Art Day: Holiday Workshop

Starting any arty-farty day requires pre-creativity caffeine and a pastry that is by no stretch of the imagination 'good' for you. Add in some girl talk with gal pals Harmony and Sarah and you've properly started your day.

After gracing the coffee shop with our presence, we popped over to a Holiday Workshop by our friend, Diane and made oodles of goodies for a few hours. And, as usual, I have oodles of ideas. Off to find my sketchbook...

Happy Halloween...

...from our family to yours!

Sassy Sisters

What happens when you toss three blonde kiddos into a heap 'o junk? See for yourself!

Three cheers to Mom who styled a fab wardrobe. Oh, and those socks...they have guitars on them...and say "girls rock." I concur!

More from Miss P, Miss J and Baby A, here.

Lil' M's Beautiful Mess

Okay, so I'm not sure who had more fun here, us or Lil' M!

A big beautiful mess in the studio and we loved every second of it. Kinda looked like a box of Crayola's exploded at the end. Kudos to her parents for a fabulous idea, and for allowing us to be apart of Lil' M's first birthday cake. What an honor, thank you! Oh yeah, we took some other pics too and of course, they're adorable! Including ones in the very chair her Daddy has his toddler pictures in. Check out the session, HERE.

Let's Go Antiquing!

After some early-summer moaning for twice being rained out of the antique market, I finally made it! July was the lucky month. I spent the morning wandering at a leisurely pace, picked up a couple of fun goodies (even though I lost my list half way through), and snapped some inspiring finds. I'm loving the recycling aspect of some of the items, dreaming of new color palates, and I cannot resist a collection of birdcages! (click for larger image)

Kiddos Big and Small

First up is the delightful Baby K, back for her three month session. How can you not love this watermelon ensemble? Too cute! Which reminds me...a note to parents: bright colors make the best pictures. Want more? Click HERE.


Next up, siblings in the park! Check out these crazy kiddos ages 9, 7 and 6 years. They make the best goofy faces on command. Awesome! As you can see, they are a photogenic bunch. More from this session HERE.

Summer Sewing Projects

I enjoyed two summer sewing projects, and was overjoyed to give them both away! Made of felt with three big fabric flowers, the Secret Basket was complete with an ol' fashioned key to open secret passageways, and pockets on the inside to stash little stuff. (click for larger image)


My first intention with the next project was to make a big stripey pillow with a flower brooch, but as I was playing around with how to order the fabrics I thought, "oooh, pockets!" and the Book Pillow was born. What could be better for a 6 year old, right? Oh, and those Fancy Nancy books = adorable! (click for larger image)

Bottletop Magnets

Last summer at the antique market I bought a handful of soda and beer bottle tops. They were rusty and cool so I could do something with them, right? Well, they sat in a jar for nearly a year until the inspiration hit. A cousin was getting married and I wanted to supplement a kitchen-themed shower gift with a quirky something-er-other. Afterall, the bride is a fun-lovin', free spirit so I could totally get away with it.

Out came these fridge magnets featuring old photos of the happy couple as the prince and princess, and of course the dog--the rambunctious Jazmyne, who took center-stage in the packaging with perky golden ears.

Congratulations to Nicole and Ken who were married a few weeks ago.

Tip: Line the bottom of a plain colored box with fun paper and tie with a coordinating ribbon. Easy and simple--for you and the recipient!

A Sibling Summer

We've been, oh...let's see...just a tad bit busy lately, so lets get right to it!

Starting off the summer of siblings with Mr. L and Lil' K. Our first time with these sweeties was a delight. We snuck in a quick shoot while they were visiting from Missouri.
More here: Mr. L & Lil' K


Next we have the always energetic threesome that you've seen before. Mr. T and Mr. L and their little sis in an urban landscape made for a super-fun evening. Love those pearls, Lil' L!
More here: Mr. T, Mr. L, Lil' L


Wrapping up the summer with Miss K who loves, loves, loves being outside and her brand new brother, Baby C for a perfect night at the lake.
More here: Miss K & Baby C



Thanks to all these wonderful families for allowing us to be a part of your summer!

Hair Clippies!

I have a bin of fabric scraps that continues to grow. I've always said that someday I'll find a use for the tinyest bits of my favorites. My patience paid off and a small collection of scraps have taken the form of floral hair clippies! You may recognize the basic design from an earlier post. I figured mini versions would make super-cute clippies, too. Here are a few I've given away with more in the hopper, one of which is a sassy black one for moi.

Marshmallows roasting...

...on an open fire
Fireflies nipping at your nose
Summer songs being sung by tree frogs
And folks dressed for mosquitoes
Everybody knows...

Simply Summery

A few pics from this weekends bridal shower. I crafted candle holders from small Ball canning jars. Lemons, artificial purple flowers and fresh carnations for the arrangements with purple and yellow ribbon and silvery butterflies for the finishing touches. Simple and summery. We could have used a few of those puffy cumulus clouds, but other than that it was a great morning with the ladies! Congratulations Stephanie and Jason!

Baby A turns 7 months!

Another little lady recently graced our studio. I've been looking forward to photographing her wonderful expressions and big blue eyes. 7 months old already? How can that be? To enjoy more of the shoot, click here.

Sweet Baby K

It's been a busy week and excited to share our latest photo session with you! We had the pleasure of photographing this lil' sweetie at two weeks old. Her family is delightful and her big brother is very proud. Who can resist a sleepy baby!

