I WON!!!!!!!

I just want to say thank you to everyone who voted for me on Facebook!  I won the contest and will be taking part in a small group mentoring workshop hosted by Jennifer from JellyBean Pictures!  Her work is stunning and I know I am going to learn so much and gain so much confidence!

I truly appreciate all of you who voted!  A special thanks to Debbie at Debbiedoos and Mary at The Decorative Dreamer for sharing the link and spreading the love.  Mary shared a few times and drummed up so many votes!  Thank you!!!  Also to Carrie at Dittle Dattle for getting her whole family in the act and having them vote!  Blogging buddies are the best!  Kim from Savvy Southern Style, Anita from Far Above Rubies and Debbie were the first ones who headed on over and voted!

Thank you, thank you, thank you to every one of you who took the time out to help me!  I can't begin to tell you how grateful I am!!!  I feel like I have won an Oscar and am forgetting people, but I hope I haven't!  If I did... I am sorry!  I am just absolutely giddy!!!!!

Thank You So Much!!!!!!!!

Shameless Begging!

Hi everyone!  I am here to shamelessly beg for you votes on Facebook!  I have entered myself in a contest to win a small group photography mentoring program with the uber talented Jennifer from JellyBean Pictures.  I love her lifestyle photography and this is an opportunity to work with her for 3 weeks in a small group forum!  She will do a critique of my photos, teach lessons, look at assignments, discuss anything about photography and business in a forum, and have a Q and A session with her!  It is an $850 program that I can win for free!!!!!

I am winning right now, but THERE IS ONE PROBLEM!  You have to go to her 'then she snapped' page first and LIKE it.  Then like my picture.  I have had a lot of people like my picture but not like the page and that vote doesn't count.  I am so appreciative that everyone has taken the time to do it so I want it to count!!!  Here is all you have to do...

1.  Go to Facebook and type 'then she snapped' into the search bar.  Click on it.

2.  LIKE that page.  The LIKE button should be by the name of the page.

3.  Find my picture.  I am #8 and it looks like this...

4.  LIKE my picture!

5.  Next to the LIKE button on my picture is a SHARE button.  Feel free to share it on your page with any of your fb friends.  I told you... I am being shameless!!!

THE KEY IS TO "LIKE" BOTH THINGS!!!  THE PAGE AND THE PICTURE!!!!

Thank you so much everyone and I will keep you posted!!!!   

Our neighborhood is in an uproar since the board told us last week that trick or treating would be on Saturday night.  Oh my...  it has created a firestorm!  When do you do Halloween?

We will be going out on Monday since we are going to a wedding on Saturday.  Jemma and I are going to be Southern Belles.  I think it should definitely be blog worthy of me in a hoop skirt!!!  

Have a great weekend everyone!!!

Please vote for me!

Hello all!  I have been a busy photographer for the last two weeks!  I had a newborn shoot that was just absolutely brilliant.  I LOVED every minute of it!  Here a few shots...

I shot a cute little pirate wench for her Halloween cards!

And then, I went to a Photography Workshop on Saturday with my photography group.

A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!!!!

We shot all day in the park in Greenville, South Carolina wit the uber-talented Eddie Tapp and Judy Host.  These are master photographers who have each won numerous awards.  Eddie is a guru with lighting and Judy is renowned for her use of natural light. 

After talking to the organizer of our group, she encouraged me to really focus on Judy since I don't have a lot of the lighting equipment that Eddie uses.  I became Judy's stalker.  I knew that Eddie was coming back in the spring and so I followed Judy around like a puppy all day and just listened, watched, asked a thousand questions.  I also shot a LOT of pictures!  She was warm, kind and beyond helpful.  I felt such a freedom in shooting and really discovered a lot about myself as a photographer and what I can do to be better.  I am so grateful for the opportunity to work with this phenomenal artist!

Eddie is a Photoshop Hall of Fame inductee and a Canon Explorer of Light.  He is coming back.  Should I warn him that I could be a potential stalker?  

Here are a few pictures from the day...

I could have eaten him up!  He was so cute!

Can you believe this tree?  It was the perfect backdrop!
 This mommy to be was so beautiful with her pink hair and that gorgeous belly!  

This was one of those kiddos that make you work for the shot!

Such a sweetie!

I captured the elusive backlight/sunflare!  Woo hoo!!!

Now my friends,

I need your help!!!!

