Click it up a Notch Giveaway

Hello Everyone!

You all know how much I love photography.  I would love to have all the little tools, lenses, etc. to go with this love.  But alas, money is definitely an issue.  However, I am now entered into a giveaway for a great lens from Tamron.  It is a 18-270mm.  Would love, love this lens.  If you would like to enter this fabulous giveaway, go over to click it up a notch to enter.  Good luck everyone.

PS.  Getting closer on the craft room reveal.  Waiting for the weather to be close to warm enough to spray paint a couple of things.  Hopefully soon.

I Heart Faces Photo Challenge- "Bust a Gut"

Hello Everyone!

Happy Monday!  Once again it's time for I Heart Faces photo challenge. This time it is called "Bust a Gut".  In other words, big time laughter.  I had the perfect picture but it was from the "before digital" ages.  So I searched through my more recent pictures and found this one of my daughter and a couple of her friends.  We were at a girl's camp with some of our Christian friends.  Several were taking turns giving the younger girls a ride on a jet ski.  The weather was a bit chilly and the water cold.  I think I caught this picture as the girls felt the full power of the cold water.  You know kids though, they were just out to have fun.  They didn't care if their toes turned blue!

So there you have it, my addition to the photo challenge "Bust a Gut". This is by no means a professional picture; just a moment caught in time. Hope you enjoyed it and that it put a smile on your face as well. Until next time...

Have a blessed day,

maggie jane

So today is my Birthday!

Hello Everyone!

Today is my birthday.  How old you ask?  I would like to say 25 or maybe even 39 but I have to admit to turning 41 today.  In my mind I still feel 25 (some days) but my body is reminding me not to kid myself and that 25 was a long time ago. I have had a blessed life so far.  I have a wonderful husband and two great kids.  Along with many family members and friends.  There have been tough times but many great times as well.  I am trying to learn each day what the Lord has for me and how to better serve Him.  This last week we have been trying some new things in our home in the area of discipline, communication and working together to love and respect each other better.  I'm really excited about how it is going so far.  I do know that the Devil is out to tear down families so we have been talking about being on our guard to not let him discourage us from our goal.  I'm hoping and praying we can stay on the mark, as it were.

I have been thinking about my mom today.  She was my age when she had me.  I look at my life now and can't image having another baby.  To top it off, she already had 5 children.  Fortunately for her, us kids were pretty spread out so she had older children to help take care of me.  I only have two children and as we've been working on things this week I have had more respect for what my mom must have had to go through raising 6 kids.  I thought I had a picture of my mom holding me when I was a small infant but I couldn't come up with it for this post.  Instead, I found one of me when I was a couple months old.

Cute! Right? I can't believe how big my eyes were.

So what are my big plans for the day?  Well, I'm not sure.  We are having around 60 people over for dinner tonight.  I know, your thinking, "WOW!"  Don't get me wrong.  I'm not cooking for that many.  And, it isn't for my birthday.  We are having a hot dog cook-out for some friends from out-of-town along with some local ones. Everyone is bringing a part of the dinner so it won't be too bad.  My hubby said we would celebrate next week.  He did sneak off to the store early this morning to get "breakfast items".  We'll see if he comes home with anything extra. (flowers) ;)  He did already take me out to dinner earlier in the week.  Also, he is making me an new cutting table/craft table for my sewing room.  Didn't I tell you he was wonderful? ;)  Anyway, I have been in the process of organizing all my junk creative materials.  Stay tuned for an update of that project.  I can't wait to show you.  I forgot to take before, before pictures but I did get a few before it all got cleaned up.  I'll get some of the finished project and then share.  It may be after Thanksgiving before I can get it all done.

Well, I better go see if he made it back from the store and get breakfast started for the over-night company we had.  Stay tuned for the sewing room update and maybe more of our weekend.  Until next time...

Have a blessed day,

maggie jane

Cheyenne - Senior Photos

Hello Everyone!

Just dropping in to show you a few shots from a photo shoot I did on Saturday.  I took senior pictures for a friend of mine.  I took almost 200 pictures.  We went to several locations around town and just had a lot of fun. I will show you a few of my favorites.  Someone suggested that I start a business on the side doing portraits.  My immediate answer was, "No way."  I have to admit, that I've always dreamed of being able to do portraits professionally.  However, ever since the suggestion was made, I've thought more seriously about trying to get a few jobs on the side.  I would prefer senior pictures, engagement pictures or family pictures.  No weddings at this point.  So without further ado, here are a few of my favorites.

This was the look near the end of our time.  Can you tell she was tired of smiling?

This is just a small number of my favorites.  She was an easy person to photograph as she has an easy, ready smile.  Thanks, Chey, for letting me "shoot" you!  Now comes the fun part for her and her mom.  Deciding which one to get enlarged and framed for the wall.  :)  If I do end up getting some jobs, I'll try to share some of those.  I have a few feelers out with people so we'll see if I get any calls.
So until next time...

