Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened.
Happiness never decreases by being shared.
Taking some time tonight to work on my Buddha Series of photo art. There will be nine in the series and the edited images are just the start of what I hope to create.
Stay tuned as my vision progresses. Since I was little and my Grandparents had a big jolly Buddha on their bar I have been fascinated by them. I am blessed to have a dear friend with a gorgeous garden with a very special Buddha collection I was able to do most of my images from.
Everyone loves Lego...it has been the longest loved toy with all my boys for the past 17 years. In 2014 I hosted a Lego party for Ry at Birch Hill and did this post, which is still heavily visited:
Here is an image from that post as a wee reminder...
It was a great party, and although I tried to keep it simple and inexpensive it was still a fair bit of work, but worth it to me at the time.
Well, this year Ry's birthday was the day after we returned from spring break and was passionate about another Lego party and lucky for me we found the perfect option at our local toy store Vernon Teach and Learn. They recently added a huge Lego collection and an amazing Lego themed birthday room. Now, I have never paid before to have one of my boys parties somewhere, I love hosting and planning but the Lego room at Vernon Teach and Learn and their party packages made it impossible to say no. Ry was literally vibrating with excitement after we did the tour.
He had six class friends and we were able to do it after school one day which made it easy for everyone.
The room was big and the boys were allowed to be as excited and noisy as they liked.
Everything IS Awesome!!!
The Teach and Learn team have done an amazing job putting together a museum downstairs with lots of Lego themed displays. There was a challenge to find the one Lego thing that didn't fit in each zone...the boys enjoyed that. The whoops of joy were so fun especially as they saw rare and very valuable sets put together like the Star Wars Death Star with all the ships. Everyone was calling out to me: "Take a picture for my Dad!!!" Sorry Dads, you will have to go, I couldn't capture it all.
They had hot dogs and juice and fresh popped popcorn and kept busy building cars to race for the ramp and exploring.
Instead of doing goody bags which I tend to spend a lot on we got the party package where they got to create their own mini figure to take home. The boys were so happy with this and worked a very long time creating their figures from a big selection of heads and bodies and hats.
Oh my, there is something so beautiful to my Momma eyes to see Lego so perfectly sorted.
Instead of a traditional cake their package included a visit to the ice cream bar upstairs in Teach and Learn, they serve Marble Slab Creamery ice cream.
The had any flavour they liked and made sundaes...the shop even topped them with chocolate mini figures. No one even noticed their wasn't cake.
What 9 year old boy would miss cake when there was a sprinkle assortment like this he could use as he pleased?
Awesome work Vernon Teach and Learn! Ry was so thrilled and thanked me so much and every one of the boys that attended said they wanted their next birthday party there...that is a big thumbs up all round if you ask me. To be honest I actually spent less than I would hosting myself and had no worries at all except a parking ticket when we finished because no one wanted to leave. The store also gave the birthday boy a nice gift card he got to spend to pick something from the awesome Lego collection upstairs in the store.
Signing off with just a few of the mini figures the boys made to take as their party favour; if you have a Lego lover in your clan whether they be young or old they are sure to love the Lego paradise at Vernon Teach and Learn.
"To invent you need a good imagination and a pile of stuff."
I am working late tonight and I cannot get enough of the cuteness of my last baby session. Shot after shot is making me swoon. As a photographer I am always nervous...capturing people's moments is a huge responsibility. It is a wonderful feeling though as you cull images and find the ones that bring you right back and were so authentic and felt right. This fella was a little gentleman and completely mellow so I took double the time I normally do and overshot as it was so fun. Here are a couple more images...
He munched his cake slowly and enjoyed every little handful methodically. I was adorable. There was hardly a mess at all.
Some babies are born with wise ole souls inside and I believe Troy is special that way. My Noah was and he contemplated everything in an intense but content way. Brown eyes are always so extraordinary. I love seeing how the catch light plays within them and finding just the right spot to capture it.
Back to work and swooning for me. Hope you enjoyed this little gentleman moment friends,
oxo
p.s. I know I said a couple but I just happened up this shot and HAD to share his joy. As a Momma or 3 boys as well this makes me so happy. It takes a lot of effort to keep up the special stuff as your kiddo army grows...this shows exactly why the late nights and selflessness are so worth it sometimes. Amy you are amazing!
The happiest little gentleman came by for a visit today. It is his very 1st birthday, and since I don't have a studio anymore we set up a cake smash session in my kitchen. His Momma made him a special vegan cake and we had the best time watching him enjoy it.
I am working on the edits and tidying up, but I wanted to share this handsome fella right away.
