Happy Halloween!

I tried to get some Halloween shots of the dogs. One co-operated for a few minutes, but then she decided she should be the center of attention. {I made that flower}She totally ruined what was probably a bad shot anyways, but no I love it. "Look at me mom! Loooooooooook at MEEEEEE!"

Emily had to do some volunteer work today and was handing out candy outside of KFC. We just happened to be there the same time Little R. came by in his chicken suit. He's checking out the bucket to see if it's his momma in there. It wasn't, it was just a bucket of candy.

I'm so happy the weather changed this morning. I had a photoshoot with the family of Little R. today. Holy smokes, kids move fast! And they don't always want their photos taken. I used my new lens, and am pretty happy with it.
I wish mom was more in focus here. But I can be sneaky and bribe kids to get what I want.

All shots are SOOC, except this one.

Love the look on R's face. That's a moose on his head.

Friday! Yay!

I just sent off my first invoice to get paid as a 'photographer'. I was asked by my movie making cousin to take some photos of Emily drawing our family for his next movie. I can't show them to you, you will have to see the movie. I did sneaky snap this picture of another drawing she's working on. We decided that when Emily draws Kerry he looks like the Avatar, the guy with the arrow n his head in the photo below. I don't know who drew this photo, so I can't give them credit.

If the weather is as good as the forecast says it will be tomorrow, I'll be shooting the B. family out around their house in the a.m. Then we might be going to see The Nightmare Before Christmas in 3-D!

Hope everyone has a safe and happy Day Before Halloween!

Sweet Baby Bear

I'm practicing my photography skills. Linus won't fit in the basket so I had to use Baby Bear. I ran a couple actions on the photos, I could have left them SOOC, but I wanted to try them out.

I know a stuffed bear isn't the same as a real baby.

I like this one the best. I like the paunchy bear tummy in the background.

Goodbye, sweet friend!

It was a bitter sweet moment. The one where my Rebel found a new forever home. I hope it has a good life with Marg and Terry.
Sniff.


Really, I'm sad, but I was getting comfy with the idea of having 2 cameras, so I wouldn't have to switch lenses all the time. Good thing I hadn't put that into practice.

Big things on the horizon

I got the Stampin' Up digital papercrafting program, My Digital Studio. It still has a few kinks that need working on, and after a few hours of trying to get it installed, I finally got it working. Between SU and SCS, I got it figured out. It's fairly easy to use. I made a 5x5 Halloween album for my little friends Z and R. Sure, it took me most of the morning. And sure, I wasted a bunch of photo paper printing it right in the middle of each 8x5x11 paper, but I'll get that figured out next time. I'm impressed with the print quality, which could be a mixture of damn good printer, decent paper and decent program. I'm not a huge digital fan, I like the textures of conventional scrapbooking and card making but this program will have a place in my life, it's how I'm going to make the calendars for the grandparents this year. My life just got easier!

I'm taking the plunge, leaving my comfort zone (the basement) and am going to take on a few photo jobs. Even as I type this, I'm thinking "Are you crazy?" I guess the next few weeks will tell me if I am or not. I have been offered a couple opportunities already and they are big ones, life altering for the subjects and I want to do them but I'm such a chicken. I only hope I can do them justice.

Nothing better to do

After a hard day at work, grocery shopping, a visit from Craft Sale Organizer Extraordinaire, and a few phone calls from someone that should be working but seems to think about stamping all day, Linus decided to do some recycling with me. He wanted to get up close and personal.

But then played it cool and aloof.

I took this from our deck, all photos were shot with my new lens. You can't really tell that it's raining and miserable, everything looks good with the new lens. I took this one March 2008, probably the day I got my Sigma lens. At first I think I like this one better, I like the colours better, but then it's Spring. But when I compare the sharpness and the fact that when I zoom in, I can see in those windows, I like the first one better. I'm nosey like that. The other thing I notice is the corners of this photos. I like that when I do it in photoshop, don't like it when the lens does it for me. I'm controlling like that.

