The Flash Bulb Necklace is here!

One Sweet Shot - November 2008

It’s not everyday that you discover mystery and magic held in a cup of something warm and wonderful. And in is the time of year when weather often keeps us close to home mysterious images like this fill us with comfort while piquing our curiosity and sense of adventure. So much wonder, so much to discover as we watch, wait, dream.

Such is the trail of the other lovely images captured by Jeanne Boyle—strewn about fallen leaves of color and texture. Reminding us that happiness and contentedness can be found right here, where we’ve landed.

Grab a cup of warmth and get cozy as you click around all the sweet shots this morning.

Pumpkinoodle is honoring this one from InkyBlack

Busymomma66 is honoring this shot from artful life

Rachel Parton is honoring this shot by Julie Alvarez

Whirlwind is honoring this shot from Ittybits & Pieces

Jeanne Boyle is honoring this shot by Andrea (scout)

Nicky Thomas is honoring this shot from myrtlemount and this one from Just Make It

Camerashymomma is honoring this shot from Something Cheeky

Debbie Schinker is honoring a shot she discovered over at DPS. This shot was taken by Jessie Coffee, an 8^th grade photography student in Arkansas

Kimberly Kwan is honoring this shot from kisforkelly and this one by sheenalu

Just Make It is honoring this shot from Meshl

Thanks again for playing along this month. It’s always a pleasure to share such stellar images.

Be sure to leave a comment here today for a chance to win your own copy of America at Home with your very own custom cover. It’s the second post of our Sundays at Home series for November. And congratulations to the winner of last weeks copy Spread Your Wings.

Friday's Feature -A Kirtsy Call (photo contest)

I'll bet some of you are surprised that we didn't feature a Halloween photo today, aren't you? Never fear, we got the obligatory pumpkin photo out of the way a while ago not to mention this spooky and oh-so-adorable shot at The Daily Click today. Over here, we've got a treat of a different kind.

In the name of sisterly love and community, we are partnering with the fantabulous ladies behind the phenomenal social media platform Kirtsy for a photo contest! It's going to be way better than Halloween candy (except for maybe Reese's). It's a Kirtsy Call, if you will. And we will.

See, Kirtsy has a book coming out with BrightSkyPress and they've asked us, to ask you what you think a Kirtsy might look like and then capture it in a photo. Nothing like an awesome theme photo challenge to get us Shutter Sisters clickin'! We knew you'd be all over this one.

So, what's in it for you? Well, above and beyond the creative satisfaction of visually interpreting a theme of a "fantastically made up word" nothing much...only a chance to BE PUBLISHED! Hello! The top 5 winning images will be featured in the soon-coming book, due out in Spring 09. Oh, don't worry winners, you'll get a free copy of the book too so you can capitalize on those bragging rights.

To enter the contest you must first capture a photo (each participant may submit up to 3 images) that best depicts the word or idea or vibe of the word Kirtsy. No rules ladies, the interpretation is up to you. Second, you must add the image(s) to either your blog or your Flickr stream and third you need to comment on this here post with the link to where your photographic Kirtsy masterpieces are found so that we may, you know, find them. Three simple steps. That's all there is to it.

The contest starts today and ends in one week. In other words you must leave your comment here with the link to your photo(s) sometime between now and midnight PST on Friday, November 7^th.

And since it's Friday and we've promised to feature valuable resources on Fridays, we hope you take some time getting to know the Kirtsy community and all the amazing content that is featured over there. If you'd like to join in the fun (you know you do) you can send any article/blog post you think is worth sharing to Kirtsy for all to enjoy. For example, you'll notice at the bottom of every Shutter Sister post there is an option to share article. When you click it gives you a list of places where you can share the post. Kirtsy is one of those places. Of course, we would be honored if you ever wanted to share our posts with the masses so by all means, click away. We're just sayin'.

OK, Happy Halloween already! Have fun!

Friday's Featured Resource - Ali Edwards

Ali Edwards, Oregon Coast, Summer 2008

I don’t scrapbook. I tried it once many years ago and failed miserably. Don’t get me wrong, my pages looked pretty good but I only got 4 done. The End. But when I see the volumes of cool and imaginative scrapbooks created by the incredibly talented Ali Edwards, I swoon. Suddenly I become a scrapbook junkie. Course, I haven’t attempted it again since my first 4 pages but still, I like to look and admire what Ali has done.

When I visit Ali’s blog, I know I want to make something amazing with my photos but then I get overly-inspired and decide I’ll leave it for another day. But then today is gone. Sigh. So, when I read the invitation to join Ali in a simple project to record a week in the life of my life, my family, using my photos, featuring what I see as important today, I will admit, I got a burst of inspired energy and determination. Maybe I can do this. Maybe I’ll start today.

Why this project? Why now? I guess it’s just the thrill of having this moment in time distilled into something tangible. Something I can hold in my hands as a reminder of this priceless and fleeting moment of my life. I take photo and after photo and am usually content with that being the end result. But the idea of using photos as a springboard sparks my interest. It’s as if the photo is just part of the process. It’s a whole new perspective. And it’s as simple as a focusing in on just one week of my life. I think it sounds wonderful and I plan on taking Ali up on her invitation by following along with her on her blog to see what I can come up with. Why not?

Ali is a one woman resource and offers so much via her blog, her books, her columns, etc etc). I encourage you to click around and discover the magic that is Ali Edwards. She’s one heck of a creative gal who likes to share and sharing is good.

Speaking of sharing, Ali has offered to give away 4 books (1 copy of each title ) to lucky readers her at Shutter Sisters today. Be sure to leave a comment today to get into the running…prepare to be inspired. You have until midnight on Saturday to be included in the drawing.

Round and Round

Flash Bulb Necklace by CameraShyMomma / Bowl of Buttons by Tracey in the Blurb office, San Francisco

Things are happening behind the scenes here at Shutter Sisters and we’re taking today to fill you in.

The Daily Click Book is starting to take shape and it’s going to be awesome! With over 75 images from this very community, how could it not be? We’re still not sure of the exact date of publication but we’ll let you know as soon as we do.

The next book on the list will be Shutter Walk. If you’ve submitted images into the Photo Walk Flickr pool you will be contacted soon after The Daily Click book gets wrapped up.

And we just got word that the second run of Flash Bulb necklaces are in! We are working our way through the list that’s been left at our original post so if you’ve left a comment reserving your necklace and you haven’t heard from us yet, you soon will- so keep your eyes open for our email. And if you haven't, pop over and get on this list.

There’s lots more where that came from but we’re waiting to share all the exciting details of what’s to come for another week or so. Stay tuned and keep clickin’!