Thursday, March 19, 2015

the last glimpse of winter




spring has come to oregon. it has been here for awhile. but you can still see a hint of winter in the early morning hours, and it is quite lovely. i love the quiet and stillness of winter. but i also LOVE the busy chatter of spring.




an early spring cold took hold of our family over the last week. so, there have been many quiet and restful activities coming out. my daughters have been working on their embroidery skills, and the oldest knows three different stitches now. they all know the running stitch, but now layla can back stitch and satin stitch. so fun. this little project was inspired by the montessori were my little girls go to school. they often make an embroidery pattern from a child's drawing. layla drew this flower with embroidery on her mind and it has been perfect. 



that little swatch of brown paper with white flowers was the paper that inspired my desktop.


and holly... sweet holly... she finds her way into the yard every single day.
 what a joy the little things can be.

Sunday, March 15, 2015

capturing moments





i have been trying to challenge my photography skills a bit more often lately. i read this book, and while it wasn't great... it did inspire me to shoot on manual more (and got me reading my cameras manual to learn a few new things). i think it could be a great start for someone who is looking to learn some dlsr photography basics. i don't shoot on straight auto, but i often use one of my cameras digital vari-programs... well... i choose one of two programs. i use either the landscape program or the sports program. the sports program is my favorite. first of all, neither of these programs use a flash. the landscape uses a small aperture which keeps everything in focus and then adjusts the light to compensate. the sports setting keeps a quick shutter speed and then adjusts the aperture to compensate... which usually means a wide aperture to let in a lot of light. i love this for two reasons... 1. the fast shutter captures my quick moving children and 2. the wide aperture gives a soft blur to the photos (called bokeh)... it keeps the subject in focus but gently blurs the background... i personally just love this soft feel in photos. anyway, sorry to ramble on like that... not the point of this post (although i suppose i didn't have a "point" to begin with... so maybe that's the problem).  

back to challenging myself...
the book has gotten me out of my comfortable "programs" though and shooting on manual more. i still use the programs, but at least now i shoot on manual some of the time.
my sister and her fiance asked me to take some engagement photos for them, and of course i said "YES!" while looking back through the photos most of what i thought about was what i wished i had done differently... but that's where the learning comes in right?... and i do think we got a few "good ones."










...and i captured some great moments of my maiko and eislee playing around us on the marsh.




the photo above might be my favorite.



there truly is something magical about the evening light.

Thursday, March 12, 2015

big metal tanker desk(top) remodel : : before and after




well, i finished my desktop... what do you think?

i layered brown craft paper in between the glass and desktop, and i decorated the brown paper with my hand carved stamps. the mushrooms are from geninne's book "making an impression" and are in white ink. the arrows were inspired by an image i saw online and are stamped in a brown ink (circling around the outside of the mushroom prints). as you can see below... with all of the light coming in from those windows and the way it reflects on the glass... the mushrooms are actually really subtle. 



it was a bit hard to photograph the rubber top in this light. i feel like i didn't really capture how awful looking it is with these photos... but you get the gist. that white looking square in the photo below is actually where the rubber is all cracked and faded. 



ordering the glass cut to fit the top solved the usability problem (that rubber was not going to clean up easy with my creative messes). but i wanted a little more... i wanted it to be "pretty" too. although i was not sure how i wanted to accomplish that. then i was inspired by a scrap of brown paper i found with white scrolls and flowers on it. i wanted that under my glass. then it hit me... i had brown craft paper... i had white ink and stamps... i could make my own pretty paper!!
i rolled the paper i had on hand across my desk and it was the exact depth of my desk... perfect. so i cut it and taped down the sides. i tested out a few different inks, stamps, and patterns on a scrap piece. then i went for it. after the ink dried, i placed the glass right on top with the paper still taped down, and then i took my exacto and ran it around the edge of the glass.











now it is done... it was really easy... and possibly the best part... i can change it any time i want.

Saturday, March 7, 2015

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

sorry... just got hooked up with bloglovin... and apparently had to post this in order to claim my blog on their site... hmmm :)

little (big?) changes



outdoor furniture.
found on craigslist in the fall. great deal. just what this big back porch needed.
 can't wait to put it to proper use.




clams.
dug by my husband, in-laws, and two oldest children just down the river a little way... in the secret sand bank. it is only exposed on very low tides (we are so close to the ocean that this river rises and falls with the tide), and it is full of clams.
clam cleaning done by yours truly.
digging clams... very fun.
cleaning clams... not so much.




my big metal tanker desk.
it is IN! i love it. it is already covered in a huge creative mess. i have been having great fun dreaming up ideas for something that i could put in between the desktop and glass to make it prettier. matt just laughs at that and says "you don't need anything in there... you can't even see the surface of your desk!" while that is currently true... sometimes it is clean and a grungy rubber desktop just doesn't inspire me. i am hoping to get started on some ideas soon. can't wait to share them with you!






big brother + littlest sister = all sorts of cute