Photography

I was asked to take some  Photographs for a very dear friend recently. I am not all that comfortable working indoors but I am so very happy with the results. I put them up on my other blog. Please take a look. What an amazing family. It was such an honor to be able to capture these memories for her. There were 4 generations there. Of course... I didn't even think of getting the 4 generation photographs... until I just wrote that... DUH! Lots of babies as well. (makes it very interesting) But wonderful.

And btw I had to purchase more space to continue my blog. My husband told me too.... LOL 

Thanks Marge for your comment. made me smile. 

White Christmas (well the next day...)

well, I was going to fill this post with lovely pictures from our Blizzard here on the East Coast. But it seems that I have run out of storage space on Blogger. It said I need to purchase more space.. Hmmm. I don't think that will be happening. This was a Free creative outlet when I began blogging. Seems kinda of sad. Is this the end of my blog? Perhaps I will have to find another blog spot. I will have to give this some serious consideration. Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. Ours was beautiful. Could not have asked for a nicer one. I love my family and God has truly blessed me this past year. Hopefully I will make a decision about the future of my blog in the coming week. Please stay tuned to see if I have moved. 

Amy

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from our family to you. 

Love, 

Dom, Amy, Emily, Sara & Madelyne

So many blessings

I can't begin to tell you what a year this has been. God is at work in my life and opening doors for me everyday. I continue to be amazed when something happens that I thought was impossible for me. I am achieving more then I had ever dreamed with my photography and I am being blessed left and right because of it. 

God makes paths where we would never make them. 

When we trust solely in His will for us and let Him do the work that needs to be done It is just Amazing to see what happens. So many times in my life I try do it it myself. I never do a good job at it... (NEVER) But He is such a loving Father to us. Scooping us up into His strong arms and telling us be patient. Be willing to go where you don't think you should... HE is in control. 

I took some photographs for  a family of of 10 grandkids last Saturday. I was honored to have a wonderful assistant by my side.  (I felt so important...LOL ) God has placed in my life an amazing woman. Her name is Jen. Jen I am so blessed to know you. Thank you for your help! I look forward to all the future times of your creative mind at work. 

If you want to check out some of the shots from that day please follow this   LINK. 

Have a wonderful Merry Christmas. Remembering that the Savior is Born! Hallelujah! 

Christmas Traditions

We have a family tradition that we cut down our tree at a beautiful 100 year old tree farm in NJ. It is about an hours drive up in the country where the back roads meander and time has almost stood still.

What are you traditions for Christmas? 

 

Kool Aid Play Dough

So Miss Maddie had discovered this wonderful creation at her best friend ,in the whole world, house, Play Doh. I was telling my sister about it when she said. Kool Aid Play dough. It is the best. She used to make it with her preschool kids and her own kids and so we had to make it as well.

She was right it was the best. So easy and cheap too. We started out mixing all the colors in a bowl by hand. But by the end I just threw it into the kitchen aid... 

KOOL AID PLAY DOUGH

1 c Flour 

1/2 salt

1 package kool aid

1 c boiling water 

3 T veg oil

Mix the first 3 in a bowl and then pour the water and the oil in the bowl and stir and stir and stir some-more... magically it will all form a ball knead this a few times and put it in a lidded container. 

Enjoy.

craft apple the knotted bag

So I finally made my Fall/Winter bag! Love it. the pattern was super easy. It did take 5 yards of interface but besides that It was pretty fast to whip up. I think it took me the afternoon. This is not the best shot because you can't see the cute knot. (It is black) I did add a little flower onto the front. with a button from my collection. I thought it added a little personality. This is the All Day Bag. My Mother had made me the Afternoon Bag which is quite a bit smaller. I am not normally a large bag gal but this one is wonderful. Don't you just love the crazy fabric?  I Loved it.  Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. It was a amazing day. Happy beginning to the Holiday seasons. 

Family

 It was my honor to photograph a very Beautiful Family last week. Please check it out.  I had a lot of fun! 

Lucky Girl

I have been one lucky girl lately. (Unfortunately my blog has suffered...)  I have been able to be blessed to have done a ton of photo sessions with some great people. I have to say that this last one was terrific. What an amazing family. I feel very blessed to be able to capture some great memories for them. 

Here are a few of my favorites. 

Enjoy  : ) 

October

 

How can it be October already? It feels like it was just July and I was planning trips to the beach. Do the years seem to be going faster  or is it just me? Well, life has been interesting lately. I have been doing plenty of photography for people. Sometimes it is good.  Sometimes it feels like a waste of time, but I will keep at it. 

I have been sewing a lot lately. I love when I get into that groove. It just feels like I  can sit down at my machine and just let myself not think about anything life is throwing me. I also have been thinking so much about opening my own quilting/ fabric store. I have my sister convinced... she is in. All I have to do is sell the idea to my Mom and figure out how to pay for the whole thing. (only minor details)  Does anyone out there know how to start up a small business for woman with grants and such? I know that they are out there I just don't know who to contact to figure it all out. Help I need somebody to help me...... 

