Filed under: Friends, Inspirations, Life, Mama Monday, Tangents | Tags: 35mm, diana mini, Julie Afflerbaugh, lomography, photography
C and I went hiking on our Thankful Thursday right after music class last week. I had been telling him that we were going to take photos. He has this little plastic one-time-use style camera in the toybox at his Agi’s house and is always chasing us around beckoning “Say Cheese!” I loved photography class in college and had a great teacher, Baldwin Lee. This was real 35mm film photography, developing my own photos in a darkroom, I remember a high grain Illford film being a favorite. I loaded up the old Pentax K1000 with some film that I found, who knows if it is any good {or really where to even get it developed?} We set out and I taught him how to advance the film after each shot. He struggled a little with the weight of this metal beast, but was thrilled with the sound of the shutter. I am thinking of getting him one of these Diana Minis for his birthday. Digital cameras are great, I love the technology, but there is still something special about a limited number of frames and waiting to see the image.
Now for the professional side of photography, my dear friend Julie Afflerbaugh, who has taken photos of C since he was just sitting up, is launching seasonal mini-sessions starting this weekend, email her and get professional shots of your little one at a great price. Check it out:
Treehouse Point, Snoqualmie Valley
Oh! what I would give to be able to *wiggle* my nose Bewitched-style, tear down the deck in the back yard and re-purpose it into something like this for C & I to play in. One of these days, I will build a treehouse, for now maybe i’ll settle for this?
Filed under: Craft Biz, Handmade Revolution, Mama Monday | Tags: Soule Mama, The Creative Family
Got this book for myself quite a while back and haven’t made the time for the ideas that line it’s pages yet. That is not reflective of my enthusiasm for it. I have read the SouleMama blog for quite some time and just made a pact with my neighbor/mama friend to do some projects out of this book with our boys. Maybe I’ll get lucky and receive her other book, Handmade Home for my birthday this spring, hint. hint.
Filed under: BirdDog Press, Letterpress, Life, Mama Monday | Tags: children, work
C has good days and bad days at the studio. Just like the rest of us, some days he enjoys work and others, well, he would rather go home. It is a perk of working for myself that I have the ability to take him to work with me and that he is a part of my routine at the studio. I really like the idea of a family business and learning responsibility and the hard but satisfying work it takes to make a living. C enjoys helping me clean the press and putting ink on it, especially if it is yellow! He understands that mommy has to print and the dangers of going to close to the press when it is running. He gladly kisses me goodbye at home when I am headed to the studio without him and seems to take pride in agreeing to print one more run before we break for lunch. Obviously I am not advocating child labor, but the comprehension of a profession and skills that make up a job are valuable lessons in my book. What are your thoughts about impressing a work ethic upon your children?
Filed under: Life, Mama Monday, Tangents | Tags: Cassius Clay, Haiti, Martin Luther King, MLK, SMA, Spinal Muscular Atrophy, team cash
Today is a celebration of true fighters out there. Cash was born on January 18, 2007. He was named for Cassius Clay, born on January 17, 1942. Haiti gained independence from France on January 1, 1804. Martin Luther King, Jr. was born on January 15, 1929. All fought hard and won many battles.
Maybe to really know what it is to win, you have to know what it feels like to lose, and to keep fighting. Today, I have a dream that those fighting for life in Haiti right now will receive the help they need, one day we will, as a whole, learn to respect one another regardless of color or belief and that continuous advances in science will cure the suffering of people with diseases like Parkinson’s and Spinal Muscular Atrophy. SMA kills more babies than any other genetic disease. In honor of Baby Cash, let’s move toward winning a huge fight – it’s something we can do NOW, this week! Donate to Disaster Relief in Haiti and Come to the Concert for Cash!
Concert for Cash
January 23, 2010
Oriental Theater, Denver, Colorado
The Railbenders & Mitch Lehn Folk Trio
Silent Auction benefiting The Children’s Hospital & Nepalese Orphanages
Filed under: BirdDog Press, Friends, Life, Mama Monday | Tags: Concert for Cash, Denver, Railbenders, SMA, Spinal Muscular Atrophy, The Children's Hospital
This MAMA MONDAY goes out to a very special mommy that I am lucky enough to know. We met before children were even in the picture – and we had a ton of fun: skiing, dancing, dining, laughing. Our pregnancies overlapped, and we both gave birth to little boys, Cullin in September and Cash in January. Just this past Friday, Cullin, now 3, was at Montessori, and Teri and I spent the day in Denver – printing a poster celebrating Cash’s 3rd Annual Concert. Cash was born with Spinal Muscular Atrophy {SMA} and died when he was just 4 months old. We now honor his life and his birthday {January 18th} with a concert benefiting Nepalese Orphanages & The Children’s Hospital, where Cullin spent the first 3.5 days of his life and Cash spent the last 2.5 weeks of his.
