Challenge 4: Portraits (Tips, Tricks, and Challenges)

Well I am way behind on this one, but I guess it is better late than never right. I love taking portraits, but I sometimes find it difficult to find people who are willing to sit for more than a photo or two and so I don't get much practice or many shots to work with. Most of the following ones I just got lucky on...I have lots of not so lucky ones too. The only really willing subject I have is my dog who will sit for hours if I have a treat or a toy. :)

I shot the portrait above a few weekends ago at my cousin's wedding. I took lots of pictures to get this amazing photo and I love how it turned out. :)


This is my aunt and her new dog, Buddy. He is the sweetest little thing you will ever meet and I wanted to show the special relationship that these two have.

This is my dog Bailey. One of my favorite things to do on a summer day is take her outside and take a gazillion photos of her...at least she doesn't mind. To get this shot, I was holding her favorite new toy over my head and snapping away as she looked at it longingly. Then after a few shots, we played catch for awhile and started shooting again.

This is my other super cute cousin at the wedding a few weeks ago. Isn't she adorable?

My sister and her fiancee...again at the wedding...it was a gorgeous old mansion and both the inside and outside were wonderful for taking pictures.

My dad at the wedding...I really love this picture of him, even with the bit of glasses glare. :)


This is my cousin at our family 4th of July barbecue and pool party. My aunt let me play with her zoom lens and I was able to capture this sweet shot.

My mom at the pool. This is probably my favorite portrait I have taken all summer. She looks so relaxed and happy and she looks beautiful as well!


My self portrait...this was taken this summer in Disney as I was walking around the World Showcase at Epcot all by myself and of course I had to get a picture of myself in each country. :) This is my favorite one...the dreamy look of Italy behind me is a great look.

This is our sweet little neighbor boy. He and I were playing around with my dog and I captured this shot of him. I really like the angle of it and it shows his fun personality.
Another great shot of our neighbor boy...this one is more thoughtful and sincere. I really like it with just the clouds in the background. I was sitting on the ground for both of these photos and looking up at him. Its a great natural backdrop for stunning summer portraits! :)

Scrappin' Up a Storm

Have you ever heard the expression "When it rains, it pours"? Well this little phrase just about sums up my scrapping world this month. It started when I joined two online classes, which are very different from each other but compliment each other beautifully! One is Got Sketch 102 from the fabulously talented Valerie Salmon and Janna Wilson with 2 new page sketches every week and lots of bonuses along with a weekly chat. The other is Product Playground 2 from Big Picture Scrapbooking, taught by Lisa Damarosh. This class is all about using your stash (which I have accumulated over the years) specifically edgy products, fabric and felt inspired products, office supplies, glitter!, stickers, and lettering. It has been awesome digging into my stuff and finding new (old) stuff to play with and find new uses or looks for! The best part of these classes is that I can create layouts that work for both classes and I don't have to do 2 seperate layouts each time...which rocks because I am uber-busy this month with everything else in life too.
Then about 2 weeks ago I ran into my friend Janet who I used to know from Luv2Scrapbook at Curves. We got talking and she told me about the card-making ministry at her church, which just happens to be my church as we found out! So last night I went to my first meeting for that and now will be making 50+ cards for the ministry at church, for birthdays in our church family as well as new babies, deaths, and other prayer requests. This is so totally a God thing because I have been asking Him to show me how I can use this creative scrappy talent for His glory and this just kinda fell into my lap. :) Gotta love it when that happens!
Then on Monday at school I was talking to one of our Kindergarten teachers who is also a scrapper and she told me about a scrapbook retreat that she and another teacher are going on from our school. So I, of course, hopped on board and in 3 weeks I will be heading to an all-weekend crop to scrap my heart out! Which is also awesome because I have wanted to get together and scrap with these ladies for awhile but our schedules have never worked out...so this is perfect! Also a bit weird because I haven't actually gone to a crop anywhere since last summer (2007)!
And to top it all off, my fabulous friend Rebekeh is coming to scrap all day on Saturday!!! :) 12ish hours of scrappping bliss...complete with a trip to Archivers! She is such a fun gal to scrap with and she comes over and helps me use my stuff and creates fabulous pages!!!! :) So I am super excited for that but I gotta get my scrap room cleaned...right now it is a disaster but on Friday night it will be awesomely clean! :)
Plus, I just bought a new Cricut cartridge..."Doodlecharms"...and I can't WAIT to play with it!!! :D

Scrappin' Weekend

Wow! This weekend sure went fast! I spent most of the weekend scrapbooking for my two new online classes and I got a lot done. Two single pagers, one double pager, 2 cards, and a good start on another 2 pager. :)

My classes are going awesome! I am totally luvin' Product Playground 2 from Big Picture Scrapbooking and playing with all my edgy products to create fun and energetic pages. We had a chat on Friday night and I spent almost 3 hours online with my fellow scrappers talking about everything under the sun, from our edgy products to favorite techniques and organization techniques. :)

My second class is a sequel to a class I took back in June. Got Sketch 102, taught by Valerie Salmon and Janna Wilson, is just as good as Got Sketch 101. We got our first sketch today and I am well on my way to having my layout completed.

Now I am anxious to get home tomorrow night to finish my page and upload some of my favorite photos here.