Daily Photos – With a Christmas Twist

Ok… I’m back to the daily photos!  But I’m not going to post them in the order I took them.  And I did (so far) almost take one a day (I had a couple day slip).  I told you in the beginning this would be hard!  But in honor of the holidays, and because I haven’t shown off my holiday decorations yet, I’m going to post all my daily photos that remind me of Christmas.  This should cover about 1/2 of them.  I’ll post the rest some other time (it may or may not be during this month – or even next…I make no promises!)

Hallway Table:

The window is up all year-round it’s (no surprise here) an antique store find.  The table is covered with a strand of white lights and then to cover up the cords a whole container of those bead-garland things you’re supposed to put on your tree are scattered around.  Here’s another craft project close up that I used those beads for:

It’s a beaded Christmas tree:

Sorry about the blurriness.  I just wanted to show you my beaded Christmas trees (They’re on the left).  And no…that’s not my bass.  Here are presents under our tree:

More decorations

And my Christmas Poinsettia:

This next one reminds me of cold, snowy days, although it’s just raining a lot here right now!

That’s all I have for now.  I’ll be celebrating the holidays so I won’t be able to post much here, but I hope you and your family have a very Merry Christmas – or a happy whatever you celebrate!

Craftgawker

Ever heard of www.craftgawker.com ? I hadn’t either, but now that I found it…I’m obsessed!  It’s a juried site for art and homemade goods of all types.  I decided to submit one of my photos from my Etsy site.

And look:

Yup – that’s mine! And check out those other awesome things too – I love the heart necklace and the little bicycle!  And that’s just the first line!  Check out the site (try not to get too sucked in like me) and stop by my submission while you’re at it!

Say Cheese!

I’m promised this entry would be coming soon…and there are little notes and hints tucked all over this blog! 

I’m now taking appointments for photo sessions for 2010.  For now I’ll be booking sessions from January until July.  I’d love to be able to take your family/baby/child/senior/engagement/insert-important-life-event-here photos!  It’s very easy to do:

E-mail me at: katemuhlstadt@gmail.com and we can discuss what you’re looking for, potential dates, and set up the session.  Don’t let time slip away though – It’s so easy to say “I’ll do that later when it gets warmer” then the next thing you know its November again and you forgot all about those photos!  (Funny how that happens!)

There’s more information under the “photo sessions” tab at the top of this page or by clicking here.

So start booking soon…these faces can change so quick!  Next thing you know they’ll be in college!

And these precious toes will soon be in stinky gym shoes!

And if they already are in stinky gym shoes…maybe it’s time for some family portraits!

Don’t let your wedding sneak up on you without your engagement photos!

Whatever the reason…whatever the request…I look forward to capturing you or your family on film.  Please feel free to email me with a booking request or questions in general!

Little G

Ok…

Stop what you are doing…

We gotta talk about this face…

Is this not the most handsome little man you’ve ever seen!  Oh wait..what’s that you say…you bet this stud has beautiful blue eyes?

Yup…you guessed right!  Little G belongs to our good friends and neighbors Tom and Kirby.  Kirby also loves her camera and Little G is the perfect subject!  She brought him over a month or so ago and we set up shop in my front yard.  We kept the photo shoot super fast since G wasn’t cooperating fully.  Well he was acting adorable, but smiled exactly once…and it was getting dark.  Here’s the rest of what we managed to squeeze out of our super-speedy Fall session.

He was really into the leaves that day.

Look at those little fingers!

The only time he smiled…at least I was ready!

Oh…he’s going to be a heartbreaker someday!  Thanks Kirby for letting me borrow your little man for a little while!

“A good friend is a connection to life- a tie to the past, a road to the future, the key to sanity in a totally insane world” – Lois Wyse

I added some new prints to my Etsy site today.  I’m posting some of them here as well.  I hope you enjoy antiques, keys, and vintage books as much as I do…otherwise these may not be quite your taste.  Let me know what you think!

I love that you can see the scribbling in the front cover of this next one.  I love when I find antique books that have writing in them.  It makes them feel more real to me.  It’s reminds me that someone had used and loved this book before I did!  I just love the history of it all.

