Welcome to the first Spotlight On feature! Every month, on the last Sunday of the month, we will get to know a little bit more about one of our fellow participants!
Today, I hand you over to Jo :)
Tell us a little bit about yourself My name is Jo and I'm 44 ( I really thought I was only 43 on my last birthday till my Mum put me straight - doh!) I live in the beautiful North East of Scotland between Inverness and Aberdeen. It's a long way from anywhere but it means that we do get plenty of snow in Winter which makes me very happy!!
What on earth possessed you to attempt a photo-a-day challenge? I did a photo a day challenge back in 2010 and to be honest I was heartily sick of it by the time it got to October! But I am hoping this challenge will be different with a daily prompt to get my brain cells working.
Tell us a bit about your photography I started taking photos when I started scrapbooking although I have to admit I was a reluctant crafter at first - but the bug soon took hold. Hubby brought me a bridge camera (or two) to start with which were great. But then my Dad very generously bought me a Canon 450D. I love it to pieces even though it can be slightly tempremental - it went to camera A&E but they couldn't find anything wrong with it. I lust after a 60D but need to save plenty of pennies first. I do use PSE6 but my editing is minimal - but have to say I am in love with Instagram on the ipad.
Share with us your favourite photo My best photo is a lucky shot I took whilst on holiday on the Isle of Skye several summers ago - taken whilst we were right at the top of the island. I love it so much I have had it made into a canvas that has pride of place in my hall – where everyone has no chance but to see it – it is also my blog header and my Facebook timeline photo.
If you knew you would not fail, what would be your dream job? Dream job??? I always had a dream of running my own tea shop – I would serve and my wonderful mother in law would do all the baking. I should think running your own successful photography business would be pretty cool too.
Anything else you wish to share? You can read more of my ramblings on my blog (plenty of photos and minimal crafting and some book reviews) Here is the link to find me - http://mrsbeee.blogspot.com/ You can also find me on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/jo.bee2 - and if you play Farmville I always need more neighbours (sad I know!!) I have just become the proud owner of an ipad and am in love with some of the camera aps on there – and I am mrsjobee over on Instagram.
Don't forget to check back a little later for the Spotlight On feature!!
Today I want you to take a photo of a ...
kitchen utensil
Here's mine ... this electric carving knife is sooo old. It reminds me of my dad, who died when I was 10. It was bought in South Africa, in the early 80s I think, and was shipped over to the UK with all the rest of our belongings when we emigrated when I was 19. It has carved many a Sunday roast and Christmas turkey and feels like an old friend! I love it's retro colouring.
Tomorrow there will be two blog posts ... one for the word, and one a little later for our very first 'spotlight on' feature! So don't forget to check back to learn a little bit more about one of your fellow participants! :)
Next up ...
fluffy
Here's my take on the prompt ... while I admit to being a snob in other areas of my life, I am certainly not a book snob - I'll read pretty much anything, and often enjoy losing myself in someone else's world of fluff and nonsense!
Well, it seems some of you had a bit of trouble without me being bossy yesterday! 'free choice' days will crop up from time to time ... but I'll try to keep them to a minimum!
I have a busy day today, a big day long meeting all about something for which I do the admin, so I need to be on my toes and make sure I don't take on a load of extra work! I'll also be the tech-girl, a role I am in no way qualified for, lol, so hope everything goes according to plan! (Oh, and the lurgy didn't hang around or develop thank goodness! Thanks to those who asked :D)
Today we have a free choice day! This will happen a few times throughout the year ... photography something that is important or significant for you RIGHT NOW (in other words ... I'm too lazy to think of a word today :D)
free choice
Here is the book I'm reading at the moment ... I love Mark Billingham's DS Tom Thorne series!
So yesterday we had motion ... today, surprise surprise, we'll be looking at things that are
motionless
I have a touch of the lurgy, so I may be motionless on the sofa all day :-)
Right, I'm cheating a little bit today! I took this photo yesterday, knowing what today's word was going to be. Today I have the plumber here fixing a new radiator and I'm not sure there'll be much photographic opportunity! So here's my photo of the motionless traffic jam I sat in for over 40 minutes yesterday (for a 7 minute bus journey!). I'm sure it looks pretty much the same today!
