Welcome to Sunday Sundries (on Monday!) It’s been on a bit of a hiatus … although I did manage to do a couple features on Instagram. Today, its all about me ;) however, if you’d like to see the feature from the IG gallery, check it out here.
October is a month of giving thanks, extra thanks that is, because in Canada we celebrate Thanksgiving in October and my gratitude list is endless …
I’m thankful for all the delicious little gifts our friends bestowed upon us from their orchard and their garden. Gifts to eat, and gifts that made for lovely photographs:
I’m hoping to find time to make some kind of dessert with those teeny tiny pears, and the tomatoes that have not been eaten fresh will find their way into a sauce.
And now, I’m grateful for:
- The return of warmer temperatures which was enough to melt the two huge dumps of snow we received, allowing us to put the yard to bed before winter truly sets in.
- A beautiful Thanksgiving spent with family (although it sorta felt like Christmas!)
- The fact that our family members made it here safely! A winter storm was on it’s way that Friday night and I had no idea … it snuck up on me.
- Fires in the fireplace. Having a real fire is like having a beautiful, warm presence in the room. It radiates heat and comfort in a most amazing way.
- Cozy blankets and throws that were used all weekend.
- Sunrises that blow you away with intense colour and beautiful reflections on the lake.
- Having fresh peonies (from my garden) in October.
- Succulents. Never enough succulents! I love to bring them indoors to see what strange contortions they will come up with! With lower light levels they bend and twist and go leggy—so interesting!
I have dozens more things I could add to this list, but I’ll just leave them in my private journal so as not to bore you!
Have a lovely day!
Participating in the August Break with 
Have a lovely day!
With my pretty white dining room curtains as a backdrop, and kk_Softhaze for processing, the background blew out and left the peony, jar, and chair in sharp focus. I then brought back some blacks, and whites, and upped the clarity. I also sharpened the overall image.
So much gratitude to 
I dragged the hubs to Home Depot where we purchased a piece of 4′ x 4′ plywood. However, when we got to the car, we couldn’t fit it in … argh … so we had to go back and have them cut 4″ off one side. I would have preferred not to have had to cut it, but there was no other option. It’s still large enough to serve as a faux wall, and I cannot tell you how much easier this piece of wood has made my life!
… leaving one side white …
It also works beautifully for top-down shots:
So there you have it; one big piece of plywood, acrylic paint (white, and grey), and a little magic in Lightroom.
and this … 
The answer is “most of my props are part of the decor.” Granted they are not always looking so perfect, but whose home always looks perfect?
But who wants to see door knobs in a still life? I tend to try to keep mine out ;)
Most of my props are part of my daily life. I live with them.
Some are hidden behind closed doors (looking all tidy.) But that chair I just picked up for $15.00? We use it. It’s not only stunningly beautiful, it’s sturdy.
Much of our furniture is rustic and doubles as backgrounds:
Alright. Truth: workhorses such as extra backgrounds, vases, tins, rocks, and branches are stored out of sight.
Read 
Well the truth is that I have slowed down on the collecting of certain things. Things like the fake tin at Home Goods for $15.00 that I really really wanted … I felt it was the perfect container for my yellow ranunculus. And don’t even get me started on all the baskets and blankets and pillows that were swirling around me, calling, taunting, beckoning.
Oh, and those sweet scissors were part of a pile of scissors a guy practically gave to me a few months ago … he had no idea … (I felt like a thief.)
So anyway, I have a lot more to say about this, but I decided to break it up into several blog posts. I want to show you how I’m storing my props here in AZ, plus I want to show you my setup for shooting.
… and then there were these lovely little Miniature Wool Stars as seen on our walk through the local botanical gardens (shot with my phone).
Have a lovely day dear friends!
It seemed like spring was just outside my window, so I had a little party …
Then of course I had to have a little flatlay play …
And here’s where we’re at now …
Soon the petals will be dropping and I can just hear the little fluttering noise they make as they let go.
… despite the reality of what we woke up to this morning …
Here are 29 moments I think were worthy of celebrating this leap day of 2016:
So instead of running into town, I spent a couple blissful hours arranging and appreciating these beauties, which led me to create some word art …
… which led to a new idea for a greeting card …
… and is also on the road today. See you tomorrow!
The bouquet started out with what I called “Spring in a Vase” (from Anthropologie, a gift from the hubs).
In the following image, the light is coming from the side, and is much more dramatic. I used a Lightroom preset by 
One hour in Anthropologie and a gift from the hubs ♥ it feels like spring in AZ … .
All these images were edited in Lightroom with kk_Eve, which reduced the overall saturation and upped the contrast.
I wanted to create a series with an industrial tone, and Kim Klassen’s 
Do you prefer the dramatic shadows …
… or not?
Roaring fires are always welcome this time of year, so here’s celebrating beautiful birch, pine boughs, and pine cones in vintage bread bowls …
… hot coffee helps …
… and so do cute little Charlie Brown Christmas trees in vintage coffee cans …
I love my cardboard snowflakes (made from old cardboard using a die cut machine at a scrapbook store) …
