Sweet Bella and Abby...

Yesterday I had the chance to practice my photography on these sweet girls! Thanks, Sara, for sharing them with me! I was very pleased with how it went...(DARE I SAY that many of these were properly exposed! YAY!)

Here are some faves of Miss Isabella...I love this lolly - SO FUN!

Next up - Miss Abigail...this baby just makes me SMILE! She's at that super fun age with LOTS of smiles! I am already plotting my next visit with these darling girls!

I'll have more to share later in the week - Have a WONDERFUL WEDNESDAY!

Maddie at 10...

Just a quick post today and then I have a bajillion things to do!

I *still* cannot believe that my baby is TEN! How'd that happen??? I guess we are in the dreaded "tween" years now, lol. Only a few short years until the teen craziness ensues, aaaack!

I wanted a page to chronicle this milestone, and to tell a little bit about what's happening in Mad's life right now...

Page Credits: Endless Summer kit from Songbird Avenue; frame and recipe/journal card by ksharonk from 2LittlePixels, Scallop edge by Jen Caputo from ScrapbookGraphics, Love Ya Like a Sister font.


Happy Monday!

Shamu - Believe Show

If you are visiting Sea World, the new Shamu "Believe" show is a MUST! (I think this show was brand new in 2006?) I am in such awe of the killer whale - because of their size of course, but they also manage to be so graceful and fluid. It's incredible to see what these Sea World trainers can accomplish with them. They are obviously very smart creatures!

I was really pleased with the pictures I was able to get during the show, (I have a 12x zoom on my point & shoot camera, so I could zoom in really close!) so I felt that Shamu needed his (or is it her?) own page from our 2008 Florida trip.

Have a Fabulous Weekend!

Page Credits: Be Amused kit by Sara Amarie from SweetShoppeDesigns, photo frame collage by ksharonk from 2LittlePixels; Love Ya Like a Sister font

Time for tea?

LOL!

Ahhh...I love my doggie! She really puts up with me, heh heh. A lot of days, when I want to try something with the camera, she is the only one around!

Can't you see how enthralled with photography she is?

ROFLOL!

This photo is *really* about the GIANT TEACUP (but shhhh...don't tell the doggie!) - I am a member of a children's photography forum (ilovephotography or ILP for short) and these giant teacups have been all the rage for quite awhile now. It's actually a PLANTER from good ol' WallyWorld (Wal-Mart) and it's HUGE. And I finally snagged one this week! YAY!

MOST PEOPLE put darling chubby babies in them, but I am short on babies at my house, so I grabbed my "baby" for a photo op, lol. BUT SOON, I hope to put my friend Sara's darling chubby baby A in this teacup and snap some BRILLIANT PORTRAITS. YAY!

(Sara - my pup would like a word with you, lol. I think a nice peanut butter biscuit and a belly rub would smooth this over!)

Have a FABULOUS FRIDAY people!

A willing subject...

Now - ordinarily, I get "grumble, grumble" and rolling eyeballs when I pull out the camera, lol. BUT, lately I've been getting some cooperation! YAY! I guess they are getting used to me and my camera practice, lol. I am constantly picking up different tips here and there, and I usually want to test them out right away. A lot of times, it's just me and the dog, - so I'm always happy when there is a son or daughter nearby to practice on!

This is the same photo I shared last week in the Before and After post. And I finally figured out what happened with it - I had the camera set to CWB (custom white balance) from the last time I had used the camera, which was entirely different lighting circumstances - so that is why it came out so dark! SO MANY THINGS to remember with photography! I look forward to the day when it will all be second nature! But thank goodness for photshop magic, to save my mistakes, haha!

Page Credits: Psycho Magnet kit and glitter styles from Studio Flergs at Scrapbook Graphics; Love Ya Like a Sister font, from daFont.

ALSO! Do you see my fresh new blog banner? I love this kit by Dani Mogstad over at SweetShoppeDesigns! Here's a preview of the entire kit...SO CUTE! I adore those darling little postage stamps! (Image is linked)

Pssstttt...And right now they have a HUGE COLLAB available FOR FREE if you spend $10. If you spend $20, you get a matching mini accordian album. Happy shoppin'! Have a MARVELOUS MONDAY!

Why am I up so early on a Saturday???

UGH! Don't you hate it when you can sleep in, but you wake up anyway???

