a kramer birthday!

Sheesh!  It's been a week and a half since my birthday, and I can believe I haven't told you all about it yet! It realy was an awesome day filled with good food, and great friends!

 The day started off with breakfast (an egg scramble with sausage, peppers, and cheese) made by Matt Kelly.

 Birthday presents!  (which also included the biggest bottle of Bailey's that I've ever seen, not pictured here)

 Dinner at New World Bistro Bar (don't worry, I'll tell you all about the amazing time I had here tomorrow)

 Super birthday drinks with my girls!

 Large Birthday drink number 1 at Bombers

 Large Birthday drink number 2 at Eldas (Note- if it's your birthday, go here for your drink!  It's not as crowded, you don't have to spend $15 dollars to get your drink like at Bombers, and you get to choose from a special birthday menu!  I chose a drink called "Great Sex!")

Crazy times...

Matt and I <3

new goodies!

well, just one in particular... a new lens!  last week i got a Canon fixed 50mm f/1.8 lens- good stuff!  i LOVE the shallow depth of field I can get on this thing.  the only problem- it really made me realize that i want a new camera body too.  maybe santa will bring me one this year...

we traveled down to warwick for the coolest baby shower ever, and i took some test shots with the lens to see what i could get out of it.  let me know what you think!

"son"flowers!

hands down, the creepiest thing i've ever seen.  definitely do NOT like spiders!

of course, there was lager!

and oh the food!  i'm really digging this lens for food photography... definitely more of that to come!

late night campfire- awesome!

beer in the capital region!

an amazing tasting at a local winery just wasn't enough for the kramer family- we needed more booze!  just 10 minutes away from the Saratoga Winery is the Olde Saratoga Brewing Company. This place is a MUST SEE for any beer lover in the capital region.  there are only two words to describe this place- "free tasting."  that's right folks, for zero dollars you can hang out in a small intimate pub and try amazing beer. for free!  let me show you around:

here she is folks... in the middle of nowhere!

it's tiny and intimate inside... perfect for beer sampling!

hmmm... i don't remember which one this was...

and they had cute chairs...

here's mom's nice nails...

and they had fish!

the people at the Olde Saratoga Brewing Company are super cool and will let you make your own case.  dad had a lot of fun picking out the perfect case... i'm glad he let me share!

Photo inspiration: home...

Here I am, driving back from the train station after an absolutely amazing weekend with old friends. But as nice as a little vacation was, it's always nice to come back to the place you call home. I've had a lot of "homes" over the past few years, but there's just something about this place that I love. I dont know how long ill stay, but you've really showed me some grood times. Thanks for being you, Albany.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

waking up...

to find myself in this treasury this morning.  It features one of my favorite bowls that I threw on a pottery wheel last year.  The glaze is called walnut spice... love!

One artistic venture that I haven't spent much time talking about on this blog is my love of ceramics.  Our love affair started in high school where I spent ALL of my free time learning how to properly center a ball of clay on the wheel.  I produce mostly functional pieces (bowls, mugs, pitchers), but have found that this hobby is too expensive for my dwindling bank account.  For the meantime, I have a few pieces in my Etsy shop (kellykramer, not FriendlyBrown) that I'll try to sell until they're gone.  Clay- I shall see you as soon as I get my act together!

everything's coming up friendly...

Well, it's 11:30 at night, and I'm still awake, because I had a super stressful night, when all I really want to do it get crafty!

I had Bridge crash on me, when what I REALLY needed to do was get some photos together for Art on Lark.  It's insane how dependent I've become on Bridge, because I was basically helpless without it.  Needless to say, I did NOTHING with photographs tonight, I was more productive with Dogfish Head.

On the bright side- I did find a copy of Lightroom that I didn't know I had, which will probably make my life a hell of a lot easier in the future.  Now I'm probably going to spend most of the night messing around in it instead of sleeping.

But the REAL reason that everything's coming up Friendly is that I got 2 bits of positive information on the Etsy front when I got home from work.  First- I was featured on this blog for a black and white photograph that I actually took my senior year of college:

Very cool to see this shot posted on a blog.  I always thought this series made these dead leaves look somehow alive.  A friend of mine told me that this one looked like an animal crawling across the floor.  Regardless, now I'm tempted to add this to my Art on Lark list.

Also- my dead streak is over... I finally sold another pair of fingerless gloves.  FriendlyBrown is back baby!  Speaking of which, I need to go over and renew!

Ok- all renewed!  This pair of gloves I actually made for a gift for my friend's sister.  I'm glad somebody else likes the color combo!

buttons are HOTT...

I woke up this morning to an etsy convo informing me that I've been included in this treasury!  Treasuries are an important part of Etsy, because it really helps get your name out there, and admin uses treasuries a lot for their front page picks.  Hopefully this awesome button treasury will find it's way to the front page.  Thanks to MixedMediaCocktail for putting it together!

This particular pair of mug cozies was made for a co-worker who wanted something to fit on large mugs that was blue and purple... voila!

Great start to the week.  I hope it continues!

Spring on Jay...

For me, spring is all about breaking out the grill, dusting off the porch, and kicking back with a beer. We've enjoyed many a night on our small back deck. Unfortunately this weekend hasn't been the best for grillin' and chillin', but a girl can dream, no?




Veggies and meat... All you need baby!



A great bottle of beer in a bright green setting....



Finish it off with a glass of wine and some knitting... Perfecto!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

the joy of not showering for three days...

or adventures in camping. i'll be high on a mountain this weekend, getting dirty while roughin' it, but i thought i'd leave you with some awesome items that i recently found on etsy.  could be useful for camping in the great outdoors or right in your backyard!

3 thermos by vintagebycassandra

 upcycled vintage picnic blanket by SewnNatural

 Drink Stake blue by scheildesign

 Campfire Pie Maker by lisabretrostyle2

 Customer Summer Bunting by jessicadelrio

 Pure and Simple Reusable Sandwich Baggie by bellsandunicorns

 Camping Necklace by betsyfarmerdesigns

wedding season...

it seems like i've been surrounded by weddings lately.  everyone's either getting engaged, planning a wedding, i'm either attending the wedding or shooting it, but the BEST part of this wedding season was getting to see my best high school friend walk down the aisle a few weeks ago.  i was actually in this wedding, so i didn't get a chance to shoot as much as i usually do, but i tried to capture as much as i could.  congrats brandi and adam!

present for the buntings!

right outside where we got ready... this was an old farmhouse that's been restored and was amazingly beautiful... too bad i didn't get to shoot more!

this is where the reception was held... GREAT light!

brandi wore flats (yay!) and had this great beaded purse from europe....

the back of her dress had THE coolest detail ever... i made her stay still while i shot these little flowers on her back...

and here's the dress!

adam wrote the most beautiful letter and accompanied it with a fantastic drawing and a flower from their garden... all of us girls were in tears...

the cake... SOOOO brandi, and beautiful, and delicious!

PA weekend extravaganza...

This past weekend I traveled to my home state of PA to celebrate my sisters 21st birthday (oh shit I'm old!) and best friend from high school's wedding. I'll spare you from the smiley pictures, that's for Facebook, but I wanted to take this post and show you the beautiful sunset on the way home. Check back later this week for fun with booze, hotel antics, and of course, the dress!













- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Good day Sunshine...

Inspired by a beautiful day and great weekend plans ahead of me, I thought I'd pull out some sunshine inspired shots. Enjoy the day everyone!











- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone