MAGGIE HOLMES Photography and Scrapbooking Blog

Life: Typewriters, Messes and Swimming

Right now my life is full.... I don't really know how else to put it....

 

It's full of creativity and inspiration.

It's full of family and memorable moments with them each day.

It's full of amazing and wonderful work related things.

 

It's full of happy.

It's not to say that my life is perfect or that everything is 100% fabulous 100% of the time but rather.... it is full.... and that's a pretty good life to have in my opinion. 

Yesterday it was full of playing and experimenting and having fun with my two new/old typewriters!

 

Today it is full of creative messes as I continue to work on my Happy Little Moments class.

 

The other day it was full of sitting outside and watching these little ones play and enjoy life.

I've come to realize that It's not about having a perfect life, but rather a full one....

what is making your life full today?

Guest Feature: Lunch Pails & Lipstick

The fabulous and ever-so-beautiful ladies behind the website lunch pails & lipstick are featuring me on their blog today! 

Every so often they do these "Real Mom" features and it sounded fun so when they asked, I said yes! Indeed I am a mom and a lot of other things too and the post gives some fun insights into what I do each day and how I balance all of it..... which is probably the question I get asked the most!

I follow the lunch pails & lipstick gals on instagram as well as their blog and I can't get enough of their beauty and fashion tips! IN addition they are moms like me which means that they share lots of fun things to do with the kiddos as well!! It's the perfect little pick me up each day for the modern mommy!

As part of my feature I wanted to share a little bit of my most recent project with you so I'm giving away a few things from my Maggie Holmes scrapbooking collection!

 Be sure to visit the lunch pails & lipstick blog because that is where you will enter to win! Here are the full details on the giveaway:

 

To enter:

1.Follow L&L on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter & Pinterest

2. Follow Maggie on Twitter and Instagram @maggiehdesign

3. Check Maggie's new line HERE, HERE and leave us a comment telling us your favorite product! 

4. Don't forget your email in your comment. 

*Winner will be announced on Monday, March 11th. 24 hours to claim your giveaway. 

Good luck!

(Products pictured are not the exact products included in the giveaway. Prize will include a sampling of my collection to be chosen at time of shipping.)

 

Photography: Looking Back

I don't always have the time to get to all of the photos that I take of my kiddos which means I usually have quite the backlog!

Even though I have my post processing workflow down to a science, it still takes time and life keeps moving along at lighting speed. I wish there was a way to snap my fingers and have all my photos sorted, processed, edited, backed up and printed in an instant!

I'll keep wishing, but for now I wanted to share some older photos that I was editing this week.

I love this last one of all of them. Nathan just looks exactly like him with his chin resting on his hand like that without me even telling him to. And Matthew was being so attentive to Lizzy Kate, making sure that she was ok and trying to hold her just right. He has always been so nurturing and careful and sweet with her. 

Going back through all of these has made me even more thankful that:

1......I have this huge backlog of photos in the first place. I'd rather have a backlog than no photos at all!

2.....I am able to capture and photograph these moments of my kiddos. There is nothing greater than having all of these photos that depict them and their cute personalities at each age of their lives.

3.....I learned how to use a DSLR all those years ago, so that I can not only snap away whenever I want but do it with confidence that the pictures will turn out!

I've already sent this batch to be printed and can't wait to get them back so I can start scrapbooking with them!

Our 2012 Christmas Card

I've shared some sneak peeks of our Christmas card on instagram/twitter/facebook that we sent out this year and have had lots of requests to post the full details.... so as promised here it is:

I wanted to do something a little bit different this year and this is what I came up with. Instead of creating a traditional card like I have done in the past I decided to print out 4 separate business card size cards to package up in a little glassine bag.

This is what the "cards" looked like all packaged up. I used three different washi tapes so I have shown all three versions here. 

The cards inside were stacked and tied up with pink and red twine like this so that they looked cute and came out as a complete little bundle in the correct order.

The card on top is pictured below and contained our Christmas greeting. On the back was the rest of the message along with our names.

