October Kits

Here is a peek at the Main October Kit. The whole enchalada will be up here shortly on the blog for purchase! :)

Enjoy your day!

the story of a lovely little lady

Today I share a special story with you.
A special story of a lovely lady...
my middle daughter, Amelia.
We call her Gracie.

With the help of the September Work in Progress main kit, I am telling the story of this lovely lady.

This lovely lady is indeed sweet.
She is ten.
She loves to be outdoors and explore and discover.
She loves to tell stories, and study about horses.
It's a mystery to me how she knows so much about horses...

because this lovely lady is at a first grade reading level.
Yes, we have done the vision therapy.
Yes, she has seen a therapist or two.
Yes she works at reading every day of her life.
But some say she is deeply dyslexic.

Can you imagine how hard it is for a bright little girl, with a desire to know so much, to struggle with her reading challenge. I mean...she really struggles.

So this is her little story. I used the 6x6 Kraft mini album from the kit to document this journey.
The left side of the layout is a pocket made with one of the pattern papers from the kit. The pocket is home to some sort of progress, or maybe even a set back, that I have documented.
The right side is a series of recent photos of Amelia. The composition is similar from layout to layout. Her photo is the focus. It is framed with stickers from the Basic Grey out of print stickers. More of the same stickers are used to add interest and color. Sequins are added, as well as butterflies. I want her to shine like the stars in the heavens, as well as find the freedom to fly even though she struggles. I used particular words from the DCWV Retro Sayings paper. Words like sweet, smart, good as gold, living art...because she is all those things. And more. That was how she was created. God knew she would have to be stronger than her struggle. And I guess, He knew the perfect girl to chose.

If you have a child who struggles academically, or in any other arena of their life, know you are not alone. There are a lot of us out there. Lot of tears shed. A lot of research done. And a lot of hope always renewed.

Thank you for letting me share this story today.

the album in it's entirety can be found here.

Family Photo Tips

I've been doing a lot of family shoots lately, and wanted to share two helpful articles about what to wear to those sessions...

This article by Liz Stanley hits the nail on the head. When she mentioned not forcing your family to dress uniformly, I wanted to kiss her face!!

I thought this article on "10 Ways to Make Your Family Photos Stand Out" was pretty awesome. Hope you find so, too.

Enjoy your day!

Sharing a Secret

I love to photograph children. Especially when I know the child's personality. That kind of insight prompts me to bring that out in a photo shoot.

This is my son's friend, Adam.  Adam is a gem.  A boy's boy, for sure.  But as you can see from the above photo, he isn't too comfortable in front of a camera.  Apparently not all kids are bribed from birth like my own??
Now, he was doing his best to cooperate.  His mom was along side me, begging him to not fake smile.  But when kids are told to smile, this is what happens.

Having an 8 year old boy of my own, I knew exactly what to do.

I pretended to smell something funny as I winced and yelled out, "Who farted?"

(Pardon my use of terms.  Use your own discression.  I had to do it.  :))
Of course, he busted up.  THIS is the shot I would frame and put in my house.  I love a good, whole hearted laugh photo with good catchlight in a child's eyes.  Makes my heart skip a beat, and he's not even mine...

This is the smile that resulted after he relaxed and closed his mouth a bit.  And this is the one that his Mama selected, simply because he has 3 sisters, and they're all posers, so it presented a more cohesive look.

So my secret?  Do the unexpected.  If you can't, enlist in the help of a parent or sibling if possible.  I may or may not own a fart machine (Dave and Busters), which I've used from time to time during photo shoots involving boys.  Crude?  Maybe.  I'm not sure I'd do that to a complete stranger.  But it sure beats torturing him and begging him to "SMILE!"

Enjoy your weekend!

Freebie Printable Tags

I found these adorable tags over at Daily Suze...


And for other fun things to print, check out my "Printables I Love" board over at Pinterest.  I've been going to town printing fun things out over there!

Enjoy your day!

Advice

Just sharing a few photos of our pet turtle, Dennis, today. And one bit of advice... Teach your children to use your camera. Whether it is a pocket point-and-shoot, an iPhone, or a DLSR, let them learn and appreciate photography.

Every single one of these photos were taken by an 11 year old.  An eleven year old who is just as interested in getting a good shot as her mother.  And where did I get my passion for photography?  You guessed it...my own father was a photographer in the Army, and always appreciated the artform. 

Share your passions with those you love.  You never know what is rubbing off...

Enjoy your day!

Photo Checklist

Once in a while, I get in a creative photo-taking rut. This list inspired me, and seeing that Fall is now around the corner (can you believe it??), maybe this list will do the same for you...

You can find the pdf printable here from the CK website. Hope it inspires you to get creative with your photo-taking, too!

Enjoy your day!

This Summer--Mini Book Update

Did you do your Summer Mini? Here is a peek at mine... The front and back are pieces of acrylic. Here is a shot of the inside first page. You can see how I layered the lettering on the cover, and what showed through from the first page this way...

The pages were simple. I used 4x6 sheets of patterned paper and cardstock, along with 4x6 photos. Many of them were simply glued back to back as a page. My favorite touch? Decorative edges on the pages...

Here are some of my photos and pages. I didn't journal on every photo--I just did it here and there. I love the simplicity of bullet journaling...

I am looking for the perfect label tags to add just a few more tidbits, and I need to print out the photos taken from this past weekend. But other than that, it is complete!

Thanks for letting me share a few of my favorite pages from this summer's mini. Fingers crossed that you did yours! Link us up if you did!

Enjoy your day!

Blogging Break

We'll be back on Tuesday. Taking this last weekend to enjoy what is left of this beautiful season in a place our family loves. Hope you get the chance to relax and enjoy yourself, too...

If you get a moment and need some eye candy and inspiration, be sure to check out the DT gallery here.

Gallery Teaser

Please bear with me. I know it is September 1st. But the combination of my new computer, Blogger format change, and youngest child starting kindergarten today has me thrown for a loop. I promise, I'm working like a mad woman to get the gallery uploaded. I apologize for the delay, and thank you for your patience! In the meantime, drool over Debbi Tehrani's mini book she created for us this month. SERIOUSLY?? LOVE!!