Disgusting

The sun has disappeared, it looks like winter. How's a girl supposed to play with her camera in this weather?

I know, I know...

My name is Kelli and I am probably the most spoiled person I know.

Canon has a rebate offer on till the end of the month. One place in town had the lens I wanted, one husband wants some major bike parts, one wife wants to start shooting semi-pro(whatever that means), and one lens was calling her name.

I sold my Sigma lens, for a lot less than I would have liked, but let's face it, it was not the right lens. It was a good lens, but after taking the photography class, I realized it was not at the high end of good. Everyone was talking about wanting, needing and getting a Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 or f/4. I didn't think I'd need one. But then I saw what people were doing with it, and I put it on my list.

I was pretty sure I was getting the f/2.8, just made sense for low light situations, but it also cost about $1000 more than the f/4. We won't go into exact numbers, but it's a Canon, it's a good piece of glass, that's photog talk. Anway, we went to Lens and Shutter. I knew I would never be taking indoor sports shots. The kids are past that, so I knew a f/2.8 might be over kill, but for lowlight mountain biking, it would be great. But how much do I do that? $1000 to do it a few times a year? No, so I said gimme the f/4. But then I said "Can I hold the f/2.8?" They very knowledgable sales person put it on a 50D for me to test the weight of both. Here's where the story gets sad...

I didn't mind the weight of the f/4 at all. Very managable. But the f/2.8 made my spine compress under the sheer weight of it. Kerry snickered, he said there was no way he was listening to me complain about carrying that thing up and down the hill. We, along with the sales person, agreed that was not the lens for me and my upper body strength of a kitten. Walk all day, sure, pack something in my arms or around my neck for 20 min., no way!

I'm so sad that my lack of strength was the deciding factor on the type of lens I got. Not sad enough to start weightlifting just yet, like the sales person recommended. She said to start, then sell the f/4, good re-sale value, and then get the f/2.8 in a year or so. I don't know if I'm up to having to sweat to get a lens.

Here's a comparison so you can see the difference, I know you want to ... The middle one is the f/4, the one I got. The one on the right is the f/2.8, I believe the lens weighs 4 lbs. add that to the weight of the camera, the battery pack and god forbid a flash...my arms hurt just thinking about it.

What did I have to promise to do for the lens, because that's how we roll? To put myself out there and take pictures. And maybe some other stuff that's not blog worthy...

Busy Weekend coming

I'm getting my hair done today. Some say I should let it go it's natural colour, which would be mostly white, not grey, but white. I think that works for some people, Steve Martin, Betty White, my mother-in-law, Albert Einstein, but not for me. I'm not even 40 yet, and I'd like to be considered not even 40. Like at the garage sale when someone from the past said "What? You have a kid that is 20? That can't be right, he can't be YOUR kid!" We all know I had him young but this person thought I was younger than I was, thank you, Twyla, it's always great to see you! So, I'm getting a cut and colour.

Tonight we are celebrating my dad's 60th. He thinks he's getting a surprise party, he thinks people from his past will be there, he thinks he has to get 'dressed up'. Well, won't he be surprised when he realizes it's not a surprise party, it's just a dinner with family. He thinks he's so sneaky and figured it out. My mom keeps telling him that he's not getting a party, he got a Lazyboy chair instead.

Tomorrow is "get rid of the left-over garage sale stuff" day. Kerry said I had to get up bright and early. I don't know why. Then I have to make dessert for the party tomorrow night, more about that, and I appies for the daytime Halloween party. I'm charging up the batteries, I'm taking the camera, and I'm taking pictures of every single thing. Everything! I'm kind of grumbly about the lack of co-operative photography subjects around here, the slimy black leaves on the trees, and the fact dogs don't really have that many facial expressions.

