Monthly Archives: February 2010

:: Team-up Thursday ~ Self-Portrait ::

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{Gulp!}

This one was definitely a challenge.  I have this “gift” of being hyper-critical, especially of myself, so the task of taking, liking and publishing a picture solely of me – not me as Mom, or Teacher, or any number of other titles.  It was uncomfortable.  It was difficult.  It took thought and planning and time…and it forced me outside the comfort zone I never acknowledged behind the lens. 

I grew.

Perhaps the most rewarding part of this experience was learning what works and what doesn’t, and thinking like my subjects for a moment.  I have no plans to do anything more than have fun with my photography right now, but recognizing the feelings of awkwardness or uneasiness, feeling “posed” or less-than-natural.  That was good. 

Plus, knowing that my partner would be there with me, made this not quite as scary.  There’s comfort in company, in friendship, in recognizing common ground.  I look forward to “meeting” everyone today!

tut-selfportrait dip

Thanks Megan and Melody for pushing us to try new things!

:: Crafty Tuesday ~ Party Time! ::

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While I’m not sure this constitutes actual craftiness, it’s the best I’ve got!  We’ve known for a while that there would be a definite dinosaur theme, so when I found this adorable little digital scrapbooking set, I thought I’d give it a whirl making his invites.  They turned out so much better than I could have hoped.  We simply printed them on white cardstock and sent them as postcards!

Party Invite Web

Party Invite Back

Post-birthday party I’m sure we’ll have lots more pictures of the festivities and some of the other little crafty fun we’re planning for the cake and goodie bags.  He’s already so excited and I can’t believe it’s coming up in just a couple of weeks!  Yowsa, Mom better get busy!

This is the first time I’ve really ever done anything with digi-scrap stuff.  I suspected I would like it, but playing with this I think I’m hooked.  I’m not quite sure about how to use some of the embellishments, especially the cute cords and ropes, or getting things to have that sewn effect.  Any digi-scrappers out there with tips or hints.  Not that I need any more blogs to add to my reader, but if there are places with good tutorials, I’d love to learn a bit more!

Be sure to swing by Carrie’s for some creative inspiration!

:: Team-up Thursday ~ Snow ::

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I wouldn’t have imagined that Jaimee and I would have had an opportunity to tackle this theme together and in such a similar way given our geography.  There is a certain sense of awe, wonder and beauty that comes with a fresh blanket of fallen snow.  I admit I do have an affinity for icicles, twinkle lights, and a good cup of cocoa after a hard afternoon’s play.

For this week’s interpretation of our theme, I turned to one of the two winter weddings I had the pleasure of photographing.  After one two three computers crashed since late-November, hundreds of my pictures spent far too long sitting in loneliness on our external hard-drive.  How fun that today they came out to play! 

So far, it’s been really fun to see how our images and interpretations of our chosen theme come together.  I love the way these are both shot from behind the subject.  The way the river draws the eye, the fact that the gals are both on the same side of the guys…there’s just too much to love!  In fact, at a time of year when most Michiganders are pretty much over the novelty of snow, today’s challenge has made me happy to have it around for at least a few more weeks!  Thanks for the great shot, Jaimee!

Be sure to visit Melody and Megan to see what other’s are teaming up to share this week too!