Just a quickie post today, as I have a to-do list a MILE LONG! BLAH! But I was a real slacker this week on the household chores...

This page came together pretty fast. I was flipping thru an old issue of Simple Scrapbooks, and saw a similar paper layout. I loved the paper strips - a great way to use up your scraps! Well...I don't have any scraps, since I haven't paper scrapped in about a hundred years, lol. And with digi scrappin, THERE ARE NO SCRAPS! That is what I love about it - NO MUSS, NO FUSS, NO CLEAN UP! And all my pattern papers are intact, even though I use them over and over.

With photoshop - you can easily just "cut out" some strips and then "drag" each one over to your layout. I, of course, was cutting each one individually, until I realized I only needed ONE from each sheet, and then I could COPY that layer to a NEW LAYER. DUH!

I am loving this shabby color combo too - this kit is the Gold Membership kit for July over at DigiShopTalk - Summer Cottage by Shabby Princess. It's an exclusive, just for members, but I went ahead and joined, since I love all the designers that are coming up too - I'm sure the free kits will be FABULOUS! Here's a preview of the Summer Cottage kit:

Have a great Saturday!

Page Credits: Summer Cottage kit by Shabby Princess (from DST); Lucida Bright font

Sweet baby Noah...

This is my nephew Noah - isn't he a cutie??? In June, we spent a weekend at Grandma's and I took the opportunity to have a "mini portrait session" with Noah, and big sister Brianna (will share more another day). I will never get tired of playing with my camera - I learn something new every day! (And that's good, because I have a TON to learn, lol)

I was *determined* to scrap with this new kit called Bounce from The Shabby Shoppe - I *love* all her stuff! This is the "boy" kit that coordinates with the Twirl collection/girl kit (I used Twirl in my blog banner) but I think it would work for both boys and girls. I love the bright colors - so fun and summery! I adore the little stickers that are included (had to stop myself from using them ALL, haha). If you read my post from yesterday, THIS was the kit I was trying to make work with the picture of Mad and her friend with their faces painted - I just love the bright red! So for this page, I actually worked BACKWARDS, and picked a PHOTO to match a specific kit I wanted to scrap with, lol. It worked out so well that I think I'll continue on with that method!

Have a FABULOUS FRIDAY!!!

Page Credits: Bounce kit from Shabby Princess; ZigZag stitches from Melissa Bennett; Photo frame and notepaper from ksharonk at 2 little pixels; Traveling Typewriter font;

I was POWERLESS to resist...

I simply *had* to scrap this image!

HAD TO.

I haven't scrapped in awhile, so, while this page is pretty simple, it took about 3 hours, LOL! Because I had to find *just the right* kit to use, so I got all distracted looking thru my entire collection of digi supplies! I was determined to use something with RED in it - but in the end, I couldn't make it work with one pink t-shirt and one red t-shirt. GRRRRR!

So I went neutral - with this rich chocolate brown (mmm CHOCOLATE!) and some khaki and peach flowers, and just a tiny hint of spring green.

I think it works!

My inspiration is from THIS POST from ksharonk. She is one of my favorite digi designers - I love her clean style - the focus is on the photos! I liked how she used one photo, and scaled it to be the entire width of the page.

Page Credits: Inspiration -ksharonk; Paper and elements from For You freebie collab; stitching from Bounce kit from Shabby Princess; Traveling Typewriter font;

Before and After...

WHOA! It's been a long time since I BLOGGED! Aaaack! It's been a fun (and busy) summer so far! I'm still plugging away with my camera and photoshop! I guess I got out of the habit of blogging - hopefully I can get back into the swing of things!

Today - I'm sharing a few Before/After photos. I'm attending a retreat in August, and will be teaching a beginning photoshop class with a basis on improving your snapshots. This is right up my alley - as I could play in photoshop FOREVER! Seriously. FOR.EVER. So I have been polishing my skills, and I definitely see some improvement. And since my quest for perfect exposure is taking longer than I thought...(*eyeroll*) I have a NEED for these PS skills, lol.

This first snap, my son looks a bit "warm" to me. I'm playing with my camera set to "Neutral" for the picture style, and then tweaked the neutral settings a bit, per a suggestion I read in a photography forum. Not sure I like how warm this came out. BUT it was a great image to play with in PS! Fixing color casts and color issues can be difficult, so it's a great skill to have, if you have an image you want to save. This image is straight out of camera (SOOC) and only sized/sharpened for web...



