Water Balloon e-session from Ruffled

I haven't thought about water balloons in ages! I wish we got more traffic on our street, dropping water balloons on a hot summer's day seems like a forgivable offense.

Check out the full post on Ruffled blog. Photographer is Daniel Kiyoi.

Paper Art

I'm loving the video from Famille Summerbelle on Black Eiffel, using a knife to create paper arts. They remind me of lace paper doilies, just personalized with things about you. The city maps cost about $60, and you can choose from London, Paris, and NYC. Can you tell I'm on a city map kick?

How perfect that the one year anniversary is paper?

These also remind me of Julene Harrison's work:

She has some laser cuts on ebay now, they range from $65-140 but you can commission original art for quite a bit more as well.

City Plates

How fun would it be to register for these sleek black plates of city grids by notNeutral? You could mix and match and make it a goal to visit every one.

These are Shanghai, Cairo, LA and Berlin.

Found on AllModern.com, $40.50 each

The complete list of cities available: Berlin, Brasilia, Cairo, Dubai, Las Vegas, London, Los Angeles, Melbourne, Mexico City, New Orleans, NYC, Rome, Shanghai, St. Petersburg, and Tokyo (I've been to 4: LA, New Orleans, NYC, and Tokyo, and G has been to all of mine except for Tokyo, plus London & Rome. We have plans to go to St. Petersburg and I'd love to hit up Melbourne & Cairo myself.)

always, sometimes, never

I came across a giveaway through i art u today and you can win really fun photo things. click on over to The Madness of Mundanity to enter!

Part of the entering is to answer these questions, so here it goes:

I always: pick the wrong way to go if I'm not sure whether to turn left or right.
I sometimes: laugh like scooby doo (which was just pointed out to me recently, and I think it's pretty funny)
I never: miss a part of a movie in a theater (not for bathroom breaks, falling asleep, walking out because it's awful, or to refill my popcorn) I only miss some if we arrive late, and honestly I can't stand to miss the previews. (my bff and I missed the first minute of Divine Secrets of the YaYa sisterhood and were confused for practically the entire movie.)

The fun thing about this giveaway is that you add your link to the post, making it a very interactive giveaway. A lot like blog-it-forward which I hope you are participating in!

Best of luck! You have until Feb. 21st to enter!

What inspires me most...

I am following in the footsteps of Dashily who has passed the torch on to me in sfgirlbybay's blog it forward. Basically, we are 300 bloggers talking about what inspires us most, and there are 10 groups of 30 blogs that are spiraling forward in a chain of thought.

I prefer images more than words when it comes to inspiration, these are the things that make me light up. I am inspired by beautiful things, by fonts, by physically sensing the world, by light, color, textures. I am inspired by seeing other people do things I wish I'd thought of. I am inspired by my husband who indulges my photographic whims. Eating a lot of chocolate tends to do some good as well.

Photographers

by diane arbus

this picture is of salvador dali by phillippe halsman

by walker evans

Miss N by Gertrude Kasebier

by Richard Avedon

Fashion//Photography

nothing makes me happy like a good dress. I love excuses to wear great clothes, and seeing other people do it flawlessly.

dress by Alexander McQueen

image by Eugenio Recuenco found via makool loves you

image by mads teglers via postcards from dreamland

via bleubird vintage

alice in wonderland image by annie liebovitz

Childhood

I want to keep jumping on the furniture and I don't see why not. I think grown ups encourage children to grow up because they're jealous they are no longer children. My favorite books are children's books. I still love the idea of being under the blankets, playing in the ocean, pillow fights, and sleepovers.

blanket fort (via flickr user smwright)

treehouses. (image source)

I never had a cape, and my life has suffered for it. via say YES! to hobeken

jelly shoes via flickr like_shipwrecks

pretending to be a spy or detective was an everyday occurence.

