My Name is Amanda...

...and I am a craft-a-holic. (or my dad would probably say a crap-a-holic). I have issues. mostly involving paper, yarn, fabric, eyelets, etc...
allow me to explain:

paper tower...not even close to all the paper in this room. there is more under the desks but I chose not to photograph it.

one of the embellishment/stamp bookcases....ONE of them. this room used to be a 2nd kitchen but we ripped out some appliances to make room for all our junk...stuff. those brown cupboards to the right have more craft stuff and my darkroom equipment.

another embellishment/stamp/random things bookcase, there is another side to this but it mostly has books and movies.

this you can't really tell from the photo but it's stacked as high as a bookcase and that thing on the left is from Mervyns store when they closed. and those bins have most of the yarn/fabric. we only have 8 of those filled....

here is the stamp ink center as well as random tools and another accessory holder....we DON'T have a problem...

paint/ribbon/glue center. WAY more ribbon where that came from. i have to have some dignity left.

here's the visitor's table where people can work if they come over but I seem to have commandeered it since my table is currently like the rest of my life and a HUGE MESS. what can I say I "love" chaos.

here is the movie/ipod/more ribbon/foam stamp window sill. you have to be entertained while you work.

and last but not least, i promise i DO use some of this crap...i mean stuff.

My name is Amanda, and I need HELP.

Dirty Pictures

If you've ever had me take picturs for you, I've most likely processed them with the Boutwells Totally Rad Actions. I LOVE THEM! seriously they have paid for themselves by now. Well, the point of this is to let you know they have a new Dirty Pictures texture plug-in. I love textures and only have a few but they are having a contest to give a set away. Here are some pictures I've used their actions on:
The Cattle Point Wedding in Friday Harbor

My Brothers band.

this picture has a texture added to it, I think Dirty Diana...? just so ya'll know what I'm going on about. haha. I guess I could have just posted a link to my lame photography blog that I never post on anymore. Anyways if you have photoshop CS2 or higher you should consider buying their actions and now dirty pictures textures!!

I LOVE THEM!!

Did I Ever Tell you...

That I love photography? because I do. I just started school for it so hopefully I'll learn something and learn to take good pictures! My first camera was a Canon film camera back when I was 14 I believe. I took a darkroom class when I was 16 and LOVED it. I have all the stuff for my own darkroom but unfortunately the only room that works is my bathroom so I have been neglecting it for a few years. ANYWAYS. I'm trying to decide a name for my hobby. My photography blog is called, I Shoot People with Canons...a little morbid maybe. So I don't know what to call it.

this was a mock certificate I made for someone and didn't know what to call it so Aphotography it was.....dumb. If you have any suggestions for names that would be appreciated. I think I'm going to make business-esque cards since I'm always asked for them so I need a name! It's up to you I'm too brain dead lately to think of anything. Also I'm FALLING APART! I feel like a vacation to Greece is in order.

Future Home

If I ever (when I) get rich, I am going to build my own house and it will have a loft with a cool red ladder going up to it. None of the walls will be white. I will have thick white molding in every room. There will be clusters of pictures in different colors/size frames everywhere. Shelves with vintage knickknack-ey type things. The backyard will have wildflowers everywhere and a stream with a bridge. Anyways it will be a very eclectic house but I will love it. Here are some things that will in said house:

cool shelf for all the cool china i will have.

awesome shower curtain that is only $100 (cough cough)
end tables that aren't perfect and polished

cool yellow rug that reminds me of the sun.

lots of pillows in different shapes/colors/textures
dramatic curtains with cool patterns.

THIS EXACT couch. plus a few wingback chairs in a contrasting color
this bed frame that looks like you're in a forrest.

this bedspread...maybe not with that frame but I guess I can have two beds.

cool dishes/china. i like green cups.
funky tablecloths with tassels.
lots and lots of frames that are different like this mixed with solid black/white frames.
and last but not least it will have a very distressed brick wall that it partially torn down with an aqua color coming through a little bit, with these mirrors on it.

please don't judge my (might be weird to others) taste. I just can't help liking some strange things sometimes. i also am planning a room that is wasabi green and pumpkin orange. I know you're so jealous. The front door will be either green, mustard yellow or red, depending on the outside color. I will have solar power and a bomb shelter in the backyard, think "Pleasantville". Hopefully this house will have a path to the ocean or be up in a mountain. That is all.

p.s. please ignore the weirdo spacing, I copied the pics from anthropologie and pottery barn and i don't think it liked that. also i really won't be offended if you are jealous of my future house.

