vol.25

Pet themed overlay sets released... and save 20%

Good morning everyone! :) How are you? I'm actually doing REALLY great! :) I FINALLY finished up the pet themed overlay sets, and I also set-up a coupon code in the shop. USE CODE SAVE20 to receive 20% off your total order. Oh- I should also mention that the code only applies to my digital shop. Sorry! 

All of the above images are from the pet themed edition ONE overlay set.

Here are a few of my favorites from the second overlay set.

Seriously, it is almost too much cuteness to handle so early in the morning. :) I really had fun working on these sets. Clearly obvious by the number of examples in the listings!! :) I have to thank Sarah Beth Photography again for letting me play with her gorgeous photography. :)

One reason why it took me so INCREDIBLY long to finish these overlay sets, is because I felt like I needed to put together a video showing people how to color the shapes in... and if you have kids you can probably image how hard it can be to try and record a tutorial that also captures sound! :) Love them to pieces, but I clearly had to do this while the house was completely quiet. Jaydon went to bed early last night so I went ahead and recorded it then... but I think I sound tired and BOORRING. :) So you'll have to deal with that I suppose. I promise my next video will be a little more fun. At any rate, I think the video gets the job done... and I was extremely glad to finally have it DONE. :) I had problems with my screen recording program and also had problems saving the videos so it was definitely a frustrating experience! :)

Anyhow, here is the video:

 

 

Yesterday my mom and a close friend came over and brought they're sewing machines. We're making curtains for the motorhome!!! :D I'm really excited because it seems like that was the last big thing that needed done out there. I'll be able to share a video of the finished space soon! :) Anyhow we have more work to do on them today, but I LOVE LOVE how they are turning out.

Well, I'm going to get started ironing the rest of the fabric... I hope you have an absolutely perfect day! :)

a quote for your week chap 71

Happy Monday! :) I hope you had a great weekend. We had family over for a BBQ on saturday, let the kids take a quick dip in the pool, then we roasted marshmallows. Fun, fun. :) I ALSO finished painting the living room on friday! :) I have a couple before/during pictures to share with you...

We decided on Glidden's Granite gray for the walls and Behr's Pencil Point for the ceiling. The wall color may be just a bit darker than I had wanted, but I still really really like it. Doesnt seem to have ANY blue undertones like the gray I chose for the motorhome. We still have to purchase and put up the white crown molding, and that will make SUCH a difference.  My inspiration for the darker ceiling, gray walls and white molding was the Ambercrombie and Fitch store. Jaydon and I both loved how it looks in the store! We're going to skip displaying BW photos of half naked people on the walls though... not exactly into that aspect. ;) I did decide to display some new artwork on the walls though. I'll share pictures soon!

Painting those high ceilings though... was NOT fun. It brought back LOTS of memories from when we first bought the house. We re-painted the entire house. It was SO much work!

A typical day during Summer Break...

Trin has become quite the tent builder. :) She came up with this design entirely on her own!

In other living room related news, can I just say that I finally painted the fireplace!?!! I took pity on the poor hubs and just did it. He has enough honey do's on the list. While I knew he would do a much better job, I just finally decided my work wouldnt be as good, although I would try to do a good job... It took me about 4 hours and I still need another coat in some areas.. I'll get some pictures up soon.

But I'm now super inspired to paint the living room gray, and our ceiling either a really dark gray or even a charcoal flat black. With white crown molding... :) So, I'm dreaming up ideas and I even started creating a mood board in photoshop. I'll share soon... I just need a few finishing touches. I'm kinda excited cause I'm going to try my hand at painting my own curtains!!

Yes, I am excited. :D I havent been doing many home related projects and I have to say, it has made me feel a little less like myself. I want to freshen up a couple rooms and declutter and paint! :) Wish me luck... have you tackled any home related projects lately?

p.s. The pet themed overlays are pretty much finished... and I'm trying to put together a video tutorial on how to use them... but it is taking FOREVER using camstudio I keep running into errors saving my videos. So even though I have nothing to post yet, I've probably recorded 10 videos, only to have them be too large to save!! :)

New overlay set Sneek Peek- Pet themed!!

