B&B Wedding Shoot

We just shot a gorgeous outdoor wedding at this location! This is a Bed & Breakfast called Country Wildflower Bed and Breakfast in Leduc.....I'd have to say it has to Alberta's best kept secret. We offered to do Architectural photos for her website & the owner says to us that they are sooooo busy & booked up that they couldn't handle being on the internet!!! Her business is purely word of mouth! WOW! is all I could think when we drove up to this hidden gem!!! It was absolutely amazing....the inside was incredible....made me speechless. Once we release wedding photos to the couple, I will post more from this fabulous wedding. I luv it when people do something out of the ordinary.....it really does make their wedding day extraordinary!!!

Banana Bread Recipe...

So here's my favorite recipe from Best of Bridge (thanks "K") I adapted it a bit but this is basically the recipe I started with. Start with this & you'll be guaranteed a sweet & moist banana bread....not dry or grainy at all. I guess since it was a lot cooler outside I had thots of actually turning my oven on!!! so here's to the best banana bread recipe---at least i think so! and so does one of my nieces & sister who have both tried it & were successful!! mmmm,mmm.....lemme know if you make it!!! or better yet, leave me your recipe so everyone can have a peek! you can add chocolate chips, fruit & or nuts to the recipe! I make mine with crushed pineapple--can you say --deelish!!!

SU.....

so i've been going through the new fall Stampin' Up! Catalogue (which you can download here) and there MANY beautiful stamps there. i think when things slow down with shooting weddings i might consider becoming a demonstrator. i've never considered it with any other company but I am becoming more fond of this company & their style. It does get a bit "cookie cutter'ish" but I try to keep my cards fresh & different. Once you look at one demo's cards & another's, they seem to look all the same, that's the only thing i don't like....maybe they are trying to appear "similar" to the catalogue....i dunno...anyhow, i love the variety & uniqueness of their stamps....but i still luv my stickers more!!! which do you prefer?

it's a crock...

I just went to a fab store! It's A Crock Country Store and they have a new furniture showroom : A Chip off the Old Crock I'll take one of each, thankyou! I have a few friends that would love these stores- you know who you are!!! It made me look forward to all those Fall events that are so much fun...Birthdays, Thanksgiving, Halloween, Corn-busts, Fall BBQ's & most of all--Back to school!!!hahaha! I look forward to the decorating & the parties, don't you???

ikea...

...so I'm done perusing through my ikea catalogue, it now has lots of post it note tabs for future referencing. i made this inspiration board to keep for future reference. did you notice it's all white? this is my fantasy craft room! i'd love to one day have a room whose sole purpose is CRAFTING. I would have it be all white. i think that all the card stock & paper needs a white background. From the top left: Love the white bookcase with clear glass doors, love the white desk with white accessories and small white cabinet on wheels. Third photo has same white desk acnhored by 2 bookshelves that's stunning! another option for a desk would be the glass top desk...hmmmm.... i had to sneak in this white dressing table for my bedroom! and my final wish would be to have a white sofa & coffee table to take breaks in my craft room sans kids!!! ahhhh...i luv this catalogue!!! now back to reality....what's your favorite page in the catalogue? you can see the entire catalogue at www.ikea.ca

5 Point Star Card

about IKEA....

did ya get yours????

about Cake Stands...

So, summer holidays really throw the schedule right out the door, don't they? I feel like the days are going fast & it seems to be hotter outside every year now!!! I was doing a bit of cleaning, but found it was too difficult to even start doing anything, I think I will leave detailed cleaning to September when kids are in school & I have more time to myself. But I did come across my collection of Cake Stands that I started last Christmas. I don't have time to photograph them right now, but I will on a later post. I decided on collecting White & Ceramic stands, so far I have 1 round, 1 square & two Square '3 tier' stands! I absolutely love to look at them & they are such a treat to display when having dinners, parties & luncheons. I hope to keep expanding my collection. I've never really collected anything but have watched my father collect many things. Is it because I'm getting older??? I have to wonder!

A's Card

I made this card last week for a special person in our lives....she's awesome!!!

Pancake Lens!

Well, let me share a little experience I just went through. I've been complaining that our professional cameras are too heavy & too big & wah wah wah....you get what i was saying....so Steve & I decided we'd try out a point & shoot camera, a 10MP Lumix with a nice Leica Lens....we took it on our family reunion, but I totally didn't like the lag it had---it seemed sooo slow, that I often caught the 2 second "later" reaction shot that I was looking for---it was SO frustrating, so limiting. Never-mind the color was awful & the convenience wasn't as awesome as I thought!!! I was soooo dissapointed when I got home! So, instead, Steve bought me a Pancake Lens for our one camera aka Olympus Zuiko 25 mm f2.8 Pancake Lens...it's so cute! It makes my camera just as compact as the point & shoot crap I bought!! The color is amazing, very sharp details & beautiful skin tones!!! I'm in love, there's no going back now, I just had to get it out of my system that a compact camera is what I thought I wanted!!! Hindsight you say??? Sometimes we just gotta learn the hard way, good thing there's great return policy's out there!!!

