Heart Shaped Flower Pencils

Ok, so here's a little "how-to" or DIY or crafty thingamabob or whatever you want to call it that we made for Valentine's day.  I used foam that I bought at the Dollar Tree  & some I had leftover from last Valentine's Day.  I cut out a heart shape that I liked to use as my template & then used it to cut out the rest of my hearts which actually end up being the "petals" for the whole heart flower.  You can see below 2 cut out flowers- I took pics after all were made so these already have holes in them- just ignore that. ;)

Once I had 4 hearts of approximately the same size-ish, I then joined the bottoms of them together in sort of a four-leaf clover adaptation.  

Then, using a sharp pencil, I poked it through all four.  I'm sure there is a better tool to use for this but hey, it worked for me.  

After the holes are made, keeping them lined up, I then poked a pretty Valentine's day pencil through all the way up to the eraser.  That is the "stem" for the flower. :)

Voila!  Heart shaped flower pencils!  I'm guessing you could possibly stick pixy sticks in there as well but not sure how well they would hold up the foam.  I think I may have done them in the past with Pixy sticks but used paper instead of foam to make the hearts.  

Keep in mind that you have to make four hearts for each flower and I had to make over 60- that multiplied into over 240 hearts- I almost ran out of foam & my fingers hurt after all that cutting & poking.  We also put sparkly gem stickers on the one's for girls and the boys just got plain ones (oh well, they probably didn't get so excited about the flowers anywho).  

I'm sure there are endless variations to these & I would love to see some other ideas flow out of this one b/c I kinda got pooped at the end & ran out of creative thoughts aside from just making the flowers. 

 Let me know what you come up with for Valentine's Day!!

:):):)

IN LOVE... with Full Frame Photography

I bought my first Digital SLR Camera about 3 years ago & it's a Canon Rebel xsi.  I was IN LOVE with it for the longest time (for the longest time, ohhhhh....).  My rebel helped me to achieve things I never thought possible with photography and I was eventually able to turn that into a profit-making business that I love!!  

But one day, I felt like something was missing.  I tend to be overly critical of my work anyway so for a while I just kept telling myself that was what it was, "self, you're just being overly critical, stop that."  Then it got to the place where I knew I wasn't just being overly critical anymore, there WAS something missing and it was driving me CRAZY!!  Like, literally, pull my hair out CRAZY!!  I knew that my images could be better and I started thinking about getting a new camera and that was just out of the question, monetarily yes, but even more so... I felt like I was turning my back on an old and faithful friend.  A friend who had been with me through so much- to Africa and back, to senior shoot after senior shoot, engagement shoots, weddings, families, dance recitals and more!!  How could I do this???  

But I had to, or I would have no hair left on my head & my poor hubby could tell something wasn't right about me.  I just could no longer stand the thought of giving my clients less than the best, less then they deserved and yes, it would take a large sacrifice on our part (several sacrifices), but it must be done.  So, I finally gave in and we purchased our first full-frame 5D camera.  I have only shot a few pics with it thus far (I am still trying to figure out all those buttons!!), but I can already tell you, I'm in love!!  (just don't tell my Rebel- it might rebel!!)

Here are a few pics I took with it last night, just as the sun was setting over the coastal mountains.  Our youngest was the only one who would agree to go with us & be our "model".

(i think she did a great job, especially as mommy is still trying to figure out how to use the thing)

(this is our backyard.... just kidding- I wish!)

(look at this cool branch, mommy!  I'm gonna bring it over to you...)

 (i just have to make a note here, when I move the camera, Calley moves with me... it's very cute)

  

All that to say, I am very happy with our decision to purchase this full frame camera and also happy that we can offer even better quality images to our clients...

that makes me smile :)