Hoppy Holidays!

From our house to yours, have a merry one!

Fantastic!

Bunny Benefit Day raised $74 for 3 Bunnies Rabbit Rescue! Thank you for participating!!

BUNNY BENEFIT DAY!

MARK YOUR CALENDARS!

Sunday November 8 is our first BUNNY BENEFIT DAY!

100% of any purchase made from 12:01 a.m. EST through 11:59 p.m. EST will go to 3 Bunnies Rabbit Rescue.

Offer valid only at our Etsy Shop, www.mcguinnessphoto.com.

This is a great opportunity to stock up on holiday gifts and help rabbits at the same time!

Blog Mentions

Wow! It's been an exciting day for us at McGuinness Photography! Our photography has been featured in two fall themed blog posts!

Jack and Ella Designs wrote a lovely post that used "The Falling of Leaves" by Yeats with our photos!

Rob's Bennington photo was featured on the By Hand Gallery, via 1000 markets, curated by Shelley MacDonald.

Thank you!!

Winding down in the garden

Today I finished planting the rest of my spring bulbs. I began two weeks ago with the help of my husband planting 100 daffodils, 75 crocuses, and 50 grape hyacinths. Since then I also acquired some alliums, windflowers and Dutch irises. We had a rapid cold snap this past week and I regretted not getting everything in the ground at once. But today it appears that Indian Summer has arrived late, but finally, in Connecticut, so I embraced the warmer weather and feverishly dug several beds for next spring.

This was my first year I had my own garden that was not on borrowed land. I ended up acquiring too many plants and had to relocate several as the tree leaves grew in and full sun areas turned into partial shade. As a result, some plants didn't make it.

It was one of the rainier summers we've had in a long time, so slugs seemed to multiply effortlessly overnight in the garden; destroying with them several dahlias, petunias and other delicacies. (I learned that wax begonias do surprisingly well when confronted with massive slugs.)

The tomatoes were a disappointment, and to say that I got five tomatoes is generous. This year they were grown in pots against the shed. I'm toying with a permanent location for a vegetable garden next year, which will either end up by the driveway or behind the house, whichever seems to get the most sunlight.

I planted my first tree, which I felt was important and symbolic. I also learned, a little too late in the season, the importance of good foundation shrubs on the borders of the garden.

It was a year of firsts for me, and several times I was reminded of the The Secret Garden, the book I cherished as a child. I'm looking forward to the plants that return next spring.

Photo pendants available in shop!

I finally created a listing for photo pendants over at the etsy shop. The above shows samples that I've already created, but I can make a photo pendant from any image in my shop.

I think bunnies are taking over the blog...

Lola: "I enjoy being tall."

Who doesn't? :)

We are very happy at the house of bunnies... Molly is continuing to improve daily and was taken off one of her three medications today. She has a healthy appetite for hay, pellets, basil, parsley, romaine lettuce and dandelions! Thank you to everyone for your continued support and well wishes!

Molly update

I'm so happy to share that Molly appears to be on the path of recovery! She has begin to show interest in hay, pellets and running around again!

Thank you everyone for the healing wishes!

Back at the vets

Today Molly started to refuse veggies and poop less so I brought her in. She needs another pain med, a dosage increase on her original pain med, and now she is down to 2.5 pounds (she was 3.5 when she was spayed in August). And I've been told to move her house away from Lola since Lola's aggression may be contributing to stress. (They've never played together and have always been seperated by a gate but Lola seems insanly jealous of Molly.)

Good thoughts are welcome...

Lola's Third Birthday

The Dinner Spread

Lola arrives at the party



Lola moves the party so she is closer to Molly's house


Molly enjoys the party from the comfort of her litterbox

Molly Update

Thank you everyone for your kind and healing thoughts. The good news is that these thoughts are working!! Special thanks to Annette over at Dragon House of Yuen for featuring Molly on her blog.

