Alright, my long-suffering followers (if any of y’all are still out there). I know I’ve been MIA for a while now, and I can’t guarantee it won’t happen again. I have some pretty serious health issues having to do with … Continue reading
CAN YOU SEE ME NOW?
We went on vacation before I had a chance to post some final edits for my dear friends, The {C} Family’s session. I’ve watched the {C} family grow from two parents and four kids, to an added daughter-in-law and son-in-law and a much, much, MUCH adored grandson with another already loved grandbaby on the way. I can honestly say, I love this family!
I will tell you now, this family was SO much fun. If I asked them to jump… they did it with gusto. If I said, “Hold on, checking settings real quick.” They switched facial expressions with each shutter click (I didn’t really “see” those until the editing process, lol). They were so much fun, and they are most definitely an all-around fun family who makes a good time wherever they go.
I know, I disappeared on y’all. Â Where, pray tell, have I been? Well… my family and I went on a vacation/trip. We traveled for two weeks to see family and friends throughout Utah and Colorado. I did some photo sessions for said friends and family for fun, went to several theme parks and just had an all-around good time.
Part of me wanted to make sure I had posts scheduled and ready to go while I was gone, but that just didn’t happen. And I was okay with that. I used to kill myself trying to do all these things before I went out of town. If you haven’t already seen, I have five kids… getting all of them ready along with myself and my hubby to go on a trip is a bit like mobilizing an army of easily distracted puppies. I’m usually grabbing things and packing right up until we walk out the door. As you can imagine, throwing in blog posts and such before leaving can just make life that much more… crazy.
A couple years ago, my hubby and I sat down, at his insistence, and talked about my tendency to just… overdo it. After some pretty major health scares that kept me pretty much confined to a bed for several months, we both decided that my family and my health is much more important than worrying about blog posts, and that vacation time, was to be just that – VACATION. So, while I take my laptop and camera with me… photos aren’t really edited, blog posts aren’t set up and I try to avoid too much time online whether on Facebook, Pinterest or trolling through my emails. Sometimes, it helps that we have limited internet access while out of town, too. 😀
So, I’m sorry for the two week long silence, but as you can see… time with my family is so much more important to me. That being said. I’ll have some posts about projects I worked on while gone (because hello… lots of time traveling in a van gives one lots of time to work on small projects, read and torment my children), photos I took, sessions I did and thoughts on life with five boys (six if you count my husband). Stay tuned for more!
You may remember my previus post on this session… if not, the link to it is below. These kids were so much fun… even the little one who was not happy with me laying him down on the grass. He was very vocal in his protests, lol. And never forget how difficult it can sometimes be to get everyone looking at the same spot at the same time… no matter how much noise you make, lol. But all in all, this shoot with these rambunctious kids has been one of my favorite to date. I’m so glad I got to spend an hour or so with my friend and her daughters and grandbabies. I hope you enjoy these pictures as much as I did. 😀
Recently I had the opportunity to display and sell my wares and talents at the Belly Swap Sale and Hafla. Every year Shifting Sands hosts a belly swap where vendors and members can bring in their wares, their costumes they no longer use, jewelry and many other items having to do with belly dancing and not having to do with it. The amazing ladies in my troupe, Seraphina Fire, are not only talented in their dancing, but we’re all pretty crafty as well.
Seraphine Fire purchased vendor space, and set up shop.
It wouldn’t be Seraphina Fire if there weren’t a few… shenanigans.
And this year, I actually left with more money than I spent… though not much, lol.
I’ve recently realized that there are a lot of beads in my collection that I just don’t have a specific use for. Back when I first started making jewelry for myself (and eventually others) I’d just buy whatever beads caught my eye, or what was required for a special order or gift… and then some. The extras went into generic slots in a few of my bins – usually organized by color or type (i.e. Swarovski Crystal… which I ALWAYS need more of).
Now, Â I Â only buy what I will use… whether I have a flash of an idea for that bead/piece or I am getting something specifically for an order. I’ve been thinking of possibly selling off some of the random beads in batches, and I still might. But one of my kids asked me to make him a Shamballa bracelet… and I hadn’t ever made one before, so I looked it up. They’re actually pretty easy to make in my opinion, and I had it made in a matter of minutes for him. But it got me to thinking on all this cotton crochet thread I have that would work wonderfully with this and other bracelet techniques… so I pulled out my random bins and started making bracelets. In just a day, I’ve made ten different bracelets of varying color combinations (not even close to exhausting my color choices, lol).
So, what do you think? Would you buy these?
Happy Day After 4th of July to all my American friends, and those living in the States. Hope your day was full of BarBQues, popsicles, drinks and fireworks!
Living in Las Vegas, there is an almost endless list of places that set off their own fireworks… From the Air Force Base, to the various “Locals” Hotels, to the three cities encapsulated in the Las Vegas Valley, and even one more city that’s just past the valley, the choices are almost limitless. Normally, we attend the Air Force Base’s 4th of July celebration. There are toys, games, water slides, bouncy houses… food, or you can bring your own… and a spectacular fireworks display.
Here is a pulled back picture from the show last year.
Yes, I AM under an airplane… I believe this one is under their display of the Stealth Bomber. I usually move a bit more forward, but I wanted a reference of where we were sitting.
Unfortunately, this year there was no celebration at the base due to sequestering. So, we had to figure out a different activity this year.
A family friend lives across the street from one of the city parks that the city celebrations are held at, and her backyard has a great view of the fireworks. Not so great for photos as there are power lines, lights and power poles obscuring part of the view of the fireworks. So, being as it was the first time I’ve ever shot the pictures from her backyard (I usually set up my camera in the perfect spot at the base to get clear shots, lol) there was a bit of a learning curve… especially considering my hubby just bought me a newer, upgraded camera body (cue squees and happy dancing…). So, here are a few shots I got from the show this year. Enjoy!
When this family contacted me for a large family session, including their kids and grandchild, I couldn’t resist.
We met up at Lake Las Vegas and had so much fun wandering all over picking spots for full family shots, couple shots, smaller family and individual shots. We took so many pictures it’s really hard to pick just a few for their Sneak Peek. But, I gave it a try.
Thanks for letting me goof off with y’all that day!
CMe Boutique 