Ms. Ruin's Playthings


"The imagination imitates. It is the critical spirit that creates." -Oscar Wilde

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Enero 31

Y quisiera llorar.  Y quisiera gritar.  Que me siento tan sola...

Monday, January 30, 2012

More Love!

I'm going to throw so much love at you until you gag!  Hee hee hee hee.  Here are some more shots from yesterday's engagement photo shoot.  So cute you might not be able to stand it!




Sunday, January 29, 2012

My boys...


I wanna have friends that I can trust,
that love me for the man I've become not the man I was.
I wanna have friends that will let me be
all alone when being alone is all that I need.

Love is in the air...

We had gorgeous weather in Dallas today...the kind of weather that makes you get out and photograph.  Lucky me, I had a lovely couple booked today!  This is Andy and Sarah, two kids in love.  I met the happy bride and groom to be this afternoon for their engagement photos.  I took a bunch of super cute pictures...it was easy to capture their love for one another.  Plus they allowed me to share some of my visions with them...like a field filled with flower-hearts!  Here are just a few of the pictures that I've edited thus far...more to come!  ::happy::





 

Canvas love!

This is a six by six canvas that I made for MYSELF.  I rarey keep any of the things that I make.  This one is close to my heart because it's my daddy.  I used tissue paper by 7gypsies to cover the canvas and then mod podged to seal it.  Hardware and scroll by Tim Holtz, flowers by Prima.

This is 2.5 x 2.5 miniature canvas.  I covered it with 7gypsies tissue paper and then painted over the tissue with gold acrylic paint.  Hardware by Tim Holtz and letters by Making Memories.

This is also a miniature canvas --covered with 7gypsies tissue and painted with gold acrylic paint.  Chipboard by Maya Road.

I will have the miniature canvases for sale on my Etsy shop in the next day or two.  :)

Week 4

Day 22
Prompt
: --Deviated from Prompt--
Commentary: I don't normally have breakfast so didn't partake in today's prompt. However, we drove to Lillian, Texas --a little over an hour from where I live to have bbq at this GAS STATION which is one of the top 50 bbq places in Texas according to Texas Monthly. I had the chopped beef sandwich with pickles and onions and it was soooooo good. :)
Camera: Nikon D90

Day 23
Prompt
: Up Too Late
Commentary: This isn't EXACTLY following today's photo prompt however I was the last one at the office tonight so here's a shot of my office before I locked the door behind me.
Camera: Nikon P500

Day 24
Prompt
: Duplicate
Commentary: It's raining in North Texas so please excuse the rain drops/slightly out of focusness.
Camera: Nikon P500

Day 25
Prompt
: Your Focus
Commentary: My focus is simply to pour love into all that I do. There were so many pictures that I coud have used to show this, but this is a different approach --a Coca Cola display at the grocery store. Now that's bold love!
Camera: Nikon P500

Day 26
Prompt
: --deviated from prompt--
Commentary: This photo was taken a couple of days before my 35th birthday --which is today! "Every day a new deception, pick your scene and take direction. And all in all I search to connect, but I don't wear a mask and I have no regrets. I am focused on what I am after, the key to the next open chapter..."
Camera: Nikon P500

Day 27
Prompt
: Touched with light
Camera: Nikon D90

Day 28
Prompt
: The Written Word
Commentary: Timeless is my written word. It is one of my favorite words too! This is a miniature canvas that I made today.
Camera: Nikon P500

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

I love her!



Listening to the new Kelly Ckarkson tonight...she is one of my favorite artists.  So of course I had to pull out the classics.  Ughhhh.  This song makes me cry EVERY SINGLE TIME I hear it and especially when watching the actual video.  JESUS!  But you know what...it pisses me off too and makes me want to fight for something.  I'm a woman with so much passion and I have the capacity to love with immense fire so why in the hell am I being so guarded?  I just need to let it out and love like never before because this is it, right?  We only live THIS life once...make it count.  ::exhale::  Thank you for empowering me, Kelly.  And now back to fighting for something... 

