70's Vintage Toy

I love going to Thrift Stores for many reasons...
1. I love the hunt - it's so much fun to walk into a place that looks pretty hopeless at first glance but as you see beyond that you find those little treasures.
2. I love to save money whenever possible - when it comes to house decorating, toys, clothes, dishes, even gifts, I look first at the thrift store... you never know if you'll find what you need for pennys on the dollar!
3. I love the idea of re-using - one persons junk could possibly be my treasure... just because someone couldn't use an item and decides to donate it doesn't mean it's not good anymore! I could go on and on.

So, Thursday my 2 boys and I decided to stop by my favorite thrift store after a MOPS meeting. In my book it's a great store! They often have 50% off days and I've gotten many, many things there for very little money! And yesterday was one such day... we walked out having spent only $3.24 for two items... a clock for my bathroom and this...

1970's Fisher Price Fun Jet



My 3 year old picked it up and played so much with it at the store I knew that he would love to have it for home...

I was RIGHT! As soon as we got home I gave it a good washing and off he went outside to drag it around and "fly" it! He even took it to bed with him the first night! He LOVES his plane!!

I think .50 was worth all this happiness!!

My first try at Actions...

No, not an action shot... the word "action" is actually an editing term. It's simply means a short cut to editing photos... what would normally take several steps to achieve a specific look you get with 1 step when you apply an "action". A definition taken from the web: "Photoshop actions allow photographers to automate common sequences for increased efficiency." You can get "actions" from all over but I found the ones I'm posting today at The Coffee Shop Blog. By the way, I turned down the opacity of most of the actions... I don't care for the "over edited" look!

Here's my original

(very simple edits were applied to this... like sharpening, vignette, contrast)

Here's the 1st action

"Velvet Truffle"

2nd action

"Tea Party Hazy"

3rd action

"Butter Cream B/W"

2nd Photo Original

"Velvet Truffle"

"Tea Party Hazy"

"Butter Cream B/W"

This is Amber, my sister-in-law, who just had Baby Taylor. We were shooting my other sister-in-law (I'll post those pictures soon) at a family birthday party and I asked if anyone else would like to have their picture taken. Because Amber is... well... AMBER... she jumped at the opportunity! Again, this was my first time using actions and I think they all look nice... I might be using them more often!

Josh & Katy Married!

1/1/2011 ~ What a perfect date for a wedding (of course it being a Saturday really helped too)! My dear cousin Katy's wedding was like a fairytale... they were married at the Grand Island Mansion (click on name to be directed to website link) in Walnut Grove Ca... what a beautiful location it was! They have been so patient at waiting for their photos for almost 2 months now... I took over 500 at the wedding so the editing process has been a long one... Here's a little sneak peek of their beautiful day...

She makes a beautiful bride!

Everything was beautiful... including their very handsome wedding party!

Mommy and Baby

Daddy and Baby

Both parents...

Katy's parents... my cousin Kelly and wife Pam

The wedding was so well planned and everything went off without a hitch... I love that they choose to use our family's talents to be part of their wedding... my Aunt Edna made all the floral arrangements, bouquets, corsages, flowers for the cake and Katy's veil... Katy's dad is a bee keeper and so instead of the traditional wedding favors they had jars of his honey on the tables... and I was more than ecstatic to be their photographer... Thanks so much Josh and Katy for including me as part of your special day!!

Better late than never...

I have been behind for a long time at posting pictures here on my blog. I have some from back in October, November & December 2010 that I never put up on here... so to play catch up here's some from December...

My beautiful children's Christmas pictures...

Daina, 9 years old

Ryley, 6 years old

Brayden, 3 years old

Rigan, 16 mo. old (you can see tears in all his pictures... I could have removed them but I wanted the memories to be real!)

And I had to add the out-takes... my kids were really uncooperative... tired and not wanting their photos taken!

Wishing you a belated Merry Christmas!

INTRODUCING... Taylor Nicole

My newest little Niece was born 1 month ago... at a very last minute dinner party I asked to photograph her as my gift to her family. She is baby girl #2 to my husbands youngest brother, Mike and his wife Amber. An absolutely precious little blessing... Welcome little one!

A precious baby girl

The Lord has freely given

Truly a special gift

Sent down from heaven

For she is God’s blessing

Wrapped in His grace

With the beauty of the Lord

Reflected in her face