December 30, 2011

I hope that everyone had a very merry holiday season!  We spent Christmas morning at home and then left that evening to visit with our families who live out of town.  I always feel a sense of accomplishment for making it through the bustle of Christmas in one piece.  But now comes the melancholy part of the year as the long winter approaches.  There is sure to be several snows, and I'm not really looking forward to it.  Will hopefully get some fun photos from it, though.

My husband got me the full version of Photoshop for Christmas, so I'm incredibly excited to get that on my computer and start learning the ropes.  I've been working with Photoshop Elements until now.  AND, for my birthday (which is the week before Christmas) he also surprised me with the gorgeous Kelly Moore camera bag that I've been drooling over for so long!!!  I've been trying to win one of those suckers for quite some time!  So Facebook friends, thanks to my husband you no longer have to see those annoying status updates that say something like "Kelly Moore is giving away a bag of your choice..."  He really outdid himself this year!

I squeezed in a really quick Christmas shoot with a couple of friends and their 1 year old the week before Christmas.  You'll recognize them as they are one of the couples who show up on here regularly.  They're so sweet to always let me practice on them :)  It almost seemed as if the universe was against it that day, but we made it happen and got some really sweet images!

December 5, 2011

I signed up for a fun little "Picture the Holidays" Prompt-Me through Paper Coterie.  

Let me just stop and tell you how much I loooove Paper Coterie.  I ordered several journals through them for Mother's Day/Father's Day gifts and loved the finished product!  I also got a handful of Christmas cards from them for being part of a focus group.  They are the most beautiful Christmas cards I have ever had!  I follow them on Facebook, and I love the sweet things they are always posting.  Check them out - they also regularly email discount codes.

Anyway, back to my story.  So when they announced this prompt-me book for the holidays I decided to give it a try.  When you sign up you get an email every day in December with a photo prompt for that day.  You give it some thought, take a picture, and then upload it to your account on their website and it automatically compiles it into book form.  At the end of December you have a book with all of your photos from the holiday season.  In case you're interested and are now disappointed that it's already begun, I'm pretty sure it's not too late to sign up.  It's kind of a work-at-your-own-pace thing, so if you wanted to do several photos in one day then you just go to their site and read ahead.

I'm really enjoying it so far.  It's encouraging my creativity!  Here are my first 4 pictures:

Day 1: Holding on to Gratitude

(Something you're thankful for ... I chose our house because I'm still so excited to be living in our very own home!)

Day 2: ReFraming the Season

Day 3: All You Need is Love

Day 4: You Hold the Key

(What helps you to stay calm ... for me it's sitting and breathing/meditating)

Looking forward to the rest of the season in photos :)