Kickstart to Clutter Free - Day 14

Finally, I have made time to tackle day 14 of Kathi Lipp's Kickstart to Clutter Free challenge! Today's challenge...the Dining Room...

This is what my dining room looked like this morning. Yes, there is a bunch of stuff on the table and on that end chair. The dining room table is an easy place for me to dump stuff as we come into the house. Flat surfaces and I are constantly having a battle in our home. I know what I 'need' to do, but there are times when I am just too lazy to tackle it.

So this morning, I grabbed my Kickstart to Clutter Free checklist and started working on clearing off the table.

First thing I did was correct and look through my daughter's school work. As a homeschool mom, this is a constant task for me. But rather than put her books at her place on the table, I actually walked them back to her room. Less clutter on the table!

Then I started working my way through old mail and other things that found they way to trying to be permanent fixtures on the table.

I changed out the table cloth and stopped for some flowers on our way home from Bible study.

Amazing how just 15 minutes of clearing out the clutter can change the look of a room!

Now I know it has taken me a whole lot longer than 14 days to complete this challenge, but I am glad I was able to make it work around my life. I am looking forward to doing some deeper de-cluttering around our home over the next few weeks and months.

If you are looking to start de-cluttering your home, I really recommend Kathi's Kickstart to Clutter Free challenge. Just think, in 14 days you can clear out over 500 items in your home! 

What's In The Mail? - Glimpses of God

Today on the Compassion blog, you can read my latest post which highlights the new Compassion letter writing guidelines. But today on my blog, I am sharing what's in the mail to my own sponsored children this month.

• In my letter to my kids this month, I wrote about looking for glimpses of God where they live. I also reminded them that God is always with them and He is always watching over them.
• Doodle 101 tutorial so they can create their own Bible verse doodle
• I took time this week and drew out the Doodle 101 tutorial that I am sending to them. I left it as a coloring page for them to color in themselves.
• What makes me special? devotional I found on this website

This month, I am including another free printable that you are able to print out and share with your own sponsored children. It is available here: jpeg or pdf

My hope is that each sponsor takes the time to write to their sponsored children.

Remind them that God loves them.

Remind them that God made them special.

Remind them that you are praying for them.

Take time today to write to the children you sponsor!

My Week of Photos - Texture

Last week, Nat over at Easy Camera Lessons shared about Understanding Texture on their YouTube channel. So this week, I put my 18-55mm lens on my DSLR and used some of the screw on macro lenses my daughter got me for Christmas and went on a hunt for things I could photograph that showed different textures. Here is what I found:

ISO 100, f/3.8, 1/250 sec

We took down a couple of trees in our backyard, so we have some big logs hanging out. I love how rough this looks.

ISO 100, f/5.6, 1/1600 sec

For a shot like this one, this is when I wish I had a true macro lens! How I wish I could zoom in really close on the center of this flower to see so much more of the details.

ISO 1600, f/4.5, 1/125 sec

Since cooking and/or baking is going on around here at least 5 days a week, I had to throw in a few food photos for this week. We had sausage gravy and biscuits one night, so I thought...why not show the texture of one of the biscuits. Just add butter, right?

ISO 1600, f/4.2, 1/640 sec

I cannot resist fresh asparagus this time of year! Right now, it has been $1.88 a pound. I love to just drizzle them with a bit of olive oil, then salt and pepper them. My husband will usually pop them on the BBQ for a bit. Yum!

ISO 100, f/5.6, 1/200 sec

Now that our weather has warmed up a bit here in central California, my lavender bushes are starting to bloom. With the macro lens attached, you can actually see how fuzzy these blooms are. Can't wait until enough of them have bloomed to start cutting some to have in the house.

ISO 200, f/4.2, 1/50 sec

Any guesses on what this is?

It is grated cheese on a homemade pizza! We usually have homemade pizza around here at least once a week. Mozzarella, parmesan, and a bit of pizza seasoning. We tend to keep our pizza pretty simple.

So this week stretched me a bit, trying to get creative with what I could photograph that would show different textures. Which one is your favorite?

My Week of Photos - Red on White

For this week of photos with my DSLR, I actually combined two photo challenges. On Easy Camera Lessons, they were focusing on photographing items on a white backdrop. But then I ran across another weekly photography challenge from Dogwood Photography. I chose to concentrate on the week three challenge of photographing red items. So this week's photos are all red items on a white backdrop:

ISO 1600, f/2.8, 1/250 sec with 50mm lens

First up, a red book that I have read (I know, funny play on words there!). For this one, I basically draped some white muslin across the floor and up onto an ottoman, placed a book under the muslin on the floor to raise up the red book a bit off the floor, then placed the book away from the back of the fabric to eliminate as much shadow as possible.

ISO 1600, f/2.8, 1/500 sec with 50mm lens

I did a bit of baking over the weekend and thought the board with flour made a great white backdrop. So I pulled out my box of cookie cutters and found this red heart.

ISO 1600, f/2.8, 1/100 sec with 50mm lens

We had strawberries with our waffles on Sunday morning. But before I started slicing them up, I pulled out a couple sheets of white paper towels to work as my backdrop for this set up. I just draped the paper towels up and over a cup, then set the strawberries away from the backdrop.

ISO 800, f/9.0, 1/50 sec with 50mm lens

For this shot, I placed a white piece of paper on the ground outside, filled the white bowl with red jelly beans, then shot this one from above. I closed down the aperture so you can see the details of the bowl. 

ISO 1600, f/4.0, 1/50 sec with 50mm lens

Red thread and white fabric, almost makes me want to do some redwork embroidery.

ISO 1600, f/3.5, 1/60 sec with 50mm lens

I have been knitting more dishcloths to sell and to have on hand for bridal shower gifts. My red row counter and white yarn made a perfect capture for this last shot of the week.

That wraps up my week of red on white photos. Which one is your favorite?

Have you ever combined two photo challenges in one week?

Kickstart to Clutter Free - Day 13

After being under the weather for about a week, I finally had a chance to get back on track with Kathi's Kickstart to Clutter Free challenge. Today's task...eliminate 25 items from your car.

Front seat...yep, my empty Jamba Juice cup that was basically my lunch yesterday after a meeting out of town.

Back seat...a full trash container and a couple of water bottles.

But on closer inspection, once I looked in the glove compartment, the door pouches, the seat pockets, and the middle console, I was amazed at what I found in my car.

Pens, buttons, old paperwork, a power cord that we don't need, an old magazine, extra CDs, card games we don't use any more...I even found someone's missing pair of socks!

I was quickly able to go through what needed to be thrown away, put away, and set aside to give away.

And the exciting thing about completing today's task...I only have one more day to complete on this challenge, which means I have eliminated over 475 items from my home!