I want this: Printstagr.am Poster

I'm totally an Instagram photo addict. I take photos all the time anywhere and everywhere using my iPhone, so it should really be no surprise that I love this Printstagr.am print so much! I would put it in on a Christmas list, but it would be pretty obvious someone was getting it for me, cause I would have to send them ALL my photos. Too much work. Maybe it will be my Christmas present to myself.

There's no method to this madness

I've been busy tonight working on my blog revamp. It usually takes me a little while to find a look I like and that I feel is authentically "me". It's hard to find your own voice when there are so many blogs out there with cool looks that stand out. I just stayed with a fun and bright color palette and some funky fonts. I couldn't go wrong!

Glittery Toenails and more weekend fun!

Wanted to share with you my sparkle nails I got fo the holidays! It is basically a red basecoat with holiday sparkly colors over top. I think it looks fun and super festive. I am happy with it. Hope it lasts till Christmas!

Raines Family Photo Shoot

This past Saturday, I had the opportunity to photograph my friend and co-worker Victoria Raines and her family (Husband William, and sons Spencer and Malcom). I wanted to share with you the fun photos. They were super comfortable in front of the camera and they were willing to play around and have fun. Cool and casual and authentic...totally my style!

Swell Smells for the holidays

Do you want your home to smell AMAZING this holiday season? Forget candles or incense, this is the best way to make the smell go all over your entire house in minutes. And it takes less than 5 minutes!

5 Ways to beat the Creative Blues

I go through all kinds of highs and lows being a creative being and sometimes I hit a roadblock. My emotions sometimes feel like a roller coaster. Didn't I get enough as a teenager? It's so not fun sometimes!

The Fresno Necklace

If you haven't noticed, I've taken a mini break from blogging these past couple weeks. I've lacked motivation to write or be inspired in blogland. I have; however, had other things up my sleeve. One such project is the making of these Fresno necklaces that I am selling locally for $22 at Twee Boutique.

Swell stuff I'm loving right now

Pretty paper straws in orange and blue. I want to use them this holiday season!

How to De-seed a Pomegranate

I've just recently gotten into eating pomegranates. It's a little bit by default; my boyfriend grows pomegranates and it is his very favorite fruit! During Thanksgiving of last year, I asked William if I could take some tutorial photos of him showing how to super-fast de-seed a pomegranate. After reading this tutorial, there's no excuse for you to say that it's hard to get the seeds (arils) out of a pomegranate, so you'd rather not waste the time.

Oh Crap! Now what do I do?

My dining room table is filled with Halloween "leftovers".

Around this time of year, I get a case of the blogger blues. Yep, that's right, I get depressed about blogging and keeping "The Swell Life" I have together. The reason? As you see above, I obviously LOVE Halloween. October and the witching season is the time of year where I have my most creative mojo. The fall/Halloween season appeals to me cause it is whimsical, playful, loud, colorful, and creepy. I love all those things mixed together. I don't really get that fulfillment out of any other time of the year.

I also get kinda sad, cause I work really hard at keeping my blog fresh, updated and brimming with fun ideas. This brings me a lot of new fans, followers, and pretty big numbers to my blog. It is very rewarding. My content throughout the rest of the year, while creative, doesn't get me the same reaction or attention. Side note: I'm the youngest of 5 kids, so I have always been one to crave attention. LOL. Not in an unhealthy way or anything, I just am easily excitable and more motivated by it.

So, that leaves me in a weird spot. I've thought about a few things I could do. I would love your feedback and supportive ideas. I really would like to keep my passion alive and not have it fizzle out, just because my favorite season has passed by!

1) Create a new site devoted to year round Halloween ideas. It would be something in a same/similar format as my FontCrafts site (please check it out if you haven't done so already - I'd love your feedback!) I would post a lot of my existing Halloween projects on there and add new ones from time to time too! At Halloween, though, it would be my main spot for Halloween action.

2) Keep my Swelldesigner blog for occasional sharing of photos/DIYs when the mood strikes, but mainly focus on my sister site FontCrafts. Revive this blog mostly around Halloween season.

I really feel like Halloween and FontCrafts are my two major interests and strong niches in the crafty realm at the moment and I'd like to nurture them more. I'm just not sure what step to take next and I'd love your insight!

And full disclosure: I'm totally writing this post tonight cause I couldn't think of anything else I wanted to post about. I feel it's too soon to focus on Christmas Crafts and I'm not as excited about Thanksgiving all that much, even though I do think it's a beautiful holiday!

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

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Meet Dexter!

I got a little carried away with all my Halloween posts, that I totally forgot to formally introduce you to my new Kitten Dexter. He's super stinkin' cute and really feisty! Almost a little too feisty. He likes to claw up my pant leg and eat from my food bowl! Bad kitty! Definitely a handful this one is!

He really likes Pixie! So much, in fact, that he pounces her at any given moment. She's actually reacted surprisingly well to it and because of his annoying attacks, she's become a lot less skiddish around us. Hmm, maybe a kitten was all she needed all along! I sometimes catch her chasing him and them snuggling up to one another, so I think it is a love/hate thing! If they were married, I don't think it would end after 72 days...just sayin'! Haha!





I wanted to share with you some cute photos. He's so darn cute at this Kitten stage that I can't help but take pictures of him every day! I'm such a mom. They grow up so fast, I tell ya!!







And as you probably can tell, in addition to my cute cat photos, I also love the color red. I think he sees red everytime he plays, so it seems only appropriate!

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

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