Click here to check out more endearing images from the shoot.

After The Rain

A brief rain/sunshine mix made me run outside to find a rainbow!
No rainbow.
Drat.

As I stood in the sprinkles, I surveyed my front garden and it's post-winter explosion. Boy, I have quite a bit of work ahead of me this holiday weekend! But instead of lamenting over the amount of weeding and pruning lay ahead, I grabbed the camera and captured a wet garden before the evening light faded.

Sometimes, it's best to stop and enjoy the details.

Embrace Life.

My day started at 7:15 am when I met my friend Harmony at a downtown bakery for coffee and pastries. Tummies filled and caffeine in hand we hopped a few blocks over to the Farmers Market––my first time there, can you believe it? Roaming at a leisurely pace we packed our bags full of goodies for the week. Some basil, aspara*gas* (as hubby calls it) and fresh lupine's for me and a week's worth of produce for Harmony. I fell in love with the work of a local man who makes lazy-susans out of wood scraps. His craftsmanship is impecable.

We scooted from there to make a creative workshop hosted by our friend, Diane. I have blogged about her before. She's such a doll and comes up with the best projects. The eight-or-so of us made a beautiful creative mess and shared a few recipes, too!

Home for lunch with hubby and then it was off to the greenhouse. Dirt, fertilizer, hanging baskets, annuals, and two tomato plants later, I am home. A lasagna dinner and a quiet house round out the evening as I sit with the sounds of a purring kitty on my lap, birds chirping and the clicking of our laptops.

Today I feel as if I truly embraced life.

Scribble Scrabble

We recently spent a lovely afternoon with Lil' J and her family. Her Daddy is an ol' friend of my hubby's which made the shoot extra special. Lil' J is a sweet, energetic girl who thought our studio flash covers looked like TV screens, thoroughly enjoyed scribbling on the backdrop (love that!), and was focused on my collection of Scrabble tiles.

Now I'll admit, not being a Mom I'm not totally up on developmental milestones, but I was pretty impressed that as I pulled the Scrabble tiles from the jar, she recited them back to me! Not bad for a 20-month old, huh? For more from shoot, click here.

Birthday Butterflies

A few shots of a birthday cake I made this weekend for my niece. I had never before made a cake or frosting from scratch and I'd never worked with candy-makers chocolate. I would definitely make it all again, but probably with a cream cheese frosting next time. The buttercream was very good, but a titch too sweet for me. As for the butterflies––oh my––chocolate and nonparerils everywhere! Tip: be quick, patient and stay close to your microwave.

On a side note, I was telling my Mom this was the one time I wished I owned a stand mixer, which would have kept my kitchen (and me) safe from the attack of the flying frosting bits. "Really" she says as we trotted down to the storage room. Lo-and-behold, a funky vintage mixer that was their wedding gift. It still works! Thanks, Mom. The next cake adventure will be a little less of a mess.

Kitchen: disaster. Dishes: immense. Birthday Girl: happy.

Cake Recipe from Beyond Toast
Buttercream Frosting Recipe and Butterfly How-To from Annie's Eats

Bay-bee Ba-LOO-ga

A fun time photographing Miss P in her "Baby Beluga" costume on the eve of her dance recital. Thanks to Aunt Kelly who styled all her beautiful curls, (so jealous!). Click here for more pics from the session.

Possibilities, Numerous.

I stopped painting regularly about a year ago because I felt stuck. So, I switched to fabric to infuse creativity in my subject matter which I'm still having fun with (can't wait to show you what's in the hopper!)

Then my work-friend, Diane invited me to her Stampin' Up workshop. I'm not a scrapbooker or a stamper mind you, but she had some cool projects lined up (that included fabric) and I needed a creative morning with girlyfriends. And as with everything, I discovered a cool new toy. It became quite the debate...a spiffy die cutter-tool and it's accessories or a food processor? Hmmm.

Fast forward to last weekend for some playtime with my new toy (Mom, if you're reading this: food processor is on the holiday list). I'm having way too much fun and it's what I needed to take my painting, and crafting, to another level. So as a thank you to Diane, I made her this "card" for helping to inspire me.

Cold Sunday, Warm Brownies

I had it all planned––a large caffeinated coffee and an early morning jaunt to opening weekend at the Antique Market. But rain and wind changed my plans. So I decide it was instead a perfect morning to make from-scratch brownies from my new recipe book! It was really quite easy and they are yummo. Hubby agrees. Oh! and make sure you have milk. Must. Have. Milk.

Recipe from: "Deep Dark Chocolate" by Sara Perry, Chronicle Books.
Three cheers to miss France Ruffenach for the book's amazing photography.
(following are my photos)

Art Giveaway Alert! Happy Earth Day

I was fortunate enough to have been given the most amazing orchid stem a few days back, which I promptly photographed. In awe of its design, coupled with the time I was spending with Gwen Frostic's work, I figured a combo was appropriate to share this week. So, in honor of Earth Day, a desktop wallpaper to remind us of nature's beauty and fragility.

Download instructions follow. Enjoy!
(One image with quote, the other is quote-free)

To Download:
Click on the image and it will open in a new window. Drag the image onto your desktop and manually set it as your desktop pattern. (PC users: I'm told you can also do this by right-clicking your mouse on the image and choosing "set as desktop background", but I can't prove it---I'm a Mac-girl.)