I know, I’m a little late on the J.Crew orange lipstick boat.  I wasn’t convinced I could pull it off, then I got the J.Crew June 2011 catalog in the mail (a.k.a. torture for individuals that don’t have a steady income) and I was convinced that I couldn’t not try it. I am a nude lip girl through and through but this color is the equivalent of happiness for your lips.  How can you not envy a girl wearing tangerine lipstick? So sweet + chic.  There was plenty of nude lip presence in the catalog, but I haven’t found out what the color is, yet–don’t worry I will.  So the rumors going around was that this orange lipstick nirvana was either Nars Heat Wave or Mac’s Lady Danger.  After Jules found the perfect lipgloss in the coveted shade it sold out immediately coast-to-coast as there was not a tube in sight. Fine.  I made the terrible trek to the,*cringe* mall.  I don’t like malls but I am nothing if not persistent (even for a chronic procrastinator). I went to Sephora tried Heat Wave and looked like Baby Jane if Baby Jane was crazy enough to wear a neon orange lipstick. I wondered if this was my guilty conscience steering me away from the $24 lipsticks?  I know myself too well, I may want the J.Crew lip look but will I really wear it enough to justify the purchase?  I don’t think so.  I found some excellent alternatives from Sephora’s brand, they have a matte-ish lipstick called ‘It Girl’ (they must have heard the cries of delight from the interwebs over this color) they describe it as ‘muted coral tangerine’ (it’s number 6 on the page). Sephora has an equally wonderful gloss called ‘Shimmery Orange Juice’ (for those that don’t want an opaque lip).  I bought them both because who knows how I will feel?  Will I want full color or just a sheer pop of it?  I wore my purchase home and the Fancy that usually hates my matte red lipstick commented on how pretty I looked. Nice. Have you caught the orangey-red lipstick fever as well? Any other suggestions of great colors?

It occurred to me today that I hadn’t created a free download in quite some time.  I was doing a little cyber Spring cleaning this afternoon and came across these vintage frames on my hard drive that I used to sell on Etsy many moons ago. The frames are great to add a little character to your blog photo’s, digi-scrapping, or who knows what creative goodness you can come up with?  I will leave the creativity up to you, I am sure you will find something fabulous to make with them. So without further ado, please feel free to download here.

I have been blessed with a plethora of freelance projects lately, yet I am still going to complain that there are just not enough hours in the day, thank you very much. I have been working so hard that I needed to just get outside for a few hours on Sunday and take a break.  I signed up for a photography “workshop”, I have that in quotes because it wasn’t much of a workshop as it was the opportunity to shoot a couple of “models”.  It didn’t matter, I was happy to drive back to Pasadena (as I am obviously stalking that city) and shoot for a couple of hours with people that are in love with photography.  It was a no pressure day and I was happy to participate.  I really wanted to try out my Lensbaby Composer on the models as I have not really got the hang of it since I got it for my birthday (last September!), I have tried a few times and hated all my results so it has been quietly sitting on my desk for months, making me feel guilty with each glance. I would really love to take a workshop on learning how to use the Lensbaby as it has me baffled. These are some of my experiments with the model in a babbling brook in a wooded area (yes, Pasadena even has little woodland forests).  This model had a very classic look and I wanted to convey a dreamy ‘back in time’ feel with the shots.  I love the blur (I mean that is the whole point of the Lensbaby) but would have liked a little less blur and a little more control of the focus.  Have any of you tried a Lensbaby?  Do you have any tips and tricks? I would love any Lensbaby advice if you have it.

I have been blogging for about five years now, maybe more, I have lost count.  Isn’t it strange how fast  time goes by when you are busy flapping your gums to the interwebs? For about the same amount of time I have been posting photo’s of cute animals almost every Monday (sometimes I get lazy and post on some other random day of the week).  The thing that I find so miraculous is that even after all this time the internet never ceases to amaze me with the amount of cute it can serve up.  This little black pug?  I’ve never even spied his/her cute mug before and just like magic I happen to find this sweet little face staring wistfully at me as if to say, “Yes, I am indeed your next Monday post.”

BTW, feel like a jaunt to Paris? Yeah, me too, visit Jordan and have a Happy Day!