Friday, April 28, 2006

Studio Friday: Playtime!



This week for Studio Friday, we doodle...using our mouth! This was pretty fun, once I got the hang of holding on to the marker with my mouth and teeth. Chad walked in while I was 'drawing' this, and was like, "What the HECK are you doing?!" Hehee. I used a good 'ol crayola marker. I also added one I did by hand for comparison.

Thursday, April 27, 2006

Thusday Blog Challenge


Complete these statements:

1. My current favorite song: Well, as of THIS particular minute, I'm really into Star Witness by Neko Case. I love her voice...kinda folsky, kinda rocker chic, kinda old timey country-ish, if all that makes sense. The sound of the song reminds me of some of the stuff my mom used to listen to when I was growing up.

2. The last book I read: As far as a sit down and read novel, it was Wicked by Gregory Maguire a couple months ago. Soooo good. I MUST see the musical now. Still haven't read the sequel though. The last art/inspiration book I read was Caludine Hellmuth's Collage Discovery Workshop (the first one, not the one with the poppets). So AWESOME! She actually TEACHES you how to do all the techniques, as well as provides alot of eye candy. I checked it out from the library, but I am definitely going to buy it. I want the new one, too. She's like, my new favorite.

3. What I'm wearing right now: A green (like a pretty limey color green) Signature Cabinetry polo shirt, dark khaki capris, and brown leather sandals. Man, I love that I can wear sandals to work. I used to wear heels, but that ended real quick after a few hours of standing on the marble tile floor in our showroom one day. Flippin' OUCH! I think my feet hurt for two days after that.

4. The last CD I bought: Give Up by The Postal Service. Chad and I both LOVE the song Such Great Heights (not the slow one on the M&M's commercial, the faster original), so I got him the CD. I still haven't gotten to listen to it yet.

5. The last gift I bought for someone: The CD I just listed and a candle for Chad's Easter Basket. Let me tell you, Old Virginia Candle Company's Farm Grown Soy Candles have got to be the best candles ever made. They melt down COMPLETELY, no wax stuck to the side of the jar, and they are strong, and smell so good! You can smell ONE all through your house. My MIL gave us one, and I swear, I will never buy another brand again.

Yep, so there's my long-winded answers as usual! Oh, and I got a call from our friends (the parents of the girl whose wedding I shot) Tuesday night....they LOVED the photos, and said the DVD made them cry. That really made me feel SO GOOD! I know I did my job. Plus, they're taking Chad and me out to Buca di Beppo next week for dinner. YUM! Still don't want to be a wedding photographer...

Tuesday, April 25, 2006

I survived the wedding shoot!

Boy, was Saturday a LONG day! We were there from 10am to about 10:30PM. I was so beat by the end of the night. I SO TOTALLY have so much more respect for wedding photographers, now. I was keeping the mother of the bride calm, while all day I was completely stressing out hoping the photos would turn out.

On Sunday, I LITERALLY made myself sick because I wasn't absolutely thrilled with the photos, and was so afraid that they wouldn't be happy with them. The wedding party pictures were only OK, and all the bridesmaids' hair was blowing in their faces. To top it off, I ended up taking over 500 photos (how the heck did THAT happen), so I had ALOT of editing and deleting to do. I kept trying to tell myself, "If they were so worried, they would have hired a PRO!", but it didn't work...and kinda glad I was doing it for free.

So, yesterday, I was feeling better, and Chad took the CD of photos over to the bride's Dad. He really liked them. I looked at them again with much LESS tired eyes last night, and I decided they're really not too bad. I picked out about 13 of my favorites and posted them on 2peas, which you can see HERE.

I also made a slideshow to music of all the photos for them on iDVD, which happens to be like the coolest program ever. It's amazing how setting photos to music on a black background can instantly make them look better. Cool. I still don't want to be a wedding photographer......

Friday, April 21, 2006

Wedding Gift


I'm all ready for the wedding tomorrow. This is the frame (see a few posts down) all wrapped up with a card. I found this way-cute bag at Target, then made the card with paper from the latest Jenni Bowlin kit. I TOTALLY got my gift bag technique (well, and gift wrapping) from my Mom. I remember the gifts I would bring to birthday parties when I was little would put all the others to shame!

I've got the cameras charged and packed....all ready to take some awesome photos tomorrow. I'm completely wired right now, but I know I need to go to bed! The wedding doesn't start until 7pm, but we're going over at about 10am. The girl that was supposed to set up all the decorations was in a car accident and might not get down here, so they asked if I'd help with that, too. It's gonna be a long day, but it'll be fun!

