Cup Cake Card. . .

Here is a card I made for my nephew, Mikah.

He is the last of the 4 year old birthdays this year.




Happy Birthday !!!

Things You Can't Get From The Grocery Store. . .

There are certain things about farm life that give you little surprises.

The top egg is a little tiny egg.

The bottom egg. . .let's just sum that one up in one word. . .

"OUCH!"




It is even a little lumpy. Like maybe the poor little hen had to pause for a minute to decide if she had the womanly ability to get this monster out! I wonder if she was crying for a C-section at this point?

(Sorry for the labor humor. . .I am a nurse on the maternity floor!)

Here is a picture to give you some perspective. 

Perhaps the iPod is a more current way to show you the size?

Now,  the moment you have all been waiting for. . .


What do you get when you crack open an extra-extra large egg?

Twins!!!!

Ocean Birthday Cards. . .

These are two birthday cards that I made for my niece and nephew, who turned four this past week.

I was in the mood to do something a little different and chose to do an ocean theme for their September birthdays.



I use the Under the Sea stamp set (C1500) and the Footloose paper pack (X7151B), along with some Wooden Badge buttons (Z1703) and other little embellishments from my stash.

Happy Birthday to my favorite twins!

Photographing eyes. . .

I am an EXTREMELY amateur photographer. My brain sees the picture I want to take, but my camera skills don't always allow me to translate that image to pixels.

When I view portrait photography I looooove the pictures that make the eyes really stand out.

Unfortunately, these pictures often involve doe eyed, blue eyed kids. . .

My babies have beautiful brown eyes. I think hat makes is hard to get those dramatic pictures.

I like a challenge! I am on a mission!

I feel like I achieved reflectivity and some clarity on these two pictures, but they are far from perfect.

I had to lighten them up during processing and that faded some of the detail. I had my f stop all the way down to 1.8, but I always forget to adjust the shutter speed!
 Shutter speed is my nemesis. . . .curse you thumb toggle!!!

Any suggestions are welcome. I am gonna keep practicing!

You don't always get what you pay for. . .

Our girls started laying this week! 

As of this morning three out of the nine hens are giving us eggs. 

They are awfully cute little things. 

Like little presents we get to go and discover each day.

This leads me to the title of this post. We have been buying "free range, organic" eggs at the grocery store in an effort to give our family the healthiest egg we can buy. 

Below is a picture of one store bought "free range, certified organic" egg and one free range (non-certified) organic egg from our girls that spend their days scratching under bushes and clucking around the pastures at our house.

Can you see a difference?

You don't always get what you pay for!

Here are some interesting facts about backyard chickens eggs:

• 1/3 less cholesterol

• 1/4 less saturated fat

• 2/3 more vitamin A

• 2 times more omega-3 fatty acids

• 3 times more vitamin E

• 7 times more beta carotene

You can read more here at MotherEarthNews.


The moral to the story? If you are able to have your own chickens it is definitely worth the effort! If you can't (or don't want the responsibility) have your own flock try to seek out a local farmer that offers true free range eggs. The difference is something you can see with your own eyes.

Summer evening. . .

Went for a walk with my fellas around the pond a few nights ago.




I then had to run back into the house for my camera!!!

This was the amazing sunset over our pond through my camera lens.

Not to be out done, Farm Boy took his own version from a different spot. Perty!

Next thing we knew the kidos busted out the Barbie Jeep

And went for a cruise. .

Happy trails, Lil Pardners. . .

Simple Scrapbooking. . .

The thing I love about Close To My heart is how easy it is to use their products. I loooove the Workshops on the Go kits!!! They are the first things that I purchase when the new Idea Book comes out. I love being able to grab the bag and create a fantastic project without any hassle.

Each kit has a little bit of stamping, dimensional elements, and teaches a new technique.

This is the Stella WOTG kit. It looks slightly different than the directions, but that is the cool thing about these kits. You can change them up a bit to make them fit your pictures and then you have a layout that is uniquely yours!!!

 

If you are interested in joining one of my clubs and working on these amazing kits together, please contact me! Happy Crafting!