Acrylic and Old Lace

New Blog!

2011-02-08T13:28:00.002-09:00

So I finally got my new blog up and running. I will now be posting exclusively at that site so check it out!

www.rebeccakurberphotography.com/blog

New Site!

2011-01-07T23:33:00.002-09:00

My new website is up! Check it out at rebeccakurberphotography.com! More cool things are coming up--stay tuned!

Secrets Under the Midnight Sun

2010-10-29T10:47:00.006-08:00

I love special projects, especially secret special projects...or at least, I like being able to talk about secret special projects. So I'm super excited to finally be able to talk about this latest secret special project...

A few months ago I had the privilege to work with an amazing gal named Maria Crites. I knew who Maria was but I don't think I had ever even had a conversation with her until she contacted me to ask if I would be willing to create the cover for her new book, Secrets Under the Midnight Sun. Instead of picking out a photo from some stock photo company, Maria really wanted to find a local Alaskan artist to design the cover, perhaps even using some of the places she talks about in her book. I was so flattered she thought to ask me and I jumped at the opportunity because I've always wanted to design a book cover.

Maria shared with me the basic story line of the book - a 12 year old girl named Freddie, a real tom-boy, living in Fairbanks in 1967, who holds a dark secret about abuse. When she was describing the story to me, I kept seeing a young gal lying in the tall grass under the sun, with some fun sun glare bouncing off my lens.

To design the book cover, I found a fabulous gal about Freddie's age to photograph (thanks Paris!) and we spent an evening at Creamer's Field, one of Freddie's favorites places to hang out and ride her bike. Several hours, one destroyed book (on purpose) and tons of photos later, I rushed home, played around with some of my favorite images and uploaded them for Maria to see. I didn't tell her which one was my favorite because since I haven't read the book yet, I wanted the author to pick which one really seemed like Freddie -- without hearing my personal bias. But to my wonderful surprise, Maria picked THE photograph that most resembled the image I kept seeing in my mind. Yay! So I sent Maria the image, we took some professional portraits of Maria for her author bio and then...I didn't hear from her for a few months.

I had been meaning to email her and see how things were coming along when I ran into her last night at a cooking class. Maria smiled and waved across the kitchen island and after the class (which was on pressure cookers by the way), she showed me the Youtube trailer for her book and told me it will be out next month.

So for all you who are interested, check out her trailer and I'll keep you posted when her book comes out in print. I can't wait to read this story about Freddie...

Day After Shoots

2010-08-09T15:46:00.009-08:00

I've had a lot of brides recently inquire about Day After shoots or "Trash the Dress" shoots. The premise behind these fabulous shoots is that you dress back up in your gorgeous dress (so that makes 2 times in your life you'll get to wear it--yay!) and have a relaxed shoot with or without your hubby and get gorgeous shots you wouldn't have time or be able to get on the day of your wedding. These shoots are done after the wedding just in case you by accident, or on purpose, "trash" your dress. The shoot isn't necessarily the day after your wedding--it could be weeks or even years after *such as with this shoot...

A while ago via Facebook, I inquired if any brides out there would be willing to have me shoot them in their dresses and I had several gals take me up on the offer! So here are some fun images from our first shoot with Marcie at Alaskala...er, I mean, Pioneer Park. *If you grew up here, you'll get that...

Marcie was a bride of mine several years ago and she made the 2 dresses she wore in this shoot (along with the veils and bouquets). I LOVE the dresses - both are from actual vintage patterns and hey, who says you can't get married in baby blue or white polka dots? We are planning another shoot in Marcie's actual wedding dress (a vintage 50's lace dress) because one of our "props" wasn't ready yet, so stay tuned for those images in a later post.

So why do I love this type of shoot? Time flexibility, awesome locations, fun and relaxed atmosphere, and the chance to have one-of-a-kind photographs in your gorgeous dress.

View more photos of Marcie and the behind the scenes photos of this shoot on Facebook. Enjoy!

New Beginnings...

2010-07-22T15:36:00.005-08:00

Life has changed--for the good. On May 7th our little family grew with the birth of our lovely daughter, Evangeline and it's been a roller coaster ever since. We moved back to Fairbanks 10 days after she was born and the next day started working long hours on our apartments, Joe's construction job and my photography business.

But here we are, almost 3 months later and life is finally in a bit of a routine. Business is going great and I'm super excited about all the new changes my business will be taking over the next 6 or so months. In the works are a new website and blog, new products and in a more long term goal, a fabulous space to meet with you, my wonderful clients! Keep current on what I'm up to via my Twitter account or my Facebook Fan page.

For now though, here are some photos of my new office/bedroom and some photos of the hardcover albums I offer with my wedding packages.

my office/bedroom...

2 sizes for albums--7x7 and 10x10

Maude the dress-form looks over my shoulder while I work on photos...

albums come in a red hard case...

the 7x7 album -- all albums have a printed dust jacket...

Where Evie plays while I'm working & my dresser...

*the inside of the 10x10 album...

Ice Museum Wedding

2010-03-03T22:12:00.005-09:00

It's been a while since I updated with a photo post, so here are some of my favorite photos from a wedding we shot at the Ice Museum at Chena Hot Springs, Alaska. It was a great wedding and using some new fabulous equipment we were able to get some great shots, even though it was dark and cold...*brrrr!

Enjoy the photos!

The Bride and Groom enjoyed some apple-tini's in hand-carved ice glasses...

We just loved all the ice sculpture...

That's it for now!

Only 3 months left!

2010-01-17T16:12:00.005-09:00

Well it's been an exciting time around the Kurber household...Joe and I just returned from a 2 week trip to Fairbanks where Takenya and I photographed 2 weddings--one for Sam & Charlotte at Pikes and one for Chaia & Stephan at the Ice Hotel at Chena Hot Springs. We also of course hung out with family and friends and are now back to the grind in Anchorage.

As I mentioned in my last post, we are expecting our first baby--a baby girl! So this year Red Shutter Studios won't be taking any weddings during March, April & May, but if you want to book us for June or July act quickly because we already have several weekends spoken for...

Also of importance, the Kurber clan will be moving back to Fairbanks in May so it will be business as usual this summer for our Fairbanks clients...:) In addition to that, Takenya and I have refocused our prices & wedding packages a bit, which are now updated online at www.redshutterstudios.com. Other updates are soon to come along with new wedding photos from this past year--we photographed 14 weddings in 2009--what a great year! My goal is to finish the remaining weddings, books and shoots in the next 3 months before baby kurber arrives to take all my time away, so I've really been making an effort to plow through my remaining editing work...

In news other than RSS, I've started to get ready for baby kurber to arrive. I bought some fabric to make a slipcover for a comfy chair to put in her room (and enough fabric to make matching curtains, crib skirt, etc) and I whipped out my sewing machine and so far have made her a really cute quilt (with help from my mom) and an adorable stuffed owl toy. I was on Etsy the other day looking for handmade toys and I was really inspired by the stuffed owls I saw on there so my plan is to make her a few of them to play with, drool on, etc. And while I don't mind sewing up a few creations for our baby, there were other great toys that I plan to just buy, such as this adorable wooden puzzle, this rattle, this stacker and these sweet little birds.

Well I think that's all the updating I have thus far...hope everyone is having a splendid new year and we'll see you this summer in Fairbanks! :)

The Hop, Skip and a Jump Maternity Frock GROSGRAIN GIVEAWAY!!!!

2009-11-19T14:08:00.001-09:00

The Hop, Skip and a Jump Maternity Frock GROSGRAIN GIVEAWAY!!!!

