Feeling really crappy from the latest surgery so I'll just leave a little note here: be back when better. Have to note tho: Love these old papers from Daisy D! So sad they're possibly out of business.


Couldn't leave without doing this list again. See how long I actually manage to keep it going on :p

  • Scrappers Choice. I'll be honest. I didn't think they were all that. Not until they got Vibeke Spigseth aboard. Yeah I'm gonna credit her cause I really think she did and does wonders with them designwise (if she's not alone about that then I apologize ;p) *love* the paperdesign, the paperquality, and *in love* the chipboard and the bling and the epoxy and ribbons and stamps and..well, they're doing the full embelliethinghie and it's all in Norwegian! YAY!!!!! :D
  • HAMBLY!!!!! Yeah baby!!!! Someones got a box and ohmygod *BIG GRIN* *smirk*
  • The Bad Girls October kit!!! Seriously. I know I'm supposed to plug for them but this. SO. IS. LOVELY. FOR. REALS!!!!! :D :D :D (and yeah the above peek is from that kit - it's out in four or five days)
  • Xstines potato salad. YUM! (For Norwegians, that and more reciepes can be found here at Minneriket)
  • My husband :)
Take care and stay safe :)

I have been wanting to try this for a while... I almost always do an "opposites attract" photo with my engagement and wedding couples. But I wanted to put a spin on it and create an image with multiple exposures...

Just had to try this!!!

I like how it turned out....



I know I've been a sucky blogger this week so far and I'm sad about it (cause I really do enjoy blogging). But life's been quite busy lately in between the Warhammer-gaming, various deadlines & scrappy stuff to do and watching Entourage. So. A quick post from me, w/a little Bad Girls Oct-peek as I can't share the scrappy stuff atm.

  • Warhammer: Hm. Didn't like it at first, but kinda think it's okay now. Thought my class was dull (Disciple of Khaine) until I found out@level 10 that I could actually dualwield - yay (don't ask me how come I didn't find out about this sooner. I'm growing old maybe). Actually makes me feel like a ranja again (from EQ) which I think is pretty cool :)
  • LOVE my Oct Bad Girls kit!! Thanks to my awesome postoffice (spot the sarcasm) I didn't know my kit had actually arrived until yesterday, but cracked out two layouts that I really love in three hours! Nice!
  • Gotta wrap up the BG stuff tonight as I'll be gone for another surgery tomorrow and will be unreliable this weekend for tougher stuff than just watchin Entourage season 3 (ok Jeremy Piven is pure genious, SO PERFECT for this role, love the interaction w/him and his wife/mention of his wife, he so deserved that Emmy, yay), popping pills and sleepin (and feelin sorry for myself as usual).
  • I hate my postoffice/the postal system. Two boxes/shipments delayed lately due to missing notifications and a third one almost gone missing but finally on track now. Sniff. But I'm so dependent on them!
  • Did I say I love my Oct kit??????? :D :D :D
  • I've been feeling a bit stuck in the same "style" scrapwise lately. Don't get me wrong cause a lot of the scrappers whom I adore and admire is simply because they're so great when doing their own "signaturestyle", but I get a bit restless when I feel like this. Trying to shake this feeling off me.

Okay the following will be written in Norwegian as it's class-information and I guess it's only interesting for Norwegians hm? The two first images are from my classes while the third one is a card-class that Linda Salte will be holding for this same event.

Her kommer de første kursene jeg skal holde i høst -- dette er hos Papir i Hjertet som flytter butikken fra Porsgrunn til Skien og derfor feirer dette litt. Følgende er sakset ut fra annonseringen de har liggende ute på de norske forumene. Finner ikke informasjon om dette på deres egne nettsider enda, men det kommer vel :) Og er det noen døve som skulle ønske å være med på dette er det ikke noe problem, bare så dere vet det :) Håper vi sees der! :)


Vi flytter butikken fra Porsgrunn til vårt nye hus i Skien og arrangerer en hel scrappehelg med treff, kurs og gode tilbud, fredag 31.10 - søndag 2.11! Kursbeskrivelser og program finner du under her, men først litt generell info.

Deltageravgiften inkluderer samtlige 3 kurs inklusiv materialer, overnatting for de av dere som trenger det (så langt vi har plasser!), og felles frokost lørdag og søndag morgen. For alt dette betaler du 1100 kr. For de av dere som har egen overnatting er prisen uten frokost 1000 kr.