I have entered a contest to win a spot in a small group mentoring workshop from the super talented Jennifer at Jelly Bean Pictures. 

The workshop is valued at $850 so to win this would be a dream!  

All you have to do is...

1. Go to Facebook and "Like" the ' then she snapped ' page.

2.  Go to her pictures and find me!  

3. Click on the blue "Like" right under the picture!

You have until Saturday to vote and the winner will be announced on Sunday the 30th!

I would appreciate this more than you know! 


I am joining
Carrie at Dittle Dattle for her Amaze Me Monday Party



and
Kim at Savvy Southern Style for her Wow Us Wednesday Party

I'm spreading the word far and wide!

Oh yeah... I spray painted!!

I love to see all the wonderful crafts and ideas throughout blogland and always say, "Oh, I can do that..."  Then I don't.  But, I did pull out the can of spray paint to work on some pumpkins!  Oh yeah baby... the orange pumpkin had nothing on me!!!  Debbie from Debbiedoos Blogging and Blabbing... this post is for you!  She was the one who got me started in the world of blogging and has always inspired me!

I went to the dollar tree and saw these pumpkins and I just couldn't help myself!

I whipped out the trusty Almond spray paint and went to work.

Ignore the lovely picture of me and just focus on my brilliant plan of jabbing chopsticks in the bottom so I could just spin those bad boys around without bending over on the ground.  Oh yeah!!!  I did shove the first ones too hard and they shot through the top side!  Hey, pumpkins aren't perfect so I spray painted over it!  Voila!

Then the chopsticks worked great to shove in the ground and make little drying pedestals!  

By the way... BHW... we need mulch!

Then I took some Burnt Umber, wiped it on and rubbed it off.  Kim from Savvy Southern Style has always talked about wiping on and rubbing off and I see now how it works!  

Here are my little beauties!  I love them!

I put them in a container that I have had for years with some spanish moss and a cute little acorn that I got from somewhere years ago.

I put it on the bottom shelf of my entertainment unit that we had built, but it needed something so I scattered some Dollar Tree fall leaves.  I liked it better but it still wasn't quite right.

Here is a shot of our unit "fall-ified" as Sue from Sullivan and Murphy would say!  I moved the houses around and spread them out more.  I like it better now than with books and shells and houses.  It seems less cluttered.

I still thought I needed a little something something with my new pumpkins and then I added these orange pumpkins from Ross.  I like it so much better now!  I still think it needs a little something and I have my eye on some cute candle votives from Walmart.  I have a feeling they may be coming home with me on the next trip!

Debbie... I hope I have made your proud!  I know I am proud of myself for just doing it!  Have a great week everyone!

I am linking up with Kim's

Wow Us Wednesday Party at Savvy Southern Style!  

Come on by!  

Our Haunted House!

When the first day of October arrived, Jemma started asking when I was going to put up her witch!  She loves the silhouettes that I created, and I have to admit... I love them too!

I always get asked, "Did you do them yourself?" Yes I did!!!  I don't get my craft on as much as I would like but I did do these!  I found pictures online that I liked and sketched them out to make sure I could do them.  I bought black fadeless paper at the local teacher store and measured it out to my window size.  Then I just sketched each figure on the paper, cut it out and hung it up!  Pretty easy!

I haven't added all my mums yet or my lights, but it will be done!  I think I am going to add a pumpkin to the upstairs window.  It is my closet and the light is motion sensitive so it goes off all the time.  This is a picture from the first year they were up.  Jemma is on me!  She wants a spooky house!  I have to get on it!!  

When I see this picture, I can't get over how big all my shrubs and plants have grown in two years!

A ghost haunts the dining room.  I think he needs a friend!

Jemma wanted a witch in her room!  I love this one!  I love how she looks greenish because Jem's room is green and it reflects!

A cat and bats have invaded the master bathroom!  

Dracula is hanging out in the office!  

I love the witch and dracula... and the cats!!!  Which is your favorite?  Any suggestions for the upstairs window?  I am feeling crafty!!!

I am linking up with the Thrifty Decor Chick for her Fall Party!

and Carrie at Dittle Dattle's Amaze Me Monday!

I am also joining the adorable Beth at Home Stories A 2 Z 

and her Tutorials and Tips Party, 


and the lovely Kim's Wow Us Wednesday Party at Savvy Southern Style!  

The Last Day! Finally!!!