So, this post is super selfish...I want this dress.

Oh, and by the way, I'm expecting, yes it's true. This, and the fact that I have been super busy getting wedding photos and books done, has been the reason I've been neglecting this poor blog.

I hope to once again have time to be exciting and interesting in the future...:p

Brayana's Senior Photos...

2009-09-30T20:53:00.006-08:00

I figured it was time to make another update. I've been so busy editing photos I haven't had the time to post any!

This photo shoot was probably my favorite shoot that we did all year. Not only did we get to photograph a harp (how cool is that?) but we got a fabulous free concert the entire time--Brayana is really good! I think we wound up spending 3 hours hauling the harp around and coming up with creative ideas for the photographs. *Actually, Brayana's mom and my husband Joe hauled the harp around...;)

Enjoy the photos!

Sam & Charlotte's Engagement Photos...

2009-08-19T23:47:00.010-08:00

Well, here's my first blog post from Anchorage! Joe and I arrived on Saturday and have almost got all of our stuff put back together in our new home (photos to come soon!). I'll be back in Fairbanks this weekend for a wedding and then back to Fairbanks in 3 more weeks for Chris and Sarah's wedding.

I was having some computer issues with my mammoth computer so I got a nice week long break from editing, but now it's time to get back to work. Here are some photos I finished tonight: Sam and Charlotte's Engagement photos. These were taken near Charlotte's home and it was a great backdrop for fun photos...enjoy!

PS: to edit these photos, I used some presets by Michelle Black -- if you're a photographer, definitely check out her stuff...

Takenya's Maternity Photos

2009-07-30T15:34:00.010-08:00

As most of you know, Takenya is my second photographer for my business, Red Shutter Studios. She is due the end of next month and we finally got around to shooting some awesome maternity photos of her at her house and at the UAF Botanical Gardens...we spent...maybe 4 hours shooting? I forget...Also of note is the fact that Takenya made the black strapless shirt and the green leaf shirt she wears in these photographs...

Here are a "few" of my favorites...enjoy!

Moving!

2009-07-16T20:53:00.004-08:00

So, as of a few weeks ago, Joe and I decided to move to Anchorage so that Joe can pursue his M.A. in English. Yeah, crazy, I know...That said, we will be moving in about 4-5 weeks so if anyone would like senior portraits or family portraits, let me know now so I can squeeze you in!

As for the future of Red Shutter Studios, I have no intentions of stopping my business and I will be back to Fairbanks each month through January for weddings, so if anyone would like other portraits done during those times, I'll squeeze you in during my visits! Also, if anyone is interested in hiring us for their wedding we will continue to shoot weddings in Fairbanks.

Joe and I also plan on spending our summers back here in Fairbanks, so if you are planning a summer wedding in 2010 or 2011 and would like to hire us, no problem, we'll be here! In the meantime, if anyone is in Anchorage and would like to do a shoot, drop me an email and we'll link up.

So there's the most pertinent information. Check out our calendar regularly at http://redshutterstudios.com/flash/calendar8_01.html to check on our availability and when we will be in Fairbanks.

Tina & Shawn Engagement

2009-07-15T16:06:00.008-08:00

Here are a few favorites of Tina & Shawn's engagement shoot we did last month. They decided they wanted their photos done downtown and after rescheduling the shoot 3 times due to rainy weather, we finally captured these shots.

Last weekend we photographed Tina & Shawn's wedding and it was the most fun I've ever had a reception! Takenya and I took almost 2,000 photos of their reception alone! Photos of their wedding and other shoots to come!

Chris & Sarah's Engagement

2009-06-09T13:20:00.006-08:00

Here are some photos from a fabulous engagement shoot we did the other day outside of the Fairbanks Library. Chris and Sarah are friends of Takenya and I and they came up with tons of great ideas for their shoot--they brought old books, bright red flowers and even borrowed a friends motorcycle. We started shooting at 7pm so we could get some great sunburst flare through the trees. Enjoy!

Vintage Marriage Certificates

2009-06-09T12:54:00.005-08:00

So, I was photographing a wedding last summer and the bride was filling out a lovely vintage marriage certificate. I asked her, "Where did you find that?" and she told me that one of her guests had given it to her as a wedding present.

In case any of my readers don't know, I had a vintage themed wedding 1 1/2 years ago and while filling out our marriage certificate, I hated all the stupid/ugly marriage certificates that you could buy from the courthouse (they were all Alaskan themed). I finally did a bit of research and I found some fabulous vintage wedding certificates and I decided to write this quick post for all those other vintage brides out there!

http://www.shopwiki.com/Marriage+Certificate+Folder?sb=1
*there are a bunch on this site....

http://www.grandmas-attic.com/certificates.html
*this site has some of my favorites, including the one that the bride at the wedding had...

*this certificate is one of my favorites--it's on the grandma's attic site...

http://www.advantagebridal.com/chandanmace.html
*has a really nice Victorian one...

Devin's Maternity Photos

2009-05-27T15:03:00.005-08:00

I am so excited about how these photos came out! These pictures are from a maternity shoot with our friend Devin almost 2 years ago. Devin is an extremely patient woman since, uh, I just finished these photos about, oh, 10 minutes ago--haha...

Since Red Shutter Studios doesn't have a studio, we took these pictures at Devin's house. We set up a few garage lights, some cool fabric and took photos in Devin's stairway and her painting studio. I then did some Photoshop magic with them and voila! Enjoy!

Beqa Photoshoot

2009-05-27T10:02:00.006-08:00

Here are a few of my favorite photos from a shoot I did a few months ago. Beqa wanted these photos done so that she could show her dad her new tattoo! These photos were taken around the UAF campus.

The adorable sailor pants that she's wearing were her grandfathers from when he was in the Navy during WWII. Since we didn't have much time in between Beqa's classes at UAF and my busy schedule, we plan to take more photos sometime this summer.

In other news, Takenya and I had our first wedding of the season on Sunday! It was a lovely wedding overlooking the valley at Chena Hot Springs. Pictures to come shortly!

So much to do!

2009-05-12T11:47:00.010-08:00

So yeah...I've been super bad about updating this thing. My internet hasnt worked in about a month, my dad and I started remodeling the kitchen, I've been taking care of a friend whose been in the hospital and I've been gardening and sewing up a frenzy plus having a massive yard sale...*sigh...sooooo busy. But I finally found some time to sit down and update with my photos! Yay!

First of all, here is a photo from Takenya & I's booth at the Bridal Fair--thanks to everyone who stopped by!

And while Takenya and I do spend a lot of our time together working, we had an all day sewing date last month--Takenya worked on making cute maternity shirts and I worked on a dress that was off of a horrible pattern so I don't have photos of my project that day. However, here are some photos of some aprons I've been making, my sewing workspace I finally got set up and the suit jacket I'm working on for my husband!

*This is Takenya's shirt--one of about 3 she made that day...

*My favorite apron I've made thus far...

Since making my "I will not buy clothes" vow, I have made 1 dress (a different dress then that horrible pattern), 1 skirt, and 2 aprons for myself. I've got plenty more plans in the making for more outfits--a bunch more dresses, some summer shirts and some more skirts, but now that we've got this remodel thing going, I havent had much time to sew.

*This is my sewing table and Joe's suit thus far...

My next project will be on this bad boy--it's a 1928 Singer sewing machine that my dad bought and I might trade with him (Beqa gave me an old 1960's Kenmore sewing machine in a cabinet).

Also, just for fun, here is my other sewing machine--it's a 1918 New Wilson treadle machine. I bought it with my old roommate Tasha at an antique store when it was going out of business--I love the table and use it to store my record player. I'm thinking about selling it though so that I can get a Serger. We shall see though, it's just too cool!