Because I'm going to do better about sharing more "in the minute news" with you guys here on my blog, and not assume you are all on facebook 24/7... I thought I would share what I am working on RIGHT now...
I'm collaborating with the UBER talented (as in so talented I had to pinch myself she said yes!) Sarah Beth Photography.

Her photos are soo amazing... and I have had a blast playing with them! :)  This has honestly been the funnest, and yet the most challenging overlay set I've worked on yet...

I'm feeling inspired to get these finished! I know you guys have been waiting for like EVER for me to finish a pet themed set! :) Hopefully SOON!! I'm wondering if I may end up with 2 sets when I'm finished!! :)

How is your day going? :)

Sharing lunch break with daddy...

Some of you know that Jaydon (the hubs) and my brother in law work for my dad as a framer. Well right before we went camping they had quite a bit of time off, kinda in between jobs. Well now that they have had work ready for them they've been working long hours and even on saturdays trying to get caught back up. So Saturday my mom, sister and I took the kids down to eat lunch with the guys. We actually picked up KFC and brought that to them.

  Jaydon took Trin up on the roof... I wasnt really worried since he walks on roofs ALL the time and Trin is very cautious... but it would have been nice if he would have asked my permission first! :) I'm sure he thought I would have said "NO! Are you crazy?" and I just might have...

My nephew got a toy tool set for Christmas. He had a BLAST with it that day. Jaydon would let him "hammer" at the nail, and then he would hammer it in further with a real hammer. Noah just giggled and giggled. He got the biggest kick out of it. What I thought was so cute, was the fact that he kept reaching into his "tool belt" while he was "working".

He is such the typical boy. Into super heroes, capes, and tools.

The girls had fun sweeping all the saw dust into piles...

It is always fun for the girls to get to see what Jaydon does all day long. :) It is even neater that my dad can work with both his son in laws. :) They have fun working together... no family feuds, can you believe that? :)

Artography Series- Digital Eye Candy

Sometimes I forget that not all my blog readers follow me on facebook. :) So, it seems I need a way to forever burn this into my memory, because not only did I forget to blog the release of this new print, but I also forgot to blog about the release of some new digital Eye Candy goodies. These instant cameras have a clipping mask allowing you to insert your (or a client's) photos. Combine your artistic photography skills with a few of my camera sketches and I think the two will be a match made in heaven. :)

Working on them was definitely a labor of love. :) I'm beyond thrilled with they turned out, and I see another set coming soon. :) You can find them here.

a quote for your week chap 70 + 2 new art pieces

Happy Monday! I hope you had a great weekend. :) I wanted to share a piece of art I finished and listed just over a week ago... I cant believe I forgot to blog it!! :)

I have several more camera sketches finished, so be on the lookout for those to be added into the shop SOON. You can find the above camera print right here in my etsy shop. :)

I also listed this new piece (HERE) that I just finished up this morning:

I've been working on it since May! Just couldnt get it right. Today everything finally fell into place and I did a quiet (the girls were still sleeping) happy dance. :)

"This quote really conveys a strong message for me. We cannot direct the troubles and trials of life, but we can adjust the sails and learn to ride with it instead of against it. Before you know it, that storm will have pushed you to calmer, peaceful waters. :)"

I think the art that gives me more of a challenge is always appreciated (by me) so much more when it is finished. :) Kind of like how someone would feel if they had tamed a wild beast... okay maybe that is a bit extreme... but it is fairly close. :) It is always nice when I'm working on a piece and everything falls into place, but sometimes I think the challenges make a victory more sweet. :)

So, have you had any victories of late? :)

 

Journeys 3rd Birthday

 

