My Photo Friday.....Color your Winter

(Each Friday I share a photo(s) I have taken during the week or recently. I enjoy taking pictures for fun and capturing what I see through the lens when inspired to do so. The photos can be business or family related, from my personal life or just from the everyday. Enjoy My Photo Friday)

If you hadn't noticed my header take a look! :)  

I thought for this weeks "photo friday" it would be fun to share a few of the outtakes. 

From looking bored......

To a knee slapping good time!

And every model must be aware of her accessories if she wants to attempt a "throwing snow" shot and not catch her scarf on the way up! Whoops!

You can catch my top 10 favorite projects from 2010 and also my latest tutorial!

Happy NEW Year!!!

looking ahead: I will be sharing pictures of how I have re-decorated my mantel after the Holidays and a tutorial on how I refashioned.......well you will just have to stop by and see!

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Looking back....favorite projects from 2010

There were so many to choose from by I narrowed it down to my top 10 favorites tutorials that I created and shared with you this past year! It's been a great 2010. Wishing you and your families a wonderful New Year! 

(now go get crafting!! - tee hee hee)

Fabric Wall Art

Itty Bitty Apron

Refashioned girls rosette shrug

What a HOOT!

Ruffled Rosette Pillow

Embellished Arm Warmers

DIY chandelier

Lucky In Love Pillows

Refashioned Corporate ZIP top

Creating a Headboard

I am looking forward to crafting and sewing with YOU in 2011! More tutorials and patterns to share and inspire! Happy New YEAR!!! ~ Megan

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Burner Covers - Photo display

(background info: I love crafting and repurposing. I gave myself a challenge this fall to create a series of useful items very inexpensively with a material that could be easily found. I came across a 2pk of Burner Covers at the $1 store and said "That's it!" And since then I have ran with it having more ideas than time to create. You can see several of my ideas HERE in a TV segment I did or check the right sidebar for the links.)

I thought I would sneak in 1 last burner cover tutorial before the New Year rang in! By now you pretty much now the basics and probably have ideas of your own! Here is a fun way to display photos in a ROUND way instead of the typical square or rectangular frames available at the store. 

PHOTO DISPLAY

Materials:

1 burner cover (8" or 10")

spray paint or chalkboard paint

scrapbook paper

mod podge

clothespins (can be purchased at the $1 store as well)

Hot glue gun

scissors 

pencil

(if you give this a try you KNOW I would LOVE to see how you craft it up! Share your photo HERE)

Step 1: Choose to cover the burner cover with paint or paper. 

Paint - Spray and cover the entire top of the burner cover with any color spray paint desired or even chalkboard paint. Let dry between coats and repeat as necessary.

Paper: Turn the burner cover over, trace and cut the circle out. Apply mod podge to the paper and adhere to the right side of the burner cover. Let dry. 

Step 2: Clothespins: These can be spray painted but I usually cut strips of coordinating patterned scrapbook paper and apply to the tops of the clothespins with mod podge. 

Step 3: Position the clothespins around the burner cover using a hot glue gun. These photo holders can be created in ANY theme. Create one for the nursery, create one to hold notes or family photos for any room of the house! 

This one I created using chalkboard paint so I could write in the middle of it and/OR create a magnet to put in the middle for different themes or seasons of the year. 

Don't be afraid to layer! I layered 2 different papers into the middle to reinforce the saying and add a touch of whimsy for the nursery.

Have fun and don't forget to share your photos with me! 

< -------------I will be linking up with the crafty parties listed on the left sidebar

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Whole Living

I've been meaning to do this post for 7 months now. I just kept on putting it off and getting distracted by antiques and flowers and oh look there goes a cloud shaped like a turtle. 2010 is rapidly closing and gosh darn it, I'm going to spit this out before the year changes.

Whole Living magazine did a really nice 2 page profile on me for the June issue. Yeah, last June. I clearly suck at posting these things in a timely manner. It was really overwhelming to be thought of (by no less than Joanna Goddard, who is basically every blogger's gold standard of stylish sweetness).

