i'm editing photos from an adorable baby shoot, eating salted caramel dark chocolate, and marveling at God's greatness.
"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." Jeremiah 29:11
{{a few memories of friends and family and good times had by all this summer}}
It was the morning of our fifth day in London. We rode the Tube (London subway) to the train station, boarded the train, and off to Paris we were headed! A few hours later and I was walking the streets of a place I had only dreamed about. It was not like I had imagined, exactly, but it was going to be an amazing experience, I just knew. When we arrived at the hostel, they only had two of our rooms availble, so the (five) guys put their luggage in one room and us (14) girls put ours in the other. That was fun. (Ever had 14 girls AND their luggage all in one tiny 4 person room?) The other fun part was hauling our bags up several flights of marble stairs. :-D Anyways, we freshened up, and then headed out to explore the city.
We took the Metro (Paris underground), knowing we were going to the Eiffel Tower. When we emerged back onto the streets of Paris, we found a spot to stop and go over the rest of the day and get a brief history lesson. Then we headed off, following our instructor Rowan. At this time none of us had asked WHERE the Tower was, and you couldn't see it from where we were. Then we rounded a corner... and our group gave an impressive collective gasp. There she stood. The Iron Lady. Larger and more magnificent than many of us had imagined. It was a breathtaking sight. She stood tall against a backdrop of blue sky and fluffy white clouds.
Now this, this was the place of my dreams.
The river Thames and Big Ben
Busy London streets
Westminster Abbey
View from the top of St. Pauls Cathedral
View looking out from Trafalgar Square
Whitehall Street
Hey there! I'm not sure if there is anyone out there that still remembers me. It's been a while.
BUT, I have found new motivation/inspiration to start blogging again. See, last month a lovely family moved in next door. It was kind of a big deal to us, because all our previous neighbors have been single older folks. Which is great, but when we saw this family come look at the house, we were excited. Then they actually bought it. We had been praying for great new neighbours, and God graciously answered our prayers! It soon was discovered that we know many of the same people, have similar interests, and my youngest siblings have playmates! I may or may not have Googled the wife's name because I had a haunch she had a blog. No, I'm not a creepy neighbor, I promise. Turns out she does have a blog, a pretty cute one at that! So now she has MY blog address, and I feel a bit of accountability to get back to doing something I enjoy. Thanks Morgan. :)
a few shots from my summer::
waiting at the Philadelphia International Airport to board a flight to London.
yeah, I went to London. :)
and Oxford.
and Paris,
and Normandy.
For ten days in June I traveled around the UK and France with a group of photographers (many of whom were friends, the rest quickly became friends!). It was an amazing, eye opening experience. I am so blessed to have gone! I will be posting more pictures of my trip later this week.
Thanks for reading!
xoxo, Ashley
Some year I want to hand make all the gifts I give for Christmas. This year I'm not doing that, however I am making a few gifts, one of which is Anna Maria Horner's For Kicks Patchwork Ball (found in Seams to Me). I sewed this cute toy up yesterday, and I must say it was pretty fun!
You start by cutting out all the hexagons and pentagons, 32 pieces in all! I used my mat and rotary cutter to do this, making it go fairly fast.
Then I started sewing together the hexagons and pentagons. This part was a bit tricky at first, but once you sew a few together you figure it out.
Don't forget to stop and refill your coffee cup!
And never, absolutely never embark on a sewing project without one of these dandy's. A seam ripper is a seamstresses best friend!
After I got all the pieces sewed, with just two pieces left open, I stuffed the ball with Poly-Fil. Make sure to stuff the ball really well; otherwise it won't hold it's shape when being played with.
Then I hand-sewed the ball closed. And it's done! Now I have a nice handmade toy to give my little sisters for Christmas, and it only cost me an afternoon and a few dollars.
Sewing Books I enjoy:
Earlier this month I had the privilege of taking this lovely young lady's senior portraits. Thank you Emily, you were so fun to photograph!
Here is a peek of all the fun... :-)
beautiful handmade goods.
fun, not-handmade goods. :)
my beautiful new friend Amy buying a hat!
more handmade goodies.
food... now we're talkin'.
i love that i caught the moment here. street photography is so fun!
and the perfect way to end a visit to the market... a visit to Stumptown Coffee! mmmm.
Outdoor Portraits: used reflectors and available natural light
Outdoor Portraits: used reflectors and available natural light
Indoor Portraits: used reflectors and flashes
Indoor Portraits: used reflectors and flashes
Lovely Models (in order of appearance): Peter, Evie, Joanna, Tiff
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