Anyway, that's all I've time for for now--hope you all are enjoying your Alaskan "summer"...:P

A Boring Update...

2009-03-20T19:22:00.002-08:00

So, it's been forever since I've been on here and I decided I just needed to sit down and just say that I've been so busy and that's why I haven't posted in forever! So, this post will be a bit boring, but at least you'll know what I've been up to lately...

Since my last post, Takenya and I went to the Bridal Fair--it was great to meet lots of new folks and since then Takenya & I have been meeting with many clients about their upcoming weddings. It's going to be a busy summer/fall--we've got 10 weddings thus far, but there are surprisingly still many weekends open (we are doing some Friday weddings & even a Wednesday wedding), so if you're still interested in hiring us, drop me a line at rebeccakurber@gmail.com.

Also--we moved! Yep, I know, I just made a post about my cool new office...well...I now need to make a new post about my even newer office! Joe & I moved about to North Pole this past weekend so we are still getting settled in to our new place.

I haven't done much knitting or sewing lately, but I have been on a reading frenzy--The Omnivore's Dilemma, The Revolution Will Not Be Microwaved, In Defense of Food...*do you notice a trend? I've really been interested in the food industry and I've been getting more into the living sustainably and eating mostly vegetarian/vegan thing. I'm even thinking about getting some hens this summer to have fresh eggs--how's that for hardcore? :p

Anyway, that's my quick update--I hope to get back into posting regularly again here soon...

A New Year's Resolution...

2009-01-21T22:11:00.019-09:00

I've been in a huge "project mode" as of late. Sewing, knitting, reading, organizing, re-arranging, learning German, working on business projects--the list goes on. The other night, I re-arranged our bedroom. I decided at 12pm that the bed MUST go at an angle between the windows and that my closet had to be cleaned & organized and that all clothes I can no longer fit into or want to wear MUST go. Joe pleaded with me to wait but I just couldn't do it--when I make up my mind, I make up my mind. *Poor Joe...

This is my $30 antique trunk, $10 vintage suitcase, my $3 fan & a small vanity that matches my dresser that my mom bought me as a wedding present.

My vanity, my collection of vintage brooches (mostly from family), my awesome vintage reproduction phone that a bunch of my girl friends bought for me, and newly organized closet.

Along with all my cleaning has come the need to be organized and keep my life simple. I want to start making my own bread once a week and can my own food --and I've been longing for the day that all my clothes & shoes could fit into my closet--now, that day has come. I finally finished purging all the stuff I don't wear, don't want and just don't need. I will probably go through it again in about 3 or 4 months and clean it again, but at least now it is all in one place.

So now comes the real reason I am making this post. In keeping with my New Years resolution to simplify my life, I have decided to make another commitment--a sewing commitment. For several years I have toyed with the idea of forbidding myself from buying any new clothes to force myself to be more creative with what I have or sew/knit new clothes if I want/need them. I sometimes fall victim to the idea that "I need something new to wear" --but after a few wearings, I am back to wearing my favorite clothes -- and that new thing I just couldn't live without will make it's way into the wardrobe of a dear friend. I was wandering the blog world yesterday and I stumbled across this gal's blog entry about her past year keeping that same vow--to not purchase any new clothes--only reuse, mend or make new ones. She explains her reasons for the commitment (textile waste, learning about quality verses quantity, being resourceful, etc) and after being so completely inspired by her courage to do the very thing I've always wanted to do, I've decided to not purchase any new clothing during 2009. I almost didn't make the commitment because I thought, "Well, what if I get pregnant? Then I'll have to shop for maternity clothes" but then I decided that that was just an excuse like I had always given myself. So, baby or not, this year I will not buy any clothes. The only thing that I will allow myself is if I do get pregnant, I will need some new undergarments--I don't know how to make those...haha...

I'm actually really excited about the challenge. My mom & her twin sister actually lived their entire childhood not having store bought clothes. My grandmother made ALL their clothes, in fact, my mother never owned a pair of jeans until she married my dad, since my grandmother refused to sew with denim. Here are a few pictures of my mom (and one with her twin) in outfits that my grandmother made them...*sorry the pictures aren't that large--my scanner isn't hooked up to my computer so I had to take photographs of them...

In my bedroom photos, you will have noticed my large antique trunk. The inside of that trunk is filled with all my fabric--I own tons of fabric and my mother owns even more. This is the fabric pile I plan to deplete this year.

And here are a few jackets that have been living in my fabric trunk that I intend on finally mending this year as part of my new-found commitment...

#1: A beautiful, wool swing-styled jacket that I got for $3.50 at Value Village. The jacket was disgusting when I found it--the wool felt greasy and the lining was completely disintegrating. I had it dry cleaned and I took out the lining and cut out some new lining, I just haven't gotten around to sewing it back together. *This jacket will be perfect if in this next year I get pregnant...

#2: A GORGEOUS wool, vintage, 3/4 length sleeve jacket that I also bought at Value Village *for $50 I think. The jacket had a real fur (rabbit I believe) collar around it, but it looks too flashy for me--I'm a scarf kind of gal, so I bought some black fabric to make a new collar. That is all this jacket needs. *The first picture is what the jacket looks like without the fur...

#3: A tweed jacket I found at a yard sale last summer. It needs some new buttons, a new lining and a bit of tailoring to fit me better, but I think I paid 25cents for it and the color is great on me *plus, I don't own a green jacket...

I am also inspired to do mini-commitments that are only for a month at a time, such as go without coffee, eat only vegetarian, go without sugar, learn how to can/jar food, etc. So I think I'm going to chew on that idea a bit more and come up with some interesting things I could commit to for just a month. Any ideas?

Rearranging...

2009-01-21T01:00:00.008-09:00

About a month ago, I re-did my office...this is what it used to look like...

and this is the new and improved office...

I took the pictures at 12:30 midnight, so I didn't have any natural light to help the photos look good, but during the day, this room is very bright--perfect for painting, drawing, sewing and working on my business...I like it much better than that vibrant green color I painted it before--this time I did a faux wall (my second ever--and I'm super pleased with the results) with some "oops" paint I got from Beqa. I also finally hung some art/posters I had and I found a home for some cool paper lantern lights that Carra bought me...

I took out my glass computer desk and a whole bunch of other stuff to make space for my art stuff and my "new" awesome art chair I found at the dump. It's basically a brand new chair--not even a small stain under the seat--however, it looked like about 4 cats got left home for a month and they took their anger out on the chair--it was just completely shredded everywhere and so we just cut off all the fuzz until I someday get a change to re-upholster it...*also, notice my cool lamp? I got it for $6.99 at Value Village (a thrift store).

And if you were wondering what this crazy was....

It's my robe I'm making--it's off of a Butterick 1948 pattern--it looks much better on I promise. I only have to hem it and put the finishing touches on it (buttons, sash, hook/eye--and yes, shoulder pads) and then it will be ready to wear. I'll model it when I'm done with it. I got the fabric 50% off of 50% clearance and I got the lining fabric for 50cents a yard--quite the steal of a deal...I've actually been doing more sewing lately--I'm even about to venture into the world of tailoring--I'm going to make suit jackets for my husband. But first, I must tackle step one--welt pockets...anyone know of a good tutorial for them?

*more sewing news to come later....stay tuned!

Secrets Revealed!

2009-01-16T15:05:00.012-09:00

Ok Marcie, you can stop bugging me now--here are the photos/story about the "secret photoshoot"...