Slowly but surely I am rebranding my work life. Snickerdoodles and Birch Hill Photography are all going to be run under the business name heART key studio. The process has been a bit more complicated and costly than I thought it would. It also seems life keeps me distracted, so like most of my blog work I have been moving forward with baby steps.
The heart key name is really special to me and it was a huge process finding something that felt just right. It works well with everything from my photography and social media consulting to my art work and art lessons. A while back I got an impulsive tattoo and because I have always loved skeleton keys it is a key with a heart opening. Read about it here with the Ink Love post I did at the time. My tattoo was done on a whim yet it still has a lot of meaning to me. Since that time I have received a lot of special key related keepsakes. My new little rental house also has old crystal door knobs with skeleton keys and that makes it feel like it is where I need to be right now.
So, when another business opened locally with the Birch Hill name and I was motivated to rebrand I definitely wanted to use a key as part of my logo. I am trying to follow my heart in all I pursue from here on in, and also have an fine art degree and want to get back into making art for arts sake so heart key just came to me. I worked in the beginning with a great local designer but unfortunately she had to leave the project so I went ahead and found my ideal font and drew up what I was thinking. A friend and SUP amigo Kevin who happens to be a graphics whiz made it come to life in illustrator for me within an hour of our computer pow wow.
So that is the start friends. I have yet to make a couple small colour changes or design a card but this was a huge step.
My first photography clients to have this watermark on their images happened to be utterly adorable babies.
Oh yes...they are twins. Daniel and Rachel were a joy to capture even though it is a tricky age with all the head bobbing and not quite being able to sit up.
There is lots more to come with the playful new watermark and logo and I also did a soft opening of a new facebook business page under the heART key studio brand so please take a visit and join that sharing space.
I am hoping by the summer all 1040 fans of the Snickerdoodles facebook page move over to the heART key page so I can wean my shares down to one business page. I am so grateful for the Snickerdoodles following and all the social media support I have had. You all are the best!
This twins image received over 1772 views on the Snickerdoodles facebook page and a recent share is almost at 11 000 views. Being in the social media business that is not an easy task these days. Facebook controls so much over who sees what and when. So I am keeping my fingers crossed I can keep all my lovely loyal readers through this transition. I will try my bestest not to nag too much.
Keep working on sorting the house and purging since the last move.
Finish rebranding and re-launching my social media, photography and work life in general.
Immerse myself in barre/ballet along with my yoga, and get over my hump in the drums learning curve that caused me to give up a while.
Catch up on life, bills, thank-you notes and postcards to show I care.
Let go and just be open to everything good I dream of feeling.
Be truly present and strong for my boys, they are my treasures.
I should probably clarify a few things that happened in my busy work season which I keep getting asked about...
I did not open a shop with my Birch Hill business name...I WISH it was mine. It is a lovely space on the main street with a studio that sells all the things I would want to sell if I were able to have a store right now. It was a really hard thing to swallow but an honest mistake by the owner. She isn't from the Okanagan, and I have moved on.
Birch Hill was the house we built I had to leave so this was probably a nudge I needed that just happened to come along at the worst possible time of year. It was definitely an expense I could have done without, but everything happens for a reason. My new logo was done in the nick of time to go to the recent wedding show as I am diving back into the world of photography. Cards and other materials I am having to rebrand are in the works. The new look and name will be ready to show off very soon. I do have work for sale in the new Birch Hill Studio shop too...a large painting and lots of the concrete word art from EachanOriginal. I cannot say enough how much I love that local company and collaborating with them for work has been amazing. Check out their Word for the Year concept...pick your word and put it where you see it everyday...make it a reality.
Next clarification...
I did not get married again!
I do not even have a separation agreement yet. The image that appeared in Okanagan Woman Magazine was something I did for friends for a glamour & glitz submission that happened to get used in a wedding feature. The ironic thing was the day I heard it drop through my mail slot and saw it the first time was the day that would have been my 21st wedding anniversary. I was a little taken aback but flattered they used it. Most of all I was honored to show off the work of my talented friends who dolled me up for the shoot and had their work featured. I have been stopped quite a bit in random places like the gym saying they saw my wedding picture and it is really embarrassing but worth a giggle at this point. The headline was Dreams Come True... I dearly hope my bride fail doesn't jinx anyone else because of this...sending loving thoughts out to all you brides to be.
Obviously 2015 went out with a bang of odd things for me (like above), unexpected car issues, some chaos and bills galore. So far I am settling into 2016 in a much nicer way. I hope you too are excited about this New Year and all the wonderful opportunities to grow and learn it can bring.
That was a short & sweet update as I need to get back to the last of my Birch Hill photography edits before the new name and logo launch. I am working at some art images to be printed on canvases and a while back visiting a special family I was moved to capture this deeply loved Teddy for them.
