Photography

I've been really busy with school, work, and my photography. Here are a few shots of my past couple sessions. Check out my new photography blog here.

Spooky Halloween Quilt

Over the summer I have been lucky enough to stumble accross some really cute halloween fabrics for some really great prices (hello $ .50 a yard!)  I have always wanted to make a rag quilt and decided to go for it.

I started cutting with no real pattern, and this is what I ended up with.

I absolutely love this quilt!!  It still needs to fray a bit, but that should happen with a couple more washes. 

Linking to:

Frugalicious Friday @ Finding Fabulous

http://www.fingerprintsonthefridge.com/2010/09/feature-yourself-friday_09.html

I've Been Published

YAY!!!  I was asked to do a shoot for a local weekly paper and jumped at the chance.  I have been taking pictures for about 8 years now, and I am just now confident enough to put myself out there and try to get published.  I have had a few pics in print before, but not on the cover!!  I am so excited.  A huge thanks to The Alchemist for giving me this opportunity!

Birthday, Blogoversary, Memo Board, and oh yeah...Kidney Stones

Hello all.  I have had a busy two week.  First, I missed my blogoversary.  Second, my I celebrated my 30th birthday on Thursday.  What did I get as a present for both of those milestones??  Yep, kidney stones.  Thankfully, I am feeling better and the whole situation has 'passed'. 

Since I still wasn't feeling 100% I wanted to go low key, so we went to the Portland Zoo.  I got some great shots (I'll post some later).

I have this great memo board I made from a cork board I picked up at GW for two bucks. 

I started by covering the board with one layer of quilt batting and some leftover fabric for my bedroom re-do.  I secured each layer with my handy staple gun.

To start the ribbons going accross the front, I ran one ribbon from each corner.

 

To ensure that I had the ribbons equally spaced I used one of my quilting rulers to place the other ribbons.

Once I finished with placing the ribbon I added a thumbnail to each point where the ribbon crossed.  I just loved the quilted look, but didn't care for the brass-y look of the tacs.

Inspiration struck and I decided to hot glue a button to the top of each tac.  Love.

I made a few fabric flowers for the corner and added buttons to the center of those as well.

I added ribbon to hang it and viola! 

Super cute memo board that matches my bedroom perfectly!  And all for less than five bucks!!!!!

Linking to:

 

I've Been Featured

YAY!!!!  First feature ever!  I was so excited to see a sweet email from Bird today letting me know the diaper banner I made for B's shower had been featured!

Not gonna lie: I squealed like a little girl!!

Hoooooo Are Youuuuuu

1. What is your natural hair color?


Medium brown with lots of red in it.  Seriously, no matter what color I try to dye my hair it ALWAYS pulls red!!

2. Which do you prefer, sunrises or sunsets?

That's a toughie for me.  Some of you may know that I am a photographer so both sunrises and sunsets are great for light.  I prefer a sunrise, but loathe how early you have to rise to enjoy one!

3. What is the first thing you notice about people?

Eyes.  Corny but true: Eyes are the windows to the soul.

4. Do you prefer talking or texting on your cell phone?

Texting.  It's so much easier to multi-task, you don't have to give your full attention to the whole time you are chatting with someone.

5. What size of shoes do you wear?

9 1/2.  Usually.  Depending on the width and other stuff maybe a half to whole size up.

Jalepeno Cornbread

The other day I made a delicious Cilantro Lime Chicken and I needed a side dish.

After looking through my pantry I settled on cornbread.  As I was mixing it I was struck with some inspiration.  Why not throw a jalepeno and some shredded cheddar cheese in there?

I used one jalapeno (diced very finely) and two handfuls of cheese and folded them into the cornbread batter.  I baked according the the directions on the package and voila.

Delicious and easy.

PS - If you don't have enough batter to fill all the cups in a muffin tin, pour some water in the empty cups.  It helps the muffins cook evenly.

