Pudding Painting in Gypsum. Through the Lens Series, Entry 19.

How much time have you spent ogling over interesting tidbits and crafts on Pinterest?  I know for myself, I always look at things on there and think 'I could totally do that and I'll definitely try it one day' only to forget about 5 minutes later as soon as something more important comes along like laundry or a screaming toddler.

Thankfully, my friend Kim found a kid-friendly Pinterest activity that only involved 2 ingredients.  The 2 ingredients for Pudding Painting are pudding and food coloring.  Other non-edible essentials include lots of space, old sheets, wet rags, paintbrushes and paper.  Clothing is optional!

As any mother out there knows, children of a certain age tend to put everything in their mouths.  This activity was designed to get them used to painting and holding onto a paintbrush.  If they wanted to eat the paint, it was completely edible and slightly delicious.

Here are the results.  Thank you Pinterest!

Step 1:  Take any kind of vanilla pudding and a few bottles of food coloring.

Step 2:  Add a few drops of food coloring.  A little goes a long way.  We used 2 -3 drops per Snack Pack.

Step 3:  Give each child a spoon and a brush and place them over a large piece of paper.  Don't forget a drop cloth!

Tip:  Ask your local newspaper for their leftover rolls of newsprint.  They'll usually give them to you for free.  

The end result...not too much painting was done and there were certainly no masterpieces to hang.  It sure makes for one cute mess though!  Don't forget to have wet cloths ready to go for a quick clean up.  

Studio Photos in Eagle Vail with Evan. Through the Lens Series - Entry 13

Evan was only 19 days old the first time I took photos of him and he was small enough to fit in a tiny blue basket as he slept. Fast forward 7 months and now he's a gorgeous baby boy with the longest eyelashes in town! Evan was a dream model and he sat and babbled and giggled for the whole session. He even brought his own sheep. A man after this kiwi girl's heart!

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First Birthday photos in Eagle Vail with Emma. Through the Lens Series - Entry 10

I thought that this entry would bring me up to speed on my blog entries, but I'm still one post behind so I'll have to work around the clock to get where I need to be.  The Through the Lens series started as a way of ensuring that I posted at least one entry per week.  Luckily, I've been a busy bee this week with 4 shoots, so I have plenty of material to post here.

Last week marked the first birthday of Miss Emma Louise, so we had ourselves a wee photo shoot to celebrate the occasion.  It was an unseasonably gorgeous day in Vail and I shot the session with our porch door open to let in lots of natural light and we had no problems with temperature.  Our biggest problem was trying to keep Emma and Maxwell from crawling out the door. To have a little girl in my house with lots of ooey gooey pink loveliness was a nice change.  The pink decorations were left over from Emma's first birthday party, so they made for great props.  Kim (Emma's mother and my dear friend) was able to borrow 3 baby chairs for the day.  They were so fun to play around with and the perfect accessory for children that aren't quite standing yet.  I really need to invest in some of those!  The highlight of the shoot was definitely the cake smash.  Emma was more interested in putting her feet in the cake!  

Kim and I were pretty exhausted after the shoot so we celebrated on the deck in the spring sunshine with a well deserved glass of wine.  I love the spring time in the Rockies!  Happy first birthday Emma Lou.  xxoo

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Caro's Maternity Photos in Eagle Vail. Through the Lens Series - Entry 9

I knew the time would come when I would fall behind with the Through the Lens series of photos, but I have a legit reason!  I've just been overwhelmed with a lot of photography projects this last couple of weeks, so now I'm in the catch up stage.

To get me back into the swing of things (or my A into G as we say in NZ), I'll start with this series of maternity photos with the beautiful Caro, her husband Skip and their adorable dog Perro.  We spent some time shooting on the Eagle Vail golf course, but we couldn't spend too long out there.  We've definitely had an unseasonably warm winter and pregnancy certainly keeps you much warmer than usual, but as you can see, we still have plenty of snow.  I'm loving the fact that more and more husbands are taking part in maternity sessions.  They definitely bring something special to maternity shoots, not to mention the dogs that seem to be stealing the show lately!

Caro is an extremely talented graphic designer with her own company based in Eagle Vail called Caro Creative.  She is also the creator of Something Good, which is a wonderful organization which donates a
t-shirt to a child in need for every t-shirt that is purchased.  She's also helping me with some White Starfish Photography re-branding, so keep an eye out for that in the near future.  The last photo shows a design that she created for their new addition, who will be named Oliver.  We're all very excited to meet him and it won't be long now!

 Click here to see more Maternity Photos in Vail, Colorado.

Vail Vignettes at Vail Mountain School. Through the Lens Series - Entry 8

The Vail Symposium and The Vail Valley Theater Company combined forces last Sunday to put together the inaugural presentation of 'Vail Vignettes'.  The vignettes were four short plays, celebrating and depicting the lives of 5 local icons here in the Vail Valley; Rod and Beth Slifer, Dr. Jack Eck, Elaine Kelton and Kelly Liken.  Each play was written in a different style, and all of them were performed with great humor.  Here are a few snaps from the night.

Wendy and Waldo

"Beth Slifer" learning to cope with new weather conditions in Vail.

Wendy and Waldo out for a Sunday drive.

Celebrating one of Dr. Eck's derby achievements.

The group that had been chosen to perform Dr. Eck's vignette had 41 moments from his life to choose from (see notes hanging in the background).  Audience members were encouraged to yell out numbers and they would perform that particular moment.  

Rocky Mountain High

'Kelly Liken' appears on the Today Show with Matt Lauer and Kathy Lee Gifford.

'Kelly Liken' talking about going into space.

Kathy and Matt weren't too fond of each other.

And Kelly just wanted to get on with the cooking.

'Elaine Kelton' convincing a reporter that Vail is an amazing town.

Musical accompaniment to help tell Elaine's story.

'Elaine Kelton'

Helping to tell Elaine's life story with a number of different songs.

What's there to question?

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Moe's Original BBQ Boulder, CO. Through the Lens Series - Entry 7

Have you ever heard someboday utter the sentence "I'd love to open a restaurant one day"?  For a lot of people, the idea of opening a restaurant is a highly romanticized daydream that consists of eating good food with friends and customers and the rest will take care of itself.  In reality, opening a restaurant has to be one the hardest things you could possibly do.  If you think it only involves a little business know-how and some knowledge in the kitchen, you better think again.  If you don't know your way around a tool box, then you might be in trouble.

My hubby is part of the Moe's Original BBQ family and the newest Moe's Original just opened in Boulder, CO.  Here are some pictures of how things were looking about 30 minutes before they opened the doors to the public.  The new location is at 675 30th Street in Boulder.  Make sure you go in and check it out.  I highly recommend the Shrimp Moe Boy.  For more info, go to http://moesoriginalbbq.com/

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