Trick or Treat!!!!

Happy candy day! lol. did you take your critters out? We had a party at school & a parade AND we went to two malls and the local neighborhood for some candy gathering. lol. This was another year of a homemade costume for Abby, and we even used the same box as last year. She has declared we will keep using the same box each year and see what we can come up with. I like my Abby. She's original. *smile* Here are a few pictures from today. The first 2 are from her school party. I made a veggie platter and another mom made the punch with eyeballs lol. They went perfect together. Dont worry, there were plenty of cupcakes & cookies as well. lol.

oops.. i did it again. lol. I made this same display last year.

this lovely punch & eyeball concoction was made by another homeroom parent :) Cute huh?

and now for my "costume". I don't normally do anything for Halloween but this year Abby sorta begged me. So since I love peacocks.... why not? Even though peacocks are boys, peahens are girls, their coloring isnt as vivid, peacocks are the desired look when thinking of a peabird..... I found a make up tutorial on youtube to get me started and I tweaked it a bit. I also sprayed my hair blue, added green clip ins, homemade peacock feather hair clips, & gold glitter spray. I also used feather lashes & glue on rhinestones on my face. It (my makeup) stayed on all day too! Gotta love that revlon primer! lol

yes that is my natural eye color... i love how the bright colors made my eye color pop.

and last but not least... my favorite part of halloween... ABBY! And her homemade costume!! a Rubix Cube!!! She was a hit everywhere we went.... geeks my age totally appreciated this & weren't shy to high five her or pose for pictures with her. lol. And yes, she made out like a bandit... and mommy has already had too much candy..... Dude seriously Gertrude Hawk was giving out their chocolates...... meeeeoooowww! lol

(note.... abby has candy stuffed in her cheek in this photo!) ha

Want to win these FREE!!!!??? Yup! A FREEBIE FROM ME!

Two of my favorite summer shots! The prints are GORGEOUS! The online photos do them no justice! They are watermark FREE of course in print..... and... if you go to my facebook page and follow the directions.. you could win one of them FREE!!! SO hop on over HERE to check it out! and enjoy the images!! What an awesome Christmas gift for the nature lover.. or for yourself!!!

Continental United States only please. To win, go to my facebook page, click "like" on my page, "share" the image(s) on your wall, and leave a message on my wall to let me know you shared, and which one(s) you shared so your name will be enterted into the drawing(s). Drawing is November 19th, 2011. Good Luck!! It's anybodys game!!

8"x10"

11"x14"

Senior Portraits

I always try to do something unique with each of my seniors to represent their class year. This session we used leaves and posed on the green at the Golf Club!

so i had this idea & apparently... so did a few other people.... lol

Ever have one of those "aha" moments where you think you've come up with something completely genius.. only to go onto google & discover.. there are other genius's just like you? It happens to me all the time. lol. Ok not all the time. But it has happened a few times.

I was trying to figure out a way to get the little ones to be more focused right where it counts... the lense. The Rubber Ducks have been such a success, I've ordered themed rubber duckys & now every child gets one from me at the end of a session. So I was working on a little design, a prototype if you will... for a critter or animal or toy to be attached to my lense. This way, they'll look right at it and prett much right where we want them to. I actually got out some elastic hairties & I was trying to figure out how to sew fabric over them to make them slip over my lense & sew on felt peices, buttons, googly eyes.. fun stuff. I'm crafty & creating something whimsical, colorful & fun wouldn't be a problem... it was the best way to get it onto an elastic... So I googled the idea just to see if anyone else had something simliar and low and behold.. there they were. and they're on etsy too. I saw several other people have used scrunchy hair ties that match the character you are creating. Genius idea!!! That was my missing link.  So, I borrowed that part. lol. While I can't claim I was the original, because I'm obviously not, I can claim, the idea felt like it was birthed in my own mind, and the critters I am making, are most definetely my own creativeness. I've kind of been building them as I go. After I get a few prototypes created to sell I'll take pictures of them for my etsy store in case anyone else is interested. I'm working on a pink flamingo right now. But here are the few I've created so far. There will be LOTS more :)

tinkerbell lives down the road from me :)

I took pictures of her last week :) She's a sweet pie! & she loves rubber duckys!!

Rubber Duckys!

I started buying rubber duckys for my childrens and family sessions (with children) and it is now going to be a regular part of my routine. I have found that a little rubber ducky for each child really helps them focus, look where I need them to, keep them entertained & gives them incentive to smile like a good boy/girl for the "circle that catches smiles" (hey..... I gotta get creative lol) and at the end of their session.. they keep the squeaky quacker. So in the future, expect to see rubber duckys in my camera bag & to have a ducky per kid go home with you after your session ;) I've got yellow ones and cutsie novelty duckys ordered and on the way :)

last weekend! :)

my camera bag & strap cover came last week!

I was out of town so I wasn't here for its arrival, but I ordered a black and white damask (thats a shocker lol) handmade camera bag with a matching strap cover for my girl. Yes my camera is a girl. I got it from a lovely lady named Judy who has a store on etsy. I was searching for a black and damask camera bag months ago, typed in what I wanted on google and BAM photos of her camera bags popped up. It was a glorious moment. lol. I saved it to my favorites and ordered it a few weeks ago lol. I was a giggly little girl here in my chair when I realized there was actually a real live camera bag that looked like it was made just for me out there! And I just HAD to get my little hands on it. And finally, I have. *smile*

heres what I have

This bag was twice the size of the bag I had before. What I love about it, is the pockets inside that prevent my camera and lenses from rubbing against eachother.. which eventually makes everything look scratchy. With this bag, I can avoid all of that. Plus, organization. There are those times I have seconds to get my lense on to catch something, with this, I dont have to fiddle and panic. Did I mention its gorgeous? High quality too. Nice and thick but not really heavy. And the strap cover, makes my camera even more MINE and has a neat little pocket for my lense cap. The strap is perfectly padded and the camera strap cover adds cushioning that I desperately needed. The clips and buckles are very high quality and makes access to your equipment very easy. Putting everything back together or getting it out is a breeze.

When I first opened the box and pulled away the plastic... there she sat.... looking back at me... like it a was reunion with a long lost friend.. (ok maybe I'm a little melodramatic, it's early, I've only had one cup of coffee)... but seriously... it's like I heard angels singing.

I couldn't find a bag like this anywhere else. I searched and searched. It took a long time. Then I found one..... I ordered... waited for my beauty to be made and when she finally got here.... it was a happy moment for me lol. I can't wait for my appt tomorrow so I can toat this baby around. I'm proud of her ;)

Thank you Judy!!

I'm going to include the photos Judy has posted to advertise the bag :) These are her pictures not mine. :)

I give Judy's homemade camera bags and strap covers 3 thumbs up. I only have 2 thumbs up, but I still give it 3. Because this is my blog, and I can lol.

Thank you Judy!

Gosh I love the fall!

Fall is beautiful. And a perfect time for family portraits. I know I probably sound pretty monotonaus saying that, buts its so true. I have pumpkins & hay & mums for props right now if you want to use them! I was honored to do family portraits an old high school classmate and his family this past weekend. Gosh they're a good lookin bunch! Don't ya think?

"I miss my dad"...

This drawing here was found by a dear friend of mine in the school journal of her 6 yr old first grader, Robert. Roberts dad, also very near and dear to my heart for many years, who to many is known as SPC "Goose", is serving our country overseas and has been gone from his family since April and is hoping to return this coming spring. She posted this photo on facebook for her husband "Goose" to see!

We love you Goose! Come home soon!!