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kristarella.com

kristarella.com

Happiness Engineer at Automattic, lover of knitting, crochet, sci-fi and more

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You are here: Home / My life & thoughts / Hello World!

Hello World!

27 January 2011 by kristarella

Contents
  1. Where was I?
  2. What have I been doing?
    1. Walking
    2. Celebrating
  3. What’s next?
    1. 365
  4. Thanks!

No, this is not my first WordPress post with the default title, but I’ve been mostly away from the internet for so long, that I feel like I need to say HI!

Where was I?

Towards the end of last year I was overwhelmed by work, and then I was sick for some time. I don’t really want to get into the details, except to say: I’m not 100% well again, but I am so much better and I think I’m getting better all the time. Also, I’m so sorry to anyone who was affected by my illness, whether it was delayed jobs or delayed replies to email, or anything else.

There are a few jobs and emails that I still need to catch up on, but I hope to be completely up to date soon. If you think you should have been contacted by me and haven’t been, please feel free to email me.

What have I been doing?

Well, for some time the answer was not a whole darn lot! A lot of stressing, panicking, lying on the couch watching TV or sleeping. It wasn’t all bad though; have a look at some of the good times in pictures…

Walking

My doc told me that to get better I had to get out, get some sunshine and exercise. So I took that prescription and explored a couple of local places, including a pretty interesting cemetery.

Celebrating

Yeah, celebrating isn’t the easiest thing to do when you’re not feeling up to snuff, but the world keeps on turning and you have to go with it. I am very blessed to have such beautiful family and friends, with whom I gathered for Christmas, a couple of weddings, and to usher in the new year.

I also learnt how to make cut-out cookies and decorate them, which was fun, and quite relaxing too.

What’s next?

For some time I’ve been wanting to change my business around a bit so that both you and I get more bang for our buck. This includes some plans to move servers, rearrange my site structure a little, release some premium Thesis skins and more. I don’t have the details ready to announce to you yet, but I look forward to having something for you all (soon, I hope)!

In the mean time I hope to get back to posting tutorials and photos and whatever else strikes my fancy…

365

Speaking of posting photos… I’ve started a 365 project. Yeah, they’re all the rage at the moment. With Camera+ back in the app store and its associated Mostly 365, I feel a little like I’m just jumping on the bandwagon. But I’ve wanted to do this for so long! I even announced a couple of years ago that I was doing one, but I guess I gave up, or forgot, or something.

Anyway, I’m committed, and I’ve set myself very few rules to make it as easy as possible. The only real rule is that I need to take at least one photo every day that either teaches me something about photography, my camera, or the world, or take a photo that is technically good, or a photo that I just like. I’m not going to be posting these photos every day: it’s too hard. However, every photo will have its timestamp, and I will post them eventually (when I’ve moved servers).

I hope I’ll learn loads about photography, train my eyes, train my brain, and master my camera. Already I’ve learnt that self-portraits are difficult without a remote trigger (I’ve bought a new battery for mine), butterflies are very difficult to capture, and food photography is not easy— but is best in natural light with not too shallow a depth of field.

Thanks!

Thanks to everyone who was concerned about my absence, contacted me to see if I was alright, spared a thought for me, and was patient with me. I really appreciate it!

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Filed Under: My life & thoughts, Photography, Photos Tagged With: Christmas, food

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Comments

  1. Saif Hassan (saiftheboss7) says

    27 January 2011 at 20:17

    Get Well Soon!
    We Missed You

    Glad to have you back!

  2. Jesse Petersen says

    27 January 2011 at 20:56

    I second that! Get well soon and let the good times roll with whatever life brings.

  3. Philip Barron says

    27 January 2011 at 22:29

    You’ve been missed, Kristen. Glad to hear that you are on the mend.

  4. Graham Strong says

    27 January 2011 at 23:04

    Great to hear your voice again! Hope you feel better soon.

    ~Graham

  5. Nina Cross says

    27 January 2011 at 23:37

    Happy to hear you are doing better! Best of luck with your new goals for 2011!

