Footwear affects joint pain ...

As many people are aware, your shoes will sometimes affect different areas of your body by easing, or increasing stress that causes pain. A recent report from Rush University Medical Center on a study of various types of footwear, indicates that flat, flexible soles may relieve stress on arthritic knee joints. (see article from Chicago Tribune).

Anyone who knows me, knows that I do not wear anything with more than a 1/2 inch heel. I also have to find WIDE shoes and then I have to find these shoes in the 5-6 1/2 women's size (US). This is not an easy task. It takes me a long time to locate something meeting these requirements and then also finding appropriate color and price adds to the difficulty.

So I was quite surprised when I began designing for Zazzle's Ked shoe lines. Here are 2 of my favorites.

Shoe - Women's slipon
Shoe - Sky High Balloon

There are many fun designs by other ShopKeepers on Zazzle

Garden Walkway

It has been a while since my last post.

I am 98% finished with my first backyard garden walkway. I plan at least one more and several smaller linking paths - another year. I spent 2 weeks digging out the area for the path, then this last week I graded and laid the stones. (I pinched a nerve in my hip, so was out of commission for 3 days, but am nearly 100% back now.) I have only to fill in the gaps between stones now. It is really looking good. Photos may come next week.

I have my entire backyard pictured in my head and it is slowly coming to resemble those pictures. However these are nothing near to the images that appear on some of the Zazzle shopkeepers products.

Here is one of my favorites:

golden tree by luckyjdesign
See more Gold Mousepads

Photography

As anyone who knows me will know, I have been dabbling in photography for many years.
I began with a Kodak Brownie (with flashbulbs!) as my first camera when I was about 10.

I think I may have had several other "beginner" cameras before my first 35mm SLR. I used the Pentax K1000 for many years and most of my collection of slides was using this camera with several different lenses (from 28mm to 500mm with a multiplier -- see image - you can purchase this as a small poster in my store)

I finally decided to join the digital age and got a small Coolpix. So neat not having to worry about film and being able to see the image immediately and delete it if it is bad. I was saving my money to purchase a "real" digital SLR and I had a break in. All of my photo gear and electronics were stolen!

OK - with the insurance money, I bought the Canon EOS. Superb! I took several shots to get the hang of all the features and ... I was burgled AGAIN!!!

After a few months, I got over the shock and decided I needed some kind of camera, so I bought a used Pentax K1000 at a thrift shop and then some inexpensive lenses to approximate my original 35mm setup. About 2 years later, I bought another Cookpix and just recently, I've been taking the time to learn all of it's secrets. It is pretty fantastic, but I really miss the wide angle and long distance lenses.

I've been uploading some of the better images to my products on my Zazzle store/s. (See link above)
There are many fantastic photographers on Zazzle here is just a sample of those that have created calendars with their photos.
I just had to post a favorite that is related to my Muir heritage in Scotland.

Beautiful Scotland Calendar 2011 by claire_shearer
Many more calendar designs available at zazzle