DYNAMO

New Blog Home

2012-01-09T09:29:00.003-05:00

Follow me on my new blog

I ran out of room for picture storage for this blog so I had to start a new one. Click on the link above and follow me in my new home so you don't miss any of my posts.

Beautiful Sunday

2012-01-01T06:37:00.001-05:00

December Daily 2011 - December 22nd

2011-12-31T09:57:00.001-05:00

Straight Out Of The Camera Saturday (SOOC)

2011-12-31T09:26:00.000-05:00

My Favorite Things Saturday

2011-12-31T09:22:00.001-05:00

One of my favorite things is how much my girls love each other. They really are so very close. Love seeing them cuddling. Amber cuddles with Emily as often as Emily will allow.

Thursday Thirteen : 13 Goals For The Year 2012

2011-12-29T09:47:00.000-05:00

13 Goals For The Year 2012

1. walk for at least 30 min three times per week

2. research healthy eating and make healthier food choices for the girls & I

3. budget more realistically and make every effort possible to try and stick to it

4. pay off some debt

5. learn how to Art Journal

6. Capture Your 365 - take photos daily

7. 52 Weeks to an Organized Home

8. Blog daily and share more of what's in my heart & mind

9. do my dishes every day after supper

10. quit smoking

11. get more than 15 bookings for Sandra Collins Photography for the year

12. 365 (or more) scrapbook pages completed over the year

13. When the kids are here spend less time on the computer

December Daily 2011 - December 21st

2011-12-29T09:32:00.003-05:00

a couple layouts

2011-12-27T07:31:00.003-05:00

December daily 2011 - December 20th

2011-12-26T01:56:00.002-05:00

Meaning Of Christmas Album - Day Nine

2011-12-25T05:14:00.002-05:00

Day Nine

I asked "But where does that leave you Santa?" The tears gone now from his eyes, a smile broke over Santa's face. "Why bless you my dear," he laughed. "I'm only a symbol myself. I represent the spirit of family fun and the joy of giving and receiving. If the children are taught these other things, there is no danger that I will ever be forgotten."
"I think I am beginning to understand."
"that's why I come," said Santa. "you're an adult. If you don;t teach the children these things who will?"

Author Unknown

December Daily 2011 - December 19th

2011-12-24T02:33:00.000-05:00

Meaning of Christmas Album - Day Eight

2011-12-23T22:31:00.001-05:00

Santa brought out a beautiful wreath made of fresh , fragrant greenery tied with a bright red bow. "The bow reminds us of the bond of perfection which is love. The wreath embodies all the good things about Christmas for those with eyes to see and hearts to understand. It contains the colors of red and green and the heaven-turned needles of the evergreen. The bow tells the story of good will to all and it's color reminds us of Christ's sacrifice. Even it's very shape is symbolic, representing eternity and the eternal nature of Christ's love. It is a circle, without beginning and without end. These are the things you must teach the children."

some layouts I've done this week ...

2011-12-23T06:32:00.001-05:00

Meaning of Christmas Album - Day Seven

2011-12-22T09:11:00.001-05:00

Day Seven

Again Santa reached into his bag and this time he brought forth a tiny red and white striped cane. As he hung it on the tree he spoke softly. "The candy cane is a stick of hard white candy. White to symbolize the virgin birth and sinless nature of Jesus, and hard to symbolize the Solid Rock the foundation of the church, and the firmness of God's promises.The candy cane is in the form of a "J" to represent the precious name of Jesus, who came to earth. It also represents the Good Shepherd's crook, which he used to reach down into the ditches of the world to lift out the fallen lambs who like all sheep have gone astray. The original candy cane had three small red stripes, which are the stripes of the scourging Jesus received by which we are healed, and a large red stripe that represents the shed blood of Jesus, so that we can have the promise of eternal life."

December Daily 2011 - December 18th

2011-12-21T21:30:00.000-05:00

December Daily 2011 - December 15th - 17th

2011-12-21T12:39:00.000-05:00

Meaning Of Christmas Album - Day Six

2011-12-21T12:02:00.004-05:00

Day Six

Santa placed a candle on the mantle and lit it. The soft glow from it's one tiny flame brightened the room. The glow of the candle represents how people can show their thanks for the gift of God's Son that Christmas Eve long ago. Teach the children to follow in Christ's footsteps to go about doing good. Teach them to let their light so shine before people that all may see it and glorify God. This is what is symbolized when the twinkling lights shine on the tree like hundreds of bright, shining candles. Each of them representing one of God's children, their light shining for all to see.

