A Crafty Munchkin

New photography blog!!

2010-05-24T18:51:00.000-07:00

Here it is and man is it about time!! My new photography blog is up and running. It still needs a lot of work but at least now my pictures will quit taking over this blog!! This blog was supposed to be for all my crafty endeavours, now it can resume its original intention!! :)

Here ya go- If you have a minute- go check out the new blog and let me know what you think!!

Tiffany Herndon Photography Blog

Jason and Michelles Engagement photos

2010-04-26T19:09:00.000-07:00

Back at the beginning of April I had the pleasure of being able to take the engagement photos for some close friends. Jason has been serving alongside Kasey for the past year over in Iraq and Michelle has been here at home waiting it out; and believe me I know what thats like. I know she is so very happy to have her fiance home finally and I was so blessed that they asked me to take some pictures for them. We went up to northern Mississippi- out to Tishomingo State Park for a wonderful afternoon of hiking and picture taking. We had a wonderful afternoon and I cant thank them enough for allowing me to captures these special moments for them. I absolutely LOVE the pictures that I was able to capture and cannot wait for their big day on June 12th!! I plan on taking many more gorgeous photos that day too!! :) I had so many good ones that I could not decide on just a few to share so enjoy!!

Jason and Michelle

I think this first picture is just adorable!

Ahhhh-maaaa-zing light!!!

This was such a fun shot to get... took a little manuevering but it was well worth it!!

One of my favorites from the day!

EEEEEEEKKKK!! <3

I love this one! Michelle looks so gorgeous here!!

Last one of the day!

2010-03-20T09:39:00.001-07:00

This was my latest shoot. I asked one of my friends if she wouldn't mind going out with me and letting me taking some pictures. I think K looks positively GORGEOUS!! I mean, she is gorgeous (as are all of my friends) but I was kind of blown away when I got home and actually looked at these up close.
I couldnt have asked for better weather, it was nice and warm with some big poofy clouds in the sky- just perfect!! Thank you K for being you- chock full of awesome sauce!

I like this one- its a little bit different, quirky; just my style.

FLIPPIN' BEAUTIFUL!

Its so hard to choose but I really, really, really, I mean- really like this one!

So- when I go out to shoot with friends, I never have a specific place in mind. We just kind of drive around until something catchs my eye. This old, run down, abandoned house definately caught my eye.

Gotta love spring- buttercups are blooming!!

Thank you so much K!! I hope we get to do it again soon!! :)

A gorgeous family- inside and out!

2010-03-20T09:19:00.000-07:00

So I went out for an afternoon shoot with a family of one of the girls I go to school with. I figured it would be just like any other shoot so far- go out for a few hours, take some pictures and come on home. Man, was I wrong! I had SO much fun with this family! We went out for about an hour and a half and then afterwards I ended up staying for another 2 hours just talking and enjoying the company of this wonderful family. oh, and there were brownies... and coffee :) .They are so much fun to be around and truly love each other and it's easy to see.
I was really worried because on the drive over it was super cloudy and actually started to rain, luckily we got a brief interlude and some amazing light came out. I am super happy with these images and I hope they are too!

The McB Family

Mom, Dad, and all three kids!

S is such a good, sweet, and beautiful soul and I always have fun with her. I am so happy that she asked me to come and take pictures of her and her family.

L, what can I say. You are just a charming, kind, and interesting guy! Thank you for being such an awesome sport and allowing me to get some pictures! :)

K- you are gorgeous girl! I love this picture of you and thank you so much for opening up as the afternoon went on. I think you truly shine in this picture!

We had to climb a hill... a rather steep hill, for this shot- but I think it was totally worth it.

This one is my favorite. Hands down.

I love the way Dad is looking at Mom here, you can see how much he loves her.

This one also needs to be blown up big somewhere!

Again- Thank you so much guys!! I loved every minute of our afternoon together and I cant wait to do it again. You truly are a spectacular family and I am blessed to know you. :)

So much to blog about!!

2010-03-20T09:05:00.000-07:00

I've gotten so behind in my blogging! So today Im gonna play catch up and share three, yes 3!, different photo shoots with you today!
You might recognize this adorable little boy from the previous entry. Little C is just adorable and such a handful! I love taking pictures of him and I am so blessed that his parents wanted me to take some family pictures as well! These are two of the nicest people ever and Im so honored to be able to call them family! :) I hope these make you smile as much as they do me!!

The B Family!

SK was so happy to finally get not only some family pictures, but pictures of her and B as well.

I love this one!! I hope you do to SK!

This one just makes me want to have a kid... like now.

And there are no words for this one. It needs to be blown up BIG and hung somewhere in your house SK!

I am so in love with this picture.... I dont know what it is but it just makes me smile...

I had such a good time hanging out with the B family! Such love and playfulness. I cant wait until we get to do it again!! :)

Just a quickie!

2010-02-21T20:42:00.000-08:00

I've been pretty busy lately with school, but I did manage to take a break this afternoon and take a few pictures! This is adorable "C". He is QUITE a handful but I adore him. He makes me smile everytime I get to see him! Im hoping that next weekend I might be able to get some family pictures that include his mom and dad. We'll see how the weather cooperates! :) For now- enjoy!

The amazingly gorgeous "L" family!

