Regina's Maternity Photo Session

2 Corinthians 4:18
So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

I have always enjoyed photography. I got my first camera when I was 7, and was quickly dubbed the nickname "flash." When I wasn't dropping and breaking my cameras, I was taking pictures - of anything and everything. My skills slowly got better, by slowly I mean a decade later when I was in college. I took a photography class, and loved it! Fortunately, I went to college towards the end of the 90's and into the turn of the century. Because of that, digital photography hadn't taken off as it is today, and I was able to learn the traditional methods of developing film in the dark room. I fell in love with the magic of it all... spending endless amounts of time at an enlarger, just to ensure you get the right amount of exposure to add the artistic instinct to the photo, or watching an image appear on a blank piece of paper right before your eyes - it's priceless. Looking at the world through the eye of the camera, puts things in a new perspective. You stop and realize the beauty of the world around you, appreciating God's creation. Finding beauty within the plain and ordinary, is not an easy task, but if you wait for it, beauty reveals itself in its own time.

Now years later, probably another decade... I finally got a decent camera to attempt to reproduce the magic. Although, it is digital, and I do not have the space to create a dark room in my house, and have you tried to find photo paper, no not the kind you put through your printer. Nonetheless, my digital camera does have manual features on it to allow me to play around a little. My lovely husband got the camera for me - and not just the camera, but the whole works, lenses, tripod, and all. It was very sweet of him.
Once I got the camera, I could not wait to try it out - and what better way to try out a new camera, but to capture the moments before a new life enters this world. I managed to grab my sister the day before her shower to capture some beautiful maternity shots, in order to have some sort of decor to display - besides the flowers. Here are a few for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy!

Love!

Peek a Boo - I See You!

Crossing the Bridge of Life

Swinging

I can't wait to meet my new little niece when she arrives!

A Heavenly Baby Shower

My sister is having a girl! This will be my first niece. On both my husband and my side of the family we only have nephews. I have 4 nephews and a son, even my dog is a boy. So, it was fun getting into the girly mode to plan my sister's baby shower. Well, after months of planning, the shower finally arrived, and it was such a success. Before I go too much further, I wanted to let you know I couldn't have done any of it without the help of my mother and my dear friend Amy. The shower was a lot of work, but totally worth it! Being the crafty gal that I am, I made most of the things for the shower. Starting with the invitation. I love having scripture themes for baby showers. So, this one was themed off of James 1:17, "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows." So, with that theme, I wanted the shower to be very heavenly with lots of pink (after all she's having a girl) and silver (for the celestial aspect of it).

Keeping with the Celestial theme, I made star candles for the favors. This was my first time making candles, and after the first 8, it got a little easier. I ended up making 36 of them, and am still trying to figure out what to do with the left overs.

My friend Amy was a huge help when it came to the food. As the shower was in the afternoon, we decided on a light salad bar for the food. It was a brilliant idea, it took very little prep work, and clean up was very easy.

My mom made a fabulous Raspberry Sorbet punch...

...and my friend Wendy made a fantastic cake. Her daughter made some pink lemonade cupcakes, which were delightful!

Do you see the water bottles behind the cupcakes. I decided not everybody would want punch, and the healthiest alternative I could think of was water. So, my brilliant water bottle label idea was born. I just printed it out, and put my son to work on adhering the labels to the water bottles. I think it came out nice. What do you think?



The centerpieces were the talk of the party. I wanted the party to be elegant, and what can speak elegance better than fresh flowers. Well, the flowers did not go as planned. I had originally ordered some white roses with pink tips, giving it the baby pink color I wanted. The florist calls a couple of hours before the party to let me know that the flowers did not come in...talk about panic attack. So, I went to the shop to see what else I could find. It was slim pickings, but I found some flowers that worked. The center piece consisted of a mirror tile, followed by either pink or white tulle piled on top of it, and then the vase of flowers on top of that. We then sprinkled silver star confetti on the tables.

For activities, I didn't want the typical, cheesy shower games, not that there's anything wrong with that, it just didn't fit in with the atmosphere of the shower. I wanted to do scrapbook pages. I went to a shower once that did that, and I thought it was a great idea. My sister loves scrapbooks, and I really do not have the first clue of scrapbooking. Yes, I admit it, I'm a crafter that doesn't scrapbook. Fortunately, my friend Amy does the scrapbook thing. So, she took charge of the scrapbook activity, and it was a success. She had also bought a book as part of her gift, and put all of the scrapbook pages in it. I just know we'll have a slew of pictures to put in it once she gets here. We also played the game to guess the circumference of the mother's belly using ribbons. My sister's friend guessed the perfect amount of ribbon, and won! I made a necklace and earring set for the winner of the game, and she loved it!

Overall, it was a wonderful shower. We had a great time. Thank you to those who helped me plan an amazing baby shower. Now I can't wait until my new niece arrives, little Jillian Nicole. My sister has already started having contractions, so it won't be too long.





Hello World!

Hello world!
I just got a new laptop, and with it, I decided to begin a crafting blog - A place to share my love of crafts, party planning, photography, and other things. So, grab a cup of coffee, pull up a chair, and enjoy!

So, a bit about me. First and foremost, I'm a Christian. I was raised in the church, but like everything else,  I had to find God on my own. It wasn't until after I had my son, that God became real in my life. Now, I can't imagine how I lived without him. My son is now 12 years old, and enjoy motherhood to the fullest. I am also totally in love with my husband! He is one amazing man of God, and I can't imagine my life without him either. I also have a fun loving black Labrador Retriever named Shadow.

As for crafting, I started crafting about 4 years ago, when my husband told me to get a hobby. Now, I love the challenge of learning new things, expanding my love of crafts. Well, if there is anything else you would love to learn about me, just ask...

~Christina