Then after the party we have to go to my dad's for the UFC/birthday bash. I'm all pumped up, which is what some people don't like about UFC, the aggression part. I never thought I'd be having conversations with my dad that would include the phrases like "Darrell's triangle choke hold" and "Rampage is an idiot". I also never thought it would be so rewarding to see Zak take a nap after the choke hold, but it was and I like the rubber legs guys get when they get knocked out on their feet, but I don't like the blood. And who knew I'd start to like a guy named Kimbo Slice.

He's no GSP, but he's kind of teddy bearish.

And because I like photos on blogs, here's my depressing shot of my view from the couch, taken with my sweet baby 50D, at a super high ISO, because it can. I think it was nighttime, and it's depressing because I was pouting about the fact no one wants their pictures taken anymore. What's the point of having such an awesome camera and so much camera knowledge if no one in my family wants their picture taken?

So Inspired!

I'm on a self imposed magazine restriction. I only allow myself to buy Scrapbooks Etc., but I did splurge and buy the one in the post below. And boy, am I glad I did. I'm on pg. 39 and I've made 9 cards. Here are some of my favourites.

Bright spots on a rainy day!

It's my dad's 60th birthday today! He's having a 'fight night/birthday party' on the weekend and we will be celebrating family style on Friday.
This morning started off the way a bad day does, I must have slept funny because I'm very sore today and fighting off a head-ache. And I woke up 9 min. before my alarm went off and then the power went out for over 30 minutes. Which to a certain teenager meant 'no school' and she went back to sleep, but I made her get up. The power came on just before she left. The internet has been super slow or non-existant. That same teenager only had half a day of school and got rained on. But...I am not having a bad day despite all that. Made 18 of these.

This large parcel came for me today, I was a bit worried after receiving an email saying the cd calendar cases were back-ordered and that it could take weeks to get them. It took less than a week. Wish all back-ordered items took that long.

Picked this up, I had seen it numerous times on blogs, but not in the stores. Haven't had a chance to look at it, but it looks pretty nice on my new fabric.

I found this wonderful tape today, after seeing this, I knew I needed some. I printed the instructions and pages and made one in no time. I didn't add pictures yet.

The cover.

Just a peek at what's inside.

I also made buttermilk drop biscuits after the power came back on.

Where the Wild Things Are

We took E. and I. to see Where the Wild Things Are this afternoon. It was definately not a feel good movie. I liked it, but .... it was a bit of a downer, a bit slow, not very funny, although it had a couple of moments, and kind of made you think.
So... even though it's based on a children's book, it is not a children's movie. Both E. and I. really liked it, they got it, they understood the underlying message, liked the 2 funny parts, and felt sad at the appropriate times.
It did not ruin the book. So if you haven't read the book and want to see the movie, that's okay, and if you have read the book and want to see it, I don't think you will say "I enjoyed the book more".
Although now that the monsters have names and voices, it's kind of wierd. The main monster, Carol, is James Gandolfini and after Kerry told me that it was hard to not see Tony Soprano whacking someone every time Carol spoke.
Off to search ebay for some pj's like Max's 'wolf' suit.

Garage Sale.

We are having a garage sale tomorrow, Saturday from 8 am to 2 pm.
There will be lots of goodies. Of course, they are still goodies, I'm a keeper of all things, but am realizing that if I'm not using it or never plan to use it, someone else might, therefore I should let it go.

Letting go of ...

-toys, I like to keep these around for when we have guests, little guests, but do I really need a Little Tykes kitchen set, 2 doll houses, baby cradle, or a Fisher Price horse on wheels that looks like it was never used, oh, that's right, it wasn't. I do need to keep the Little Tykes car, you never know.
-scrapbooking supplies, no surprise here. Stamps, paper, embellishments...
-books, magazines
-all Disney movies on VHS. Yes, this one kills me, we have over 20 yrs. of Disney movies on VHS, the kids don't want them, why should I? Because I love them!
-a never full Golden Retriever/garbage disposal, higher end larger model comes without removable tail(lost at birth) this ensures he won't knock things over with the tail, but it also means that you never really know when he's happy. Removable fur for knitting dog hair sweaters will be thrown in for no extra cost.
-my dad's collection of 8 track cassettes brought over by my mom.
- Shaun's collection of Transformers, yes, he's 20 yrs. old and just getting rid of them. They have been on his shelf for at least 10 of those years.