Funnily enough, in the intervening months since the article came out a lot has changed. I turned 26, I'm no longer working for Saipua, I'm starting my own little business and most importantly, duh, I gave up knitting that grey sweater dress. This new year I promise to keep you better informed about my epic knitting failures and magazine articles, too.

*You can read the article here.

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I must admit.....

Confession #1- Our Christmas Decorations are already down and put away :) I like to ring in the new year having it all put away and my home feeling "put back together" and redecorated for the remainder of the winter season. I had enough energy to put it all away but am still trying to muster up enough to redecorate - ha ha ha. My mantel currently looks like this:

Awwwww - a clean slate. Don't you love that? Have you taken yours down as well?

Confession #2 - I am really enjoying the Christmas break with my family. It's great to be able to sleep in, hang out in our p.j's and for me - not be so worried about all the packages I need to send out, emails to answer, etc. So please excuse me while I take at least 1 step back this week ;) I will still be around (especially on twitter) but for now I'm enjoying lots of these moments:

That's what an eskimo kiss looks like when you try to capture one while holding your camera at arms length - LOL!

Confession #3 - As the New Year gets closer, the more I start to think about the changes I'd like to make and which directions I will be going with the Brassy Apple Shop and Blog. I have also been thinking about restocking in January with more scarves and flower brooches. I couldn't keep them in stock in the shopping rush before Christmas but unsure if a restocking will be worth it after the Holidays....thinking.......thinking......any opinions? 

I will have 1 more tutorial to post this Year! Check back this week!

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We wish you a merrick christmas

This is what we call live reporting, bringing you merry merrick wishes straight from the heart of the home this December 25th. Christmas has been a smash success this year, even though we promised no presents (yeah right). My biggest present for everyone was decking out the house in fresh wreaths and garlands and Micha made us a new set of stockings at the 11th hour last night.

Instead of the normal gimme gimme christmas, we promised no presents but instead turned the tables and all got lots of presents for mom. She cried! Micha and I surprised everyone by racing down the stairs in matching vintage red union suits. Yeah, I have a collection going on.

I sincerely hope you had a wonderful holiday season, filled with much love and lots of cookies and kisses.

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HTC Desire HD — a Bigger and Better Desire

Is bigger better? Taiwan-based smartphone leader HTC must think so. It just updated its most successful flagship Desire with a more extravagant HTC Desire HD. As the name clearly suggest, it’s now updated with HF video recording capability.
But for current Desire users, updating to the new Android 2.2 Froyo makes their Desire capable of HD as well. But the new Desire HD does more.

Right off the bat, the HTC Desire HD is bigger, thanks to a larger 4.3-inch display that shares the same AMOLED capacitive touchscreen with WVGA resolution and 16 million colors of the older Desire. With mobile phone comparison websites you can find the cheapest deals for the HTC Desire HD as well as lots of other new phones like the Sony Xperia X8 and Nokia Touch and Type.

It also has the same multitouch data input technology accelerometer and proximity sensors. Imaging may not be so obvious but its takes a step farther with a high 8-megapixel resolution autofocus camera with the same LED flash, face tracking, geo tagging and, of course, HD (480 x 720) video recording.

Another feature that sets the HTC Desire HD apart is its unibody aluminum design for a more solid feel and durability. Its inbuilt memory gets more generous with a 4 GB flash memory with the same microSD support for up to 32 GB expansion.

Media playback also gets updated with the ability to play Xvid video files and a sound enhancing feature in the SRS Surround. It also comes with a new ebook reading features that’s unique to HTC.

Both Desire handsets feature the same cornucopia of data and radio connectivities such as 3G on the dual band UMTS/HSDPA/HSUPA and 2g on the quad band GSM/GPRS/EDGE radios. The HTC Desire HD also comes with the same WiFi 802/11 b/g as well as data connectivity support for Bluetooth v2.1 with A2DP and microUSB 2.0.

