Project 365: Jan 6-12

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ETA:  So much for sharing on Wednesdays!  I think I'm going to have to be satisfied when sharing them when I can!

Sun, Jan 6:

Yummm... Homemade banana bread!  

One loaf given as Act #2 yesterday and a second loaf to enjoy today.

Mon, Jan 7:

A $1.00 cross-stitch kit and my little one is busy for hours!

Tue, Jan 8:

Connor keeps me company while I work.

Wed, Jan 9:

Trying to keep to my early-to-bed resolution.  And yes, midnight is early for me!

Thu, Jan 10:

Act #3:  Paid for the next person's order in the Tim Horton's drive-thru.

Fri, Jan 11:

12ºC on Jan 11th!  Awesome...

Sat, Jan 12:

Date night!  Dinner at Montana's and a movie (Jack Reacher).

Cheers,

P/S:  Don't forget about the following challenges on my blog for a chance to win:
It's a Sketchy Challenge (deadline:  Jan 31/12)

Leave Your Legacy: What You Fear Most (deadline:  Feb 28/13)

Project 365: Jan 2-5

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Since my OCD tendencies like me to work on a Sunday to Saturday schedule, I'll be posting the 7 photos ending Saturdays on my Project 365 Wednesdays. :)  So here's Wed through Sat!

ETA:  This was SUPPOSED to be a Wednesday post... SOMEBODY (and I won't mention any names) forgot to publish it... I'm such a wienie.

Wed, Jan 2:

 Connor's scuba lesson with Benthic Scuba Centre

Thurs, Jan 3:

Mixed Media Canvas project

Fri, Jan 4:

Aili discovered rub-ons!

Sat, Jan 5:

A visit to the hair salon for Aili and I today.

I've sketched out a few different layouts and am hoping to complete a page with each week's photos... So, to keep the colours consistently muted, I've used The Pioneer Woman's Soft & Faded action on each photo.  You can download all of her actions on her blog here.

Cheers,

P/S:  Don't forget about the following challenges on my blog for a chance to win:
It's a Sketchy Challenge (deadline:  Jan 31/12)
Leave Your Legacy: What You Fear Most (deadline:  Feb 28/13)

3am and counting

You may remember the boudoir session that I posted last year?

Well, it was nearly 4am this morning when I FINALLY got a chance to finish editing them for Ms. Sarah!  Thanks for your patience, lady!

Out of the 210 photos, I picked 43 of my favourites, edited them into both B&W and colour proofs, along with watermarked web-size images and burned them to disk for her.  I shared many of them in that previous post, but here they are a few more:

A Photo Challenge!

What better way to test drive my NEW CAMERA (yay, me!) that by participating in a photo challenge?!

I came across a challenge by Abby from A Feathered Nest, while catching up on blog posts in my Google Reader late Sunday night.

Actually, I was visiting The Crafters File Box and saw these adorable decorations that were linked from Abby's blog:

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Oh.  My. Heck.  I am so doing that in my backyard, with candles, the next time we have a party!!

Anyhoo... back to the challenge!   I thought that this would be the kick in the pants I needed to get taking more photos.

Like my new camera won't do that, right?

At any rate, with working full time, the family stuff, and the magazine and design team commitments, my photography can easily slip through the cracks.  And since I've been so dissatisfied with my camera's quality of photos lately, it's easy to make excuses not to take a photo.

Now I'm a firm believer in the theory that it takes 21 days to create a habit so I think that this photo challenge will encourage the habit of taking more photos.  Daily, hopefully!

Who wants to play along with me?  You can find the challenge here, along with a cool printable list that Abby posted to print out and post somewhere handy so it will be easy!  Grab your camera and start today!

Witty Wednesday

Thanks to my friend, Amanda, for sharing this on Facebook:

Except in my case, it would look more like this:

Yep, a Nikon girl, through and through... :)

Speaking of Nikon, guess what is coming to live with me very, very soon!?!?!

Oh, baby... come to Mama!!

I have been waiting for this day since last summer when my Nikon contact sent me a D300s to play with over our summer holidays to the Jersey Shore & Pennsylvania!