2010-01-31T19:43:00.000-08:00

I had the complete honor of being able to photograph an amazing family today. The L family was simply spectacular and I hope I am able to take some more pictures of them in the future! The models today consisted of a mom (a flippin gorgeous mom!) and her adorable 8 month old daughter and then all the cousins! I sure hope I was able to get some pictures to make everyone happy! We went to a local park and had a total blast. The boys ran around like crazy and had so much energy, I truly enjoyed my time with this wonderful family! Oh, and much appreciation goes out to the rest of the family (moms, dads, grandma, and grandpa) for helping to get and keep the attention of all the children so I could get a few with all of them looking at me!...well most of them anyhow. :)

~The L Family~

I am in love with the lighting at this location and these kids are gorgeous!! Such a cute group of cousins!

Mom and little J.

This girl! Honestly, I think I have found my new muse! She was amazing and I didnt get a bad picture of her all day! I hope one day that Ill be able to photograph her some more- shes gorgeous and quite the little camera ham too! (which I love) I didnt have to direct her hardly at all- she just struck a pose everytime I turned her way! :)

See what I mean by flippin gorgeous?!? And that sun flare is to die for!!

might be one of my new favorites!!

Big Sister, Little Brother!

I mean, come on! GORGEOUS!!!

These two kept me on my toes all afternoon! I had an utter blast with them though!

*Sigh* I love that lighting!!

This one is really special too!

LOL! Im so glad I was able to get this shot! He was full of emotions all day long and super adorable no matter what!

The boys being boys...

Mom and baby girl

Loving the boys in this one!

Had to get one of the girls!

Thanks so much L family for letting me be a part of your memories!! I hope we get to do it again soon! :)

New Crafty Letters

2010-01-12T19:32:00.000-08:00

Its been a while so I thought that today I would upload the present I made my mother in law for Christmas. I have made the observation that so far the word LOVE is the one that I decorate the most. I think however, that I may branch out and actually decorate the word DREAM and (shock!) keep it for myself. Although dreaming isn't my issue, its believing. I dream all the time... its the believing that I can do it that's key. I know I can do anything I put my mind to but sometimes it's still hard for me to believe that.

On a side note: today happens to be the birthday of one of my favorite photographers- Courtney Dellafiora. She is an amazingly talented photographer and a super awesome person ( I can say that since I have officially met her! yay!) and today she blogged an awesome idea. She made a list of 100 things to do by the time she is thirty and I think this may be an idea I'm going to steal from her. So be on the lookout for my list!

Honored and amazed

2010-01-11T16:53:00.001-08:00

I have always loved photography and been intrigued by it. I revel in the power and emotion that a single shot can have. I am always inspired by photographers and the art they create and the moments they are able to capture.

For the longest time (years in fact) I have been arguing with myself; you see I've always wondered if I could be a photographer, and I've always convinced myself otherwise- that I would be horrible at it. Finally at the age of 27 I convinced myself to give it a shot, what's the worst that could happen? I'd fail, and if so then I'd never have to tell anyone what my secret dream was.

So I bought my first DSLR back in September of 2009 and asked a friend if she'd let me take pictures of her and her boyfriend. They said yes and since then something amazing has happened- people have asked me to take their pictures after seeing that very first shoot! I can't tell you how honored and amazed I am that people actually want to entrust me with their memories. Especially since I am SO new at all of this. I have so much to learn still. In fact, I am currently shooting in aperture -priority mode because I haven't mastered manual yet! For those of you out there reading this that are photographers and understand what that means then you know just how far I still have to go. The thing is, I'm willing to learn and put in the work. I can see that I have the potential to do great (eventually) in this field and even more than that is the way I feel when taking pictures. I can't explain it- it's just an amazing feeling... I get lost in the moment, and that is wonderful.

The reason that I am making this post is for two reasons.
One is to thank everyone. To thank those who have encouraged me thus far and who continue to do so. To thank the families that have contacted me and asked me to freeze their family in a moment; who have asked me to capture their children's natural beauty and innocence. To my friends who are willing to go out with me and allow me to practice on them- in good weather and not so good weather ;) To my family for their continued support.
Thank you all.

The second reason is to announce that due to the overwhelming response that I have recieved I have decided upon my pricing for photoshoots.

As of now the pricing is as follows:

Family, Senior, Children, & Engagements

$75.00

Whats included:

2+ hour shoot, 2 outfits, 2 locations*.

CD of final edited images with photo release

approximately 75+ images

If you are interested in contacting me you can find me on Facebook: Tiffany Herndon

or email me at THerndonPhotography@hotmail.com

Again, I am so honored, blessed, and amazed by the response that I have received from everyone.

Again...

Thank you!

And because posts are always better with pictures:

*Travel over 40 miles subject to extra charge.

**Weddings available upon request and only in extreme cases (LOL)

The "M" family

2010-01-10T17:12:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of taking some pictures for the M family. They had recently had a new addition to the family and mom wanted some photos taken. I had an absolute blast hanging out with the family for a few hours and I am very proud of how these turned out. After I had taken pictures of the whole family and the two oldest children- mom asked if I would take some of little H. :) This was my first time taking pictures of a newborn and i must admit I was nervous! However, I am expecially thrilled with how they turned out!

So without further ado, I give you the M family:

The M Family

The two oldest children were such fun all morning long!
Little H!

This is my favorite shot from the whole day! The family are HUGE Mississippi State fans and I am ecstatic with this shot.

Check out the mohawk!

This is another shot I am especially pleased with.

Gorgeous S!

The whole family! :)

Mom and Dad.

B is just a ball of fire and I enjoyed chasing him around all day! We had so much fun.