Busy Month

seriously this month has been so busy! i've taken pictures for 2 weddings, 2 families, 1 40th b-day party, and a family reunion. phew pretty much all in the same week. you can see pics from one of the weddings here. it was so nice but i have 700 pictures to go through just for that wedding. Anyways it was also my birthday on the 16th,
i got this bike:
and a bunch of other things like scrapbooking stuff :) .
my cake was kind of a flop, the frosting was too...i don't know i just didn't like it too much. i liked the candle though. it matched the flower sprinkles.

i also spent some time making these invites:
for my aunts reception.....

we also went camping with 4 other families. well, 2 went camping we went cabining with the other family. haha we've been camping with these families since i was born but our family doesn't camp after some unfortunate experiences...

we went to the washington coast and it was pretty foggy and chilly but it was still fun. the above picture is actually from La Push, WA, we went to forks and la push on our way home from greyland. we saw forks high school and some other fun Twilight places.

this weekend we went to woodlyn park zoo in seattle, it was about 90 degrees and i literally melted (note it will be around that hot the rest of the week...darnit i like the sun but not that kind of heat) on our way home from the zoo we ate at the Rock Woodfire Pizza restaurant...SO GOOD if you're ever in lynwood you should definitely look them up we talked to the guy about opening one in bellingham, we are that cool.

tomorrow my brothers, my dad and i are going to orcas island in the san juans to scooter around the island.

hopefully it will be a little cooler there with it being by the water. maybe. so that's why i haven't posted much this month...too much good stuff going on. next month will probably be pretty busy too so don't expect too much :) .

Summer Theme{s}

it's SUMMER! i'm pretty excited. i plan on spending quite a few hours doing these things:
consuming lots of lemonade flavored drinks...so good. i don't care what form it takes. there's just something so refreshing about lemonade.

listening to books on CD, this one i just read but i want to listen to it too. it's only 20 discs...i have lots of books on tape lined up and i'll read them here:

sitting on the Adirondack chairs on the deck (note, this deck is not mine). OR the hammock (not pictured)
the reason i want books on tape is so i can put them on my ipod and do this:
while listening to them. my birthday is in 14 days and this is what i would like. i probably will have to buy it with my own money, certain people don't want to buy it for me. booo. it's pretty legit. all it needs is a basket. anyways this summer is pretty full so i'm excited.

Where I was...

...when Michael Jackson died. Oh YES i did. i just have to say this one thing. michael jackson was a little bit of a creep-o his last few years of life, for sure, BUT...he was an amazing performer and i love (almost) all of his songs. i'm a little sad, but i'm not freaking out like others. wondering how i am going to go on with life, like a little piece of me died...not true. i'm sad that the king of pop died but my life goes on. i found out he died yesterday via text message just as i was making some homemade salsa verde enchiladas. (they were pretty darn good).

ok so switch topics, salsa verde enchiladas are pretty life changing. i didn't use any of that canned junk they try to sell as salsa verde, my neighbor taught me how to make my own. like from scratch. with lots of tamitios. it's AMAZING. even cold it's good. i made enough for 20 enchiladas, 2 full pans with enough for leftovers. i put one pan in the freezer to bake on a day nobody wants to cook. if you'd like some life changing enchiladas feel free to come over. (notice: i call them life changing since the only ones i have ever had are dry, red sauced and gross).

p.s. if you need some entertainment today check out these links:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj-x9ygQEGA

"emo kid is is throwing a dove at my face, i guess that means that he flipped me the bird..."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMlA8nQ0bXc&feature=related

"i'm a spelunker, and i am in a cave..."

SERIOUSLY RUN DON'T WALK AND WATCH THOSE LINKS. let me know what you think. i think they are hilarious.

Hair Flowers

i've been so busy lately. i just started a new job, job number 3, so i haven't really had time to post anything on this here blog. however, in the last couple days when i do have some free time i have been making some hair accessories for my photography. my neighbor also thinks i should sell them at a local craft fair but i'm not sure i'm sold. everything has to be $3 and under so we'll see.
i cover the alligator clips with ribbon to make it look a little nicer and to be softer on the soft baby heads:
here is the out-of-control flower mess:i am doing good and keeping it all in the box when i'm not using it FYI.
some completed flower clippies:

here are some cute crocheted headbands that you can put the clippies on. they are interchangeable. i love seeing these headbands with a HUGE flower on a little baby. seriously

and these crocheted hats...AMAZING. i love them. they too are interchangeable. i think i might weave some ribbon through the bottom part. these are newborn sizes but i think i'll go ahead and order several bigger sizes too.

and some more completed clippies.

tomorrow i will be buying a large amount of tulle to make a few newborn/toddler tutus. i am a little obsessed with photography props especially when i can do a craft to make them!

and last but not least my friend abby had a baby last friday...unfortunately i won't be able to practice any of my new hats or anything b/c she had a boy. his name is daniel and he is CUTE. they discovered a hole in his little lungs so he was in an incubator this weekend but today when i visited he was still in the nursery but in a crib with a heart monitor. hopefully they get to go home tomorrow!