This year my girls are allowed to hand out Valentines to their friends at school provided the cards are quarantined prior to handing out…thanks Covid. I guess at least this made me get my act together early instead of scrambling at the last minute to help them create their notes of love and affection.
For their Valentine boxes, I found some red boxes at Target along with and assortment of 3D stickers. They had so much fun personalizing their boxes.
For their actual Valentine cards, I found these cute Archer Farms individually packaged cookies at Target. I printed out some folded cards and stapled them to each cookie for a sweet treat. For their teachers, I found some cute printables on Etsy and attached them to nail polish from Essie’s 2021 Valentine’s Day collection. This color is called Cupid’s Beau. Pretty cute right?
In true if you give a mouse a cookie fashion, my girls wanted to decorate and eat cookies after making these sweet treats for their friends. So I found found a cookie decorating kit at Walmart and let them have at it! They turned out super cute and were pretty yummy too. I’m pretty sure the cookies were devoured in a day’s time.
This cold weather we’ve been having lately is making me crave the beach and warmer weather. I mean yikes…it’s been freezing here in Texas! Doesn’t Mother Nature know that spring is supposed to be soon?!? And that we Texans don’t handle 19 degrees well? Well, I decided to have a little mental warm-me-up and take a trip down memory lane from our Florida trip in the summer of 2017. Ok, off to book our next warm get away!
Hi friends! Long time no see write. I’m going to try to be better about keeping up with this little blog. I know I’ve said that before, maybe I’ll mean it this time.
I figured it might be a good idea to do a “how it all started” post to get back into the swing of things. I’m often asked how I got started in photography and how I learned to use my camera, so here goes.
Hi! It’s me Libby! Clickin Moms Click Pro Master and Hellostoryteller Mentor
My love for photography started as far back as I can remember: setting up photoshoots with my Cabbage Patch dolls and my 110 camera. It wasn’t until after my first child was born that I was motivated to learn the art of photography. Having an engineering degree, I assured myself that I could certainly figure out a camera. And so I did, and my love of photography was sent on an exponential path.
I started out by reading books and doing research online. I took a local photography class and watched a lot of online tutorials. Soon, as luck would have it, I found out that a local photographer wanted to start teaching moms how to use their camera. Perfect! Sign me up! I also signed up for one on one mentoring with another photographer whose style I identified with and from that point forward everything “clicked” for me.
After that, its been a whirlwind of a journey. I’ve taken tons of online courses from Clickin’ Moms, Milky Way, Chic Critique, Chubby Cheek Photography, Plural Site, and others that I’m surely forgetting. I love to learn and grow, so I’m always looking for the next class to click my photography up a notch.
In 2017, I decided to prepare a portfolio submission to apply to become a Click Pro Master with Clickin Moms. I studied their grading rubric and practiced all categories from light, composition, color, etc. Finally, at the very beginnning of 2018 I took a leap of faith and applied. And guess what….I was accepted!! Excited would be an understatement. This has given me the opportunity to meet and collaborate with many other artists that are always willing to share their talents and knowledge.
I’ve more recently decided to offer a few small courses through Hellostoryteller. If you are interested in those or any tutorials I have written for Clickin Moms see this page.
So there you have it! That’s my story. Other than that…I practice. I shoot a lot. All the time really. I’m always learning and striving to get better.
The image that motivated me to create this site. It’s still one of my favorites to this day.
After picking buckets upon buckets of blackberries at Wildberry Farms in Sadler, TX (see post here), we needed a plan to get those yummy berries in our belly! I decided that a good old cobbler from The Pioneer Woman would do the trick. The recipe was super easy and super delicious!
In addition to the cobbler, we also made bakery worthy blueberry muffins, and a fresh blackberry salad…all of which were devoured in record time.
From farm to table. It doesn’t get taste any better.
I have fond childhood memories of picking dewberries along the ditches of the county roads. We’d come home with scratches and occasionally some poison ivy, but the taste of those sweet berries was always worth it. When I heard of a local pick your own blackberry farm, I knew that it was a must for our summer bucket list.
Wildberry Farm in Sadler, TX did not disappoint. They had pick your own blackberries, blueberries, and sunflowers. They also had fun activities for the kids as well as a little cafe that served the most amazing cheeseburger and fresh blackberry lemonade.
The best part: they had blackberry bushes without thorns, so we came home scratch and rash free. 😉
We are definitely going to turn this into a yearly tradition!
One of the items on my summer bucket list is to dive into underwater photography. (See what I did there? Ha!). But let’s face it, I’m too chicken to put my DSLR under water, so the Go Pro Hero 5 has become my new best friend.
These are my first attempts at using the Go Pro under water. Before attempting these, I first read the Go Pro guide from Chubby Cheek Photography. This guide is perfect for the hobbiest photographer or the professional just wanting to step back, relax, and have fun! She goes over Go Pro settings, water types, lighting, editing, and even outfits. Check it out and buy it here.
You know what the best part of using this is? My kids love it just as much as I do. It’s a win-win!
We spent our Memorial Day weekend at the lake with family. We swam, we played games, we fished, and we enjoyed good company. It was the perfect start to our summer. Bring on summer!!!
Cotton candy on demand?!! Yes, please! Where do I sign up?
Springtime for our family is birthday central. And for my niece’s birthday she got her very own cotton candy machine. So, of course, I had my brother bring it over for a trial run. I mean, for quality control reasons, obviously. 😉
The kids were absolutely fascinated by it…who am I kidding, I even wanted to know how this magic machine worked! One of the best parts…the machine is even pink!!
Yep, it is that good. And everyone got to pick their own flavor too!
True love captured.
I think the little one enjoyed it the most. She scarfed down her purple heavenly ball of fluff in about 3 seconds flat…she gets that from her mommy. 🙂
blueeyesandbokeh.photography 