Not THAT Jersey Shore... the other, more tasteful side!

Anyhow, I decided to finally just ordered the darn thing.  I was debating, because technology changes so fast and I didn't want to get it, only to realize that they came out with a bigger/faster/better camera a few months later!  I also wanted to see if the price would come down a bit.  But everything that we've read about it has said that the prices have remained stable, or HAVE INCREASED on the D300s because they are actually increasing in value, due to their superior quality.  Not to mention the devastation in Japan, which destroyed the Nikon manufacturing plant - the laws of supply and demand, demonstrated!

So I can't wait to get that baby in my hands!!!!

I've also ordered a new Speedlight.  Mine is nearly 10 years old and while it still practically in mint condition, I want a flash that can rotate not only 90 degrees up, but that can swivel 180 degrees.  Here's what I've ordered:

Because of limited availability, I asked the camera store to hold it for me until Friday when I'll be in town - hopefully my camera will come sooner than later so I can play with both this weekend!

My New Adventure

I was happily surfing Etsy the other day, oblivious to its' charm, searching for some items for inspiration.

When all of a sudden, out of the blue, it hit me.

photo by Allison Wenger Peck via Etsy Seller, imomzi

Oh.  My.  Heck.

Not only does this image knock my socks off and start my aging uterus a-tickin', but that hat!!  Having just created several crocheted flowers this past weekend for my tutorial on WeScrap, I have come to realize how much I missed MAKING THINGS.

Yep.  You heard me.

I know, I know - I can hear all of the indignant scrapbookers saying, "What?!?  My scrapbook pages ARE creations - they are legacies that I leave my children and future generations!"

True.  But have you ever tried a scrapbook page on?  Or better yet, have you ever tried one on a brand spankin' new baby that you're photographing??

As lovely as this is, and I'm sure it's worth the $18 USD (plus shipping), I know that this is probably relatively easy for someone like me who grew up watching her mom crochet all of her daughters tablecloths, and beautiful queen size bedspreads for each of her six grandkids.  She taught me most of the stitches when I was younger but it wasn't until I was older that I had the patience to actually complete any projects.

So, I will admit, I spent more time than I care to admit, searching the web for a similar pattern.  I found a free one here at Alli Crafts and rushed out today after my meeting to purchase some yarn and crochet hooks!

Sadly, I have a lot of year end paperwork to catch up, but if all goes well with this teeny cap, I may spring for the pattern for this adorable one:

photo via Etsy seller, polkadotposh 

After all, it's all tax deductible since they are going to be props, right? :)

Crazy. Sexy. Cool.

Today, I did my first boudoir photo shoot.  Thanks to my beautiful gorgeous model, Miss S... We had so much fun, trying new poses and goofing around with some fun, sexy props.

I took over 200 photos in about an hour and a half, but here are some of my favourites:

Thanks to Lisa Malott of the Olive Tree Day Spa, in Leamington, ON (519-326-0409) for her expertise with make-up application!

Thanks for hangin' with me today, S!

Today's the Day!

Online registration begins tonight at 8pm EST!

I'm very excited to have been asked back to teach again this year at ScrapFest! I had such a great time the last time - honestly, it's the best feeling when I look out at my class participants and I can see the "light bulb" moment when everything finally starts to click!

Pun intended. ;)

I'll also be working at the Canadian Scrapbooker booth in the marketplace, hosting mini-shoots.  We'll be offering 4x6 prints for all of our visitors like we did at ScrapFest in Oshawa in October, using our lovely Sony digital photo frame/printer!  Stop by and introduce yourself - I'll be there with my partners in crazy, Cathie Allan and Christy Riopel!

Great Expectations: Photo Shoot 2010.01.15

Just wanted to share a couple photos from the maternity photo shoot that I did a few weeks ago, for my cousin and his adorable wife...

Sadly, there wasn't alot of natural lighting so I'm hoping we can get together again before the babies (yes, babies - they're expecting twins!) get here!

This weekend, I will be doing a boudoir photo shoot - my first!  I'm very excited about it - I will be sharing photos next week, with my client's permission.

It's that time again...

