I'm live!

I just opened my Etsy store!!! It only has one item in it right now, but as soon as I have a chunk of time, lots of good stuff will be added. I'm so excited.

Also, I have gotten a billion photo orders in the last few days...if you are one of those clients, I will be right with you. I'm knee deep in school functions.

Oh, AND, I won a super cool necklace from another Etsy shop! I'm so excited, I cannot even tell you how excited I am! I NEVER win anything! So fun. The giveaway is from 30 days...a super cool site! Check her blog out. You'll love it.

I'm off and running! Peace.

Shine

I finally succumbed to taking some kind of random stomach pain med that I found in our cupboards and I am feeling better. I'm ready to shine. I'm ready to create and love and hug and eat something yummy and sit in the sun and breathe deeply.

What are YOU ready to do today?

Happy Saturday

Today...ironing and cutting (finally!) and sewing some new super cool journals...trip to the library...project runway...family movie night...laundry (blech)...and I'm going to try to figure out what WON'T upset my stomach, cuz things are still not back to normal. Oy. Time for some coffee and some get-up-and-go. :)

miracle mum friday

I had in my mind that I was going to get a flower at Whole Foods while I was there for my bi-monthly coffee bean trip today. I was a bit teary as I drove there, thinking about a note that I had found this morning. It is above and says "Hello Grandma! Your the best! Keep high hope and never give up." The note was taped to the inside of a wood box that was my grandma's that I decided to keep and do something with after she passed last summer. I'm guessing the note is about 30 years old. I was thinking about how much pain my grandma was in more than half her life. And how aware I was of that when I was a kid.
I was also thinking about our personal finances. Our country's economy. Our future. I was sad and gloomy...but I knew that I needed to buy a flower to photograph later.

So I walked in (chanting to myself "flower and coffee beans ONLY") and asked how much some white spider mums were. The flower lady said "oh, you know, I'll just give them to you."

What?

Ya, I'll just give them to you.

In that moment, I felt God's love. Is that lame? I felt God's love handed down to me from heaven to here on earth...a gift...freely given. Not only did I feel God's love to all of us here on earth, but I felt it personally. God knows ME and gave me a flower. He knew just what I needed. What an unexpected miracle. I'm writing this out, cuz tomorrow I will forget this little miracle and I want to remember. :)

Thankful

Oh so thankful that I am not sick anymore. I'm not 100%, but man, do I feel better.

Does this mean that I have to start cooking dinner again?

Oh, and cute owl pieced together by my wonderful friend, Alison. She is the bearer of all things "owl".

For all my clients out there, here is a great article for photographing kids by the amazing photographer Sharon Montrose. Have fun with your little ones! :)

It's been over nine years...

I was just telling some clients on Saturday that I never get sick. Well, I get a cold now and then...I have allergies sometimes...but REALLY sick?...no. Truly, I am a pretty healthy person. And I am TERRIFIED of throwing up.

It's been over 9 years since I last threw up. Til this Sunday. Lord help me. It was awful. The full blown stomach flu. And because I couldn't eat anything, I missed a whole day without coffee, which meant a full blown caffeine headache as well. Fun stuff.

The good news...I did NOT eat the cupcake I wanted the night before getting sick. Because once you see food come up the other way, you never want it again and that would've been really sad if I never wanted a cupcake again cuz I adore cupcakes.

And I have now had 2 cups of coffee and my headache (read: any time I moved I had to grip my head with full force to try to stop the pounding) is gone. And I have sweated out about 5 lbs and now have no fever. Good stuff.

I'm taking it easy today. Gotta do a bit of cleaning and then it's nap time. And a shower would be good. All my clients who are waiting for their online slide shows to be up...it will be an extra few days. But that wait is worth it, I promise. :)

Happy Tuesday y'all! love and blessings!...

this bird is just for you, Dawn. :)

Coldest engagement session EVER!

Holy crap it was cold! And wet and snowy and like you-can't-feel-your-hands kinda cold. But this amazing soon-to-be-married couple smiled their way through the whole thing. And not once did they throw something at me in their cold misery. Wow.







Thanks for hanging out with me! I loved every minute of it!

Happy Love Day!

I LOVE valentine's day! All of the hearts and love and pink! love it! We don't usually do any presents for it, cuz we just had our anniversary and I just had my birthday and Chris' is coming up. And that makes it even nicer...just a day to love each other and celebrate how great our life is. :)

Love you honey!
I'm off to an engagement shoot, then it's family movie night with chocolate and love and more love.

still on an owl kick

Hey everyone! Today is going to be full of running around, field trips, valentine's day parties, cupcake frosting, small group get-together, and lots of coffee.
And I'm going to try to enjoy every minute of it. Happy Friday!

edit: no field trip...snow delay today. Now I have time to frost the cupcakes!