I also want to remind you all that all prints on my Etsy site are available in any size you can dream of.  Just send me an email (katemuhlstadt@gmail.com) or a conversation on Etsy to let me know what you’re looking for.  I’m also adding more and more prints all the time, so check back often!

Also on another side note, I added a tab at the top of this page for “Photo Sessions”.  I’m now booking 2010 sessions for the Spring and Summer (January-July).  Let me know if you have any questions or would like to book a session!  More information will be on the blog within a week or so.

Used-to-be Annual Cookie Party

Who doesn’t love Christmas cookies?  I dare all of you out there to dislike cookies and other baked goods. 

Back in High School one day I had an idea to have a cookie party.  I invited a bunch of girls over and we baked…and baked…and baked until we could no longer stand to see sugar or butter every again.  Then we split up the loot and gained 10 pounds (well they probably didn’t, but I think I sure did).

Anyways, I did this for a few years and then we all moved away to college and I kind of forgot all about it.

Until this year.  I had a couple gals over and we baked and baked our little hearts out.  I have since gained 15 pounds.

Yikes! This mess was just 30 minutes in…

Look at those girls hard at work!  I tell ya, it was a whirlwind of baking, sugary goodness! But we produced some pretty delicious things (as well as 12 sink-loads of dishes!)

These pictures are straight from my camera.  Maggie tells me that she heard once adding some blue to food pictures takes out the funky color…I dunno, seems beyond me.  All those food-bloggers, I don’t know how you do it.  But I decided these still make my mouth water so it must be ok.

Look – they are even golden-brown!

Sorry – I fell into a sugar coma before the icing started.  Just use your imagination (and yes they taste fantastic! I know!)

If you’re in the neighborhood feel free to stop by as I’m up to my ears in cookies.  And I can’t shouldn’t eat them all.

Also on a side-note: I’m working on some business posting stuff, I’m working on getting some new Etsy listings together in the next day or so, I’m also still taking daily photos (with only a minor slip-up) and I will post them eventually, it’s just that the cookies were calling my name!

Now get out there and bake eat some Christmas cookies! It makes the Holidays that much better.

Viva Las Vegas!

Ok…I’m back!  I ended up not taking nearly as many photos as I anticipated because I was way to busy winning losing my money in the casinos and seeing amazing shows (don’t worry I’ll rave about them later)!

Leaving on a jet plane…

We’re not in Kansas anymore…look at those mountains!

When I got there…I was too exhausted to take anymore pictures.  But later on I managed to capture the awesome-ness that is The Flamingo.  It was a great hotel.  According to my cab driver it was the 3rd hotel to be built on the strip (apparantly Bugsy had to come down to Vegas to take over the hotel).  It is still filled with some “old-vegas” charm, but the rooms are spacious and super comfortable (and cheap!)

Check out this outside entrance to the casino:

And the pools and waterfalls outside were fantastic

Yup – those are real, live flamingos.  Oh, and it was really sunny – sorry about the photo quality.  But don’t let the sunflare and palm trees fool you.  It was COLD!  Yes, and not oh it’s usually desert-like so 60 is cold.  Oh no we’re talking 30’s cold (and I didn’t pack a coat!)

My Dad flew out to meet me in Vegas…we had a blast! Although when a stranger asked if I wanted him to take our picture together (with my good camera) I did have a small panic attack that he would drop it, or run off with it or something.  Not that I don’t trust strangers (well…sometimes I don’t trust them), it’s just that I feel kind of possessive of my camera…it’s my baby…and I wasn’t in the mood to chase down a stranger who kidnapped my baby, like I already said, it was cold!

Besides the cold, Vegas was great! I’m so glad I get to go back soon for Brandi and Cody’s wedding!  And I’m glad they’re getting married in the Summer when it’ll be hot!

Photo-A-Day

So far so good on the December Photo-A-Day challenge

Here they are so far:

December 1

December 2

December 3

December 4

Decmeber 5

 

That’s all for now…my next post may be a few days away since I’ll be without my computer for awhile, but have no fear – I’ll be in a great place to take pictures so hopefully there will be lots to share when I return!

