30 Day Photo Challenge: Week 1

This past week has been pretty jam-packed, but I did manage to work in another photo class and here’s the thing- I realize now that I know the basics. That doesn’t mean it’s coming very naturally to me, but I do want to keep getting better. With that in mind I’ve decided to take on the 30 day photo challenge- a challenge designed to help you become a better photographer and to photograph from a different perspective. It’s actually been really interesting. I never knew how fun it would be to photograph clouds. They say people rarely look up, and I guess that’s true. The film I took had about 10 photos of clouds and I liked them all a lot. I also have been sticking to my guns regarding the "style" I like. Josh has his own picks, but I'm not second guessing and choosing his likes over my own- which I think is a good thing.
The worst challenge? Taking photos of myself. I feel so awkward! But I don’t know how I can expect to make other people feel comfortable in front of the camera if I feel so nerdy. I definitely need to explore some different poses so that I can be in a photo with confidence. Speaking of which- we have family photos scheduled in 12 days! AH! Anyhow- I’m trying to get 7 challenges done each weekend so I can finish in 30 days, but I don’t see myself taking one photo a day. By the time I get home it’s so dark out! Here’s the first 7.

Clockwise: 1) Self portrait 2) What I wore 4) Green 5) High Angle 6) Low Angle…of my fall wreath 7) Fruit 3) clouds

I can’t believe Thanksgiving is coming so quickly! I’ve got to get the ball rolling on my niece Kali’s birthday party. A flower crown must be made! Until then- Shantel

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Mirror, Mirror on the Wall

First of all….Can you name the seven dwarfs? Just try it. Kills me every time.Okay moving on. Of course today’s party I’m working on a Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs themed party. I think I would start by setting up a little “forest” for the kids to walk through on the way in- complete with either stuffed or cardboard cut-out animal bunnies, chipmunks and deer. Little birds (most likely paper) would be hanging from the door frame. I’d be going for this kind of feeling (but with the princess not so sad let’s hope!) I would love to have a dress up station with a nod to “Mirror Mirror on the Wall”. Maybe something like this but more down to earth like this . Of course there would need to be apples galore. Candied apples? Carmel apples with a carmel apple decorating station? Rice crispy treat apples ? Donut hole mini apples ? Oh the options. (I also looove the Snow White cut-out in the mirror- adorable). Some sort of poison potion (with dry ice) would be super cute too. Maybe...

Dog Days of Summer

Well, my acrylic stamps didn't happen to work out on the cookies, but I found a purpose for them. I was practicing dipping Oreos in white chocolate when I got the bright idea to stamp them. I tried a few different methods, but my husband had the winning idea. Take a look. My methods- leaving the stamps in the white chocolate while it dried, using a greased stamp (gross, don’t do it), and using a stamp on nearly hardened white chocolate The winning method (eh hem- Josh’s method), putting the stamp in the white chocolate then freezing the cookie That man is a genius! I think they turned out super cute. I can’t wait to use this for a party. I’m kind of a sucker for my dogs so I was actually thinking about hosting a dog’s day out. If not, then I’ll probably keep this in my back pocket for Optimus’ birthday. Like I said- I’m a sucker for my dogs.

Dust yourself off & try again

Okay, I have persisted and I have a few tips. Fluffier frosting is definitely not the way to go. I used a fluffier frosting and the frosting ended up coming off the cookie with the stamp. This icing seemed to work much better. Secondly, brush cornstarch on top of the icing to limit the stickiness. PaperVine was so right about that! I had a rubber stamp and an acrylic stamp and the rubber stamp worked much better. That’s not to say that acrylic stamps won’t work, but I didn’t have an acrylic block to put the food coloring on. I used the paper towel method I read about somewhere (for the life of me I can’t find it), where you put paper towels into a Tupperware container and soak it with food coloring. You use the paper towels as a sort of ink-pad. Next time I may just shell out the cash for an un-inked foam pad. I’m also interested to see how different types of food coloring works. Some people swear by gel while others swear by airbrush food coloring. Thirdly, make sure you’re hu...

Party On

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