State Fair 2013 || The Entries

Click here to see my entries from last year. Way late, but as I promised, here are my entries for this year. I knew I wanted to do the State Fair this year, but when I realized the deadline was in three days, I freaked. I had so many pictures I hadn't looked through. I had an idea of some of the ones I wanted to do, but I was determined to look through at least 75% of my photos (just so you know, that's a lot of pictures). I ended up with so many pictures I wanted to do, and I knew I couldn't do all of them. So, I uploaded them, and sent an email to my friend Karalee (guys, she's got this amazing eye for photography. seriously.), asking her if she could help me. She did, and I ended up with these photos. Some of these have had their debut on this blog, others haven't yet. So view some of these as a sneak peek! Do you have a favorite? Are they better than last year's pictures? xo, RN

State Fair 2012 || The Entries

If you've followed this blog for a little while you know that I entered the state fair last year. I entered 11 pictures. It was my first year, and I used my parents point and shoot camera.  When the pictures were blown up, the got a little blurry/grainy. Not my favorite. But in the end I got two placings and a lot of knowledge for the next year. These are all my photos. The placements were on pictures #3 (my sisters' head shot) and #10 (the baseball) I got 3rd for the baseball and 4th for the head shot. Which pictures do you like best?
I'll be posting this years' picks (and the ones I thought about entering) for my next post. xo, RN ps- this was going to be posted yesterday evening, but my power went out and it had to be postponed until today.

The Perfect Summer Bracelet // by Anna

 I'm not sure if I'm the only one, but I often find myself staring at people's wrists. Not exactly in a creepy way, but rather at what it is they're wearing on them. Some people dress their wrists in heavy silver watches, some with charm bracelets and some with charity bands. The ones I find most intriguing are the wrists obscured entirely by ragged embroidery thread (the remains of a friendship bracelet) and the worn shoe-lace style bands which have adorned these people's wrists for the past few months nonstop. They tell the perfect summer story.  So here is a tutorial I've come up with. It doesn't require you to go out and buy threads or loops. All you really need is an old t-shirt or two that's been loved and is ready to take on a new life.  Optional : a friend to share the bracelet making session with.

the friendship bracelet; the square knot bracelet; creaseless hair-tie

Start off both bracelets like this:

1. Cut 1cm loops off the end of a t-shirt. Snip one side. Pull taught until it curls up. Repeat three times. Can be fun to use all sorts of different colours together! 2. Tie a knot at the end and stick with painters tape or a weight to a table.  The Braided Friendship Bracelet

1. Using the above method, prepare! 2.Braid as you would hair, crossing over strips, to the desired length. 3. Snip off the excess (there will be a lot of this!) and tie the ends together to form your bracelet. The Square Knot Bracelet

1. This time tack the middle strand down too until taught. 2. Cross over one strand over the taught middle strand so it looks like a triangle 3. Then cross the strand from the other side over that 4. Tuck it under the strands 5. Pull on both sides to create your square knot 6. Repeat, alternating sides until you've reached your desired length  7. Tie off the ends. Anna x

head-first fearless || by petie.

at the beginning of this year, a lot of people seemed to have a "word" they adopted as their motto for 2013.  i never made it official, but mine is fearless...  fearless isn't just a word that taylor swift made popular with a catchy song and her blonde curls flying on an album cover.  it's an idea. it's an attitude. it's a way of life. and it's how i want to be defined. -- // pulling all-nighters just for fun. // // dancing in a grocery store. // // giving random people random hugs. // // doing that crazy thing just to prove to yourself that you can do it. // // saying "i love you." a lot. (and meaning it.) // // loving God with your whole soul and doggone it telling everyone about it. // // falling in love with something new. //  -- i don't want to spend this year worrying about what people think of me  or what they're saying behind my back.  i just want to be me without apology. -- and as for you... be you. don't be afraid of anything or anyone. take life by the horns and say, "i've got this." and with God for you, who can be against you? so go for it. dive into life head-first and fearless. -- what are ways you live fearlessly?

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the name is petie. i blog over at all things bright and beautiful. i'm a country girl who has a soft spot for classic books, red lipstick, mumford & sons, british television (or british things in general), and les miserables. i write all the time and could drink coffee in my sleep. my dreams are many, but my goal is solitary: to live this beautiful life God gave me for His full and complete glory. come and visit me, yes? coz i kinda love people. and food. food is da bomb dot com. cheers!

ten days || by grace

// hi beautiful people //

my name is Grace and that's me right there. difference is that I now have a newer camera & shorter hair, but that's besides the point. 

i'm popping over here to remind everyone about the beautiful thing approaching us called summer. 

i'm at the point of the year where i've mentally checked myself out of school, turned in my textbooks, and am just sitting here, tapping my feet in anticipation. you know what i'm talking about.

tanning

young adult novel reading

iced tea drinking

sunset snapping

barefoot

summer

days

10 more days for me. how many for you?

"And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow fast in movies, I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer." - The Great Gatsby

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my name's grace. a young blogger & photographer. sometimes a spaz. always laughing at pointless youtube videos. i'm kind of in love with coffee & the pacific northwest has my heart. want to read more? my personal blog is here. do you like coffee too? i'd love to see you there. mwah.

i give you myself || by jocee.

"...168 more pictures does not solidify the aesthetic value of who you are." - from urban dictionary

i would like you to know that i am more than an iPhone quality duckface and an obscene amount of mascara.
i would like you to know that i am more than a warning regarding my current relationship status.
i would like you to know that i am more than a pop song lyric.
i am more than the fragmented quotes on my goodreads page.
i am 1am meltdowns, i am oreo cookie cravings.
i am the messy hair i wake up with in the morning.
i am the bad jokes, i am the planned comebacks.
i am the quiet epiphanies, i am the lost hugs.

i am so much more than a facebook self-portrait, and i never want you to let that determine my worth.
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jocee: dark amber brown eyes (accented in sunlight), brown hair, dreams with emerald green eyes, sees life in the color vintage, cupcake enthusiast, lover of British accents, left-handed, traditional coca-cola bottle lover, lavender vanilla bubble baths, sea shell collector, avid believer in Narnia, Wonderland and Middle Earth, dictionary reader, quill and ink writer, supporter of chocolate-chip cookie dough ice cream, profound quote creator, despiser of capital letters, your personal imagination station, inspired by rainy days, aspiring photographer, bubble blower. blogs at cupcake dictionary. always hungry.

DIY Stamp

Do you like stamps? I never really thought I did until I started my picture journal. Stamps glam that up like nothing else. Plus they're really fun to use! Today I'm going to show you two ways I made a stamp. (I also did this DIY with my little sister (4) and I wouldn't recommend doing this with a small sibling. Tell them they can use the stamps at the end!) 01. start by sanding all your wood blocks so that they're nice and soft. No rough edges, they can cause slivers, and it's not worth it.   02. paint the top of all your wood blocks. I used 2-3 coats per stamp. Wait for each coat to dry before painting another, and also before moving on to step 3. 03. cut out all your shapes. I would suggest you use craft foam. The stamp will show up better, unless you want a dryer look. 04. using your glue, attach all the shapes to the wood blocks. 05. let dry. 06. draw your shape on the top of the stamp. 07. find a surface and start stampin'! What did you think? Did you like this DIY? Are you going to do it? If so, link back in the comments. I'd love to see! xo, RN