Check back with me in a few days to see if there is any momentum left.  LOL. 

Show and Tell

I snapped this picture this morning on 635 while on my way to work.  It reminded me of a friend who has 101 nicknames for me.  One of them is --well crud-- I don't remember but I know that it sounds like a cat name and I don't like it.  When I hear the name Sparkles it reminds me of THAT name that he calls me --yes, the one that eludes me.  Anyway, I saw this truck and thought he'd get a smile out of it because I did.  :)

Shot this on my drive home...time stands still for the birds!

Sometimes I just want to fly...

All Done!

I am finally done with this set of wedding photos.  Phew --my second wedding set in the bag.  I'm through editing pics with wedding dresses in them until late March when I shoot my third wedding...and this will be a BIG wedding in Oklahoma.  In the meantime I have engagement photos and senior pictures to keep me busy.  Congrats once again to Charlie and Melissa --love you guys!






Monday, January 23, 2012

I'm Gonna Find Another You


I got amazing seats today to see John Mayer in concert - woo hoo!  I will have to find my John Mayer scrapbook pages and post them to this blog.  Hee hee hee hee hee hee.  Anywho, yes, amazing seats --section A, Row 10.  They're not VIP but they're premium.  Happy Birthday to me!  Okay, I REALLY need to quit spending money and justifying it by saying "Happy Birthday to Me!"  LMAO!  I will leave you with one of my very favorite Mayer songs called "I'm Gonna Find Another You".  This song makes me want to pour a glass of wine and then drink right out of the bottle.  Such an awesome bluesy and stick it to ya song.  I spent many days listening to this tune and had quite a few glasses of wine in the process.  LOL.  Life fuels art, right?  Sing it, Johnny!

 



You might have your reaons, but you will NEVER have my rhymes...

Goodies

I found some goodies in my mailbox tonight!  The swap items from the embellishment swap at Artsy Fartsy arrived today.  Tee hee hee hee hee.  ::geeky laugh::  A big thank you to the ladies that participated in the swap for all of their beautiful creations that I can now add to my embellishment stash for future use.  Thanks Genie, Kimmy, Corie, and Dee Dee!

So this is what I got from my crafty friends:







Photographic Theory

I was looking at a couple of old pictures that I snatched from my mom’s house and it led me down a rabbit hole concerning my own passion for photographing everything under the sun.  You see, we, The Hernandez Family, don’t have a lot of pictures from our childhood.  My parents didn’t take a lot of photos of us and the few that they did take have weathered tropical storms and hurricanes as my parents live along the Gulf Coast.  Flooding and moisture is “no bueno” on so many things, especially not photographs!  I can’t say that my parents really made an effort to preserve those photographs.  After all they were busy raising five kids and those five kids played baseball, basketball, volleyball, football, sang in choirs, played in bands, sold Girl Scout cookies, and were contestants in pageants.  I am grateful for all of the time they gave to our extracurricular activities.  So what --maybe I don’t have as many pictures as the next person but I do have a lot of wonderful memories.  My job now is to preserve the memories I make in my adult life…whether I’m filling a void or just sharing my life through portraits, I don’t think that I’ll ever put my camera down.  Y     

Show and Tell

God Bless Texas --cops on horseback.  How awesome is that...riding around on a horse all day while carrying a gun?  Modern day cowboys.

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Artsy Fartsy Swap

We are gearing up for our next swap at Artsy Fartsy.  If you want to join us, just click here and join our page.  Our last swap was a big one, we had several categories to participate in and of course I had to take part in all of them.  Here are my projects. 


This is a banner.  It is very UNLIKE me, but I thought my swap partner might enjoy it.  I drew the birds by hand on a cardboard box, cut them out, painted them, and decorated with rub-ons.


I LOVE THESE!  I stamped actual canvas with a flower rubber stamp using versa mark and then I embossed the flowe rin black.  I cut the flowers out in circles and then added a button and thread to the center.  TOO CUTE!