FF#3 It's time to relax...

TThots #3 Animator vs. Animation

I came across this , it's clever, hilarious & takes a minute or two to watch. You can turn on your volume as well.
Very, very clever!! I luv it!

WW#3

Take a look at this wedding we shot...it was an intimate affair & so suitable for the couple. They were fabulous to shoot & we had an awesome time!!!

TT#3 Cupcake Pops

I found these Cupcake Pops (scroll down to April 14,2008) a few months ago, she was featured on Martha's Cupcake week. I haven't made them, but I wanted to share them so we can share notes!!! They are so cute!!! I can't wait to make them--I haven't met anyone that's made them, so let me know if you try them! Here's the video link when she was on Martha actually making them. Enjoy!

MOM#3

Still loving the chocolate brown & celery greens!!!

FF#2

...the joys of summer with boyz

TThots#2

So, I'm in the car & I hear my youngest say: hey mom, i have sticky fingers, just like spiderman...(as he's wearing his superhero t-shirt!) I find that this is a daily recurring theme at my house, all things can be associated to superheroes....the way they walk, fly, talk, super strength & super powers. What is it about little boys & superheroes? Does it ever end? I find that we are making plans with the oldest "boy" in my house-my husband- to go watch the new Batman movie. I think it's interesting that every Halloween since 1996 has been a superhero costume. We have a Costume bucket that gets worn year-round & it contains....you guessed it..super hero costumes along with Star Wars costumes that they love. I loved when a while back, my one son said to me, mom if you had superpowers, what would you want to have? I answered back...how do you know I don't already have one!....boy, did I get a great reaction to that!!! His face just lit up!!! too funny. I wonder just how long this fantasy will go on??? I think it's adorable & fun... perhaps I don't want it to end???

WW#2

He's a musician & she loves him...it was a perfect moment at this elopement!

TT#2

YOU have got to try these!!!!

MOM#2

I'm in love with a corner punch i bought, it REALLY finishes the cards off. I'm also in love with chocolate brown paper!! can you tell???

Foto Friday#1

Bango + Sterling....Banjo was getting tired of me photographing him, so he gave me this look & I stopped!!! Sterling imitated Banjo the whole time he visited us!!! it was hilarious!!!

Wednesday Weddings #1

I love EVERYTHING about this photograph---taken by yours truly!
the lighting, the girls, the dresses, the weather, the hair....I could go on & on!

Tasty Tuesday #1

Cinnamon Buns
Dough:
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 package active dry yeast
1 cup warm milk
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter, melted
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs

Sugar Mixture:combine together in separate bowl
1 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons cinnamon
1/2 cup butter melted

Creamcheese Icing:
1/2 c butter, softened
1 1/2 cups icing sugar
1/4 cup cream cheese
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. lemon juice (you can add some zest too)

*(I do the following in my stand mixer now, I used to do it by hand, you can choose how you want to do it!) Preheat oven to 375F.

Dissolve the yeast in warm milk. Combine sugar, butter, eggs and salt. Stir in flour. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board and knead until smooth. Place in a lightly greased bowl and turn once to grease top. Cover, let rise in a warm place about one hour.
Punch down, and roll the dough on a surface dusted with flour. Roll out to a rectangle shape.

Spread sugar mixture over the dough.

Begin rolling the dough down to the bottom edge. Cut the rolled dough into 1 3/4" slices and place into a lightly greased baking pan, allowing about 1 inch space between each.

Allow to rise again until nearly double in size (approximately 30 minutes). Bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until lightly golden.
Make icing & spread on warm buns.
Enjoy!

...look @ what my son made me!!!

...using his new ArtText for Mac

Made on Monday #1

I had a friend have a baby boy: Logan, so I was inspired to make an acordian card, they are lots of work, but fun to make! I was really happy with the result!

May Cards

Facebook

So, in the last couple days, I've come across some old friends on Facebook from elementary & we've been able to chat. There's still one friend form our little "pack" that we can't find on FB. There's a fabulous feeling when we find old friends, like a part of our life is back. I think FB has changed our lives for the better. I know a lot of people talk smack about it, but there's something so fantastic when I learn that a friend is "okay". Just okay? Well, I mean, that for so many years I didn't know what had happened to some of those people, I would wonder, sometimes have an occasional dream about school, wonder some more...
It's also safe. Does that sound weird? It's not like I walked past them in a mall or something & regret not taking a second glance & making meaningful contact. It's safe in that we can choose what to talk about & reminisce stress free without feeling awkward! Thank you Facebook...we can all sleep better knowing our little school friends are "alive & kicking"!!!

New Beginnings...

So, I've caught myself blog browsing & can't believe how captivating it is to read other people's ordinary lives! I say ordinary because most of the time they are mundane things that make us laugh or cry or disturb us in ways we didn't know they would. I'm not exactly sure what will be included in my blog, so bear with me, I encourage you to comment, so I'll know what you enjoy reading...have an awesome day!