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Laura Taylor Photography giveaway winner

Thank you so much to everyone who took the time to enter last weeks giveaway for a FREE photo session from Laura Taylor Photography! 
The winner of the free session according to random.org is…
comment no. 56 from Rachel 
Huge congrats Rachel!!! Eeeek! I’m so excited for you! You’re going to love the beautiful photos Laura takes for you! Shoot me an email and we’ll get you all the details on  your session. 
Thank you Laura for your generous giveaway! 
Stay connected with Laura on Facebook and check out her website often to see images from her latest photo sessions!
🙂

simple things roundup + weekly photo tip

Thank you to everyone who shared their simple things photos with us this week!
Here are just a few that caught my eye…
bright eyes | bailey
new life | anna + co
reading | marble
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If you’ve had a photo featured on the blog or on my facebook page this week 
be sure to grab a featured button below! 🙂
 

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Weekly Photo Tip

For this weeks photo tip I wanted to issue a little challenge to all you Moms out there in honour of Mother’s Day. I want to challenge you to get in a photo or two before Mother’s Day arrives on May 13th {you’ve got exactly 27 days left to do this}. You with your kiddos, your hubby, your pet hamster….whoever you want. Just get out from behind that camera…ya you….I see you hiding back there.…and get in those photos! 🙂

A little over a year ago I joined Emily Anderson’s weekly embrace the camera  challenge and it was just the push I needed to help me get over my aversion to being in front of the camera. The photos I’ve collected over a year plus of participating in embrace the camera are some of my most treasured photos. I’m so grateful for the little nudge this challenge has given me because without it, I wouldn’t have these photos and most importantly….years from now…my children wouldn’t have either.

Here’s what embrace the camera is all about in Emily’s own words:


I started Embrace the Camera for one reason. 

My kids.

One day I was looking for a picture of my mom and I together, growing up, and I realized that I hardly have any with her in them.  There are plenty of just me, but only a few with her.  I didn’t want that for my kids.  I want them to have an abundance of pictures with us together.  I want them to remember me, and our day to day interactions. 
The fun times we had. 
The real times we had.
Our memories.
I wanted to make sure I was a part of those memories.

So, Embrace the Camera was born.
Each week, I am intentional about turning the camera around on myself, to get in the shot.
It doesn’t have to be on a day that I look good.  I don’t need make-up on.  I can even be wearing my sweats that I love so much.  It doesn’t need to be with a good camera.  It just needs to be me, with all of my kids, one of my kids, my husband, or someone else who may be near and dear to my heart.

One day, we won’t be around.
Do we really just want to be a distant memory?  Or do we want pictures to remind our loved ones of what we once were.
Regardless of how we look or feel, I promise that they will treasure those photos one day.
They will not think “man, my mom was —(insert horrible adjective that you use to describe yourself).”
They will love the photos.
I promise.

So, I encourage you to Embrace the Camera too.
We have a link up every Thursday.
You don’t have to be a mom to participate…as long as you are in the picture too, then you’re embracing the camera.

Won’t you join us?
So? What do you think?
 Do you feel up to the challenge of getting in at least one or two photos before Mother’s Day arrives!?
If you do, just hand that camera over to somebody or use your self timer {find tips on using your self timer in this post} and let’s get right on it! I promise you won’t regret it! 🙂

I’ll be joining you in this challenge as its been a while since I’ve officially embraced the camera. This Thursday I’ll be sharing a photo on the blog and linking up with Emily!
I’d sure love to see your photos too, so if you capture a photo with you in it between now and Mother’s Day, please feel free to share it on my Facebook page and tag it “Mother’s Day photo Challenge” so I don’t miss it!

🙂

Ella Publishing Spring Training giveaway winner

The winner of the FREE spot in Spring Training 2012 from Ella Publishing is….
comment no. 17 from Connie 
{aka Superwoman Scrapper} 
Congratulations Connie! Shoot me an email to claim your prize!
Thanks to everyone who entered the giveaway! 
If you want to register for Spring Training 2012 there’s still time! Only 7 more days to go!
Find out more about the event, get a sneak peek at the classes + get to know the coaches this week 
during warm-up week.

Shape Up Your Scrapbooking in Spring Training 2012


🙂

Mother’s Day Gift Ideas: Part One

Just popping in today to share a few fabulous Mother’s Day gift ideas with ya’ll as part of our…
I’ve got some amazing sponsors here at Simple as That and today I wanted to highlight a few of the products they sell that would make great gifts to give or to receive this Mother’s day!