Oops! No photo from me yesterday! I was so tired ... I fell asleep on the sofa after work and felt awful when I woke up! NAPS are bad for me!
Today I want you to show me a
sign
Thinking caps on!
This is my sign that the weekend has begun (snapped from ITV-iplayer thing on my mac, haha)! I love Law & Order UK ... was horrified when they killed off the very gorgeous DS Matt Devlin (Jamie Bamber <3) but DS Sam Casey (Paul Nicholls <3) is an acceptable replacement :).
I have to work today (I usually have Wednesdays off) to make up a day I had off while the heating was being repaired. Boo hoo :(
Today's word is ...
pleasurable
This folder contains all the info about our holiday in Orlando! Email confirmations of all kinds, tickets to theme parks, itineraries, ESTAs, even dollars! Very valuable, and it gives me much pleasure planning and anticipating our holiday!
Here's mine! This was sent to me by a very generous and lovely member of a Facebook group I've recently joined - in essence a total stranger, sending me some lovely little bits to use in my art journalling! Very generous :)
Two weeks in and we still have lots of happy snappers! I'm truly loving that you're all loving this challenge ...
Today's word prompt is ...
guilty pleasure
We all have them - those little things we know we shouldn't enjoy, but we just do! It might be watching X-Factor, or woofing up the leftover roast potatoes, or maybe just a long bubble bath when you know you should be doing a million other things!
Mine is .... shhhhhh ... Michael Buble! A very guilty pleasure for a girl who likes to think of herself as a bit of a rock chick!
**Just a note to everyone - I seem to be having some problems leaving comments! Some seem to be publishing twice and some not at all ... think blogger is playing silly buggers. Please be assured I've visited all your blogs and seen all your fab photos :D**
Some of you were intrigued by the course I'm doing ... I did link to it in yesterday's post, but if you're interested you can read about the Altered Bottle Workhop here! Next one starts in March :)
Yesterday was an easy one ... can't have you all slacking off too much though! Today's word is ...
translucent
Show me something translucent in your world today! (I have no idea what I'm going to do for this one!)
Here's mine! This is the back of my altered bottle so far ... after two stages the glass is now translucent :)
back later! Rushing out the door on the school run ... day off for me :D
Right, here's mine! Not exactly something I wear every day, but I've just started an online workshop for part of which you have to wear latex gloves ... *evil grin*
Well there were lots of water problems around yesterday, weren't there?! Hope everyone is sorted now ... or at least on the way to being sorted!
Today is a double birthday in our house. Both my children were born today ... but they're not twins! There is three years between them and today they turn 13 and 10! One teen and one into double figures! In 8 years time they will turn 21 and 18 on the same day ... we'll have to plan a massive party for that one :)
Anyway, the word of the day has nothing to do with birthdays or celebration. The word today is
metallic
Here's mine! Freddie got a funky new guitar for his birthday ... it has metal(lic!) strings :)
It's back to work for me today *sad face* (I had a few extra days off because of the heating debacle) so I'm testing out a scheduled post ... hopefully this will appear at 6am :).
So, first of all, I had a couple of you asking how I choose the word of the day. My original intention was to have a whole bunch of words in a jar, and pick one out at random each day. So it would be as much of a surprise to me as it was to you. But then I got involved with the photography challenge on UKScrappers, and I wanted those who wanted to follow both Snap: 2012 and 365+1 to be able to do so without much more effort. Snap: 2012 centres round a weekly theme, so the easiest way to merge the two was to have the daily word fit in with the theme. So I went into super-planning-overdrive and planned out 52 weeks worth of themes, with 7 words each week that fit that theme. Unfortunately this took out the spontaneity for myself - I know all the words in advance, but I'm still taking the photo on the day. It seems to be working well so far (I did swap out yesterday's word ...). I absolutely know that there will come a time when this becomes a drag and many of you will drop out for a while and I will WANT to give up, but I promise to keep posting at least the word every day :D
Anyway ... as I mentioned, today sees me returning to work after the Christmas break (I'm extremely lucky to work term-time only!), and also marks the beginning of the pre-holiday-in-the-sunshine healthy eating quest. One of the changes I'll be making is to drink more ...
water
Think literally or laterally, interpret as you wish or not at all ... my photo will be up when I get home from work (hopefully).