The 3rd Annual Concert for Cash will take place at the Oriental Theater in Denver, headlined by the Railbenders and opening with the Mitch Lehn Folk Trio. There will be a silent auction filled with amazing donations including {but certainly not limited to} a snowboard from Never Summer, carseat cover from Lilly Pad, a week’s stay in San Francisco, a custom mural by artist Calvin Davis, and sooooo much more. And of course a tribute slideshow to the little boy we all wish was still with us here on earth today.
I am humbled each year to be a collaborative part of this event. Lending my skills as a graphic designer and now a letterpress printer, I have designed – and now printed the posters for this benefit each of the three years it has been in existence. I have found such peace with being a part of the grieving and healing process along with Teri & Page in my own way, but especially this year as I immersed myself in a solid 11 hours of hand-setting wood and lead type, learning the ways of a cylinder press and most importantly, printing in honor of Cash. It is the very least I can do to contribute to the celebration of a very special little boy as I can never truly understand the loss of a child. I am thrilled that Jason, of Genghis Kern, so graciously offered his press and his space for this cause and delighted that Teri & Page were able to come and hand-crank along with me, the printing of these announcements of monumental love & loss … and love.
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ps. Seriously folks, if you are in the Denver area it is $10 to see two rockin’ bands, respect the loss of one child and instill the hope of thousands, and bid on some awesome loot for an awesome cause – Come one, Come All to the 3rd Annual Concert for Cash, January 23rd, 2010!! I am giving away two tickets, so comment here on this post, or retweet on Twitter and I will choose a winner on Wednesday, January 20th.
I hope this past week is a foreshadowing of what 2010 will be like for me. I spent my stay-cation dedicated to finishing a project I have been promising myself I would complete for over a year. Using Apple’s iLife, I organized, rated and edited over 7,000 photos and approximately 400 videos from Cullin’s first 3 years of life, summing up everything from his wild and wooly birth to his big yellow birthday bash – and every moment in between. The finished product is comprised of 6 slideshows, 6 movies, 3 extras {including a gag reel!} and spans 83 minutes in all. My husband always says your life in pictures is so amazing – but did we have to take so many? It is amazing the exponential amount of photographs I have taken since the advent of the digital camera, and I was no slouch before.
And it is exponentially satisfying to finally execute a plan that I have transferred from to-do list to to-do list at least a million times. Gleefully proud of my accomplishment, I look forward to an anti-procrastination, cross it off the list kind of year!
C. At 3, he is just now “getting” the idea of giving & receiving, wishing & wanting, so here’s how it played out:
- 1 Need. { fits into the “B” section, swimming class, Montessori school tuition }
- 1 Want. { C makes up some imaginative but unattainable suggestions, so we got a second-hand play table from Craigslist, and set up a space in the basement just for him }
- 1 Wear/1 Handmade { these ended up being the same thing: a fun western shirt from Dandy Social Club and a belt from English Retreads }
- 1 Read.{we got Serif Fairy from Agi, and The Best Pet of All & Chicka Chicka Boom Boom from Aunt Lori }
- 1 Create. { a kit of basic Lego Duplos, hours of entertainment }
- 1 from Santa. { the stocking, including a new adventurer for the Sprig Discover Rig which is made by a local company in Fort Collins }
Filed under: Craft Biz, Handmade Revolution, Mama Monday | Tags: giftwrap, homemade
I’m very proud to say all of my packages were sent out before the 15th of December this year. I am on top of it! {for me} My husband got a call from my mother-in-law today, raving about my wrapping & presentation – gosh, I hope they aren’t disappointed by what’s inside! I used wrapping paper created by my now 3-year-old, {probably 2 at the time} and repurposed ribbons, letterpress gift tags and a small infusion of feedsacks that I sewed into poinsettia-like flowers with felt & paper. I am also thrilled to announce that everything in these packages is either handmade, vintage second-hand, or a photograph {which were obviously printed new}
Oh! and in case you are looking for some more inspired packaging options, try Nice Package. Awesome.
ps. Hope this makes up for Mama Monday, on a Tuesday, but I had to honor the first day of Winter with a new desktop wallpaper!