B and S are so excited to be a big brother and a big sister!

Thank you so much M family! I am truly honored that you asked me to take pictures of your gorgeous family. :)

The "S" Family

2009-12-27T18:40:00.000-08:00

The "S" family was an absolute blast. They were such an easy going, caring family and I had a wonderful time hanging out with them. It was a little cold for their photoshoot, but not too bad. Besides, they had perfectly gorgeous skies... no clouds in sight! Mom found me on facebook through a friend and then contacted me. I am so grateful and humbled that they asked me to take their pictures. Their two children are absolutely precious and "H" was so full of energy! He kept me quite busy, but I loved every minute of it!!

The "S" Family:

Little "A" was only six months old but I can already tell she's going to be a natural in front of the camera!!
"H" is one of the sweetest and most energetic little boys ever! He spent the whole afternoon running from me. :) Every once in a while though I got him to slow down just a bit.

I really like this one.

I had the darndest time getting everyone to look at me at the same time! It doesn't bother me too much though- this is real life and I am so happy to capture that.

So adorable together!

I love how mom is looking at dad and H is looking at me. :)

How precious is this one?

I really love this picture of mom and dad!

This picture makes me smile. We had gone to the playground and were trying to leave and go to the christmas tree farm before the sun went down and we spent a good 20 minutes trying to get H in the car. He wasn't having it...at all. I just love the lighting in this picture.

This is my absolute favorite picture from the whole day. Mom and dad were trying to get little A situated and ready for the picture and I had just spent 10 mintutes chasing H through the field of trees when he just popped around the tree to see where I was.

Finally! Got everyone looking at me! :)

Merry Christmas to all!!

Thank you again S family. I truly enjoyed our time together and I hope that I am able to see you again soon!

The "R" Family

2009-12-27T18:02:00.000-08:00

As everyone around me knows, I love taking photographs. It makes me happy and I love being able to see people through my lense; to catch those little moments. Usually I just grab one of my best friends and take random photos out in the woods or wherever we end up. One thing I never expected though was to be actually good at it. I take pictures because I like to... plain and simple. It makes me a very happy girl. However, here recently people have been asking me to take their pictures. It's a little like the realization of a dream coming true. Kind of surreal in fact.
Take for instance this lovely family: The "R" family. The dad is actually a friend of my husband's but the mom is the one who contacted me after seeing some of my other pictures on facebook.
We had to reschedule this shoot about 3 times because of the weather but finally we managed to find a day when it wasnt raining. It was however, quite cold. Luckily though all three of them were troopers- especially little "M". I had so much fun with this family and cannot wait to do it again... when its a little warmer! :)

The "R" Family

I just love how little M is very aware of me and what Im doing- that look is priceless. This was one of the first shots I took on that day.

What a gorgeous family!

It took a little bit but eventually M started warming up to me and even gave me a smile and a wave. How cute is she?

This is another picture that just makes my heart happy. I adore that she is walking between mom and dad and looking up at mom.

M started to get just a little fussy but dad quickly changed that with a tickle fest!

Not sure why, but I love this one. You can barely see little M peeking around and that tiny hand around dad's neck is so precious.

LOL!

Thank you so much R family for a wonderful day and the opportunity to hang out with you. I hope to do it again soon!!

A wedding! H&M 11/21/09

2009-12-10T12:19:00.001-08:00

Ive been pretty busy with everything going on lately, hence the reason I haven't posted much recently. Not to worry though, have I got a doozey for you today! My very first wedding shoot!! Thats right you heard me, WEDDING! I must admit though, I don't think I will be going into wedding photography anytime soon! Meg is family to me so I did this as a favor to her and her new groom, I was just happy to be able to help and I hope that they are pleased with what I was able to get. So without further ado:

H&M

M getting ready!

The gorgeous rings and the brides bouquet!

The stunning bride!

H&M

I really like the feel of this one.

H looking quite handsome!

The whole wedding party

So I asked them to jump, and they thought I was crazy... but I really like the way this one turned out!

H with the bridesmaids

M with the groomsmen and the ringbearer

The guys!

The girls!

The Newlyweds!

Not sure why, but I love the mood of this one... not your typical "happy" photo, but it speaks to me.

*sigh*

Photoshoot- A & B

2009-11-25T16:46:00.000-08:00

Well it's been a while and Ive just been super busy. Lots to do at school and recently Ive had two more photo shoots- one actually being a wedding!! It was done as a favor for a family member but I have decided that I am NOT a wedding photographer!! lol. Ill stick with the kids, families, and seniors thankyouverymuch! :)

While Im still working on processing the wedding I do have one photo shoot to share with you today. Remember those pictures I took of B and C? Well after some of B's other friends saw those I got a few calls. One of them being from a mother of two of the most beautiful girls I have ever seen!

So without further ado here are some from the shoot I had with A & B!!

"B" is a three year old with more spice than anyone Ive ever met! She was constantly on the move and such a joy to take pictures of!

"A" was one of the sweetest, kindest seven year olds ever! Simply gorgeous to boot!

I loved this picture. Totally fall!

This just may be my favorite picture... ever!

Thank you A and B for being so sweet and wonderful to shoot and spend the afternoon with! And thank you to their mom for calling me and giving me the chance to take such amazing pictures!!

Things I make...

2009-10-15T21:34:00.000-07:00

Over at Kellys Korner this week is all about things you make. While I dont have a specific photo of something Ive made recently I still wanted to share. The whole reason for this blog is to share what I make with the people who stop by on my blog. So if you scroll down and browse a bit you will find all sorts of things that I have made. Everything from scrapbook pages and altered art to a photo shoot and one of my favorite meals to cook.

