Labor Day Sale!

In honor of Labor Day, I'm running a little sale.  Everything in the shop is now 20% off.  Sale begins Friday, August 29th and runs for a week through Friday, September 5th.

purple poufs

One of the big projects I'm working on right now is developing a portfolio of favorite images from over the years.  I have a TON of undeveloped photos that I am slowly working my way through.  These were taken a few years ago when Mr. Z was a baby during a season when he had dropped his morning nap (such a hard transition) and I was desperate to get us out of the house.   After the girls went to school, we would often take long walks around our neighborhood in Orlando.  It was often very hot and sticky, even in January.  I really do not miss that at all!

I found these little flowers while walking one morning along an open space where the grass was uncut.  I'm sure they are technically weeds, but I love them just the same.  They are so pretty.  I picked a few and tossed them into the bottom of the stroller planning to go back the next day with my camera and shoot them in the field.  But, later that afternoon, the mowers came out and that was the end of the pretty little flowers in the field.  I never saw them grow back.  

But, I'm glad I at least got a few photos.  They look sort of look like they belong in the sea to me.

Like little anemone.  Purple poufs of happiness.

DIY: Napkin Flower Tutorial

I've got a little crafty series planned for this blog.  For the next three weeks, I'll be posting a new DIY tutorial on Monday.  In upcoming weeks, I have a few DIY ideas for displaying photos.  If I get on a roll, maybe there will be more!  :)

Today I'm sharing  a very simple tutorial using napkins to make flowers.  Since napkins are a bit stiffer than tissue paper, the flowers hold their shape a little better.  There are lots of other similar tutorials out there, but I didn't know that when I came up with the idea.  Great minds think alike!

Start by gathering your supplies.  

1)You'll need napkins of various colors, 28-gauge floral wire and a pair of scissors.  I used white, green and orange napkins to add some interest. (A cute vase or mason jar helps too :)

2) Open your napkin out flat.  I found these orange napkins at the dollar store, and I love them because they are white on the backside which makes for a beautiful flower.

3) Cut napkin into four equal parts.

4) Stack them on top of each other, same color facing the same direction.

5) Accordion fold your napkin.  You can see the white backside of the orange napkin here.  It's going to be pretty when we start opening it up!

6) Pinch the folded napkin together.

7) Fold the floral wire over the center of the napkin and twist a few times around itself to secure in place.

8) Cut the edges of the napkin off into a rounded shape.  Alternatively, you could cut them inwards like a "V."  This will make for a cool spikey looking flower.

9) Begin spreading apart the folds into a circular shape.  It will sort of look like a butterfly. 

10) Carefully lift each layer of napkin towards you and away from the center.  Be sure to separate 2-ply napkins into two layers.  This will make your flower fuller and and creates a two-tone look if the second layer is white.

Keep opening the layers up until you have a pretty flower.

 When you are all done, the floral wire will serve as a nice stem to fit into your vase or mason jar.

Heading into fall, this makes a great little centerpiece for the table or a fun accent for any room!

sunflowers

I have a little sunflower patch this summer.  It makes me happy.  I am loving this variety.  They bloom deep purple, and slowly turn into these gorgeous shades of red, yellow and orange.  

first day of school [last year & this year]

The girls went back to school last week and Mr. Z went back to preschool this week.  Since I never posted first day of school shots from last year, I thought I'd do one big post of them all.  

First up, Mr. Z.  

Quite the charming lil' guy!  It's his second year of preschool.  I asked him on the first day if he was nervous.  He sort of scoffed at me, "Nervous? Of course not!"  I think he's got it down this year.

Mr. Z, last year.

 

After taking his photos this year, he was cold and wanted to pull up his hood.  I couldn't resist another photo.  It's his "personality" shot.

His personality shot from last year.  He loves making faces for my camera!

 Miss A.  She's always got a sweet smile for the camera.  The girls are too old for personality shots.  They just want to smile and look good.  No goofey stuff.

Miss M.  I can't believe she's in 7th grade this year!

This year:

Last year:

canvas wraps in the shop!

I've been hard at work setting up my new shop.  Today, I'm excited to announce that it is finally open!  (Insert applause and a few shouts of joy!) Hooray!  You can now purchase these canvas wraps in my Shop.  So exciting! 

If you're new to canvas, no worries.  My hubby wasn't sure what gallery-wrapped canvas were either.  In case you're in the dark, let me explain.  

The images are printed directly onto fine art canvas with archival inks (you'll be able to pass these onto your grandkids).  Then, they are wrapped around a 1.5" wooden frame and stretched to fit.

 The term "gallery wrap" refers to the fact that there are no visible staples on the front or sides of the frame.  The canvas wraps the frame up like pretty present.

 Ta-da.  Just like that, a beautiful piece of artwork, ready to hang on the wall straight out of the box.