And here is a complete look at all the cards - fronts and backs. Pictured below is 8 cards but there were really only 4. This was the only way to show all the cards at once in a picture. The first card had the greeting on the front and back. The second card had the family picture on front and Tyler on the back. The third one had Matthew on front and Nathan on back and then the last one had Emily on front and Lizzy on back.

(Also I printed them on the pearly metallic paper which is amazing and I LOVE, but they don't show true to life here. They got really blown out when I took this picture so I darkened it up a bit in order for you to be able to see them. They look much better in real life and the faces aren't really blown out like this. The paper is just so reflective that it doesn't photograph well.) 

And then of course I had to add in some sequins because they are my current favorite obsession! I used a bunch of Christmas colors including some stars!

You can print cards like this anywhere that prints full color business cards. They turned out great and were actually less expensive than the 5x5 tri-fold cards I have done in the past. There was a little more work involved in packaging them all up but I love that kind of thing so it was fun and it also definitely gave it more of that handmade and personal touch!

If you have any questions about our Christmas cards please ask here in the comments. I am happy to share more details about any of it if you need more info!

Life: Fall, Floods & Cardigans

Another month has flown by and boy has it been a CRAZY month for us!!

We moved, went out of town for a few days & then came home to a flooded house... so now we are living in a hotel until they get it all fixed....  then we will move back in! What a whirlwind right? 

Fall is definitely in the air and I am loving the cooler temps! It means I get to start wearing all of my beloved cardigans every single day!! Yay!!

Trying to figure out what the kids will be for Halloween today since we have our ward Trunk Or Treat tomorrow night and then we will be working on school projects over the weekend.

Tis the season for fall photo shoots and they are now officially in full swing! 

Elizabeth Kate is a joyful happy mile a minute and she is talking up a storm. My favorite thing she says is "what?" when you call her name or ask her a question! Haha! Silly girl!

xoxoxo.... maggie

 

Elizabeth & Rice Krispies

One of my favorite parts about this age is seeing them learn how to use their little fingers to pick things up.

I could sit and watch her do this all day! She eats and smiles and eats and smiles and giggles at me....

and I am content to sit and keep watching..... enjoying every happy little minute of it!

 

Elizabeth Kate: 8 Months Update

At 8 months.......

She has tons of personality and is always smiling!

She is still the BEST baby ever!

She is so nice, so happy and just so good natured in general.

She rarely cries and usually only if she is hungry or tired.

She has 2 teeth - on the bottom.

She eats all baby foods and loves her mush the most - rice cereal with something else mixed in. 

She loves the bath!

She is scooting all around on her tummy like a little inch worm and rarely stays in one place anymore.

She loves her binky and loves to take it out, play with it and then put it back in.

She just started sleeping in her crib upstairs and is doing really well but we miss her in our room and miss how she would peek up at us over her bassinet in the mornings with a HUGE happy smile.

She babbles and says the sounds mamamama and bababababa.

She LOVES her daddy a LOT and lights up whenever he talks to her.

She loves being entertained by all the action going on around her from her brothers and sister. She loves when they clap for her and she really loves when Emily sings and dances for her.

She is at the stage where she is grabbing at everything in her path all the time no matter what it is and then it goes right to her mouth!

She sleeps best when we put her in bed with her binky and blanket and leave her. She doesn't fall asleep in our arms much at all anymore but does like to cuddle when she is awake.

She has a really high pitched little singing voice that she does a lot which is soooo cute. And then sometimes it turns into a really LOUD almost screaming, yet happy, voice in the car when she is trying to keep up with all the talking from everyone else.

She is a major cat napper in the day and usually doesn't nap for very long periods of time. But she always wakes up happy as a clam!

Her hair is still crazy and is super long only on the top. It is starting to come in more on the sides and in the back though. We love how her long hair on the top sticks up and literally flies in the wind when she doesn't have a headband on! It has always been so funny!

She has the SOFTEST skin ever!

She is quite chunky and one of her nicknames is chunkers. She has the cutest rolls on her legs and she has love handles which I love to squeeze!

Her other nicknames are Lizzy Kate, EK, bubbers, bubbas, cuters and punkin sis. 

We love love love her to pieces!

