-nature prints pop up in my store soonish once I have gone through some post production.

My son obviously had the time of his life! His face when he went on the toddler friendly rollercoaster on his own was wonderful! And his delightful laughter and foot stamping when whizzing along with me on the bigger roller coaster was so sweet! He even braved the ghost train with daddy whilst myself and his sister looked on! Before we were ready to leave he bumped into his little friend (I call his girlfriend lol) and had some fun on an inflatable slide before snoozing all the way back in the car when we managed to convince him to come home LOL. It was a lovely day in the end! :)


Recent Photography Posted to moonangelnay.etsy.com...


That's it for now. Have a great weekend all!


moonangelnay x

♥ Cute and Squishy ♥

Sunday - Coffee and Cake
weekly musings, articles and mostly babble...

HandmadeSpark NEW TUTORIAL POST...

My article on Handmade Spark is Up! Finding your Spark : Product Photography - Motivation and Inspiration

You can still catch my previous posts here:
* Finding Your Spark - Product Photography - Lighting
* Finding your spark : Product Photography - Getting The Best Out Of Your Photography
* Finding your spark : Product Photography - Making A Lightbox
* Finding Your Spark - Photo Composition
* Finding Your Spark - Got The Shakes?
* Finding Your Spark - Easy Post Production - Contrast Adjustment
* Finding Your Spark - Product Photography - Layering And It's Benefits



New Plans ... I am still reeling in amusement from something my other half said last night whilst I was feeding my daughter. She had just had the biggest spit up ever all over him and I was having a general squeaky babble with her, questioning why babies had to be so darned cute (broody already!) when he responded with the fact that it's to fool us parents into accepting the vomit, poop and noise... a clever distraction from the heavens LOL... Love his sense of humour!
To be honest all of that, now the second time around isn't bothersome at all... you ACTUALLY get used to poo, vomit and the loveliest of gross cocktails being slathered over you on a daily basis. It's a funny thing, I love seeing one of my closest friends run out of the room whenever it's changing time and the look on his face when I am so calm and collected over cleaning the grime all over my son's face and body LOL. Children really do make you hardcore! ANYWAY... excuse my yuckiness lol! This week (and last too) I've been spending a bit of time looking into form instead of nature photography, and preparing to get myself up and running as a business away from the internet and my known art form. I have been waiting for the right time and always thought it would come in a few more years when my kids are older and my hands are slightly less full of things. But to be honest besides serious cabin fever, I have been ready to get out for a while. My goal is to work in wedding photography in a few years time but for now I want to work with portrait photography. I already have a sweet portfolio in the works which has been filling up nicely since my daughter entered the world.

It was a visit to a friend this week that made me feel encouraged enough to get started on this venture earlier than planned. She and her sister were browsing through my flickr profile via my phone when she started showing off a bunch of sweet pictures from a recent shoot she had with her own kids and said with an err of disappointment in her tone "why aren't YOU doing something like this???". She knows of my intentions in photography as I had offered shoots for her girls before (just never had the chance to do it). I began my long list of excuses as to why it would be more practical to do it later on but then looking on my camera at all the recent shots I had left on there I began to wonder why myself. Nothing is stopping me besides the financial implications, and I would need to register myself, not trying to blow my own trumpet, but knowing that it would definitely give me an income. So since that day I have been making plans!

It'll be good to get out and have some identity as a professional besides as an artist. It's not a certainty for now but the plans are being made and hopefully it won't be long before it all works out! I think the best thing will be knowing that my kids will be able to see a happier and more confident mother in me. I feel that the sooner I start, the sooner I'll be able to realise my dream as being a wedding photographer in the future.


Recent Photography Posted to moonangelnay.etsy.com...


That's it for now. Have a great weekend all!


moonangelnay x