About a month ago, I ran into Jacob, an old friend of mine. Jacob and I went to the same small school in North Pole since Jr. High and he graduated Valedictorian and I salutatorian the same year (I know, it sounds impressive, but there were only 4 graduates that year, so you know, being salutatorian still only meant being in the top 50% of your class...haha...). He and I both learned to play guitar around the same time (although he soon surpassed me in amazing skill) and by college we went our separate ways. So it was great to run into him, especially when he asked if I could do a photoshoot for a project he "was working on." He wanted some pictures of himself and he asked me about photographing a drum set. I assumed it was for his next CD he was making, and I happily agreed to the job. Later, when we planned a time to meet, I asked him what the project was and he told me it was a secret. What? A secret? What the heck? I couldn't get any information out of him what-so-ever. So a few weeks later, Jacob came over to my house to finally spill his guts.

"So, what is this big secret Jake?" I asked.

"Well..." he said with a sheepish grin. "I'm going to ask a girl to marry me."

"Really? I didn't even know you were dating someone."

"Well....I'm not..."

"Excuse me?"

This was the big secret. Jake was going to propose to a girl he wasn't even dating. In fact, he had never even told this girl that he liked her. I'm sitting in my living room thinking that Jacob has finally flipped his lid when he explains that he's known this girl for years from church so he was pretty sure that this girl was in love with him just as much as he was with her--they just had never said anything to each other. He then reaches into his jacket pocket and grabs a stack of photos of Charis, the girl he is going to propose to, and lays them out on the floor to show me. He tells me that "Charis loves pink and green, she loves Disneyland, Prince Charming, and playing the drums...." As he told me all kinds of things about her, I looked through the photographs, wondering if she had given him all of these photographs. Then Jake said, "She didn't give me all of these, I stole them off her laptop when I worked on it for her." I stared at him and said, "And that isn't creepy...because?" He just laughed.

"Ok..." I said. "Well, what do you want me for? Where do I fall into all of this?" And then he told me the entire reason I was involved in all this.

Jake needed my help to propose to her. Not literally of course--but he had come up with the most elaborate plan I've ever heard to propose to Charis, a girl that he had never even told he liked. He had bought/custom designed an EXTREMELY nice drum set for this girl--he had gotten to know her pretty well when he gave her drum lessons several years ago. The drum set was hot pink, with music notes, vibrant greens and rainbows, stars, quotes from Disney movies and all kinds of other things that Charis loved. He even created a logo for the drum set, "Charisma Star, est 1984" which is a name that Charis had created. He also bought her a sparkly electric guitar in a hot pink & purple case and he wanted me to photograph the guitar and drum set, along with photos of himself and the gorgeous ring he had custom made for her (a diamond with hot pink and lime green stones on either side of the diamond, with gold stars down the side of the ring) all so that he could create a book to give her after he proposed. The craziest part of his plan was that Charis was already back in California, her hometown, for the holidays and he knew she was going to go to Disneyland for a few days with some of her friends. So he was going to fly to California, then on January 1, 2009, go to Disneyland, dress up as Prince Charming and propose to Charis. Then, later, as an engagement gift, he was going to give her the book, which would start with photos of himself and the ring, and then progress to the drum set he had custom made for her, and then to the electric guitar. Plus, an entire CD of music he had written, sung and recorded for her (you can listen to the album at www.purevolume.com/jacoblincoln). I was then sworn to secrecy--not even Jake's parents knew he was going to do all of this.

"Are you sure this girl is going to say yes?" I worried.

"Come on! This is going to be so great that she just can't say no!" Jake laughed.

So we began work on the photoshoot. I drilled Jake for more information about Charis. I learned she loved Audrey Hepburn, and since I own tons of books with Audrey Hepburn I put her ring onto some tulips I had and photographed the ring on top of the Audrey Hepburn books. Then, I had Jake buy her favorite flower, lilies and we did some photographs with the ring and the lilies. Jake told me that Charis loves old movies so I laid the lilies on a "Music from the Silver Screen Era" record I had laying around my house. I also had Jake hold the ring and took pictures of him in front of my Christmas tree using my new 50mm lens--it's so fabulous for getting a really shallow depth of field.

Then we did the hard part--going outside.

We decided to set up the entire drum set in the road near my house. Of course, it wound up being a cold day. Figures. But here are some of my favorite photos from that shoot...

After editing all the photographs, Jacob took them and created a book with them, had a lady sew him a Prince Charming outfit, finalized all his grand schemes and flew off to California...

So how did it all turn out you ask? Why don't you go to www.youtube.com/charismastartv and find out for yourself!

A New Year and New Projects!

2009-01-15T14:47:00.007-09:00

I hope you all had a great holiday season--mine was just splendid. I was able to get a lot of work done and still find time to relax and catch up on some knitting, sewing and reading *I'm still working on that Dracula book....haha...

I also had an increase of projects over the break, including this engagement session with Sayre & Leslie. Sayre's family are next door neighbors of mine, and while he and his fiance were home for Christmas, they asked me if I could take some engagement photos of them. Leslie is from Louisiana, which is where they will be getting married, but they wanted to include Sayre's hometown of Alaska in their wedding. We actually postponed the shoot several times due to the weather (dec/jan is a horrible time to plan outdoor photoshoots--it's really cold and there is hardly any light) but we finally picked a day that wound up not being too cold (I think it was about -5?)

That mountain of clothing in the picture is me--Takenya decided to shoot a few pics of me taking photos. Notice how deep the snow was---brrrr!!!

Good pictures makes all the cold worth it!

We didn't travel far for the shoot--we just walked around our adjoining properties and got these great shots.

It was actually a good thing we finally did the shoot when we did because that night, the temperature dropped down to -40 and stayed around -45 for nearly 2 weeks straight! That's actually the real reason I was able to get tons done, because I couldn't go anywhere--my car wouldn't start!

More updates to come soon--including the "secret photoshoot" pictures! *stay tuned marcie...;)

Back in the Swing of Things...

2008-12-13T16:17:00.012-09:00

I've finally been able to get back into the groove of things here at home. Pam's wedding was beautiful and it was great to be able to spend a few days in the sun --right now in Alaska it is the darkest time of the year and it's really starting to get to me. To combat the darkness, I tell myself that I only have to make it until December 21st, and then we start gaining light, even though I know that we wont really see a difference until late January. So there are only 8 more days to go fellow Alaskans! Also, I try to keep busy with art projects such as knitting--things to help pass the time in the dark.

Since my last post, I was able to finish a few more sets of photos (a cool retro shoot and some family photos), work on a secret project (pics to come in January), almost finish Tasha's wedding book and finish all my work for my degree! Whoo hooo!

Projects I still have to work on include 1-2 more wedding books for examples for the bridal fair, the upholstered chair, planning my husbands birthday party and finish knitting Christmas presents! So uh, I guess I should get back to work....

One Week Left!

2008-11-18T20:02:00.003-09:00

I had a moment of panic after writting my last entry--I only have about 2 weeks before I head off for Thanksgiving with Joe's family and then to Pam's wedding in Texas. That means I have some serious photo and school work to do before next tuesday, so the poor re-upholstered chair was set in the corner until some more important work is done--but don't worry Angela, I'll still make that post...:)

I've finished the Huffman family photos and Josh & Rauchelle's wedding photos--here are a few of my favorites from those shoots...

Chris and Devin Huffman are friends of mine who recently had possibly the cutest little boy to ever walk (or should I say, crawl?) this earth. We took these pictures around my home at the very end of Fall--in fact I think it snowed the following day. We were able to get some good shots just before darkness set in...

