Paerback is Back!

Hello there! I hope this finds you doing well today and excited that spring is just around the corner. I know I am! Not that this winter was a bad one, but I have to be honest...I have been dreaming of summer for weeks now. I miss my flip flops. However, we are almost there and that makes me happy. 

On another note, The Find of Her Life is back in paperback after having undergone a formatting overhaul. I have seen an advance of it and I think it looks great! Be sure to get a copy today. I am keeping my fingers crossed that my reviews come back over, once amazon adds it back to my author central page. I would certainly welcome new reviews though, even if you have already given one. Keep me posted on your thoughts on the new format too. Looking forward to hearing from you!

I hope you all have a wonderful day and if you are in the path of this nor'easter coming, be safe out there.

Anna
Artfully Odd World

It's Tricky-Total Update

It's tricky, that retrograde! It tried to knock me off my game a bit...put some plans on hold...terrorize me even. However, that is what its there for. To shake us all up a bit. Make us see things more clearly. Decide what is important and what isn't. It's tricky! No more though! I meant what I said and said what I meant. This is the year for getting things done. Seeing dreams come true. Making things happen. One of those things is, drum roll please, getting my store up and running. It was supposed to happen about 2 years ago and for reasons beyond my control, (and some within) it got scrapped. This is me putting thought into motion, holding myself accountable. 2016 the year of my store! Stay tuned for details.

I am working on a few art projects as well. Hope to get one done soon and share it. Along with that, I am taking photo jobs here and there. If you would like to book a session, contact me and we can get something on the books. I am also, currently on the hunt for a few models for future projects. (See the line above if interested as well.) Looking for a bit of help too. If you could take a look at my work and let me know if you have a favorite print that I have done. One that you think would make a good print in my store, I would be profoundly grateful and give you 10% off your next print order. After weeks of looking at my work and trying to pick what is best, I have come to the decision that I am not capable of choosing, lol. My work is like a child to me and I could never exclude one for the other. Although, I will admit that some of my older stuff is not that great. I have learned a lot in the past years that I have put to good use and made some good strides in my art.

In other news, some of you have asked when my book will be coming out. It is currently in stage 3 of editing and I should have some news on it soon. I have been through 2 editors, so it has taken a bit longer. Thank you for staying patient with me on this project. I have actually learned a lot during this process and I look forward to having a finished book to share.

I guess that about wraps it up for now. Leave a comment and let me know how you are all doing. How has this new year been treating you? What projects do you have in the works? Looking forward to hearing from you :)

Artfully Odd
Anna

2016-Bring it On!

I am writing this today with a whole lot of love, joy and excitement in my heart. 2016 is almost here and I just can't wait for all it has in store! Just like a kid on Christmas Even excited! I am usually a pretty positive person, no matter what...but something about this new year has me pretty excited! I think I may know why. Given everything that we have gone through in the past few years, I finally feel like this coming year is my year! The possibilities are endless. I feel like I am standing on the edge of a bridge, waiting to bungee jump off it and for the first time ever...I wont scream, jump back or startle at the sight of the edge in view. I am just going to open my arms wide and free fall and laugh when I bounce back up!

So, what has brought about this change you may ask? Well, I am not sure if most of you will remember the kind of year that we had last year or not. Let me tell you, it was scary and hard and I cried a whole lot. There were so many decisions to be made that totally stressed us all out. Things to worry about that I didn't think I would ever have to to worry about. (Like making sure my will is all in order and my daughter was safe.) And from that, something wonderful happened. I know what's important now and most of all, who is important. I learned not to sweat the small stuff and to just try and go with the flow more. I learned that living life is more important than making plans to live it. Seize the day...seems so corny to say, but it is so very true. So this year, I am doing me, and our family and our life. I am going to try new things, see new sights and meet new people. I am going to do all of those things that I want to do and not worry about whether or not its a good idea. There will be no list making. There will just be jumping off the edge to see what happens. I learned a very valuable lesson. Life is a precious gift and I am done being scared and unhappy to any extent. So, let's get it started.

I will be taking steps to open my store again. It got derailed the first time, but this is the year. I will be booking more shoots this year. I am going to start taking my prints to craft fairs and building a real business. I will be spending my time with my loved ones the way I want. (Lori, we are going to take a page out of your book!) Adventure awaits!!! It awaits us all!

