Chai's Story

I often visit Erin Vey's blog BARK to see pictures of her Gracie the Great Dane...I have a love for Great Danes (and the name Gracie too)!

Please, take a moment and read the following blog posted below.

The story is about a lab who was injured by a Four Paws Inc product. This should never have to happen to another dog and I hope that this company listens and recalls their product.

http://thechaistory.blogspot.com/2008/08/chai-story.html

Thank you.

she's growing too fast::

I had some free time this week to take pictures of Gracie...who surprised me and semi-cooperated. I think it might have had something to do with chocolate cake waiting at home. Just a guess.



I don't usually go nuts in editing my pictures, especially of the lil' ones, but I couldn't help try something new...while I sip a Praline decaf coffee from Farmhouse Coffee (YUM!).



it's soft, delicate, different, and I'm not sure how I like it yet.

New Stuff Coming

I've been busy working on a ton of projects lately and thought I'd share one of them for now. Yes, Christmas is around the corner. I always grumble when decorations (of any kind!) get put out too early--like months--but it's okay when I do it. {wink}



I have a lot more in store to share later too. Some REALLY cool stuff that I'm SUPER excited about. I've been busy like an elf.



Vic might *think* I love my computer more than him, but he's sooo wrong. {wink}

Here's a few of the Christmas cards I will be offering this year...

5X7 flat card::

5x7 flat card::


4x8 card::

*I did not create the original designs so not everything is customizable. Please contact me for more information!

Family Session | Celebrating Adoption

I met with another beautiful family Wednesday night for a Celebrating Adoption session. Miss Z was adopted from the Ukraine and entertained me all evening with her endless energy! We visited a few of my favorite spots at Southpark and even got to include the family dog in some images!

Thanks P family for a wonderful night! Enjoy your sneak peek ;)...

I love the lighting we captured here:

my favorite image of the night:

Just for fun::

A friend of mine sent me a link to http://www.faceyourmanga.com/ to create a cartoon image of myself. I think I got pretty close but there weren't many options for hair. I was looking for the "trying to tame high humidity fly aways- short hair," but it wasn't an option.

Watching him grow | 9 months

You might remember little A from his 6 months session back in May....look at him now! I love watching this little guy grow. We did his session at the Oliver Miller Homestead in Southpark. Beautiful location, even if a bus of 100 tourists arrive shortly before our session!


We utilized anything we could so A didn't have to sit. He's a happy camper when his feet are planted on the ground. Before long he'll be running and throwing a football! There were so many great photos from his session it was really hard to narrow some down for the blog....









Getting ready for the 08-09 season!!




I love this expression he gave me::

Updates to the Blog

I feel like such a nerd sitting at my computer researching html codes...but it's worth it! I now have a rotating blog banner, larger pictures within the posts, and well okay that's it so far!! But it's a start...a very slow steady start :).

Not sure if I did everything correctly, but it seems to be working alright. I might need to adjust the picture sizes again....

whatda think?!

I couldn't leave without a picture: Gracie laughing at a cow.

taken at the Washington County Fair

Sharing my recent favorite images::

These are my two recent favorite images. I love them because although you can't see the face of the owner, you automatically know these two dogs love their owner. I love that about dogs. Dogs are mans best friend...and my husband and I always go back and forth over who Miao (our dog) really belongs too! (It's me).


What do you think, black and white or color?

Leave me a comment below, I'd love to hear from you ;)!

Senior Session | Peters Township

Saturday I spent the evening with R down at the Strip District for part 2 of her senior session. I have been shooting in parks a lot lately so it was great going up to the city for a change. We took several trips up and down the streets between clothing changes and got a wonderful mix of images. While on the Strip we even ran into a photographer from St. Louis and another who stopped and yelled at us from his truck...at least we think he was a photographer ;).