Når du melder deg på MÅ du skrive om du ønsker overnatting eller ikke. De av dere som kommer langveisfra blir så klart prioritert. Ta med sengetøy eller sovepose :ok:
Påmeldingen er bindende, og regnes ikke som gyldig før innbetalingen har funnet sted. Vi prioritere påmeldingene i den rekkefølgen innbetalingene finner sted. På grunn av stor interesse setter vi ingen påmeldingsfrist, her er det virkelig førstemann til mølla som gjelder :D

Send mail når du har betalt inn for å bekrefte påmeldingen din. Innbetalingen skjer til konto 20302114863. Merk med "åpningshelg".

Vi vil åpne for å melde seg på enkeltkurs og treff, hvis ikke vi blir fullbooka. Da vil vi annonsere det her igjen. Per nå er det dessverre ikke mulig.

Butikken vil så klart være åpen for alle deltagere hele helgen, og vi gir 20% rabatt på ALLE produkter, utenom salgsvarene.
Program for Pih åpningshelg (31.okt - 2.nov)

Fredag
18.00 Innkvartering
18.00 - 02.00 Scrappetreff i butikken

Lørdag
09.00 Felles frokost
10.00 - 14.00 Butikken er åpen for alle!
12.00 - Demo i butikken med Ania - Hvordan bruke Glimmer Mist
13.00 - 14.30 Julekort kurs: Personlig julekort (Linda/Salte)
15.00 - 18.00 Layout-kurs: Lag på lag i samlet spann! (Ania)
18.00 - 19.00 Middag (bestille selv)
18.00 - 02.00 Scrappetreff i butikken

Søndag
10.00 Felles frokost
12.00 - 15.00 Minialbum-kurs: Liten, søt og tøff (Ania)
Huset stenges kl. 17.00.


Om kursholderne:

Linda Salte er designer for Papir i hjertet, og leder for butikkens designteam, Hjertelaget. Hun har sin helt særegne scrappestil som er vanskelig å sette merkelapp på. Hun bruker mange teknikker og mye stæsj, og har både en røff og romantisk stil på samme tid. Linda skal lære oss å lage lekre julekort, basert på 3ndyPapir sin juleserie. http://www.saltescrap.com


Anne Jo Lexander bor på Askøy utenfor Bergen og er en svært allsidig dame innen scrapbook-verdenen. Hun er en PrimaDonna, navnet Prima Marketing Inc har på sine egne kursholdere, og har nå også blitt hentet til Tattered Angels som "educator", de som produserer blant annet Glimmer Mist. I tillegg er hun medlem av designteamene til Hambly Screenprints, Fancy Pants Designs, Luxe Designs, Pencil-Lines og Bad Girls kits.
Her i Norge er hun en av de faste skribentene i bladet "Vi Scrapper". Anne Jo holder kurs for både døve og hørende, og du finner mer om henne på bloggen hennes http://aniia.blogspot.com

Ania gir oss to kurs denne helgen, begge i kjent Ania-lag-på-lag-freestyle-stil, gled dere!


KURSBESKRIVELSER:


Layout-kurs:
Lag på lag i samlet spann!

Her lager vi to forskjellige layouts der vi benytter av oss lag på lag teknikken i kombinasjon med clustering, eller ”samlet rot” om du vil. Dybde og dimensjoner på layoutene vil det være mer enn nok av i dette kurset, og vi blander en herlig miks av ”gammelt” og nytt fra Primas rikholdige sortiment av ark og stæsj, gjerne ikledd en dæsj shimmer fra de fantastiske produktene fra Glimmer Mists.
Ta med:
Saks, skjærebrett, noe å skrive med, underlagsmatte, evt craft-matte, et lite sortiment lim bl.a. gluedots og 3d-foam, distress-verktøy om dere har og ikke minst bilder – gjerne både 10x15 og 5x7,5 cm (Vi kommer til å bruke mellom 1-4 bilder pr layout avhengig av str. på bildene). Ta gjerne med favorittfargene deres fra Glimmer Mists om dere har – men vi kommer til å ha et lite sortiment liggende.


Minialbum-kurs: Liten, søt og tøff!
Vi lager to minialbum fra bunnen av med to forskjellige teknikker – kjapt og enkelt, og så gjennomført! Der den ene er søt og nett og en anelse eclectic, blir den andre laget i en litt mer ”freestyle”-stil med maling og doodling på bildene. Vi utforsker som vanlig Primas spennende verden av ark og stæsj.
Ta med:
Saks, skjærebrett, sort og hvit penn, underlagsmatte evt. craft-matte, stiftemaskin, et lite sortiment lim bl.a. gluedots og 3d-foam og ikke minst bilder på under 5x7,5cm – passbildestr –to forskjellige sett til hver av minialbumene

Kort-kurs: Personlig julekort
Få inspirasjon til årets julekort! Ved bruk av 3ndyPapir sin vakre julekolleksjon, sammen med stempling, maling, penner, maskinsøm,
stifter, riveteknikk, sandpapir, floss, knapper, blonder osv., lager vi et personlig kunstverk.

