Inspired, motivated and only 5000 plus Pins of Inspiration

Those are just some of the words that describe how I have been feeling lately and all of that is because of someone named Jasmine Star.  If you haven't heard of her, I recommend that you find out about her. She is a wedding photographer out of Southern California and she is super talented, super smart and she worked very hard to get where she is and I love her approach to business. And plus she just seems very genuine and kind-hearted. And at the risk of sounding like a complete nerd which I am totally okay with, Jasmine actually commented on a Facebook coversation I had with Christa Hann about her reSTART program (which I discuss below). How cool is that!!!!

Jasmine has teamed up with creativeLive which is online school of sorts based out of Seattle that makes photography education accessible through live online workshops. They are actually free if you watch them live or you can pay a very affordable price to get the recorded versions. Anyways, Jasmine has done a few of these workshops and I have purchased two of them. One of them is her brand new "reSTARt" program. By watching it and taking part in a Facebook forum I have finally received the kick in the pants that I needed and actually deserved about my photography business. Now I am feeling focused and motivated to take my business where I want it to go.

Part of this program includes homework assignments and while she isn't going to be grading my assignments, I feel that it is my responsibility to myself to do the work. Afterall, no one is going to do it for me and plus with some of the new photography friends that I am meeting on the Facebook forum, I feel a responsibility to them as well. It is about being accountable.

Just this week, I had a three hour Skype coversation with a like-minded photographer and friend Christa Hann about business goals for the following year. It seems like everytime I spend time with her, I end up getting stuff done. She has even given me an assignment for goals that I have to write down and have two months to complete....that means by the end of March. Yikes!! One of those goals is to finally design a new blogsite to replace what I am working with now. And just a few minutes ago, I made the decsion. I will be starting this week with the design process and I am SUPER EXCITED about making this change to my business. You will be seeing more than just a couple changes throughout 2013 which I am so excited to share with you.

If you would like to see some of my inspiration (only 5000 plus Pins of inspiration), please follow me on Pinterest at http://pinterest.com/amhphoto/.

In the last couple weeks, I have made some solid decisions about my photography business that I hope will being me closer to my goals.

A newly discovered make-up technique

I don't know if you have heard of this new social networking website called Pinterest, but if you haven't, you should take a look. I have a slight addiction. If you would like to follow me, you can find me at http://pinterest.com/amhphoto/.

On this site, that I have spent plenty of time on, I have found an endless amount of beauty tips. And one that I have actually tried out is something called tightlining. It is away to define your eyes and make your eyelashes appear thicker.

If you were to look at my son Braeden, you would notice his eyelashes, they are thick and long and all my girl friends are jealous. He did not get that from me. I have always been on the lookout for a way to make my eyelashes look a little fuller and tighlining does a great job.

After finding a video on Pinterest (see the link below), I followed the instructions and purchased Laura Mercier Tightline Cake Eye Liner in Black Ebony and a flat eye liner brush and have tried it out. I am impressed with the product itself. It is easy to apply and lasts all day long. I am not an expert with make-up, so that says a lot. I recommend you try it out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfXQN5FlF2Q

Another question for everyone. Did anyone see the premier of The Carrie Diaries tonight? As a very loyal fan to Sex and the City, I tooned in. It is the prequel to Sex and the City and shows Carrie Bradshaw as a teenager. It's cute.

The Start of 2013 and Travel Thursdays

Happy New Year everyone!!

It has been a busy start to the new year for me, at least with my day job. And 2013 will be a very big year for me.

Not only do I plan on some home renovations including decorating my living room, hopefully installing hard wood flooring throughout the better part of our main floor and some major landscaping for our backyard, but I am turning 30!!! Yikes, it even looks scary in writing.

I will also be doing some travelling in 2013, which is pretty exciting.

There have been a couple mentions of my day job on the blog which I haven't really gotten into for a few different reasons. But I think now, with the start of new year (and blog schedule) is the time to get into it.

I am very fortunate to have three jobs that I am passionate about. The first, and most important is being a mom to my four year old son, Braeden and a loving and supportive wife to my husband Adam. The second is part-time wedding and boudoir photographer and the third (which pays the bills) is a full-time travel agent. Yes, I am very fortunate. I am new to all three jobs and in some cases, learning as I go.

So with this passion for travel and having a career that revolves around it, I am again very fortunate to have the opportunity to travel to some incredible places. In 2012, I had the opportunity to travel to Greece with Transat Holidays, which was amazing.

With trying to be more organized in 2013, I have come up with a new blog schedule which will include regular, weekly posts about travel. So to start, over the next several weeks, I will be posting about my trip to Greece. Of course, I have "some" photos from the nine day trip.

Stay tuned....

A little pick me up for a rainy and miserable Sunday

Who doesn't love cupcakes??? I really do, especially this recipe. Now let me just say, I am not much of a chef but I do enjoy trying and this recipe which I found on Pinterest was pretty easy to follow and the results were delicious, if I do say so myself. I urge each of you to try it out today. Raid your pantry or kitchen cupboards. Make a quick run to the grocery store for any items you don't have in stock and get in the kitchen with someone you love and bake some cupcakes.

I love cooking and baking on days like today!!!

Wedding Cupcake and Buttercream Icing Recipe

Ingredients:

1 (18.25 oz) box of white cake mix
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup granulated white sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/3 cups of vegatable or canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup sour cream
4 large egg whites

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 365 degrees F. Place cupcake liners in cupcake pans (you'll need approximately 30).
2. In a large bowl, whisk together cake mix, flour, sugar and salt. Add remaining ingredients and beat with hand mixer for 2 minutes or until well blended.
3. Using an ice cream scoop, fill the prepared cupcake pans, fill about 3/4 full. Bake for about 18 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in centre comes out clean and dry.

Buttercream Icing

Ingredients:

3 cups powdered sugar
1 cup butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-2 tablespoons of whipping cream

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, with a hand or stand mixer, cream together sugar and butter on low speed. Mix until well blended. Increase speed to medium and beat for another three minutes.
2. Add Vanilla and cream and continue to beat on medium speed for one minute more, adding more cream if needed for desired spreading/piping consistency.
3. Scoop into a piping bag and pipe decoratively onto cupcakes or spread onto cupcakes if desired.

Notes:

I have made these cupcakes twice using this recipe and I found the icing a little to sweet. Apparently there is such a thing!!! So the next time I make them, I might decrease the amount of icing sugar used for the butter cream by maybe a 1/4 of a cup.

Happy Baking and remember to follow me on Pinterest!!!