products i love: the lightscoop

so, remember when i said i hated that i wasn't taking everyday-happenings pictures as much?

well.. this is why.

despite the cute face & diaper-clad bottom...

this picture is horrible.

this is my living room.

the place were we most 'live'.

it has one window on the front wall, horrible ambient lighting by the front door..

and that's it for light sources..

oh, in less you want to count the sliding glass door on the back wall & the dining room fixture...

but in terms of taking pictures.. it may as well be dark in my house.

ALL.THE.TIME.

and i may have not have mentioned this before..

but i hate my pop up flash.

or i did. i should say.

i am not lucky enough to own an external flash that can rotate.

nor do i own a flash diffuser.

i got nothing fancy to take care of poor lighting folks.

but what i do have is a lightscoop.

and it has changed my feelings about my pop up flash, i'm telling ya.



(that's my one crummy window right there..)



now this is what a picture looks like taken in my house.

flashy flash. washed out skin. looks like & is a crappy snapshot.

i don't know about you, but crappy pictures do NOT inspire me to scrapbook.

or preserve those memories in photos for that matter...

they usually make me dive right for the delete button.

but take a look at this.

same settings. (ie. auto.. i know i know)

same crappy lighting situation.

the difference?

i put the lightscoop on my camera to diffuse the flash this time.

and while it may not be professional quality..

i'm telling you, it's a HUGE improvement.

i can lighten it up in a photo editing program & actually have a decent picture.

(this is totally unedited out of the camera)





i am NOT being paid by the people at lightscoop to rave about their product.

i AM telling you, that if you are a regular stay at home mama, with regular camera equipment, and sub-par lighting situations.. this item will CHANGE your life.

(okay, maybe that's a little drastic..)

the best part is the price.

i don't know about you, but an external flash for my camera would run me upwards of $100.

tack on the cost of a flash diffuser & you got yourself another $10-30 bucks.

as a one income family, and a hobby photographer..

i can't see dropping that kinda money into a flash.

the lightscoop is $29.95.

that to me, is so worth the results you get.

it's lightweight & portable.

(photo source)

you just slip it on the top of your camera.
it works by bouncing your pop up flash off the ceiling to create a soft glow on your subject.
i have cathedral ceilings & it still works well.
(it DOES not work outside, as there is no surface to reflect off of)
there are two options. standard & warming.
i have the standard.
it fits SEVERAL camera bodies.. just check to make sure yours is on the list.
it is well worth it people.
well worth it.

and...in the words of forrest gump.
'that's all i have to say about that'

xo-k

products i love: lisa leonard designs open circle necklace

if you've been in the blogging world for any length of time, it's likely you've heard about lisa leonard..

or at least SEEN a piece of her jewelry on someone else's blog.

i personally have followed her journey over the last several years,

and watched as her jewelry business has flourished..

and i have ALWAYS ALWAYS loved her pieces.

but.. i always had a hard time nailing down which piece i loved enough to purchase.

(there were just too many to pick from!)

then, to my surprise, i won a giveaway from epiphanie camera bags right before christmas..

and along with another amazing gift..

i won a gift card to lisa leonard designs!

to say i was excited would be an understatement, for sure.

i started right away trying to narrow down what piece i wanted.

i kept going back  & forth between wanting a necklace with my 2012 word 'believe'

& wanting one with the boys names on it,

to replace the one i had worn almost daily with mason's name on it..

before rance was born.

well, you can see i decided on getting one with the boys names on it!

it's the open circle necklace.

this thing is hefty & solid & absolutely amazing in person!!

the front, as you see, has the boys names on it..

and the back says 'you are my happy thoughts'

i wasn't sure it would mean anything to anyone other than myself..

but to my surprise the hubs (who can't quote anything that's not 'top gun')

even knew it was from 'hook'.

but more precisely, it's from 'peter pan'.

like every mama, i love these kids more than words can express..

i wanted something different than 'love you', 'xoxo' or something similar.

and truthfully...

when i'm sad or down.. these kiddos lift me up.

even when i'm pulling my hair out over having to pick up the dvd's in the living room for the umpteenth time from the babe...

or wondering where i went wrong because i can't get mason to listen to save my life..

 they do something silly...

and i remember how truly fortunate i am to be blessed with these two little guys.

and with a sprinkle of house dust (cause the fairies are scarce in a house full of boys)..

and a few happy thoughts..

my spirits start to rise.

life is full of more blessings than burdens... you just gotta know which angle to look from.

hope you are having a great weekend!!

xo-k

ps. if you aren't familiar with lisa leonard, or her blog.. i encourage to you click on over & find out a little about her & her story.. it's an amazing story, for sure... and one that may change you.

food: apple straws & veggie straws

i mean seriously... 'cause i'm not talking about much else around here, right?!

so let's talk about food.. 

or more specifically snack food! 

'cause when i find something i like..

i like to share :)

we have a new obsession with snack food...

two items in particular.

veggie straws & apple straws.

and don't judge me if i'm late to the party ok?

these things are awwwwesome.

both of them.

they started off as a replacement for those baby puffs..

because NANA gave the babe cheese doodles a few months ago..

and ever since then he just throws the puffs off his tray & scowls at me...

like how DARE i put that crap in front of him.

(can't say i blame him.. have you tasted those things?!)

so anyways..

we picked up the veggie straws first..

and EVERYONE loved them.

think.. munchos...

but better because they are half the fat,calories, etc.

plus they are baked, not fried.

score!

and the apple straws we just picked up & i seriously cannot stop eating them.

they taste like a cross between cinnamon toast crunch & a churro.

OOOhhh or those cinnamon twists from taco bell..

don't act like you don't know what i'm talking about!! :)

these things are addictive!

so while you are crafting & blogging beautiful things..

think of me..

over here snacking & enjoying the view until i can get up the energy to craft.

or, until the dude gets his room cleaned & it's stops raining!!

xo-k

ps. i'm also catching up on laundry, cleaning & vampire diaries.. if you're really interested! :)

food: heaven in a jar

my 'try something new it won't kill you' mantra has landed me smack dab in nutella heaven.

ever feel like...once you tried something new, that you had been missing out by not trying it sooner?

i can't say i was afraid of trying nutella because, well c'mon that'd just be silly.

but seriously, i just never thought about picking it up.

I WAS MISSING OUT.

i like hazelnut, i like cocoa. i'm even down with drinking skim milk.

so why not sooner?

well, i'm going to blame it on my mama, for never buying it.

(just kidding mom!)

seriously though..

i'm a creature of habit, and don't venture out much to try new foods, mostly because i'm a picky eater.

but having tried sushi, i figured i would survive tasting this.

and mostly i just wanted to find out why julie of joy's hope went on & on about this stuff.

I TOTALLY GET IT.

& this stuff has a cult following.

there is even a world nutella day.

(it's february 5th in case you are curious :)

it's crazy.

it's kinda like sophisticated peanut butter.

that's having an affair with chocolate.

it's so creamy.

it's just.........

.....ok. i have to go get a spoonful right now.

& you should too!

(you can thank me later!)

xo-k

ps- OH! & look at all you can do with it!