Studio Friday: Sparkle/Shine or Shimmer

My first Studio Friday! This one sounded especially fun, so I thought I'd join in. Here's all my sparklies. Funny, I actually thought I had more than this, but the ones I have make me happy. I'm all about rhinestones...I don't think I make anything without putting at least one on there. Love 'em!

Fun Fact Friday


For this week's installation of Fun Fact Friday, we are to blog about fun things about our husband, pets, job, or whatever comes to mind. Let's see....

- Chad is the youngest Park Manager in the Florida Park Service (as of right now). He was 29 when he got the promotion this past November. He turned 30 in January. I'm so proud of his accomplishments!

- When she was a puppy, we trained out Lab, Marley, to ring a bell we hung on the door when she needed to go outside to use the bathroom. (We didn't want her starting a door-scratching habit!) She actually picked it up pretty quickly, it took her about a few weeks to figure it out. She still does it, now. Pickle took longer to catch on, but has recently (a few months ago) started ringing it when he needs to go out, as well.

- The most fun part of my job: Getting to tour the insides of multi-million dollar houses that we design cabinetry for. We haven't gotten a celebrity client, yet (they tend to stay well hidden around here!), but one of the interior designers we've worked with did a quote for Tom Cruise's mom's condo on Marco Island. Oh, and I get to photograph all our finished jobs, see above. That one is from about 1 1/2 years ago- I've gotten more experience and have a better camera, but that one's still one of my favorites! Still wish I had moved that paper towel roll, though. Ack.

Well, those are the first things that come to mind. I'll think on it to see if I have anything to add. Have a great weekend, everyone- I'm going to be super busy with wedding photos!

Wednesday, April 19, 2006

Look at this little HAM!


He reminds me of the bratty little brother poking his head in front of the camera and going "Look at ME!" Hehee....he's so cute. We took the kids 'bye-bye' with us last night to go check out the smoke coming off the 3,000 acre wildfire that's burning not too far from us (thank goodness it's under control! It wasn't close enough to affect us, though.) Unfortunately, I missed the good shot when I was coming home from work...the black smoke billowing up, and the orange sky. Oh, well.

I've been lazy about blogging the past couple days...I took a class at the gym Monday night, one where you do weights and work every part of your body. By today, I couldn't flippin' MOVE! I am in so much PAIN right now! I'm so proud of myself for getting through the class. Now if I can just get UNsore, I can go back to the gym!

Something kinda cool did happen Monday, though. I went to the Library during lunch, and Wink News (our local station) asked if they could interview me about the new online system our library is coming out with. I ended up being on our 5:30 news! The part they put on was something like, "I use the internet for everything, and this is great because I can look to see if something is in before I make a special trip." or something to that effect. So there was my 5 seconds of local fame. Hehe.

Sunday, April 16, 2006

Happy Easter!


Happy Easter, everyone! I just thought I'd post a project I just finished. It's a wedding gift for the daughter of some friends of ours...the wedding that I'm photographing next weekend! I love these colors together. I'm going to have a hard time letting go of this! Hope she likes it.

I'm still a bit nervous about the wedding photos, but I've gotten the hang of my camera pretty well. I just want them to turn out nice. I want to be able to be proud of them.

I did some awesome (well, I think they're awesome) portraits of Chad Friday evening. You can see them here and here.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend, everyone, and have a great Easter!

Thursday, April 13, 2006

Mini scrap kit.



Okay, as promised, here are photos of the little mini kit I put together for myself. I got the idea when I went to Borders the other day and found this cute pencil tin, and the mini office set. The set has a little stapler and staples, and a little tape dispenser and tape. It also has a hole punch and staple remover, but those didn't fit.

I then added lots of scraps, star stickers, mini paper bags, a tag, some playing cards, a baggie of primas, a baggie of assorted small embellishments, a small pair of scissors (they're actually embroidery scissors), a zig pen, and a zig glue pen. I have the strands of ribbon (there's about 15-20) held on with pp-covered magnet strips.

This is the perfect kit to keep in my desk at work (I've made quick cards from stuff found in my office before), or to take on a short trip for when I need a little bit of creative outlet.

Wednesday, April 12, 2006

The Easter Egg and Pickle's cupcakes.




Here's the lovely egg I made last night! I found this cool branch in our back yard, and I want to hang it on the wall so I can make pretties to hang on it throughout the year. I still have to finish the other two.

Pickle's cupcakes turned out so cute! They were peanut butter and carrot flavored and topped with light cream cheese and a peanut butter cookie. They loved them! Pickle didn't know what to do when he got down to the cupcake, though...I think he thought he was doing something bad. Marley, on the other hand, licked off the cream cheese, then ate the cupcake whole. It was so funny to watch!

