Photo Challenge, Snap&Share

I took this picture of one of the boys I babysit after his baseball game. 

This (above) is a sneak peek into the film shoot that I did last week. I just got the pictures back from the lab and I will post more later on :)

These are the photos that I am entering into Poka Dot's portrait contest. You should link up too!
And the second photo I am entering into Grace's Snap & share contest.
 I had another film shoot Monday too, so I will share those with you too as soon as they are ready. There is a lot that I need to post... I will get on that!
Stay Tuned,
Maddy K.

Our Family Garden

Wow, I haven't blogged in over a week! Sorry, life/school has been crazy.

Let me tell you about our family garden- It is in a raised bed at the side of our house.

My dad built it with all his tools. He's a handyman and can build just about anything (probably).
We planted things that we knew we would eat. Tomatoes, Lettuce, Strawberries, carrots, cantaloupe... i forget the rest. We water on a regular basis and things seem to be growing like normal. I'm excited to harvest things!!

So far we have only been able to pick one strawberry. My mother was very proud of that single fruit. :)

And the lettuce just grows and grows. And we pick it. I had an entire salad the other night from our garden lettuce. It was yummy!
We also just got a compost. So we have been putting our natural food remains in the compost pile in hopes to produce fertilizer. It will take a few weeks before it is ready for use.
So there is our garden, growing, growing, growing!!!

 

This was taken of a flower in our front yard :) I love how everything is blooming now. The world is so pretty!

What's in your garden?
-Maddy K.

Loved by My Maker

"Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you, I will give men in exchange for you , and people in exchange for your life." -Isaiah 43:4

You are precious to Him. He loves you. To Him you are so significant. We can find worth, not through the things of this world, but through Him.
This verse gives us so much truth. I put this verse on my mirror as a reminder of how special I am to my Maker.
You are precious. You are significant. You are loved. He can use you in mighty ways, and He will. He loves you with a love beyond our understanding. Bask in His love this week. You are His Child. Don't ever forget it.
your sister in Christ,
-Maddy K.

Birthday Art Project

Over the weekend I was an a really artsy mood.. so I got out all my art stuff, not quite sure what I wanted to do...

It all looked so nice out on the table like that so I decided to take a picture. :)

 

I had my paintbrushes out and ready...

All my acrylic paints... Love them! They mix so nicely together- it's fun to make new colors.

My chalk and oil pastels...

Aaand.. my favorite set of markers. One of my friends dumped them out on the floor one time and arranged them by color. I really, really love these markers. They have treated me well, but sadly many of them have gone almost completely dry after a couple years. I think it may be time for a new set :(

After setting up all my beloved art supplies- I reserved to just using crayons. Go figure!

I bought my friend a plain brown journal for her birthday and I planned to decorate it and make it pretty. I originally thought I would paint it, but after much consideration crayons seemed like the best option because of the texture of the cover. 

I designed it and decided what to write on the outside. I am very pleased with the way it turned out. 

Check it out:

 Here's the front: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart..."

Here's the back... "...And lean not on your own understanding- Proverbs 3:5"

There it is all opened up to give you a good idea of what it looks like :)

And there it is all wrapped with a bow, when it was waiting to be opened!

* I had to wait until I gave it to my friend at Church tonight before I could post this, because I didn't want her to see it before hand, of course :)

-Maddy K.

Way back when...

I found this picture of me the other day, and wanted to share it with you. When I saw it I cracked up! I was still in diapers when that picture was taken. The cat I'm holding was named Panther. I loved that kitty, but I'm not convinced that he liked me very much after that. I was as happy as could be holding that cat. I'm shocked that he didn't bite or scratch me or do whatever cats do when they get angry.
Also, notice my outfit. Great, right? And those little boots! haha!

Hope this brought a smile to your face!
-Maddy K.

Wiggly Worms and a Perfect Pizza!

Me, my Mother, and my Father went out to visit my grandparents at their farm this Sunday evening. My dad bought some bait and asked me to go fishing with him. I said "yes." So, we hopped in the boat and off we went traveling about the pond.
I like to fish. I'm not all that great at it, and unless it's a cricket I will not put my own bait on the hook. It grosses me out... for some reason crickets don't quite as much as slimy worms. I gave up on worms. Maybe I'll learn someday, but until then...
Me and my dad has this conversation:
"Dad, my worn is falling off the hook!"
"Well, fix it." -plainly stated.
"No, I don't touch worms." -factually stated.
"Ok give it here."

I caught this cat fish on the first cast of the night! He must have been hungry! This picture (above) was taken as we were reeling him in.