Since I dont feel that this is a proper post without some photos here are a few of things that I have made. These pictures can be found throughout my blog but I felt that showing them a second time wouldnt be such a bad thing. :) Enjoy and have a wonderful day! Thanks for stopping by.

My first Photo Shoot!

2009-09-28T17:00:00.000-07:00

Ever since I can remember, I've had a fascination with pictures. Its one of the reasons I scrapbook. Ive always wanted to try my hand at photography and until recently never had the chance to give it a serious go. Just this past month I purchased a Canon Rebel SXi and I am in love with that camera! Its my first real 'big- girl' camera and I'm just smitten with it. I've been doing a lot of reading and studying in preparation and this past Sunday I took my first shot (pun intended) at photography.

I was lucky enough to have one of my best friends and her boyfriend be willing to pose for me. I spent most of the afternoon with them and we went everywhere!! In the woods, at a creek, in an open field, on railroad tracks, in overgrown fields... just everywhere. Im quite pleased with a good many of the shots I got and I thought I share some of them here. My long term goal is to actually do photo shoots for engagement pictures, Senior Pics, Maternity, Children's photography, and family sessions. I have a long way to go still, but I think after Sunday's shoot- Im definitely on my way... at least I hope I am!

Introducing: C & B

I think this one is just absolutely sweet. I love how he is kissing the top of her head and the look in her eyes. aww.

This one makes me smile. I cant help it. I think its infectious... how can you look at this picture and not smile?

Im not quite sure what the round metal thing is... I just happened to find it lying by my feet while taking some shots and got the idea to get the following shot. I love how it turned out. quirky.

can we say GORGEOUS??!!!

And if this picture doesnt just scream "Hot-ness", I don't know what does. I can feel this one in my toes.

For these last two I had them sit on the ground in an open field, they got eaten alive by 'skeeters but were such troopers!! The light was amazing by this time and I am so happy I was able to get a few shots off in it. I could have shot for a while longer but by this time we had been out most afternoon.

I can't say enough good things about my two models for the day! They were absolutely fabulous all day long and I just really appreciate the opportunity that they allowed me to practice on them. Thank you B & C!!! You guys were awesome!

Classy and Fabulous!

2009-09-26T14:35:00.000-07:00

One of the girls I go to school with had her birthday this past week. I almost always make my friends their presents... very rarely will I actually buy gifts. Birthdays, Christmas, graduations... whatever the occasion may be a handmade giftie is sure to come from me. Well for 'A's birthday I decided to make something Ive never actually tried to do before. Luckily for me it wasn't too hard. :) It's a mini collage that I thought she'd like. It has one of my favorite quotes on it: "A girl should be two things: classy and fabulous!" ~ Coco Chanel.

I really like how it turned out! The background is made out of cardboard... just in case you were wondering. I found the idea off of Ink Stains and thought it was a pretty neat one and just really wanted to try it out. All of the lace is vintage lace (I just ADORE vintage lace) as is the doily behind the flowers. For the flowers I just got some basic white ones and inked them up using Tim Holtz distress inks and then stamped ontop of that to get the effect that I got. This truly was a really simple and fairly fast project to do.

My Favorite Dinner Recipe

2009-09-18T21:32:00.000-07:00

Over at Kellys Korner this week's Show us Your Life is all about your favorite dinner recipe. I must admit, before I moved to Mississippi I NEVER cooked. You can ask my dad; he'll tell you that I could burn water, and I could. However, I had to learn in order to survive. Ok well thats not entirely true- we would have survived, it just wouldnt have been very pretty or tasteful. In my three years since moving to MS I've learned a heck of a lot and continue to do so. My hubby is super picky and so usually we're stuck with meat and potatoes... because thats almost all he will eat. Since Im usuallly making sure (to the best of my ability) that Im making something he will eat I forgo a lot of the stuff I would love to make... since I am the only one who would eat it and I dont feel like making dinner twice most nights.

But, since I am currently home with the dog I get to try out the stuff I like and even though most of the time I completely mess it up every now and then I come across something that makes me swoon. Chicken Scallopine is one of those recipes! IT'S A-MA-ZING!!! and so super simple to make. I can make it in about 20-30 minutes. And believe me- if I can make it, anyone can.

I must tell you though- I steal all my recipes. Most of them come from the PioneerWomanCooks.com. That site truly makes life so much easier for me. Ive tried tons of dishes from her site and 9 out of 10 times they come out perfect (the 1 time is usually because Ive messed up somehow). So go check her out... you won't be disapointed. I promise :)

CHICKEN SCALLOPINE

1 pound linguine
6 boneless, skinless, trimmed chicken breasts
Flour
Salt & pepper
2 tbls olive oil
4 tbls butter
12 ounces white mushrooms sliced thin
1 cup dry white wine
1lemon
½ cup heavy cream
1 heaping tbls capers
Chopped fresh parsley
Grated Parmesan Cheese

Cook pasta according to package directions. You want it al dente. Set aside.
Flatten chicken breasts to uniform thickness, salt and pepper both sides then dredge in flour. Heat butter and olive oil in large skillet over medium heat. Fry chicken breasts until golden brown (2-3 minutes per side). Remove to plate and set aside.
Throw mushrooms into pan and stir. Immediately pour in wine and then squeeze the juice of ½ -1 lemon. Stir to deglaze pan, then cook vigorously for 1 minute until sauce reduces.
Reduce heat to low. Pour in cream and stir. Add capers and parsley and stir. Turn off heat. Salt and pepper to taste. Don’t under salt!
Place pasta and chicken on platter and top with sauce. Be generous with the sauce! Sprinkle parmesan cheese over top.

