San Francisco Treat

I just wanted to share a few of my favorite photos from my recent trip to San Francisco, California. I explored the city with friends Julia and Emily. We had a lovely time wandering through Chinatown, biking across the Golden Gate Bridge, visiting a local farmer's market, and hiking through Muir Woods Redwood Forest.

Snug as a Bug in a Pea Pod!

I bought the cutest pea pod outfit recently for newborn portraits. Owen looks SO cute and cozy in it.

Allie's Wedding Shower

My little sister, Allie, had her first wedding shower this weekend (that's me on the bottom left and Allie is next to me). The food was SOOOO YUMMY, especially these lemon cookies that my Aunt Kathy and cousins made.

Here is the Lemon Cookie recipe if you want to try it yourself:

Cookie-

2 c. butter blended with 2/3 c. powdered sugar until soft
Add in 2 c. flour and 1 1/3 c. cornstarch.
Mix well. Drop by small dab after forming in hand. Place on ungreased cookie sheet one inch apart. May need to flour hands while rolling them. Bake 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes.

Icing-
6 T. butter

1 box powdered sugar

Lemon Juice (about 2 T.)- I actually use at least double what this recipe says. I like it tart and creamy!

Empty Nest

I am so sad today. The sweet family of baby birds that created a home in my newspaper mailbox have all flown away. I will miss seeing their shining faces each time I go to get the mail.

Sneak Peek: Carolyn and Gene's Wedding

Carolyn and Gene had a beautiful wedding at the Athens Botanical Gardens this weekend. I really enjoyed photographing their special day and getting to know them and their family. Here is a sneak peek at a few photos from their wedding.

Newborn Portraits: Owen

Baby Owen is such a cutie. Here are a few of my favorites from our portrait session last weekend.

Snellville Days

I enjoyed sharing a booth at Snellville Days with my sister Allie. She makes the coolest jewelry. I spend a lot of my time at festivals trying everything on!

Getting Ready for Snellville Days

Spring is Here!...and that means I have a lot of festivals coming up to get ready for. There are pillows to make, cards to sew, and travel photographs to mat. I'm a busy bee!

I hope you'll come visit my tent at one of these upcoming festivals:

May 2-3 : Snellville Days, Briscoe Park, Snellville, GA

June 6 : Five Points Art Fest, in Five Points, Athens, GA

June 26-28: Athfest, Downtown Athens, GA

Etsy Treasury

Thanks to FeltandWeave for including my Ducklings for Sale photograph in their Treasury on Etsy.

100th Pillow

Here it is in all its glory... the 100th pillow I've created! Thanks to everyone who entered to win the 100th pillow, customized to your liking. Emily Hunter was the winner of the drawing and she wanted a pillow that would coordinate with these photographs of a California avocado and poppy. If you like this you might like a pillow that matches it, for sale on my Etsy shop.

Favorite Artist of the Week: Made by Hank

This is a sweet little pouch with a fun caramel wavy texture at the bottom by Made by Hank. Wouldn't it be cute for spring?

Straight From My Journal: Cinque Terre Trail

**This is another entry in the series "Straight From My Journal" where I pair my travel photography with the journal entry I wrote on that day.**

March 30, 2008
Cinque Terre, Italy

This morning we got up and out the door around 10:30 am and stopped for some pastries before hitting the Cinque Terre trail from our little town of Riomaggiore. It was simply a gorgeous view. We walked along a small rocky ledge along the cliffs of the Mediterranean Sea for hours. In each town we stopped and explored the town, taking pictures. Manarola was a quaint town with a short, easy walk to it. The next town, Corniglia was on top of a big hill and took a great deal of effort to vertically climb the winding trails to it. The fourth town, Vernazza, was charming and picturesque with a big bay and rocks to climb on. By then I didn't think my legs could take anymore, but we managed to walk another hour or more to Monterosso, the fifth city of the Cinque Terre. There were luscious lemon groves, olive trees, terraced farms, and stone farmhouses on this stretch of the trail. This is one of the most beautiful landscapes I've ever seen. All in all we walked 12 miles today- practically a half marathon and on a few mountains no less! I am quite proud of us!

100th Pillow Giveaway Winner: Emily Hunter

Thanks to everyone who entered to win my 100th pillow. I put all the names of people that made comments on my blog into a bowl today and drew out the winner.... Emily Hunter! Yay! I'll be contacting you so you can tell me how you want your pillow to look.

For those of you that didn't win, you can always shop for my pillows online at www.shutterstitch.etsy.com . Thanks again!

Art That Shaped Me

Artists that forever changed how I look at art and the world around me (clockwise from top right):

1. Wassily Kandinsky is probably my favorite artist of all time. I could sit and look at his paintings like Improvisation 31, for hours. He intuitively knows just where to brush the right colors on the canvas. I spent much of college trying to infuse that sense of color and freedom into my paintings.

2. Georges Seurat's Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, is not only a masterpiece of color theory and optical tricks but it is chock full of hidden meanings about the upper class. I was shocked to learn in art history class that the monkey in front of the woman is a symbol that she is a prostitute.

3. You gotta love Giotto. He has the most beautiful emotions on people's faces especially in this Lamentation painting. Not bad for the year 1303.

4. Andy Goldsworthy taught me to look at nature in a new way. Leaves, sticks, and rocks are art materials full of color and form. Create something beautiful and leave it for nature to destroy.

5. As a child I used to play this art auction board game with my cousin. We always fought over who would get On the Terrace by Pierre-Auguste Renior. To me, it depicted how life should be for a little girl, full of color, beauty, and fun hats.

6. Van Gogh's Starry Night is the only painting I've ever cried at when I saw it in person. Amazing. You literally want to stick your hand out and run it over every ridge in the paint.

7. Monet's Impression: Sunrise is the painting that started my favorite movement in art, Impressionism. You can't beat those blues with a hint of orange.

Spring Portrait Sale- 40% OFF

It's time for spring portraits and what better time to get some great shots than with a great sale? Take 40% off my regularly priced portrait session fee of $65 to make your session only $39. Book your session by May 1, 2009. The session can take place anytime between April 1- July 30. This offer is good for individuals, couples, families, pregnancies, babies, children, seniors, engagements, and even those of you who like to get your Christmas card photo done early!

Check out my online portfolio, affordable print prices, and additional information at www.shutterstitch.com .

100th Pillow Giveaway

You only have one more week to enter the 100th Pillow Giveaway. You don't need to buy anything, just follow the directions for entering below, on my post from March 4.