...new branding for leila's shop...

... a new year and a new look for leila's shop. she's been very busy during january applying her new look to her website and online shop.
look-see, look-see we love it...

...kristen's goal: to master this machine...

...creatives tend to lean towards busy, often chaotic lives, leaving little time to fulfill those desires to do "all the things". thanks to sweet & soutie's latest theme of "starting something new," we are MAKING time to master new skills and do all the things we've been meaning to tackle.

after having my christmas wish list fulfilled, i am at a good starting point to learn 

a skill i have wanted to learn since forever - how to go beyond "auto" on a fancy pants digital camera.  

introducing: my new rebel T2I

i've started with trying to photograph my fabric range. it's tricky because colour accuracy is imperative, and i don't have great lighting in my studio.  i usually gravitate towards learning through trial and error instead of reading manuals, but i am committed to doing things properly this time. so i've been reading the manual, (to my husband's disbelief!) and i've found some useful tips in this pdf: here  

still a long way to go, but, fingers crossed, a year from now i will be shooting like a pro. my first attempt is above. 

good luck to all the other s&s gals on their "something new!"...

                                                                                         ~ kristen

...let's start something new...

a year from now you will wish you had started today  ~  karen lamb 

...sandra has this lovely quote in her emails. the quote got us brainstorming, and delivered a great source of inspiration which led us to our next theme for the blog posts as well as the badges.

so girls, let us know what's new in your life at the moment and we will blog about it...

~ c & h

...badge of loveliness...

...receiving and unwrapping our 4th badge sent us back to our carefree childhood
days of excitedly unwrapping our christmas prezzies. the anticipation and absolute
delight of discovering the loveliness inside.

thanks to jesse for her obsession with hand woven goodies, for making our end of
year badge. if you're keen to see how she made them check out this weaving tutorial...

...and look how amazing they look on us!...

...le pique-nique...

...oooh la la and what a picnic it was, from homemade scones, meringues, cheese straws,
traditional lebonese dip, olive bread, and let's not forget our pink eggs, to champers and
gingerbeer. yummy, yummy, yummy. the greenpoint botanical gardens made for the
perfect setting. what a perfect lazy afternoon, i think we're officially the coolest little
club in town...

...look-see, look-see...

...as you know with each beautiful bunny comes a bunny book of life. look at this post if you missed it. the booklets are almost done. soon you can have a look-see on the inside too. we just could not resist taking some photos for you of them together...

...eye spy, with my little eye...

...something that looks like our 4th badge, so here are the very cryptic first teasers
of jesse's awesome end of year badges. ooooooooh, aaaaaaaaaah...can't wait...