life. photos. scrapbooking.

Book Review & Giveaway!!

When was the last time you read a book that totally rocked you? I mean - as Twi-hard as I am - the book I just read just shook me in a way that was brutal and glorious all at the same time. Bella and Edward are great and all - but not like this...

Tuesday night I got in bed next to Clark with my itty bitty book light and the next thing I knew it was 3:30am and I was weeping.

I wept.

And then I got out of bed and went into Macho's bed and spooned with him till morning. So what does that tell ya?

I'm hesitant to tell you too much about the actual plot.... I'd rather you pick it up and read it without expectation... just recommendation. All I'll say is - it's a powerful retelling of the Book of Hosea.

It's not a new book. Came out in 1997. And has sold over 1 million copies. The cover and title make you think it's some trashy romance read... but it's not.

It's a love story, yes - but the most profound and greatest of all love stories. A story of betrayal, redemption, forgiveness, friendship, heartache, hatred, loyalty, obedience and love.

Amazing read. Thank you Casie for sending it to me. What a Sister in Christ you are and have always been to me! Love you!

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go order like 10 copies from Amazon to give out!

OH! I almost forgot!

Love this book so much I wanna give a copy to one of you too!

Leave a comment below and I'll pick a winner this weekend sometime.

 

"Come, let us return to the Lord;

for he has torn, that he may heal us;

he has stricken, and he will bind us up."

HOSEA 6:1

 

4 More Days

Hey y'all... Just wanted to let you all know that the jewelry website will only be live for the next 4 days. It will come down on Sunday May 1.

There are a few more really sweet items still left at prices 60-70% off! Maybe mamma would like a little something for Mother's Day?

Thanks again everyone! xoxo

 

Bald Spots are Cool.

I recently read this book. Your Baby In Pictures : The New Parents' Guide to Photographing Your Baby's First Year.

For my own benefit and for that of my clientele. Some good ideas on little things to capture - its a worthwhile read!

I put a quick digi layout together to showcase one such picture that spawned from reading it...

 
_{LAYOUT SUPPLIES : Adobe Photoshop CS5, Font: Myriad Pro, Photo Overlay : Ali Edwards, everything else (digital papers and elements) Paislee Press Delovely Kit}

Journaling Reads ::

This moment. So fleeting. The bald spot on your head is proof of your tender 4 months of age. Before long you'll have a full head of wild hair, blowing in the wind as you race down the street on your bike. And that ear? Flapping a little? I tease daddy that we need to scotch tape it down flat.

Baby girl, you are the sweetest most relaxed little thing. Gorgeous in every way. It's a dream come true to be your mommy and call you my daughter. xoxoxo

 

Have a great Tuesday!!!

 

Danna and Kids :: Mommy & Me Session

Last week I had the pleasure of spending the afternoon with Danna and her two vivacious boys. We played with bubbles, went to the playground... tickled and ran and giggled and toddled and loved ever so much.

I thought I'd share.

This guy was turning 4 the next day...

Go J! It's your birthday! Go J! It's your birthday!

This is his sidekick R. He's super laid back.

And generally happy... all the time!

Bubble time. Cheese monster.

I love this shot - like he's blowing bubbles to "fill the tank"

To the playground? MMM-kay.

Tickle torture... lovin' every minute of it!

These next two were my faves from the day... They embodied the whole "point" of the Mommy & Me Session idea. To capture a slice of life semi-candid moment between a mamma and her cubs. Love this.

Yooooo-hoooooo? Little fingers. I see you back there.

Back home for a little fun with a black backdrop. I tell ya... there's nothin' you can't do with a little natural light and a few yards of velveteen.

Woot!

Come now... I'm really not THAT funny. P.S. Nice tatoos dude. Yer hard core.

They were so nice to oblige me with my silly props. I picked this thing up for $1 at an estate sale like 8 years ago... strange the things we collect that have newfound uses over the years.

Danna even agreed to let me do a few portraits of just her...