So if any of these things sound like something you need, please stop by tomorrow and take some home.

Thursday's Thoughts

I get these emails from another demo, 12 Weeks of Christmas. Each week she makes a very cute card, and has all the instructions. I decided to try to keep up. This is week one. This is week 2.

I should have stuck with following someone else's directions because it wasn't until I took this picture that I realized I'd truly made a left-handed card.

I got the inspiration for the colours on this card and the leaves and flowers from watching Old Christine last night. There was a cute pillow on her couch.

This is for Stamper's Group tonight.

Linus has been a complete jerk this morning and part of yesterday. He ate part of a chocolate bar yesterday, not enough to make him sick, but he also ate the foil that the bar was in. I did see some foil embellished poop this morning, so all seems good. But he also ate a tag and ribbon off a card, part of a cardboard box and part of a sanding sponge. He tried to eat his bed, a rubber ball, and another box, but I managed to stop him. He's sleeping now, I put him in a head lock until his eyes rolled into his head. Actually, he's upstairs by himself and so help me, he better not be chewing on anything.

Resolutions

It's not New Year's, and I don't make resolutions, but this year I'm thinking I will. And I'm going to start early, and they might look like this...

1. lose 2 lbs., not setting the goal too high, that's the problem with resolutions, they are often too hard to obtain and then the resolutionee gets disappointed.
2. go to Disneyland, again, it might have changed since we were there last. And I will go on the scary rides that I was too afraid to go on before.
3. use the phrase "if I had a Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 lens" in every other sentence in conversations with Kerry, for example..."I can't see the writing on that tag on that present the neighbour is opening in her living room, but if I had a 70-200mm f/2.8 lens, I bet I could" or "I can't make out the brand of tires on that Subaru, but if I had a 70-200mm f/2.8 lens I totally could". "Boy, I'd enjoy watching you play Dirt 2 on the PS3 if I could watch it through a ...." You get the idea.
4. tell Kerry "I'm just kidding" in every other sentence in our conversations, when really I'm not.
5. try to remember quotes from tv better than I do right now. My memorable quotes consist of one movie one and a couple of tv ones. "No one puts Baby in a corner" from Dirty Dancing, and "That's what she said" from the Office. And "That's not crumping, this is crumping" from Community. This is not an important or life altering resolution, well maybe it is, I have such a bad memory that it would be a big deal!

Anyone else have any resolutions they are planning on making?

Thanksgiving Special

We celebrated Shaun's 20th birthday on Saturday. He's been sick all weekend so it was pretty low-keyed. We made him remove the candle from the cake and blow it out, so that no cake got germs.

I made the most beautiful cake I've ever made. It's black forest without the chocolate, because my dad can't have chocolate. So it's a white forest cake, or a snowy forest cake. And it was delicious.

Sunday night we had dinner at my Grandpa's and I wanted to go early to get some fall shots of the family. But because Shaun has germs, he had to stay home, which made for a slightly grumpy Emily. I made her sit for some shots, and she did, but I couldn't get her to crack a smile. So I told her to look like she was contimplating, she did that well. The building in the background is this old 'shed' at my grandpa's. What's really great about getting close with my favourite lens, my 50mm, is that you can't see the piles of 'junk' around Emily, although you can see the handle of a bike in the bottom left corner.

It's not the best picture, the sun was going down, and no matter how good our garage looks, we can't get the sun to shine on it all day. You can't see my van because it's parked in the garage. Yay! It is officially finished. As much as I love the breezeway, there are a few things we didn't think about when we decided to go this route. Like the fact I have to get out of the van, un-lock the garage door, lock the garage door, un-lock the house door and lock it again. It's almost easier to park outside the garage. And to celebrate the garage, we are having a real Garage Sale this Saturday. And I'm getting rid of everything. I'm tired of dusting.

