my two favorite mugs

Hi all, I am heading out of town this weekend with a girlfriend of mine for a much needed break from life, work and the interwebs. I'll probably check in on instagram--for those of you who are there--but other than that, I won't be around the blog for several days.

I sure will miss my girl Willow--but my Hubs will be here taking care of her. Isn't she cute?

Happy weekend all, see you soon!

time flies

Oh, I have been the worst blogger and visitor over the past several weeks. I've got to tell you, work is kicking my butt and I apologize that I haven't been around much. I can't even believe we are well into March already. I hope things will settle down in the next month or so, please, bear with me :)

I do promise I will keep up with our {In The Picture} self-portrait project, so for those of you joining me there, never fear, I will not let that one slip. If you missed it, our optional theme for March is "black & white"(or sepia counts too, as I have done in this image above). This self-portrait was definitely a happy accident. I held my iPhone out at arm's length and snapped. Then I started running it through various apps to give it this vintage look and voila! I ended up liking the final product.

I hope you all have a fabulous weekend. Linking up today at Photo Art Friday.

{in the picture} black & white

Hey everyone...Happy March! Can't you just feel the springtime coming around the corner? I am anticipating some outdoor selfies in the next several months, wahoo!! But, even though spring and its beautiful, vibrant pops of color are fast approaching, I'm going to keep us in the grays for one more month with this theme.

It wasn't intentional, but somehow all of my self-portraits so far this year have been in black & white. Soooo, I thought it would be fun to see what you all come up with if I set you loose for a month of monochrome. Our optional theme for March will be "black & white".

There is something about a black & white photo that conveys a mood, doesn't it? I guess with all the color stripped away, it draws the viewer's attention more deeply to the emotion or message you are trying to share.

And here's a hint for you...if you are finding it hard to bring your gorgeous face into the frame, give it a try in black & white. We are always too critical of ourselves in our photos (I am so guilty of this too) but if you shoot in B&W (or process it to B&W or sepia afterwards), sometimes it softens the blow and helps ease the way towards shooting less of your hands and feet and more of your face! I am not encouraging you to hide yourself if you want to go bold, colorful and real, but if you are struggling then B&W may be something you want to try.

OK, so that's it for now. Remember the theme is optional, but it's kind of an easy one so I hope you all will try it. What you shoot and how you pose is up to you, but try to see what black & white will do for you in your self-portrait journey this month. I'll see you in our flickr pool and I'll be back here on the blog for our monthly linky party on March 30.

If you are new here you can join us at any time! Check out what you've missed so far over here.

<div align="center"><a href="http://www.urbanmuser.com/p/in-picture.html" title="In The Picture"><img src="http://i910.photobucket.com/albums/ac306/gibknitty/inthepicture.jpg" alt="In The Picture" style="border:none;" /></a></div>