Crimp My Style

2009-09-03T16:04:00.000-07:00

I know its been a while. School has been crazy stressful and busy for me and will continue in the same fashion. At least its my last year, I just have to make it through and then I'll be alright.

I do have some exciting news that I wanted to share with whomever happens to read my blog. I have finally convinced my mom to put some of her work up on Etsy. Yay!! She has been selling her work for a few years now just out of her house and to whoever happened to come across it. I really wanted her to be able to put her work out there for a larger audience to see.

My parents raise Alpacas, which are in the same family as Llamas. They're super cute and almost quite huggable. In any case, my mom takes their fiber (fur) and has it spun into yarn. She then uses it to crochet all sorts of things. My mom has been crocheting for as long as I can remember and between her and my nana they taught me how as well. Im just not nearly as good at it as they are. My craftiness shows up in the form of scrapbooking and cake decorating.

I have a scarf that she made for me about a year or so ago and come winter I wear it everyday. The alpaca fiber is extremely soft and I love wearing items made from it. Right now mom's etsy shop is a little bare looking, simply because she just started putting things up on it. Right now she only has scarves up but I do know that she has recently finished a shawl and some fingerless gloves, as well as a bag or two. I expect these items to be put up for sale soon. She does take special orders and can crochet just about anything your little heart desires! Go check out her shop and give it some love!!

Crimp My Style

More wedding goodness!

2009-07-30T21:39:00.001-07:00

Last week I participated in the "Show us your life: wedding dress edition" over at Kelly's Korner. Since I had such fun participating last week and seeing hundreds of dresses from other ladies and thought Id join in again this week! This week's the topic is "Show us your life: wedding party and flowers." Yay! More wedding stuff.

There are a lot of little things that made our wedding great. Number one, was that my family was flown out as a surprise to be at our wedding. Let me back up just a little... Im originally from California but moved out to Mississippi to be with my husband (who at the time was my boyfriend) but we chose to have our wedding in Gatlinburg, Tn. I honestly didnt think that my family was going to be able to make it out to our wedding and it broke my heart but I put on a good face anyways. Now, you might think- "we'll how in the world could she get married without here own family there. Who would do such a thing?" What you have to understand is that- either way we went about it, in any destination we chose, someone was going to be unhappy. We could have it in California, but then DH's entire family would have to fly out there; not too mention that it would have been considerably more expensive than we were able to fork over at the time. We could get married here, but then my family would have to travel. In the end we just decided to get married where WE wanted to. Fast forward to the week before the wedding. I was tired, stressed, and to be honest, a little depressed that my parents were not going to be at the wedding. Dh had been at work (I thought) and ended up calling me saying he would have to stay late at work. No biggie. Then at about 9pm he called saying he was on his way home and to get ready, his boss and his wife wanted to take us out to dinner. So I fixed myself up just a bit and off we went to the steakhouse just down the road. We got there and sat down, it just so happened that DHs grandparents were there as well that night (not unusual in our small town) and I didnt think anything of it. I had been sitting there for a couple of minutes when suddenly my mom and dad walked into the room and I nearly fell over. There were tears and hugs and everything else. It turned out that DH's boss and his wife had flown my parents out as a wedding gift to us- and the whole darn town knew about it and never said a word. To this day I still don't know how not a single soul spilled the beans. I cant express what their generosity means to me. Because of them I have my memories of my morning getting ready with my mom and the memories of my dad walking me down the aisle.

Our wedding party was amazing as well. My Matron of Honor was my best friend (on the right), whom I had gone through Army basic training with (and tons more too!). She flew in from Wyoming to share our special day and I will never be able to thank her enough. I was her MOH and she was mine. My other best friend was my other bridesmaid (on the left). She is the one who I see the most (she lives closest) and we never have a bad minute together, she can always make me laugh- I love that about her.

The guys were just as special. DH's best man was his brother (left). The other two groomsmen were his best friend (center) and then my brother (right). I cant thank them enough for everything they did for DH and I leading up to that day. Amazing guys, they are.

I knew I wanted to get married in the fall, I love the fall foliage (probably because it's not something I ever got to see in Ca) so I chose my colors to reflect that. I saw the bouquest somewhere and based everything off of that. The bridesmaids dresses were the same color as the berries in my bouquet. Which, by the way, Im still amazed that the girls dresses matched perfectly. One girl got her dress her in Ms and the other got hers in Utah! I simply gave them the color and told them to get a dress that they wanted to wear. AH-MA-ZING!
The chapel where we were married. Too cute, I think.Hubby and I :)The whole party.
One more of me.
We got married at Bluff Mountain Inn and had the best time there. Everyone was wonderful and took care of everything for me, it was all included. I didnt have to worry about a thing and I cant tell you how nice that was. I still get compliments on our wedding. Rick, Rhonda, Amanda, and everyone made every effort to make sure that nothing was lacking. Simply amazing!!

*Photos courtesy of RIK Photography*

Thanks for looking! Have a wonderful day!

You gotta have Faith

2009-07-25T22:45:00.001-07:00

Another friend celebrated a birthday. So I chose to make her a gift. :) I love making things for my friends. It not only makes their day, it makes mine too!