Molly is eating more parsley and basil today! (I caught her chowing down with my camera phone earlier.) She is more alert and seems much stronger. She is not yet back on hay or pellets, but the vet today said this is a very good transition. Molly is still getting her medications and Critical Care (the latter so that she continues to get the nutrients she needs).

Thank you thank you thank you!

Our other bunny, Lola, is celebrating her third birthday tomorrow, so things are definitely on a high note! :)

A long summer off and some bunny news

I've been on an (unintentional) hiatus from blogging all summer. I'm updating now to share some bunny news.

Little Molly went in for her spay in late August after being checked out by the vet. She was given a clean bill of health and was estimated to be about 10 months old. She showed no previous scarring from surgeries, so we went ahead with the spay. However, during the surgery, it was discovered that she didn't have any parts to remove. Our vet explained that while he had never seen anything like this, it was possible that it was a birth defect and that she was born without (which is also a reason she may not have been acting like a typical teenage bunny with raging hormones). She was sent home to recover, and she did well.

Now, a month later, out of no where, Molly is battling GI Stasis (Ileus). She was admitted to the animal hospital last Thursday, came home that night with us, but returned Friday for more treatment. She spent Friday night and the weekend with us. She has been getting 4-5 feedings of Oxbow's Critical Care daily, as well as two medications. Last night I offered her basil, and after considering it (while dangling in front of her nose) she ate it. Today (after the same "temptation" exercise), she ate a little lettuce. She is more alert and appears to be growing stronger every day.

Please keep Molly in your thoughts! And hopefully I can get my act together very soon and begin blogging again!!

Lots of Hop-enings!

We've been pretty busy the last few weeks! On July 12, we adopted a new bunny into our household.
Meet Molly, an adorable dwarf lionhead (we think) that was abandoned at a pet store across the state - left in a box without food or water. The rabbit rescue group that I donate to, 3 Bunnies Rabbit Rescue, sent out an alert about this adorable little girl. The pet store took the stance that the bunny would be free to a good home. One member of the rescue was worried that Molly wouldn't go to a proper home with the title "free" attached to her. So Rob and I decided to give Molly a home. She's a very good little lady, and after a week of being with us, has already started to fill out on hay and veggies (she came to us SO skinny!). Lola (our lop) felt a bit threatened at first, but given that the girls live in different houses, that seems to have helped. Their interactions throughout the week have improved. Lola no longer tries to charge the gate seperating her from Molly's home (Lola is litterbox trained and allowed out in the house). Molly is still working on her litterbox training but shows no interest in coming out of her house as of yet. We have a vet appointment set up for her next Tuesday. I suspect she is healthy in spite of how she was abandoned, but I do want a vet to confirm that she is a she and that she is spayed (I think she is, but I'd rather have a pro check!)

In the photography world, I'm knee-deep back in nature photography.

This photo reminds me of a painting that used to hang in my grandfather's house. The painting, sadly, is long gone, but in it was a photo of a girl in a daisy field, staring up at the sky. I tried to recreate that experience of the girl in the daisy field. I titled it "Dreaming."

We also have our first and only art show of the 2009 season this weekend. We decided to cut back this year given the economy. This show has been pretty good to us in the past, so we're hoping that it proves to be a positive one for us this year as well! I've been busy working on gathering our best work together to bring with us to the weekend event (along with creating new photo pendants for sale as well).

What have you been doing?

Menu Love

A while back I was asked to photograph Fusion's napoleons and peanut butter torte. The reason? We were providing that dessert to Illiano's restaurant and the owner wanted photos to add to his menu. This past week, the owner dropped off two of their own desserts- a cannoli and a tiramasu - for me to photograph as well for the menu.

Below is the pastry ensemble that will be on the menu.

Delicious! :)

Getting Settled

We moved, and we're still unpacking lots of boxes, but all in all, it feels great to have a place that we can finally call ours. Even Lola is getting used to her new "digs" (see her at left enjoying the sun spot early one morning).

I've dived into gardening head first. The property was void of any landscaping whatsoever, except for four potted plants on top of stone in the front of the house. I've been better about digging up the yard then unpacking inside the house!