Ta med basisutstyr.
(bildet av Lindas kort er et eksempel som viser stilen hennes, og er ikke kortet vi lager på kurset. )


Ellers skal jeg holde de ca samme kursene også i Oslo og Ålesund senere i november - hos henholdsvis Bikuben og Familieminner. På kursene hos Familieminner blir det forøvrig satt en skille mellom døve og hørende -- jeg har et eget opplegg for de døve der (ta kontakt med Helle om dette er interessant for deg, men skynd deg - såvidt jeg har skjønt er dette kursopplegget nesten fullt) samtidig som jeg også skal holde kurs for butikkens vanlige kunder. Mer informasjon om disse kursene kommer litt senere.

Runder av med et bilde fra sommeren og ønsker dere alle en riktig god helg :)


|
I've told myself to join Denas Five Faves Friday for a good lil while now (ok, for months!), but never really taken the time to actually do so. But. Today I am! :)

So here we go...

1. 3ndypapir.no's Christmas-collection.
I am a bit sad. I have to cut into one of the gorgeous Christmas-papers from 3ndypapir, "snøstjerner". There's a lot of gorgeous patterns in this collection, and this is one of them. Sigh. So not fair! Not sure if it was worth it either, am not finished with it yet :p

2. Glimmer Mist
It's been a longtime love for me (can you say...love at first spray??) and I am very happy to share that I'm now a Tattered Angels Educator :) Yay :) I am really excited about that, as well, duh, I love Glimmer Mist and can't wait to share the love with you too!! :)

3. C IS FOR COOKIE!!!!


I am an impuslive girl when it comes to baking. It's like, Ania see, Ania wants, Ania does. Gudrun posted a cookie-reciepe the other day and I just had to try it. I actually like it more when it's cooled like overnight. If there's any left that is. Cool! Oh, and the cookie monster is cute!! :D

4. Marit Larsen!! Turns out I actually might have a shot at attending her concert in Oslo in November! YAY!!! I'm so there and I hope some of you scrappy ladies will be too :)

5. Gossip Girl and Entourage. Need I say more??? =) (and holy crap did anyone watch the last ep of Weeds??? When will that show be back on again!! And yay House is back! And so is Dexter!) Hm ok. I guess this part should be dedicated to TV shows in general :)

Oh and I HAVE to add a 6th point just for today:

6. YARR!!!! The International Talk Like a Pirate Day!!! This is for my friend who loves to talk like a pirate after a couple of guinnesses. And even when not :p Still I'm the one who's had to remind him about this day for the last what, 8-9 years. Anyways. I think I'll celebrate this day with some rum. And coke. Yeah.

Make sure to schedule your engagement session soon!!! If you are getting married next spring or summer I suggest to have your engagement session done this fall.

Please call me at 920 858 9827 or email me at info@ardentphoto.com to set up your time slot.

*** Christmas Deadline ***
All sessions must be shot by October 27th and ordered by November 15th in order for Christmas delivery. I will be closing the studio mid November to prepare for my business retreat in Hawaii.

Items available for Christmas:
Merry Christmas! Love, Ardent Photography

Metallic slim Christmas card.


More photos from the same wedding as last post :)
The last post had photos taken w/ my 50mm lens (&d70s), these are a mix of that one + a 18-70 one on a d80 which I borrowed from my brother-in-laws fiancee as backup :) Having two bodies is very nice -- no swappin of lenses etc :) Made me feel fairly fancy too havin two cameras in my bag *snicker*

More from the getting-the-dress-on-part..



Inside the church...duh...

And there we go...husband & wife!! :)
(note to self....learn not to burn out the white too much/utilize the burn-tool next time)




Some cake-cuttin-action..love blurry shots...kinda feel like they capture the feel better in a way....(my way of rationalizing that I don't really need to read the flash-manual just yet ;p) Oh, and my husband took some of the photos because I wasn't there in the beginning so Im not quite sure where I was taking over...but he did a good job nevertheless :)



Thanks for watching!! :)
I attended another wedding too, like, the normal way..still have some photos, will share these in a bit :)

Ps. In for some free Luxe?? Check this out! :)

The recipients of these weddingphotos finally got their photos the other day, and seemed happy enough for them. So I guess it's about time to show some of them. Now remember..I am still learning (obviously)... and I know I have a lot to learn....I am still at the stage where I just love to take photos photos photos and more photos -- hoping that at least some of them will turn out okay. Where the equipment, composition and/or lighting fails (or way more likely..the photographer..cough cough), I pray photoshop will help me out. More work for me, but hey, I do enjoy this so why not. Right. Nuff babbling - over to the photos. There's something about the preparations to a wedding that makes me go *sigh* The little girl in me simply loves the makeupsession...I think it's quite fascinating...dreamy, beautiful and emotional..knowing what is coming soon....the excitement...ah.. =) I arrived in the middle of the session though - because I had just arrived w/plane - so I missed out on the hairrolling-stuff. Bummer. Love that part =)







And the putting on the gown-part and the lacing and t the backs of these gorgeous gowns....ahh...lovesit..