Have a blessed day,

maggie jane

Sock Bun Curls

Hello Everyone!

Tried something new the other day.  I had been perusing Pinterest (doesn't everyone do this now?) when I came across this new method for curling hair.  My hair is pretty long (to my waist) and very thick.  I wasn't sure if it would work for me but decided to give it a try.  I thought I'd saved the link that tells how to do this but I can't find it right now.  There are several on Youtube if you want to see a video demonstration how-to.  Anyway, the idea is to put up a high ponytail and then roll it in a sock that has had the end cut off and then rolled into a donut shape.  Sounds complicated but it actually is pretty easy.  Now like I said, my hair is long and thick so I didn't think one ponytail would work.  I parted my hair down the middle and put it into two ponytails.  Can you guess what I looked like?

Yep!  Minnie Mouse!  When I came out of the bathroom my hubby got a good laugh and asked what in the world was I doing?  I told me and he just shook his head and chuckled again.  The lengths we women go to to look good.  Vanity, vanity, all is vanity!  Ha, Ha!

So you ask, "Did it work?"  Yes, it did.  It wasn't real tight, last for days type curls that I get out of sponge rollers but it gave nice body and just what I was looking for for a day in town.  (It ended up being really windy so I put my hair up with just the ends hanging down with the curl. Perfect.)

These next pictures are courtesy of my 10yr old want-to-be photographer.

 
This method of curling was much faster to do than my normal method of using sponge curlers.  I didn't like putting my hair in high ponytails though. You know the feeling when your hair gets "moved" from it's normal position for a few hours and then the soreness that happens when you take it down?  That is what I was feeling almost all day.  That  I didn't like. I tried it again later in the week with one ponytail mounted a little lower on my head (more normal position) and then separated the hair into two sections and rolled those up.  This was much more comfortable.  It didn't curl quite as much but I think it was because I did it right after I washed it and I don't think I got it dry enough.  So, this will be my new mode of curling if I'm in a hurry.  I don't think I will pitch the sponge curlers just yet but now I have choices.  Every women's dream, choices!

So go give it a try and let me know what you think.  If you come up with any other tips, pass them on.

So until next time...

Have a blessed day,

maggie jane

Velkommen (Welcome)

Hello Everyone!

Just wanted to pop in with a quick project that I did for a be-lated birthday present.  With all the wedding happenings, I missed a friend's birthday.  I wanted to make her something but was in debate with myself as to what to do.  I have been wanting to try painting on fabric using the freezer paper method that so many have blogged about lately.  I found a great tutorial over at I am Momma - Hear Me Roar. She has a great video tutorial.  So with that in the back of my head, I finally struck on a idea.  Her dad is part Norwegian and his parents live up in Minnesota.  I thought, via another friend, that I had heard that there was a specific way that they say "Welcome" up there in Minnesota that traces back to the Norwegian roots.  I called her mom to confirm my thought and she said yes, I was right.  So, without further ado, I'll show you what I came up with.

"Welcome" in Norwegian

This was a very simple pillow.  My friend is very simple in her tastes.  She goes for the vintagey feel without a lot of froufrou.  It looked a little plain to me so I added the linen flower.  I told her if she didn't like it on the pillow she could take it off and pin it to a sweater or something. ;)  I just love double duty gifts.  Anyway, I think she was pleased with it.  It took me no time at all and was cheap inexpensive.  I used some left over white fabric that I had from the wedding.  (From the chair and bench.  It was free to me even at the wedding!)  So really, the only cost was in the stuffing and the fabric paint.  Not too much.  I love being able to make something fun and not have to spend tons doing it.  I also know my friend is not offended by my cheapness because so also likes to reuse, redo, and be a Frugal Freita!  (Is Freita a Norwegian name?  Don't know but sounds a little like it to me.)  ;)  So happy late birthday, T!  Until next time...

Have a blessed day,

maggie jane

THE Wedding

Hello Everyone!

Well, as promised, I am going to share a bit about my niece's wedding.  I know, I'm only 2 weeks behind.  Wow, has it really been 2 weeks since she got married?  We really do miss her around here but it has been so busy that the time has flown (hence me taking so long to get a post up about the whole thing.) ;)

She got married in the yard of her cousin.  This is the second time a wedding has been held here so we were kind of familiar with the lay of the land as it needs to be for a wedding.  This one was set up differently but we still used some of the same branches to hang things and such.  I kept hearing myself say, "Remember at T's wedding how we tied it off here?" or "hung it from there?" or whatever.  Anyway, we started doing a few things Friday night that we knew would weather the cool damp night.  Then it was up early Saturday morning to get the rest finished up.  I could really make this a long play-by-play but I will spare you the details.  Besides, this was two weeks ago and I kind of forgot everything we did in a play-by-play way. ;)  So, I will just show you a few pictures and caption them underneath.  I might throw a little narrative in once in a while just because I'm kind of like that and enjoy over-explaining things! ;)

This is the start of the set-up.  We had a big tree to use as a backdrop.  She wanted tulle used as "curtains" to separate the background woods from the wedding site.

