I recommend...

Well, this is something I have considered adding to my blog for a while now. Coincidentally, it is also the "Show us your life" topic today over at Kelly's Korner.

Every now and then we all come across something that is either a good deal, a good read, great movie, and so on. I don't know about everyone else, but I love getting recommendations from friends when they come across something like this. Obviously you won't always have the same opinion or taste as someone else, but just think about the times when someone gave you a tip that you really enjoyed! You come away excited and grateful for it. At least I do.

For example, my sis and my friend Beth both told me for months that I needed to get the Pioneer Woman cookbook.

I admit that I hesitated, from the sound of it I was worried that it would involve too many things that make my skin crawl.... like lima beans and turnip greens. (shutter...)

BUT! After my sister repeatedly told me how good the Chocolate Cake recipe was I had to try it. I ordered it from Amazon for Christmas and when I finally dove into it I was thrilled!! In fact, on one of our many snow days this year I jumped in and tried several of her recipes, you can read about it here.

Lesson learned.

I was very grateful for the tip as I have made many of the Pioneer Woman recipes that I dare say I would never want to go without again!

So, here is my first recommendation for you (Ok, I guess this would technically be the second).

My husband told me about a book that someone had referred to him at work. He works in an office with lots of women, they talk a lot.
Anyway, he knew it would be something I would enjoy reading.

The book is called 90 Minutes in Heaven.

Wow. Let me tell you, it was great! I got it from the library and was done reading it within a few days.

It is written by a Baptist preacher in the south who was involved in a horrible car accident and died, squashed in his car on the side of the road, after being struck by a tractor trailer.
As you can guess from the title, he was later revived.

I have always had a fascination with "near death experiences." I have no idea why, but I love to sit and listen to someone tell of their experience. Even though there are times when some stories I read about or hear seem a little too "hoaky" or made-up, there are always the ones you can tell are absolutely for real. This is one of those stories.

As a Christian I know for a fact that Heaven is waiting for me, so there is not a problem with doubt. I guess you would call it curiosity, plain and simple. Quite obviously, most people do not go there and then come back. So to hear someone tell of his experience there is captivating.

It was one of those books I will never forget. His descriptions alone leave you thirsty for more detail.

I got mine from the library, but you can also find it at Amazon for about $8-10.
So don't wait!

I assure you it is worth reading.

For those of you who have read it, let me know what you thought about it!

Spring Proof Special!

Well, once again the springtime holidays are sneaking up on me!

Wasn't it just Christmas?? How time flies!

Before we know it, it's going to be Easter, Mother's Day, Father's Day.

I always struggle with what to give my mom and dad on these holidays.
Doesn't everyone?
I mean, the traditional tie for Father's Day or a bouquet of flowers for mom just seems tired to me.



I like to do things a little bit different. Don't you?

To help you out a little, I am offering a special spring sale through the end of March.




You can get an entire set of proofs from any previous session for only $25!! This is half price and a great deal!!




They are the perfect size for a cute desktop frame and for giving as gifts.

Just think, you could put a few in a great frame and give them to Mom, put them in an album to keep for yourself, or give Dad a couple of great pictures to adorn his desk at work!

Plan ahead and give them a gift this year they will really get excited about!

Contact me now to order!!
www.tammyfisherphotography.com

mmmm.... cupcakes!

Well, once again this will probably be fairly short.

I posted here the other day about making the leap into Cakes as Dixie Belle's and have since started a Facebook page for those of you interested in seeing my cakes.

Thank you to all those who have visited and sent me sweet messages. It is so exciting and rewarding to do something fun with my time that people actually enjoy.

I realized when I posted that day that there were no pictures of cupcakes, only the cakes. Oops!

So, here you go! I am so excited about some of these, they are just delightful!

Now, I just have to concentrate on NOT tasting every single thing I bake....

That's gonna be tough. I LOVE CAKE.

Anyway! Here are some recent cupcakes I have done. They were quite cute and I am currently working on new designs.... (oooh, this is FUN!)

These were really beautiful! No matter what angle I shot from though I could not seem to find one that did justice to these. All gathered together it looked like a bright flower garden on my table.


I love how sweet and simple these are. I dusted them with some sweet pink, sparkly color and added some edible pearls.

Very girlie.
I have 2 boys so I don't get to do much "girlie" stuff, so these really appeal to me (and my need for some pink occasionally...)

These are so cute! When you put a whole bunch of these together you have a whole bouquet of daisies! They are smaller than a typical cupcake, perfect for the small child with small hands. Perfect for a springtime tea party!


Let me tell you, these did not last long at my house! Yum is all I can say about this one. I made some similar to this and gave them out at Christmas. They were a big hit!



I have to say that this is one of my favorites. It's elegant, but not over the top. I love the little rose buds in the bright green, but I think they would be awesome in other colors too! Imagine this for a bridal shower in her colors..... very cool!

I must add that I would have posted these sooner, but my life as a photographer would not allow me to just snap a picture on my kitchen counter.

Some of the added enjoyment I get out of this process is figuring out the color and presentation. I want them to be tasty, but they also need to stand out and look good!

More designs to come...

Baking on a snow day!

As Nashville continues to get hit with more and more snow, I find myself needing a bigger variety of ways to keep us busy. This has proven to be quite a task!

Even little Dixie is itching for something fun to do...


Lately, every time we get even the smallest flurry the kids are out of school! Luckily this coincides with the typical slow-down I experience in January. I get so busy and crazy with work in the summer and fall, it is a welcome break to slow down just a little the first of the year. This allows me to get some things done around home and spend time doing things with the kids.

