Halloween 2011

I hope everyone had a great Halloween! Its hard to believe November is already here and this year is flying by so fast!  Since the last post a lot has been happening in Tuckers Alley.  One of my photos Fall Harvest was featured on the front page of Etsy! Thanks to the beautiful treasury "When the fall comes down" by inameliart  That is a first for me and I was definitely thrilled! Very exciting ;-)


Also since then we did have a Halloween Party at our house.  Here are a few pictures from that day: 

If you like the cupcake photos then I think you would LOVE the recipe!  I found them at this website: http://www.browneyedbaker.com/2011/03/14/irish-car-bomb-cupcakes/.   I was searching for a fun treat that included alcohol.  They are not strong and they are SO perfectly moist and chocolaty.  The instructions are NOT from a box and it was fun to make them from scratch.  The actual cupcake is made with Guinness chocolate cake base and filled with a chocolate ganache which includes a small amount of Irish whiskey.  Frosting is vanilla buttercream with Baileys Irish Cream added.  Enjoy!!


Here we made some green goulish punch.  It was just a mix of Sprite, 7-UP, Ginger Ale and Lime Sherbert. We also added dry ice to get the fun foggy appearance! 

Hope you had a happy Halloween!!!

Bugs in the Garden

I love to take a million pictures and so here are quite a few insect images from the past month.  This moth was on a white brick wall.  Of course I scared it and it flew away but then landed on the cement.  So I had to get another shot then left it alone.   

This is a flowering onion in my mom and grandma's garden.  See the little beetle hiding at the top?

 

This Cicada was at the end of the rope.  It was barely moving when my nephew's found it and they kept asking me to take its picture...lol Poor thing.

 Pretty green caterpillar contrasting with the orange rose and then hiding in the red rose:

Interesting tiny green spider climbing on the little pink blossoms:

Wasp in the flowers:

 

Swallowtail butterfly in the future? 

Stink bugs?  They are eating the dying squash leaves.

Contest Alarm!!! Ding Ding Ding!!! haha

Check out this blog contest by Nicole's Homemade Treats!  http://nicoleshomemadetreats.blogspot.com/2011/09/monday-mania-giveaway.html

I have to say that she makes the best chocolate treats!  I ordered chocolate covered cherries that were out of this world!  My father-in-law also thought they were outstanding.

Check out her Etsy shop here: 

www.nikid.etsy.com

I also loved this amazing white chocolate bark that is filled with walnuts and dried cranberries.  All of her products are lovingly made all natural and preservative free!  So go ahead and enjoy!

 

9/15 is Time for Spring Planting! (in Michigan zones 5-6)

As of 9/15/11 it will be the start of fall planting for spring flowers!  I just purchased some very beautiful flowers from Direct Gardening and cannot wait to plant them!  Also this was my first time ordering and I was unaware that you receive free gifts with your purchase!  I spent only $50 and will receive all of the below items and the free items included were 10 Dutch Iris bulbs, 3 Bouquet Tulip, 3 Windflower, and 6 Grape Hyacynth!  That is a great incentive to go back and buy more in my opinion!

 These Purple Lilies grow up to 6 feet tall and are named "Purple Prince":  I can't wait to photograph these!  Photos are courtesy of the Direct Gardening website:

 This is a beautiful purple bearded iris named "Aristocracy".  They bloom in the springtime and have the dreamy and magical look to them. 

 

This Iris is named "Copatonic" and has the beautiful brownish red-ish orange colors all throughout.  I've suddenly become so interested in these unique looking Iris's!

 

I ordered a few of this beautiful blue beauty named "Blutique" and I know for a fact that my grandmother and Mother will absolutely love this one.  The blue and white are so unique and it almost looks like it was painted.

 

I just discovered the names of these interesting tulips:  They are called "Tulip Quartet, Parrot" and they include five amazing bulbs of each color.  I never had blue tulips before so I am SUPER excited to plant these.  Oh hurry up with the mail already!! hehe!   I looked up the White Parrot style online and found that many brides use them in their wedding bouquets.  Love these!!  Now if only there was a website to design your flowerbeds with actual pictures of flowers.... that would be great. 

 

What are your favorite springtime flowers? 

The Fungus Among-us!

