who's left at home to shoot

when i first started scrapping i had two full time and willing subjects that i could aim my camera at all the time.  and then alex went to school so phoebe became my main victim focus.  now she's spending more time at kinder, both me and jesse were at a loss.  till he fell asleep this afternoon with one of his rawhide sticks in his mouth looking to all the world like he had a 30 a day habit..

and then he heard the shutter click..

he spent just enough time in each pose before changing position slightly.  i think he's been watching phoebe.  anyway if you've ever read dooce you'll be familiar with chuck who i just love.  i'm toying with the concept...

anyway the tarisota gallery has just exploded with some amazing work from the usual suspects as well as two new unbelievably talented and welcome permanent additions in the form of jill who has had me in awe of her work for a while now and jo who is our new digi-guru and is about to have me in awe with all of her skills.  welcome to them - they're keeping us 'oldies' on our toes with both their talent and enthusiasm.

this months collection is very very beautiful.  it's been out of my comfort zone in that the papers are quite dark and elegant (two things i'm so not) - but very versatile and fantastic for boy scrappers.  as ever i found myself with more ideas than time, but here are a couple.  check out the gallery though to be blown away completely.

 

 

 

made me laugh that nic howard copied my theme almost exactly.  you'd think she could think of her own thing to do with an owl.  actually though, in fact i think she also has a clone of my son.  or is it all boys that just can't turn off and go to sleep without hours of procrastination, reading and complaints of hunger...?

 

 

taking a lot of photos of the kids sleeping lately that would be because it's really low light and i can.  phoebe sets herself up at night with babies and soft toys arranged around her very specifically and i just love being able to record it properly now with the 50mm 1.4 without having to turn the lights on.

i've been working really hard over the last week on my classes for sia, though i can tell you that wouldn't be as hard as cheryl and sally and the steering committee have been getting this amazing event off the ground.  i'll be posting sneaks for the classes as soon as i get an all clear :)

 

i'm reassessing my scrapping a bit lately.  i think i have to on a regular basis because it's easy to get the balance out of whack, and recently my scrapbook pages have been led by the photos rather than the stories.  i blame the camera to some extent - obviously there's more temptation to scrap a beautifully set up shot.  i dont want it to be at the expense of the detail though, so i'm setting myself a journalling challenge. 

a lot of the time as well i do have a story to go with a photo but i run out out room to tell it amongst all the irresistible embellishments and a need to showcase half a dozen patterned papers.  so for the next month or so, to get the story telling habit back, i'm going to journal first, find photo second and then figure out what product works best with it. 

now this is a classic example, up last week on the aussie scrap source blog.  i was honestly blown away by these deja views papers - i adored the colour palette, the quality of the papers and cutting out the delicious flowers to balance the photo became my priority.  luckily this is just an old photo i hadn't used yet that worked well with it - there was actually no story.  the tree is in the front garden and phoebe posed.  but if there were a story, where would i put it.

speaking of more changes though, i was dead thrilled to have the lovely nic finlayson join the design team at aussie scrap source.  she's an old friend who i respect and admire in both scrapbooking and real life, so having her join us is very very cool.

anyway. enough of the ramble.  or more to the point - here's to more of the ramble :)

 

oh and by the way nic h didn't really steal my idea.  i think we posted our layouts within an hour of each other and hers is totally more expertly executed. 

Comments

[cindy]

Suz Jesse looks so cute I bet he is'nt feeling that way this morning. I know what you mean about forgetting the jornalling and just paying attention to the pretty papers or embellishments and using them to work around your photos. I have been GUILTY of this as well. Good news about Nic it will be good to catch up with her on Sat only 3 days to go See ya later for Bridge
Cindy

[Jo Kneller]

Lol Suz! Jesse is just like my George...I have a photo just like that one of him on his back - check it out here:
http://bp1.blogger.com/_KA1JCdk9Lzo/R5F44Eout4I/AAAAAAAAA5A/bxB0AbSUuw4/s400/tickle.jpg

[Nic Finlayson]

AW thanks chickadee :)Very very happy to join you at ASS and the club of mutual admiration with you as well :D

Your Alex is so much like my Alex....or it is boys? I have no idea but could totally steal YOUR journalling for my boy :)

Nic :)