How to Shorten a Sleeve

I am a server, my uniform is ALL black.  Needless to say it gets really warm while I am working.  I found a great shirt a few months ago for work, but it had long sleeves.  I decided to shorten them so I am able to use it over the warm season as well.

This project took about ten minutes, and I didn't even have to break out my sewing machine!!

First off put the shirt on to get an idea of where you want the sleeves to end.  Mark the shirt, take it off and measure where you should make the cut. 

Cut both sleeves.  Remember, measure twice and cut once!  I was careful with this project but there have been many times I haven't measured twice and boy did I regret it!!

To secure the hem I used Steam-A-Seam.  This paticular one comes on a roll, so I just attached it turned the hem and ironed it into place.

Ta-da:

Now I have another work shirt that I can wear in the heat!

Another Table Lamp Revamp

I dressed up this lamp shortly after I finished this one, I just haven't gotten around to posting about it yet.  (Bad blogger!) 
I found this lamp and the shade at my local Goodwill.  I don't remember exactly what I paid for each, but I think I got the whole thing for less than ten bucks. 

I taped the lamp off and started spraying.  For this project I used Krylon in Leather.  The trick to getting good coverage is using a good spray paint and spraying lots of light coats. (that's what works for me) 

While waiting for the paint to dry I covered the shade in fabric.

I love the way it turned out!!

I am linking up to:

Fun Frame Makeover

I have had this frame forever just sitting in a box. 
If I had known it could be this cute I would have started earlier!

Here's the down and dirty:

I sprayed the frame a sunny yellow.  I didn't prime or sand so the wood grain/stain whatever showed right through.  Luckily, I lurve that look so it was perfect!  I didn't have the glass or backing for this frame so I had to come up with something.  Enter corkboard.

I cut the cork to fit snugly and hot glued it in place.  (cork cuts really easily with a razor blade, make one pass with the blad and then 'break' it apart)

I added some colorful ribbon to hang it with and stood back to enjoy my work.  It was missing something.  I couldn't figure out what I wanted to do with it so I walked away. 

I started going through my fabric stash and inspiration hit......add a couple of fabric flowers to the corner.

The flowers were super easy, I just put a glob of hot glue in the center of a circle (cut from whatever fabric you like) and kind scrunched up just the center of the circle.  As it dries you can pull and press it to make sure it lays the way you like it.  To finish it off I just added a matching button the to the center of each flower.

Perfect.

Exactly what it needed.


I am linking to:










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Craft-O-Maniac Monday

Princess B

The other day I had the great pleasure of taking some pictures of the adorable Brooklynn.  I slapped a 'B' on a onesie that justh happened to match a tu-tu I made while practicing my technique for the Tu-Tu Drive over at Samster Mommy.  These photos will be a great addition to my portfolio.

Bailey showing some sisterly love:

Berry Pickin' Fun

I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July weekend.  Isn't it the best when those holidays actually fall on a weekend?  It just seems like everyone has more fun!

I haven't been up to much crafting lately, but I do have some projects in the works.  One is for a guest post I will be doing later this month!!  (SUPER excited about that one!) 

One of the best things about living in the Willamette Valley is the amazing produce that grows locally.  Today was a hot one at about 95, we decided  leaving early would ensure that we had picked out bounty before the heat really hit.  Blueberries were the main goal for our trip today, but just a mile up the road is a great raspberry farm so we decided to stop by there as well. 

The blueberries were HUGE, and there were lots of them.

We picked just over 4 lbs of blueberries and grabbed some fresh peas (still in the pod!) for a grand total of $5!

The raspberries were just as plentiful, though the best berries are always hiding under the foilage so it takes a little searching. 

Again, we were amazed at the size of these raspberries! We took a picture of one next to a quarter to show the huge-ness of them.

We found about 4 lbs of berries and paid only $5!  I love that we are able to go to local family owned farms and pick our own produce.