I've known Josh & Rauchelle since they were in Junior High. They dated all through High School and finally tied the knot this summer on the Tanana Chief Riverboat here in Fairbanks. Their wedding was a really unique one--think "Gone With the Wind" goes to Japan. The bride had to put her dress on just before the wedding because with the hoop skirt on underneath it, she couldn't fit through doorways. She even got a tattoo on her back that says "Josh is my angel" in Japanese just for the occasion.

Space was pretty tight on that little boat, but Takenya and I were able to get some good shots just the same...

All the bridesmaids wore traditional Japanese wear on both their heads and their feet. *Do you like how I've cleverly avoided having to spell what those things are?

In a final note, I just found out today that the Fairbanks Bridal Show is in JANUARY and not March like I had been told. This means I have a real time crunch now, so I've spent all day working on Tasha's wedding book -*my old roommate--I promised her I would make a book of the photos I took at her wedding*- since I will be needing some example books on display at the show. My plan is to do a lot of work by December 10th, which is the deadline for getting into the show...hopefully I can make it in time!

A Month?!?!

2008-11-07T16:23:00.001-09:00

This past month just flew by, I feel like I woke up the other day and it was November. Soon, it will be Thanksgiving and then I am flying out to BE in a wedding (my first ever!) and then it will be my husbands birthday, Christmas, New Years and before you know it, 2009. *Wow...

Well a few little updates--I no longer work 30 hours a week as a graphic designer and I am LOVING it. I hadn't realized how much I was working. I am finally recovering from a series of colds I keep getting from (I guess) lack of sleep and too much stress. I've even been able to keep my apartment clean! My husband has started working early in the mornings so we changed our sleep patterns to go to bed around 10pm and get up at 6:30--and boy, you wouldn't believe all the stuff I've been getting done since I've started getting up early! *I have never ever been a morning person--I like being up early, but I hate getting up...you see the problem...*

So what have I been doing with all this spare time, other then keeping my house clean? For one, I've been knitting some Christmas presents--these are my first mittens I've ever made!

As far as Red Shutter Studios is concerned, here's what I've been doing the past month...

The website--almost finished, but feel free to check it out at www.redshutterstudios.com
Created a Facebook page for Red Shutter Studios - be our friend!
Finishing my last wedding photos from the summer
Finishing some family photos and awesome retro pics...
Designed/ordered some new business cards
Met with some super cool clients last night. They are both bird biologists who are going to honeymoon in the Amazon! How awesome is that! Their wedding will be the end of May at Chena Hot Springs--I've never photographed a summer wedding there so I'm really looking forward to it...
Research, paperwork, prep work to get ready for the Fairbanks Bridal Fair, which I plan to have a booth at this year...

And lastly, I've been reupholstering a chair --I hope to finish it tomorrow, and then I'll take some final photos of it and post a blog about how to re-upholster...

Well, I'm signing off for now--I've got a date with Marcie to go to the Fairbanks Drama Association production of "Wait Until Dark" ...whoo hoo!

Red Shutter Studios...

2008-10-12T13:16:00.002-08:00

So what have I been doing the past month? Work, work and more work! I've been working 20-30 hours a week at DOH, volunteering about 10 hours a week running the Cafe at DOH, volunteering with the youth department about 15 hours a week, taking 2 math classes and spending the rest of any remaining free time working on my photography business. I'm pretty exhausted and ready for a break, which is why as of Wednesday I am not longer working at DOH as the graphic designer/webmaster. I'm also cutting back on some of my volunteer time and I will start to get paid to run the cafe, which will make it a bit more worth my while...

But on a positive, stress free note, my website is almost complete! My husband's cousin Peter designed me the coolest logo and a great website to go with it. So I am now just working on uploading images and working on content. Takenya (my 2nd photographer) and I sat down and came up with 3 different wedding packages for the business (before I've only had a flat rate) and we are even going to have a shop through the website to buy our art--I'm really excited about it actually, but that of course not only means I have to make more art, I also have to learn about having an online shop, shipping, etc. I've also finished a zillion and one pictures of seniors and weddings and I got my business myspace current and up-to-date (I'm actually shocked at how much business is generated through that silly myspace page!). If that wasn't enough fun, I just spent about 6 grand on new cameras/lenses/equipment, I'm creating wedding coffeetable books, and I want to go to this year's Bridal Fair so I'm trying to get all my "poop-in-a-scoop" by then.

So that's basically it....I'm uploading some fav senior photos from the past month....enjoy! *I'll post my website address here soon--when it's totally finished and beautiful... :)

Cranberries

2008-09-08T20:20:00.000-08:00

I love the fall time here in Fairbanks--the colors, the brisk air that lets you know that winter is on it's way, and the forest floor littered with my favorite little red berry, the cranberry.

Every year I make time to go cranberry picking in, of all places, my backyard. Now, technically I no longer live at my parents house, but I grew up in that house and the back acre or so is just teeming with the best low-bush cranberry patches I've ever encountered. After our wedding last year, I took my hubby there and we spent a pleasant evening picking cranberries in the forest. Joe was amazed at how many cranberries we were able to pick in such a short amount of time. This year, however, was the best ever. Zillions of cranberries, in the biggest, deepest red patches I've ever seen. Joe and I spent a total of 3 evenings this year picking berries, to accumulate a total of 55.5 cups of cranberries (approximately 3.5 gallons) --last year we only picked about 2 gallons. *and this is just a small dent in all the cranberries out there--we could literally pick for weeks and not get them all...

Every fall I stock my freezer with little bags of these red goodies (all in 2 cup quantities, which is usually a good amount for a batch or 2 of something) and then I can enjoy them all year long.

Now, what in the world does one do with so many cranberries? I realize there are only so many cranberry muffins you can stomach, but I've scrounged up a few yummy recipes using cranberries that are a bit out of the ordinary, such as Chocolate Cranberry Biscotti (from a great little book called Very Cranberry) and Pumpkin Cranberry Bread. I plan on making the biscotti this year for Christmas presents--wouldn't they be so festive in a tall lidded jar with some ribbon? I also use cranberries as bartering items to gather blueberries or maybe score some Alaskan halibut or salmon from a friend... it's quite the little market I run...

Anyways, here is one of my (and Joe's) favorite cranberry recipes I've found thus far...

Pumpkin Cranberry Bread (I found this recipe on allrecipes.com--the pumpkin makes this bread so moist and delicious)

2 1/4 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice

2 eggs

2 cups sugar

1 15oz can of pumpkin puree

1/2 cup veg oil

1 cup cranberries

Combine dry ingredients EXCEPT sugar in a bowl. Mix sugar, eggs, pumpkin and oil in a separate bowl. Pour into dry ingredients. Add cranberries. Bake @ 350degrees for 50 minutes in 2 9x5 greased pans. Enjoy!

PS: My fabulous sis-in-law who lives in Anchorage just posted about picking raspberries and making delicious things with them! Check her blog out at http://appledabbler.blogspot.com

The Next Great Alaskan Oil Spill...

2008-08-10T21:28:00.000-08:00

"Project Valiant" has been coming along fairly well. *Here I am in my husbands mechanic suit--my dad thought I looked so ridiculous that he took this picture of me* As I mentioned in my last post, we finally got the car running and worked on changing the oil, which took about half an hour due to the plug being stripped, warped and rusted. The oil on that thing has literally not been changed in at least 7 years. But that was as far as we got that day since by the time we got the old plug out, it was 1 am and we couldn't go out and get a new plug.