So far, I've planted four garden beds, two with just annuals for a quick pop of color. I've planted perennials such as wisteria, honeysuckle, clematis, roses, rhododendron (to hopefully one day hide the neighbor's ugly fence), coreopsis and poppies (as you can see at right). A lilac bush that was a housewarming present anchors one corner of the yard. I have the hummingbird feeder out, but I've gone two weeks without seeing any activity (I guess I can't blame him-- this property never offered anything so maybe I've lost him for the season). I now have a bird bath, and I already had a good amount of rabbit statuary that found it's way outside. As you know, nature plays a big role in my photography, so surrounding myself with the flowers I adore makes perfect sense to me.

Lola is adjusting well- she takes morning romps up and down the hallway and seems to enjoy exploring the room she and I share. I have a great desk from IKEA that closes up so all wires are concealed (and bunny-proof that way).

There are some flaws we're finding with the house -- leaking dishwasher, for one -- but overall these things are minor. The feeling of pulling into my own driveway and not having to hike to the third floor with bags of groceries is very awesome, indeed.

Excuse our absense...

I haven't been able to get on and write as much as I had hoped to this month. The move is keeping us busy! We are set to close on Wednesday and then we can start moving boxes and unpacking in the new place!

Our Movin' On Up Sale is still in effect at our etsy shop!

We'll be back soon! :)

We're on Facebook! And a new give away!

McGuinness Photography has launched a Facebook page, which you can visit here!

To celebrate this launch, we're having a give away! Oh yeah! :)

When you sign up to become a Facebook fan, you will be automatically entered to win this dragonfly 5x7 photo at left!

(If you are already a fan, you are already entered for a chance to win.)

Deadline is May 18! Good luck! :)

Happy Mother's Day!

To all moms -- with human, fur, feathered or finned kiddos -- Happy Mother's Day! :)

We'll be heading to Rob's grandmother's house today. (She is the only grandparent we have on either side of our family. )

Today is a bittersweet day for me, since it will be the fourth Mother's Day without my mom. I'm in a better place now when it comes to that -- now I find her in the flowers I photograph and the pastries I bake. My wish to everyone who has lost a mom - may you also find comfort in this day.

Packing boxes is the pits

So... we're still waiting.

I've started trying to pack up all our belongs for our inevitable move at the end of the month. But, we're still waiting for the paperwork to be finalized so we can set up a permanent closing date. The waiting around for all the boxes on the forms to be checked off is really frustrating to me, since I'm the type of gal that wants to get it done and over with.

So I'm trying to be good and keep myself busy (you know, when I'm not working at the bakery). Of the highlights:

• I discovered Space Bags, in which you fill up with garments, blankets, etc., and then use a vacuum to suck out the air and shrink in size. What is left is a little brick of your compressed items. It was pretty cool the first time, but one of the bags keeps growing and absorbing air. Oh well. Can't win them all I suppose.
• We have officially bought 40 small boxes and 15 medium boxes. I've also accumulated any box the bakery no longer needs (and were previous homes to eggs, milk, chocolate chips, etc.). About 15 percent of all boxes are actually filled with items right now.

I have a couple of items too that I may freecycle... I'd have to look into that. One of my friends told me to hold on to everything and have a tag sale, but I'm not too interested in bringing items I don't want or need anymore with me to the new house. At the same time, it would be nice to get a dollar or two for them. Any ideas?

Awesome link!

Thanks to Joanna for retweeting this tonight!

Every Tuesday, iprintfromhome offers a great offer to photographers! Tonight's freebie is a 20x30 photo! Be sure to follow the link for more info!

We're going to move!

I'm very excited to announce that we have officially found a house-- it has passed inspection and we're on our way to the nitty gritty paperwork stage! I'm so excited that I ran out and purchased several boxes to start packing our stuff into! We have a long way to go on that front, but I'm so excited that we'll be purchasing our first home!