So, I received the fabric I ordered for journal covers...and they are so beautiful, I am afraid to cut them! Really.

In a side note, I also got a Wacom tablet with some birthday money (thanks mom!) and I am so excited that I can now make all the owls I want. :) It's so fun to have new toys. When I was a kid, I wanted to be an author and illustrator. I am excited to see the possibilities in this tool, both for fun and in doing my photography editing!

Something I'm sitting with...

"it’s much more fun to discover who I am rather than create the person that I’m supposed to be." - Brené Brown

I have no idea how I came to this person's blog...surfing, I guess, through different artist's sites. I was reading Brene's bio and this statement hit me like a ton of bricks. Like I need this in front of me at all times. Like I want my kids to know this and wake up with this....that God made us US. For a reason. Isn't that so reassuring and peaceful? I love this. I think I might put it into a new painting.


Speaking of paintings! ... wanted to share my latest triptych (maybe my only triptych so far!). These are collages on canvas, includes part of an old dictionary, part of a Steinbeck book, a wine bottle seal, paint, charcoal, and image transfers. Just playing around. :) I did two paintings last year. I have done 3 so far this year....I'm on a roll!

I think I have a cold...or allergies...or something that makes me feel a bit on the light-headed side. Hmmmm. Sounds like a good day for lots of coffee and some "Project Runway" reruns. :) I'm going to bust out of this fog and create something great. Or at least something that doesn't suck.

And I'm waiting for super cool Amy Butler, Joel Dewberry, and Anna Maria Horner fabric to arrive at my door. It's so hard to think when you have yummy fabric in transit.

I can already tell that today is going to be awesome.

Foxy love Monday

We had some fun over the weekend watching the fox in our neighbor's backyard, snoozing in the sun. She was so sweet! Unfortunately, she and her multitude of family are the reason we have no squirrels romping about...but she is so pretty, I will forgive her. :)
Today...errands, editing, tax stuff, volunteering at the school.

OH!...and I need help!...Apparently (uh-hem), I have been snoring. I already take benadryl and flonase before sleeping. I had a really awful nose accident in the 90's (and had multiple surgeries), and I'm sure that things have shifted in my nose...BUT, does anyone have any ideas that might help, before going the surgery option? Any ideas would be greatly appreciated! :) And I'm sure my husband would appreciate it as well. :)

Sneak peek Sunday

Oh how I love this family. One of the best things about my job is that I get to watch little ones grow up. I cannot believe I get this privilege! Seriously. So cool. And God bless them, it was SO stinkin windy. Holy cow. We had to stand in the sun to warm up every now and then. And I made them walk ALL over. And they never even blinked. You are amazing and thank you and enjoy! :)

okay, I know it's the middle of winter, but it's been really nice this week (like in the 50's!) and I'm craving summer and capri pants and flip-flops and sunscreen smell and salad with anything grilled.

I've also become obsessed with the idea that I could design my own scrapbook paper, like the strawberry thing up above. I designed it tonight. Lord help me with all my ideas. Can you tell I it's my slow season and I have too much time to THINK?! :)

I have a shoot this morning, lunch with a friend, and chicken taco salad for dinner already planned out. Awesome day!

And I just might wear some capris.

Good day and get moving

Today is a good day. First it's my birthday. Second, I woke up to presents. One of them being this super cool now-my-favorite-morning-coffee-mug mug. Isn't it just dying to be drunk out of?!

And check out this awesome umbrella my fam gave me...yummy orange on the outside and blue sky with clouds on the inside. It's from Bath and Body works. Love it!

I went on a walk this morning and it suddenly came to me that I get so inspired by other things...lots of stuff always going through my mind, twirling ideas around. But how often do I take that inspiration and run?! It's so easy to be inspired and then not do anything about it, isn't it? Ideas don't mean a thing unless you DO something.
So that's my deep birthday thought for the day. :)

OH, and something that will be coming soon...covered journals. The covers are reusable, just slip another composition notebook in there and you're all set. :) I will be opening an etsy shop (with my necklaces) very soon. I am looking for some super cool fabric now. :)

Okay, time for a shower, lunch with hubby, and some nice relaxing magazine time. It's already a great day!

Happy February 2nd!

Seriously, I can't get enough of a holiday that celebrates a groundhog predicting the weather. How happy is that!?!

We should have more holidays like this one, don't you think?