 On Friday morning, a small group of us set out to visit the town of Kenmare, which is known for its lace making.  I was on a mission to buy Jemma a handkerchief to carry on her wedding day made with Irish lace.  The town itself was so pretty!  I wish we had spent more time there!  We were there really to see the lace shop and head back to meet the others who opted to sleep in!

The nuns at the church taught the young girls the craft of lace making during the famine years so they would have a trade.  The tradition continues today and it was amazing to watch the tiny intricate detail that went into creating these beautiful pieces.  This kind woman showed us exactly how they do it!  

They weave these sticks, called bobbins,  over, under and around to create the delicate open weave lace.  The pins hold it in place and she uses the pattern on the right there to know which bobbins to use and where to put them.   

This is a larger pattern lace that you stitch following the pattern.  When the sewing part is done the blue is removed and the lace remains.  

These are teeny tiny detail pieces that cost between $300 and $400!

It was amazing to see the detail that went into this!  It was beautiful.  Queen Victoria loved the Kenmare lace so much she had panels of it made especially for her wedding gown.

When we stopped for gas, my SIL and I ran into a church across the street.  It was not very impressive from the outside, but gorgeous on the inside.  I have a thing for stained glass windows...

The walls around the high altar of the church were covered in a tile.  I just loved the reflection of the stained glass on the tiles!

We went back to the house to eat a quick lunch and then returned to the Muckross National Park to visit the Traditional Farms there.  This was fun for everyone especially my nieces and SIL who love animals! This was an animal lovers dream!  Horses, chickens, goats, sheep, donkeys, pigs, and peacocks...oh my!!

Jemma was excited to wear her new raincoat and carry her umbrella!  

If she could have gotten it home, she would have!

The farms are set up as traditional farms would have been in the early 1900's.  It is a working farm and the people who work there have amazing stories of what it was like!

Here they are with the pigs.  I like pigs don't get me wrong, but I have no desire to pet on the dirty ones. My uncle and cousin had a pig farm when I was growing up and I have been around my fair share of pigs.  Some other members of the family obviously did not think my way!  All I could think is that I had left the hand sanitizer in the car!!!

Mama pig.  Jemma still cracks up over the way her lip is sticking out!

She was having such a good time!  I love this sweet face!

Soda bread baking over a fire

These wolfhounds were so sweet and BIG!!!!!

Cristy had always dreamed of holding a baby pig so I asked the wonderful gentleman working there if she could hold him and he scooped him right up and gave him to her!  Man... can that cute little thing squeal!!!  I love Cristy's face here.  She was giddy!

This peacock would fan out his feathers and flutter them whenever Jemma walked by!  It was hilarious!

In the "fancy" house, this lady was making butter.  It was actually beautiful to watch!  Mom even got in on it.  The sweet lady let her roll out butter balls that were going to be used at a wedding reception that evening there on the farms.  

The blacksmith there made these awesome shamrocks out of the old horseshoes!  I wanted to bring one of these babies home with me but they didn't have any for sale and the blacksmith wasn't there any more.  I may have to find someone to do this for me!  We have a blacksmith at a plantation near us... hmmmm.....

A quick run on the playground!

A limestone kiln

This was a massive tree that fell and they cut it up

Kids and their technology!

Our one and only rainbow we saw.

We went back into Killarney for dinner at The Laurel's.  We stopped first at a big tourist shop to buy all the last minute gifts that we really didn't need!  

This beautiful drink helped kick start my 10 lb. weight gain this summer!

All the fish and chips I ate probably didn't help either!

The next day we sadly left our wonderful house and drove to Dublin where we caught our flight to JFK.  Of course Cristy had trouble with her ticket again especially in New York!  Our flight was delayed several hours which worked out as they had to talk to ticket agents for a LONG time!  In the scrabble of figuring out her name and the ticket thing again, they deleted Cole's ticket!  It all got settled and we waited patiently for our plane to leave.  It finally left at midnight and I was delighted to see the Empire State Building from the plane!  Jemma was a trooper and stayed awake until her bum hit the plane seat and then she was out.  We arrived in Charlotte around 1:45 and crashed at the hotel.  The next morning everyone headed out to their respective homes.  

It was a crazy, exhausting, amazing, educational, wonderful, fantastic trip.  We made some wonderful memories that we will always share as a family.  I am so grateful to my sweet hubby who makes all this possible for us and gives us the opportunity to share so much with our daughter.  

Family is what it is all about and this trip was a trip of a lifetime.