hand made Christmas equine cards

Sending wishes in the form of hand made cards has all but become a lost craft. Online photo cards are now the norm. These days I receive more of them, then even standard boxed holiday cards. I get it, anyone can create them. Photo cards are a simple way to showcase you & your's, and if you are a labeler, you don't have to write or sign a thing. No doubt, a relief for many in this busy crazy world we live in. Digital anything is fantastic, and who doesn't like to see smiling faces when they receive snail mail?!! Much more fun then opening bills.

While grumbling talking to my mom the other day, surrounded by mounds of carefully selected card parts, I mentioned I had no idea why I was spending countless hours hand making cards, that people promptly throw away December 26. Hardly anybody hand makes cards anymore. With her wise wisdom she said "it's something you enjoy, so just keep doing it"...thanks mom! I almost forgot. I really do enjoy the creative obsessing, process of details, searching for that one missing thing, even the methodical hand work of doing the same sequence 30 times in a row, and finally seeing it all come together in the end!

My cards all start with the photo. This year I wanted to feature Cierra. I've taken many photos of her this past year, but this one stood out. Such a happy beautiful girl, that loves galloping across the field. Then comes finding a sentiment that fits, the hardest part for me. Some years I flip flop the order, and find or take a picture to fit a pre-purchased saying. If I find stamp messages I like, I buy them. I am p-i-c-k-y, and they are hard to find. Enhancing photo's digitally, is always a delicate balance. I was able to make the grass kinda sparkle, and had way too much fun adding warped floating snowflakes! When I do volume, I print out of house since printer ink is so expensive. Card stock is matched, selected, trimmed to size and glued in place. I usually add more background layers, but not this year. I stumbled across a new snowflake corner punch, sitting all by itself. I think it had my name on it? I've never used die cuts on actual photos prior to this card. I'm so glad I experimented. I had previously found snowflake embellishments, in the button aisle, but wasn't going to use them. As you can see, I changed my mind. Something that happens frequently throughout the card making process. A person really can't have a saying like "Sparkle and Bright" and not add sparkles to the words, right? that doesn't take any time at all...and wouldn't it look nice to glue a crystal in the middle of the snowflake? It was then I realized, I must be nuts!!

But it truly makes me smile inside to see my handmade cards. My mom leaves them up all year long, and occasional I hear sincere comments from friends that also display them. If not with these, perhaps other cards I've created just for them. Photo cards, handmade or digitally, are a snap shot that chronicle where we are in our life journey. Many times the chosen photos have special meaning, that only those closest understand. Special memories, captured in time, taking us back to that feeling...

Merry Christmas blogger friends, wishing each of you a sparkling bright 2015!!

oh baby!

News flash = there is a new baby at our barn!! The foal belongs to our trainer, or her husband, depending on who you ask :)  It's been a long time since Iron Horse has had a wee one running around, none in the past four years since we've been riding been there. Their new little guy stole everyone's heart, but not before the dam did. What a sweet sociable mare Dolly is, and more importantly she is a good mom. 


The baby has fancy bred into him, and is a curious cutie. He doesn't have a name yet. I can't wait to find out what they are going to call this little guy! We met him when he was 3 days old, sadly I didn't have my camera...but I've been shooting pics of him ever since he was 5 days old. I am really happy to have a foal I can take pictures of & watch grow up. I've already accumulated a lot of photos of the little guy in six weeks time. The hard part is choosing which ones to keep. I'll be adding to his gallery and doing some sharing along the way. Below are a few of my favorite photos of baby Iron Horse at 5 days old, and the last two at 6.

he can jump...

he can fly...

likes to run...

 and looks cute, without even trying

moving on

Spring is sprinkling along. We've had a lot of wind, some rain, more wind, and our fair share of less then desirable weather. Sunnier days are a-coming, it's just so hard to wait.

Several things in our horse world have progressed. If you are a regular blog reader this update will make sense, as details leading up were played out in previous posts. 

Here is the rewind:

• Riding in my husbands saddle feels sooo much better. Needless to say, I am no longer riding in mine. I will be selling it, and putting the $ towards the cost of the custom saddle I ordered. 

• After consulting three vets (including a Chiro and an Acupuncturist), reading various resources, countless interrupted sleep, discussions, soul searching, over a month of very limited riding, two lameness exams and x-rays. I had Koda's hocks injected. The decision wasn't made lightly. Altho I don't like them, in the end I do feel it was in his best interest.

• I still haven't gotten back to loping. Different saddle, different horse (cuz he feels a whole lot better) and too much junk in my head. Right now I am trying to re-connect with Koda in other ways. It just feels right.

• I audited a Mark Rashid clinic. To put it mildly, I was extremely disappointed. I know (and still think) he is an amazing horseman and writer. However I was the only auditor among 6 of us, and the only one not from the less then accommodating host facility. It was all very awkward. With the exception of one, the lessons were all linked to previous days. Not at all what I expected. Very little instruction was given "that looks much better" only goes so far for the viewer/rider. I was stunned. I hope my experience would have been different, given other circumstances. After a very long drive to/from, and watching almost 5 hours of lessons, I learned to not audit one of his clinics on the last day. Yep, that's it. 