We went to a quilt show this weekend. It was lovely. It is there every 2 years. Last time Maddie was a baby who I carried through the entire show.  This time Maddie was a almost 3 year old..... ahhh 

Mr. Time.... Why oh why can't you just stand still for a little.  Anyway, I have been wanting to make a miniature quilt for some time now. I saw one that I fell in love with and bought the patterns and the fabric and went at it. There  are appliqued butterflies and hand-stitching and I purchased all my favorite 30's reproduction fabric for it. So that is what I have been working on. I have only spent 1 day ripping out and redoing b/c I realized that I didn't have the 1/4 inch foot on and my seams were entirely tooo large.  I guess I am maturing b/c a few years I may have just left it and kept sewing. (believe me I thought about it...) so I will post some photos when I am done. i am enjoying the process. 

Well, I am off to get ready for the day. I am taking some portraits today and am very excited about it. I am praying it all goes well and she loves them. She is a very talented composer and they will be for her website.

                         Em had my camera and took this shot of me .... without my knowledge.
  

                                                     My favorite 30's repro

                              Amazing bra collections for breast cancer. This one was incredible.

                              
                                  Emily and Maddie looking at a swan in the river at the show....
          I love the way Maddie is leaning on Emily's knee... a melt your heart moment for a Mom

Fall Supper's

I am not sure what it is about Fall but I love to bake and cook up a storm as soon as the leaves start to change color, the air gets crisp (which is not happening as we are experiencing  tropical storm Nicole....) 

I love to bring home bags of Apples  almost everyday from the market, cook them down and make applesauce in the very same  contraption that was my Grandma's.

 There is just something homey about the Fall. I love being home, having a fire going before supper. I love soups,  strews, pot roasts and apple cakes.

 So anyway this is a recipe that has been in my recipe box for many years. It is well loved and something I only make in the fall and winter. So tonight (even thought it is almost 75 and humid out i turned the air on yesterday b/c of the humidity) I pulled the card from the box and made this very simple yet oh so tasty and satisfying dish. I usually serve it with brown or white rice so it soaks up all the yumminess of the sauce and I double the recipe. Which is perfect for our family of 5. Serve with some sort of Veg  or salad and voila! supper is served. 

CHILI SALSA BEEF

1/2 lbs stew meat (brown this in 1 T of veg oil)

1 Cup Salsa

3 T brown sugar

1 1/2 T soy sauce

1 clove garlic minced

once the meat is browned pour everything else in the pot. Cover and cook over low heat for 1 1/2 hours. Stirring every so often. 

Add 3 T red wine vinegar before serving. 

Enjoy. 

sorry about the crappy picture.....

Cauliflower Soup & other tales of love

While  we were on vacation we went to my  very Favorite restaurant... Mary Ann's. Ahhhh, The best creamed potatoes you have ever had. You could almost die for them.... Well I could. I had never had creamed potatoes before this.... Oh my.  It is like a love affair between me and those potatoes....  best Chicken Wings I have ever tasted. Seriously sometimes I will call and order a batch to go and eat them in the car. (my husband doesn't even know about that) I do have a problem I am sure.
Everyday there is a different special of the day. One day it is Polish food. One day it is Roast beef dinner. One day it is Fresh or Fried Haddock.... YUMM. etc...
She is about 30 miles out of Saratoga, NY. Nothing fancy just good Home Cookin'   She makes amazing soups there as well. So we had this cream of Cauliflower soup while we were there this year.  It was amazing.  On Sunday I had purchased some Cauliflower for dinner and then ended up cooking something... long story short I  suddenly remembered Cauliflower soup.... So I typed it into Google and low and behold... Pioneer Woman had a recipe.

Seriously... I am telling you Cauliflower has never had it so good.  Wow. Delicious. Here it is go ahead and give it a try. Cauliflower Soup You and your family will love it. This big pot only lasted a few days. It was very similar to Mary Ann's. The one thing I did differently was not to use the sour cream she suggested at the end. I tried it and we preferred it without. Believe me I don't think it is exactly health food. What with the stick of butter and 1/2 & 1/2 but it is really yummy.  Enjoy.

FREE

The Daily Deal is FREE that's right it is free. One charm pack and a $5 flat shipping rate. So go ahead order it & something else you need as well. (I thought it my duty to notify all of you... all 20 of you who read my blog...hehe)

If you have never seen the Missouri Star Quilt Company site, you are going to love it. I have learned so many interesting quilting techniques from them. They have great video tutorials that you can watch. Every day that have a daily deal. It is always something very cool. Beautiful fabric, great tools Yup you are gonna  love it! 

Sucess

I happened to stumble on this today

"Commit your works to the Lord, and your plans will be established." Proverbs 16:3

It got me thinking.... Have I done this in my life enough? Not nearly was the truthful answer. 

Being honest, I always wonder why I am not successful in some important areas of my life. 

I believe that I have found the very simple answer. 

This summer we studied Proverbs.  I need to get into that book every single day. It is full of such little things that will make an enormous difference in my life. 

Hope you had a wondrous revelation today.