Photos are from a quick impromptu "photo shoot" (as in about 5 minutes long) when I was out to breakfast with my mom for her birthday. She was more interested in looking at the wood floor and putting her finger in the little holes than smiling for me! I die for her cheeks and her hands that are so chubby she has dimples in them!

This makes my heart happy....

I just saw this when I was loading my pumpkin patch pictures (yes, I am barely getting around to doing it) and I had to hurry and edit it to share!

Now I can't wait to go through the rest of them to see what gems are waiting for me!!!

Hope you are having a great day!

Colorful Kisses....

Heading back up to Utah for SPARK this weekend! I will be demoing and selling the latest Studio Calico products including the mists, masks and stamp sets!! I hope to see you there!!

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In case you missed it, my NEW WEBSITE is now live!! Please go there to purchase my PHOTOSHOP ACTIONS (for the most current versions) and to register for my ONLINE PHOTOGRAPHY CLASSES! We are in the middle of my last class for 2011 but I have some 2012 classes open for registration already and people are signing up!! It's the perfect thing to put on your Christmas wishlist.... just make sure to give your list to your hubby or mom or best friend early so you get signed up before it fills up!

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It rained a lot and even SNOWED when I was up in Utah with my kiddos for fall break! They sure loved making snow balls and playing in it but I was a little upset that it interfered with my plans for taking LOTS of pictures while we were there at all my favorite Utah locations! I had even scouted out some new ones that I wanted to try but it didn't happen so I guess it will have to wait! Boo!

On our way out of town..... literally...... we stopped really QUICK to take some last minute pictures. I haven't even looked through all of them but I just saw this one and had to open it and do a quick edit. I am in LOVE with the COLOR and the KISSES!! These two are like 2 peas in a pod -- very similar personalities!! When they are not driving me a wee bit crazy with their ENDLESS energy, they are making me smile and laugh and they most definitely always make me feel LOVED!

Hope you have a colorful weekend!! If you need some creative inspiration come see me at SPARK!!!

Life.... and photos of Elizabeth Kate

Hi everyone! Life is in full crazy busy mode right now and it seems like it won't slow down now until the new year! Ha!! Feels funny saying that but it is so true! Doesn't this time of year start to feel like a whirlwind? I know that for me it does..... fall break, fall photo sessions, halloween, thanksgiving and then christmas.... they all tend to come at me so quickly! I often wish there was a little more breathing room in between the holidays this time of year so that I could really savor and enjoy it all! 

I'm definitely one that likes to stay focused on what is truly important in my life and so I try to not lose sight of that, especially during this time of year. Life is definitely a big juggling act -- trying to make time for the fun and crazy times but at the same time balance it with the quiet and still moments because those are super important too. It's funny this notion of balancing all of this because there are many moments when I am grateful and content to be in the middle of the chaos, hearing my kids laugh and play (and also fight of course although I'm not really grateful for the fighting) and then there are also many moments when we are being quiet and peaceful and I am oh so grateful for those times too because they really really make me happy and I feel like we can grow together and learn from each other in a deeper way.

Anyway, not sure where all of this reflectiveness is coming from but in an effort to get back to adding more of my personal life records here on the blog I just went with whatever came to mind.....I thought I was getting on here to post one thing and it turned out to be something completely different. I would love to hear your thoughts on this as well and if you have any great advice or ideas on ways to stay on top of things during these next few months..... or ideas for fun things to do with the family or just thoughts on being more organized as the mom. I love that through blogging we can learn from each other and inspire each other to be better so share away!!

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On the note of photography sessions, I am booking my fall sessions now and I don't have a lot of spots left. It seems to fill up in the blink of an eye and I also won't be doing any sessions in December. If you have already emailed me and I haven't replied, then I do have you on the list and will be getting back to you soon!! 

Also, remember I will be doing sessions in Utah next week and weekend! I may still have a spot or two left so if you are interested in those, email me quick!

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Here's a couple photographs of baby Elizabeth Kate to brighten your day! I know that she brightens our days soooooo much!!! We are enjoying every second of her!!

I can't believe how much she has already changed from these pictures!!! She is so chubby now!! I love it!