||| frances |||

in

it was one of the first truly pretty days, and we all spent it indoors, working and gazing longingly outside. at five thirty frances and i got dressed quickly and raced away to catch a little bit of the light. i got to try jeff's 24mm (causing an obsession that i have not been able to escape... it will soon be MINE!).

jeff got some great shots of fran & i, and they are on display right now at interzone cafe on monroe in corvallis! go check them out! :)

[caption id="attachment_578" align="aligncenter" width="510" caption="my favorite with the 24mm <3"][/caption]

this season is going to be an interesting time for me - i'll be getting new equipment and trying some different styles. i'll be able to shoot my first quinceañera and co-shoot my second wedding - and i'm really excited and nervous. :)

alphabet land with b (*)

in ,

a few weekends ago i went to portland to visit my friend brie - we had been planning a shoot based around my tattoos for quite some time. (to see a few of the resulting images, visit http://briemullin.com/blog/ ) i wanted to photograph as well, but i didn't really have a theme in mind and after prancing around half naked downtown for awhile (very cold, also embarrassing when cars would drive by) i was a little tired. but i did manage to capture a few of brie at this church near her house. <3

End of 2nd Haiti Auction <3

in ,

We raised $545 with our second Haiti Auction! I'll be contacting the winners by email by the end of the week. Congratulations to those who won (myself included, I can't wait to hang up my new painting)! The total raised for Haiti Relief with both auctions was $1545. Not bad! Though our auction is finally over, there is still work to be done. This is by no means the end of my efforts to do something for those less fortunate - Tyler and I have discussed plans for a fundraiser for a cure for Lupus, for later in the year. I plan to start volunteering at the local soup kitchen beginning in the next few weeks. And next year? Maybe teaching English in Thailand? Peace Corps?And photography, always.

I want to encourage everyone to do whatever they can to help anyone who needs it. When you find yourself getting sad or depressed, help someone else! It's the best way that I know to remember what life is really about and it is proven to get your mind off your own problems.

Internalizing how lucky I am has made me want to give back, and also made me appreciate every single aspect of my life. I think you miss out on the best parts of life if you don't truly grasp how fortunate you are being born in this time, in this place. Even with all the horrible things that the elected officials made us go through during the past 8 years, and the horrible things they did in our name to people in other countries, and all the crime and pain and pollution and hate that is still around everywhere, there are great things happening everywhere you look. Government aid made it possible for me to go to college. I have enough to eat, and even though I work full time, I have time to create art. Our president just made it possible for me to get health insurance again. And there are people out there trying their hardest to make this world something to be proud of. And that makes me proud.

Reading over that, I realize that I sound like an annoyingly self-righteous do-gooder and I promise, I don't think I'm a saint, and I am a human being, not a witlessly happy robot. Maybe it's the fact that it's the first sun after a week of straight rain, but there's nothing wrong with a bit of optimism, right? :)

Now that my blog is mine again (I kind of stopped posting personal stuff while the auction was going on, so that it wouldn't be so much about me) I am looking forward to sharing some of the recent photography that I've done, so if you want, come back and check it out... <3

Where will your donation go? {help haiti auction}

in

Minda Seibert, Senior Community Relations Officer from Mercy Corps, sent me a fact sheet on what they have been doing in Haiti since the disaster. Check it out below, and learn about what your money will do if you bid on the Help Haiti Auction! 030910 Mercy Corps Responds to Haiti Fact Sheet

*Updated Fact Sheet*

031810 Mercy Corps Responds to Haiti FactSheet

help haiti {round 2}

in ,

I've totaled up the bids and we raised $881 for Haiti with our first auction! That is more than I expected to raise, and I am hoping to raise even more with the second auction. And, as an added bonus! My boss, Holly Peterson, owner of The Ball Studio, donated $119 so that we could meet our goal of $1000. Thank you so much, Holly! Now all that remains for the first round is for me to orchestrate the receiving of funds and the shipping of prints, which will probably take a few weeks. I will be emailing winners tonight!

Thanks so much to everyone who bid on the artwork. Thanks to the wonderful artists who made this possible. Thanks to everyone who passed the auction link around to their family and friends. I really appreciate the support, and I am so pleased that we are able to send a nice check to Mercy Corps.

And please! Don't neglect our newest selection of artwork up for auction! The work is fantastic, and there is more to come. Follow us on the RSS feed to keep updated with the new pieces added to the auction.

'underland', hamentaschen, ice skating, and the end of auction 1 {today}

in ,

i have just returned from a lovely and much-needed four-day vacation. it was my little sister's 9th birthday, and we went ice skating. besides many near misses, and a few actual tumbles, i think i mostly have my pride intact. we also made hamentaschen, which are 3-sided cookies with jelly or chocolate centers {yummm!} and my sisters and i saw the new 'alice in wonderland,' which was thoroughly enjoyable and extremely beautiful. i really needed this trip. i feel like my brain is re-calibrated and i can finally focus on what needs to happen for me in the next few months.

my parents live in bellingham, which is a very long train ride, so lots of time to think and lots of time to read. i also experimented a bit with the camera on my new phone. i shot some film as well and i can't wait to see how it turns out!

[caption id="attachment_277" align="alignnone" width="510" caption="choo choo"][/caption]

today is the last day of our first auction - we've raised 836 so far, which is fantastic. i'm still hoping for some last minute bids to get our total up to 1000! so bid away! you've got till 11:59 pm tonight.

i've begun receiving submissions for the second auction which begins tomorrow. i am blown away by the work, once again, and am so grateful to all of you for helping me get this project going. you are all amazing!