To celebrate -- and help me lighten my load to the new house -- I'm offering all my 5x5, 5x7, 6x9 and 8x10 photos (with or without mats) at 50 percent off! (Look for new listings to come as well in the next few weeks as I clean out our storage unit and put more photos up for sale -- usually the ones that only make it to the fair circuit). To take advantage of the sale, visit jmcguinness.etsy.com.

Meanwhile, when I'm not packing, I'm skimming plant catalogs and dreaming of the rose bushes, wisteria, tomatoes and other plants to put in our new garden! Any tips for moving that I should know about?

We have a winner!

Congratulations to Michelle of Urban Junkies Lounge!

Thank you to everyone who made suggestions on which images should be featured ACEOs in my shop. I really appreciate the feedback! I'll try to accommodate those requests in the near future in the shop!

This has been a whirlwind of a month! We were part of our good friends' wedding (they both met at our wedding three years ago when they were in our wedding party) which happened this past weekend. We also began our quest for a home of our own, and every day we get a little bit closer. :)

It's hot and balmy here in Connecticut- very unseasonable weather for April! But it is a very nice change from the cold weather we experienced a few weeks ago.

What's new with you?

April Give Away!!

Wow! It's already the end of April! This month, we're giving away a 5x7 of this lovely rose below!


To enter, please visit my etsy shop and leave a link to a photo you think should be available as an ACEO. Deadline to enter is April 27, 2009. Good luck!!

Friday Favorites

Welcome to the second installment of Friday Favorites, a blog featured created over at Julie's blog. :)

This week's Friday Favorites is inspired by Easter morning. Enjoy, and do check out these wonderful shops! :)

Morningstar by Petuniaz

Hope by Flandersfield

Love in a Mist - eyeshoot

Sure Sign of Spring - AuraleeDallas

For more Friday Favorites, please visit Allie and Julie's blogs.

Do it for the Bunnies!

It's very clear in the advertising: bunnies and Easter go hand-in-hand.

But please, this Easter, if you plan to get a bunny, make it a chocolate one.

That's the idea behind Make Mine Chocolate - a campaign by the Columbus House Rabbit Society. Adding a rabbit to the family is a commitment- not an impromptu purchase at a pet store. Bunnies can live up to 10 years (Inside! Not in a hutch outside!) and can even be litterbox trained.

Pet stores will tell prospective buyers that bunnies are great starter pets for children, but this isn't the case. Bunnies need to be handled gently and appropriately. If they are dropped or picked up wrong, they can suffer serious injuries (such as a broken back). Rabbits don't enjoy being picked up, carried around or cuddled. They prefer to stay close to ground.

Baby bunnies at the pet store certainly look adorable, but they'll soon age into hormonal teenagers that will need to be spayed or neutered. It's during the teen years that they will dig, spray and chew any objects they can. This is when rabbits are either given up at shelters or are set free into the wild -- the latter being a death sentence since domestic rabbits aren't trained to "hunt" for food on their own and face numerous predators in the wild. (For more about this, please visit here.)

So if you need a bunny in your Easter basket this year, please make it a chocolate or a stuffed toy bunny.

If you think you or your family is ready to make the commitment to a rabbit, please visit a shelter or one of the many rabbit rescue groups in your area. You can often adopt an older rabbit who has already gone through his or her tumultuous teen years! Learn as much as you can about caring for rabbits before bringing him or her home. If you scroll down this blog, you'll see a Petfinder widget that randomly selects rabbits needing homes in the Connecticut area. (You can adjust this to produce more local results for your hometown.) Web sites like www.rabbit.org are great for learning as much as you can about these gentle animals.

OK. I'm done now. (*Steps off soap box.*)

Have a happy holiday!

Featured on J Black Designs!

My tulip was featured in Jennifer Black's blog (click here to see it). Each Sunday, Jennifer posts a new poem on her blog and uses Etsy items to illustrate it. I was delighted to see that our tulip was used to help illustrate "The Humane Seasons" by John Keats.

Her Etsy shop, J Black Designs, features original collage work. Thank you Jennifer, and please check out her blog!