(source: flickr)

twirling in dresses (via flickr)

Quilts

I have wanted to make a quilt for at least 6 years now, and now I've married into a family of quilters. I want nothing more than to collect fabric from everyone that means anything to me and put them into a quilt. They are the most beautiful things you can possibly own.

source

by denise schmidt

via you are my fave

this one is called "single girl" how perfect is that? denise schmidt

Blogs 

The lovely things these ladies write, find and create make me want to do the same. They are the reason I will be getting a sewing machine this year. And forcing myself to do 101 things in the next 1001 days. I know they could do it.

Other bloggers posting today::

alexander salvage::monkey in l.a.::brin and nohl::peanut butter and poetry::scoutie girl::haley and rose::taking the long way::lana de lanna::thompson family-life

Check Daughter Earth tomorrow for her post on what inspires her most!

Shameless Plug

Vote for this image from Spindle Photography on the Wedding Chicks! (Click the link and post a comment)! Thanks!

Advertise on Dash Pinch Smidgen for free!

I needed a use for the picture of me stuffed into the box my computer came in... so you shall reap the benefits.

First 10 to comment (please include your email address so I can contact you with instructions for sending me your ad and link) will receive one month in the sidebar for free!  You can use the ad to advertise personal or business websites & blogs! Happy President's Day!

UPDATE:: there are 5 spots remaining, and I've been told there may have been some trouble commenting, so you can e-mail me at kelly(at)spindlephotography.com if you are interested in this promotion! Thanks!

Remember when there was still snow?

Friday's flurries melted pretty quickly here in Birmingham, but here are some scenes from the short-lived day.

the view from our balcony

the city from our roof

Sally (Emily's daughter) in the snow; Garrett helping her down the hill on a saucer.

can you believe this is Birmingham? I pass by this gorgeous mountain nearly every day and it's even better with snow.

view of our street from the roof.

The beginnings of a great V-week

When you start out with this:

You end up with this.

The getting and keeping of hair; V-day

One of my 101 in 1001 is to take pictures of my hair every day for a month because I always try to dress & style my hair better when photography is involved. So, here's a trial run. The back is really messy because I styled my hair at night after keeping it in a top knot all day. But it is very similar to my hair for our Valentine's Day outing yesterday (actually Galentine's Day if you watch Parks & Rec). We saw Casablanca at the Alabama Theatre (I'd never been inside and it is breathtaking) and ate dinner at Fleming's with our friends Ian & Onna (they had a sharing menu with a filet and half lobster each, and 2 sides + a salad. we won.). I wore a dress I'd bought with no occasion in mind while we were in San Francisco after the National Championship.

Process: hot curlers, lots of bobbypins. I used a curling iron for a few pieces that resisted my curling efforts. Top off with a lot of hairspray (I use Nexxus and I really like the resulting texture)

Helium :: The Pre-Memorial ::Running out of gas

I discovered via A Cup of Jo the other week that we are running out of helium (she always seems to know what's up!) and immediately freaked out. They estimate that we will be completely out of helium in 10 years. What?! My children may never see a balloon float. It makes me want to hoard a helium tank in a basement somewhere so that my kids can experience helium. UP is going to seem even more fantastic by the time my children see it. I am almost crazy enough to want to hurry up and have children just to extend their balloon eligible years. Okay, so forget all of my craziness and enjoy this tribute to the magical element via photographs taken by other people.

via The Design Files

also via The Design Files, this is actually a project by Clementine Henrion entitled Helium Eternal inspired by the impending doom for helium. The balloons are actually made of fabric and suspended in air with wire.

via Jessica Paige

99 red balloons? It doesn't matter, they are lovely. And endangered.

via Jakob E

via anne

via Millie Motts

via Bloom, Grow, and Love

via Elle Moss

via photographer Ben Blood

via bleubird vintage

via Green Wedding Shoes, photography by W Scott Chester.

via Sarah Yates Photography

via Snippet & Ink

via sweet eventide (she's part of blog it forward, so you should visit her blog!)

balloon garland from 2000 dollar wedding

Who's in for a giant going away party for our helium friends?