I'm soooo Lucky....

to get to work with some of the coolest families. These guys rocked! Totally neat to hang with and grandma just happened to be there too! Twin babies, nearly 4 year old and them. Isn't the mom gorgeous??? Wow! Here's a sample..... My first commercial shoot in two weeks! Yippee

Nothing Like a Bit of Balance

So I learnt from Cathy Z this weekend!~ Crafting Connection was awesome, wonderful to just hang out with friends and new acquaintances. Met sooo many great people....and fell in love with Cathy Z and Donna Downey all over again! Always been a huge fan of theirs....to met them in real life was just awesome. Ali E I wasn't sure about....BUT WOW! is she neat or what???? Nic Howard was soooo tiny and sooo slim, I couldn't believe that girl eats chocolate! Will post some pics tomorrow once I've looked at them myself! Got the latest issue of Up2 in the mail today....very wet....and loved all the work from soooo many talented Australasian chicks...but mine was printed only as a single page...on a double layout...and as all you "Cathy Z" fans know, that is NOT balance. So Here it is in all its' simple glory. I love all the BUSY that is happening on layouts at the mo....but it ain't me and Cathy just reinforced for me that my first love is to tell the story....it isn't about the design or being the best, loudest, one with the most stuff....it's about leaving the legacy and memories. That is what i want to do more of. Thanks CZ for reminding me what it is all about....and Donna for making me never look at my builder husband's drill (and I mean DRILL girls!) the same again!!! LOL!

OH YES...that is the answer!

So I study for 3 hours each night (every night!) to perfect my art. I think, talk, breathe this.....then I get some dumb response from someone viewing my portfolio. This says it all........ There was a man who was an avid photographer. He had just returned from vacation and was visiting friends for dinner. While there, he shared his vacation photos with them. They were awed by the great images he captured. Finally, the woman of the house said to him, "Those are great photos. You must have a really great camera." The man just smiled and nodded. As the man was preparing to leave, he graciously thanked the host. Then he said, "That was a great dinner. You must have really great pots and pans." Hope they invite me for a meal sometime soon! On to other things....Crafting Connection is on next weekend but gotta say, wish I had not booked to go. Have a list of other things I'd rather be doing (or should I say buying) at the moment. Yes I'll go and have a great time....and fall in love all over again with Cathy Z style but I think it is time to hang up the scrapbooking hat. Looking forward to just doing pages for the kids....doing anything I want. Massive scrapbooking cleanout coming on tomorrow. Stamps, Papers, etc, etc, etc,....all going to get moved out to the big "Trademe" house. I feel like a purge, a change. The end of books, mags, inks, embellishments, magazine deadlines. I feel so.........light! Yippee!!!

My Little Boy

Is soon to be a Big School Boy. Too sad! My little buddy will be off to school and the house will be quiet....which actually isn't true as I have heaps of work booked to photograph kids...so guess it will still be chaos and noise but not the same without my sidekick. His new haircut has made him look so grown up. Crafting Connection! For my international buddies...I get to meet Donna Downey and Ali Edwards BUT also Cathy Z (whose work I have always adored!). I've done NO homework...I mean absolutely none, not even read it so it will be a rush job after I finish proofing this week....then on to the plane and off I go. Two days of scrapping, chatting, photographing fun. Yippeee. Will be so neat to meet some of you in person!