{Jo Totes}
Jo Totes offers stylish camera bags for women designed to carry your camera + bodies and lenses along with all your everyday purse items. One of their fabulous new bag styles would make the perfect addition to anyone’s Mother’s Day wish list!  

georgia in plaid | gracie in magenta | rose in marigold

{Laura Taylor Photography}

Laura Taylor is a professional photographer located in Calgary, Alberta who specializes in newborn, children + family photography. She is currently giving away a FREE photo session to one lucky Simple as That reader who lives in or around the Calgary area so if you do, be sure to stop by and enter!
I couldn’t think of a more special gift for Mother’s Day than the gift of beautiful photos. For enquiries about gift certificates contact Laura for details.

{Seven Cherubs}

Naomi Ellis is the voice behind the inspirational blog, Seven Cherubs, where she writes about life as a busy mother of seven. She shares some of her secrets to finding happiness amidst the daily challenges of raising a family and finding opportunities to make time for YOU in her eBook: Pockets of Happiness. What a great gift this book would make for any of the busy moms in your life.

{The Rusted Chain}


If you’re looking for something beautiful, unique + timeless to give mom this Mother’s Day stop by The Rusted Chain ASAP. Each piece of their hand stamped jewellery is custom made using sterling silver, stainless steel, natural stones, and the finest components. Their simple + sweet {love grows here necklace} is definitely on my wish list right now. Any one of their beautiful designs would make a treasured keepsake for mom!

{Whimsical Blog Designs}

For the blogging mom in your life how about adding a blog makeover to your list of gift ideas? Whimsical Blog Designs offers custom blog design services as well as premade blog templates. Their simple + stylish emma lee template is just one of many choices available in premade designs that can be found here.


{Camera Coats}

These genius little coats for your camera are created by Emily Ashby and are available in a wide range of beautiful styles and fabrics. Camera Coats allow you to carry your big camera around without having to carry another bag with you and we all know what a fabulous gift idea this would make with all the stuff us moms have to haul around with us everyday!

Glimmer of Paris/Red {Waterproof}  | Shabby Yellow Flowers | Shabby Navy Cord

{Pearenthetical Press}

Pearenthetical Press has you covered this Mother’s Day with a wide variety of personalized products including stationary, calendars, mother’s day cards and my favourite have to be these darling coupons for made especially for mom!

{Bella Babies}
Bella Babies sells unique, handmade accessories for babies and toddlers. In their shop you’ll find all kinds of darling items from headbands to ribbon belts, petti skirts and more! Maybe you know a mom who would love to splurge on the little girl in her life? Or you’re a professional photographer who would love to purchase a few more darling photo props for your next photo session? Enquire about Bella Babies gift certificates here.


{Stylish Beach Bum}
For the mom-tog on your Mother’s Day gift list {or as a gift idea for yourself to pass along to the hubby} check out the affordable + super comfy camera straps available at Stylish Beach Bum. There are so many styles available! Stop by their shop to see them all and while you’re there be sure to take a peek at their coordinating lens bags.

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I hope you found a few fun + unique gift ideas by browsing through some of these lovely shops!

Enjoy your week everyone!

the simple things

this weeks simple thing:

We spent some time out at my sister-in-law’s farm this past week after a little family Easter egg hunt and it was so much fun! You can tell by the look on Emily’s face that feeding this little calf a bottle was one of the highlights of the day! 
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Welcome to{simple things sunday}this week you guys!
This party is all about celebrating the simple moments and simple joys that make you smile each week. So grab that camera, snap a photo or two and come share with us each Sunday!
Just a few quick rules to play:
please, please, please read the rules carefully
1. Grab a button and include it in your simple things post.
2. Link back directly to your simple things post not your blog/website.
No links to other linky parties, giveaways or craft projects pretty please. 
This linky is all about the photos.

3. Be sure to pop by and visit at least 3 other links and leave a comment.

Leave as many as you can. 🙂

 
I can’t wait to see your photos this week! I’ll be sharing some of my favs from the last two Simple things Sunday parties on the blog + Facebook throughout the week so stay tuned! If you’re featured be sure to grab yourself a featured button!

Also, please remember to stop by as many of the other links as you can each week and leave lots of comments! Comments are the funnest. Everybody likes ’em, so be as generous as you can with the comment love. Thanks a bunch!

🙂

Mother’s Day Mini Album

With Mother’s Day quickly approaching I thought it would be fun to take the next few weeks and focus on mom as we countdown to the big day! There’ll be fabulous gift ideas, FREE printables and lots more to share over the next few weeks, so stay tuned!
Today, I’m excited to kick off the countdown to Mother’s day, with this handmade mini album idea + a FREE downloadable digital template.

