life. photos. scrapbooking.

Currently Loving :: NOVEMBER

1. New Business Cards

Concepted by the design ninja masterminds at Braizen - printed at the press geniuses at Henry & Co. - these babies are extra thick - foiled - clean - classic - pimpin' cards. I feel so legit.

2. Duck Dynasty on A&E

Willie, Si, Jase, Jep, Phil... the grizzly men of Duck Dynasty. I'm in LOVE with this show... and so are most of my neighbors and friends. There's just something about a bunch of grown men with ZZ Top beards acting like wild teenagers... with southern gentile. I laugh out loud AT LEAST once per episode. If you haven't checked it out - please watch and then leave me a comment!

It airs at 10pm on Wednesday nights on A&E.

It makes me HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY.

 

3.  Scrapbooking again. :)

 Pic of a new page???? Well - sure. Granted - this was made weeks ago - but I'm still counting it.

LAYOUT DETAILS :: Sewing Machine, Bazzill Basics Orange Peel Cardstock, Glitter Paper "L" - Paper Source, Staple, Chipboard flower embellishment - Crate Paper, #2 Chipboard - Sassafras, Stamp - Cats Life Press, Ink - Versamark, Journaling - from Oct 15 blog post, Design lifted from Ali Edwards

4.  It's a 10 Miracle Leave-In Spray

A keratin spray I've been using after I get out of the shower. Spray - comb through - style as usual. Softness and shine without all the yucky oily buildup that most shine enhancers give you. It's light, smells fantastic - and it seriously works.

Trust me - my coarse curly hair is like a brill-o pad otherwise.

Oh and one other thing to note - after about 10 minutes of brutal combing and yanking - I sprayed some of this magic potion on my little bug's Rapunzel doll. Hair that could only be described as "rats nest-ish" was suddenly soft and manageable now.  It was amazing... Combed through it like butter.

Did I mention that it's amazing?

 

5. UTZ Chocolate Pretzel Holiday Tubs

 I love these, even though my thighs are in STRONG disagreement.

 

6. Favorite New App - Wanelo

Like Pinterest - but takes you directly to the pages where you can purchase items.
A GREAT time waster. Don't hate.

 

7. Mano Negra Font

8.  Western Digital 6TB Thunderbolt My Book Duo

When you have RAW files coming out of your ears - you need a good storage system. And Apples new Thunderbolt cable is wickedly fast (like 10x faster than USB) and when combined with the capacity of this 6TB hard drive - POW! I'd expect it's the geeky version of what happens on those KY Yours And Mine commercials. So I'm told. :) Match made in heaven.

 

9.  Glitter Flats - Target

 Best believe I own these puppies in gunmetal and gold. And so does my mamma. We are fashionable like that. :) Just $24.99 - and super comfy.

10. Ruby Red Grapefruit for a late night snack.

Its the time of year for good citrus... and I love peeled and de-fiberized red grapefruit - especially after dinner. You know I'm strange.

11. Listening to this....

and this (the score)

Because I loved the movies - if you haven't seen BDP2 - you must. What an ending!

Because I like to edit to instrumental music.

Because I'm a freak like that and I own all of the other soundtracks.

 

That's it for this month people.

Over and out.

Giving Thanks.

We have loaded our crew and are heading to visit Clark's family for the holiday...

The wild and crazy bunch pictured above are what I'm most thankful for - this and EVERY day.

Here's wishing you a safe and happy Thanksgiving.

Hoping you eat... nap... and hug your family.

A. LOT.

See you next week!

Two

The little missus celebrated her second birthday on Sunday. Hard to believe. I know it's hard for ANY mamma of a toddler to believe they grow up so dang fast. It really is TOO fast somedays. And too slow others. :)

I love this photo - it says so much about her right now. She has ketchup all over her mouth from her chicken nugget lunch. A meal she asks for all the time. Except at this particular lunch she included a side of edemame... a new development - but one I'm liking. Anything green I can get her to try, I count a victory.

Her hair is in pigtails with two mismatched bows... that don't AT ALL coordinate with the top she is wearing. This is no surprise. She has become more and more opinionated about her wardrobe and having a SAY in what goes on her little bod in the morning... so often times - mismatched is just par for the course. What can I say? I pick my battles.

All I see is her bottom row of teeth... That bulldog underbite is getting more pronounced by the day... In my opinion - it's still stinkin' cute. At least at this age.

She's falling down into a pile of freshly raked leaves. She does play with a great sense of reckless abandon. I love that aspect of childhood. Hello world... here I come. Her eyes say a little mischief and a lot of pure innocence. The belief that the world is a good and kind place is shining from inside her.

She is genuinely happy. Often times mouthy. Always cuddly.

My little big girl. Two.

Sweet Baby KG | Easton, MD Newborn Photographer

You guys have NO idea how excited I've been to share this session with you.