So, a week or so passed with "Veronica" (the car's new name) just taking up space in my dad's garage until his car broke down, which meant that our old car had to get out of the garage to let his car in. The night my dad decided to do the switch, Joe wound up helping a church family member with their boiler that had exploded, so I drove out to North Pole to help my dad get the car out. The mission was simple --put a new plug in the car, fill it with oil, turn it on, and move it out of the garage. Piece of cake right? *hahahahahah...

The first part of our mission was what we thought would be the longest part--putting in a new plug. Now, this may sound simple, but basically there wasn't a plug to buy since the old plug was some sort of warped contraption/bolt thingy. So my dad bought several bolts, screws, nuts, etc in order to find something that would work. We finally settled on a rather large bolt, but it was too long, so my dad sawed off half of it. Then, crossing our fingers, he tested the bolt and it fit perfectly and snug. Success!

Then, I put in the 5 quarts of oil that the manual suggested and we started the car. Or at least, we tried. Once again, the car wouldn't start, and our just 2 tries of starting it drained down our battery (we are not sure why, but something is sucking all the juice from our battery--that shall be our next big hurdle). After a bit of investigation, we found that the carb had been glued open from our trying to fix another problem. So we put the charger back on the battery, unstuck the carb and tried again. This time, success! Veronica started right up, purred gloriously and we left her running a few seconds while we cleaned up a bit of our mess. It was at this point that for no reason at all, I bent down to get something, when out of the corner of my eye I noticed a HUGE puddle under the car. I yelled, "DAD, DAD!!!" and pointed violently. My dad then proceeded to leap over stuff and quickly shut off the car. I then realized what was leaking...oil. And it was not coming from our plug. I also at this point grabbed a pan to catch the oil, but by the time I got back to the car, it was only tinkling out of the leak.

All 5 quarts of oil were on the floor.

Crap.

My dad started yet another "what-the-heck-is-going-on" investigation, to find that this time, it was our new oil filter that had not been placed on snug that was the culprit for the giant oil spill. My dad was so upset. He has been a mechanic for well over 30 years and he kept saying, "This has never happened before, I have never done this before, I cant believe I let this happen." I tried to console him, telling him there is no use crying over spilled milk. His response was, "Yeah...but this is oil." I proceeded to ponder over the fact that my dad really is an amazing mechanic who wouldn't have made such a silly mistake. Then it dawned on me...didn't Joe put on the oil filter? That's right folks--the culprit had been my wonderful husband, who, while being a wonderful man, is not a wonderful mechanic. Joe had simply not tightened the filter down enough, resulting in the biggest oil spill since Valdez. Solving that mystery suddenly made my dad feel much better...

So my dad set about cleaning up the oil spill disaster while I ran off to the store to buy and additional 5 quarts of oil. Half an hour, a bag of kitty litter and $14 later, we finally had the garage cleaned back up and put 5 more quarts of oil in the Valiant. Then I hopped in the car, turned the key and....realized we hadn't hooked the battery back up to the charger and the battery was yet again, dead. Excellent. Yet another delay...

All in all, it took us about 5 hours to do what should have been a simple half an hour job. We won't even go into how when I finally did pull Veronica out of the garage, that I realized the brakes still aren't working right...(project number 3)...

The busiest summer of my life....

2008-08-07T00:24:00.001-08:00

Yeah, how about another "no seriously, I like this whole blog thing, I'm not dead" post explaining my mysterious absence the last, oh...summer. I guess summers usually are a whirlwind of activities, especially here in Fairbanks, but this summer has been kicking my butt! I have seriously had weeks with no days off!

So, to prove to you all that I have been a busy little project bee, I have a few pictures and a huge list of projects...

1. First of all, lets hear a round of applause for me, my hubby Joe and my dad, who GOT THE VALIANT RUNNING LAST WEEK! *does a little jig* That's right folks--that heap-o-junk is no longer a completely useless heap-o-junk, it actually works! Joe and I have been spending many a late night out in North Pole (which is where my parent's house is--seriously, it's a real place, I actually used to work at the Santa Claus House) and after completely rebuilding the carb, we got the car to run! It's actually the first time we've heard it run and we were very pleased. We then were able to drive it into the garage and start work on cleaning it out (I found a wasp nest and a squirrel nest in the spare tire *eeek!*) and doing other maintenance sort of things like change the oil, fill up the brake fluid and anti-freeze, adjust the choke, etc. It still needs a bit of work (such as, the signal lights dont work and apparently there is an exhaust leak) but it's so exciting to actually get it running! The plan is to get it "road worthy" and drive it back into Fairbanks before the snow flies and placing it in one of our garages to work on the body/cosmetic work all winter. Then next summer, we can paint it and drive it around it style!
2. Second, I've photographed about 4 more weddings, senior pictures and returned 2....here are the cd covers for Marcie & Alex and Don & Ashanti (whose pictures I just finished about, oh, an hour ago)...
3. Joe and I went to the dump the other day and saw a gorgeous chair sitting there! We snatched that puppy right up and we are going to re-upholster it to match our couch--it looks like it was a good $300-$500 chair that someone's cats shredded. All it needs is some new fabric and it will look fabulous! I promise to progress the work when we get to it *someday*...
4. Joe and I have also been re-doing our youth room at our church--we are going to re-upholster some funky chairs Sears donated to us and we are installing curtains, new artwork, a couch, chair, bookcase--it's looking really great.

5. I've been working like a mad-woman at my job as the media person for our church--updating the website, fixing all the errors, making video announcements, sitting in meetings, designing logos/t-shirts with our team, etc... I've actually pulled in some 12 hours days lately, since I work 6 hours or so at DOH and then go home and spend all night working on photos....
6. Our apartment has been getting a bit of a facelift--new table & chairs and lots of cleaning...
7. My office at work is going to be finished in a month or so...I'm waiting on someone to move out, so someone else can move in, so that I can have THEIR office...one of those deals...but it's going to be fabulous (can we say, purple and butter yellow?)
8. Joe got me to be in a commercial with him today--it wound up being a bit more fun then I had anticipated, but it was really only worth it cause we got paid $50 a piece for an hour. Of course, now my face will be plastered on the television sets of this small town as I try to convince my husband that we need to move to "Birchwood Homes" because they are "so gorgeous"... *rolls eyes*...
9. I moved my art studio to another room...
10. I am helping plan a 50's/60's halloween bash with a live 50's band *now I have a reason to finish making my turquoise satin 50's cocktail dress!!!!*
11. I am starting my knit night up again! It will be the last Sunday night of each month at the Cafe at DOH--yay for planned knitting time!

And here is a list of things I still need to do...

1. My website for my business....*hhahahahaha....
2. Can we say, math? *I studied one night...does that count?
3. 4 more weddings to edit and return...
4. Senior picture time! Take them and get them back quick!!! That's the goal folks...
5. Re-organize my studio...

Anyways, I should get to bed--it's 1am and this is NOT helping my beauty rest. More updates with fun stuff to come!

Ahhhh!

2008-07-19T00:08:00.000-08:00

I haven't disappeared, I swear! I've just been suuuuppppeeerrrrrr busy!

