New Playthings

I have a ton of new playthings coming to Ms. Ruin's Playthings on Etsy!  Here is a sneak peek of just a few of them...can't wait for you guys to see all of them.

PIN UP GIRLS!!!

VINTAGE ALICE IN WONDERLAND!!!

STEAMPUNK!!!

Uh huh

Someone shared this with me and it fueled all sorts of emotion in me.  I can't even count the number of times this has been a reality for me...this is my biggest flaw.  And it makes me want to express myself with paint --too bad it's almost midnight.  :|

 This is not for real, afraid to feel.  I just hit the floor, don't ask for more.  I'm wasting my time...

LOVE

Give me an L, give me an O, give me a V, give me an E...yeah, I love these.  Check out the full set on my website!

Weekend Wrap Up

I had such an amazing weekend and managed to do a little bit of all of the things that I love.  Well, most of the things that I love.  I didn't exactly pick up my camera like I intended but that's okay --lots of those opportunities will be coming up as my schedule starts to open up a bit in June.  There was just one thing that drove me crazy this weekend --ALLERGIES.  I am having such a hard time breathing today.  I really don't want to break out the Afrin but I think I'm going to have to break down any second now.  :|

Anyway, as I mentioned I made a few things this weekend.  I did make a few pieces of jewelry but I didn't get to photograph them all...will have to do those at a later time.  I wanted primarily to highlight this piece right here...

^^^I found this pendant on clearance at Michael's for a $1.99 --it had some funky epoxy sticker that was peeling off but those are just minor details when you are used to tearing things down and then using scraps.  The girl at the register said "are you sure you want this?"  LOL.  So I took it home, peeled the epoxy off and then found my own image to put in the pendant tray.  I then covered the image with glaze and let it sit over night.  I was able to wear it to dinner on Saturday night and got a ton of compliments.  :)  In fact, I bought two of these, so I will definitely make some profit from selling the second piece of jewelry.  Oh, and it really is a significant size.  About 1.5" x 3". 

^^^A few posts ago I talked about how I poured Diamond Glaze in bottle caps.  Remember that?  They turned out beautifully!  Don't you think?  These will be pendants on a ball chains --will either gift them or sell them in my shop.

^^^I also made two more decorative coin purses.  Again, very NOT ME.  But they are not for me.  Someone asked me to make them as Mother's Day gifts.  I think they are truly perfect for a mom.  Plus, they are filled with MY garden photography!  Pretty cool if you ask me.  :)

^^^I acquired some new playthings in the past few days.  First of all I wanted to show everyone my beautiful canvas by Lia Lane.  Lia is such an amazing artist and I am so excited to own one of her original pieces of work.  This one is called Delicate and is on display in studio.

^^^I also bought some new stamps beacause let's face it --I'm not Ms. Ruin without stamps.  :p  Well, maybe I am...but that's not the point.  These are VERY VERY VERY me.  Don't you agree!?  The self-healing mat is new too.  It's 18" in PINK.  I'm trying to expand my horizons a little.  And maybe they didn't have these in black.  :p

Well, I will wrap this up for now...I have work as in at my real job to do (on a Sunday...Boo!) and then it's back to editing pictures.  I'm in the home stretch on this set and then I'm all caught up!  I'm only working THREE WHOLE DAYS this week and then I'm off to National Scrapbooking Weekend Retreat --4 days of creating!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I will leave you with this picture of one of my sweethearts.  Yeller Trouser is the most loving Lab I have ever owned...I've had about four now.  People can't believe that she's only 9 months old because she is so sweet and well behaved.  Plus, she is an awesome subject for me in my photography.  Have a great week!!!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!

HEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEEHEHE!!!!!  ::GEEKY NERDY LAUGH::  The best packages come from Tennessee.  Can't wait to tear into this over the weekend.  You will LOVE what I am going to make.  Sneak peek on my facebook page.  Oh hell...SNEAK PEEK!!!!!!!!!!

