Capturing MOMents with Nikon

If you've been reading my blog for even a small amount of time then you know that I have a love for not only making memories, but for capturing them with photography.  So I am very excited to announce that I'll be working with Mom Central Canada over the next 12 months on a Nikon MOMents campaign.  Yesterday I spent a day in Toronto, getting to know the other Nikon Moms and learning about our new cameras.

Here we are with our trainers from Nikon and a couple of the lovely ladies from Mom Central:

From Left to Right: Maya, Lisa, Mark, Me, Joann, Caroline, 

Paul, Alex, Andrea, Tammy, Lena, Jaymi, Sarah, and Shazeen

I'm excited to share some photography (& perhaps videography) with you over the next year and am already having a lot of fun with my new Nikon D3300 camera and 35mm 1.8 lens.  Pictures to come, soon!

Here are my #NikonMOMents Posts:

Part 1: Talia's Talent Show
Part 2: Family Trip to Palmyra
Part 3: Annual Pumpkin Patch Trip
Part 4: Christmas Morning
Part 5: Easter Egg Hunts

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Pretty Pink Baby Girl Shower

In March, my youngest sister became a mother! (I know, old news... I've posted photos and more photos already ;)  Before that baby came, I helped to throw a pretty pink baby shower for her :) My mom and I got together at her house and spent the day happily making pretty pink treats :)

Okay, so you have to know that my mom and I both enjoy doing things like this. We do not always have the time to do things like this, and our lives do not usually look fresh off of a Pinterest board, but we had a lot of fun trying to make this shower as pretty as it could be for my sister :)

We decorated mostly with photos and food! My mom already had framed photos of each of her children on their wedding days and her grandchildren throughout her living room, so we used those frames and switched out the photos so that it became the "Amber room" :) Below you can see a photo that I took of Amber and Russ while she was pregnant (more maternity photos of theirs here) and a couple of photos of Amber as a child and a baby (if you can find her among those toys in her crib :)

Personal Planner Review & Giveaway

I used a "paper planner" a lot in high school and University.  When I graduated I was a mom, and for the past 8 years, I've mostly used a calendar on the fridge for scheduling.  I was excited when personal-planner.com asked if I'd like to try one of theirs!  I do love list-making and writing, so I was excited to get back into using a paper planner!

The planner arrived over a month ago (at a time when I wanted to try vlogging more).  I'm not giving up on it, but I haven't done as much of it as I thought I would.  I think seeing this particular vlog embarrassed me, so I wasn't too excited to make another one! haha :)  Especially the first part of the video- I cringe to watch myself because I can tell how unnatural I feel talking to the camera ;)  Oh well, it does give you a bit of a view of the planner, so I'm going to share it after all.

June 2014 Sharing Time - Week 1

Welcome to June's Sharing Time Linky!

This week, I shared a Tutorial: How To Turn Old Holey Jeans into Shorts. 

..and a review of my most-used purse right now: the Jo Totes Gracie Bag.

Here's what was on the blog 2 years ago:



Colorful Candy Cake
A Day In The Life of Me!
Mothers & Daughters Photography Project

Now, on to the link party! I can't wait to see what you share! :)

Please join the Raising Memories Sharing Time & add a link to your latest and greatest blog posts
about activities to do with your children or fun projects that you have done!

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If you're participating, please share the button on your blog & "hop over" to at least one other blog post that's been linked up- let's support each other!

<a href="http://http://www.RaisingMemories.com/" target="_blank"&_blank"><img src="http://oi43.tinypic.com/10gbrwy.jpg"/></a>

An InLinkz Link-up

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How to Turn Your Old Holey Jeans into Shorts

I had two pairs of jeans that I loved- they were so comfortable! I wore them a lot- until they both had holes in the knees.. which wasn't really the look I was going for. So when my mom and I got an afternoon to ourselves, we set out to turn those old holey jeans into shorts!

Here's what we did:

Here's how we did it:

1. Start by cutting the jeans just above the hole. Then try them on and figure out how long you want them to be, how much of a roll you want at the end (if you want a roll), and trim your first pant leg.

2. Carefully line up your jeans and use the first pant leg as a guide for the second.

3. Choose the zigzag setting on your machine.

4. Sew along the cut edges to prevent fraying.

5. Try the jeans on, roll them the way you want them and pin them.

6. You can machine or hand sew up & down along the inside and outside edges of each pant leg (near the seam), just along the fold, to keep the folds in place. (Or you can skip this step & if your shorts unroll at the bottom, just re-roll them).

It's that easy!

Now I have two new pairs of jean shorts and I didn't have to throw out my holey jeans! :)

I hope this tutorial is helpful to you if you'd like to try the same thing on your pants, or on your kids'!
(This would be great for kids' pants that are too short but still fit around the bum!)