Here are a few quick bulletin points on my life as of late:

Jeremy's memorial service was tonight--I helped with displays, creating the programs and general running around getting things ready. I cried a lot. Actually, this whole week has been emotionally draining on me--such as sitting at my computer, looking through photos to create the program. I really wasn't prepared to be bawling while at work, but now that the service is over, it feels like there is some closure, and that is relieving...
Joe and I are starting to plan a September retreat for our youth in addition to all the other wed nights, monday night studies and game/fun nights.
Joe and I are working on fixing up our youth room before the middle of August when the kids come back--that includes rigging up a 28 foot long curtain rod with blue curtains, buying a rug and other fun things for the room and re-upholstering 2 couchy/chair things. I will try to be a good art gal and take before and after photos of the process...
I am now working 30 hours a week at the church.
I am seriously behind in my photo stuff--I've got to get Marcie's photos done by this next week and then another gals after hers, and I've only just touched Marcie's pics...ahhh!
I have got a call from about one-zillion people wanting family photos and/or senior portraits, so that is taking up my last few free nights...
My apartment, has been in a steady case of disaster--which stresses this OC gal out!
I still have to go out and get that carb off that car and get working on that!
My art studio now has to be moved to another room by monday due to a long story...
I was suppose to work on my business website this week...HAHHAHA......
and exactly 1 billion other small crazy things

So uh...just know, that I love you, I love writing in my blog and that my life should return to normal soon...*crosses fingers...

Busy Busy Busy!

2008-06-29T22:05:00.003-08:00

Whew! It's been a crazy week! I finally got to meet with the people who own the old car in the field and they said I could just take whatever I want off of it! Whoo hooo! So in addition to grabbing the carb, I'm going to snag the back taillights and maybe a few more little goodies when I go out there...

I've also been a crazy picture lady...I finished Kristina and Dan's photos in a mad rush to finish them before starting my job back, 2 weeks earlier than planned. I'll be working 20 hours a week for a few weeks, then go up to 30 and possibly full-time in a few months. *I had this job before getting married, I was the graphic designer for my church, Door of Hope, and this time around I will be the graphic designer, web gal and videographer...So, I am just trying to get some of these weddings off my plate before starting a "real" job again...

I shot a wedding friday night--which was a bit stressful for me since it was an outdoor wedding in cold, rainy and windy weather and BOTH of my cameras/lenses were acting up, I guess due to the moisture. But I still managed to get some great shots...

Oh, and I cleaned my apartment! And I mean, CLEAN! I cleaned out the entire bathroom, got rid of a useless girl fluff stuff... And in a brief moment of spare time, I even got to knit a few rows on my sweater!

Sweaters and Sad Times...

2008-06-23T15:18:00.001-08:00

It has now been 2 days since our return from Whittier. The weather was great for the Sound (overcast, but it didn't rain on us the whole week!) and I was able to get a lot of knitting done and finish "The Time Traveler's Wife." We did a bit of sea kayaking, hiking and exploring, fishing (although we only caught rock fish--which are really ugly things) and spent a fair amount of time just chilling by the camp fire. *Here are some pics from the trip--me knitting and enjoying the view, my sweater and my cup-o-joe and skipping rocks in the bay...

However, our trip was saddened by the news that one of our dear friends, Jeremy Earnshaw was swept into the ocean in Australia and has not been found. He was standing on some rocks with a friend when a freak wave washed the two of them into the ocean. His friend was rescued an hour later but it has now been over a week and Jeremy has still not been found.

We miss you Jeremy...

Vacation!

2008-06-14T07:59:00.000-08:00

Well, today we head off for Whittier, Alaska to spend 5 days in a small cabin in the Prince William Sound. We did this last year in Valdez with our friends and it was a blast--true Alaskan cabin living (no heat, running water, showers or a real bathroom for 5 days) and days spent fishing, sea kayaking, exploring and just chillin in the wilderness. The cabin is about a 2 hour boat ride into the sound--so there is no last minute "I have to run to the store!" and this year, there is a grand total of 11 adults and one 6 month old baby. *If this doesn't scream adventure, what does?

*these are a few pics from our trip last year to Valdez/Prince William Sound--the first is me in my kayak and the second is my husband and our friend Josh kayaking towards Shoup Glacier.

To prepare for my trip, I bought some new beautiful fusicia yarn to make the feminine puff sleeve cardigan in "Fitted Knits." I am also bringing along my other sweater and some gorgeous fall orange yarn I plan on turning into fingerless mittens. *Alaska is like, the only place where you can drive for 8 hours and have only gone 1/3 of the state--therefore I need lots to do...

Well, we are off! Expect great photos upon my return!

Knitting...

2008-06-12T12:06:00.000-08:00

So last night, I went out and bought two new knitting books: "Knit Aid" by Vickie Howell and "Inspired to Knit" by Michele Rose Orne. I went ahead and bought my copies from Barnes & Nobles (even though "Inspired to Knit" is cheaper from Amazon * hint, hint). Here are a few of the amazing patterns in it--I can't wait to make these....*sigh...

I had gone to Barnes & Nobles earlier in the day to peruse the knitting book section and decided that I really liked these two books, especially Inspired to Knit (beautiful sweaters lie behind those pages). See, I have this "thing" with knitting books. I don't buy them unless I have looked through the entire book because, in my opinion, so many knitting/crochet books are chock-full of ugly, useless, stupid patterns. Or, a $30 book will have maybe 1 or 2 patterns I would ever even consider making and I just don't feel like paying $30 for a pattern. So what I usually do is, go to Barnes & Noble or the LYS and sit down and look through all the books and then make a decision on whether or not I want to purchase them (which I then sometimes just buy through Amazon--book are expensive and if I spend all my money on books, I don't have any to spend on yarn!)

So, being super picky about buying books, this is my small library of knitting books:

"Romantic Hand Knits"
"Fitted Knits"
"Inspired to Knit"
"Twinkles Big City Knits"
"Knitting for Him" *the only guy book I have found and liked--I really don't feel like spending time and money knitting my husband a "beer pillow"
"Knitting Little Luxuries"
"Knitting Classic Style" *this book does only have about 5 or 6 patterns I would make but I felt it was worth it for those 5 or 6...
Jo Sharp "Knit" issue 3 *this is more of a nice magazine then a book
"Knit Aid" *which is just a handy reference guide--no patterns
and "Stitch-N-Bitch" which was my first book and how I learned how to knit

That's it for books I own--I also occasionally buy Vogue knitting magazines or other magazines, but again, I have maybe 3 due to the fact that most of them don't warrant my spending even $5 when I like maybe one pattern in them...

There are however, a few new books coming out I am excited about--"Glam Knits" by Stephanie Japel (her "Fitted Knits" books is almost completely filled with patterns I would actually make and love) and "Boutique Knits."

I think today I shall make a trip to the library and check out the knitting book section. Perhaps I shall find some treasure there of knitting goodness. Besides, today is a perfect day to spend at the library since it's thundering and raining a lot for Fairbanks.

In other non-knitting news, I have started studying math...yes...math...my dreaded nemesis. I only have to complete my math classes in order to actually receive my BFA degree...sad huh? So my plan is to CLEP out of the classes and I finally whipped out the math practice exams and started working on them. So hopefully this next month will be the end of working on my BFA degree, which I've been working on for a sad 6 years--not sad as in, I regret my degree, sad that it's taken me so long to do it--especially when my husband got his 4 year degree in 2...*rolls eyes...

Oh well...knitting anyone? *wink...

So many projects, so little time!!!

2008-06-10T18:46:00.001-08:00

I am finally sitting down, relaxing on my recently re-upholstered couch (pics to come when I can figure out how to get them off my phone), sipping some super yummy ginger peach black tea I just bought the other day. Today was one of those days where you feel like you've done so much but at the end of the day, you look around and realize that the floor still needs to be swept and there is a pile of laundry hiding the fact that you even own a bed...*sigh.

