Itty Bitty Christmas Sneak Peek

I can't wait to start shooting tomorrow!  I love Christmas time and shooting Christmas pictures is so much fun.  The last week or so I have been setting up a "studio" for these fun up coming sessions.  Some of my besties came over to help me get organized and throw ideas my way.  We dressed up their little darlings in their Christmas best and put them in front of the camera!  I had an awesome time playing with some of my new stuff!  Thank You Ladies for your help and your support I am so blessed to have these wonderful girlfriends!

Itty Bitty Session

I had so much fun taking pictures of her little newborn sister I couldn't resist putting her in the spot light for a couple of minutes. Her eyes are SO awesome.

Sneak Peek- Newborn Session

Babies are just so much fun to shoot (especially when you are related to them)! I was so thankful that my cousin wanted me to capture the precious first days of her little girls life. There is just something so magical about the beginnings. Not only did I get to try out some of my new props, I got to cuddle and smell that sweet little baby(ness) again. After I had my third I hinted quite regularly to my husband that I think FOUR would be just great but even with my sometimes relentless efforts when my youngest turned two and was out of diapers I had to admit that this was the end having babies for me. SO now when I get a chance to cuddle one up I DO! If you want to see even more of this little angel check out my facebook page!

August 4th Photo Fun!

I had the GREAT pleasure of working with these two handsome boys and their beautiful baby sister. What fun it was to see how they protected and loved her. She is going to be so blessed to have TWO big brothers that will always look out for her! I have also been playing with some great new photoshop actions and I am super EXCITED about starting my photoshop class next week!

Where is the smile?

I'm all about smiles.  I love big happy faces.  I find smiles and faces in everything: the clouds, wood patterns, shadows in the grass, spills on my floor.  So it is no surprise that after I took the picture of my favorite flower at the Detroit Zoo that I found a face right in the middle of it.

So do you see it?  I just know that God loves to show off.  I know that he knew I would see it.  In the strangest way I knew I was meant to see this flower.  So when looking for the perfect logo for my *big adventure* I instantly went to this picture.  Even though it was taken 3 years ago (with a point and shoot camera) this flower was it.  I've always thought daisies were the friendliest, happiest flowers on this planet.  I love the simple yellow and white.  I love the soft slim fun-to-pluck petals.  I love that they grow tall and crazy.  It's like they are always good for a laugh.  The idea of this flower was everything that I wanted my photography to be: Fun, Happy, Playful, Surprising, Enjoyable, Silly, Meaningful, Interesting, Imaginative....  So here is another sneak peek of what is soon to come!

I know that it is not the fanciest,  most artistic or even practical logo but there is nothing else I would rather be using.  I love my smiling flower!

A new look, a new business, a new adventure!

I'm here to introduce Big Smack Photography! I know, I know what am I thinking! My own business, a hobby turned to ...well something. I am as surprised as you. The second my husband put my beautiful new Nikon into my hands my heart just couldn't control it's self. I felt like after all these years of "yuck" happening to us that something wonderful had just popped into my life. I was slow at using my new toy, it felt so odd, so foreign to have such luxury in my hands. I felt like I shouldn't have it. I was nervous that I wouldn't love being behind the camera any more. I was scared that all my artistic training just wasn't good enough. I felt overwhelmed by all the displays and add-ons and options. I wondered if I deserved this wonderful thing that I had ached for for so long. The first few months were weird, it sat in it's bag a lot. I'm not sure when but an explosion went off in me one day. I needed to get better and learn and return to the camera freak I once was. The passion filled me once again and I couldn't believe the joy I felt when I would take a beautiful picture. I started to share my joy with anyone who would look. As months passed it became obvious what was in my heart, what I loved to do and finally it all came to be. Once I knew what I wanted to do with "the rest of my life" I also knew I wanted to blog about my journey with everyone. I immediately went and opened up a new blog site...that's when this pit arrived in my stomach. I just couldn't get myself to design or even think about another blog. I mean I LOVE my pink scrappy blog. I love my stories and my pages and my history here. Scrapbooking is the reason I found photography. In striving to create beautiful pages I would work so hard on creating beautiful (or at least decent) pictures. That's when the question popped into my head "is it okay to use this blog?" The answer was given to me by one of my closest and dearest friends, Kristen (pictured below), she said, "of course you should it's a natural transition!" The more we talked the more I felt like she was completely right. Why leave my beautiful blog behind when it can come along with me! My doubts were lifted and I realized that it is (kind of) the end of one journey and the beginning of a new one. I am so excited, so energized and so willing to admit that I am new and I just want to learn. I invite everyone to come explore with me as I dive into this adventure! I look forward to sharing my new website and the story behind the name soon!

P.S. Thank you Kristen for being such a wonderful inspiration in my life!

