Just thought I’d share a couple of cards I made today using Stampin’ Up!’s new Designer Series Paper. I love this paper and love that the designs are on both sides. I wanted to show the dual-sided paper in this first one, so I did a little oragami folding to come up with this design. Very simple and very generic for any occassion!

On this next card, the little brown strip of paper actually extends further to the right to create a little “tab.” I didn’t quite know how to show this since I scanned it. Also, the brown square and the red heart on top of it are on the inside of the card. That’s a cut-out square on top. I also added the black frame around it just so you can see the dimensions. Make sense? Again, super simple.

I really don’t remember being as confident and “put together” when I was in high school as the senior girls I’ve been photographing lately. Seriously, you’re beautiful, Michelle!

Launch Date: June 1, 2009

Get ready to join me and many fabulous, talented women as we keep the Simple Scrapbooks philosophy going strong. More details soon.

Have I mentioned how much I love senior sessions? Here’s a little sneak peek for Jessica and her mom…

And just how cute is that dimple??

I have a whole long list of “Ryan quotes” that I’ve been updating on a daily basis. That kid seriously cracks me up with the things he says. I decided to make a layout about my FAVORITE thing he says almost daily to me. I used Stampin’ Up!’s Designer Series Paper and new Jumble Alphabet stamp set (which is 20% off right now!), simply because the mis-matched letters make it possible to pretty much create what you want without messing it up.

I don’t usually use stamps to create titles and large elements on my pages, but I decided to step out of the box. Super easy, super fun, and a layout I’ll cherish forever.

Because I get to create photos like this:

Last night I was sitting here at the computer and all of a sudden thought, “Oh yeah…I have a blog!” Just one of those weeks where activities overrun everything. So what have we been up to? Planting a garden, dealing with sick kids (again), photoshoots, trips to the dentist, grocery shopping, hair cuts, and potty training. So how are each of those going? Well, let’s see…

1. Planting a garden: Matt and I have planned for a couple of years now to have a garden, so this year we got serious. I went to a gardening class in our neighborhood and learned a lot. We’ve spent the last couple of weeks weeding, tilling, planting, watering, etc. We knew NOTHING about planting a garden so we tapped into two trusty resources (my mom and Matt’s dad).

2. Dealing with sick kids: Just when you think the cold and flu season is over, leave it to my immune-less children to keep getting sick. Ryan is finally better, but right now Kyler is dealing with a cough, runny nose, and what looks like the signs of pink eye.

3. Photoshoots: High School Senior and Wedding seasons are in full swing again. I can’t wait to share some of my recent shoots, but for now here’s a sneak peek for the N family:

4. Trips to the Dentist: As you may remember, I attempted to take Ryan to the dentist about a year ago. He wouldn’t let anyone near his mouth, so we called it a “happy visit.” This time we talked about it for days before he went and he actually did really well! I neglected to tell the dental hygenist that he has a sensitive gag reflex, so the minute something was put in his mouth he threw up all over the place. Nice. So after it was cleaned up we tried again and he did great.

5. Grocery Shopping: Okay, I’m obsessed with Pinching Your Pennies. Have you all heard of this? It takes some time to figure out, and I spend a good couple hours per week getting my grocery lists together, but it’s so worth it in the end. I love coming home and telling Matt how much money I saved–like HUNDREDS of dollars a month.

6. Hair Cuts: I surprised Matt the other day by taking the boys to get haircuts. Kyler has never had a professional haircut before and has not had his hair cut at all since the head-shaving disaster of ‘08. He pretty much screamed the whole time, but ended up looking like this:

And just how stinkin’ cute is this next photo? Matt was just coming home from work. Can you guess what the boys are telling him? “Daddy! Daddy! We got haircuts!”

7. Potty Training: Oh gosh. I’m not sure I’m ready to talk about the trauma of this experience yet. Basically about three weeks ago I rented “Once Upon a Potty” at the library and we all sat down and watched it together as a family. Afterwards I pulled out the little potty and Ryan sat down and went. For the next three nights I put him in underwear and he stayed dry all night. We thought it was the beginning of success. Um…no. It has been HARD to say the least. It has involved piles and piles of laundry, the constant changing of sheets, and even an episode of me on my hands and knees in the middle of the grocery store cleaning up a puddle of potty. We’ve tried every kind of bribe and threat you can imagine, and the bottom line is that Ryan simply doesen’t care. He would sit in wet pants the entire day if he had to. He simply finds something else to do if he can’t play Wii or his Leapster. But for the first time just today Ryan has stayed dry all day and actually told me when he needed to go. Oh, please let this be the turning point! I can’t spend any more money on cans of carpet cleaner. And I’d really like to be able to show my face at the grocery store again.