Okay, I know I said I'd post pictures of the mini kit I made. I didn't get a chance to take them like I though I would, and then I left it on my desk at work. I PROMISE I'll take them tomorrow.

My Jenni Bowlin kit didn't come today...now I'm freaking out and wondering if I clicked the subscribe button. I know I bought the subscription last month, because the kit was cheaper than it was in Feb. I'm sure it'll come tomorrow.

Alright, off to watch LOST! Have a nice night, everyone!

Happy Birthday, Pickle!


My little squishy Pickle is one year old today! We are going to be baking puppy-friendly cupcakes tonight for him and Marley (and maybe a couple neighbor dogs) to enjoy. Hopefully I'll get some great photos!

My friend and I made some easter eggs last night...the kind where you blow the filling out of the egg, then decorate the shell. I'd never tried that before, and it was pretty fun. I took pictures of the one I finished, but of course I left the camera at home. I did a yellow one, then attached tiny white prima flowers, and put rhinestones in the centers. I'll post it tomorrow, and maybe I'll finish the other two tonight. My Jenni Bowlin kit should be there when I get home, too!

I also made myself a mini scrap kit for traveling and just to leave in my purse with my ideas journal. I'll take pictures of it at lunchtime and post those later today.

Monday, April 10, 2006

Latest Projects




So, I'm back in blogdom after a quiet few days. I didn't really have anything going on! These are what I did this weekend. I made the card Friday night- my sister's Corgi puppy, Abbey, is turning One year old on Wednesday (the same day as Pickle's first!), so Marley and Pickle needed a card to send her! They also sent her a cute bag filled with bone-shaped peanut butter cookies. I'll be baking dog-friendly cupcakes for Pickle's birthday, as I didn't have time to get to the Doggie bakery. Yeah, I'm strange...I don't have any 'real' kids! What do you expect?!

On Saturday I made this shadow box collage for the Florida Park Service Alumni auction. It measures about 14x18. I wasn't so sure if I really liked how it turned out, but Chad loved it, and said that everyone else would, too. I hope so! I'd really feel like crap if no one bid on it. Good thing we're not going to the auction. I guess I'm pretty happy with it....I just had to get in all those flowers!

I didn't do ANYTHING on Sunday. It was a weird day for me...I slept until almost 10am (8 is late for me). I browsed wedding photography on 2peas, and I just felt horrible....headache, nausea, the whole nine yards. So I laid on the couch and slept. Then I went to the bedroom to watch some recorded episodes of DIY Scrapbooking and slept some more. Chad was really sweet and made dinner and everything. I felt better after dinner, but was bummed because Desperate Housewives wasn't on...although Extreme Makeover was really cute with Kermit! Feeling perfectly normal today, thank goodness. There's not much worse than having to sit in front of a computer all day with a splitting headache!

Tuesday, April 04, 2006

Some cute photos from last night.





Pickle always lays behind Chad's head like this on the couch. It's just so cute! I saw his little head peeking out last night, and just had to take photos. The second one is especially adorable- Chad (yep- he has a goatee now- looks pretty different from the photo on the layout from yesterday, huh?) always makes fun of Pickle because he's small. He's a 'big dog' kinda guy. He tells everyone Marley is his dog, and Pickle is mine. But look at this, he really loves him. How can you resist that face?! Meanwhile, I know Pickle's thinking "Come ON Mom, I'm trying to sleep!". Hehee.

I tried taking some of Marley, 'sitting like a people' in the big chair, but she's impossible to photograph in the house, because she just looks like a blob of black. I was using the tripod and available light, so it just didn't work for her. And she kept moving. Too bad, too, because they would've been cute! Amazingly, Pickle's the one who will sit still for photos, and he's the HYPER one!

Monday, April 03, 2006

FINALLY got to scrap.



So, our company left Sunday morning. I don't even know if I ever said I had company, but anyways. I SO love this layout! It's my new favorite. I got the idea for the title from when I posted a pic here of Chad, and I got comments telling me he was a Hottie. Thought it'd make for a cute LO. This is also for the new Color Challenge over at 2Peas. This week the challenge was to include Red in your LO, either as a main or accent color. I didn't realize how few red supplies I have!

I also decided to try making an ATC. It's fun to do really small projects sometimes. This one says "Always find time to Create Art". I'll be making more of these. They're quick, but I still feel like I got something creative accomplished.

I got to do some photos with my new camera on Saturday. I put them up on my DeviantArt gallery. Here are the links: Old Boathouse, Fisherman's Hand, Everglades Sunset, and Silhouette. Fisherman's Hand is my favorite. Can't wait to do some portraits!


Oh, and my daisy bags came on Saturday! I haven't switched my stuff over to them yet, but they are SO cute! The girl did an awesome job making them.