I mean - seriously mom's you've got me here, camera in hand... in an instance when you've showered and have fresh clothes on and a bit of makeup... why not take advantage, right? There's someone else behind the lens for a change! Yahoo!

And Danna... well - she's beautiful inside and out.

This one's just soft and lovely.

Ok - one more with the little booger.

Thanks so much again Danna! I had a great time with you guys! xoxo

Katie

 

**If you are interested in booking a session...

814-571-0283

katiepegher (at) gmail (dot) com

Happy Monday!

Whoops... 5 months!

Hey y'all.

Took some shots of the baby girl at her 5 month mark yesterday. Not because I forgot on Monday... but because life got in the way of making our monthly photo shoot happen.

I'm already feeling bad for the oversights and delays that will occur for child #3, and #4... If we get that far.

So here goes...

"Sup guys!"

"At my last Dr's visit... I was told I'm tall..."

"I really like to smile for the camera... or when my mommy talks and tickles me. And I have really floppy ears that fold over when I turn my head. Mamma said we need to tape them back but I think she's just teasing."

"I'm big into drooling. All the cool kids do it."

"I'm curious about everything."

"Like toys on the floor... I gotta grab em!"

"I also love to fish hook myself with my thumb. Mom isn't too happy that I have my thumb in my mouth like this... Oh well, it won't be the last time she disapproves of my behavior. I make up for it by being cute."

"My big brother has been really sick. I love him a lot. Mommy has been taking care of him so I'm trying to chillax as much as possible and not be a bother."

"This is my big sister, Roxy. She's pretty cool. She loves me. But sometimes she gets excited to eat or go outside and runs around when I'm on the floor nearby and gets in trouble. I know she's just playing... and Mommy just wants her to be more careful."

"I get kisses all day long... from Mommy and Macho... and even a few slobbery ones."

"Peace out internet people! Thanks for stopping by to say hello!"

P.S. My wardrobe today was provided by my Great Aunt Sally and Uncle Randy... LOVE IT GUYS!

 

Sick Bay

Hey guys.

Going to be taking a few days off. Macho has come down with a serious case of Croup. Landed the poor little guy in the ER last night. He was in serious distress... gasping for breath, in a coughing panic with fingers going blue. Talk about giving mamma a heart attack! He's on the mend now... but what a night! The 4am discharge has left me with my pants down a little.

Where are my pants? What day is it?

Oh hell... who cares.

So I appreciate your patience while I take care of biz-nas around here.

:)

 

xo

Sneak Peek :: Danna and Kids

Had a few Mommy & Me sessions over the weekend. Such fun.

Here's a favorite of mine from my time with mamma extraordinaire, Danna and her kiddos.

I love the sense of motion the gentle breeze gives to her hair.... I love that her oldest gave mom a flower, and she, in turn gave it to the baby to hold. And, that was A-OK with big brother. In fact - he gave him a smooch, entirely unprovoked.

This photo just says love to me.

It's the exact kind of image I had in mind when I decided to do this promo.

However... I'm going to be editing until I'm 85... so that's it for today!

More to come!

Happy Monday!

My loves.

It was gorgeous yesterday. Too gorgeous to be inside. The kids, the dog and I took a little stroll through our neighborhood... down a block to where there was a high school baseball game going on. I took ye olde Nikon with me... and snapped a little.

We started our adventure on our deck. I brought out the little Missus's exercise jumpy thingy... She's a hoot-nanny.

And this one... well.. She's always under my feet - wanting some lovin'. Actin' like she get's NONE...

 

Oh stop. Come now - you know I love you Rox. I snuggle with you everyday too!!! Don't go all making me feel bad for ya.

He wanted to wear "this bracelet" on our walk to the ball field. No, I'm not worried that he likes to accessorize.

I don't know why photos like this one below choke me up. I can literally "see" him growing up before my eyes. He's looking at those high school kids and thinking... That's gonna be me someday.

But not yet, my sweet boy. Not yet.

Her new talent... Sputtering. She does it until her shirt is soaked.... We go through onesies like toilet paper some days.

So there.

Ppppppppppppppppptttttttttttttttttttttthhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Hope spring has sprung in your neck of the woods!

Have an awesome weekend!

Currently...

I thought I'd share a few things I'm currently inspired by... that have caught my eye... that I'm lusting after... and so on.

 

This color scheme makes me happy.

My girlfriend is in the process of starting an etsy business of chic handmade baby clothes and accessories with fun fabulous fabrics (like Amy Butler - who I LOVE!)... and has asked me for some input on her logo. I'm thinking I'll be pitching her something using these colors. It's not too girly and not to boyish - right inbetween and very happy!

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I have several magazine tear outs of these chairs / barstools filed in my "dream home" binder. Yes, I have one of those. Doesn't every girl? They are some iconic design... and I love them. Not certain how "comfortable" they are... but dang, how cool are they?

I screen shotted this pic from Design Sponge. If you've never been over there - I recommend it.

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Ali Edwards had this wall collage posted on her blog a week or so ago. Love the flush mounting - the repetition of the same frame in the same color and size... and I absolutely LOVE that there aren't just photographs inside.

I need to find some space somewhere to do this in my house... I'm thinking a few photos - some fun patterned paper... maybe a piece of paper with sewing machine stitching all haphazard... some homemade art by Macho perhaps? A cool piece of stationary?

Put it on the endless TO DO LIST.

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I'm in LOOOOOVE with this dress from Anthropologie.

It must be mine... Love the color - and the top reminds me of a coral reef.

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And since we're on the topic of fashion - I've been wanting to jump on the TOM'S bandwagon for awhile now... and these yellow pretties might just make me go ahead and pull the trigger.

Hellloooooooo spring!

 

 Plus - talk about inspiring - if you haven't heard the TOM'S story... watch this:

 

This video is from 2009 - so tack on a bunch more growth and amazingness to this business.

Blake, you da man.

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I'm digging these stamps from Paper Source quite a bit.   (I already own both of them..)

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And I'm loving this font website y'all... I wanna submit my handwriting and see if they'll make a font out of it!

How cool would that be?

And... you can download all the fonts they've created thus far in a single click.... look on their right sidebar for a button to do so!

 

 

HAPPY THURSDAY!!!

 

Blanket Hugs

Been a little stressed out the past couple of days. My coping method?

Photos and stories... usually joined by paper and glue - but in today's example - Photoshop and a mouse.

I was editing some photos yesterday and got sidetracked looking at a couple shots Clark took of me giving my Macho man a "blanket hug."

Which is nothing more than me wrapping him up in my bathrobe or fleece jacket that I wear to lounge around in.

So glad he was able to capture this special little thing we do together. This story deserved to be documented and put in an album.

Here's my digital layout:

_{LAYOUT SUPPLIES :: Photoshop CS5, Template: Cathy Zielske No. 55 (modified), Fonts: Pea Alisha (www.kevinandamanda.com), District Thin, Patterned Digital Papers: Jesse Edwards Cadena 6, Michelle Martin Annino Paper Pack, Digital Cardstock: Michelle Martin Manchester Solids}

JOURNALING READS ::

Blanket hugs. Our own personal method of kissing boo-boos around here. Developed accidentally, it has stuck and proven effective time and again at healing cuts, bruises, scratches, hurt feelings, and emotional meltdowns. As unenjoyable as it is to have to contend with such issues, strangely, it also fuels that wonderful motherly feeling of being "needed." It's a mother's joy to kiss the hurt away - a gift to be the one to wipe away the tears. I know the time when he no longer needs this kind of affection is racing toward me at lightning speed so I must revel in these embraces. The smell of his hair, the tenderness of his tears. And in my very fortunate ability to make it all better.          Journaled April 2011

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I love this boy more than life itself.

I love that he needs his mamma. Hope he always does.

I love that he asks me for blanket hugs, sometimes even when he's not hurt. Just when he needs a snuggle.

And one day - when he's just too big for one, I'll have this memory documented. Safely kept.

This is why I scrapbook.