Chase was a dream! He slept through just about everything! He calmed so easily and was just so so cute!!! Even shared a few smiles with us

Thank you so much Ryan and Carissa for asking me to be part of your second! It was an honor. I hope you enjoy the teasers!

xxoo
Jodie~

I am so so so excited to meet your first addition soon!

Enjoy the teasers!

xxoo

Jodie~

These sessions are some of my favorites. Even if they don’t totally smash the cakes… it shows their personalities and it just allows them to be candid…. I love capturing their real expressions and their real personality! Such a blast! Memories that last forever!

I think this is such a fun way to celebrate a birthday!

Happy 1st birthday Kayci K! I love you hunni!

xxoo
Auntie Jodie~

I LOVE this expression! lol A bit sweet for ya lol!

February 4th, 2012. It came! Time for Lindsey to marry her prince charming Ryan! It was a gorgeous sunning day (also freezing cold!) I was so surprised at how CALM Lindsey was! Seriously, she was so relaxed, not an ounce of bridezilla, and I mean we are all entitled to a few moments of bridezilla lol! But she just couldn’t wait to walk down that isle toward Ryan!

I had the pleasure of having Michelle Regner as my second Photographer and also Robyn Maddocks as an assistant/3rd shooter! I love having another perspective on a wedding day. I high recommend considering a second photographer for your wedding! I have included photos from all 3 of our cameras so you can see some of the diversity that we could provide!

I had such an amazing time, thank you both so much for having us be part of this amazing day! It was so incredibly beautiful! You both are perfect for each other and I wish you all the best as you start this new chapter in your lives!

xxoo

PS for those that would like to peak … Here is Ryan and Lindsey’s Website I created. (sorry family and friends for the error on the cards I made up … oye!) www.ryanlindsey.jodielemke.com

Look! you can Pin it!!!

Last Monday I sent out my very first newsletter… below is the confirmation note I was given at the last step of the process… I just needed to hit “Schedule”… Then my newsletter would be sent to over 100 people… Ahhhh ok.. so that’s not scary…. you proofed it for spelling and grammar … you had 2 others read it.. you edited it 100000 times.. you did it.. now JUST. HIT. SCHEDULE. … I wasn’t ready. I think I sat and stared at the screen for a good 15 minutes… fear is paralyzing. I think we all struggle with fear but for me.. it has got to be the one thing that holds me back. all.the.time….the one thing that causes me to have a lack of self confidence. “What if I get my report back and no one opens it?” or “What if everyone unsubscribes?”

I sat and thought and contemplated hitting ‘cancel’, but then.. I remembered. You’re doing this job because you love it! You love your clients and want them to get all this good information… easily… PLUS over 100 people signed up! So I got excited. A new chapter! So, I turned the page….

Meet LOLA.  She arrived today in the mail and my poor Postman had to watch me as I did a little jig and I may have let out a little shreeeeek! I have been needing a bag that would carry my camera, lenses, batteries and other gear. As much as I love my Shootsac for on the job, It doesn’t hold a camera body and I don’t like it to be tooo full and heavy! SO… Lola is now part of the team! Yahoo Check out Epiphanie for your very own pretty camera bag!

Last year I built a garden box for my Son, Tyson. He wanted to grow his own veggies.  It was alot of fun and we spent alot of time together, bonding! But I had no clue HOW to plant, or WHAT to plant where. So this sweet little guide I found is gonna be a huge help this spring! Sooo excited! Just need to built an addition to my box, we don’t have the vertical bit for vines.

Ok How awesome is this!! my 2 year old cannot reach the water when its turned on … this would be awesome!!

LOVE this. I’ve seen it all over lately on Facebook.. I need to remember this.

I spent 3 days watching an amazing Creative Live Course for FREE… I ended up buying the course though because I know I’ll learn so much more the second..third… twentieth time! I’d never heard about Zach and Jody before this weekend and honestly was BLOWN away. I cried. I laughed. I just fell in love with these two and their heart for people & photography. If you want to check out their site they have some amazing tips and goodies for Photographers! Plus check out this amazing new SHOWIT site designed by Melissa Love. Very cool!

I am in search of some awesome Newborn props! IF you have any large buckets, bins, large bowls. or anything else cool that you think I might enough please let me know! I would love to purchase some new and different items for my collection.

Well that about sums it up for this round of RANDOM Tuesday! In case you weren’t sure my “random” posts are random themselves and never on the same day of the week haha. I gotta keep ya on your toes ya know! And Plus.. it wouldn’t be RANDOM.. if it was always the same day

Have a fantastic week!

