Monroe Monday

Close Up

I love taking photos, and I especially love taking macro photos. I have considered investing in a macro lens, but I know I’m not good at changing lenses. I am a Canon-fan and started with an EOS 300D. Later DH gave me an EOS 450D for Christmas (LINK). I got two lenses with my EOS 300D: the usual 18-58, and then a bigger one going up to 300, but I never changed, so it ended for sale on the internet. I bought an 18-200 lens and it is perfect for me – it works for everything and stays on the camera. I subscribe to Canon’s news mails and read about “close up lenses”. I had to learn more about them, so I ran to my local photo pusher. It is simply just a magnifying glass you can screw onto your lens, so you can come closer, really close:

 

I bought a set of three: +1, +2 and +4. The bumblebee is shot with +4, this peony is too: 

 

These two are shot with +2: 

Now I cannot think of more gadgets I need for my camera … oh, perhaps a cordless release. I have one with cord, which I hardly ever use, but one day …

Monroe Monday

Snowy on Tour

My dad was not the only one who got a car when he turned 18 – son did too:

His dear mechanic dad saved this nice, old, white Polo from scrap. It is named Snowy, like Tintin’s dog, who is white too. 14 days later, son finally got his driving license, and here he drives his first tour ever: 

He has been driving ever since …

Monroe Monday

Tortoise Escape

You have seen my old tortoise, Tobias, before. He is pierced so he can walk freely around our lawn every summer without escaping. And believe me, he really wants to touch the lawn when the sun shines and our terrace door is open. He literally run away – he runs up and jumps from the terrace, and then he is gone. So DH has put boards around the terrace to keep him from escaping. Tobias has been peeping out through a crack for long, and suddenly DH calls. This is new – a tortoise trying to climb over the fence. Then you really want it!

Monroe Monday

Nail Tape

I have found a new smart way to make fantastic nails - and very easy too: nail tape. I follow Sophie's blog, she is a Norwegian photographer, so her photos are in top, and she is a fan of nail tape, so she inspired me to get started. I found ten rolls of tape for less than 5 pounds at Amazon:

The tape can be used as covering tape or as decoration, then you just give it one or two layers of topcoat to seal it. You paint your nails with a colour, let it dry (I do it the day before, since my patience is nothing to brag about), and then you can make points, stribes, triangles, checkers, geometrical patterns ... as always it is only your imagination that sets the limits. Here is my very first attempt:

My nails were painted with Deborah Lippmann's Glitter in the Air, a transparent light blue, which has disappointed me a bit. Well, I were invited to a confirmation and would wear a green dress, so my nails had to look more green to match. So I made dark green glitter triangles and put a purple rhinestone at the top of each point. I think it turned out quite nice.

My second attempt:

I had painted my nails with Inglot 319, which is a lovely green polish, but the second day I decorated it with one of my green Sinful Colors glitter polishes I bought in the US. It is more discreet, but still a nice effect. I have of course mirrored the effect at the other hand.

My third attempt is reverse of the above, I think I like green and purple together:

The purple shimmer polish is a no-name my sister has brought home from Egypt, but the purple glitter polish is OPI's Designer Series "Temptation". It is pretty expensive and I am a bit disappointed when it is on the nails, but it works well in the above design.

Monroe Monday