GPS with A-GPS is standard and comes with digital compass and preloaded with Google Maps. Software-wise, both smartphones use the same HTC Sense UI and are social networkers with Facebook and Twitters apps along with media sharing support for Picasa, YouTube and Flickr.

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My Photo Friday......Merry Christmas!

(Each Friday I share a photo(s) I have taken during the week or recently. I enjoy taking pictures for fun and capturing what I see through the lens when inspired to do so. The photos can be business or family related, from my personal life or just from the everyday. Enjoy My Photo Friday)

Merry Christmas from me to you! I hope you have a wonderful Holiday Weekend!

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Christmas c. 1984, again

I was going to write an old timey Merrick christmas post but there is just no improving on perfection so go here to read last years. In T-10 minutes (okay, an hour) we will be hitting the road to go home. I'm planning on stopping at my favorite antique stores along the way, which will double the length of our drive. Shh, I haven't told Micha yet.

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Magnetic Snowman Tutorial

This "frosty" fun is great for the whole winter season and your hands won't get to cold making him either! 

Magnetic Snowman

Supplies:

1 - 8in. burner cover

1 - 10in. burner cover (come in a 2 pk at the $1 store)

buttons

magnets - round/flat/or strip

hot glue

scrapbook paper

glossy white spray paint

wire - 1 yd of 12 gauge

Step 1: Spray the tops of both covers with spray paint. Let dry. 

Step 2: Turn the 10" cover over. Stretch wire across the middle of the top half. Bend over the edges. 

Shape each end like a branch for the arms.....

Step 3: Create an assortment of accessories. Buttons with magnets on the back for mouth, eyes, etc. Use googley eyes if desired. Cut out a Hat, Scarf and Nose. Laminate or cover with contact paper. Attach a strip of flat magnet to the back. Create several different hats and accessories to create different looks - ex. Sunglasses, corn cob pipe, hair wigs, etc.

<-------- I will be linking up with the fun crafty parties listed on the sidebar!

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today's post sponsored by:

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My Photo Friday.....joy

(Each Friday I share a photo(s) I have taken during the week or recently. I enjoy taking pictures for fun and capturing what I see through the lens when inspired to do so. The photos can be business or family related, from my personal life or just from the everyday. Enjoy My Photo Friday)

After some early snow in the season,  it had all melted away until we got a small storm the other night. My little guy LOVES the snow so I took him out to play in it and enjoy the BRIGHT sunshine. He was so Happy! You can literally see pure JOY on his face. I hope you are finding, creating and giving  joy this holiday season.

And if you have tried to grab a scarf this week you will jump for JOY because there are more available today but it really is first come first served! (merchandise will go live at 10am mtn time) Thanks Nie Nie for the shout out! There will also be some flower brooches available too!

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A Full PC Computing Experience for Fraction of Cost?

A Userful-DisplayLink partnership has kicked off with the demonstration of a Universal Docking Station with DisplayLink USB virtual graphics being used to create an additional computer workstation providing full user experience, at a fraction of the cost. By deploying the Userful MultiSeat Linux 2011 software on an existing notebook, netbook or PC, the companies showed how to create two fully functioning PCs with the addition of only a dock, keyboard, monitor, and mouse.

Targeted at schools and other institutions in which cost and ease of use are top priorities, the Userful-DisplayLink solution allows a single PC to be expanded to create up to eleven high-performance computer stations. This gives users the features and experience of a full PC, but at a very low price point.

“We are excited to work with Userful on the development of drivers and MultiSeat Linux software solutions that enable the use of our USB virtual graphics on a robust open-source platform,” said Dennis Crespo, executive vice president of marketing and business development at DisplayLink. “Now schools can spend less time and money configuring systems, and more time providing students with practical computing experience.”

To read the full press release, click here.

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