Jodie~

ps… check out my new “PIN IT” button below !! so cool!

(click image to check it out on Pinterest)

After a number of back and forth messages, we pushed our other friend into doing one as well and set up the date of Jan 20^th as craft night.

As the craft night approached, I did a bunch of prep shopping (I know, it was rough but someone had to do it ) and thinking out meals I like to eat. Then came the hard part – where in my small condo kitchen will I hang it? As I tried to mentally re-arrange my kitchen I kept looking at my fridge … it would be so perfect ON the fridge …. so you will see in the pictures below that we did 3 of the menu boards the same and 1 is altered. The altered one will be magnetized for my fridge (because of weight this one has no frame). For those of you who do love this idea – keep in mind that just because a craft is shown one way, doesn’t mean you can’t make changes to make it work even better for your own space!

Finally the 20^th arrived – craft night! We laid out our supplies: 11x 14 frame, clothes pins, crayola crayon boxes, and lots of crafting supplies – various paper, ribbons, stamps, stickers, scissors, tape, and hot glue (for the record – hot glue and Jodie are a FUN mix – she totally glued ribbon to her own finger).

We were a little slow starting out, making colour decisions and figuring out how it all would work … but after a half a bucket of jujubes we were buzzing with energy!

There were 4 main parts to this project.
Part 1 – the inside of the frame (under the glass) – this involved layering paper, ribbon and adding stamps to personalize each frame. When finished I announced that we were done part 1. I looked up to silence to find each mouth gaping open … that was only ONE part?!?!  After some debate it was decided that we had actually accomplished 8 “parts” or steps in the process. Feel better now girls?

Onto step 2 … which intermingled with step 3 ….

Taking the crayola boxes, we cut, re-covered and accented with ribbon.  At the same time we put either decorative paper, or ribbon of choice onto the clothes pins. 1 hot glue gun + 3 women doing 4 different projects at the same time = 1 line up for the hot glue gun. Thankfully, the waiting area was right there beside the jujube bucket …. * cue sugar-induced-hot-glue-and-ribbon trouble *

After unsticking ourselves and getting all the “spiderweb” bits of glue out of our hair and clothes we proceeded to putting together all of our pieces. This was when the ooooh’s and ahhhhh’s started to happen in earnest – seeing it really come together was satisfying, even at 11:30pm! Some cutting of cards to write meal ideas on and the clean up began. Due to the hour, we did not write on our meal cards but took the cut pieces home to finish off.

And finally – the finished projects!

4 hours of fun and laughs, 1 mostly empty tub of jujubes, plenty of laughing AT each other, and we are all set for weekly meal planning!

I hope you enjoyed reading about our craft night – it was a ton of fun and I’m excited for the next project!
If anyone is interested in having one of their own, I encourage you to give it a try! If you would rather have one made for you have Jodie give me your contact information and I’d be happy to discuss pricing for me to make a personalized one for you.

Happy Crafting!!
Christa

I am going to be asking people to blog about whatever their heart desires. (interested? Email me! info@jodielemke.com) You have a voice! People are listening! They want to hear what you have to say! My Goal is really to put some different stuff out on the blog! You’ll notice that the guest bloggers will all be very different. Some of  the guest’s pictures are going to be just regular ‘ol pictures! Life is meant to be enjoyed! I am thrilled to be starting this new venture! I love Photography but I love life and love the people I am surrounded by!

I am so thankful for my friendship with Christa! And for all those who love to make their own cards.. you’re in for a treat!!
Thank you so much Christa for taking the time to spill your heart! I appreciate you!

xxoo

Jodie~

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Last year, I was lucky enough to be there when Jodie lost her Keith Urban concert virginity. That means it is Jodie’s turn to push my limits and break one of my virginities – blogging. Yes, this is the first ever blog I have written.

When I was asked about being a guest blogger my first thought was “why me, I know nothing about photography!” but then she added the very happy line “you can write about anything” ooooo, free rein to stand on an imaginary soap box and talk? OK! I’m there! So if you are reading this, its your chance to stop now, as there is no photography in this post — I’m here to prattle on about a different fun and creative outlet – card making

I started making cards nearly 3 years ago now. I started mainly because buying cards was a waste – no one keeps them, they cost money, and the sentiments are often just not quite right (or far to froufrou to be anything I would say). And yes, froufrou is a real word! That said, I am still a sucker for the $0.99 cards from Lifesong. My challenge this year is to start making my own encouragement cards instead of buying them. Its a great chance to learn more Bible verses, and to really pay attention and focus on my friend’s individual needs ….