These are very similar to the L-O-V-E that I made recently.

Thanks for stopping by! Have a wonderful day!!

Blog surfing and my wedding dress.

2009-07-25T21:18:00.000-07:00

Since DH is away I find that I have a lot of time on my hands (well at least until fall semseter starts up) and one way I fill that time void is by blog surfing. While blog surfing may not be the BEST use of my time I do find it to be beneficial to me. I surf for new and exciting scrapbooking/altering techniques. I surf for new recipes to try out while there is no one home to make funny faces at my culinary attempts. I surf for tips on photography. However, there are times when I just surf. One blog to another. Reading about lives from all over the world. Some very different than mine, and some not so different. I find fun things and things to learn and grow from, inspiring reads, and heartwrenching tales. So today, in honor of my blog surfing I'm going to share three of my finds from today. Two of them are truly heart tearing, gut wrentching, and hope inspiring blogs. And the other one, well to be honest, I'm sharing it because what girl doesn't like a peak into another's life; especially on their wedding day?

First up: Kelly's Korner. I found this site quite by accident- as usual and I found that every week she does a post about sharing your life. This week's topic is 'Show Us Your Wedding Dress'. How fun is that? Everyone wants to share pictures from their day and I'm no exception. So without further ado, my dress:

I loved (and still do) my dress. It was the perfect dress for me. We got married November 8, 2008 in Gatlinburg, Tn. It was perfect and more than I could have ever dreamed of. As for my dress; because I had moved from California to Mississippi none of my family was around to help me shop. My mom and grandma were back home and my best friend lived in Wyoming at the time so I went shopping by myself; and it was the best thing I could have done. I knew what my budget was (under $600) and knew where I was getting my dress from (Davids Bridal) so I did research online and got one of their catalogs. I poured over it for about a month before even going in to try on dresses and circled the ones I liked. Then when I walked in for my appointment and the sales lady asked what I was looking for, I simply flipped open the book and showed her the six dresses I had marked. She brought out the ones I had marked and this one was the very first dress I tried on.
I tried on the rest I had marked but none compared to this one for me. I felt beautiful in it.

I cant wiat for next week, I believe it's on sharing your wedding flowers! :)

Moving forward onto the other blogs I wanted to share with you today.

This next one I read for quite a while and just sobbed and sobbed. Its the blog of Heather Spohr; The Spohrs Are Multiplying. She and her husband Mike lost their daughter Maddie just this past April without any warning at all. I wish there were words that I could say or something I could do to ease some of their pain that I can feel through her writing, but I am at a loss. I was and am deeply moved and touched by their story and the continuing struggle in dealing with their loss; but even more moved by their bravery to share some of what they are going through.

And last but not least, this is another blog that I just couldnt stop reading. This one made me cry too, but it also put me in awe of the author's strength and spirit. The Nie Nie Dialogues is the blog of Stephanie Nielson. What was once a blog about her everyday life has turned into much more than that, I think. Last August Stephanie and her husband were in a near fatal plane crash. Both had and still have a long road of recovery and this is their story. Again, I couldnt imagine. I know (from her writing) Stephanie is a beautiful and strong woman. No matter how differently she may look since her accident, her beauty shines through. I can only hope that if I should ever have to endure such tragedy that I will be able to move forward with half the grace that she has.

So I realize that these last two blogs are pretty heavy and will, in all honesty, probably make you cry. Pretty heavy stuff to follow a wedding dress post. But I suppose thats the beauty, isnt it? All three sites are simply about life. That maybe be a broad generalization but I think it works. While there is much happiness there is also the saddness, but also much strength and perserverance. I thank each author for letting me gain a peak into your lives and the lives of others so that I may learn from you. Thank you.

Its been a while...

2009-07-20T22:07:00.000-07:00

So I've been MIA for a while now. Honestly, it wasnt because I was busy or anything, I simply didnt have much to blog about. I lead a fairly boring life... well for right now anyways... but I dont mind it. I havent even scrapped or crafted in a while.. just havent been in the mood for about a week or so now. No need to worry though, Im crafting right now. :)

Since I havent posted in a while and dont have any new projects to post about (yet) I thought Id make a post about my day job. Thats right cake decorating. When I'm not at school or at home doing homework and projects Im usually at work making a mess and playing in icing. It's not a bad gig. I do enjoy it. Since I work in a grocery store bakery I do have some limitations. For instance, no fondant... it still upsets me. I want so badly to play with fondant and see what I could come up with. Alas, buttercream is my weapon of choice. We decorate your basic everyday, boring birthday cakes, but I also do some special requests, and my favorite: wedding cakes. I figured Id share some of my decorated cakes. I have lots more on my external hard drive and at some point I'll post those pictures as well.

So first up is this orange and yellow one. Im still not pleased with how it came out but the bride was happy, so I suppose thats all that matters. This pink and blue one was done for a bride and groom who were going to the county courthouse because they could not afford a "traditional" wedding party. The grooms sister couldnt afford to get a extravagante wedding cake but still wanted to surprise them with a special cake.This three tier white beauty was for an actual wedding and gave me nightmares. I had the darndest time making this one. It looks fairly simple and straight forward but I was at the store almost all night finishing this beast up. The mother of the bride actually picked up the cake and then drove it 2 hours away-hence part of the reason it gave me such trouble. I had to make sure that it was structurally sound and would make the drive in one piece. It did. The family came back in with nothing but rave reviews for it. I loved making this little beauty! It was for a little girls christening.I just loved how gurly and cute it was.This blue and white one was actually a display cake that I made. Meaning that the inside was styrofoam but the icing and decoartions on the outside were real. This was my very first attempt at a wedding cake and Im quite proud of how it came out. It wasnt perfesct but it was decent and fairly respectable, if I do say so myself.