This little sweetie was not only beautiful.... but SO SO SO good. She slept like a total champ and let Shelby and I have our way with her. :) Our time together seriously flew by and I found myself wanting her and her sweet-as-can-be mamma to stay awhile longer just so I could have a little more cuddle time.

Love, love, love this precious little one.

Enjoy. Miss K.

"When I got my pictures back from Katie, all I can say is WOW,WOW,WOW! These are the most amazing pictures I have ever seen. Only a true professional would take the time as Katie did to change, feed, and wait for a crying fit to subside and then snap the most beautiful pictures. I wish I knew about Katie when my son was born! Thanks again Katie."

- Chrissy Guy

 

Picking it up again.

I miss scrapbooking.

I do. After Macho and The Badger were born... I began to consider it a grandiose indulgence... But my perspective on it is shifting. I have piles of photos and snippets of notebook paper with little jots of stories and dates on them all over my desk and all they have been doing is collecting dust.

I made an attempt earlier this week to tidy it up - and I was struck that as I skimmed through all the random torn out sheets of note paper with little snippets of "here and now" data on them... It was hard for me to recall anything beyond that snippet. It struck me just how much my brain is an utter and complete sieve.

I have to acknowledge that nobody but me is documenting anything for this family - and rightly so. I'm the one taking the photos and writing stuff down. (And I've gotten away from both of these habits lately.)

I need to need to take my role as "family historian" a little more seriously. After all - as any mom will tell you - our brains pretty much begin to get mushy starting the first trimester of the first pregnancy - and boy, it's all downhill from there.

The point is - If I don't write it down. I won't remember. And the longer I wait to marry those snippets of stories with photos into a proper layout for an album - the harder it's going to be to do it.

And ya know... I wanna remember this stuff.

There's more though - there's the creative aspect of utilizing all of the fun products out there to create something artistic and design-worthy. Something worth keeping. Something about the use of these products in a creative way that underscores the message I'm trying to put forth... in the photos and the words.

When these three things come together (the "stuff" the photos and the story) - well - I'll be dipped and fried like a Snickers at a county fair. It just feels sweet, yo.

Scrapbooking is "my man cave" also... it's my time to relax - to tune out all the rest of the to-do lists and endless, "Mommieeeeeee's" It helps me breathe. And I could seriously use a dose of it on a more regular basis. I feel I'd have less of a fuse with Clark and the kids if I could just unwind a bit more.

And... it's cheaper than therapy. :)

So... short story long. I'm trying to make scrapbooking a higher priority. And I plan to be sharing a layout here and there with you over the coming weeks and months until it, again becomes a regular thing for me.

In the spirit of all this renewed scrapworthy good vibration, I thought I'd share one 12x12 spread that found itself completed over the past month or two...

_{LAYOUT SUPPLIES ::}

_{Cardstock - Bazzill White Orange Peel}

_{Patterned Paper - Chevron : Little Yellow Bicycle, Flowers/Denim : Crate Paper}

_{Alpha Stickers - My Little Shoebox, October Afternoon}

_{Canvas Banner - Maya Road}

_{Bakers Twine - Divine Twine}

_{Rub On "4" - Making Memories}

_{File Tab Punch & Metal Star Brad - Stampin' Up!}

_{Journaling Card Overlay - Ali Edwards}

_{Small Colored Brads - Basic Grey}

_{Thermo Web Pop Up Dots, Stapler}

 

Blog, blog. Where for art thou blog?

Pardon my absence, but sweet, sweet, baby Jesus - last week was kind of a train wreck. In some good ways - and some not so good.

I'll try to sum it up in one sentence.

Both kids had hand foot and mouth all week long... mostly just in the mouth (gross), I woke up in pure darkness more than once to get myself to the shoot location for the next Blue Sky Spring 2013 Catalog... and tried to keep the creative photographic juices flowing for two solid days... I voted and then suffered a full days depression... I edited and posted two client galleries... dug myself out from under 175+ emails... and I saw BIEBER live in concert. Booyah.

Would I have preferred that this collision of events not collide all on the same week? Yes... but if that's the only aftershock I suffer from Hurricane Sandy (a clustermuck schedule?)... you bet I'm thanking my lucky stars. Shew.

SO! Now that I have officially resurfaced... I have a few fun things to post this week.

First up - The Cappa Family.

My girlfriend Lindsay has the sweetest little man ever. He and my Macho are besties. And earlier this summer at a playdate at our house - she asked about arranging a family session for her family and the extended Cappa clan. Her husband's sister lives in Australia... and she, her husband and two girls were coming home for an extended summer holiday and thought it would be a dandy opportunity for some photos.

I was stoked to do this for her/them. And we set a date.