Did I mention I tend to lose track of what I intended to say?
The first card I made was almost an accident – I saw a pack of stickers that was just right for a little boy’s birthday and thought, “I can make a card with that”! So I did. And then it snowballed! I went from having a few items in a pile on my desk, to a box of supplies, to a carry-able folder, to a rolling-six-drawer-kit of supplies which then added one box on the side, and another … and now I’m dreaming of enclosing my patio with glass so I can have a craft room My small desk is no longer sufficient for making cards – I’m often spread out over the dining table, with storage carton’s open on each of the chairs I’m not using.

Card makers have become more and more frequent – there are so many crafters out there doing them. I look at photos of their projects and I’m amazed at the level of creativity and complex designs patterns.  Do I feel like mine surpass them? Nope! I love my more simple designs, and I love taking an idea from a card making magazine and simplifying it. I love each of my cards for what they are – a chance to show someone I care about that I’m thinking of them when I’m making a card for them (even if it gets thrown out – which I am surprisingly ok with!)  I really enjoy knowing that I’ve created a card that speaks to someone and shows them they are special to me. Using colours they love or a design that catches their eye. I even love it when the littlest of my friends starts to pull the stickers off! I like to think its their way of saying “I want that” and therefore, they like my card.

One of the “funnest” things about making cards is talking to other people and seeing what they’ve made. There is A LOT that I don’t know how to do – which means there is always something new to learn, discover and become better at. The people who make cards tends to be very open about sharing ideas and success/failure stories. Their support as you learn is amazing. There is always someone willing to help you out or teach you (and the classes are good for a number of fantastic laughs!)

Want to try making some of your own cards? Do it! Here’s a few places to get help:

My friend Tarie occasionally teaches workshops in Penticton, watch her facebook page for updates on classes, ideas and links to cool new ideas:

http://www.facebook.com/messages/#!/groups/196859887004024/

This is one of my favourite places for ideas:
http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/su

I almost always buy my (brand name) stamps second hand; most crafters are compulsively good about keeping their stamps clean and in good shape so I highly recommend this route. If you buy a “retired” or older stamp set there is still an abundance of good ideas available on the web – just go into the alphabetical listing of the set you have and voila – lots of options for inspiration.

If you’ve read this far through – THANKS! And thanks to Jodie for letting me give this a go! To wrap up my first blog, I’m offering a little prize – the 1^st three people to comment on this post will get a card made just for them! Jodie will give you my email after you post below. Send me an email and we can talk about what you want from your card — if you want me to just present you with anything I randomly create or if you have an event/ theme/ colour, etc in mind, and I’ll make you a card to keep or give away as you wish. I can mail the card to you anywhere in Canada for no charge.

Christa

Once again THANK YOU to the wonderful Tiffani Hoolaeff for the gorgeous creation! I love giant cupcake cakes! FUN FUN FUN!
Thank you so much for including me in your celebration of Shana’s first year! I had so much fun! I hope you love these as much as I do!

xxoo

Going through the motions.. day in day out.. i think sometimes I forget My son is here.. everyday.. while Tyson is in school.. Alone.. bored.. so he finds all sorts of ways to get my attention… often this is what I find.. I’ll answering an email and someone jumps up on my neck.. OUCHY!! He’s cute though…. Just gotta learn to take more time out to play with him!

Um Seriously I need to take this to heart. allow it to soak in and move forward!

I am soooo not crafty but as part of one of the changes I’m going to make in 2012 personally, I’m going to make one of these! Seriously LOVE LOVE LOVE! I hate cooking.. I hate routine.. but My family needs to eat lol so 2012 I’ll be meal planning!

Ok wanna see my crazy crazy wish list.. I think i fill it once a month … then slap myself! hahaha!  shhhhhhh don’t tell my hubby! Those who think Photography isn’t expensive here’s proof…

Oh an last but not least yesterday I was honored and was given showiteer of the day! I had Sean of Movement Designs work his magic to create an amazing site with the help of the SHOWIT platform! I couldn’t be happier! And this was so cool to see as I’ve only been part of showit for a week! SO thank you Andrew, DJ, and other’s. I’m thrilled to be part of showit!( I can be a star.. right?!?!)

There isn’t much more to say but “awwwwwwwwww!!!!”

Enjoy
xxoo

Jodie~