we have a winner!

Since I only had 14 entries, we picked a winner the old fashioned way by drawing numbers from a cup. The winner was #1 - Summer!!! Yay, Summer! I'll get with you on which pic you want.

Thank you again for all the support, friends and followers!

fifty followers (pssst....it's a giveaway!!) TIMES UP!

Really?! I have 50 followers???!! Awesome! When I started this blog, it was just to keep my family (most of whom never even check the blog) up to date on the kids and our goings-on. Early on, I posted to a group about blogging saying that one day I'd like to get to where I had 20 or so people regularly checking the blog, and that I'd like to branch out and blog about crafty stuff, tips, and cooking, etc. I've gone through periods of neglecting my blog and periods of blogging mania, but in the end, I am happy with what I've accomplished! Of course, I think I could be doing so much more, but for now it works for me!

One thing I pride myself on is never, ever, not even once, have I asked anyone to be a follower. And now I have 50! I am so humbled and grateful and promised myself that once I hit 50, I'd do something special to celebrate. Soooooooo......

I would like to GIVE AWAY one of my photographs! I've had a few for sale in my etsy shop, but no takers yet. They would make a wonderful gift or a nice little decoration for your bathroom. :)


You can choose any photo you like and I'll print it in an 8x10 for you. You can choose from the pics listed in my etsy shop or you can go browse my flickr for other shots. I have a folder of nature shots which would be a good place to start.


The GIVEAWAY will end on Sunday night, Dec. 6th at 10pm and I'll announce a winner Monday morning. Just leave me a comment...maybe mention which pic you'd like!

Thank you all so much for your support! I love blogging and sharing all the crazy things I do with you!!!

Camera Strap Cover GIVEAWAY!!!

TIME's UP!

I've just restocked my etsy shop with new camera strap covers (click on the widget to the right>>>) and am having a GIVEAWAY over at HomeSpun Threads!

While you are over there, be sure to check out her other posts. Aimee's full of great ideas! She has also started a new blog devoted to reading to children, which is truly a labor of love for her. Readers are Made on the Lap of a Parent.

Hop on over to HomeSpun Threads and enter to win! The contest ends Friday, Nov. 13th.

It's GIVEAWAY time!

Hello! The girls and I are visiting down in TX, but I wanted to let you all know about some great GIVEAWAYS that are going on!

Over at HomeSpun Threads she is hosting a giveaway until Tuesday for a gorgeous ring of your choice from Tungsten Wedding Rings.

The winner can pick any Titanium ring, any Ceramic without an inlay, or Tungsten ring with a value up to $120!

Head over to HomeSpun Threads and check it out before it ends!

AND

Over at The Maternal Lens we are giving away some super cute custom bottlecap magnets! They are all the rage on fashionable fridges these days! They also make great gifts for family and teachers!

I'm not a loser anymore!

I finally won something!!!

A couple weeks ago, Aimee at HomeSpun Threads had a giveaway and I won a super cute little apron or "Mommy Pockets," perfect for toting my cell phone and the always elusive pink hairbrush around the house. I told her to pick out whatever apron she wanted me to have, and she sent me this sassy pink and green one. You'd think she pays attention or something! Thanks Aimee!! I love it! (apparently I cannot take a decent picture today!)


I also won some custom silhouettes of the kids. I just sent her the pics to work from and can't wait to see how they turn out!


Aimee is so generous, she's doing another silhouette GIVEAWAY over at The Maternal Lens so be sure to stop by and sign up to win one of your own! It ends tonight!

Finally! A finished project!

Believe it or not, I have a million-bazillion projects in the works and on my "list." Many of them are in various states of halfwaydoneness. Today I actually finished something! Yay!

I try to hit garage sales whenever I can, but I usually don't think to do it until later in the day, when they are all closed up! But, a couple weeks ago, Sarah and I made it to a few and found some treasures. We got these retro (circa 1955) metal folding chairs for $3 for the pair! I'm not sure how we'll use them, but who doesn't need a few extra chairs?!


I liked them before I even found out that they fold up, which is a super cool feature. (The legs fold inwards to make them flat for storage.)

Of course, we had to cute-ify them! Sarah and I painted them bright red and found some great decor fabric for $2/yd to do the seats. I didn't really intend for them to be so girly, but I guess it's inevitable when we're in charge.


They conveniently coordinate with Sarah's new/future pink and red color scheme, so maybe a desk chair?


Cute, custom chairs for less than $5 plus spray paint! Yessss!

On another note, The Maternal Lens is up for some blog awards! Stop by and help us out with a vote or two or three!

There is also a really neat silhouette GIVEAWAY going on until tomorrow night, thanks to Aimee at HomeSpun Threads. I'll be blogging more about it tomorrow, so check back!

Hello people! More randomness and another GIVEAWAY!

Sorry I went a little AWOL, but we were on a mission to find a house! We found one, but we still haven't gotten the offer papers from our realtor (ahem!! hurry!!!) so that we can start the process of negotiation. Keep your fingers crossed that all works out! We are in a pickle with our current house, so that's something we're hoping works itself out soon as well.

Anyway, today at The Maternal Lens we are GIVING AWAY a fabulous set of textures by Unik Design!!! They are absolutely gorgeous and any photographer would love to have them! Head over to TML and sign up to win! There's also a surprise freebie for those who stop by. :)

If you aren't familiar with using textures in photography, it's such a fun thing to experiment with. It can really change the look of a photo and add tons of depth and interest. You can find free textures on flickr.com or you can even make your own. In your editing program, you just place your texture (it's basically just a picture of something textured) on top of your photo as its own layer, reduce the opacity so that your photo peeks through and then erase away parts of the texture layer where you want your image to remain clear and sharp. These photos were enhanced with some of the textures that TML and Unik Design are giving away.

BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

Sign up to win so you can play too! If you are interested in purchasing new textures, I highly HIGHLY recommend these by Unik Design! They are just gorgeous!

Here's a few other recent random flower shots. I keep taking them, but they haven't been making it off my camera!

randomness & a giveaway!

It has been a super busy around here lately! I've had photos to take and edit, a funeral, house showings, an open house, preschool graduation, and all the usual stuff on top of it all. We are headed to Nebraska tomorrow for a few days to look at houses for the first time. We still don't have an offer on our current house, but we are moving forward regardless. I am so stressed out right now, I can't wait for this to be over!

I wanted to share with you a great GIVEAWAY over at
HomeSpun Threads. She's giving away some super cute "mommy aprons" and some silhouette art. Hop on over and check it out! (the photo is hers - I snagged it to show y'all how cute they are!)

Here are some recent park pictures. I don't think the twins will fit in the same swing together much longer. lol







I am hoping to take you along the house hunting ride with us, so stay tuned!

fyi - a cool giveaway!

Just thought I'd share this great giveaway with you guys! It's over at my friend Heather's blog Fresh Poppy Design.
They are giving away THREE handmade fabric headbands!!! If they get enough entries, they are planning to give away THREE MORE! How fun!!

Hop on over and check it out! Fresh Poppy Design

check it out - I'm doing a GIVEAWAY at {the maternal lens}

Hop on over to The Maternal Lens and sign up to win a new camera strap cover, made by moi!

fyi - a cool giveaway!

My blogger friend Aimee at HomeSpun Threads is doing a giveaway today! The winner wins a custom 8x10 silhouette image! What a great new way to capture your child's precious face! She's so nice, if you win, she's offering to do one of each of you children, should you have more than one!! I'm sooooo signing up for it!

Hop on over, check out the HomeSpun Threads GIVEAWAY and all the other great things she has to share!

artsy-crafty giveaways!

My long lost e-friend, Heather, was a big motivator for me to get off my butt and get back into photography after the twins were born. She is a great photographer in Utah and is crafty in all sorts of ways (she introduced me to digi-scrapping and blogging!) She and her crafty cohort are holding a great giveaway! Hop on over to the Fresh Poppy Design blog and enter to win 3 Fresh Poppy Design quilt patterns!!! Their designs are super cute!!!

And if you haven't already, stop by at the Maternal Lens and sign up for the Tobin art giveaway. We're keeping it open all weekend!

good things

Good news! My friend Jodi had her twins this morning! I am so excited! I think I get more excited when someone else gives birth than when I do! haha! Anyway, she was a little early, but the last report was excellent. Hopefully, I'll get to the hospital for some pictures tomorrow. I'll share all the details then!

Another thing I wanted to share with you was this cute top I made for FREE! Nothing beats FREE!! The church ladies gave me this sweet (vintage?) fabric b/c they couldn't use it for quilting. They couldn't imagine it as anything other than curtains, but I could! I made two little strappy tops for the twins, thinking they would be super sweet with jean shorts. When I tried them on, they were huge! Oh, well. I guess they'll wear them as dresses this year and Sarah can borrow one for a top since it fits her the way I intended it to fit the twins.

It's a super simple design that I made up as I went along. The bodice is just a band that's lined, with loops in the back to feed the straps through. I left the skirt part unlined to give it a real summery look. The fabric has a nice texture to it and it's so girly and simple. (You can click this pic to see the detail if you want...)

One more thing, there's another great GIVEAWAY at The Maternal Lens! It's a fabulous piece of art by Tobin, my favorite artist!! I have a print of one her paintings - you can check it out here. Oh, how I'd love one of the ones we're giving away!!! Go enter. If you win, it would make an excellent gift for your favorite blogger friend! lol

It's another giveaway!!!

The Maternal Lens
is a blog about photography, motherhood, friendship, and all sorts of fun things! We hold nothing back!!!

Today we are doing our first giveaway!!! An awesome knit hat to use on a cute little one for photo shoots or whatever you like!

Hop on over and check it out! Good luck!
http://thematernallens.blogspot.com/

She's giving the gift that lasts a lifetime...

beautiful photos!! My photog friend, Courtney Fisk of Elle Photography, is giving away THREE free photo sessions, with a cd of 5 images!! Her only two requirements are that you live in the Milwaukee, WI area and that you send her a little email. Easy-peasy!

Hop on over to her blog, Elle Photography and share the love!

Good luck!!!

Who doesn't love a giveaway?!

Congrats again VALERIE!!! Hope you love your camera strap cover!


Thought I would share with you bloggers another great giveaway! The super cool nature photographer, Jeremie Hollman, is giving away an 8x10 print, and the best part is that you get to pick it out! He also has an awesome children's book up for grabs! (I happen to have one of the first copies!!) Hop on over to his brand new blog by clicking HERE. He's so nice, he's even giving you 3 different ways to win! Tell him I sent ya and pick out something good!

Here's one of his gorgeous shots that you get to choose from...

Here's the book!

TIME'S UP! camera strap cover GIVEAWAY!!!!!

I've been selling and giving away straps left and right, and now it's your turn to get one! I have this lovely strap that I am giving away to one lucky person! It's lined with fleece for some cushion and will fit (snugly) a standard dslr camera strap.

Leave a comment to this post and I will select a winner randomly at 9pm CST tonight~!