Look who's sitting on my front porch!

When Jeff & I were in Washington this last Christmas, I became interested in creating plush toys or stuffed creatures. I requested old socks and Jeff's Dad offered several pairs. Then I asked for buttons and Jeff's Mom supplied me with a lovely little pile of vintage buttons, YAY! I have just completed my first experimental version of a sock creature and he's made out of recycled materials! Thank you to Mom & Dad for the supplies, I hope the little dude makes you laugh. Every time I look at him, I just crack up! It's not his fault that his teeth are out of proportion. Don't tease him, he's very sensitive. He had a little run in his belly so I made him some pants. His waist isn't very defined so I had to add some suspenders. I turned the sock inside out to give him a stubble effect (rather than the tiny dots on the right side of the material).




I just had some lunch followed by a lovely short walk. It's 45 degrees outside! Yay!


Charlie is napping on my ironing board, how cute.

Patrick & Cori's Engagement Session

What have I been up to for the past week? Editing! A week ago Sunday, I photographed Patrick & Cori's Engagement Session, oh boy did I take a ton of photos! I took too many, really. I was just having fun, and Pat & Cori were so cute and in love. In the middle of the shoot it started snowing big, fluffy, lazy snowflakes. You can really see them in some of the photos, I was just loving that. Hare are a few of my personal favorites.






Patrick and Cori were game for any requests in the name of cool photos. We had great lighting in some brick alleys and then they had a snowball fight. I just know their Wedding is going to be so fun, I can't wait! It was all great until I sat down to edit and then I realized that it was going to take FOREVER. I had such a difficult time choosing my favorites for the slideshow! I couldn't cut it down beyond 100, it goes pretty fast, though. The entire show is less than 5 minutes long. Without further ado, please enjoy the slideshow!

Boxes, boxes and more boxes.

It doesn't matter how many you unpack, there seems to be a never-ending supply of boxes around here. They just keep appearing and then sitting around waiting to be unpacked. I am so ready to get settled in and be completely finished moving.

Yesterday morning I was admiring the beautiful sunlight streaming through the windows. This is what I saw.



Jeff loves to put odd things in odd places, I love the owl perched in the window. We put a dining chair by the window so the cats can look outside and watch the birds. The sunlight was shining through a houseplant creating the leaf pattern in shadow on the wall and on the chair. I've noticed an interesting shadow pattern from another window in the evening (around sunset). That one has more of a twiggy pattern, rather than the leaves. I'll be sure to photograph that one next.

Where have we been?

We've moved! (Rather, we are in the process of moving, we're not finished yet.) Please accept our apologies if you've been trying to reach us, we're still in the process of having our land line transferred to the new house. I'll be getting in touch with current clients as soon as possible, thanks so much for your patience.

I've finally discovered which boxes contain my office materials, so we're getting close! Jeff has been working hard every night after work to build desks in the office so I can get back to work. Last night he put the legs on my desk. Can you guess where I'm sitting as I write this post?


I'm sitting at my new desk! I have a lovely and inspiring view of Lake Macatawa through the marina across the street. Check out these sweet shots Jeff shot at the marina on Sunday afternoon.

Bird tracks on the snow-covered ice. I love this shot, Jeff and I both have a thing about birds.


Standing on the dock, looking down at the ice.


I love the old wood pilings next to the rusty metal of the modern pilings. (Jeff and I also have a thing for old wood and rusty metal. Check out the colors and reflections in this shot, tasty.


In the winter all of the boats are lifted out of the water because the lake freezes. Some of the boats go into storage, but many of them are shrink-wrapped in some sort of plastic and they are being stored right in the lot here at the marina. This is a photograph of the patina we spotted on the underside of a boat's hull as we were walking home through the parking lot. See, we do have a thing for rusty metal. I just love how this shot looks like a painting.


I almost forgot to mention that Jeff started a new job the VERY SAME week we began the moving process. Yeah. Its been pretty crazy around here. He likes the job, it really is perfect for him. We just have to make some adjustments with scheduling because he is now commuting 70 miles a day. We have only one (working) vehicle to drive right now, so I'm looking forward to spring when we hope to get our '77 VW van running. That's right, friends, we're hippies. I'm thinking it would be perfect for a traveling studio. I'm sure everyone in town would call us for Senior photos if they could be photographed with our green van! It makes a great prop. What do you think? (I'm joking, a little.)

New job. New house. New resolve.
I'm going to post here a lot more frequently. So be sure to subscribe to this blog if you want to keep up with our crazy adventures.