::GEEKY NERDY SMILE::

Send All My Love To You

My very awesome friend Dee Dee is hosting the April/May ATC Swap at Artsy Fartsy.  For this swap she gave us a photo prompt and we are to make three cards inspired by that photo.  I'm not going to post the picture, you can visit our Events Page for all of the swap details and hey, there's still time to join this swap! 

I decided to make three identical cards.  I think looking at the cards you can figure out the theme --handwriting a letter and sending your love to someone via mail.  See the post marks I stamped on the upper right hand corner? 

I think the pen nib ties this whole theme together.

I haven't been as crafty as I'd like to be but I have a whole weekend to myself coming up and I intend to craft, craft, craft!  I have backorders and I'm getting some very awesome new jewelry making material!  I CANNOT WAIT TO SHARE!  Hopefully it arrives in time for my weekend. 

I am also trying the technique of sealing an image with diamond glaze by pouring it into a bottle cap.  I poured about half an inch into each bottle cap and I KNOW that it's going to take at least a day to dry.  Ummm, yeah, I poured the glaze two hours ago and I have run in to my craft room FOUR times to check on the glaze --like it's magically going to dry in two hours???  Hey, at least I didn't stick my finger in it.  Well, not yet at least.  :D

That's all I've got for now.  I will leave you with this awesomeness.  BTW --LOVE, LOVE, LOVE her dress.  I have one that is semi-similar but not this cool or flattering for that matter.  "We'll call her Nebraska...Nebraska Jones..."  If this song doesn't make you move, check your pulse.

Rockin' Rebekah

I had such a fun shoot today in Deep Ellum, Texas.  Deep Ellum is an artsy part of Dallas and my client is quite artsy herself so Deep Ellum seemed like a natural choice.  Check out some of the photos from today's shoot on my website --click on Rebekah's picture to view her gallery.

Rock Your Heart Out

You gotta rock your little heart out!  Check out my rockin' gallery featuring Angus Young.  More to come.  And don't forget that you can repin all of my photos on Pinterest!

Wildchild in Wildflowers

I can't believe little Bryn turned two years old!  I had the absolute pleasure of photographing her this Spring...a little birthday gift from Auntie Sonia.  To see the complete set, visit Bryn's gallery on my photography website.  Thanks for looking!

New Addition

I would like you to meet Ms. Hariett Coffey.  She is the latest plaything to my office.  I think she has quite a bit of character!  I fell in love with her the moment I saw her at HOME GOODS --yeah, of all places.  I mean, I love Home Goods, but just didn't expect to find this vintage looking beauty. 

Yeller Trouser

Quit.Talking.About.Me.On.Facebook.

Texas Sized Pockets

THIS is MY pocket camera.  It's a Nikon P500 and it's a point and shoot!  I carry this baby with me in my purse just about every single day.  You never know when a picture opportunity is going to present itself.  ::big smile::

Side note:  The chipped nail polish is just a signature Ms. Ruin thing.  ;)

::haunted::

I feel like a ghost crept up my spine in the dead of night...this song playing now on my iPod. 

The spaces in between
Two minds and all the places they have been
I tried to put my finger on it

I think I might've inhaled you
I could feel you behind my eyes
You've gotten into my bloodstream
I could feel you flowing in me

Smug Mug

In an effort to deliver the utmost visual art to my clients, I will gradually migrate my photography from Facebook while building my new photography website via SmugMug.com.

Not only will clients have an opportunity to view large crisp images, they can now order their prints directly from my page.  I love all of the perks on SmugMug that are not offered on many other photography sites.  I am still learning and building and if I don't have a nervous meltdown from work overload or fatigue, then maybe I can launch the full site by Fall 2012. 

I'm very excited to be moving in this direction with my work --or is it moving my work in this direction?  :p  Whatever the case, I'm stoked to bring my visual art to the world in a more brave yet candid light. 