I created this album a few years ago as part of a special issue for Simple Scrapbooks magazine. I shared some questions with my mom and had her answer them in an email for me. It was a fun way to get to know her a little bit more and once I’d put the whole album together it made the perfect little handmade gift.
The design + the supply list are pretty simple. All you’d need to create your own album is some white cardstock to create the album pages, some coordinating patterned paper + cardstock, embellishments {ie.flowers}, brads for the flower centres, large eyelets for the top left corner of each page, a corner rounder punch, a binder ring to hold your album pages together and a scrap of ribbon. 
This album came together in only a couple of hours, after I’d gathered the journaling from my mom and I’m so happy with how it turned out and for the chance it gave me to get to know a little bit more about her.
To make it even simpler to put together your own mini album for mom, I created these FREE digital templates just for you! 🙂 You can download the templates HERE. They are 5″ X 7″ in size, making them easy to print. Just drop in your own photos + digi paper, add your journaling and you’re good to go. You will need Photoshop Elements or Photoshop to use the templates.
I’ll be sharing a printable list of questions you could ask your mom, grandma, aunt or mother-in-law that will be helpful when creating this album so watch for it next week! 

Laura Taylor Photography Giveaway

Today’s fun giveaway is from Laura Taylor Photography and is for all you Southern Alberta + Central Alberta locals {or those of you planning to visit Alberta this summer.} 


A little bit of info about Laura Taylor:

Hi, my name is Laura and I have been in business 2 years and specialize in newborn, infant and children’s photography.  I have a basement studio in my home in NW Calgary where I do all my newborn shoots.  I am a mother to 3 girls, 6, 4, and 2 with a little boy on the way.  I have been married for 8 years to a very supportive husband and love spending my free time doing photography! 

Here are just a few examples of Laura’s beautiful work, you can visit  her website to see more images.
Laura also owns and operates the cute online children’s boutique Bella Babies where she sells all kinds of darling hair accessories + photo props!


Today Laura is giving away a FREE photo session {$200 value} along with a 10% discount off any digital files/print products to one lucky winner!

You are eligible to enter this giveaway if you are able to travel to Calgary, Alberta to have a session with Laura after July 1st, 2012. Laura is expecting a little baby boy soon and will be taking a bit of time off until she reopens her studio in the summer. If someone you know might like to win a session with Laura, feel free to enter today’s giveaway with them in mind + gift the session to them!

Please remember that giveaways are for Simple as That followers only. Follow via Google Friend Connect on the left sidebar or sign up to receive updates via email or through your favourite RSS reader. Thank you. 🙂

Mandatory entry:
Leave a comment on this post telling us why you or someone you love would like to win a photo session
with Laura Taylor Photography!
Bonus entries:
1. Follow Laura Taylor Photography on Facebook + be sure to tell her Simple as That sent you.
2. Invite one or two of your friends to follow Laura Taylor Photography on Facebook.

3. Post the following message to your FB wall inviting your friends/family to enter today’s giveaway:
Enter to win a FREE newborn photo session with Laura Taylor Photography. http://bit.ly/IktC3X
{Be sure to tag Laura Taylor Photography with the little @ symbol}

4. Head over to Laura’s blog + pin a photo or two of hers to pinterest.
* be sure to leave a separate comment for each entry in order for them all to count.
Good luck everyone! 
Giveaway closes Tuesday 04/17/12 at 8pm MST.

🙂

simple things roundup + weekly photo tip

It’s been a crazy couple of weeks around here as I’ve been finishing up that project I’ve been talking about. We also spent a fun weekend with family at the West Edmonton mall and have been enjoying lots more time with family this Easter weekend. I feel like things are finally starting to settle down and return to normal. 🙂
Each week I try to feature some of your awesome photos from the Simple things Sunday link party and I’ve been hit or miss the last couple weeks….I’m so sorry about that! So today I’m playing catch up and featuring photos from this week and last weeks simple things parties!
A huge thank you to each and everyone of you who link up your photos each week! They inspire and encourage everyone to stop and take notice of the simple things in life and I am continually amazed at the talent that is shared here every week!  ðŸ™‚

quiet ride | 14 fir street
willows | dancing aspens farm
colourful eggs | heather
hello | swenja
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If you’ve had a photo featured on the blog or on my facebook page this week 
be sure to grab a featured button below! 🙂
 

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Instead of a photo tip for you this week, I have some exciting news to share! 
Did you know that May is National Photography month?
To coincide with this exciting photography celebration I will be releasing a brand new eBook published by Ella Publishing Co. entitled:
Real. Life. Photography.
I’ll be sharing more info with you as it becomes available, but some of the topics that
I’ll be covering in this book include:


Photographing in REAL light.
Photographing your REAL life.
Capturing REAL relationships.
Tips for enhancing your REAL photos.


and so much more!