This next adorable cake was a special one for me. Its a baby shower cake that I made for my husbands cousins wife. I was particularly pleased with how it turned out. Its a design that I have seen on other cakes before but regardless, I was proud of myself. Note- I cannot draw to save my life, and somehow this one turned out alright, hell- more than alright!The itsy-bitsy-teenie-weeny- yellow- polka-dotted-bikini. This one was for a friends fathers birthday. I carved the shape out of cake and then used cupcakes to help form the top. Shes a little splotchy, I didnt have time to let her dry as long as I would have liked before airbrushing. Overall I am happy with how she turned out. The best part- according to my friend her father was super surprised and loved the cake!This final cake is my current favorite. Its also another display wedding cake, but I also think its my best work yet. I did repetitive detail work and tried my best to keep a steady hand. The gardenias are gum paste and then I airbrushed them to look more life like. This is the cake that is currently on display in the grocery store.

Ill be sure and post more soon. I have some pretty nifty birthday cakes that I would like to share as well. Maybe next time. Have a wonderful day!! Thanks for stopping by.

The Fourth, Cooking, and A New Layout

2009-07-06T21:33:00.000-07:00

Wow! I cant believe its already July! This year is flying by... I hope it keeps it up, I need next June to come soon!! Anyways, sorry for the absence in between my last post and this one, Its been a busy week with school starting back up. I had to get myself back into the groove.

This past Saturday was the Fourth of July and I hope everyone had a great day! My day was filled with working and not much else, but thats ok. Sunday was a good day simply because I made myself chicken scallopine. It was amazing, and super easy to make. Ill be making it again in the near future. Luckily for me I had a great recipe to follow. Its one of many that I have tried from this blog. Ree over at the PioneerWoman.com always has some crazy good recipes. As my dad has said- I could burn water and yet with Ree's recipes and wonderful photography skills even I can cook up a feast fit for a king!

Now for my newest layout. It's done using the same 'Love' kit as the Smooch layout from my previous post. Its amazing how one kit can yield two completely different looks. I love the versatility of Laura's kits. Not only are they pretty to look at and hoard, they offer a wide variety of choices. Can we say "Bang for the buck?"! I love the vintage vibe that Im getting from this LO- Ive been totally into the vintage look for a while now but have a hard time translating that over to my scrapping. Im traditionally a much more "clean" scrapper. Although I do feel that even though this LO has a vintage feel you can also see some of my clean lines come through; which is pretty awesome.

This layout is also for the monthly sketch over at Inspired Blueprints. Its sketch #25. Go check them out. Now.

For the title "Glow" I used weathered wood Crackle Paint from Tim Holtz and allowed it to dry, then I used the pearl paint daubber and dabbed that over each letter. After a couple of seconds I took a damp (clean) makeup sponge and used it to work the pearl into the cracks and then to also wipe away the excess paint. I love how they came out... such a nifty sheen to them. All the flowers are Prima. and the lace is really vintage lace that I acquired from DH's grandmother. She's got more vintage lace than I could shake a stick at- Its great!! The pearls were then glued to the lace before attching the whole thing to the LO.

The pictures in the layout are from our wedding day last November. DH and I went up to Gatlinburg, Tn to Bluff Mountain Inn for our wedding, and it was everything I wanted and more. I was so pleased with our photographers. Rick and Amanda did amazing work and Im sure Ill be posting more pictures in the future. Go check out some of Rick's work- some gorgeous stuff.

Puppy Smooches!

2009-06-29T16:32:00.001-07:00

There's nothing like them; puppy smooches. That sweet puppy breath! aww! Just thinking about it makes me want to have another puppy around the house. Especially since my "puppy" is quite large now, and believe me- there is no hint of puppy breath left in him! Anyways I was going through some of my pictures and found this super sweet one of my younger brother. I just had to scrap it and I used the February kit from A Kiss on the Chic. I know it's a little late in being used (the kit) but I love pretty stuff and have this horrible tendency to hoard all the pretty scrapbooking things I have... especially if they come from A Kiss on the Chic. Laura, the owner is amazing!!! She has this uncanny ability to put together some of the most jaw dropping gorgeous kits I've ever seen. If you've never seen Laura's work, you can go HERE to view her blog.

I had such a great time putting this layout together. Almost everything on the page is from the Feb. kit. The only things that I used outside of the kit were some AC thickers and some sparklies I had just lying around.

Please excuse the horrible pictures. A new camera is on my list of things to get in the future... but for now the camera I have will have to work. :)

Aside from playing in my scrap room I had a pretty good weekend. Went out with the girls on Saturday night, just dinner and a movie but it sure was nice to hang out. Ive been needing that. We saw 'The Proposal', with Ryan Reynolds and Sandra Bullock. It was hilarious- I havent laughed that hard in a while, I literally had tears streaming down my face from laughing so hard. If you get the chance- make sure you watch it!

Another note- as of tomorrow my summer is over. I go back to school and I am so not looking forward to it. For some reason I just really dont want to go back already. On the bright side, this is my last year (until I go back for my masters) seeing as how I'll graduate next May. Yay for me!! Luckily, tomorrow only starts the summer term... Ill only have one class to take until the fall semseter starts. Early Literacy II here I come!

