The Boy Has Talent!

Our oldest son (yes, I do realize he's my stepson, but I don't do labels, they're cheap!), Chris, posted this video on YouTube and I just had to share our button popping pride with everyone!  This kid is so musically talented.  He started playing the cello at 9 and taught himself how to play the piano, guitar, bass, drums, aaand knows how to sing!

We are SO PROUD of you, Cecil.  Keep up the great work.

If you're interested in hearing more of his original music, click here.

OH!  Did I mention that he's single and available?!??!  ;)

Slower Than Molasses In January

The progress of MY bedroom makeover has been SLOWER THAN MOLASSES IN JANUARY!!!  I was going to have it done before our trip to Florida last October, but that didn't happen.  Then the holidays were upon us and it was totally out of the question.  Not to mention the fact that I couldn't sand and paint outside in the snow.  So, I put it on the back burner until now. And wouldn't ya know it, just when I get my mojo back, I'm plagued with a 12 day (NO LIE) migraine.  It's been varying degrees of pain in those 12 days, but nonetheless, has incapacitated me.  I've only functioned as much as I absolutely had to, and spent the rest of the time in bed wishing I could decapitate myself.  The headache FINALLY broke 2 days ago, so I went to town on my headboard.

It took a lot more work than it should have because I failed to prime it.  This is the first time I've painted with white, so I was naive to the fact that the stain would bleed through the paint.  I've never had to prime furniture because everything I've painted thus far has been black or red.  Perhaps I should ALWAYS prime?  I have to give a big shout out to Melanie, at The Frosted Gardener, for helping me solve my problem with the bleed through.  I never would have thought to use primer - DUH!!!!  (In my defense though, the paint already had primer in it). She is such a sweetheart for taking time out of her busy schedule to respond to my dilemma!  

After two coats of white paint, 2 coats of primer to cover the bleeding, and two more coats of white paint, here she is!  I still need to spray with polyurethane, but I'm going to wait until I can take it outside to do that. 

BEFORE

AFTER

I'm going with a vintage feel in my room.  I am so excited about how this turned out!!!!  I LOVE to distress furniture and make it look old.  I chose not to glaze it though.  I didn't like it on the white like I do black and red.  I'm so excited to get the nightstands done!!  Here's to hoping the migraine stays at bay.

To Color Or Not To Color

I'm so glad that January and February are behind us!  I haven't blogged much because frankly, there's not much going on.  I am working on some furniture makeovers, but I'm not going to blog about them until my whole room is done.  So, to stay on the band wagon, I've been linking up to Tracy's blog parties.  This week she's featuring black and white photos.

While I'm not a huge photo editor, and generally like full color pictures, there are just certain pictures that look really great in black and white.  When I do edit black and white, I almost always add a vignette.  I don't know why, I just love the effect it has on the picture.  Sometimes I adjust the highlights and shadows, but my favorite thing to do is add a red filter.  That doesn't work on every picture, but as always, it's fun to just play and experiment to see what looks best.  Occasionally, I like to add some grain, too. 

Here are a few of my favorites from the last year:

I wasn't crazy about this picture in full color, but when I turned it B&W, I totally fell in love with it!

This one looks great in color, but it's also very dramatic in B&W, too. 

I LOVE back lit pictures.  The sun shining on her hair and their sparkly eyes slay me.  Because this picture was so zoomed in, I didn't feel like the color version was as dramatic.  I love how the B&W brought out and softened their features. 

This picture has a lot of sun flare, which is a cool effect all alone, but with this picture, I loved how the sun flare, coupled with the B&W, made this picture look. 

This was my niece's Prom last year.  I went along on this just-for-fun-photo-shoot with my sister-in-law so that we could capture the night from two different perspectives. 

I love how this picture showcases the back of their dresses.  I added a little grain to this one, just for fun.  =) 

THIS picture is a perfect example (to me, anyway) how some pictures just HAVE to be in color!!!  It just didn't look great in B&W.  I just had to throw this one in because I LOVE how it shows that it's OK to be different.  There is SO MUCH personality in this picture! 

This is one of my SWEET, DARLING (former) daycare kids.  I LOVE this baby girl so much!  I asked her parents to allow me to practice with her when I first started learning how to shoot in manual mode.  I think I captured her so perfectly in this particular picture.  She really is this sweet and innocent! 



It's A Party And You're Invited

You know how it goes...you read one blog and then you learn about another, and another, then another.  It goes on forever!  Well, that's how I found Tracy's blog.  I thought I'd link up to her bokeh party today.

I must admit, I haven't always loved bokeh like I do now.  Photography styles have changed  since I first started in high school, so maybe that's why, I really don't know.  Nonetheless, I could not live without my 50mm lens!  I love to make my suject(s) pop against that blurry background.

Here are a few of my faves from the last several months:

                      Oh, how time flies.  I taught this young lady in sunday school when she was 12.

             This glowing mommy-to-be grew up in my neighborhood and was expecting her first baby.

                       My son on his 14th birthday, being shy and not wanting to look at the camera.

My daughter, being shy, like her brother.  It's a family thing.

                   Had to be quick with the shutter release to get her actually looking at me.  GOOD GRIEF, she looks JUST like me!!!

I didn't blur this one too much, just enough. 

                                              

Seashells my kids left on the deck of our condo

This UGLY crawdad had a tiny, little Nemo claw  



Happy Valentine's Day!

Simply put, these five people are

 MY LIFE, MY LOVE!

Need I say more?

With Love

I was caught a bit off guard when I realized that my kids will be on track this year for Valentine's Day!  I'm so excited to finally be able to use this idea I had a few years back though!  I took these fun pictures of my kids, and did some very simple editing to them, so they can be printed as a 4X6 picture (for 6 cents each at Inkleys on Tuesday's and Thursday's), and we're going to insert suckers into their hands!  Cute, right???!?!!!  Maybe???  Please tell me I'm not a FREAK!  I just HATE those stupid Valentine cards you buy at the store.

My kids only request was that I not put the word LOVE anywhere on them!!  Especially Emmy.  She doesn't want any of the boys in her class to get the wrong idea! ;)  I would really rather do the pictures outside, but FREAK, it's COOOOOLD!!  You can't get a good picture when it's below zero! 

For The Carrington's

I was asked to take baptism pictures of this little angel.  Isn't she adorable?