I finally finished Sandi's wedding photos, mailed them out and downloaded photos from a wedding I did this past weekend-- in addition to cleaning and working hours on my blog (like my new header?). All of this was accomplished in hyper-speed since I didn't wake up till 10:30am, and at one point, I realized I had brought a can of tuna into the bathroom to help me dye my hair...*multi-tasking claims yet another victim.

Monika (my sis-in-law) and I have been spending some time out in the sun, what little bit of it there has been in between rain storms and chilly weather (so much for global warming). I spent a good part of the afternoon the other day reading "The Time Traveler's Wife" which Monika recommended me to me and I am enjoying immensely.

In other fabulous news, I have decided to start an Etsy shop. For those who don't know what Etsy is, go here. I have been dying for quite a while now to get some metalsmith equipment and start making jewelry again--and I have decided that now is the time! The great thing about my plan is that through Etsy I can sell anything I want as long as it is handmade or vintage, so I am also planning on buying this bad boy to do my own archival printing for notecards, prints, etc. AND I dragged out all my beading stuff and started making beaded stitch markers and bookmarkers...who knows what I'll make next! So my plan of action is to (a) spend a crap-ton of money, (b) make stuff and then (c), set up my Etsy account. I am also hoping to make a lot of stuff before the holiday season and go to bazaars with my partner-in-crime, Takenya Rosetta.

I finally heard back from the owners of the carb-- we are soon going to make a date to go out and look at the car and strip parts off of it. I also spent a lot of time online last night ordering more memory cards for my camera and drooled over some new lenses and other camera equipment for my photography business--"but honey, it's a tax write-off!" And as if that wasn't enough excitement, my sweater I am knitting is coming along quite nicely! I just finished the sleeves and am now onto the last section of the piece--yippy! I am actually wanting to finish this sweater so I can start the next one. The sweater I am making is the "Airy Wrap-Around Lace Sweater"in "Fitted Knits" by Stephanie Japel. *I love her designs! My next project will probably be the "Puff-Sleeved Feminine Cardigan" on page 67.

*Sigh...it's been a good week...

Katie Burley...

2008-06-03T17:06:00.000-08:00

I stumbled across these amazing hats made by Katie Burley and I was so excited I just had to make a post...

*her etsy shop...
katieburley.etsy.com

*her website...
www.katieburley.com

*her myspace...
www.myspace.com/katieburley

I've been wanting hats to come back into everyday fashion--perhaps Katie can get the trend rolling.

Marcie's wedding...

2008-06-02T17:23:00.003-08:00

I'm finally getting around to posting some pictures of my friend Marcie's wedding! Since my last post, I've photographed some family photos, 2 weddings and have been slowly editing 3 weddings in addition to cleaning/re-arranging my apartment, planting flowers and going out almost every night for some kind of social arrangement. Summerime in Alaska really is the only time to get out and get things done!

Marcie's wedding turned out to be gorgeous. She got married at a bird refuge called Creamers Field here in Fairbanks Alaska.She kept with a bird theme, even having peacock feathers in her hair and a little bird in a nest in her bouquet. Her dad, Randall Compton, a well-known Alaskan wildlife painter also raises birds and I tried to convince Marcie that instead of a ring-bearer, she should have her dad's falcon fly down with the rings...but, uh...she didn't go for that...

Vintage Weddings...

2008-05-23T21:39:00.005-08:00

For today's post, I decided to talk a bit about vintage weddings...

I love all things vintage and I had a vintage inspired wedding this past September (This is a picture of my husband and I). In addition to my own wedding, I have had the pleasure of sharing in other vintage/rockabilly weddings as a wedding photographer--which is way more fun then being "in" the wedding (or at least, I assume, since I am everyone's photographer and have never actually been "in" a wedding)...

After my hubby and I got engaged, we were enjoying an evening at Barnes & Nobles and we decided on a 1920's-1940's theme for our wedding ceremony and a 1950's theme for our reception. We decided that the guys should wear tails and top hats and I decided I would scrounge up some kind of vintage-y dress. I wound up buying a very reasonably priced ivory evening dress from White House Black Market for around $250 and then my friend Takenya and I re-designed the top using several different patterns and had her mom sew it --which made the cost around $350 with the extra fabric, patterns, buttons, etc. Takenya's mom did the most amazing seamstress job I have ever seen on any clothing and she would even let me pay her! She was quite the blessing!

The decorations for the church were simply old suitcases and candles and my flower girl threw flower petals and old stamps. I walked down the aisle on a red piece of fabric that had battery operated tea-lights in small mason jars holding down the edges of the red fabric.

Our reception was decorated in black, white and red with polka dots, lights and a live 50's band that was AWESOME! *all good weddings must have live music!

I had all the bridesmaids pick out their own black cocktail styled dresses and the prices ranged from $12 to $200--but they all looked fabulous!

On Sunday, I am very excited to get to photograph Marcie's wedding. Marcie is a dear friend of mine who has always been a willing model for me and who did all the flowers for my wedding. She is going to wear a beautiful 3/4 length vintage lace wedding dress she bought at a vintage store here in town and I can't wait to photograph her in it! I will post pictures as soon as possible after Sunday.

Here are a few cool vintage sites I've found:

http://www.gentlemansemporium.com/index.php (more victorian era things, but I actually ordered a few fun things for my wedding from these guys)

http://www.myspace.com/westcoastwedding (a myspace page all about ideas for vintage and rockabilly weddings)

http://www.vintagetrends.com/Vintage/thumbnails.asp?MC=Vintage&CA=Women&SC=Dresses&ST=Wedding (some awesome vintage wedding dresses- may need some TLC but the price is right)

http://community.livejournal.com/vintagehair/ (to have a vintage wedding you need a vintage up-do, right?)

http://poshgirlvintage.blogspot.com/ (awesome vintage dresses)

And of course, there's always your local antique/thrift store, the flea market, ebay and maybe even a relative's closet! Anyways, that's just my little blurb about vintage weddings. Hopefully someone will find this post at least inspiring for their vintage wedding.

More cool vintage wedding photographs to come after Sunday (and hopefully a word back about that carb)...

Ah, my first post!

2008-05-22T22:46:00.000-08:00

Well my dear readers (do I have any yet?), here is my first post. I am sure that this post is suppose to be grand and memorable and actually have something to do with the title of my blog...but...it really doesn't....

This post is about my 1961 2 door Plymouth Valiant car that was given to me as a wedding present from my dear friend, Takenya Rosetta. The car has some problems, as you can see the pictures, but despite all that (and my dad and husbands advice), I am convinced in my infinite wisdom that I can get the car running for hardly anything! *I know, I know, it's not a 50's classic car, but hey, a gal's got to start somewhere!* The only problems are that it needs some body work, a few parts, a new paint job (which I already have a friend who said he would do it for just the cost of paint) and that's it!.........

Except that the car......doesn't have a carburetor (aka: it doesn't run)...

No big deal! I'll just find one on the internet for like, $100 bucks...(ha! yeah right!)

So after a failed afternoon of internet research to find a relatively cheap one barrel carburetor, I gave up, went home, grabbed my sister-in-law and my tools and headed out to a field I know of to see if it's abandoned 1961 4 door valiant has any goodies left on it...

and boy did it!

It had the carburetor!!! I was super shocked to realize this car (which I had found out about years ago from doing a photoshoot there with a friend) still had the engine since the rest of it has been pretty gutted, rusted and destroyed...

So now I'm waiting to get ahold of the owners of the field to see if they would mind if I took the carb off the car--which hopefully they wont mind, since the car is just one more piece of junk sitting in this huge field along with 3 other old vehicles...Hopefully, tomorrow, I shall return victorious!!! If not, it's off to the junk yard I go!