Hope you all have a wonderful day!! Thanks for stopping by!

Quick Photo session with Angus in the scrap room.

2009-06-26T21:23:00.000-07:00

Angus and I had a brief impromptu photo shoot the other day. He was all rambunctious and playful and I decided that we needed to take some pictures for posterity. I am, after all, a scrapper. ;)

Hope You're having a wonderful day!! Ignore the mess on the scrap desk- I was in a creative mood. note- please ignore my hair as well... thank you, and now back to your regularly scheduled programing. :)

A page and a card!

2009-06-26T21:12:00.000-07:00

Just some more scrappy goodness that Ive recently finished. This first one is just a layout that I've had sitting around waiting to be finished. It's of me a a child, about 2-3 I think, and my mom. I love this picture of my mom and I.

This second one is just a simple card that I did. I embossed the blue background using my cuttlebug and then I just sanded the background to expose the white core on the cardstock. It really makes the design pop, I think. For the hearts I used grungeboard and put a layer of modge podge down on them. I then threw on text paper (from a small dictionary that I had laying aournd and dont use) then I covered with modge podge once again. I left it to dry and then I simply sanded the edges and embossed the hearts using my cuttlebug again. After sanding the raised dots on the hearts I inked them using distress ink in worn lipstick and quickly wiped off the excess. The ink only stuck to where I sanded! The modge podge covered bits resisted the distress ink!!! How cool is that?!

A new project I just finished.

2009-06-26T21:02:00.000-07:00

Ive never done anything like this before; I am usually a traditional scrapper with some cards and presents/crafts thrown in for good measure. I just finished my first canvas. I still haven't decided if I like it, but it was deffinately different and a good step outside the norm for me. I might try another one some day...

One thing that I do like about this piece is the texture that it has. Well, that and the shimmery shiney-ness! :) I used a lot of different projects on here. Everything from crackle paint and embossing powders to tissue paper and heavy gesso.Of course, one must not forget about the perfect pearls, primas flowers, and rub n'buff goodness!!

Angus wants to say "Hi!"

2009-06-24T15:46:00.001-07:00

Our recent encounter with a flying tree limb

2009-06-24T14:50:00.000-07:00

So, recently we had a pretty bad storm come through. One minute all was fine and quiet, the next I was cowering in the hallway with the dog while the trees swirled around in circles outside. When all was said and done ( about 15 minutes total) and we emerged to the outside world this is what we found:Our front door is behind that tree limb. To be perfectly honest: we were EXTREMLY lucky. While I was freaking out, Kasey was going to go outside to get a smaller limb that had fallen between our cars- he didnt want the wind to pick it up and smash it into one of our cars. He turned around to say something to me just before heading out into the storm, and in that brief instant it took for him to turn around and speak to me that tree limb came crashing down. If he hadnt stopped for a minute, that limb would have hit him. By the way- thats ,my car under the tree limb. Again, super lucky that it only put a couple of dents in my car.

Thank goodness for small miracles!!!

Just a touch of summer

2009-06-23T20:58:00.000-07:00

These were taken earlier this month, but I just had to share them. I love the bright pink color and vibrancy of these gorgeous Lillies. I dont have many flowers growing in my yard, but the ones that do make me happy. I love walking outside to see these beauties every year. They never last long but they are splendid while here.

Thanks for stopping by!

A Quick Card

2009-06-23T20:51:00.000-07:00

Just a quick card that I made for a friend. :) I used tons of Tim Holtz products in this card. All the stamps images are TH. Also used distress inks and some perfect pearls.

A Birthday Present

2009-06-23T20:30:00.000-07:00

A good friend of mine recently had a birthday. To commemorate her day I made her these altered letters. She can either hang them up as wall art or display them on any kind of shelf. I must admit that I fell in love with these once I was finished and had a hard time giving them up. I adore how they came out and couldnt have been happier. I hope she enjoys displaying them as much as I did making them. I used unfinished letters from my local Hobby Lobby. I then altered them using a variety of products: My Mind's Eye papers, distress inks, Tim Holtz stamps, Prima flowers, vintage lace, and grungeboard, just to name a few. I used MME papers, vintage lace, grungeboard, crackle paints, and BG rubons for the 'L'. I think the 'O' is my favorite letter. I adore how this letter actually turned out. I used crackle paints, regular acrylic paints, distress ink,Tim Holtz stamps, pearls, and a another rubon.

You can't see it in the pictures, but the lower half of the 'V' has this neat flourished embossed on it. The 'V' has MME papers, distress ink, gesso, embossing powder (clear), a charm made by a friend in a charm swap, Prima paper flowers, and ric rac that I had lying around.
I think the 'E' was my second favorite letter. More MME papers, vintage lace, pearls, distress ink, Prima flowers, and Tim Holtz stamps.

Thanks for looking! Have a great day!! :)

A New Day

2009-06-23T19:57:00.001-07:00

Well, here I am. Fresh and brand spankin' new to the world of blogging. This blog is mainly for family and friends, near and far, to be able to keep up with my life. I simply wanted a place to show some of my artwork, my craftiness, and some of my thoughts as well. Hopefully this blog will make things a lot easier for my family to be able to keep up with. :)

Thanks for stopping by, I hope to make this blog a lot more friendly and interesting in the near future- so stay tuned!!