Good bye summer

It is now the middle of September and even though the sun still kisses our faces here in Michigan and the warmth is still felt, the cool crisp smell in the breeze reminds us that summer is over. The hot humid days at the park are gone, the heavy smells of flowers that fill your nose during those afternoon bike rides are no more and the beach will now be walked over with a shiver instead of bath suits and sunscreen. I am having a harder time this year saying goodbye. I usually welcome fall with open arms and wrap myself up in the sunny but cool days, the apples and pumpkins and the sight of school buses filled with children. This year however I want my carefree warm summer days back. The sad reality that I will soon be packing up all the sundresses and flip flops is not settling well with me. Fall is beautiful and I can't wait to go apple picking at Blake’s and get our pumpkins from the adorable little patch at the corner of an intersection in the middle of nowhere but saying goodbye just seems too soon. The excitement of the colored leaves and the glimpses at Halloween costumes and that rich fall colored decor still stirs that pounding in my heart. I do want fall here. I can't wait for my Frankenmuth weekend with my mom, cousins, aunt, grandma and sister but still it feels like such a shame to let go of the peaceful playfulness of summer. It could be that this fall I am overwhelmed because I am back in school and all 3 kids are in school. Maybe it's because it is my last summer in my 20's, I don't know. What I do know is that I do welcome my favorite time of year with a joy of pies and cool breezes but for the first time in I don't know how long I will look forward to the return of summer.

Apple Hunt

It’s September which means my favorite time of year has arrived! Apple picking, pumpkin patches, colored leaves and cool breezes will soon be enjoyed by me! There is no better way to celebrate the beginning of my temporary paradise then by doing a page about an apple hunt! Peyton, my colorful third child, is always making me look at even the most ordinary events in a new playful way. He not only wanted to pick the apples from the tree but wanted to hunt down the best ones he could find. He walked from tree to tree pointing at different ones and then deciding yes or no. He often would look at the ones on the ground and I would have to remind him to get the ones still on the trees. His bag did eventually get filled and he enjoyed the sweet victory of his hunt. I’ve always looked at apple picking or pumpkin picking as an adventure but never really went about it the same silly way Peyton did. He has gone picking several times a year even as a baby and it was so cool to watch him really grasp the idea this time around. When before he would just grab the first couple he saw, he now really made a conscience decision to what apples he put in his bag. I can’t wait to see what this fall will bring in his shiny personality.

Well, my stint as a dare devil has ended and I am back to my normal slightly more provoking self. I’m back to my stories and pictures and pretty paper. The change could be because of my recent trip to Frankenmuth or that Mikayla’s shoes caught my attention either way it’s back to the norm for me. Isn’t it funny that the smallest things will trigger a memory or inspire you to be creative? As much as I like to roam this life and find more things that make me smile, I also love that the people right in front of me bring inspiration all the time. Those three little monsters I call children seem to light a fire in my brain. They drive me to make stories, find interesting things to do and be constantly on my toes. Smiles come easily to me though so maybe the people around me are lucky or cursed depending on how you look at it. Often a sign or a silly person in my path will make me laugh. I love that I find the world so amusing but I am sure that my family would appreciate a Mother/Wife that wasn’t so quirky. So I guess I am only back to as normal as I get.

The Dare Devil in Full Force

The thing with being a dare devil, living on the edge or being a drifter is that once you do it, it's so hard not to want to do it again and again...

It's like once you steal one cookie from the jar you just can't help but take another. After posting my adorable hello friend card and seeing it all cute up on my blog I couldn't help but dash to my "art room" and divulge in more elusive behavior. In the end I was able to make 10 cards and decided I would share my two favorites. So what makes these my favorites? Well, the Bella is a Bella and seriously who can resist those? The second is all about the color combo. It has all my favorite colors in it, especially the yellow and the pink. On a side note the kids start school tomorrow!

Sometimes scrapbooking just isn't enough

There are times in my life when I just feel like mixing it up. Actually, although I am not sure I should admit this, I often get restless. I love being out in the world meeting new people and doing new things. I hate being in one place for too long and have a constant yearning to explore. If it weren’t for my adoring husband and beautiful children I may have ended up being a little of a drifter. Moving here and there and never being able to make up my mind about which place really feels like home or which job really feels like me. As the years pass me by I have gained a bit more focus but that nomad spirit ignites in me every so often. Since the excitement in my life is often coupled with a 5 year olds soccer goal or my 8 year olds newest art project you can see where frustration with the normal eats at me. Making it absolutely imperative for a bit more excitement and can drive me into the craziness of card making. On the plus side it is very helpful in using up those scraps left behind from my “normal” activities. I know I am such a dare devil…

Dirt is My Favorite Color

It wouldn't surprise me if dirt was his favorite color. He wears it all the time.