Friday Favorites

I'm a little behind in posting my Friday Favorites, which is a great new feature started by Julie.

I'm starting my first installment with lovely spring photos that I've been admiring. These are all lovely new photographs from some of my Photographers of Etsy teammates. I hope you enjoy them as well! :)

"Blush" by Ara133 Photography

"Western Bluebird Fine Art Print" by Julie Majers Soulen Photography

"Listen" by AllieArt4Children

"I Can Feel You Breathe" by Zuppa Artista

The Winner is...

Congrats to Whimsical Creations! We put all the entries in a hat, and drew out one name.

Thanks to everyone who entered!

BIRTHDAY SALE!

It's My Birthday SALE!

I want to celebrate - so today only - MARCH 31 - take 27% off your total purchase!!

Expires at MIDNIGHT EST! Visit my etsy shop to take advantage of this offer!! (I will send a revised invoice upon checkout.)

One disgruntled goose

This is a story about a disgruntled goose.

Namely, this disgruntled goose.

I noticed some pretty, white ducks swimming in a pond on my way home today. I decided to make a U-turn and go back to photograph them.

I pulled my car over, waited for the traffic to pass and grabbed my camera. As I rounded my car, I was greeted by the sound of happy ducks, waddling over to visit me. I was surprised and worried they would get too close to the road, so I started to walk slowly toward them. (I was also never greeted so quickly by ducks before!)

That's when this guy came out from behind the tree. He was not happy. He advanced, honking angrily. The other, more kind ducks, were confused by this, and didn't know which way to go. Apparently, they were his territory.

I backed down. I retreated to the car, but rolled down my back window to try and get some photos anyway. He stood in the way, and eventually herded his ladies back to the pond.

(This is one of the kind ducks, taken from the safety of my car.)

Even though I was disappointed I didn't get close to the shot I wanted, I knew my limits!

End of March Give Away!

This month's give away is this beautiful orchid photo from our shop! To enter, leave a comment below about how you'll be tackling spring cleaning! Deadline to enter is March 31, 2009! :)

Informative article over at the Etsy Greetings Blog

I was going through my blogroll this morning and came upon a very informative article by one of the Etsy Greetings members. In it she talks about expanding greeting cards to a wholesale market and the perils of finding a card rep. Check out the article here.

How is everyone's Monday so far? :)

Who said Friday the 13th was unlucky?

I was featured on Shop Indie Online today as part of their full moon feature! Click here to see it! This news really made my day.

Random musings

I think I hit the artistic wall.

It's sort of like writer's block, in that you can't decide which way to go next.

I'd love a change of scenery. I'm trying to look at the things around me with a new perspective, but it feels mundane. I'm just not very excited about what I'm photographing.

Maybe I'm stretched too thin. I'm trying to retool my photo pendants, list more suncatchers, update my 1000 markets shop, and somehow continue to get my name out there for my etsy shop.

It's a little daunting when I create my to-do list.

The good news: I've been able to expand my photography market in my town thanks to the bakery I work at. They agreed to let me put my rotating card display up. I've had a few sales from that, and believe me, I'm grateful for that and the exposure.

I want to continue to find new ways to market my photography, but I know I am up against a recession where the basic needs far outweigh the wants. Still, I experiment with project wonderful with different ads.

Every day I'm grateful for the things I've learned. I hope that handmade/artistically original items continue to grow in popularity.

Happy thoughts!

This past week: Bake. Smile. Create.

What have you been up to?

Work in Progress

I thought I'd share a little painting project I've been working on when I get a few spare moments every now and then. This acrylic painting will eventually have "happy lettuce bunches" floating in the background. And I think I need to change her nose...

but it's acrylic and the point is that I'm painting again, which feels nice. :)

Check out the Little Black Box!

This month I am participating in the Little Black Box. Various craftspeople and artists submit samples to the box for people to purchase. I had purchased a box before the holidays and really enjoyed the various goodies I found inside!

We're offering a limited edition notecard in this month's box. To see a list of this month's contributors, click here.

We have a winner!

