Zach & Stephanie's Engagement Pix

Re-posted from December...

Zach and Stephanie are getting married in May. They enjoy nature and wanted to get some pictures outside, so we headed to Springfield Lake and also got a few shots downtown. The best part of the day was after the shoot... when Stephanie, a licensed massage therapist, gave me a one-hour massage. I should make that a requirement after every photo shoot... hmmm...

See more pictures here.

Michael & Emily's Anniversary Pix

This is re-posted from December...

Michael and Emily were wanting some pictures for this year's Christmas cards. In conversation, I found out that they never had the time to get engagement pictures taken, so we recreated the proposal and took some belated engagement shots as well. Michael and Emily were great about spotting some fun locations and props.. such as these hay bales, a bright green spot of grass on a hill, and an abandoned girl scout building. They were so modelesque--and we had such a fun time... The best part of the shoot was taking action shots of Emily running and jumping into Michael's arms.. the slow motion pictures on my camera were hilarious!

See more pictures here.

ARRRRGHHH!

The reason for my frustrated scream is that I was trying to clean up my site a little and accidentally deleted some posts... My plan was to remove the "engagement" labels from these posts and just lump them together into "couples." However, I found out that the instructions aren't real clear on here on how to delete labels, so I ended up completely deleting about 6 posts. Unfortunately, there is no "undo" button on here.

ARRRRRGH!!!

So if you're looking for examples of my engagement pictures, be patient with me as I get those loaded again.

thanks.

Introducing Lee Ellen Starks!

I just helped my amazing musician friend, Lee Ellen, set up her very first blog! I designed her header from our photo shoot pictures we did a few months ago, which was a lot of fun. You should check out her blog and go support her at some local gigs!

http://leeellenstarks.blogspot.com/

Commercial Project

I was contacted by Michael Perry of New Seasons Landscaping to photograph a recently completed project that included a bridge, a built-up patio, and an amazing enclosure, complete with a super-cozy fireplace and an amazing ceiling. It sure made me envious! It was snowing the day of the shoot, which made things interesting. I'm sure it was pretty entertaining to watch two grown men follow me around with umbrellas to block the snow. :) Anyway, here are some pretty pictures for you to look at.

Shutterfly Products

I've been getting emails from www.Shutterfly.com for awhile now. Shutterfly is one of those online places in which you can do a lot of fun things with your photos. I received an email for some free and on-sale items, so I thought I would give it a whirl. The first coupon was for a free calendar from Shutterfly, and all I had to pay was $5.99 for shipping. So I created an Images by Jen calendar for my home office with some of my photos from 2008 sessions. I was pretty impressed with the quality of the calendar... It's not top-quality, and I'm sure there are some sites that have better products and less-compressed images, but since it was free, I can't complain. I decided to keep it pretty simple so that the photos would pop. Here's a tiny snippit of what one of the months looked like... (minus the orange box around the picture)...

I also decided to try to get two poster-sized advertisements together to try to get some business for upcoming Spring sessions. These 11x14 collage posters were on sale for $5 each plus shipping. Again, I'm satisfied with the end results, although I wish they gave more options as far as fonts and font sizing on the templates. I actually purchased these as a promotional offer to get a free 8x8 photo book. However, Jen didn't read instructions very well and forgot to put the promotional code on the last page of the purchase, and therefore, will not be getting the free book. Silly Jen. Let this be your lesson... When you're trying to get free things, read the instructions. Very carefully.

P.S. T minus 6 days and counting until I get my MacBook Pro in the mail.... *smiles*

MacBook Pro = Mine.

I did it. I bought my MacBook Pro. On sale. Now I wait (patiently?!) until it arrives. My life will never be the same...

Music to the Ears

I've been looking around on YouTube a lot for Photoshop Tutorials (found some pretty awesome ones...look out for some new editing techniques!), and while I was looking at some music videos, I came across this guy and his brothers. Their band is called BoyceAvenue and they do a lot of popular cover songs. I've spent a few hours listening. I think I'm in love with his voice.. and his guitar and piano playing abilities are a nice bonus... ;)

Their web site: http://www.boyceavenue.com/

And here's a sample video:

Buy Handmade at Etsy Shops

A lot of crafty people these days can earn extra income by selling their crafts on an Etsy Site. An Etsy Site is "your place to buy & sell all things handmade." The only things that can be sold fall into three categories: Handmade--Goods handmade by you, Supplies--Commercial and handmade crafting supplies, and Vintage--Items 20 years or older with vintage appeal.