This is my trusty helper, aka: husband.  I did some directing from the ground as he scaled the heights of the ladder to get the tulle just right.  I will explain the sign on his back later.

The flowers were done by another friend.  After we got the tulle up, she came and assembled the center piece.

From a distance, the is what the front looked like.  We had to battle a bit of wind but it did settle down by the time the wedding took place.

OK, the sign on my hubby's back.  We both had one.  It said, "Weddings R Us".  This is a running joke between my niece and me.  Every time she would call to ask a question on the wedding or to tell me something she found or wanted, I would answer the phone with some business like response.  "Hello, Weddings R Us, how may I help you?"  or "This is your wedding consultant extraordinaire, how may I assist you today?" or some other such thing.  So, for the big day of set up, I thought we'd wear signs to remind her of our fun of the last few months.  There were a few who got pictures of the both of us and our signs but I have yet to see those. Anyway, signs explained.  On to more pictures.

This was a little cabinet that I picked up to redo for my house and never got around to it.  We were looking for something to place the water container on and this cabinet came to mind.  We did a quick paint job and added a little wedding accent to make it stand out a bit more.  Then water with lime was served from here.

This was the center of the reception table.  Sad to say, I never got a shot of the whole area.  We had two round tables on either end of this long table.  On either side of the candle center area was a punch bowl with a coffee drink and the other was pitchers of milk.  Milk you say, wait until you see the groom's cake and you will understand.

This was the bride's cake.  She loves Rice Krispy Treats, wanted something different and was on a tight budget.  This fit the bill.  It turned out really neat and everyone enjoyed something different.  Let's face it folks.  How many of us actually love wedding cake anyway?  All that gooey, overly sweet icing. Yuck!

The Groom's cake.  OREOS!  What doesn't go better with oreos than milk?  I do wish we would have come up with a topper for this cake.  I don't think either one of us thought about it.  Anyway, everyone enjoyed both the cookies.  I don't think anyone missed the traditional cake.

Here is a close-up of one of the candles.  We came across this idea on Pinterest.  We used split peas to get the green color added.  They turned out just like we envisioned. 

This was a special table dedicated to the bride's birth mother. She passed away of cancer when my niece was just a little girl.  She wanted to remember her mother and the special place she had in her early years.  I thought this was too sweet.  

Here is a picture of her with her mom not long before her mother died.  Pink was her mother's favorite color so even though it didn't "go" with her wedding colors, it honored the memory of her mother.

On the bottom of the little table, was a picture of her mother in her wedding dress.  

This is the area we set up for people to drop their gifts and sign the guest book.  It looks a bit jumbled now.  I didn't get a picture of it before all the gifts arrived.  There was a little bench that a friend and I recovered along with a chair that held the chalkboard. 

This is what the chalkboard said.  This was also a Pinterest steal borrow.  

This was by the road pointing the way into the yard.  There was a parking lot up the road that we used for most of the guests and this was just a help to point the way.

Over all, the wedding went on without any major hitches which is always a good thing.  Wedding set-up is a bit stressful and nobody wants to deal with last minute catastrophes.  We did have a couple of "hiccups" but it wasn't anything we couldn't handle quickly.  For example, the table cloths that came with the round tables were not the right ones.  They were oblong instead of round.  It was too far to go exchange them at the rental company so we just did a little tucking here and pinning there and made them work.  Also, we had some Chinese lanterns hanging from some walnut trees.  So? You say.  Think fall and walnut trees.  Yes, a few dropped down and did a little ripping.  Fortunately, the way we tied off the lanterns was easy to drop the one down and add a bit of packing tape and then pull it back up into place.  They were so high up that you really couldn't tell.  Later another fell.

It made a perfect basket through the top and then got stuck in the bottom.  No damage was done to this one.

Anyway, all very fixable issues.  The wedding was beautiful, the weather was beautiful, the message of the minister and the music was beautiful. Did I mention that it was beautiful?  Thought so. ;)  Anyway, I feel like I wouldn't do you justice if I didn't leave you with at least one of the bride and groom.

The happy bride and groom.

I also posted a picture of the bride's little sister who was the flower girl here. I love that picture and entered it into a photo contest.
Well, this has been a rather long post.  Just be happy I didn't show you all the pictures I took. (187)  Sadly, I didn't get a picture of my family while we were all decked out in our wedding finery.  I guess I was too busy taking everyone else's pictures. :(

Boy, I'm glad I finally got this post out of the way.  Don't get me wrong, it's been fun but I have lots of other things to show but I felt like I couldn't do it until I posted about the wedding.  Because, ya know, I promised. I kind of like to stick to my promises.  So, stay tuned for more to come. Until next time...

Have a blessed day,

maggie jane