The big move is next week and I have to admit I don't enjoy the relocation process one bit!
In between packing and organizing I am still trying to balance some playtime with the kids and of course, some work. Besides teaching SUP with SUPendipity, I am still doing social media and photography work. Here are a few images from some shoots this summer.
A little shoot for a social media client that Tom was rather interested in. BackCountry Blooms in Lumby grow the most beautiful assortment of flowers. Molly and Amie, the gardening divas behind the operation do bouquets, weddings and also cut flowers by the bucket so you can create however you like. The flowers are unique and last extremely well.
Recently I had a Gypsy inspired longtable dinner and here are some quick Instagram images of what I got from BackCountry Blooms and how I used them...
I am far from a floral designer but the flowers were so stunning it was easy to combine them in fun ways in mason jars and assorted vases. At the end of the night I sent all the girls home with some as a take away gift.
FarmBound is another dual client. Social media and photography, I love how they work together. FarmBound also happens to be another Lumby business run by two hard working female entrepreneurs committed to supporting farmers and bringing amazing locally grown goodies right to you. They are now even servicing beyond the North Okanagan and doing Northern BC as well as the UCBO Campus. I adore helping with them with social media and getting a food box at my door step so creating some images of my weekly delivery was a joy.
Working with people is fantastic but sometimes having food to shoot still life style is so calming. After I captured the images I needed of the basic FarmBound box I couldn't resist spending a long while more just taking images of the produce.
Vegetables are fascinating to look at closely.
Then I had a delicious idea. I took some of the fresh herbs from my FarmBound box...
And some of these lovely organic raspberries...
And added them to a pitcher of alkalized water with sliced organic lemon from my FarmBound produce box for a fresh infused raspberry, mint water to fight the summer heat....
One last bit of veggie porn. This purple kohlrabi is absolutely gorgeous, I had to give it a bit of velvety love in photoshop...
Ah, I am so grateful to be able to work in a way I can be a present Mom and also work with dynamic and inspiring local businesses. Today I shared the offerings of two awesome local clients and soon I will share some images of the wonderful families I had the honour of documenting.
Last years taxes are all officially submitted...can I get a standing ovation? I actually don't deserve one at all as I am the worst procrastinator in history when it comes to that part of being self-employed. So glad to be done though.
And tomorrow I get to start a new adventure. I am doing my Stand Up Paddle Instructors training and certification all weekend, so tonight I am tying up all loose ends. This session has been a joy to work on and when I drop off the files I am going to be sure to bring my camera for some more Miles cuddles and shots just because he makes me happy.
As promised here are a few more images from my first visit with little Miles...
I think every Momma needs a minimalist type baby feet shot to have printed on a canvas. They really are one of the cutest parts of newborns and change in a wink. Here is one of the compositions I did for Nicole and Dan.
Miles did not want to sleep...he was much too curious, but sweetly happy.
This is actually a blink captured to look like sleep when I had just about given up. Look at his milky little lips...swoon.
These adorable sock monkeys are a very special part of the images because their Grandma made a unique one for each of her Grandchildren. These three brothers melt my heart, bringing me back to eight years ago when mine were holding Ryan as a newborn. A trio of boys can be absolute monkeys so the gifts are the perfect keepsake for them to grow up with.
So happy for this wonderful family.
oxo
April 27, 2015
In celebration of my favourite flower blooming now, I created an image quote for you all. Feel free to share but a photo credit to www.snickerdoodles.ca is appreciated, I did not watermark this image. I am still using Birch Hill Photography as my business name but not running any social media with it.
Ranuculus are not easy to find here normally. In the spring I always look forward to nurturing some plants in pots and watching them bloom. They grow from bulbs but as of yet I have never been organized enough to get them in the ground in time.
Happy Monday friends, oxo
Feel like procrastinating with some more beautiful imagery? Visit my Pinterest boards with heaps of related images.
A new baby is like the beginning of all things - wonder, hope, a dream of possibilities.
~Eda J LeShan
I could not wait to download these files after working with baby Miles today. There are many more images to come but here is just a sneak peek of how precious this new little person is.
Master Miles was a perfect gentleman and didn't poo or pee on me once, which is rare in a newborn session. Yet, he was also very sociable and not wanting to sleep or stop stretching out his baby grasshopper legs. Sigh... hence this shot with the strategic watermark over his little man parts. Capturing this monkey when he wasn't watching me intently was next to impossible. Not that I minded his magical little gaze, he had me swooning with his baby charm the whole time.
Now back to work and stay tuned for more newbie sweetness when I finish this session in the coming days.
