Sew Some Magnets

I noticed that my grandkids were drawn to the any magnet that ended up on my fridge. It didn't seem to matter if it was a business card sized promotional magnet or a face one shapes like a puppy. This made me want to make some fun magnets that would surprise and excite them next time they visited grandma's house.

When I sat down in my craft room, I can up with a couple of magnet ideas...

 

First, I grabbed some fabric that had a Dr. Seuss theme. I used the Seuss fabric for the front of the magnet, muslin for the back of the magnet, and a piece of batting in between it. I sandwiched them together and sewed around the design, leaving a small section over to stick the magnets in. I put some glue on the back of the magnets and stuck them to the batting. Once the magnets were in place, I sewed the opening closed.  You can find the more detailed, step-by-step directions I wrote for making these fabric magnets here.

 

 

Not too long after I created these fabric magnets, I thought I would experiment with making some using photos.  The method I used was similar to those above. You can find the directions to make these fabric photo magnets here.

 

 

 

 

These magnets were all so easy to make I hope you have a lot of fun making them. Not only are they great to hang on your own refrigerator, they make wonderful gifts.

Blake's Three Month Photos

My baby is getting so big :).  It's bittersweet, but I look forward to continuing to watch her grow up!  Enjoy my photos!!

Happy Thursday!

Soooo BIG!

In honor of the end of my maternity leave, I am going to post some week-to-week pictures of my beautiful baby.  I may start crying about going back to work at any minute, so deal with the emotional rant of a proud mama!  

Mom and I went to a citywide garage sale in the middle of May, and I found this really cool crib to be used as a photography prop.  In the meantime, it was a perfect photo prop for my own darling!  She is going to be 12 weeks tomorrow, and it will probably be the last "weekly" photo.  I will switch to taking monthly photos now, but I am going to probably have to find a new prop, and my pumpkin is outgrowing the crib!!  

Enjoy the photos!

6 Weeks :)

7 Weeks

8 Weeks 

9 Weeks

10 Weeks

11 Weeks

She makes my heart happy! 

Speaking of Photography...

Thanks to some coupons and store-closing sales, I have aquired some new photography books... I had them stacked in the corner of my desk with the owner's manual for my new camera (BTW, did I mentioned I got a new Canon 60D). This past weekend I finally got tired of just looking at them so I started reading.


Actually, some of these will more likely just end up on my bookshelf and used for reference (they aren't meant to be read cover to cover), but I will at least flip through all of the pages first:

• Taking Stock: Make money in microstock creating photos that sell
  This is the book I started reading first. I have been told by so many people that my photos are good... Really good... So I started looking into the many sites available online for selling them. When I saw this book, I figured it couldn't hurt to learn a little more about selling those pictures. This book was very inforamative! The manin thing I have learned is that, while my pictures might be good, they are mostly night right for microstock site. :-( But, now I know what kind of pictures to take to try my hand at selling them.

• National Geographic Photography Field Guide
  I got this at Half Price Books. This will be more of a reference book, but I will page through it first.

• The Photography Bible
  I got a great deal on this book at a Borders bookstore that was going out of business.

Photography Business

I finally took the first steps to start my own photography business.  I started a website using smugmug, and have had a lot of fun making it.  I also started a facebook page, and already have around 80 fans!  Make sure that you become my fan and check out my new website!

Since starting these, I have already booked a couple of new sessions and weddings!  I am looking forward to all that this new venture has to bring.

Photography--My Newest Passion!

I have always loved taking photos!  I was able to treat myself to a Canon Rebel Xsi in the summer of 2009, as a graduation gift to myself.  I tended to favor shooting in auto, but that was mainly because I had no idea how to use manual!  Last Spring, mom and I took a photography class with my wedding photographers in Grand Forks.  They were amazing, and we learned a lot (mainly how to shoot in manual and understand my camera settings)!  Ever since then, I think both mom and I have been a bit more inspired.  

After that class, I started taking photos of friends and family.  Word of mouth has been spreading, and I've had a handful of friends of friends contact me to shoot their photos.  After a lot of thought, I've been tossing around the idea of starting my own side photography business.  I'm still not sure how far I want to take it, but I am ready to start marketing my services and see how many bites I get!  

I just created my own photography website and facebook fan page to get started marketing.  In addition, I also just upgraded my camera (Canon 60D), and I am super excited to get it in the mail!  I will have lots of practice shooting another cute baby in about a month or so :).