Of course I chose early evening to ensure for nice soft golden hour light... but as I was driving to their family farm I noticed one side of the highway was nice blue summer sky and the other looked a little like we were going to be going off to Oz. Dark mean clouds rolling.

The question was - were they rolling IN or OUT?

Well - I'm just not that lucky - as you all well know - so of course, after I'd parked the car, I could feel the wind picking up and hollering at me,  

"you'd better hurry up sister - or yer gunna git it."

At this point - there really was no rescheduling - the whole family was present and accounted for - in their carefully chosen outfits - hair did - teeth brushed. Yadda, yadda.

Bearing that in mind - I was just so so so thankful for the calm, positive energy of this wonderful family. They knew the deck was stacked against us a little, yet they remained composed and ready for my direction at all times.

We flowed through what would normally have been a 90 minute session, in about 45 minutes - when the rain finally started. I can't thank them enough for their kindness and attentiveness...

Cuz, honey - I tried not to show it - but I was panicing on the inside!

What a lovely group. So honored to have them.

Please enjoy a few of my favorites. :)

I'd like to also say something special about this lady... this is mamma Vicki. A teacher at the local Catholic school... she's just about as sweet and nice as they come. She asked if I would kindly take a headshot for her new book that was just released. It's a childrens book that effectively, yet gently covers a the tough-to-talk-about topic of death and dying. God reveals the ultimate truth of heaven through the lives of a grandmother and her two granddaughters, in this simple, yet powerful true story. It's pretty neat, and it's getting a lot of buzz around town here. :)

Way to go Vicki!

if you'd like more information about this - you can check it out here...

www.thepromisekeptbook.com

A note from Lindsay...

"Katie Pegher is more than just a photographer; She captures the moments of time that bring out the essence of beauty and special memories to cherish forever. The passion that Katie has for work clearly shines through in the product that she delivers, and with each photo she amazes me. I would highly recommend Katie to anyone and everyone. I am anxiously awaiting our next photo shoot this December when our new baby boy arrives. There is no one else in this world I would rather have capture these moments. Katie, you are the best of the best and to you I am forever grateful!
xoxo,
Lindsay Cappa

 

Now, everyone - go hug or just say thank you to a Veteran today, K?

Orange "Pop": The What to Wear Follow Up

I'm from western Pennsylvania. We say, Pop not Soda when referring to soft drink style beverages.

So... Bearing that in mind, this is what my brother decides to cleverly add to the family photo attempt we had over the weekend at my Dad's 65th Birthday extravaganza.

Yup. You see it. I know you do.

As I stated last week - we actually made an effort in our advance planning of this photo op by discussing wardrobe a little between families.

The consensus was, navy/blue, cream/white, maybe some grey - with a "POP" of orange.

Orange was to be our "flair" color. He he.
We think we are so rad.

Except we're not.

So yes, this was my brother's smart ass attempt at orange pop.

I happen to love the photo above. It's so real. So OUR family.

Chock full of the best intentions.

Of course - my two are misbehaving - and not looking at the camera at all. Throwing some hissy fit for a totally unknown and unprovoked reason.

My nephew is probably wondering why the heck we are out here in the freezing cold anyway.

My sister in law - is totally cute and amused by my brother's michief.

My mom is just smiling and hoping we get a winner somewhere/somehow.
And my dad is suffering through it as best as possible but is really just hoping that it will come to a pleasant and speedy conclusion soon.

Life isn't perfect.

My family isn't perfect.

Lord knows, I ain't perfect.

Imperfection is beautiful.

I'll drink to that.

Now... anyone got any orange pop?

:)

 

Happy Halloween!

Macho has recently come clean and point blank said that Halloween is his favorite holiday. Sorry, Santa.

We decorated the house on Oct. 1, for those keeping track. It was hard to get the poor kid to wait THAT long. As soon as Target was stocking their shelves with ghoulish goodies, homeboy was all over me about plastering our house with them. By the end of September, he'd just worn me down.

Sadly - the one larger tree that we had "webbed" was cut down two weeks ago. So it didn't make it to the big day. (A very good thing as it turns out - because it was dangerously close to the house - and the trunk was split down the middle. Thank you, sweet Jesus for the keen timing on that one.) And the rest of the decor - well it pretty much took a beating over the weekend. Thank you, Hurricane Sandy.

That didn't spoil the fun for my two little road warriors. They were ready to go as "Ladybug" and of course, "Justin Bieber" this year. Even Roxy had a "hot dog" costume, but didn't accompany us on the trick or treating odyssey this year. Too much to have to hold onto - seeing as I had to carry Miss Thing about 12 blocks.

Again - I stress - it's Macho's favorite thing - so we all just do what he says and play along nice. :)

 

Now, onto the bigger problem...

What am I going to do with all of this candy?
Sometimes I think I should just stuff it all in my pockets and wear it around like that.

Has the same effect as eating it.

Hope you all had fun!