A gorgeous new kit called Playing Hooky by Catherine Designs available today at After 5 Designs! Here is a little snippet from Catherine Designs' blog about her new kit:







I created two layout's using the kit titled 'First Day of School' and 'Be Yourself'. Click on the images to see credits:




For more inspiration using this kit, be sure to check out Catherine's blog with a stunning collection of layouts from the creative team!

For the last month or so I have been on the hunt for a Kodak Duaflex 1 camera in my state but I am not having much luck at the moment. I have been so intrigued by all the TTV photos I have seen around the web. The little photos are just so darn cute and have so much character to them as well as adding that vintage vibe. I love the dust spots and the little scratches. I love that they are not perfect. They have all the ingredients of my definition of a photo with a story. For those of you who are not familiar with TTV photos (which stands for through the viewfinder), this basically means you use your digital camera to take a photo 'through the viewfinder' of an older camera.

Now don't get me wrong, I am no professional photographer at all but looking at these amazing TTV photos, how could anyone go wrong? Below is an example of the camera I am looking for. Notice that the viewfinder is on the top of the camera. That is where you point your digital camera at to capture your shot. The reason I am looking for this particular model is that it doesn't have an enclosure around the viewfinder which would make it difficult for taking TTV photos.


Now the tricky part..... (there's always a tricky part, nothing can be that easy can it....lol) you will need a macro lens to take these type of photos or if you are using a point and shoot camera you just select your macro settings. You also need to eliminate the light between your digital lens and the viewfinder. Basically you need to construct a tube of some sort that connects your lens to the viewfinder. Here is a link to the awesome Through the Viewfinder flickr discussion group run by Rustman (Russ Morris) on making these home made tubes. You can also check out Russ Morris' tutorial and download his instructions on how he made his contraption, very cool idea!! Here is an example of a TTV photo I googled:

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Isn't it stunning!!! If you like that then get a load of Alicia Bock's TTV shots....drool-worthy! What about Charles Blackburn, soooo amazing!! For loads more inspiration, check out the Through the Viewfinder flickr group for so many more artists.

Ok, so you don't want to go to all the trouble of tracking down an old camera, no time to get out and about with one of these contraptions, not to mention the looks you would get....lol, well why not cheat and try out some viewfinder masks like these over at Noise and Dust Through the Viewfinder. Below is an example using one of the many masks from Noise and Dust.

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Here is my cropped photo I will be using straight from the camera.

A conversation between Me, my youngest DD Jada (3yrs) and Nana:

Nana to Jada: Ask mum what she wants for dinner.

Jada to me: Mum, Nan wants to know what you want for dinner?

Me to Jada: Tell Nan that YOU want pigs trotters!

Jada to me: I don't want pigs trotters!

Me to Jada: Tell Nan that I want pigs trotters!

Jada to me: Do I have to eat pigs trotters?

Me to Jada: No honey!

Jada to me: Ok!

The funny little things they say can make your heart melt!
Enjoy!!
xo

I think Spring would have to be my most favorite time of the year. Flowers every where, the weather is warming up, time to get out of the comfy trackie pants and let my legs see the sunlight, time to eat salads, have BBQ's, eat and drink outside! So many good things that make me happy and content. All of the Spring cleaning has been done in every room of the house except the garage....don't like cleaning that up, I have to part with all the bits I have been hoarding over the last year! I might do that job when it rains next....lol!

Speaking of happy and content, I have been a busy little bee creating some KR goodness (as usual, yes I am addicted to KR). The first layout in the post below actually won the July Stamp Challenge over at the KR blog. KL sent me the July Blue Ribbon kit with my August kits. Then on reveal night chat at KR, we had to guess the colors that were on one of CD's layout in the gallery and I guessed right. I totally guessed without seeing the actual layout and it was right....lol! Wooohooo! I won a yummy bag of vintage goodies that came with my August kits.

Ok, time for some eye candy using August KR goodness:

This is a little mini album using the packaging from the Prima Flowers called Mini Me. My eldest DD looked so much like a mini me when she was younger it's scary! The cover page on the mini album below is a photo of her with a wig on....she tried so many of them on, she had me in stitches!