Inspiration

Inspiration –

Inspiration can be anything –

Even the strangest things can inspire someone out there –

Inspiration is not usually found when we are looking for it.  It’s usually something that just hits us.  We’ll I shouldn’t say that for everyone.  But for me that’s usually the truth.  I have ran across several new sources of inspiration recently and felt like I should shar them with everyone.

1. A few days ago when I was raving about books on tape I mentioned I listened to something really great on my last trip.  It was so inspiring!  The book is The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch with Jeffrey Zaslow.  It was really amazing. 

Some of you may have heard of Randy Pausch and his last lecture.  But he also wrote this book with help and it was filled with some of the best advice I’ve ever read listened too.  It was really powerful and I’d encourage all of you to get your hands on this books sooner than later.

2. I went to the movies today, ate lots of popcorn, and saw a very touching movie –  The Blind Side.  It really was great and a truly moving story about what people can do.  Based on a true story and wonderfully acted (Sandra Bullock was amazing in this film…the best I’ve seen her!) this movie is something you should see. 

3. For my artistic-side…I love Etsy and the community it includes.  For those of you who may not be familiar, Etsy is an online community and a place where people sell their handmade things.  It is amazing and you can find everything (including some of my photography prints).  They also have a section for videos.  I recently found this section and it is filled with GREAT things!

My favorites are Handmade Portraits where they do a mini-documentory on an artist as well as There’s No Place Like Here where an artist or artists show you around their home and share more about what they love and collect.  These mini-videos are filled with great inspiration and interesting people.

Also there are tons of good how-to videos on this same site.  You should head that way and check them out.

So now that I’ve shared what has inspired me lately; go out there and get inspired!

April’s Shower

The past weekend I travelled home to my parents for more than just food, family, and holidays…one of my greatest friends from high school is getting married!  That means showers, bachelorette parties, ceremonies, dancing, great friends and CAKE!  I’m so excited!

Let’s take this one event at a time

This weekend it was time for her bridal shower…which was beyond amazing and perfect for April!  Let me describe April as best I can (and this is difficult because she is one of those people you just have to meet!)  April is first of all an amazing woman.  The things she can accomplish in half a day (after her morning coffee of course) is more than most people can do in a month or more (myself included).  She is the ultimate multi-tasker, hard-working, career-devoted woman all while still maintaining a great sense of family and self.  She is extremely thoughtful, creative, and determined – I just love her and I respect the things she can do (because I can’t even dream of doing most of them).  She works in politics – don’t ask me a lot of questions at this point – I get confused!  Anyways it’s important to realize her love of government and such because her shower was a “First-Lady’s Tea”. 

Oh yea…it was amazing.  My jaw dropped when I walked into the room.  I guess that’s why I forgot to take any full table pictures or pictures of the entire room.  There were so many great details I got all caught up in and excited.

Check these out:

 

 The room was lit by candles and a few string of sparkly christmas lights and it was decorated with beautiful red roses, matching black and white accents, and her mom’s teacup collection

Even the lunch menu was presidentially – themed (and delicious)!  I can’t even begin to describe how much I loved dessert (Mary Todd Lincoln’s Almond Pound Cake).  April – If I could get that recipe or maybe just an entire truck-load of that cake – that would be fantastic! 

I’m such a sucker for flowers…and these red roses were perfect.  Everything was so warm and cozy and elegant!

Even the plates matched!  I usually end up buying plain white chinet – boy I better step it up a notch!

Each table had these little cards which had White House and food facts. Great idea!

Let’s talk teacups.  I’m not a tea-drinker so I’ve never really needed a teacup.  But after seeing April’s mom’s amazing collection…I think I need to find a reason for teacups in my life.  They are so beautiful and especially meaningful as she gets one whenever they travel somewhere.  I only took a few photos but I think I could take millions of teacup photos (that sounds strange) but they were lovely! 

 

Sorry for not having any pictures with people in them, or any full table/room shots so you can actually see the greatness.  I’m such a detail girl (especially when the details are this great!)