  6. Avinash D'Souza says

    28 January 2011 at 04:50

    Nice to know that you’re happily on the recovery road. It’s super having you back again! You’ve been missed for sure and here’s looking forward to more of you in 2011…

  7. marcelino says

    28 January 2011 at 05:50

    Glad to hear that you are feeling better. Won’t be long and you will be right on top of 100%.

  8. Sonia@7spice says

    28 January 2011 at 09:54

    Good to see you back! πŸ™‚ Hope you’ll bang this year with full of energy. Get well soon. πŸ™‚
    Yeah, I agree with tht food-photography is not easy as I’ve the same dilemma. πŸ™‚

  9. drt says

    28 January 2011 at 12:38

    Glad to hear you’re back and wish you get well soon.

    Aris/

  10. Tracy says

    29 January 2011 at 23:04

    Glad to hear you’re feeling better. Sunshine, exercise and new sights–I mis-typed that sites :)–are always healing, too. Good luck on whatever new ventures/adventures you decide to enjoy, and know that your friends here are behind you 100%
    Cheers,
    Tracy

  11. Sandy says

    4 February 2011 at 16:18

    Welcome back! Lifting up prayers for your continued recovery… πŸ˜€

  12. Felix says

    6 February 2011 at 20:19

    Hi Krista,

    I hope your server-moving project settled smoothly and the clutter of things troubling you in the process has finally eased. I’m sure the process must be very educative and filled with pocket of funs.

    Be happy.

    Felix

  13. Kristina Moore says

    7 February 2011 at 07:17

    Happy to hear that you are starting to feel better. Welcome back! Best wishes for this new year!

  14. Martyna Bizdra says

    9 February 2011 at 17:40

    hey Kristarella

    all the best! Positive thinking can make wonders:)

    Martyna

  15. Peter says

    22 February 2011 at 15:32

    I love Camera + it’s a great app.

    Can’t say that I’d be good at the commitment of every day.

    Best of luck!

    Peter

  16. Hyppiechic says

    23 February 2011 at 08:21

    Very nice blog, when you have time please visit our shop in: http://www.hyppiechic.etsy.com

    Thanks Regards

    Joao & Sonia
    Hyppiechic Team

  17. Meggie McFallon says

    25 February 2011 at 04:05

    Best wishes to you Kristen. I’ve followed your work for quite sometime. You’re the whole reason I was able to launch a site this year! On thesis no less.

    So thanks so much, you’re greatly appreciated. And 365 is a great idea.

    All the best,
    Meggie

A triptych of baubles. These are very satisfying t A triptych of baubles. These are very satisfying to paint β€οΈπŸ’šπŸ’™

#watercolor #watercolour #christmas
I have really enjoyed this Christmassy painting! S I have really enjoyed this Christmassy painting! So glad my friend asked me to make some cards for our church helpers, because it set me on a roll!
#watercolor #watercolour #christmas #christmascards #watercolorcards
Had a great Saturday at the GKR Karate State Title Had a great Saturday at the GKR Karate State Titles! I was a sub for @jamesxuereb.me in the Blue Flame Dragons thanks to his sprained ankle; we won first round and came fourth overall!
I did a bunch of judging and officiating, which was really good.
I didn’t place in my individual events, but had a very fun final round of kumite (sparring).

#gkrkarate #karate
More stamping tonight. Even better than last night More stamping tonight. Even better than last night’s!
Did some stamping this evening. Love it! I wish I’d done some pages in other ink colours before I dismantled the stamps πŸ˜‚
Had an appointment in the city, so I got to visit Had an appointment in the city, so I got to visit the @legocertifiedstores_anz Wicked display!
#wicked #lego #afol #sydney
A little book I made from Bunnings paint sample ca A little book I made from Bunnings paint sample cards. It’s going to be for mini paintings and collages. Sometimes it’s nice to start with a colour rather than a blank white page!
A little while ago I did some swatching of Daniel A little while ago I did some swatching of Daniel Smith and Schminke Horodam watercolours. So soothing! I love some of the granulating colours!
#watercolours
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