And HERE is my fix! My son no longer looks like an OOMPA LOOMPA! YAY! My "snapshotty" image is now a WOW, with just a few tweaks in PS!



MEOW! My daughter and her friend were at "Music in the Park" last night, and had their faces painted. Of course I had to grab the camera! I actually like this SOOC version, it's just a little dark (underexposed - GRRRR!) and could use a bit more contrast and color "pop"...again, this SOOC image is only sized/sharpened for web...



For my fix, I brightened it up a bit, added some contrast and adjusted the color balance, and then ran a color pop action. (I used Pioneer Woman's "Boost" action from her free action set).



Let me know what you think!

Stopping time...

I *wish* I could stop time! We've been easing into our "summer schedule" and it's been HECTIC! I thought summer was for RELAXING - I must be doing it wrong, lol. ANYHOW...I've been a bad blogger! Hoping to get caught up now that we are getting into a routine...

I've been getting LOTS of practice with my new lens - and YES, it is possible to get a bad photo with it, lol. BUT - I am learning it, and getting used to the weight of it, and I LOVE LOVE LOVE the crisp sharp images I can get with it! This photo of Mad (I stopped time with my lens!) was taken while she was SPINNING on the tire swing - she was SPINNING people - it was a great excercise for practicing exposure, focus, and keeping a moving subject in frame (with a very heavy lens on board, lol).


As of last night, these guys (in the photo below) are OUT OF TOWN at GRANDMA'S for a WHOLE WEEK! The house is SO QUIET! I vegged out and goofed off ALL DAY today and it was FAB.U.LOUS! I miss 'em though...that's how it is. When they're around, they're makin' me crazy - when they're not around, I miss 'em!


Mmmmm...don't these look YUMMAY? We have a li'l strawberry patch in our backyard, and this was today's harvest! I had to take a picture because this was a TON of berries! That's my LARGE Longaberger mixing bowl people! I *never* get this many when I send the kiddos out to pick. Hmmm...


That's IT for today! I hope y'all are having a FABULOUS Saturday!

It's HERE!!!

*Happy Dancin'*

I had to rip into the box IMMEDIATELY and try it out!

This lens is HEAVY! Oh my GOODNESS! I will be pumpin' iron just to hold this baby UP! Hmmm...

While I was working today, Mad had her friend "E" over, so I snapped a quick couple of pics. This was my favorite...(mainly because they weren't making FACES at me, lol)

I *cannot wait* to have time for some serious play with my new baby!!!

Happy Friday!

Come to Mama...

...here is my new baby! (Picture is linked to the lens review at The Digital Picture)

Yeppers! I *did it* - I hit "submit" on my order last night at B&H and now I just have to stalk my email for the shipping notification, lol.

NOW - anyone who knows me, knows that I don't drop this kind of schmack without analyzing every detail and option, and obsessing over alternatives and etc. I am ANAL! So I have been looking at this for quite awhile - long enough to have actually SAVED UP enough schmack, lol. But it was still a thrill to just order it! I feel like I've made an informed choice, and I am BOUNCIN' just thinking about getting this baby on my camera! This is my first "pro series" lens, and I can't wait to put it to use and see what it can do.

Happy dancin...

June Desktop Freebie!

How cute is this June desktop??? I change mine out every month, and just had to share this one! I LOVE LOVE LOVE the bright colors on this! I added a family picture from Sea World taken on our vacation. YAY!



Check out Sara Amarie's new design blog *HERE* to download this cute desktop!

AND! The matching kit, Be Amused is available at Sweet Shoppe Designs. PLUS for a limited time, you get a matching Abby Album with it. FABULOUS DEAL!

Sea World...

Just a quick post today, and then I have to get to work! I am still playing "catch up" from vacation, but I am just about there! YAY!

I did manage to scrap again last night, so I'm sharing another page from our vacation. YAY! I wish I would have had more time - I have at least 2 more pages from Sea World in mind! We had such a good time on our first full day of vacation! I guess I will just keep plugging along, lol. I am still pretty new to digital scrapping, and I have lots to learn, so I'm not quite as "speedy" as I'd like to be. (GRRRRR!) I think the only way to overcome that is to practice, practice, practice - am I right???