Time for Christmas card photos... :s

Working Girls Weekend

Er, maybe I should say "Girls' Weekend with some working thrown in"!

Today, I'll be out at Scrapalicious, teaching a Hands On! photography workshop from 12:00 to 3:00pm - I think there's still room, if you are in the area... more details can be found here.  Call Debbie or Virginia at 1.905.614.0085 to reserve your spot and come join us for a fun afternoon of photography!

I came up last night with Nancy, to stay with Holly, after her gracious invitation to host.  Or was that me, bulldozing in and making plans?  Oops.  We are joined by Jennifer Hottinger-Sloan, which will complete our foursome from our great adventures at ScrapFest 2010 in Kitchener! :) 

Hmmm.  Maybe a helmet as a hostess gift would have been a better idea than a bottle of Baileys! :)  At least the Baileys was put to good use last night... ;)

We have grand plans to scrap all weekend, with the exception of the brief jaunt today to Scrapalicious for my class and to probably make a serious dent in my profits by shopping in the store!

Then it's back to Holly's for a late night of scrapping!!  I have several DT assignments to finish up, including my project for Tis The Season - Be Inspired week at WeScrap!  Are you joining us for some inspiration?  I'm hoping that once I'm around these talented ladies, my mojo will return!

I'm also going to try to get some layouts done for the current Canadian Scrapbooker call:


Canadian Scrapbooker wants to see and publish your work. If you have an unpublished, original layout that you want to share with others across Canada, please send it to us! It’s simple. Below you’ll find a quick guide on how to submit your work. Call For SUMMER – Deadline January 15, 2011.

We are currently looking for pages in the below themes:

Layouts that use the colour ORANGE
Layouts that have the following themes or use products that reflect
Weddings
Bring back the 70′s
Bird cages
Layouts that include napkins
Under construction: projects that use construction, graph, survey, etc. products or projects that have a construction theme
Projects that are inspired by a chalkboard or that use chalkboard like products
General Summer and vacation
Projects or layouts that have a recipe on them for our Scrappin' Snacks.

I thought I better start early!  Who else is sending submissions in for this?  Hopefully, all of the Canadian scrappers out there - we LOVE to see new artists featured in the magazine!

So go forth and create!

Or pro-create, if you prefer.  I'll leave that one up to you.

Have a good weekend!

Scrapalicious!

Have you ever been to Scrapalicious in Mississauga?

No?  Well, me neither... but I will be there on Saturday, teaching a Hands On! photography workshop!!

Here are the details:

Date:  Saturday, November 27th, 2010
Time:  12pm to 3pm
Place:  Scrapalicious,5170 Dixie Road, Unit 102, Mississauga, ON

Want to join us?  Call the store at 1.905.614.0085 to register your spot today - registration is limited to seat capacity so grab a friend (or five!) and call today! :)

Stay tuned for Part II of my SK trip later today...

Memories Montage - ScrapFest Oshawa 2010

Just wanted to share some quick images from the photo booth that we ran at the Canadian Scrapbooker booth at ScrapFest in Oshawa a few weeks ago...

I had the chance to see some old friends, finally meet some online friends in person and make some new friends - I love my job! :)

Here's a mini montage of everyone who visited our booth:

Thanks to everyone - i hope you had a great time! 

Here are more photos to share:

My sweet friend, Vanessa, joined us from Ottawa on our crazy girls' weekend.

 Here's the gang, prior to taking the MarketPlace by storm (clockwise from far left):
Lori Mancini, Katrina Murphy, Vanessa Fuller, Jennifer Hottinger-Sloan and me!

I also visited briefly with the uber artistic Karen Ellis:

And had a chance to meet up with some online friends, like the very talented Angie Blom:

And my fellow WeScrap DT member, Tara Thynne:

 The lovely (and TALL!) Lee Currie:

And the wonderful Kelly Panacci (and her sweet hubby, Mario):

Last but not least, I visited with the amazing ScrapFest crew and their families:

 Sadly, I missed the Saturday night dinner after party... I'm sure it was a hoot!  Next time for sure, ladies!

Thanks to everyone - I had a great weekend!