I'm going to miss this girl when she leaves for college as I know her parents are too. She's such a joy to be around and Gracie's favorite babysitter...

no tv. no internet. no phone

....that was my day yesterday! Gracie was in the middle of watching Little Bear, compliments of On Demand, when the power went out. No biggie, it came back on in less than 20 seconds but somehow it blew our cable connection which also affects our phone. SO....I wanted to post 8 cool websites (in honor of yesterdays date) I visit or just found, but didn't get around to 8 before the power outage corrupted everything!!

Enjoy 6:



1. ETSY. Check out this sellers store: http://www.jellybeans.etsy.com/. I'm going to purchase the apple tree picture or perhaps the custom family tree for my living room wall.





2. http://www.reddoghouse.com/ I saw this product in my Rachael Ray Magazine...it's doggie bag carrier that clips on the leash....for the inevitable.

3. speaking of Rachael Ray...I'm not a fan of the show, but ironically I love her magazine and visit her site frequently for dinner inspiration.

4. CafePress....gotta get me one of the "I shoot people with my Canon shirts!"

5. I'm a sucker for graphic tee's and love this one from Darling Mummy. Unfortunately if I were to buy a $32 t-shirt I'd get something on it before I walk out the store (or hit purchase!!) ;)

6. Pandora. I'm the worst, WORST, at remembering who sings what song...and Pandora continually gives me a "So THAT's who sings that song!" kinda moment. Currently I have a mixture of stations that include Aaron Shust, Matchbox Twenty, Miranda Lambert and the Goo Goo Dolls.

Mini Accordion Album

I absolutely love these little albums! I couldn't wait to get one made from all the sessions done at Woody's. I printed them on watercolor paper so they have a very distinct look and feel to them.


They're only 3x3" with 10 sides for pictures and a black faux leather cover::






You can kinda see the texture here:






and the back:

Shitz Tzu-Do

Another session from Woody's Open House to share.

When it was time for Lou Lou and Sadie's session, it started pouring. We made a dash for the canopy and used every bit of dry space that was left. Of course the dogs didn't care it was raining and Lou Lou got what I refer to now as a Shitz Tzu-Do. By the end of the day I had one too, only much worse! Believe me.

Lou Lou's buddy. I love her ears!

Miss Butter

Gracie discovered this butterfly in the yard today and sadly it couldn't fly. We gently moved it out of our blazing frisby throwing area to a nice patch of clovers under the crabapple tree.

Gracie said "mommy go get your cam-ra"

So I did.

"What should we name her, Gracie?"

"how about butter? Do you like that name mommy?"

I couldn't stop laughing to answer her. A butterfly that can't fly should be called butter...leave it to a 3 year old!

Meet our new pet, Miss Butter::

Dogs with Style

It's always a challenge getting two dogs (or more!) together for a portrait. So when you can't beat em, join em right? This was another mini-session from Woody's open house.


I love how Teddi (on the right) is walking like a runway model:



the beautiful Maggie:



the loveable Teddi:

Try this and get back to me::

According to recent research at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, cell phones are exposing our bodies to harmful electromagnetic fields. They suggest not using your phone in places like a bus so you're not exposing those around you....

so next time the person behind you in line is on their cell phone, tell them "I'd like to reduce my exposure to cell phone emissions, could you please call them later?"

The study also suggests not wearing our cell phones on our bodies OR at least pointing the key pad down to reduce the exposure. Evidently, we're just frying our bone marrow by wearing it on our hips.

Now, if you're still with me...the study also said when talking on your cell phone to switch sides regularly! That struck me funny.

And at the very end of this article it suggested looking for a cell phone with low SAR, LIKE the Motorola V3x. Too bad I just signed a 2 yr. contract with a Motorola Q9.

So, what do you think? I'm one to always find this sort of thing funny at first. I do know that the UoP is awesome (my diploma says so) and I trust their research is top notch. Just curious what they'll say next.

I guess we could all use some more::

image on bus taken by Frederic J. Brown of Getty Images. Thank goodness because I can't read the sign in the background.