Page Credits: Fondest Memories kit from Shabby Miss Jenn, bracket border and ribbon flower accent from the Twirl Collection from Shabby Princess, notepaper scrap from KSharonK at 2 Little Pixels, Courier font.

WHOOHOO I scrapped!

YAY! I was *so excited* that there was zero to watch on tv last night, lol. I know I know - I gotta get my priorities in order! I've just been feeling like a blob and wanting to veg out in front of the television lately! Vacation hangover maybe?

ANYWAY...I took some time to scrap last night - and put together this page from our vacation. I am *determined* to scrap this trip and get the pages printed so we can all enjoy them in an album! I usually get overwhelmed by these "bigger" projects (like vacation) with lots of pictures, and they end up getting overlooked for smaller, one-page scenarios with a shorter time committment.

ALSO - I am trying a new approach, and so far, I LOVE IT! Instead of winging it, and pulling photos and page kits and etc from all over (and wasting a TON of time searching my files), I printed out thumbnails of all my vacation pics, and wrote detailed journaling notes about what I wanted to scrap from our vacation. This was eas to do, since it was still pretty fresh in my mind, and I am making it a goal to jot notes from now on, WHENEVER I dump the camera memory card onto my computer. I think I will keep a little journal just for that! I am trying to be better about including more journaling on my pages too, so this will help with that.

This page layout is a scraplift from a page that is featured in the May/June Scrapbooks etc. magazine. It was a paper layout, but I thought it worked well as a digi page too. I tweaked it a bit to work with my photo composition, but the basic layout is the same. I just love the bracket template with the notepaper - the perfect place for journaling!

Page Credits: What Dreams May Come kit from Studio Flergs at Scrapbook Graphics, bracket template from Jen Caputo at Scrapbook Graphics, Notepaper from Heather Ann Designs, stitched photo frame from KSharonK at 2 Little Pixels, Happy Alpha 3 from Marcie Reckinger at Funky Playground, Courier font.

Our day at Epcot...

Now - I'm not a fan of spending an entire day at Epcot, I'd prefer to combine it with Magic Kingdom because there aren't as many "attraction" type things at Epcot. BUT I think for this trip, some of my favorite pictures are from Epcot! It just so happened to be the Flower and Garden Festival while we were there, and it was BEAUTIFUL! My pictures don't even do it justice. Everything was just LUSH and STUNNING. And they have added quite a few attractions since I was last there...

I'm calling this photo "Shark Bait"...lol. Of course you all know Bruce from Finding Nemo (Fish are FRIENDS, not FOOD!)...

Snow White, and the Seven Dwarfs, formed from living plants. Isn't that FABULOUS? They had all different "characters" all over the park, mixed in with gorgeous foliage and flowers. I have *no idea* how I managed to snap this without ANY people in the picture - my lucky day!

We bumped into Pooh while shopping in a shop...the kids at first thought they were "too cool" for Pooh, but AS EVERYONE KNOWS, you are *NEVER* too cool for Pooh! AS IF!


Daisy and Donald (and us too) - another fun photo op...

DAVID COOK!

DID YOU WATCH??? I was so excited to see David Cook come out on top - I think he has a great future ahead...Here are a few hightlights:



My favorite commercial of this season...


Love Carrie Underwood!


Top 6 guys with Bryan Adams...

More from our Florida Vacation...

On Sunday (5/11) we headed out to Universal Studios again - our tickets were good for the entire week, so we could take our time, and do shorter days. That was really nice, because it was fairly crowded and I don't like dealing with that for a 10 hour day! 5 or 6 hours is PLENTY of hot and humid and crowds for me!

Of course, the Jaws attraction is a "classic"! Here we are, posing with the big shark.

We had to stop and say "Hi" to Curious George! Later in the week, we saw the Man with the Yellow Hat too, but didn't get a picture (I think we were racing to catch a show or something?)

AND - the NEWEST ATTRACTION at Universal is the new Simpson's Ride. We didn't get to ride it until our last day (and we were on a MISSION that day) because the lines were SO LONG. Like 90+ minutes of waiting to get on...DOH!

(I can tell ya, though - it was WELL WORTH the wait, and I think it was possibly my FAVORITE RIDE.)

BUT - we did meet Homer, Marge, and Lisa this day! (This picture cracks me UP!) I asked Marge for some beauty tips, because I have *NO IDEA* how she keeps her hair looking so "fresh" in the Florida heat and humidity! She wasn't sharing though...sigh...