• Nemo had another bladder ultrasound. Our vet recommended not re-flushing at this time. "The sand" aka calcium build-up was floating (vs settled). We put him on a round of antibiotics. The thought was perhaps he had a bit of residual infection that was causing the kicking discomfort & sprinkling so soon. It appears to have worked!

• The photo's I took at the PRCA Rodeo (Midwest Horse Fair) have been well received. One of the trick riders asked to purchase her photos, and use them for promotion. It's a huge compliment! I chose to abide by the Fair's photo policy, and did not sell any of my photo's - but I did share them with her. I am pretty excited to have another (non-horse related) photo opportunity coming up this weekend!

With all that said, I am moving on.

snapshot from last weekend's getaway

Merry Christmas from me to you

To each and every one of you,
sharing your kindness,

and your knowledge of horses:

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas,

and a Healthy Happy New Year!!

2013 Handmade Christmas Card
(cover & inside saying)

merry christmas from me to you

2012 Handmade Christmas Card
(cover & inside greeting)

Merry Christmas & best wishes for a happy & healthy New Year!!

because of you

For many years I handmade a good half of my Christmas cards. It had become a family tradition, that included bribing asking my family to take professional photos. I liked the tradition and "documentation" of how our family evolved over the years. I also enjoy the creative hand work of making cards/scrapbooking, altho I can't seem to pull those types of projects together - but once a year I do. 

Every year we alternated, one year I had the kids only photographed and the following the entire family. As a reward, I would take them out to eat after. Some photo outings even included new articles of clothing. Not a bad deal if you ask me, and we always ended up having fun (and have some silly photo memories) especially when we found a creative photographer. Last year I couldn't pull off the photoshoot or card, for different reasons. But this year I did, because of you.

While I didn't do the professional photo outing/dinner thing, I did make my own annual Christmas card!! Shirley, Fern Valley, Dreaming and Wolfie inspired me when they commented on my photo. Not a traditional Christmas photo perse, but I decided to use it for the cover anyway. I usually hand stamp the covers, and put family photos inside. I wasn't sure how this years card would come together especially with a photo for the cover, but it did. After taking a year off, I was going to let the card tradition go all together - but I'm glad I didn't. I used all my own photos on the card below, and truly enjoyed doing the hand work.

While we still may do the occasional family photoshoot outing, in the interim I plan to continue to create and feature my own photographs/composites in future cards - most likely with an equine flair. It will be interesting to see what transpires each year. Thanks for the inspiration, in more ways then one.

2011 Christmas Card cover

Inside spread

Wishing a Merry Christmas to all my blog friends!!

calling all camera buffs

I'm having a hard time deciding which camera to upgrade to...any insight would be greatly appreciated. Several years ago I went in to the local camera store to buy a lens for my camera (Fugi S7000) and they told me not to bother (ouch) save money for a new camera. I appreciated their honesty, and took their recommendation to heart. So what's my problem? There is no clear-cut best fit (or so I thought) this time around...back in the day it was between my camera, and for some more $, the first Canon Rebel. Altho my camera has done a fine job meeting most of my needs over the years, I regret not spending the extra $. I didn't think it was worth it at the time, had I known better we probably wouldn't be having this conversation and my pictures would have been better all these years. I don't want any regrets this time. I want a camera I can grow with, that will last for even more years, possible use to enhance my profession, and not feel zoom envy at e.v.e.r.y.s.i.n.g.l.e event I go to - basically I can't get the shots I want!

With all that said, my new camera will primarily be used for shooting sports (specifically Hockey - indoor, low light, fast action, across the arena, Football - outside, low/bright light, fast action, looong distance, and Baseball - yawn **just kidding** outdoor action) and of course, Horses (specifically ours - which may include all of the settings mentioned - ala horse). In three more years when the sports dwindle, the shift will be towards primarily equine photography.

I've looked at two cameras the Canon 50D (no video capabilities, and it feels clunkier in-hand. I actually use the handy video feature and prefer not to invest in and haul around another piece of equipment if possible) and the Nikon D90 (the Canon has a higher mega pixel and I keep having flashbacks of my previous purchase). The next Canon up from the 50D is a 7D and it has video capability, but not only does it cost a lot more $ - it was recommended that I not buy it, apparently something is buggy with it. I haven't investigated further, nor tried it. Maybe I should forget the video feature and go with the 50D, which fits the "middle of the road" I can't decide syndrome I lean towards? Sigh. I don't know...

I see many, many amazing pictures posted on the blogs I follow, do you have any suggestions? What camera do you have? Have you heard good, bad or different about the camera's mentioned? Nemo, Koda, and Harmony thank you. They would really like it if I learned how to take better pictures of them (okay, so that's me) and had good equipment to do it with. I plan to take another photo class (es) once I've made my choice, if I can decide on a new camera...