Bottlecap love!  I love all of the different elements in one bottlecap.  I used a lot of Maya Road flowers and ribbon, vintage dictionary pages, and a stamps by October Afternoon and Stampin' Up!


This is a chipboard dress form that I covered with buttons.  So much fun!  I added a couple of embellishments including the handmade bird and a spool of thread from that I bought in an antique store.

Hey Mr. DJ, put a record on...


A lot of people don’t know this about me, but I love Americana.  And this band has a lot of the essential Bluegrass/Americana elements that make this girl wanna get down with some moonshine.  1. There is a banjo in the band.  2.  They sing about southbound trains.  3.  They’re from Nashville, Tennessee. 

When I play Old Crow Medicine Show for my friends they cringe and laugh at me.  But I love it…it fuels my creativity.  I typically keep these types of bands under wraps as someone very close to me has expressed that he is worried about me because I’m listening to hippie music.  LOL!!!  ::sigh::  Well, you can call me a hippie if you want, but don’t touch my O.C.M.S.

Another artist I have been listening to a lot lately is the late great Jeff Buckley.  I love love love his version of Hallelujah.  It will seriously give you chills.  I love his original work too, but this song does things to me that can’t be expressed with words.  Thank you, Jeff Buckley, for this beautiful rendition of Hallelujah...a bright light that left this Earth too soon.

And last but not least –I have been listening to Glen Hansard.  I am currently in love with Falling Slowly which features Marketa Irglova.  This song is so sweet but so powerful.  If there is one thing I have learned the past few years it’s that we’re never too old to have setbacks.  And unless we’re dead, we have the power to turn things around for the better.  I think this song is a true testament of breaking through when all you have done is faltered…once in a while, life cuts you a break; you just have to be brave and take it!   

   

Happy Birthday to Me!


I told myself I wasn't going to buy any presents for myself until AFTER my birthday...but I couldn't pass up these beautiful Frida earrings.  They will go great with my Frida bag.  :)

Week 3

Day 15
Prompt
: In Detail
Commentary: Base of an iron lamp post at the abandoned Baker Hotel in Mineral Wells, Texas.
Camera: Nikon D90

 Day 16
Prompt
: Remember
Commentary: I'm in love with this abandoned hotel. I doubt that her doors will ever reopen for business, but she is a diamond in the rough…one which I will always remember, no matter what her future holds.
Camera: Nikon D90

Day 17
Prompt
: Folded
Camera: Nikon D90

Day 18
Prompt
: --Deviated from Prompt--
Commentary: I'm not following the photo prompt today because I wanted to share a picture of the birthday girl with all of her new presents. Happy 6 month birthday, Yeller. You bring so much joy to our lives. ♥
Camera: Nikon P500

Day 19
Prompt
: Tattered and Torn
Camera: Nikon D90

Day 20
Prompt
: Black and White
Commentary: I think every picture has a story to tell, but when you snap a picture in black and white, that story is magnified.
Camera: Nikon D90

Day 21
Prompt
: Living Your Word
Commentary: INSPIRE --This is the word that I live. I find inspiration in the works of other artists like Kelly Rae Roberts and in things such as vintage bird cages and even rubber stamps. All of these different mediums inspire me to create things that in turn inspire others. ♥
Camera: Nikon D90

Show and Tell


I don't know why, but I love photographing people when they're smoking.  I think there is an allure to holding a cigarette...with every puff, your worries kind of float away.  I was never good at it and I know it's bad for you  and tobacco kills and blah blah blah so please don't harp at me about it.  I'm just sharing my thoughts.  Anyway, we drove out to Lilian, Texas today which is a little over an hour away to have bbq at a gas station.  I kid you not.  According to Texas Monthly, Casstevens Cash & Carry, has some of the best bbq in Texas.  We had been there before and just had to make the drive back for lunch today.  A nice little red bow on the weekend.  After lunch I sat and played with my camera while my bestie enjoyed her cig. 

Thursday, January 19, 2012

The Baker

Here are some newly edited pictures from my trip to The Baker.  Can't get enough!