Do you remember sassy brassy in my front entryway? She’s been needing to come down for a long time now, but I haven’t found anything I’ve loved to replace her with.

Last week on my way back from Blissdom, I was sitting in the Charlotte, NC airport (love that airport because: free wifi!) waiting for my delayed flight and so I ventured onto Craigslist and found a seller in my my city getting rid of a bunch of brass fixtures for $5 each. This one caught my eye:

I loved Nester & Melissa’s workshop at the Wednesday Workshops at Blissdom. Here are some things I took away:

Melissa shared a profound quote (from Barbara Cook, I guess?): * “If you’re able to be yourself, you’ll have no competion.” No one else has your experiences, your outlook, your talents, your take on things. Be the best you can be and lift those around you.

* What is the purpose for your blog? How do you want people to feel when they leave your blog?

In my “about” section I say, “320 Sycamore is about bringing out the charm and potential in our homes and families, with a bit of nonsense and good deals scattered here and there. I am a stay at home mom of 5, I'm so NOT a professional, but I love to look at possibilities of what can "become" with limited time and money.”

That hasn’t changed in two and a half years, but they pointed out that it definitely can. Blogs can evolve over time and your focus may shift.

These are the notes I scribbled down from the uber-talented Amy and Deanna, mixed in with some random pictures of the Opryland hotel.

*turn off the flash! Try to time your pictures with the best lighting of the day. (clarification on this: of course you have to use a flash sometimes. Amy recommended lightscoop.com and I think I’m going to give it a try on my camera…)

*capture people and kids as they are: try to avoid “say, cheese!”

*move in closer! nope, even closer.

*seek out the good light~having them simply turn their faces can make a world of difference in pictures. Ty to avoid harsh sunlight on faces, backlighting (light behind person), spotty lighting.

*If the light is bad, make the most of it. Capture their outline in the sun going down, or some close-up details.

*focus on the details! zoom in to capture the toes, the dirty little hands, the expression, or the mis-matched socks.