I like Perez Hilton. He keeps diggin up those nice songs I've almost forgotten about. Like Metallicas "Unforgiven". Here's Stefanie Heinzmanns pretty fresh & cool take on this song, plus Metallicas original one. I think I like both :) Note to self. Find out more about Stefanie Heinzmann.

Ps. Diehard Metallica-fans..don't hit me. I really do like her version!





Psps! Totally Rad Actions are giving away samples from both TRA 1 and 2. YAY! Check them out here :D

Anyone looking for the date of June 20th... I've recently had one of my couples switch their Green Bay wedding date. So I now have June 2oth open... Contact me today for your consultation.

|

Yum - this is the new line from Luxe Designs called Sprinkles. Totally heart these colors and designs. I know what you're saying. I mean. I keep saying I suck at cardmaking. So why make these? Well. Cause Luxe wanted us to, that's why =) So there - my feeble attempts on cardmaking ;p


***MINIALBUM REMOVED FOR PUBLICATION :D****


And I totally heart the Simple lines...so basic, so great! I guess this must be my favorite-est (that's so a word no??) line from Luxe - so versatile and so many great products in that line - stickers, epoxystickers, papers, diecuts... :) This is made with the jotters from the Simple line -- that is - journaling diecuts from the Simple Orange and Simple Brown (the two new colors) lines. I adhered them to cardstock and stuck photos to the backsides. Pretty fast and ..uh..simple (pun not intended!) :) These are from our trip to Amadeusparken, a (very) small but cozy zoo this summer when we were visiting my husbands cousin. The "vacation" card in front is from another jotter-line....travels or vacations or something like that (too lazy to look it up =) )





And! I got an award from Ann Hedvig!! Yay! :D
Apparently she thinks I'm a nice gal to go to crops with :D Ok, I know I'm of the quiet type when I attend crops (for obvious (??) reasons), but I really really really do enjoy myself simply just being there feeling I'm like, with the gals :) So thank you so much!! :)

Now, if somebody would please tell me to go back to my scrappingtable to finsih those Christmas-projects for "Vi Scrapper", please do so. I seem to keep straying to the computer hoping anything exciting has happened the last 45 seconds since I was here last kinda. Hrm.

Hey Readers! I've been really busy here shooting, traveling and processing files. I would have to say I'm at the height of my busy season... so my blog has been slacking a little.

I'm looking forward to a weekend off from shooting a wedding... it is my sister-in-law's wedding this weekend and my photography pal Craig Stodola of CS Photography in Milwaukee will be shooting it.

This week and next week I look forward to getting a little caught up with my processing, proofing and orders...and of course my blog. Thanks for being patient!

Tara and jack

|
Getting ready for the big day......





















Molly & Adam Ricks –Biltmore Hotel Coral Gables
I really enjoyed planning and designing the wedding with Molly the then soon to be wife of White Sox minor league baseball player Adam Ricks. Although Molly and I seemed to talk about everything but the wedding; together we planned a wedding that will have their guests talking about for years to come. This was one the most favorite ceremony designs in my career featuring towering trees embellished with orchids , hanging candles, and crystals. Then the magic really happened, when the sun went down displaying a perfect mix of amber and blush specialty lighting. Their reception and cocktail lounge continued the grandeur of the evening topped off with a towering wedding cake fit for a queen. A beautiful wedding for wonderful couple.


Tiffany,
I just wanted to send you a quick note and say that a year ago you helped Adam and I have the best wedding day we could have dreamed of! This has been a great year and as Adam and I went to Mexico to celebrate that it has been a year (already!) we just wanted to say THANK YOU! It is was day we will remember forever! Hope you are doing great!
Love,
Molly & Adam














|
Natalie’s Parisian quince in Orlando
Last weekend my good friends Ana & Gilbert of AB Covers fame threw a magnificent Quince for Gilbert’s daughter Natalie. It was over a year in the making, but with master craftsman Gilbert with the Eiffel Tower and Ana at the helm of everything creative, a night in Paris was born. It was my honor to help them with this spectacular event . There are no words to describe the magic of this evening the photos speak for themselves.


























































Photos courtesy of Martha Ramirez, UDS Photography


|