So, what more can I share my friends? If I had any piece of advice, it is to live in the moment. Be present. Put your phone down and open your eyes. Have a conversation with someone. Do something that terrifies you and will exhilarate you all at the same time. Love your family and be there for the friends that are there for you. Forget all of that bullshit that is the past! It will serve you no good now. Be kind to those you meet, for you never know what their path has been like. And finally, find joy! Be joyful! I wish you a very happy and healthy 2016 my friends!

Happy-Happy
Joy-Joy
Anna
Artfully Odd

New Senior Portrait Session & Life

Well, a big hello there! Let me first apologize for the length of my absence here. I have not been too good about blogging as of late for many reasons, but mostly because I have been living life. Isn't it nice now that that old winter is gone! Never thought we were going to make it through this year! But, we did & I have been out enjoying the sunshine too much as well as shooting a lot of people and things, but have not had much time to blog about it. I will try to do better this summer as I will have so much that I want to share with you!  Like this for instance....

Steven Class of 2015

Steven Class of 2015

In memory of his Father

Senior photos are something that's near and dear to my heart. I get so much happiness from shooting these kids at the beginning of the rest of their life. They are so happy and so full of promise! It reminds me that life is a precious thing and should be full of those things always. No matter what age you are! So, CONGRATULATIONS Steven & the class of 2015! I wish you light and happiness as you start your life in this world!

Have a wonderful day!

Anna

Artfully Odd Photos

Fall Things & Synopsis for New Manuscript

Hello and happy almost Halloween to you all! I hope that this fall season is making you all feel right at home. We have certainly been getting the most of the season, especially with Buzz's vacation. Headed to Vermont on Saturday and I am super excited about that as I have never been before. Hoping to get in some of the local culture as well as getting some covered bridges photographed. What I could do without though are the increasingly colder temps. I am not ready to let winter in, but I had better get used to it quick. They say it will come to us earlier, like November earlier!!! Just in case, I have gotten all my sweaters out of storage and I just finished all of my winter shopping this past week. So, I think I might be ready. How about you?

Anyway, if you follow me on FB, you know that I recently finished my second manuscript last month. It was quite a milestone for me, as my last manuscript was written with a friend. While that was an amazing experience in itself, this was just lil' ole me! It was requested by some folks interested in it, that I write a synopsis. I am posting that below so you can see what I have been up to and hopefully you will like it. I have often said that writing is such a personal thing to me, (to all writers I know), and having your work well received is an amazing feeling. So, I hope this peaks your interest a bit. Should have some news on it soon. I have also begun the start of a new manuscript and have 6 chapters into it so far. I am enjoying the feeling of accomplishment that I get from writing and sharing it with you is awesome. Oh yea, I still don't have a title yet. Any thoughts?  Ok, enough of that....

Again, I hope that your fall is a warm one. I hope that your dreams are coming true and if not, that's ok my friends. There's always tomorrow :) Sometimes it's hard to keep on moving forward, sometimes it's hard to have hope and on those days, give yourself a break. No one is perfect, (this is something that I am learning now, lol) and things don't happen overnight, as much as we would like them too. But one day, you will get there...no matter what your goal is. Here's to dreams my friends!!!!

Synopsis of

Serena Blaine, free-lance history writer, raven haired beauty is an average girl living a single life in Phoenix AZ and she is looking for love. Not just a one night stand kind of love and not her all-consuming shoe lust kind of love…the kind of love that steals her breath away and has her begging for more. The kind of love that she has been unlucky with her whole dating life. She knows it’s out there somewhere, it just doesn’t know her address.

Forming crushes on her current assignments tends to be the norm for her. She can always find something romanticize about them, but there is always one exception. THE father of the American Revolution.  You know, that guy…George Washington…Love him! As her assignment on him for History and Times magazine drags on, weird things start to happen. Serena starts to believe that she has traveled to the past and actually met the man. In her travels, they start a passionate affair that brings her quest for love to an end. She finds that all-consuming love that she has been searching for and a man who is a very sexy and in charge lover. His very touch brings a response from her body that she has never known before. Not at all what history books have written about him.  Becoming his confidant, his soul mate, she helps him with insights to the war that come with her knowledge of the future.

Then suddenly, proof of her love surfaces in the present and her whole world is turned upside down. The pull of the past proves too strong when her single girl life in the present is halted due to a car accident. In a deep coma surrounded by family in the future, will she decide to stay in the present or return to her love in the past? Is she in the reality that history has taught her or has she transported to an alternate reality where her life with the dashing General is an accepted one? 