Here it is! How much water did I manage to drink today?
Woohoo! We made it through week one! I've been so thrilled with everyone's enthusiasm for this challenge, and LOVE seeing all your photos! It's amazing to see how differently everyone interprets the word of the day.
Today, my heating is fixed (yay!) and I am sitting here in the dark (three teenagers asleep on sofas/floor) drinking a cup of coffee (that green tea box from yesterday? Anyone know where it is?! hehe) and it feels very ....
cosy
So there you go! It's Sunday, there must be some cosying up going on!
The word for today ... which some of you pre-empted yesterday :) ... is
drink
hot drink, cold drink, alcoholic drink, someone or something drinking, something that drives you to drink! Interpret as you wish, and remember, you don't have to use the word at all! Snap what is happening in your life :)
Here's mine ... it's kind of a new year's resolution of mine to get healthier, and green tea is one of the things I'm trying ... although as yet I haven't had a single cup of it! With the freezing temperatures in this house, coffee is the only thing that's keeping my insides warm! Tomorrow I will start with the green tea ...
Today is the first day of the Snap:2012 challenge on UKScrappers. If you're participating in both challenges you will notice the daily words will now be linked (sometimes tenuously!) to the weekly theme ... If you're not a UKS member you won't really notice any difference, so keep on snapping and sharing your photos!
Today's word is frost
If there's no frost around where you are (there's none here today!) this will pose a bit of a challenge, but dig out those thinking caps and put them on! What's happening in the freezer? Got some frosted glass in your bathroom? Interpret the word in your own way :) Or, of course, you don't need to use the word at all - snap something else entirely!
Here's mine - no frost on the ground today, but the workmen are in again and all the doors in the house are open ... my hands are feeling decidedly frosty!
Some of you will be pleased to know that yesterday's cupboard of death spewage resulted in FIVE BLACK SACKS full of crap for the dump! Hurrah! The rest will be going in the shed, with a few things going back in the cupboard of death ...
Lots of prettiness yesterday! My eyes feel a little better :)
So today, it's a cold, miserable, dark, grey Thursday. Everyone's a bit grumpy about going back to work and getting back to normal after the Christmas holidays ... I'm definitely in a grumpy mood as I have to clear the cupboard under the stairs, aka the cupboard of death, for the workmen. Soooooo ... today I want you all to look for something that brings you
excitement
Update to add my photo! Now, you see, excitement crops up in the weirdest places. The cupboard of death has spewed forth its' contents, and I am strangely quite excited about this, an EMPTYcupboard of death!:
THIS however, yeah, not feeling the excitement quite so much here ...
(I can't quite believe that I have just shared that photo with the world!)
Now if I can find excitement in an empty cupboard, you can find excitement on a dull January Thursday!!!
Well, you certainly all brought the ugly yesterday! Today the work begins in my house to replace our heating system which blew up just before Christmas, so I'm going to be surrounded by even more ugly! To save my sanity, today I want you to show me pictures of
pretty
My friend bought me my favourite flowers for my birthday, a huge bunch of tulips :)
So, we've had a bit of an easy and predictable start so far. Today may be a bit more of a challenge for you!
The word of the day is
UGLY
Is there something you see every day that you think is ugly? What makes you feel ugly? What puts you (or someone else!) in an ugly mood?
Here's mine ... sometimes at night I can't be bothered to wash up and I leave it to the next day, even though I know it will be a very ugly start to the day! Yes, sometimes I am a lazy slob!
I was so happy to see you all playing along yesterday! There is no deadline on joining this challenge - you can start your year whenever you like! And thank you for all the birthday messages, it made the day even more special x
Today's word is
new
Did you get an amazing new present for Christmas? Are you turning over a new leaf? Starting some new resolutions to create a new you? Whatever is new in your world, I want to see it!
Oh oh oh! I forgot! (see, those brain cells are dying off ALREADY!!!) Here's a flickr group for you to join and upload your photos to if you want to - not essential - but I thought it would be nice to see all our photos in one place. There will be a collagey thing on the flickr tab at the top of the blog :)