Meaning of Christmas Album - Day Five

2011-12-19T04:46:00.000-05:00

Day 5

Santa found a silver bell in his pack and placed it on the tree. "Just as lost sheep are guided to safety by the sound of the bell, it continues to ring today for all to be guided to the fold. Teach the children to follow the true Shepherd, who gave His life for the sheep."

December Daily 2011 - December 14th

2011-12-18T08:09:00.001-05:00

Meaning Of Christmas Album - Day Four

2011-12-18T04:38:00.001-05:00

Day Four

"Red," said Santa "is the first color of Christmas." He pulled forth a red ornament for the tiny tree. "red is deep, intense, vivid. It is the color of the life-giving blood that flows through our veins. It is the symbol of God's greatest gift. Teach the children that Christ gave His life and shed his blood for them that they might have eternal life. When they see the color red, it should remind them of the most wonderful gift."

Meaning Of Christmas Album - Day Three

2011-12-17T03:00:00.000-05:00

Day Three

Santa reached into his bag again and pulled out a shiny star and placed it on top of the small tree. "The star was the heavenly sign of promise. God promised a Savior for the world and the star was a sign of the fulfillment of that promise on the night that Jesus Christ was born. Teach the children that God always fulfills His promises, and that wise men still seek Him."

Meaning Of Christmas Album - Day Two

2011-12-16T03:00:00.000-05:00

Day Two

Santa reached into his bag and pulled out a tiny Christmas tree and set it on my mantle. "Teach them about the Christmas tree. Green is the second color of Christmas. The stately evergreen, with it's unchanging color, represents the hope of eternal life in Jesus.It's needles point heavenward as a reminder that mankind's thoughts should turn heavenward as well."

Meaning of Christmas Album - Title Page & Day One

2011-12-15T15:12:00.000-05:00

I worked on this project two Christmases ago. Found the challenge listed on the Faith Sisters website. Loved how the whole album turned out and love the message in the story so I thought I'd share it with you all in the days leading up to Christmas. Enjoy. Today I have posted the title page I made and the story for Day One.

Title Page

Day One

Late one Christmas Eve, I sank back, tired but content in my easy chair. The kids were in bed, the gifts were wrapped, the milk and cookies waited by the fire place for Santa. As I sat back admiring the tree with it's decorations, I couldn't help but feeling that something important was missing. It wasn't long before the tiny twinkling tree lights lulled me to sleep.

I don't know how long I slept but all of a sudden I knew that I wasn't alone. I opened my eyes and you can guess my surprise when I saw Santa Claus himself standing next to my Christmas tree. He was dressed in fur from his head to his foot just as the poem described him, but he was not the "jolly old elf" of Christmas legend. The man who stood before me looked sad and disappointed, and there were tears in his eyes.

"Santa what's wrong?" I asked "Why are you crying?"

"It's the children" Santa replied sadly.

"But Santa the children love you" I said

"Oh I know they love me and they love the gifts I bring them," Santa said, "but the children of today seem to have missed out on the true spirit of Christmas. It's not their faults, it's just that the adults, many of them not being taught themselves, have forgotten to teach the children."

"Teach them what?" I asked.

Santa's kind old face became soft, more gentle. His eyes began to shine with something more than tears. He spoke softly. "Teach the children the true meaning of Christmas. Teach them that the part of Christmas we can see, hear and touch is more than meets the eye. Teach them the symbolism behind the customs and traditions of Christmas which we now observe. Teach them what it is that they truly represent."

Wordless Wednesday

2011-12-14T20:11:00.000-05:00

December Daily 2011 - December 13th

2011-12-14T20:07:00.001-05:00

Currents

2011-12-13T09:25:00.002-05:00

December Daily 2011 - December 12th

2011-12-13T01:10:00.003-05:00

My Best Shot Monday

2011-12-13T00:07:00.001-05:00

December Daily 2011 - December 11th

2011-12-12T09:49:00.001-05:00

Beautiful Sunday

2011-12-11T10:21:00.001-05:00

I am the luckiest mom in the world ...

2011-12-11T10:14:00.001-05:00

In the past few weeks both my beautiful girls have celebrated birthdays. Emily just turned 10 and Amber 12. I just can't believe how big they are getting and how fast they are growing up. I love them so much and they are absolutely the centre of my universe. I am so proud of the little women they are becoming. They really are great kids, so polite, so nice, so well behaved, so smart. I just love them to bits and pieces. I really am the luckiest mom in the world ...