Through These Eyes on SmugMug will still run parallel to Through These Eyes Facebook so please don't "unlike" my page.  To see what I've done thus far, click here to visit Through These Eyes Visual Art on SmugMug.com.  

In other news on the photography front --well, I'M BUSY.  Too busy to even blog.  I wrapped up a set of high school senior pictures today and I've now thrown myself into wedding portraits.  Up next --two more sets of senior portraits.  No rest for the wicked!

I will leave you with one of my favorite photos from the Bowers Wedding.  To see more, check out my page on SmugMug or Facebook.  ::wink, wink::

Altered Frame

We are having a picture frame swap at Artsy Fartsy.  Anyone that has a Facebook account can join in.  Just visit us by clicking here and click on the "LIKE" button.  I appreciate your support of this swap community that I started with the help of a couple of crafty friends.  We usually have a couple of swaps going at once so if you don't like this one, maybe you'll like the other swap --artist trading cards!  More details on that one on our page.  :)

So anyway...this is my picture frame!  All of the paper elements are by Graphic 45.  And although I'm not crazy about butterflies, I know that so many of you are.  :p  So since I'm not keeping this one...I put an insect on it!  Actually, I used two insects.  ;)

Thanks so much for looking!

YOU are my sweetest downfall

Isn't it funny how you can feel so alone in such a huge world, surrounded by so many people?  Alone can be good, it can be bad, but it always makes me think...makes me feel...maybe I'm delusional from very little sleep last night and here I am --another late night and all I can do is replay this loveliness over and over in my head.

 

Friday the 13th!

I am so excited to share this canvas with you as part of the April Blog Hop for Smeared and Smudged.  This is my first time so don't bite...at least not too hard.  As I mentioned, this is a canvas that measures 4"x5".  I first used this piece of canvas to experiment with Ver-Day paints that the lovely Trisha Louise showed me how to use.  I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with it thereafter and then this opportunity came along and I’ve got say…I think it’s pretty perfect.

Alright, my biggest phobia is THE THING UNDER THE BED!  I am so afraid of whatever it is that has lived under my bed since I was a child.  To this day I will not stand next to the bed with the lights off.  I tend to leap onto the bed so that The Thing won’t grab me and pull me under.  I know it’s just waiting for an opportune time to clench its hands around me and torment me…so if I just keep leaping then it’s all good.  LOL.

I found this image online and I knew it would be perfect for my canvas.  I did a little cutting and snipping so that the image wouldn’t cover the entire canvas.  I printed a couple of these same images so that I could do some dimensional work.  Side note:  What I also love about this image is that the girl is clearly reading a horror magazine and she’s scared out of her mind yet she continues to sit in the dark reading.  I can relate.  I love the supernatural, but I will admit it scares me at times –yet I can’t get enough of it?    

So this is my finished product.  There’s not a whole LOT of stamping that went on, but I didn’t want to take too much away from the picture itself and I was limited on space.  I first stamped blood splatter on the upper portion of the canvas.  I then glued the cutout image to the canvas.  I took a piece of cardboard and stamped the word “THING” and I also stamped the raven on cardboard.  I cut them out and then adhered them to the canvas.

Remember that I printed out two of the same images?  Well, I cut out The Thing’s hand out of the second image and then adhered it over the other hand with a pop-dot to give it some dimension.  I also glued the very tip of the arm to the canvas so that it appears that it’s making its way out from under the bed.