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Jo Totes Gracie Camera Bag Review

I've been using a new camera bag/purse for a couple of months, and I think it's about time I shared it with you! It's the Gracie bag in Butterscotch, by Jo Totes. I wanted to wait to post until I had had some time to really use it, and use it I have! Out of all of the camera bags I have tried in the past, this is the one I have used the most as just a purse, even when I don't need my camera. I love it for both uses (and for both at once)!

Alright, let's get to the details! I'm about to tell you everything I can think of to tell you about this bag, and to show you in detailed photos, so sit back and enjoy! :)

Let's start with the front of the bag! It has two pockets which are fabulous! They have magnetic closures but look like they close with buckles (love that!). They have plenty of room in them for all of your "small thing" needs. When I'm using the bag like a purse, I put a small notebook & pens in one pocket and my cell phone & ipod in the other (likely with some lip gloss). If I'm using it solely as a camera bag, I'll switch the notebook and pens for memory cards and lens pens.

Also at the front of the bag, behind those two awesome pockets is another awesome pocket that is the perfect size for a tablet! I was a little nervous about this pocket because I have a Microsoft Surface Tablet and it is WIDE. It's 10.81" wide, to be exact. (I think the ipad is 9.5") So, if this tablet pocket was going to be too small for any tablet, it was going to be too small for mine! But, as you can see, it fits! It is a tight fit and I would be even happier with it if there was a little more wiggle room, but it DOES fit- and I'm glad!

This bag comes with two removable straps. One purse strap, and one adjustable shoulder strap with shoulder pad (shown below). The clasps on the ends make it very easy to switch out the handles. I use mine the most with the purse strap, but if I'm going to be using the bag one day solely for taking photos, I will switch it out and use the shoulder strap in order to wear it cross-body.

Here's a look at the details- I'm holding the bag up so you can see how tall it is capable of being. The padding only goes about half way up the bag inside though, so that if you are not filling the top half, it will be nice and slouchy for you on the top half. You can also see what the zipper looks like up close on the tablet pocket.

Before we take a look inside the bag, let's take a peek at the back. There is a nice deep, flat pocket at the back with no closure (I love this for sticking small or folded papers in). It was perfect when I used the bag as a carry-on for my trip to Utah in February because I could use it for my boarding pass and itinerary- very easy to access!

And how cool is this- there is a hidden little zipper pocket INSIDE of the back pocket! You can put all sorts of little hidden treasures in there! ;)  In the photo below, I'm showing it to you- you'll also catch a glimpse of the pretty blue interior of the bag :)

Now let's look inside.  There are two zipper pockets inside.  The one with the Jo Totes label on it is an extra deep pocket.  The one on the other side is what I would consider a typical sized interior zipper pocket for a purse.  I love that both of these options are available!

This bag comes with 5 dividers. They are not all the same! Some have velcro flaps on the bottom and sides, some have velcro flaps just on the sides, and some have velcro flaps on the sides, the top, and velcro on the flat sides of the divider! This is cool because it means you can do more than just decide how many "compartments" you will make and how wide they will be, but you can use those "velcro-on-the-flat-side" dividers to divide your compartments! The combinations are endless!

I used those options in different ways for my carry-on needs when I travelled in February, but for every day use I tend to use it the way I've shown below. Plenty of room for my camera (Canon 5D) with a 28-75mm lens attached to it, an extra lens, and my flash as well as any purse items I want to add to it. (You can see that there is lots of space around my lens- I could totally divide that compartment in two and create another thin compartment next to it!)

I think you can tell from the photo below that this bag has a lot of space above the velcro area. You could fit a LOT in the bag on TOP of where your gear fits all snug and safe, surrounded by padding. OR you can just let the top part of the bag scrunch down to achieve that slouchy look.

I can't bring myself to post a camera bag review without a shot of myself wearing it to give you an idea of how big it is. (No matter how selfie-in-the-mirror-esque that photo is ;) There aren't any other photographers around my house, and I couldn't find the tripod, so this is what you get! :)

By the way, I am wearing the purse strap in this photo and I'm all dressed up for church because I've been using this bag a lot as a church bag!  I just take out the dividers and throw my tablet (which has my lesson manual and scriptures downloaded onto it) right in the main area of the purse along with my planner and anything else I may need for my Primary (kids' Sunday School) lesson!

I hope you found this review helpful for your camera bag shopping needs!  I have a thing for camera bags, so it is always a pleasure to share them with you!


You can find other Jo Totes camera bag reviews I've posted by clicking on their names here: Abby, Missy, Millie, and Siena. I also have a review up for Kelly Moore's B-Hobo.

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Disclosure: Jo Totes provided me with this camera bag for review purposes.  All opinions shared are absolutely my own!