You can search for items several ways, including by product or location, even color! If you're business savvy enough to create your own store, it could be a great way to earn some extra cash. It's also a great place to buy one-of-a-kind items for yourselves or gifts for others.

Check it out. http://www.etsy.com/

Here are just a few examples from Springfield MO.

missindie indie fashions and fiber art...

elsiecake paintings, canvas, embroidery...

Red Velvet Art

I'm on my way to crossing off my first Belated New Year's Resolution of being more crafty... I came across the blog of this really crafty, talented group of girls called Red Velvet Art a few months ago and I've been blog-stalking them for awhile now... I signed up for their spring online craft class and I'm excited about making some new, fun things. Check them out. Get inspired. They are opening a store on Commercial Street on February 6 (my birthday!), so if you like their stuff, go have a looksie!

Belated New Year's Resolutions...

I didn't think much about making New Year's resolutions until now... I'm a list maker, and it just doesn't feel right not to make a list. Here is a really random list of just a few things I want to accomplish in 2009...

*Make cute/pretty/personalized crafty things.
*Finish painting the trimwork in my house.
*Learn the fine art of playing the B3 Hammond rock organ for church without cringing and making ugly faces.
*Pray deeper.
*Smile more. I hear it's contagious.
*Pay off my student loans.
*Finish little projects I've started that miraculously haven't completed themselves. (i.e. a cala lily oil painting that is been a work in progress for 6 years now...)
*Save money for house remodeling and/or new car, whichever needs to come first.
*Organize my house... including the garage. yuck!
*Freshen up on my Portuguese.
*Brazil. Beach. Bikini. Need I say more?
*Take more time to encourage others according to their needs.
*Eat slower. Burp less.
*Help 2 amazingly talented musician friends start blogs and help document their journeys recording albums...
*Cook more.
*Keep the inside of my car more clean... so it doesn't look like I'm homeless and I live in it...
*Take more pictures. Make people smile. :)

The end... for now.

Age is Beauty

I recently took advantage of some natural sunlight when I was with my Grandma Alverta and her sister, my "Aunt Nadine," at Christmas. They are both in their 90s now and are still as spry as ever. I'm pretty sure I'll always remember them looking like this in their head scarves...

McDowell Family Pix

I recently took some family pictures while visiting my college roommate and her family after Christmas... Here are a few of the more candid shots from the day...

I Heart My Camera

I came across these pictures I took of my brother's beagle in the car on the way to Branson. These are unedited, and the colors and details are fabulous!

I. Heart. My. Camera.

Silver Tree

Here's another little project I did for Christmas.. I used a vase that I already had, and I spray painted some small tree branches silver and stuck them in the vase. I then hung some lightweight colored Christmas balls on the branches. I thought it turned out pretty cute... and of course, the best part was that it was cheap!

Decorating with Plates

I found the perfect plates from Pier 1 to complete my kitchen decorating theme. They are different sizes, colors, and patterns, and I think they look fabulous together! This is a cheap, easy project for anyone who needs to fill up some empty space.



To hang the plates, there are several different types of plate hangers. I used the wire ones for the bigger plates, and the 3" adhesive disk for the smaller plates. The adhesive hangers are really neat. You just have to put some water onto the glue backing until it gets sticky, then apply it to the back of the plate. It has to dry overnight, and then you are able to hang them. The adhesive hangers are also removeable if you soak them in warm water. If you catch both of these plate hangers at Hobby Lobby when they are 50% off, they are a whopping $1 apiece.


And the finished product in my kitchen...

I also wanted to incorporate my favorite oil painting from high school, and it just so happened to match the colors of my plates, so this is hanging over my kitchen table...

Hope this gives you some good ideas!

Happy 2009!

The New Year is here and there are tons to look forward to... I have a lot of catching up to do blog-wise.. I just finished my decorative plate project for my kitchen, and I'll post pictures soon. I'm so happy with how it turned out...it's just what I pictured! I've got two photo sessions to finish editing tonite... and I'm still waiting for my laptop to go on sale. patience, Jen, patience.

Anyway, more to come soon!