I’m so excited about this new release! This book includes a lot of practical photo tips suitable for real life photography. Photographing everyday events presents a unique set of challenges and in this book I discuss the strategies I use to photograph my own family and our everyday life.

Check out my other eBooks from Ella Publishing:

Don’t Say Cheese! How to get great, natural photos of your kids
and
40 Top Tips for Better Photos

40 Top Tips for Better Photos: Simple suggestions for stunning photographs (by Rebecca Cooper)Don't Say Cheese! How to get great, natural photos of your kids (by Rebecca Cooper)

🙂

Spring Training 2012 giveaway + Mini Me Paperdolls

Just a couple of things worth mentioning
this lovely Monday…

Spring Training 2012
hosted by Ella Publishing is coming soon {april 23-may 3} and this years event sounds like so much fun! Read on to find out more about it and enter to win a spot in this scrapbooking, photography, organizing + design workshop!
Shape Up Your Scrapbooking in Spring Training 2012
What You’ll Get
 12 exclusive video coaching sessions (that never expire!)
12 targeted training exercises
4 expert coaches
4 live chats
6 bonus scrapbooking fitness tips
20 inspiring minutes a day
a place to upload your work and connect with other scrapbookers
concrete challenges that result in meaningful layouts
daily challenges, bonus downloads, sponsor prizes, and more
1980s aerobics-queen references galore
email reminders that it’s time to put those legwarmers on and get ready to scrap!
=
1 amazing online event that includes hours of scrapbooking fun

How it Works
In this LIVE online event, a new video (plus associated downloads and information) will be posted every day from April 23 through May 5, leading up to (inter)National Scrapbooking Day. While live participation is required in order to enter the giveaways, we understand that life gets busy, and that’s why the Craftnasium AND the videos never expire.

Your Spring Training Coaches

Erin Cobb,Wendy Smedley,Nichol Magouirk, Lisa Dickinson, Tami Morrison. Click HERE to read all about these talented ladies and what training they’ll be offering! The photography class definately sounds amazing!


How This Event is Different
The bite-sized, daily exercises! The carefully selected and edited content! The 5 expert coaches and 12 exciting giveaways! The ’80s ladies in their leotards! And this event is doable for even busy schedules like yours. You can call it good after 20 minutes of “power crafting” each day, but you’ll also walk away with hours of ideas and inspiration, if you have the time.
And the videos—or think of them as “mini classes”—are less than $2.50 each. It’s a steal!

Returning participants will enjoy the same unique content, easy-to-follow format, and top-quality instruction that’s suitable for all levels of crafters. But this year there will also be increased instructor interaction, live chats, more videos, and NO EXPIRATION on any of the content.

How you can ENTER TO WIN a free spot in
Spring Training 2012:

Visit the Spring Training event page, read a alittle bit more about the expert coaches and the classes they’ll be teaching and leave a comment on this post telling me which one interests you the most!

That’s all you have to do!
Giveaway close Friday, April 13th and winner will be announced over the weekend!
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and one more thing…

My friend Hannah Stevenson, the creative talent behind MiniMe personalized paper dolls, has set off on a new venture and she needs your help to make it happen!

You can watch this short video to find out more about Hannah and how you can help.
Read more about my girls experience with Hannah’s darling, vintage inspired paper dolls here and check out Hannah’s kickstarter website for more info and images!
🙂

the simple things

this week’s simple thing:

Watching little miss get right into the egg dying this Easter was so fun. 
It was so, SO messy….but she definitely had the time of her life. 🙂
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Welcome to{simple things sunday}this week you guys!
This party is all about celebrating the simple moments and simple joys that make you smile each week. So grab that camera, snap a photo or two and come share with us each Sunday!
Just a few quick rules to play:
please, please, please read the rules carefully
1. Grab a button and include it in your simple things post.
2. Link back directly to your simple things post not your blog/website.
No links to other linky parties, giveaways or craft projects pretty please. 
This linky is all about the photos.

3. Be sure to pop by and visit at least 3 other links and leave a comment.

Leave as many as you can. 🙂

 
I can’t wait to see your photos this week! I’ll be sharing some of my favs from the last two Simple things Sunday parties on the blog + Facebook throughout the week so stay tuned! If you’re featured be sure to grab yourself a featured button!

Also, please remember to stop by as many of the other links as you can each week and leave lots of comments! Comments are the funnest. Everybody likes ’em, so be as generous as you can with the comment love. Thanks a bunch!

🙂

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