December Daily 2011 - December 10th

2011-12-11T10:07:00.001-05:00

My Favorite Things Saturday

2011-12-10T08:59:00.001-05:00

One of my favorite things this week was watching Emily teach me how to make this craft while we were all relaxing in the loft Friday night.

December Daily 2011 - December 9th

2011-12-10T08:55:00.001-05:00

December Daily 2011 - December 7th & 8th

2011-12-10T02:36:00.001-05:00

Before & After

2011-12-08T09:08:00.001-05:00

You can learn all about the Before & After blog hop on the Pixel Perfect Blog.

For this edit I used the action Sugar Cookies from the Sweet Treats Collection from Paint the Moon and then Starburst Vignette from Artistic Actions V2.

Thankful Mini Album

2011-12-08T08:40:00.001-05:00

Currents

2011-12-07T07:12:00.001-05:00

Don't forget about my photo contest ...

2011-12-07T06:35:00.001-05:00

Email me your best Christmas photo to sandracollins76@hotmail.com to enter to win a free 1 hour photosession with me. All enteries are due by Dec 10th and will be placed into an album on the Sandra Collins Photography Facebook Page. Vote for your favorite submitted photo between Dec 10th to Dec 15th. On Dec 16th the submitted photo with the most votes wins the free session. ***Photo must be taken by you. ***

Wordless Wednesday

2011-12-07T06:32:00.001-05:00

Snapshots Mini Album - November Pages

2011-12-06T23:17:00.001-05:00

December Daily 2011 - December 6th

2011-12-06T23:14:00.001-05:00

December Daily 2011 - December 5th

2011-12-06T14:59:00.001-05:00

December Daily - December 4th

2011-12-04T17:15:00.001-05:00

Straight Out Of The Camera Saturday (SOOC)

2011-12-03T18:35:00.001-05:00

My Favorite Things Saturday

2011-12-03T18:31:00.001-05:00

One of my favorite things this week was watching Emily & the Chimo Jr Girls volleyball team at the Tournament in Carleton Place. Loved watching the determination and excitement in Emily

December Daily (Dec 1 - 3)

2011-12-03T18:21:00.001-05:00

Thankful Mini Album (#77 - #81)

2011-11-30T01:49:00.001-05:00

Sandra Collins Photography Christmas Contest

2011-11-29T09:51:00.001-05:00

Currents

2011-11-29T09:45:00.001-05:00

I've been posting this post for awhile now and I don't know why it never occured to me to keep track of all these in an album. So I've started a mini 6 x 6 alum called "Currents" where I will add a new page each Tuesday. Now I'll have another way of documenting where I am at and what's going on in my life each week. Looking forwards to keeping this one up.

Good Morning

2011-11-29T08:59:00.001-05:00

Good Morning blogging friends!

For those of you that frequent my blog I would love to have your mailing address so I can pop a little Christmas cheer in the mail to you. Please email me your mailing address to sandracollins76@hotmail.com

Beautiful Sunday

2011-11-27T09:24:00.001-05:00

My Favorite Part

2011-11-27T09:22:00.001-05:00

Creative Therapy Catalyst #71

2011-11-27T09:17:00.001-05:00

You can play along with the Creative Therapy Catalysts on the Creative Therapy Blog.

Catalyst #71 - If I had one day to do over & over, what would I want to do with it?

layouts ...

2011-11-25T15:53:00.001-05:00

VEGAS Digital Scrapbooking Album

2011-11-25T15:45:00.001-05:00

Sandra Collins Photography Christmas Contest

2011-11-23T10:29:00.001-05:00

Sandra Collins Photography Facebook Page

Couldn't sleep so I made these...

2011-11-14T04:14:00.001-05:00

Beautiful Sunday

2011-11-13T07:34:00.001-05:00

and even more layouts ...

2011-11-13T07:21:00.001-05:00

Been doing a lot of scrapbooking lately ... and loving it!

2011-11-11T04:40:00.001-05:00

Thoughtful Friday

2011-11-11T04:37:00.001-05:00

Thursday Thirteen : 13 Things I Want To Do & See In Vegas

2011-11-10T09:02:00.001-05:00

#1 - Titanic The Artifact Exhibition

#2 - Bellagio Fountains

#3 - The Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay

#4 - Secret Garden & Dolphin Habitat at the Mirage Las Vegas

#5 - the Volcano at The Mirage

#6 - The Eifel Tower at Paris Las Vegas

#7 - the Gondolas at The Venetian

#8 - the Welcome to Las Vegas Sign

#9 - Bellagio Conservatory

#10 - Freemont Street Experience

#11 - Gold & Silver Pawn Shop from Pawn Stars

#12 - Open Top Sightseeing Tours

#13 - Haunted Vegas Tour & Show

Wordless Wednesday

2011-11-09T08:58:00.001-05:00

Layouts ...

2011-11-09T06:50:00.004-05:00

Currents

2011-11-09T06:45:00.003-05:00

listening: to the sound of the dryer

eating: nothing yet

drinking: my first cup of coffee

wearing: yoga pants, t-shirt, hoodie

feeling: sick

weather: cool autumn morning

wanting: to get some more sleep

needing: to start packing for Vegas

thinking: about how fun my trip is going to be I can't wait to take lots of pictures

wondering: if I am going to be healthy in time for Vegas

Scrapbook-Bytes Goodness

2011-11-08T18:46:00.002-05:00

On Digital Scrapbooking Day I purchased a few items from Scrapbook-Bytes. I guess I wasn't really paying attention to what was on the website because yesterday I received an email from them and I was pleasantly surprised. Because I had spent more than $10 in their store that weekend I was given a coupon for a free Digital Scrapbooking Day Designer Collaboration Kit (valued at $50). It has 75 papers, 143 elements and 3 alphas. I was so excited and it's a beautiful kit. So thanks Scrapbook-Bytes you made my day!

Some layouts made with my newly purchased kits ...

2011-11-08T18:39:00.001-05:00

Digital Scrapbooking Day Shopping Finds

2011-11-06T15:10:00.003-05:00

I must admit I have never before bought any digital scrapbooking supplies, usually I just love downloading digital freebies. This Digital Scrapbooking Day however I did take advantage of a few sales and bought the following items. Can't wait to use them!!

Digital Scrapbooking Day Layouts

2011-11-06T15:05:00.005-05:00

I've been sick for the past two weeks so I ended up sleeping a lot of Digital Scrapbooking Day. I did however manage to make 6 layouts. Here they are:

Wordless Wednesday

2011-11-02T09:17:00.001-04:00

Halloween 2011 - My Little "Alice" and My Little "German Girl" {too cute}

2011-11-02T09:15:00.000-04:00

some layouts ...

2011-11-02T09:11:00.004-04:00

Snapshots Mini Album October 2011 Pages

2011-10-31T03:09:00.001-04:00

** to see the whole album click on Snapshots Mini Album in the list of labels to the right **

finally feeling like scrapbooking again YEAH!

2011-10-29T15:34:00.002-04:00

Been doing some scrapbooking ...

2011-10-27T01:27:00.002-04:00

She is .... Me Mini Album

2011-10-13T12:02:00.001-04:00

Snapshots Mini Album (September Pages)

2011-10-11T08:33:00.003-04:00

Currents

2011-10-11T07:28:00.007-04:00

The original idea for this weekly post came from life love paper .

Thought I'd try it out as well. So here goes:

listening: Heaven Was Needing A Hero - Jo Dee Messina
eating: nothing

drinking: coffee

wearing: shorts & t-shirt

feeling: creative

weather: 8 degrees, sunny

wanting: to create

needing: to clean the house

thinking: about the projects I want to work on today

enjoying: time being creative as I haven't felt like creating in awhile and I have been missing it

wondering: what my week will be like can't believe it's Tuesday already

Thankful Mini Album

2011-10-11T07:22:00.002-04:00

{weekly intention}

2011-10-04T07:24:00.001-04:00

According to Andrea from ABC Creativity :

'Hello Monday Morning! A fresh week. A fresh start. Everything is wide open. Everything is possible.

Before you jump right into your week, take a few minutes to choose where you want to focus your energy this week, to think about what direction you want to be moving in.

Setting a weekly intention is taking some time to pave the way for success, joy and dreams come true to find you throughout the week.

This is not about setting goals or creating to-do lists and working your tail off to achieve them. This is about taking some time to be quiet and still and ask “What do I need this week?” and setting an intention from there to align yourself with that.

Then the real work is to remember your intention and align with it throughout the week.'

My intention for this week is to be as creative and professional as I can be at all my photoshoots. This is the first time ever that I have 5 photoshoots in one week and I want to be able to do as good at the 5th one as I do at the first. I need to not be overwhelmed by all the photo editing afterwards. Take my time and pace myself.

My Best Shot Monday On A Tuesday

2011-10-04T07:19:00.002-04:00

Currents

2011-10-04T07:15:00.001-04:00

The original idea for this weekly post came from life love paper .

Thought I'd try it out as well. So here goes:

listening: a crow outside my window
eating: nothing yet
drinking: my first cup of coffee
wearing: track pants & t-shirt

feeling: excited
weather: 12 degrees, grey

wanting: to do a good job on my photoshoot this afternoon
needing: to get more done on editing pictures
thinking: about the girls we had a rough night last night
enjoying: the few minutes of alone time before the girls get up for school
wondering: how all my photoshoots are going to go this week

Color Combos Galore #210

2011-10-02T09:00:00.000-04:00

You can join along with the Color Combos Galore challenge on their blog.

The colors for this weeks challenge are : Lavish Brown, Urban Appeal, Sophisticated Amber, Wordly Goods.

Here's my take on these colors:

30 Days Of Lists September 2011 - Completed Album

2011-09-30T03:30:00.000-04:00

30 Days Of Lists September 2011 - September 30th

2011-09-30T03:00:00.000-04:00

Before & After Thursday

2011-09-29T17:29:00.001-04:00

You can join along with Before & After at the Pixel Perfect Blog . For this challenge you take a straight out of the camera shot (SOOC) and then you show the same photo only edited. I like to use the SOOC shot I posted for SOOC Saturday. For this week's edit I used two actions by Pioneer Woman Slight Lighten X 2 and Warmer.

Team Up Thursday : Signs Of Fall

2011-09-29T17:08:00.001-04:00

You can play along with Team Up Thursday on the Mental Inventory blog and you can see the Flickr album here.

I am teamed up with the oh so talented Kyla from The Kreative Life. The theme we chose for this week's assignment was signs of fall. My all time favorite season to photograph. Kyla's photo is the one on top, mine on the bottom.

Sandra Collins Photography

2011-09-29T06:35:00.001-04:00

Please visit and follow me on my new blog for my business

Sandra Collins Photography

30 Days Of Lists Septembwer 2011 - September 29th

2011-09-29T05:40:00.002-04:00

Wordless Wednesday

2011-09-28T22:27:00.003-04:00

30 Days Of Lists September 2011 - September 27th & 28th

2011-09-28T22:25:00.001-04:00

{weekly intention}

2011-09-26T09:01:00.002-04:00

According to Andrea from ABC Creativity :

'Hello Monday Morning! A fresh week. A fresh start. Everything is wide open. Everything is possible.

Before you jump right into your week, take a few minutes to choose where you want to focus your energy this week, to think about what direction you want to be moving in.

Setting a weekly intention is taking some time to pave the way for success, joy and dreams come true to find you throughout the week.

This is not about setting goals or creating to-do lists and working your tail off to achieve them. This is about taking some time to be quiet and still and ask “What do I need this week?” and setting an intention from there to align yourself with that.

Then the real work is to remember your intention and align with it throughout the week.'

My intention for this week is to enjoy every minute as much as I possibly can. To get out of the house and get doing things with people. To not isolate so much.

My Best Shot Monday

2011-09-26T08:56:00.001-04:00

30 Days Of Lists September 2011 - September 25th & 26th

2011-09-26T08:54:00.001-04:00

Straight Out Of the Camera Saturday (SOOC)

2011-09-24T07:34:00.000-04:00

My Favorite Things Saturday

2011-09-24T07:24:00.000-04:00

One of my favorite things is taking the girls to the apple orchard every fall.

30 Days Of Lists September 2011 - September 24th

2011-09-24T07:17:00.001-04:00

I find this list had good timing as I've been sick the last few days.

Friday Fill-Ins

2011-09-23T09:01:00.004-04:00

You can join along with the Friday Fill-Ins meme on their blog here.

And...here we go!

1. When I walk around my neighborhood I see the kids school and the mall.

2. BBQ Beef in the slow cooker is my favorite thing to cook.

3. Life is short.

4. My jammies makes me feel all warm and fuzzy

5. Turnip is my favorite Autumn vegetable.

6. Coffee is better when it is nice and hot.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to catching up on laundry (not very fun but it has to be done), tomorrow my plans include taking my beautiful mother out for dinner for her birthday and Sunday, I want to relax and enjoy my kid-free day!

30 Days Of Lists September 2011 - September 23rd

2011-09-23T08:41:00.003-04:00