Thanks to everyone who entered the February Give Away!

I printed the entries out, folded them all up to the same size and put them in a kitchen container for the selection. The lucky winner picked out was the very talented Julie Magers Soulen! She will be receiving one each of the three cards listed!

Thanks to everyone who participated! :)

Rekindled love for the library

This may sound funny, but recently I rediscovered the library. As soon as I entered the main room that houses the major collection of books, I felt welcome, as if I had arrived home after a long departure.

It seems silly that I was gone for so long. I grew up in the Queens Library, and I remember making a steadfast resolution that one day I would read ALL the books there. (I didn't realize at the time that there were new titles constantly being added to the Children's Room.) I participated in the summer reading contests and fell in love with series such as The Babysitter's Club by Ann M. Martin and the Fear Street series by R.L. Stine. The maximum a member was allowed to borrow was 25 books, and I usually was at the max at all times.

I received books as gifts as well, and one day I stamped all the books I owned with "Jennifer's Library" and glued strips of paper to the back cover where I could stamp a date and loan my books out to my friends. (How fitting that this was one of the first things I photographed with my first 110 speed camera!)

In eighth grade I tutored a first grader after school who was learning English as his second language. Each week I'd bring a new collection of books from the library for us to read together.

In high school I still managed to read for leisure, but not as much as I used to. Even now, certain books stand out to me: I read Into the Forest by Jean Hegland, Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton and The Challenging Garden (a book of fiction which is out of print and I can't remember who the author was, but I remember the green cover and the leaf dripping with a droplet of blood).

When I went to college, reading for pleasure pretty much disappeared. The college library housed academic texts, and that's where my focus was concentrated. But I missed the world of fiction and was estatic when I had the chance to interview Adriana Trigani of the Big Stone Gap trilogy when she appeared on campus. I ate up her stories and advice and began buying books at a steady clip. The buying continued up until last year, when that too slowed because there was no time to read between work, pastry school and sleep.

Now that my schedule has settled down and I'll be making the switch to being a full time pastry chef next week, I decided to give the library a chance. Five years ago I had attempted to get a library card, but being a new resident, I didn't have the driver's license or power bills to prove I was a Connecticut resident. I returned three weeks ago to the library, and received my card. I instantly began to walk around and began collecting books that jumped out at me. It wasn't long until I had an armload and I made my way to the checkout desk. I marveled (and was a bit embarrassed) when they scanned each title I was checking out and printed out a receipt of the due dates. It had never occured to me that the old stampers would be obsolete.

So now I have a new resolution this year- to use the library to its maximum. To help save money, I'm not going to buy any more books, and I'm also going to try and actually read all the titles I acquired but never had time to read while in college and grad school.

And the best part: I feel like a kid again.

*The photos above were taken super quick with my phone. They are some of the books that live in our apartment.

6th in the 6th - I've been tagged by Allie!

I've been tagged by Allie of AllieArt4Children. The tag is to take part in the 6 by 6 game.

RULES:
Choose the 6th image out of your 6th picture folder from your computer and blog it. Then tag 6 more people to do the same.

So, here is the 6th photo in my 6th album:


I group my folders by years, and after that various projects. My sixth folder was old photos of my family that I've scanned. The above photo is circa 1920s, and is my grandfather's family in Germany (he is in the top row, far left). He was born in 1908, so he must be in his early or late teens here. This was taken before he left for America.

I tag:

1. Nicki of Magic Rainbow Dreamings

2. Christina of Inspiration Flirtation

3. Michelle of Urban Artist Lounge

4. Rob of Irrational Ravings

5. Bella of Bella McBride Designs

6. Annette of Dragon House of Yuen

P.S. there is one day left to enter the giveaway!!

February Give Away!

It's that time again! Up for grabs this time around are three spring photo cards from my shop.


To enter, please leave a comment below about how you are preparing for spring. Are you undertaking a massive spring cleaning effort? Planning a garden? Launching a new product line in your shop? Deadline to enter is Feb. 18, where I'll pick a lucky winner! Good luck!