I'm BAAACK!

Well - SO MUCH for bloggin' from Florida! I decided to just relax, and enjoy the vacation, rather than try to edit and post pictures, lol! We had a FABULOUS vacation in sunny Florida! I'll share my pictures throughout the week...but right now it is BACK TO THE RAT RACE! BLAH!

We got to Orlando at 11am on Friday (5/9) and since we couldn't check in until 4pm, we decided to head straight to Universal Studios and ride a few rides (and meet a few "characters"). It was busy - DID YOU KNOW that if you live in Florida, and attend school, you get to take a FIELD TRIP to one of the theme parks at the end of the year? I have *NEVER* seen so many elementary, middle schoolers, and high schoolers all wearing matching t-shirts in my entire life. LOL. It made for some crowded lines! On that first day, we pretty much stayed in Seuss Landing and enjoyed all the Dr. Seuss attractions...

Here is a photo with Thing 1 and Thing 2 (and Thing 3 and Thing 4 - rofl)...

And Miss Maddie on the Caro-Seuss-el...I just *love* all the bright colors at Seuss Landing! It's really more for the younger crowd, but we had a good time anyhow.

We also saw the Grinch, and the Cat in the Hat, but they each had super long lines for photos. AND we were anxious to get to our condo and check it out and hit the pool!

Here are my favorite pool shots from the week...the kids had a blast swimming, and we hit the pool every afternoon for a swim. A great way to cap off the day with a "beverage of choice"!

Bloggin' from Florida!

WHOOHOO - here I am, blogging from sunny (and HOT!) Florida! For our first full day, we went to Sea World. This was Maddie's pick, and is a fave of mine as well. It was humid and 96 degrees today, a BIG CHANGE from Minnesota! Our pasty white bodies are now rosy sunburn red! On our way into Sea World, of course we had to pose with Shamu for a photo op!


Feeding the dolphins was a HUGE HUGE hit! Wyatt only dropped one fish (hey, that is pretty good for being only eight, and OH SO EXCITED!) The dolphins come *right up to you* if you have a fish for them! We could even reach out our hands and pet them! I am now officially going to give up my photography hobby and studies, and switch to marine biology so I can be a dolphin trainer at Sea World! (Okay - maybe not, lol)


And of course, no trip to Sea World is complete without seeing Shamu! Here he (or is it she?) is with one of his trainers during the show...isn't this a sweet picture?


I hope to be able to blog all week - we'll see if the wireless internet will hold up! Hope you are all having a FABULOUS WEEKEND!

Baby Announcement...

Just a quick post today, and then it's off to work I go!

I just wanted to share this baby announcement I did for my friend Sara (Hi Sara!). Isn't this the sweetest baby EVER??? I just want to kiss on those cheeks!

I did a little digi shoppin' over the weekend for NSD (National Scrapbook Day) and scored two DARLING NEW KITS from Melissa Bennett - Bundle of Boy and More Sugar Than Spice. Aren't they sweet? Be sure to check out all the matching QP's and brag books - SO CUTE!

Credits: Bundle of Boy and More Sugar than Spice kits from Melissa Bennett, notebook paper from Shabby Miss Jenn, MA Sexy font.

HEY! I SCRAPPED!

YAY for ME!
LOL.

Hey - it has been *awhile* since I took time to scrap, so I was thrilled to get back to it! It has been a busy spring! (Are you sick of me talking about how busy I am???) At the end of April, I sneaked out of town for my bi-annual girls weekend. This time we headed out to Wabasha, MN. What a cute little town! I'm not sure they were prepared for 5 rowdy gals let loose from jobs and families for a weekend, lol. We got more than a few "looks" as we were out and about! My only complaint, was that it wasn't the best weekend for weather. BUT - we had a BLAST! I am already looking forward to the Fall 2008 Mandatory Meeting!

Page Credits: What Dreams May Come kit from Studio Flergs, Bradley Hand ITC font.

Song in my head...

Ever since I saw this on Idol last week, I've had this song in my head, lol! Luckily, I like the song! Sorry I've been such a bad blogger - I'm trying to CATCH UP before I go on vacation (and subsequently fall way behind again). I am itching (or is that just spring allergies? lol) to digi scrap - so I hope to have some pages to share this week!

Meanwhile, enjoy this encore of Leona Lewis!