some answers to your questions

Well here are some answers to the questions you asked last week. I am sure to get behind on the questions in the comment section again, I apologize…..

1. How about a tutorial on the Anthropologie pillow?

Well, that would be easy if I had made one at the time, but I was making it up as I went along. Basically I used a small square pillow, wrapped the tea towel around the pillow, hand stitched all the way down one end, folded the other ends and tucked them inside. Finally I made a small stitch on two sides to keep it all together. That is a terrible answer, but hopefully it will give you a jumping off point.

2. Where is the headband from that the cute girl is wearing in the backpack post?

Her talented aunt made it for her. Maybe I can convince her aunt to come over one day and let me photograph her doing a tutorial on it for all of us….beg Jamie in the comments and maybe it will work. Until then, you can find some similar on etsy. Here are some more super cute ones.

What is your favorite lens, camera, photo tips?

You can find a list of all my equipment on the About Me page under the “info” tab. I need to update all that with new pictures, but it has the basic info. My two favorite lenses are my 50mm f/1.4 & 85mm f/1.8. If I am out with the kids and need wide angle and close up shots I grab my 24-70mm f/2.8 lens.

Here is Sweet P (aka my amazingly cute niece) taken with my 50mm lens.

50mm, ISO 320, 1/200, f/2.8

This is the son of some of our friends…we (obviously) were at the park. I shot this with my 85mm. I love the backlighting. I know a lot of photographers would do a skin correction on his face to remove the yellow cast from the slide. If I actually knew enough about Photoshop to do that, I might, but I kind of like it because it is real….but if I knew how I’d probably like that better!

85mm, ISO 200, 1/160, f/2.0

The 24-70mm is considered a zoom (it goes from 24mm all the way to 70mm)….I use it for most of my indoor wide angle shots.

Here is FireCracker following her brothers out the back door, I am ‘zoomed out’ as far as the lens will let me.

24mm, ISO 400, 1/200, f/7.1

This is the same 24-70mm lens, but ‘zoomed in’ as far as I can. This is my friend’s daughter at a BBQ.  Yes, she has amazing hair.

70mm, ISO 160, 1/320, f/3.2

Where did you get your kid’s Arctic Cat?

Walmart, about 4 years ago. FireCracker prefers to drive herself.

Have you ever thought of homeschooling your kids? Yes….just like we think about private and public schooling. Our approach to schooling is Kid by Kid, Year by Year….our kids are all so different and we recognize what is best for one at a particular time may not be best for another….or that same child at a different time for that matter.

Where do you get your fabric?

Locally, I shop at Sew Flakes in downtown Broken Arrow. Online I just search around etsy by color or designer. You can find some great deals and many more options online.

On average when do you go to sleep and when do you wake up?

I usually get about 7 hours of sleep a night….often interrupted a couple of times….usually I’m up by 6:30am. My friends are trying to convince me to join them at the gym at 5:30am. If Jillian Micheals would meet me there every morning and yell at me (and promise me arms like hers), I’d be all over it….totally my kind of trainer, I don’t want fluffy sweet Bob talk at the gym.

What are your favorite local flea markets, antique shops?

Southern Hospitality & The Hitching Post in Broken Arrow, The RiverCity Trading Post in Jenks, the Saturday Flea Market at the expo in Tulsa.

Where did you get your baby wrap from?

Loveyduds on etsy. In the photo below my mom actually sewed the Amy Butler fabric over the original fabric that was on it when I used it with Littlest Brother. I just wanted to change it up a bit for FireCracker.

How do you organize your kid’s art projects?

We make way too many to keep. I usually display them for about a week and then recycle, compost or trash them. I keep only a handful each year. Right now they are just in a file folder. I am not one to keep stuff very long….

What is going on with the sweet potatoes you are growing inside?

I am not actually growing them for a long term purpose. I like houseplants, but I also kill a lot of houseplants. Sweet potatoes grow in water really quickly. Basically, I like how they look (roots, potato, leaves, water) so I keep them around until they get too big…then I compost them and start again. Like I said before, I am random….thankfully my hubby loves my randomness.