Photography 101 Workshop Winner!

I can't believe I forgot to post about this! On May 24th I found out that I won the giveaway spot in Maggie Holmes' Photography 101 Workshop that will be held online July 9th - August 18th!! I am so looking forward to this workshop and learning how to use my camera!

http://maggieholmes.typepad.com/my_weblog/2012/05/photography-workshops-giveaway-winners.html

The Adventures of Samantha Marie

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Adventure Is Out There!

Here is another chapter in our crazy adventures. I was really inspired by the movie "UP" since that is one of Samantha's favorite movies and we watch it all the time. So, since the train tracks and balloon photo shoot was fairly quick (partly because of the balloons being let go during that session, perhaps by me), Kristi of Kristi Kruse Photography (www.kristikrusephotography.com) graciously offered to shoot a part II of our first session. More balloons and then of to a field at an abandoned house. Samantha's Dzia-Dzia (my dad) and Aunt Christie were in town visiting so they came along for the ride. I thought that Samantha would have a good time with her balloons and having a field to explore. Well, the humidity was high that evening and she evidently did not care for how high the grass was since she just kept saying "get me out of the grass!". It also did not help that as we got out of the car and walked to the field that it started thundering and you could see the storm coming off in the distance! Despite all of this, Kristi captured some really awesome photos.

Here is the link the the Facebook post that Kristi put up: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.359008577496211.85507.117544851642586&type=1

Samantha in a Vintage Travel Photo Shoot

Words cannot begin describe how I feel about how the photos from Samantha's Vintage Travel photo shoot turned out. They are absolutely GORGEOUS! So many thanks to Rebecca at Red Bridge Photography for working with me on this photo shoot. Also, a huge thanks to my best friend and Samantha's godmother, Melissa Rains, for taking time out of her workday to help distract and wrangle Samantha into the photo session. I don't think we could have gotten the smiles from her without her help.

I had planned to have Samantha's two year photos done during the Christmas break but with Thanksgiving, Samantha's 2nd birthday and Christmas all within weeks of each other, I just didn't have time to get everything together. I also had a hard time deciding what direction I wanted to go with the photo shoot. I just love to plan these photo shoots for her, coming up with an idea, bringing the props together and making something great happen. While perusing Etsy (awesome place to find things handmade and vintage) I found the dress made by Corinna Couture (love her stuff!). The black flower hair clip is from Ruby Blue, Inc on Etsy. I started out with a kind of Valentine/Love theme but it ended up being a Vintage Travel theme. I had the milk glass that was my grandmother's, the vintage Kodak cameras were a gift from the owner of the Ye Olde Vineyard Antique store in North East, PA years ago and I found the suitcases and chair on Etsy and antique stores. The trunk was borrowed and the smaller vintage camera is Rebecca's. The pearls hanging out of one of the bowls are from Samantha's one-year photos (I think I may try to work them into the photos every year). I just loved how it turned out. 

The photos were taken at The Cotton Room in Durham. I originally had paid to reserve the space for two hours but when we got there it was set up with about 50 tables, people all over hanging things from the ceiling and setting for an event that was later that evening. There was also a cake on a table in the corner we needed to use. Evidently there was some miscommunication and I ended up getting my money back and they moved the cake table but not without some confrontations and going up and down three flights of stairs with a two year old! Everything worked out in the end and Rebecca was just awesome, staying longer than normal just so we could get everything the way I wanted it.

Here is a link to Rebecca's blog post about the session on the Red Bridge Photography website: http://redbridgephoto.com/?p=1691

As Rebecca said in her blog post, a photo shoot can seem chaotic at the time and with a little one running around you can’t be sure you captured anything that you wanted. This was our fourth photo session with Rebecca and I don't need to worry about what I will get since I have been so happy with all of the results of Rebecca's talent. Thank you so much Rebecca for these beautiful photographs that we will always treasure!!

 

An Adventure...

What an adventure we had last week. I had a vision of train tracks and balloons that was captured by Kristi Kruse of Kristi Kruse Photography (www.kristikrusephotography.com). Samantha was a trooper and Kristi was great despite our mishaps. The pictures look awesome!

Here is the link the the Facebook post that Kristi put up which explains a little bit more: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.330038853726517.79888.117544851642586&type=1

Let's Go Fly A Kite..Up To The Highest Height

For some reason when I think of kites, the song from Mary Poppins "flys" into my head:

Let's go fly a kite; Up to the highest height; 

Let's go fly a kite; And send it soaring; 

Up through the atmosphere; Up where the air is clear; 

Oh, let's go fly a kite; Let's go fly a kite!

Today Samantha was home with her Daddy due to the daycare being closed for vacation and he emailed me the cutest picture of her flying her kite and if the kite in action. I had bought the kite for her last week in hopes that they could fly it this weekend and for some reason it just wasn't very windy and they didn't get a chance to go out.I love that he dressed her in such a coordinating outfit (I left for work before she woke up). He knows I love photos so it was awesome that he sent these to me and with a little vamping up with Instagram:

Crate Paper March 2012 Color Challenge Winner!!

I couldn't believe my eyes on Wednesday, March 14th, when I checked the Crate Paper blog for the March 2012 Color Challenge winner and...it was me! It is such an honor for me to be selected as the winner of this challenge! The first thing I did was run and hug Samantha (as she was featured in the layout and the focus if my inspiration). It is so rewarding to see my work recognized. I usually don't finish my layouts in enough time to submit them for any challenges, but as soon as I saw the challenge colors I pulled everything together pretty quickly. It really made my day and it is even made more special to me as March is my birthday month. I sent the link to the blog  that took the picture of my daughter shared it in her blog. This win has inspired me to keep trying never give up on my dreams.

Crate Paper March 2012 Color Challenge: http://crate.typepad.com/cratepaper/2012/03/crate-color-challenge-winner.html

Ahhh.. Good Stuff

I love my coffee in the mornings but I love it even more in one of my favorite mugs from Campbell Pottery. There is just something about the first cup of coffee for the day that I highly anticipate. These mugs were a gift from my sister years ago for my birthday.

Looking For The Moon

Just another quick post about something Samantha and I do everyday. When I pick her up from daycare after work and as we are walking to the car we always look for the moon or airplanes. Usually she looks for the moon first and she always shouts "there it is" or if we can't find it "moon is sleeping". If we see or hear an airplane she just points and yells "Airplane". It's just too cute. Here is photo of her looking for the moon:

Woo-Hoo! Dear Lizzy Neapolitan!

I was really excited when I visited my local scrapbook store and they had a whole display of the new Dear Lizzy Neapolitan line. I thought I was going to have to order it online and I haven't seen it available anywhere yet. I snatched up some of almost every piece they had available. I can't wait to start working on some new layouts with this!

Samantha's 2nd Birthday Party

Samantha's second birthday was Tuesday, November 29th. We had a little party for her and her godmother Auntie Melissa and her husband, UncaMike as Samantha says, and their daughter McKinley came to celebrate on December 3rd. We had an Alice In Wonderland theme which was mostly due to her obsession with Alice a few months earlier, hence the Alice In Wonderland Halloween costume. She made such a wonderful Alice. I had some photos taken of her in her costume (I will post later) which is going to be a tradition since Halloween is my favorite holiday.  A lot of the props were my grandmother's and so I only had to acquire a few other items and as I wanted to make good use of them so they are also decorating Samantha's bedroom.

Here are a few of the pictures from the party: