December 2011

Dear Friend,

Looking forward to the New Year, causes me to look back on the previous 12 months and try to appraise the happenings with a new view.  Quite a bit has happened in the last 12 months…so much so, that some of it has jumbled together in my brain.  This year I am making the ever-faithful Pro/Con list for the events of 2011.  Here’s what I’ve got so far:

L&W stepping out of the box and attending our first ever Art Fair…Pro.  🙂

Online sales for L&W down this year compared to last year…Con.   😦

Displaying our art at a local “Mom & Pop” store/gas station…Pro.   🙂

Two sales at above store within 30 days…Pro.  🙂

Shifting my paradigm and now employed as a manicurist at a day spa (which, in all honesty, is something that I REALLY enjoy doing)…Pro.   🙂

Patrick playing around with and learning new techniques in photography which make our photos even better (i.e., shifting his paradigm)…Pro.   🙂

I was basically unemployed while going through my surgery and healing process from November 2010 through February 2011…Con.   😦

Doctor bills (need I say more?)…Con.   😦

Making a full recovery…Pro.  🙂

Healthy and happy children…Pro.   🙂

Happy (but bored) 6-year-old getting into monumental trouble at school with his teacher (he got suspended in February when he was in Kindergarten and then in November (1st grade) got in trouble again – just not suspended)…Con.   😦

Family squabbles getting way out of hand…Con.   😦

A beautiful, albeit green, Christmas…Pro.   🙂

Having a great family and being able to share my life with my soul mate and our beautiful children…Pro.   🙂

So I am looking forward to 2012 as a year of better understanding of the differences each person possesses, the Green Bay Packers bringing home another Superbowl win to Titletown, displaying and selling more of Patrick’s photography in even more locations in our area and online, more happiness and laughter with the kids and, of course, peace on Earth.

Some of the new photos that Pat has been working on will be posted in our Etsy store in the coming months:

We will start posting these in January at our Etsy online store, and at the local businesses that have welcomed us in.  I will be starting our referral program in January as well.  Referral program, you say?  How can you, as an online Photo business, have a referral program?  Easy, says I.  Starting in January I will be  sending cards to all past customers with the details of our referral program.  Any past customer who refers a new customer will receive EITHER 10% or free shipping (their choice) on their next purchase AND the new customer (for being referred) will receive the same.  If they are an online client all they need to do is let me know in the “Notes to Seller” who they were referred by and which discount they want.  If they contact me any other way, same deal – just tell me the name of the person who referred them and which discount.  This promotion CAN be used in conjunction with our First Friday Art Walk sales, which starting in 2012 will be upgraded to a 15% sale price on every item in the online store.  Which, if my math is correct, means that a referred buyer can get either 25% off the product of their choice, OR 15% off AND free shipping!  OMG…I must be crazy!  But, that’s what you love about me anyway, right?

I wish you nothing but peace, love and happiness in the New Year.

Stay tuned, dear friend, for the latest and greatest of 2012.  I look forward to hearing from you, and will speak to you again at the end of January.  Ta Ta For Now.

~Kim

 

This week at L&W – 5/27/11

This has been a week of crazy weather, projects and their deadlines, lost motivation and iPods, and tears over a little boy I’ve never met. The days all blurred together, so be warned, these things that I’m writing about are in no particular order. I’m writing about them as I’m thinking about it. Even my outline for this week is all over the place – I should have realized it was going to be like that when the only pen I could find had metallic orange ink! 😀

Ok, let’s get started.

Projects
This weeks project focus was on the gifts I volunteered to create for our son’s Kindergarten class. His class has one teacher and an assistant.

For the teacher, we are creating an apron for her to wear during art. I purchased a plain canvas cooking apron and sewed on some pockets donated by the students. I had to sew the pockets on by hand, because my sewing machine decided to do this weird thing with the bobbin thread (it’s coming out in great loopy gobs like there is no tension down there). After the pockets were secured I brought the apron to school when the teacher was on her lunch hour and the assistant and I helped the kids put their handprints and names on it. Totally cute!

For her assistant, I purchased a terra-cotta pot and painted it. Then I stamped the phrase “Thank you for helping us grow” on it. I sent a 5×5 piece of card stock with a note home with the students on Wednesday asking them to trace their hand and write their name on the hand. Once I get all of them back, I am going to cut them out and attach them to green pipe cleaners. The hand print flowers will be arranged in the pot and secured by a half-ball of floral foam. Beautiful!

Other projects still on the board to do:
Reusable sandwich and snack bags
A wall-hanging quilt for my mother with all of her children and grandchildren on it
Soda can tab bracelets – save your tabs for me!

Photos on Etsy
This week was another re-list week. Here are three of my favorites from this week:

The Robin was taken in our backyard sitting on the electrified fence that surrounds the cow pasture, the prairie dog photo was taken at the Milwaukee County Zoo, and Pat took the photo of the horses while at work one day.

Mother Nature’s Mood Swings
While we here in Wisconsin didn’t have the scary weather that other parts of the country did, we did have some severe weather and dreary weather. For me at least, rainy days one after another cause a lack of motivation and a loss of inspiration. This means that dinners are ordinary and “Angry Birds” is the most opened app on my iPad. My prayers are with the people of Joplin, MO, and all the other areas hit with the full blast of Ma Nature’s power.

The Case of the Missing iPod
A couple of months ago, my husband Patrick gave our 7-year-old daughter an iPod. He found the iPod in the trash on his route. I’m thinking that the people on his garbage route actually leave this stuff for him to “find” but I can’t prove it. Anyway, she put it on to charge one day where I normally charge my iPad. This week she went looking for it. It wasn’t on the charger. She threw a fit accusing me of taking it off the charger and hiding it! She would not listen to reason and would not accept my plea of not guilty. I really didn’t know where her iPod was and had never seen it on the charger. She tore apart my desk and the surrounding area looking for it. Not there. When I suggested she look in her room, she said it wasn’t there. When I said clean up your room and maybe you’ll find it, I was told that she didn’t take it off the charger so it couldn’t be in her room. She found it (after 2 days of this) in her room in a box under her bed! Not even a sorry mom did I hear. Creepy kid. Her father took the iPod away for a week.

Gearing Up for:

Right now I’m gearing up for Memorial Day, summer gardening, and my first craft fair.

My first craft fair will be in September 2001 at the Holy Hill Art & Farm Market.  I am totally stoked to be a part of this.  If you live in Southeast Wisconsin, consider stopping by and saying hi.

I come from what some call a large family. I am the oldest of 5 kids. We all get together as often as we can, but holidays are always a cause for celebration. We are very close-knit and I am blessed to count my sister, my 3 brothers and their spouses as my friends as well as my family. When I was sick November 2010 through January 2011, I didn’t have to worry about my kids, housecleaning, getting to doctor appointments, cooking, laundry or anything. Everyone came together and each did a bit to help me and my family. My life was truly, truly blessed when I was given these wonderful people to grow up and old with. Since we now all live within 30 minutes from each other, I look forward to many impromptu cookouts and gatherings. My family rocks!

Baby Owen & The Children’s Miracle Network

Those of us who live near Milwaukee and have children are fortunate to have a great children’s hospital right in our backyard. The staff is outstanding. Our son was admitted to Children’s twice before he was 30 days old. He is now a rowdy 5-year-old, who loves to make people laugh. We were one of the lucky ones. There are so many families that have gone to that hospital and have not been so fortunate. One of those families is the Bissing Family. I re-blogged baby Owen’s story yesterday, and wanted to mention it again today. This is a story that really touched my soul. If I ever see Mel Bissing I am going to give her a great big teary hug! I can’t imagine all that she has been through in the last week. Please consider reading her blog posts, donating to the relief fund set up in Owen’s name, or donating to the Children’s Miracle Network. Owen will live on in the hearts of his family. My heart is in my throat as I type this.

Have a great weekend. Tell someone you love them, go visit a loved one’s  grave and tell them you miss them, plant a tree and dance in the rain!

TTFN

This week at L & W 5/20/11

Let me apologize in advance for the length of this post.  Now onto the good stuff!

For those of you who read Monday’s post, you have already heard about the crashing table incident and how our week started (for those of you who didn’t go ahead and read it…I’ll wait for you) and that I forgot to post a recipe for Recipe Monday. So let’s get that out-of-the-way now with my kids’ favorite Cold Tuna Salad.

Cold Tuna Salad

You will need:

1 pound elbow macaroni
1 small jar Spanish pimento-stuffed green olives
1/2 of a large onion OR 1 teaspoon dried minced onions
2 ribs of celery
4 eggs
3 cans of your favorite tuna packed in WATER
1(30 oz) jar of Miracle Whip salad dressing
1 (8 oz) bar of mild cheddar cheese
Lemon juice
White distilled vinegar

What to do:

1. Cook the macaroni according to package directions, omitting the salt if you are so inclined. Hard boil the eggs (see here for how I do it) While your noodles and eggs are swimming in the pool, chop up the olives, onions, celery, and cheese. Put them in a large bowl or measuring cup and set aside. Open and drain the tuna cans. Add the tuna to the veggies and cheese.

2. Once the noodles are al dente, drain and completely cool under cold running water. Cool the eggs completely. Return noodles to the now-cool pot you boiled them in. Chop up the eggs. Add the eggs and veggies/tuna to the noodles.

3. Splash the noodles and other ingredients with the lemon juice and vinegar (not a lot mind you, use no more than 2 tablespoons of each). Add about 3/4 of the jar of salad dressing to the pan and mix gently but thoroughly. Cover and refrigerate for 20 – 30 minutes. Serve with some carrot sticks and it’s dinner made easy!

I spent the day on Tuesday while the kids were in school finishing up some painting on gifts for the kindergarten teachers. Then I did a little shopping for stuff that I forgot, did some data entry into my bookkeeping program, a couple of loads of laundry and made my version of “Juicy Lucys” for dinner – keep your eyes peeled for that recipe!

Wednesday started fine, until 5 minutes before the bus came to take the kids to school. My Kindergarten son was very excited to be going on a field trip to a farm that day. He woke up sometime during the night and got all dressed in his field-trip clothes and went back to sleep! I made him his sack lunch, made sure he had his umbrella (it was raining) and helped him with his boots. He decided he was going to wear his winter coat and a hat so that his sweat jacket wouldn’t get soaked by the rain. We were just about to walk out the door to go to the bus stop when the phone rang and an automated message told us that the field trip had been cancelled because of the weather. I watched my son explode with fury! He wanted to go so bad that he was more than disappointed he was mad! After a quick phone call to his father, who is better able than I at getting him to see reason, we made it to the bus with a minute to spare. The trip has been rescheduled, but I am sure glad I’m not his teacher, having to deal with 28 hugely disappointed kids!

On Thursday, I tended to our butterflies…we now have 19 Painted Lady butterflies living in 2 habitats in our dining room.  The kids have been very fascinated through the process.  From caterpillar to butterfly, they have watched the life cycle of the butterfly.  It’s been very educational.  We plan to release them all on Sunday, weather permitting.

Friday, today, is going to be a day of some household stuff – laundry, dishes, etc. – as well as sewing.  I’m trying to come up with a practical solution to disposable baggies in the kids lunches.  I’m still working on the pattern, but I’m going to keep trying on it.  We go through way too many of those baggies in a week.

I have renewed some listings online this week, as well.  “Deck Chair & Flower Pot” and “Dew Drenched” being two of my favorite shots.  “Deck Chair” was taken in the North Woods of Wisconsin at my Great Aunt’s camping resort – Williams’ Cedar Point Resort.  “Dew Drenched” was taken one early morning at the Boerner Botanical Gardens in Greendale, Wisconsin.  Let me know what you think of them in the comments.  🙂    Have a great weekend and TTFN.

ACEOs are here!

We have expanded our product line to include ACEOs!  I’m so excited I can’t even begin to tell you!  So what is an ACEO you ask?  ACEO stands for Art Cards, Editions and Originals.  It is about the size of a baseball trading card (2.5 x 3.5 inches) and usually comes in a limited number.  We are offering our ACEO line in a limited number of 50 for each print.  Each print will be labeled, signed and numbered on the back!  I’m selling each print for $5 (the average selling price for this type on Etsy) with a $2 shipping fee for the USA.

So which print did I choose to be the first ACEO offered on our website, may you ask very kindly?  I chose a print never seen on Etsy, of course!  “Monarch At Rest” is a beautiful representation of Spring, the glory of Nature and the calm we are ever searching for.

Don’t you just love this shot?  I know I do!

This week we also posted the 4×6 size of the Bear series.  If you are a fan of bears (not Da Bears) please click here to see what we have in store for you!

Until next week!  Have a wonderful weekend and may the beauty of nature surround you!  TTFN

It’s a zoo around here!

Being into wildlife photography like we are, we take many, many trips to the Milwaukee County Zoo throughout the year.  Almost all the photos of wild animals on our Etsy page were taken at the Zoo.  We almost always go as a family.  Pat likes to take his time setting up his shots (like any good photographer) so the kids get to spend some time really watching the animals and seeing how they interact with the other animals in the enclosure.

This brave prairie dog was coming right up to people and begging for food. He makes his home at the Milwaukee County Zoo, and is not camera-shy. Great gift idea for those on your list who love the funnier side of wildlife!  This 4×6 is priced at $10.  Please take a look.

Soaring Eagles

Bald Eagles are the symbol for America. They are very prevalent around Wisconsin. My husband and I have had the privilege of witnessing these beautiful birds both in the wild, and at the Zoo here in Milwaukee County. For me, they have always represented freedom, independence, majesty, and our American Soldiers both past and present.

Freedom and independence are two of the strongholds of the American philosophy. We have a myriad of freedoms available to us – from the freedoms of speech and religion to the freedom to become whatever we want to in life. The eagle in the wild has the freedom to fly far and wide in search of food, habitat and mate. Independence, that is to be accountable only to oneself is what every parent strives to teach their children, while also teaching them respect for their home, environment and others is also a lesson learned by eaglets at the wing of their parents.

The bald eagle is majestic. You only have to look at the bird soaring through the air, or sitting proudly at the very top of a tree to recognize that.

Lastly, I’m reminded of the proud men and women who make up every branch of the American Armed Forces and what they have accomplished, and will do in the name of freedom. Their service is not only recognized in our household, I have several family members who have served, but they are treated with the respect and gratitude that they deserve. Each and every one of them has sacrificed to protect the American way of life and have watched over us all – just like the bald eagle soaring over our heads.

I have a photo of a bald eagle in flight soaring directly over where Pat and I were fishing up for sale at my Etsy store. Whether he was hunting for food or on the move on that particular day, I don’t know, but I was captivated once again by this beautiful majestic bird and all that he represents.

TTFN

Firsts…

I posted this photo (framed) on my Etsy site this morning.  This one is titled “Trade Lake Sunrise” and I put it in a black wooden frame to bring out the colors.  I’m excited to see how quickly it gets views and possibly purchased.  This photo was taken at Big Trade Lake in Burnett County, Wisconsin in 2004.  My great-Aunt and Uncle own a fishing resort on a peninsula there called William’s Cedar Point Resort.  There are 10 cabins and 2 campgrounds and the greatest fishing…from panfish to Muskies you can find it all here!  TTFN

Happenings…January 13, 2010

Lots is starting to happen here at Landscapes & Wildlife Photography…and while it may take me a few weeks to get everything organized and running smoothly, I certainly hope it will be for the better!  These are just some of the changes that I will be implementing, starting today:  I will be retagging all of the existing posts at www.landscapesnwildlife.etsy.com to utilize all available tags in hopes of gaining more visitors to the website; I’ve added and will continue to add showcase spots, once a week on average, to highlight some of the work that we have up for sale; I am adding framed prints to the site; and, finally, I’m creating some photo keychains to add to the site in our all new “novelties” section. 

As always, I’m constantly on the lookout for new and interesting ideas in either product expansion or marketing.  If you have any ideas, please leave a comment here, or go to www.landscapesnwildlife.etsy.com and “convo” me!  Thanks in advance!

Photography opportunities are a little sparse around Wisconsin in the winter months, so I’m trying to convince “Sir” Patrick to do some macro work or other “inside” photography to give me some new material to work with.  He gets kind of depressed during the winter and tends to become a part of my couch when he’s not at his regular job, so it’s a challenge to motivate him to do anything other than watching the same movies over and over again, or take naps.  🙂  I’ll keep working on it.

On the homefront, yesterday I made the first batch of spaghetti sauce for 2010.  Including the meal we had last night, I should get 4 meals out of that one day of cooking.  I can’t tell you how thankful I am that my mother taught me how to cook for an army and how to use my freezer!  I think next week I’ll make some soup and freeze that too!

Well, better get on with my day…still lots to do…TTFN!

~Kim

January 9, 2010

Well, the first full week of the new year has come and gone.  I’ve been busy revamping and reorganizing things around here, in my spare time (haha), trying to get a better handle on business and trying to come up with new ways to market Landscapes & Wildlife Photography (www.landscapesnwildlife.etsy.com).  A lot has happened around here, so spare time has been hard to find.

Our daughter, who is 6, returned to school after winter break, so getting back into our school routine has been a little challenging.  She doesn’t seem to want to go to sleep at the correct time, or wake up when she’s supposed to.  Don’t even get me started about her getting dressed and brushed in time to get on the bus!  Plus it’s been terribly cold and snowy around here, so all the extra stuff that she has to put on is a challenge, especially when she doesn’t put them where they are supposed to go when she comes home the day before!  She also joined the Daisy Scouts this year in school, and the annual cookie sale started yesterday!

Our son, who is 4, is having trouble adjusting to his sister being gone all day again.  He was just getting used to having her around to play with all day (and fight with), and now all he has is me.  So as I am trying to clean the house or work on L&W stuff, he’s following me around talking my ear off and bored out of his mind.  We’ve been playing games on Wii, and stuff like that, and he does like to help fold the laundry and dust, but I’m running out of ideas to keep him occupied while I try to work!

I had to run and get a new cookie order form (Patrick threw the first one away on me!) this morning and then we made a bunch of calls to family selling cookies for the first time ever…she did really well too!  So far she has sold 36 boxes of cookies and we haven’t talked to everyone yet!

As far as the reorganization of L&W goes, I’ve created some worksheets, to keep track of goals, and break down projects into manageable steps, and am working on a better way to keep all of the prints together with all of the information.  I also created some business cards and printed them as well.  Now all I have to do is buy some magnets for the vehicles.  I do have some paperwork to finish for my former business for taxes this year, and then I can devote all of my time to Landscapes & Wildlife Photography.  I’m thinking of including some novelties with the usual photo sales – like keychains or paperweights using some of our photos – but have to talk to Pat about those ideas before I implement them.  We’ll be working on that and framing some of our photos and posting those on etsy as well.  Sounds like it’s time to have a creative planning meeting for Landscapes & Wildlife!

TTFN