Well, it happened. It doesnt matter how many books I stack on her head... for some reason she keeps growing... AND getting older! Sheesh. Journey is now 3 years old! She has lost almost all her baby pudge, she talks like a 6 year old (using words like quite and gorgeous) she is COMPLETELY potty trained (yippeee) and she has learned how to get just about ( I did say JUST ABOUT) anything she wants by batting her eyelashes, tilting her head, clasping her hands and saying "pllleeeaasse, pretty pleeaaassee?" It is pretty sweet and really hard to tell her no! :)

She says "Thanks Mom" when I do little things for her, and It is the cutest thing. :) Well, I think so anyhow. I am sure I'm not partial though. ;)

look!! Noah has muscles! :)

This girl loves shoes, and wanted them put on ASAP. Papa was more than willing to help. :) Her birthday this year was a little simpler then her last 2 birthdays. (see birthday 1 HERE and birthday 2 HERE) But it felt good to keep things simple. My mom picked up a chocolate cake and some treat bags I grabbed some tangled party plates, and napkins. She really LOVES tangled. Her and Trin act out parts in the movie... cute to watch! :)

Here she is with her Uncle jono before the big present was revealed:

The dresses were MUCH too restrictive, so they changed into the P.J's I had brought over for the night. :)

They had SO much fun on this slide. I took a BUNCH of pictures with my camera on continuous mode and edited them into a slide show. I used windows Movie Maker, and the HARDEST part is finding music that is in the correct format (WMA) it is so incredibly frustrating. But, I was happy when I found a website that was offering Super mario Brothers music in WMA format. I have so many good memories playing mario cart on super nintendo. :)

 

They went on for at least an hour like that before we needed to head home! :) BTW we bought the slide from Toys R Us, and would highly recommend it. :)

p.s. I'm getting the itch to do another styled photo shoot! :)

 

Happy 4th + chocolate cream cheese filled stawberries

picture taken last year

Happy 4th of July to anyone celebrating the day. :) I'm slacking today, because I dont have a quote ready for today. Shame on me! :) I'm getting ready to head over to my moms to make some of these:

They look yummy huh!? Can you believe I took these pictures LAST year on the 4th? I've been meaning to post the pictures and well... I guess you know how well that went. :)

We make chocolate covered strawberries every year on the 4th. The first year we made them was the year I was pregnant with Journey, my brother and his wife were here, and we whipped up a batch. :) They were yummy. I still remember coming home after watching the fireworks and feeling MISERABLE. I kinda blamed it on eating one too many chocolate covered strawberries. :) But, then I started realizing that I just may be going into labor... :)

Anyhow Shaela (my sis in law) had a recipe that called for cream cheese inside the strawberries. So last year the tradition got even better. :)

 
we melted these choclate pieces in the microwave and dipped (or drizzled) the strawberries in the chocolate. YUMMY. :)

So anyhow, I'm heading over there for the day... unfortunately the guys had to work today. But this evening we are planning to watch the fireworks at our usual spot. :) I hope everyone has a great day! :)

My sister in law's wedding

Finally! Here are the pictures from my sister in laws wedding... A FEW of my faves anyhow. I struggled with the lighting, but these were mostly taken out at my other sister in laws house. They live in a really pretty area. The adorable girl on the left is my niece. You may remember her from these photos I took in Feb.

The girls looked (and acted) like princesses in they're dresses. They're hair turned out adorable. :) They really didnt help aunt Keisha put her shoes on... but I wanted some pictures of them attempting to! :)

:) Photographing weddings for family (or anyone) is fun, exciting, stressful and oh so much work. But when you can look back on the pictures later it all seems worth it! Most of these pictures were taken after the wedding and reception... What a long day. I was so glad they were up for taking some fun pictures of the two of them afterwards. They didnt see each other at all up until the moment she walked down the aisle so taking any beforehand was just not an option. :) I thought it was neat that they werent in a hurry to leave anywhere. They were flying out to vegas the next morning, so they hung out and visited at Cherisse's (my sister in laws) after taking these pics! :)