Treasury Round Up - 8/25/13

It seems like a lot of people are off enjoying the last days of summer or getting into the swing of the new school year and aren't online as much as usual. The treasuries keep trickling in, though. Help me thank the curators who have featured my work the past couple weeks by checking out their collections and visiting their shops.

Jen (JustAddJewelry) included my Beaded Bracelet - Winter Light Blue White Rock Garden in her Clouds in a Blue Sky treasury. I love the mix of items in this stunning collection. Check out Jen's BACK TO SCHOOL Frame Earring Holder, Earring Tree, Jewelry Organizer, College Dorm Storage, Turquoise Flowers, Unique Fun Gift.

Mihala (MIHHA) included my Button Bracelet - Fall Autumn Red Orange Yellow in her Ready for autumn adventures treasury. If this collection won't get you in the mood for fall, I don't know what will. Check out Mihala's White Red Striped Infinity Scarf, Reversible Loop Two Sided Scarf.

Natasha (StalkingTheWildSnark) included my Beaded Bracelet - Silver Links - Blue Yellow Pink in her Brighten Up My Day treasury. You know how much I love brightly colored collections. Check out Natasha's Diamond Hair Pin Bobby Pin Blue Purple Shrink Plastic Rockabilly.

LeAnn (pasqueflower) included my Button Dangle Earrings - Bright Colorful Multicolored Rainbow in her A Rainbow of Brights treasury. Apparently a lot of people needed some bright color in their lives the past couple weeks. This collection has a great mix of items, and I love how LeAnn arranged them in rainbow order. Check out her Chevron Oven Mitt - Rainbow Colors.

Linda (AbigailJayneArt) included my Beaded Dangle Earrings - Fall Autumn Leaves in her Fall is on its way! treasury. This collection has such a rich, homey feel. Check out Linda's Horses Dusty Trail Textile Art - mini quilt, crazy quilt, collage, wall art.

Linda also included my Beaded Dangle Earrings - Swirling Red Pink With Swarovski Crystals in her A Drop of Cranberry treasury from her PruittCreations shop. I love this color!

Edi (memoriesforlifesb) included my Beaded Bracelet - The Leaf Series - Spring Green Pink Leaves in her Find Your Adventure - And Get Outdoors treasury. This has been my motto the whole summer. It's a great message for the final weeks of it. Check out Edi's Glitter and Wood Bling Earrings Sparkly Gold or Silver Earrings.

Sharla (BeadedTail) included my Button Charm Bracelet - Hearts Girly Pink Purple Red White Valentine's Day in her Come Celebrate My Anniversary, Birthday, Cats, and Cookies! treasury. Help Sharla celebrate all of these wonderful things by checking out her awesome collection and her Green Leaf Sterling Silver Leverback Earrings.

I also curated my own treasury this past week: Kick Off Fall With Gray and Yellow.

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Friday Feature: dagger jewelry

In honor of one of my newest pieces, I decided to search for dagger jewelry on Etsy this week for the first time in ages. Enjoy.

Beaded Cuff Bracelet - Dagger Fringed - Green Red Purple by randomcreative

Agni Fire & Gold Earrings by AMermaidHeart

Rainbow colorful soutache earrings, turquoise, red, orange, yellow, leaf, dagger beads, swarovski crystals for summer by agtesa

Daggers bracelet, Czech glass daggers, Tangerine bracelet, orange dagger braelet, brass finish by CHARMATIONS

Geometrical Green Spike Earring Fiber Jewelry Long Earrings by LavenderField

Bad Girl dagger necklace with colorful separators by FlirtyBJewelryDesign

N is for (Urban) Nature

Newsflash: I joined Instagram last week! I know that some of you are already following me, which is great. If you're not yet, head over there and follow.

Now onto our regular programing...
Are you ready for another round of Alphabe Thursday? Let's go!

One of the many things that I love about living in Milwaukee is that I only have to drive five or ten miles to feel like I'm completely out of the city. While I love living in an area with lots of restaurants, stores, looming architecture, and city roads, I also love being right near Lake Michigan, beaches, woods, and trails.

Today I'm sharing just a few of my favorite urban nature shots from Milwaukee. Enjoy.

I love to post at least one older photo in these Alphabe posts. This shot is from my first excursion to Klode Park. It quickly became one of my favorite spots in the city.

Klode Park, May 2012

Lake Park, March 2013

 

Grant Park, April 2013

Whitnall Park, May 2013

Lake Park, May 2013

Estabrook Park, May 2013

McKinley Marina, May 2013

Elm Grove Park, June 2013

Boerner Botanical Gardens, June 2013

Milwaukee Pierhead Lighthouse, July 2013

Atwater Beach, July 2013

Back at Grant Park, August 2013

Check out what the other participants posted for the letter N this week right here!

August Mid-Month Sponsor Love

I'm celebrating the middle of the month with a shout out to all of my lovely sponsors!

Edi of memoriesforlifesb

Edi recently designed some brand new tandem bike items, including this cute wedding guestbook.

Jamie of ForLoveofCupcakes

 Jamie attended BlogHer 2013 and has been sharing her new blogging and social media insight on her blog, such as tips for improving on Instagram.

Linda of PruittCreations

 Linda's sepia brown newsprint hair clips are simple and versatile.

Angela of AngleAh

 Angela's brass flower ring is another simple, versatile piece.

Valerie of additionsstyle

 Valerie's copper chain bracelet is a great fit with virtually any wardrobe.

Deb of storybeader

 Deb has gotten to enjoy this imagination playground in her area this month.

Tiffany of Ribbon Lane Supplies

 Pick  up a set of grosgrain chevron ribbons for your fall crafts.

Paige of Little Nostalgia

 Check out the progress that Paige and her husband have made with their home this past year! They have accomplished so much.

Kristen of Milo and Molly

 I think that Kristen and I would get along in real life. She put together a great post about being an introvert earlier this month. Ironically enough, this image HAS been putting a smile on my face ever since I first read her post. I cannot even tell you how many times that has happened to me over the years.

I hope that you found some useful resources today!

Are you interested in advertising with me? Click here!

photo outtakes

I'm sharing another round of photo outtakes today. I'm going to try to make this a more regular feature for the foreseeable future. I think that it's really important to discuss the fact that I take a ton of photos to get a few gems. Also, while I keep improving my skills, I still make a lot of mistakes. Here are just a few examples of my recent outtakes.

Hello, overexposure. Right now I don't have the filter to shoot this type of scene with a long exposure.

Recently I've been experimenting a lot with different angles. Sometimes it works out well, but sometimes the effects are dizzying.

This front door/door frame had some sort of awesome red/turquoise color combination. But I didn't realize that I was shooting black and white. Now that I'm shooting in RAW, I don't have any reason to shoot in black and white so hopefully this sort of thing won't happen very often anymore.

Manual focus fail. This shot is a big blurry mess. The color version isn't much better.

I can't think of much that does work in this shot. I didn't take a color version, but the composition is still severely lacking so I don't think it would have made much of a difference.

Sometimes you can't get close enough to get the great shot. I didn't want to scare this little guy away.

This shot is a great example of why it can be worth taking multiple shots. I took six more shots of this same tree and did get a great one.

Food photography fail. Aside from the obvious lighting fail, this angle wasn't working with my lens.

Vintage light bulbs blurred beyond recognition.

Boring.

Don't be afraid to share your outtakes once in a while! It makes everyone feel better.