Anna
Artfully Odd Photos 

Store is Coming Along Nicely

Well hello there :) I hope this finds you all doing well today. Are you surviving the heat? I wont complain about it because we did survive winter apocalypse. It would just be wrong, lol and I do love summer time so, but this humidity has to go!!!! I want to open my windows again and be able to dry off when I get out of the shower. Had  a great week so far. My Aunt and Uncle were up from Florida for a visit and we had such a good time! Even though we got caught in the middle of a downpour on a metal boat while out on Lake George! It was sort of Titanic-esq, lol! It was so nice to get spend one on one time with them and it was also nice to show them around Upstate. They are our first visitors here, so it was special.

On other news fronts, the store is coming along nicely. I got some of my greeting cards done today as well as some more prints framed. Placed a new post card order this morning, fingers crossed that they arrive in time for opening on the 15th. All that's left is painting the wall, building a half wall, ordering a ton of prints and getting set up! It's going to be great, and as my Mother pointed  out the other night, the first thing I have done for myself in some time. I am super excited, so be sure to check back with me for updates. Posting some photos below of the work in progress. Should have some of the space soon too.

Have a great day and happy 4th!
Anna
Artfully Odd Photos

 Greeting Cards

 Post Cards

Prints framed

Big News Coming!

Thats right...Big, I mean really big news is coming in the next few weeks! So excited! Cant wait to share!!!!!

Remember the old saying...When 1 closes, another opens!

A Photographer tries to go the Natural Route

Hello world. I hope that this finds you all doing well out there. Now that Spring is officially here and on its way to being glorious Summer, I find that I am wanting to make some changes in my life. There is something about the changing of seasons that makes one think, ponder and sometimes even, dwell on certain things. One of the things I have been pondering is all the chemicals that we put into our bodies every day. This thought actually came to me in February, as I sat around the table at a beautiful Mexican restaurant with my family. We were talking about the pressures on women these days to look nothing but perfect and how, even if you try not to buy into all of that, it still effects us all. One of the point that I brought up was all the chemicals that we put into our bodies and how I think they make us fat. I mean, our food is pumped full of them, our shampoo is positively dripping with them, our lotions, creams and what not, (You know, the ones that are suppose to make us look better and feel better about ourselves because that's  what the media tells us we need to do...Yea, those) are brimming over with things I can't even pronounce. And on top of all of that, we are constantly bombarded with prescription drugs every time we see the doctor. There is a pill for everything my friends and our physicians are more than happy to prescribe it to us any time we have an ache, pain or just don't feel right. Yes, this is the world we live in. And while I can agree that some of the crop and preservative advancements that we have witnessed in the past 20 years, benefit us...the others simply do not.

So, what does this mean my friends? Well, it means that this gal has had enough. It's time for a change in the Patten household. I recently piled all of my old shampoos, creams, lotions, cleaning products and what not into a box and went on the hunt for natural alternatives. I was pleasantly surprised at what I found. I was prepared for sticker shock, but was met with reasonable prices. I found a wonderful line of hair care products called RenPure, new lotion and some new body wash from Delon Labs. I have been using them for almost 2 weeks now and while the shampoo doesn't suds up, I am liking the results. I found that Walmart has its own series of natural household cleaners and they actually work! I switched our laundry detergent to an all natural one and Buzz just said to me this morning, that he loves it and the way it smells and he's a guy! Today I decided to switch out one of the most important products we use...deodorant. I found the Toms brand and I am going to give it a try. It smells good and does not have any of the icky stuff that you find in name brands. One draw back though, its a little pricey. If it works though, I am all for it. We are also buying more veggies and fruit from the farmers market instead of the store. I am still currently looking for an all natural skin care regime, but I am happy with the little steps we are taking now. 

What have I noticed so far? Well, believe it or not, we are not as bloated as we were 2 weeks ago. Water weight has been lost I think. My allergies are also not nearly as bad as they were before. My hair feels better to the touch, our skin is not so dry and I am not nearly as tired as I have been in the past. Is this proof of chemical poisoning? Well, I can't say really. All I know is that the Patten's are feeling better and we actually might survive the zombie apocalypse when it comes! Whether it be mind over mater or getting the chemicals out of our systems, we are feeling better. I hope to be making another positive blog update on the subject after we have been at this for a month or two, so stay tuned. Given the state of the environment these days, I feel better just trying to lessen my carbon footprint. Other good habits will surly follow.

I would love to hear from some of you out there though. Have you tried the natural route? How did it go? Did you stop cold turkey or take baby steps? I can't wait to hear your comments. 

Have a wonderful day my friends!

Anna

Artfully Odd Photos