Thank you sooooo much everyone for the comments left about Kyler and the leash (which I’ve discovered now is technically called a “harness”–just to be a little more PC). I actually kind of expected most everyone to say “ugh, that’s so mean!” but not one person did! And you’re all so right…who cares what other people think? I’ve always had a problem worrying about what others think of me, but I’ve gotta let stuff like that just slide off my back from now on. I’m still not 100% sure what I’m going to do with the little monkey yet, but whatever it is I’m sure lots of screaming will be involved because that kid hates to be tied down to anything!

On a completely unrelated note, I wanted to address a little of the business side of photography. I know that many of you are just getting into photography and are starting a business or maybe thinking about it for the future. So this little rant is for you as well as for my past clients.

Recently I totally revamped my pricing structure. It used to be that I’d charge a flat fee and give the client the CD with the photos on it. After all, this is what most people want and I thought that I could maybe get the “upper edge” on the over-saturated Utah photography business. As of a couple of months ago, I no longer offer a CD with the photos. And guess what…I’ve lost clients. It’s been hard for me to swallow, but I’m slowly gaining a whole different set of clients that appreciate WHY I only offer prints. And here is WHY:

• I hate the fact that my photos, that I’ve worked hard to create and edit, are ALL over the internet now–in emails, blogs, facebook pages, etc.
• I know of a couple of clients who have some Photoshop capability and have altered (in minor and major ways) the photos I have given them. Makes me cringe a little bit.
• I don’t like going into past client’s homes and seeing a photo I’ve taken hanging on their wall that they had printed at the cheapest place they could find. The colors are off, the exposure is bad and it looks so dull.
• I don’t like clients calling me and telling me that they are so unhappy with me because of how their print turned out that they had printed at some cheap store (which has happened).

Now, I’m not totally oblivious to the fact that we are living in a digital world and digital photos are kind of essential this day and age. So I’ve decided that I will offer my clients ONE photo on CD (with a minimum print order) to use for announcements or to use for profile photos on Facebooks, blogs, MySpace, etc.

Anyway, congratulations if you’ve made it this far through my rambling. I just feel like there are three major parts to being a good professional photographer: the photography, the post-processing, and the business side of things (which I’m obviously still getting a good grasp of).

So hopefully that helped some budding photographer out there.

Today I had to go to two different stores that didn’t have shopping carts available, which means I was trying to keep two wild boys in tow while juggling my purchases. Ryan at age 3 is pretty good about staying with me, but Kyler at age 23 months is a monkey, to say the least. He walks right out the front doors into the street, he runs down the aisles and disappears. He crawls under displays, tables, racks, etc. He picks up things off the shelves and throws them. Every time I leave the store I’m practically in tears and SO very mad.

Today I finally said, “That’s it. We’re getting a leash.” So you know what I’m talking about, right? Those leashes that keep kids close to the parent? Those leashes that I SWORE up and down I would NEVER subject my child to? Those leashes that I have always considered cruel and unusal. But I’ve hit rock bottom.

So I want to know your opinion. Do I endure the stares and scowls from people that think I’m a horrible mother for putting my kid on a leash? Or do I let him run wild and risk having him kidnapped or run over by a car?  Or do I just never leave my house? Seriously, let’s take a poll.

By the way…I haven’t run this idea by Matt yet, and I’m kind of thinking he’d be opposed to it. Right, Matt?

And he looks so cute and innocent…

We had quite a task getting this sweet little baby to sleep. Her mom would rub the bridge of her nose and shush into her ear. Finally we were able to get her calm. I’m pretty sure her mom was worried that we didn’t get any good photos since she was pretty fussy. But I think we did just fine…

I don’t know what it is about this first photo, but I love it so much. Probably because it’s just so…pink.

Yeah…I definitely need a girl…