Soccer Season!

As school inches closer so does another favorite fall activity: Soccer Season! Of all the joys I get from my darling middle child watching him play soccer is by far on the top of my list. Last spring because of my classes and Mikayla’s ice skating I had to miss out on almost all of his games. During the season I didn’t really mind because my head was filled with figure skating and economics. It wasn’t until mid summer that I longed to see his joy filled smile after he scored a goal or the intense concentration as he tried to keep control over the ball as he kicked it down the field. With his registration done and the fall season approaching I think I am anticipating it as much as he is!

Cooler Than Me

Gavin has this innate ability to fall asleep anywhere. I already can see him as an old man sleeping on the couch with all his family over after a Sunday dinner or in the lawn chair after spending a hot afternoon in the pool. So it shouldn't surprise me that he can fall asleep while his sunglasses are still on. Honestly knowing Gavin there could have been more thought put into it. He could actually be trying to keep the sun out of his eyes while he took his afternoon rest; I wasn't keen enough to ask him this at the time. I long for his talent of sleep instead of my own tossing and turning restless nights. He is so much like his father it makes me smile.

It's the climb

The joys of little boys. Entertainment at a glance.

Stunning

Stunning. Mikayla amazes me. She stuns me all the time. I wish I could say we were so much a like that I naturally understood her all the time. Unfortunately we aren't and I don't understand her. Which is why she often leaves me stunned. Stunned that she is so much better at all things school related than I ever was. Stunned that she is so beyond talented artistically that I have had her draw pictures for me so I could paint them. I am in complete awe that she can shake off the negative so easily sometimes, I even get angry that a punishment doesn't bother her more. She has no time to dwell though she just looks for the silver lining. That is what can be so wonderful about parenting watching in wonder, stunned sometimes, at the amazing experience that growing up is.

The One in the Middle

Gavin is 100% the middle child. He know how to push everyone's buttons. He knows how to be the center of attention and how to be forgotten. He is the best at getting away with things or having something go unnoticed. He is also my sweet lovable one who has an enduring personality that makes a lot of m friends say he is their "favorite." His easiness and laid back spirit encircles his little life with all the joys it one comes to expect. Unlike most middle children he is never forgotten...unless he wants to be.

100 days

What I found most freeing about scrapbooking is that I do not have to do it in order. It doesn't matter that Mikalya is entering the 3rd grade this year and that I now just finished her 100 day of kindergarten page. It doesn't matter that Gavin's most likely will not get done until he is in 3rd grade just that I finally felt like doing it and I can now place it in a book and call it good!

New Friends

After that dreadful thought of winter I decided to find something that wouldn't make me miss summer but also would bring on the gloom and doom of the grey, snowy months either. In my opinion the only thing that makes winter bearable is that fall comes right before it. Fall is by far my favorite season. If I could find a place in the world wear it was fall (with the colorful leaves and giant orange pumpkins) all year round I would force my darling husband to move me immediately. Fall brings hay rides; apple picking and cinder mills all which makes me want to do a happy dance with the crunchy leaves beneath my feet. The semi cool breezes, the school buses slowly plowing down the streets and the sight of kids in brand new back packs has the same effect on me as the brightly colored Popsicles. Last fall brought on a bit of a challenge for my family since the kids were beginning a new school. As any parent would do I stayed awake at night wondering if my daughter would adjust well. For the last four years she had been with the same group of kids and as much as we needed the change it broke my heart thinking she would be lonely until she found her grove. I didn’t have to lay awake long, which of course was good for everyone, she blended in with the girls seamlessly all the drama included. I was lucky enough to go on the first field trip and meet her new friends at one of my favorite fall places…the cider mill! So much for all my worrying.

Oh Summer, How I Love You!

As I stare at the calendar trying to squeeze in all the things I wanted to get done this summer I quickly realized that the kids have less than three weeks left. I only have two before my classes start. Looking back over the last two months I am trying to decide why summer fills my heart with butterflies. Is it the carefree unstructured days that make my kids go bonkers; is it the hot summer sun that kisses my skin all pink? How about the baseball games or the smell of BBQ’s as I jog through the neighborhood? The Bike rides to the park or the music from the ice cream truck all linger in my thoughts even as the dreadful chill whips through the air. Yet, none of those can quite compare to the 100 pack of cheap popsicles that decorate nearly every store come the first heat wave of the year. The cheap colorful flavored water is a timeless treasure of summer. Through the years the excitement and joy they create in children seems to be unchanged generation to generation. It’s these timeless joys that bring on those butterflies just as mid November brings on the woeful dread of winter. Sigh. I think I will push off those thoughts and grab another Popsicle for the kids so I can relax and devour the last restful days of my butterfly happiness.