And there we are fishing. I have on my big, green, 'bug-glasses' as i like to call them :)

After we fished for a while, it was time for dinner. We were going to make our own mini pizzas. My grandma got all the toppings ready and we got to put whatever we wanted on it. Here is how we made them:

 

 After you added you own toppings, you give your pizza to 'the pizza man' (aka my Grandpa).

The pizza man politely places your pizza on the grill, with a perfectly-sized spatula. (don't you like my use of the letter P in the sentence?)

 

 Then, you close the grill and let them cook until the bottom of the pizza in nice and brown. Brown, not burnt.

Here is my symmetrical creation- with extra cheese!

Once it's cooked you cut it with a pizza-cutter in however many slices you want (after all it is your pizza) and then eat it all up! It was delicious, crispy and satisfying! What a great evening :)

Hope you had a good weekend, too!
-Maddy K.

Enjoying Spring Green

Have I mentioned how much I am loving this weather? Well, there I mentioned it. It is fabulous. Not too hot- just right with a little breeze. It feels great to go outside. I often find myself reading on the front porch, enjoying the life going on outdoors. Flowers are blooming everywhere, birds are chirping a melody, and the world is green. Spring green (I heard it called that, and I thought it was cute). The kind of green that is only around during this time of year. I love it. It warms my heart.
I took these pictures when I was babysitting yesterday.
When I walked in the door one of them asked me, "Did you bring your camera?" As a matter of fact I had!
I arrived at their house at prim lighting for taking pictures, so we headed outside. We had fun trying out different poses, making faces, and enjoying the Spring green!

 

 

 

 

Have a good weekend! 

-Maddy K.

Photography Contest

Hello! I follow a blog titled Livin my life 4 Jesus. And every week she has a photography contest, where you can enter a photo and you compete in a friendly voting competition. I Love Ali's blog. You should check it out, too :)
Anyways, last week the theme was hands and feet. My picture tied for first with another great photographer. This is the pic I entered:

This week the theme is portraits of yourself (taken by you or another person). Give it a try and enter!
Here is my entry for this week:

Film, and a Short Story.

These are some more film pictures that I took. I was reading on the frond porch and got in a creative mood so I decided to play around with film a little more. I need to find a person to practice on as well to get a better grasp on how all of this works, so if you are willing to be a volunteer please let me know :)

That is the little angel guarding the garden in my front yard.

Have I mentioned that I like mirror pictures? Well, I do. I like them a lot. This is a mirror form my mom's bathroom that I snatched so I could play around with reflection.

This is the top of my mailbox. I like the symmetrical design it creates. So I took a picture of it, of coarse!

One time a school bus (like the one below), backed into our mailbox, causing it to tumble and crash into the bushes surrounding it. The bus driver failed to tell us of this tragic event. Over the next few days, the bushes died. A few days later when he showed up to repair it, and another mailbox was built in place of the old one. There, wasn't that a great story? So glad I could entertain you for a moment.

Have a Great day! Get outside and enjoy the nice weather, that's what I'll be doing :)

-Maddy K.

Film Work- Prop: Converse

Here are some film pictures I took of a pair of my converse. I created them on converse.com. I love my converse. I also have a gray pair that I just got purple laces for. I love purple, too!

 

I don't like the way the shadow turned out on this pictures, but I decided to post it anyway, since I'm still learning the ropes with film. 

I was trying to be creative, so I tied my laces together and tossed them over a tree branch :)

I have been learning a lot about film (thanks Neal), and I am going to try to branch out and shoot in manual for my next roll. We'll see how that goes! There is so much that I don't know about film and so much to learn. I'm excited to experiment and practice!!

Spring Break

I got back from my spring break trip late yesterday afternoon. I had so much fun! The family I went with is so sweet and such a blessing. We went to South Carolina to go hiking and enjoy a break from school work.

We ended up only hiking one of the days we were there because the weather was bad.
We hiked the first day. It was a rainy, foggy day, but we were ready to get out on an adventure. What we thought was going to be a short leisurely hike, turned into a 4 hour, 10 mile hike!! 10 MILES. in the cold. Yes, we made it back alive. It was quite an adventure!!

Then the next day (on the only sunny day of the week) we didn't hike because we were pooped from the day before. We enjoyed just hanging out shopping, swimming at the club and being together. I had so much fun and I am so glad I got the opportunity to go on the trip with such a GREAT family!

I know I promised pictures, but it was so yucky all week that I don't have any to share with you ( i know, bad excuse), but here are some more film pictures that I took a few weeks ago.
PROP: flower vase

*Oh, and the family portraits that Mrs. Kerinsa took of our family in Colorado are up and posted. Check them out HERE. She did a wonderful job!! I am so happy with them:) She takes awesome pictures!