I used the same technique with the girls arm as I did with The Thing’s hand.  I also decided to replace the book she was reading.  I wanted it to really relate to me and I would never read a comic book.  LOL.  As for the raven –black birds are kind of a huge deal to me.  :)

Thanks so much for lending yourself to my phobia for a few minutes.  I’m excited to be a part of a such a unique group of artists.  Y Ms. Ruin

FRIDAY THE 13th PHOBIA!
Blog Roll
Tori
Black Dragon
MaryKay
Tink
Jane
Kristy
Aletha
Monique
Susan Guzy
Madeleine Bouquet
Lady Brayton
Trisha
Shell
Ms. Ruin --YOU ARE HERE
Ike
Christine
Helen
Kapree
Lisa Hall
Fiona

Ms. Ruin's Playroom

I posted new pictures of my playroom on my Facebook page.  I will be posting them here as well, but for now you can just view them here.  :)

My very own Texas Ranger

Uhhhhhhhhhhh...::stutter::  What's my name?  Oh Joshy.  :D

/end dream sequence

So I don't have Josh Hamilton, but I do have my own little Texas Ranger!  This is my five year old nephew, Anthony.  He was suited up and ready for his first t-ball game of the season.  I am hoping and praying that I can get back home (nine hours South) before the season is over so that I can see him in action.  Isn't he unbelievably cute???  ::BIG SMILE::

Megan

I had a great photo shoot yesterday in McKinney, Texas.  The location of our shoot is a new development and of course I don't recall what it's called but I'm sure that I haven't seen the last of that place.  It really is an awesome location --especially for bridal portraits! 

Anyway, this is Megan.  She is graduating this year and she wanted nothing to do with me and my camera but her mother was all over getting these pictures done.  In the very end everyone involved was happy and the images I have shared with them thus far have been very well received.

Thanks for giving me a chance, Megan.  Now lets share your beautiful pictures with my blog buddies!

Easter Eggs

This is as close as I got to decorating anything egg related this weekend.  I decided on Saturday evening that I was going to decorate eggs but what happens when you leave the task of buying dye to someone else?  Well, in my case I ended up with neon dye.  And I'm sorry, there's nothing neon about Easter.  So instead I spent the day doing some community service, had a really good talk with my other half, reflected on the resurrection of Jesus Christ, I had pizza at the Mellow Mushroom --which also translates to OH MY GOD I ATE BREAD (oh how I missed thee), and swapped out my Fall/Winter wardrobe with my Spring/Summer wardrobe.  I think it was a pretty good Easter Sunday if you ask me --eggs or no eggs.  I hope yours was a good one too.

New Cover Photo

This is my new cover photo --a shot from today's shoot.  More to come.  Click on the picture to LIKE my page.  Thank you!

Father & Daughter Dance

"Fathers, be good to your daughters. 
Daughters will love like you do..."

Spring Print Sale

I had an overwhelming response from people wanting to purchase my most recent Spring photos.  They are now available for purchase via my online shop.  Thank you to those of you that have already placed orders.  

Description:  Original 8x10 fine art photographs by Sonia Hernandez Doneghue for Through These Eyes Visual Art. Photographs are printed by a professional lab on premium quality, archival paper with a matte finish ensuring vivid color reproduction, lifelike texture and sharpness, and most importantly --photograph will stay beautiful over time.

Photograph will not have any watermarks but I will sign and date the back of the photo.

To order your prints, just click on the images below.  Thanks for supporting local artists!  

  

Nerdiness

Clearly I have played too many rounds of Draw Something.

Bluebonnet Splendor

These little blue-purple flowers are a big deal in Texas.  They are bluebonnets and they are the State Flower of Texas.  We only see them once a year for a short period of time during the Spring.  They are truly a sight to see, especially when you come across a field covered in them.  People love to take pictures in them --why not, they're gorgeous!  In fact, I have a photo shoot this week on a hillside covered in these beauties.

These images were all captured by me on Friday evening in Waxahachie, Texas.  I hope you like them as much as I enjoyed photographing them.  :)

Everyone is going bonkers over this one on my photography page.  So happy they love it!

A boquet of wildflowers awaits you!

Weeds can be pretty too!  I love the blurred splotches of bluebonnets in the background.  My lens is pretty awesome.  :)

Butterflies everywhere --but boy are they difficult to photograph!