You can visit my shop HERE.

back to school [cake pops]

 We had our back-to-school/meet-the-teacher/drop-off-school-supplies night earlier this week.  Miss M loves to bake and really wanted to make back-to-school cake pops for her teachers.  Cake pops are a ton of work (in my opinion), but she clearly loves everything about making these adorable little treats, so I did my best to encourage her, even though I don't share the same passion for baking as she does.  It was not a perfect experience.  I am still learning and remembering that I want to encourage my kids towards their passions.  It is especially hard when it feels inconvenient.  We had to make an extra trip to the craft store to purchase some specialty items.  And, I am still spotting remnants of chocolate and white candy melts on my white cabinets.

In the end, I had to apologize for being a bit grumpy.  She loved delivering these little treats around school and it was really fun to see her face light up as she gave away these little labors of love.
They really are a great teacher gift, and I'm so glad that she is able able to bring a smile to her teachers' faces.

summer recap

 Summer is over.  Sniff, sniff.  My kids go back to school today.  Goodbye, relaxed summer schedule, I'm going to miss you!  Hello, quiet chunks of time and a little more personal space, I'm looking forward to seeing you again.

Our first summer in Colorado was really nice.  Quiet and simple.  Refreshing.  The girls swam a ton, Z and I had lots of fun at our amazing local library, we grew our fist real garden, read a lot and just hung out.

Here's a little collage of Instagram photos from our summer.

meet kelly pepper

If you follow me on Instagram, you'll know that it's been a BIG week for our family.  We got a puppy!  She is super sweet.  Irresistible, really.  

The kids have been wanting a puppy for a really long time.  Miss A has been asking ever since we moved to back to Colorado last summer.  "When are we going to get a dog?  You promised we'd get a dog when we moved here!  We're never going to get a dog, are we? You promised!"

It took us a full year to be ready.  Moving is a big deal.  A whole year of settling-in.  A whole year of newness.  A year of sleep deprivation.  (Little Z, who had been sleeping soundly before the move, kept waking in the night and coming into our room until very recently.)

This summer was really good for us.  It was a super simple, low-key summer with very little travel.  Just what we needed.  The kids seem centered again.  So, we gave them the green light.  (Come back later this week for a summer-catch-up through Instagram photos.)

Miss M did all the research and found our little pup's photo posted on a local rescue shelter's website.  She was part of a litter of puppies that were saved from being euthanized in a small town in New Mexico.  As part of the adoption process, we went to her host home to meet the entire litter and really liked little Kelly.  She's a pug/terrier mix and was super sweet.  The next day, she came to our house for a "home visit" and we knew we wanted to adopt her.  The final step was scheduling a time to fill out paperwork to make it official.

You might be wondering why we named her Kelly Pepper.  Her foster owner gave her the name Kelly, which we liked.  She has little white flecks on her face around her nose which has a salt and pepper look, so we thought of the name Pepper.  We kept going back and forth between Kelly and Pepper, and finally someone suggested "Kelly Pepper."  It just stuck and seemed to fit.

She's the perfect addition to our family and makes it feel complete!

calypso cascade hike {rocky mountain national park}

One of our favorite things about living in Colorado is the opportunity to go on amazing hikes.  We love getting into nature and exploring.  This was a great hike with the kids.  The river ran next to the trail and there were quite a few spots to climb on the rocks and enjoy the sound of the rushing water.  We actually finished this hike which was a first for our us!  Here's a photo overload of our hike to Calypso Cascade in Rocky Mountain National Park.

flower photo tips

Happy Monday!

Today, I thought I'd share some pretty flower photos and photo tips with you.  I love flowers, and never tire of their beauty.  

The kids and I went to a nearby demonstration garden, the Gardens at Spring Creek shortly after school got out.  

It was a cloudy and rainy day, which made for great light to shoot flowers in.

When shooting flowers, I like to try to play around a lot with the angles I'm using.  In the shot below, I got down pretty low so that I was level with the flowers, and tried to get some interesting colors in the background since I  knew I wanted to isolate the flower stalk in the foreground.  It helped that they were planted in a lifted planter.  By shooting wide open (the largest aperture available), I was able to capture blurs of pretty color all around the flower.  

f/2.8,  1/160, ISO 100

For this one, I shot down on a single bloom, making sure the parts of the flower closest to me were in focus.  The wide open aperture (f/2.8 on my lens)  creates a nice blurry background of green shapes.

1/250, f/2.8, ISO 100

On this shot, I knew I wanted some blur both in front and in back of the area in focus.  So, I made sure there were flowers in front of my focal point.  I chose an aperture that was not quite wide open, but a bit smaller (the aperture closes down or gets smaller as the number gets larger.)  This way, more flowers would be in focus.

1/250, f/4.5, ISO160

I used the same idea on this one and shot down rather than from the side.  

1/250, f/4.5, ISO160

Here's another side-angle shot, getting a bit closer in this time.  On this one, I didn't want any flowers in front of my focal point, so I just focused on the flowers directly in front of me, creating a lot of blur in the background.  This photo is not in super-sharp focus, but I still like it.  I think it gives it a moody and heavy feeling.   

1/250, f/4.5, ISO160