Finally...

I got my classes figured out, if you didn't get the email, please let me know!

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

What is that from?

Anyway, JoanneK guess the number of squash right on the nose! 28! I'm sending her a bit of lovin'.



The local GG started their cookie blitz and we were paired up with a little Brownie. Her mom was mortified, but we had a good laugh when M. went to the door, asked the older man if he would like to buy some GG cookies and he said "No thank you, I have diabetes, I can't have cookies." The girls thanked him and as they turned to leave, M. yells to her mom "He can't have them, he's got DIARRHEA!"

Of course I burst out laughing, and she looked like she wanted to cry. But then a couple houses later, E. said something in a snarky tone to me, and I turned to M's mom and said "See, it never ends, they just say it in a different tone!" And she seemed relieved to see that her daughter was normal!



I'm trying something new this morning, I drink 1/2 a cup of milk with my cold coffee every morning. And I've noticed that I have some issues regarding the bathroom and the d word, not diabetes, right after drinking my coffee. So I decided to try rice milk, gag, gag, in my coffee. It was hard to drink, but I did it, I had to use the power of my mind, which is pretty weak without the coffee, I knew that if I compared the taste to my reg. coffee, I'd be SOL, so I had to tell myself that it was something different, new, exciting. It wasn't. It was gross, disgusting and hard to drink. And as I type this I can hear my stomach making something. If it's not the milk, then it's the coffee, or the sugar-free syrup. I'm not really prepared to give up my coffee or my syrup, so I will have to weigh the options. Rumbly diarrhea tummy vs. yucky disgusting poison?



And to add to the mix, fluff ear is back. But it's also back with a bit of sinus pain and head ache. I see a pattern, and I'm taking my nasal spray. But it's so frustrating when the kids say "I hate that background music" and I can't even hear the background music. I'm pretty sure I'm losing my hearing or there is a marshmallow in my ear.

20 years ago today

Today is Shaun's birthday. His 20th birthday. That's right, do the math, I was very young when I had him. It's a long story, but just to get one thing straight, it was not an accident. Other things I did around that time were not the smartest, but they all lead to my life now. And I wouldn't have it any other way...okay, I would have a firmer body, and a smaller waist and longer legs. It's hard to find clothes when your measurements make you a square. The top picture is a scan from when Shaun was about 3 yrs. old.

This one is from the summer, when he was acting about 3 yrs. old. I realized as I was looking for photos for this post that I don't have very many of him. Oh, well, at least I have these....

Who's my boy? Who's Mamma's favourite boy? Who's the good doggy? That's right, YOU are!

Heck with kids that don't want their pictures taken.

Be sure to take a stab at guessing the number of squash in the wheelbarrow.

No treats were used for any of the squash pictures, or the dog pictures.

Changes

The dogs helped me pick my squash on the weekend. I needed a wheelbarrow to do it. The dogs didn't do much. Linus helped me count the squash. If you can guess the correct number of squash in the wheelbarrow, you will be sent a little something from me. It won't be a squash.

Linus is checking out the different types as he counts. There should be one type, spaghetti, but they cross pollenated with my zuchini and maybe someone's pumpkins. So they are squumpkins and squashini.

Gotta get up higher to get an accurate count.

Gotta get in close to get an accurate count.

Sally decided up close and personal was the way to go. Yummy squashini.

Love the bokeh in the background, those little disks of light. Yummy.

With recent changes to Stampin' Up's demonstrator agreement, I have had to resign from the Artfreckles design team.
It's a bit frustrating, I've always wanted to be on a team, but I can understand why it conflicts with the agreement. So from here on out, I can post stuff I have made with non-SU products, but I can not post links to stores or sites that sell competing products.

change is good, right?