I love the outdoors and love taking pictures.  We went camping in Pinckney, MI the last weekend in July and found these interesting mushrooms growing on the forest floor.  

I enjoy looking up the actual name of any plants that I take a picture of.  The name and type are usually hard to find by just guessing and looking it up online.  Its like a mini research project and a fun learning experience at the same time.  I definitely do not eat any of these and simply enjoy photographing these mushrooms.  I began searching for more information on this site called Mushroom Appreciation.  The site gives a slightly humorous detail about how to identify mushrooms by observing 8 characteristics:  Gills, Stalk, Spore color, Bruising, Habitat, Time of Year, Cap description, and Smell/Taste.

I also found a Michigan Mushroom Hunters website!  How interesting!!  I will apply names to the images below if I can find out what they are:

Old warehouse art loft

This is my new favorite image taken this weekend at an art fair which allowed access also to the art lofts and studios in the Detroit area.  I love these two mustard yellow chairs sitting in the sunlight.  

Personalize it!

You can personalize these fun flower pictures:  Just-for-fun-your-face-here-8x10-photo
If the link does not work just copy and paste this link into your browser:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/74130523/just-for-fun-your-face-here-8x10-photo

These dogwood blossoms are just the first example of a personalized photograph.  It is very fun to make one of these and I would love to make one for you!  These are very fun for families and especially children who love to make those silly faces when a picture is taken!

This was the first image that I experimented with and he is looking off into the distance.  The daffodil is so bright and the orange is such a strong beautiful color.

My grandma's favorite color is blue.  These elegant forget-me-nots are just sparkling with an amazing blue color and they are very happy looking.  I love how the new blooms have a purple color to them.  I would like to thank my family for posing in these pictures.  We had a good laugh and thought they were unique and super fun!

 Love pink?  These beautiful spring blossoms look even better with a pretty princess in the middle!  Perfect for the child who loves nature and flowers.  Fun for the whole family to see and such a pretty keepsake.

    

Such a cute pine cone!  This is a fun earthy and woodsy image that you can hang in your son's bedroom or on the family room wall.  Its cute and hilarious at the same time especially if you get a great smiling picture to put into the photograph.

All you have to do is send me an email at tuckersalley@gmail.com with the picture of the face that you want put into the photo.  I will create a draft image with my company watermark on it and send it back to you for approval.  If you like it then I will make a special listing for you on Etsy and it can ship within 2 business days!  Its that easy!   I love to look at the example pictures on the listing because they make me laugh.  The standard listing size is 8"x10" in the glossy photo format but if you would like a larger size or style just let me know!  

Just in - Metallic Photographs!

The metallic photos arrived safely and they look stunning!  I just posted a trio of cacti for sale on Etsy.
More to come!!!  I took pictures but they are not yet posted and all items are READY TO SHIP!  Also since its a group of pictures it is discounted too!


I hope everyone had a wonderful Mothers day yesterday.  On a side note, I actually got motivated and went running 3.1 miles this morning because my friend ran a race called "Run Like a Mother" and she finished 6.2 miles in only 45 minutes!!  I was like... okay get up and go work out finally.  I did!

Great tool for ETSY shop owners!!!

I just tried this great tool that was listed in the Etsy team:
http://www.etsy.com/teams/7574/shoppers-paradise-bnr-team

The website is www.craftopolis.com and if you enter your shop name it shows:
1) page views on a monthly calendar,
2) item hearts on a calendar
3) each item that has been viewed and how many times per day when you click on the calendar day
4) you can change prices of items in mass quantities if needed by allowing this application to connect to etsy (you have to give it permission)
5) it connects to google analytics if you have a linked account and it tells you the search items that were used to find your products!

Very useful information!

Maple Blossom featured!

The Maple Blossom was featured in this new treasury!  Check it out!

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4db4e566abce6d91beb266c8/on-the-road

New pictures available!

Treasury created today ;-)

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4db08446d27a8eef2ccc6462/crimson-lavender-teal-and-canary?index=0

A snapshot of my shop!

Treasury of the day!

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4db08446d27a8eef2ccc6462/crimson-lavender-teal-and-canary

First post on the blog!

I just started this blog to promote my etsy shop!   www.tuckersalley.etsy.com

Stop by and check out my fun jewelry and more importantly the photography!