Yesterday was one of those days..... again.

This time I had something different to keep me busy. The kids were busy playing Wii, and actually NOT fighting..... (Mark that down on the calendar since, let's face it, that is rare with two boys!)
I got a new cookbook for Christmas, but had not gotten to even look at it, much less cook anything out of it. Yesterday I broke it open and let me tell you I fell in LOVE!!!

My friend, Beth, and my sister had both told me about it. They raved and raved so I knew I had to have it!

It is called "The Pioneer Woman Cooks". It is a neat book, which journals the life of a city girl who married a cowboy and ended up living on a ranch. She had to change the way she lives and cooks to feed her cowboy husband, ranch hands, and 4 kids!! She shares not only her stories but her recipes, made to feed many with even the picky eaters in mind.

PERFECT!!

I haven't gotten all the way through, but this was our beginning! It is basically a muffin rolled in cinnamon sugar.... What better way to begin!?


Cameron came in occasionally to help me.

(Pay no attention to the tv in the background.... Yes, I think that is Shelly Long. There was not much on tv yesterday and besides we were too busy baking to notice what was on!)

Anyway, Cameron did a great job rolling the muffins in the butter and sugar.

Maybe too good. There was not a bare spot on them when he was done!


Let me tell you, these things were divine!!! They were so easy to make and the boys (husband included) sucked them down as if they were about to be stolen.

I then made her Chicken Spaghetti for dinner. It was really good, really easy, and it made so much I could have served an army. That means leftovers, which is always good! (Sorry, didn't take a picture of it.... you'll just have to buy the cookbook. But trust me it was good!)

If you have never seen or heard of this cookbook, now is the time to get it! Most people I know took advantage of the Amazon gift card a few days ago. What better to spend it on!

You can click on the link below to go get it from Amazon!

As far as cookbooks go, it is really cheap! Trust me you will not be sorry!
Tonight I will be making her chocolate sheet cake, which I hear is amazing and it looks incredibly easy. I just love those two things when you put them together!

So, THANK YOU to Kim and Beth for insisting I buy this book!
Now, I am insisting....
Go Get it!!

Ho! Ho! Ho!

Hellooo!!!!!!

Wow, guys I can't believe it was Halloween when I last posted something. How time flies. I can hardly believe it is already into December. Feels like I have been in the middle of a tornado the last couple of months!

So, here is a quick post with some recent updates on what I have been busy doing the last couple of months!

As I wrote earlier in the fall I have had the opportunity to photograph some great families lately! Recently, many of them have come to me to design their Christmas cards. Typically when someone asks me to do this for them, I come up with 3, 4, or more designs for them and they can choose the one that best suits them.

So! Since I don't want to spoil the surprise for any one of you who may be receiving a card from one of these families, I will not post the ones they actually chose. I will post, though some of the other samples I did for them.


This is something I really enjoy doing! As much as I love my work as a photographer, the part of me who studied graphic design in college, really loves getting to create something from scratch, just a plain white screen, and see it turn into something beautiful.


I always love to see how a card shows the personality of each family. You can tell a lot about them by the card they choose. Whether it is classic and simple or modern and trendy.

Some choose color and others like the look of black and white. Personally I love them all. I always have a hard time creating my own because I just can't decide.

Well, it is back to the drawing board for me now! I would love to go on and on, but I am going to have to hold off on my ramblings until...... well, probably January.

I still have a lot of work to do! (If you are one that is waiting on me to finish yours, I promise this post didn't take me away for too long!)

Until then, I want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas!! Enjoy the time with your family and friends, and never forget the REASON FOR THE SEASON!

What i've been up to...

Wow! I have been a bad blogger this summer!
I am sorry, my life has been a total whirlwind it seems since May when my kids were officially at home ALL THE TIME!
I don't know about you, but summer seems to be so exhausting! I remember summers as a kid being fun and relaxing. You know, sleeping late, sitting by the pool, maybe a part-time summer job.
Not anymore. I honestly don't know where it went! One day I am making plans to try and figure out how I will keep the kids busy, the next I am buying school supplies.

We were blessed with many family members, who came to visit from New Orleans, many activities, and one family vacation to Florida. Whew!

So, last week the kids started back to school. Not just that.... my youngest started Kindergarten!

Ouch.

I have to say that with Cameron, my oldest, I was a little more prepared and relieved because I still had a baby at home. Not that I wasn't sad, I was. Everyone cries a little when you take your child to their first day of school. This time is different. Now, when I drop the kids off at school, I drive back home and there is NO ONE there.

Yes, I do enjoy the quiet and the fact that I can get some work accomplished! But, at the same time it scares me because I really realize now how fast they grow. They will be grown before I know it.

So, now I am pledging that I will do better! I will get more posts up, more often. So, stay tuned!

I also plan to start the "Photoshop How-To" posts again. Let me know if there is something in particular you want to know and I will try to address it.

I am going to try and get some more Flordia photos up soon, too. So stick around and I will try to keep it interesting!

Home project and my sis is a genius....

I was standing in my home studio Saturday baffled. I have tried repeatedly to figure out how to get things better organized in there for months. I had a general idea of what I wanted to do, and how I imagined it would look. But, for some reason I couldn't get it there.

I have a variety of things on hand for work. I knew I had to keep these things, but had run out of storage space and could not figure out the best way to store them without letting my new work space look like a junk storage room!

Then the light bulb came on.....

I remembered my sister's post here on her blog from several months ago where she had a very similar problem, with a pretty cool (and cheap :) solution. SHE IS A GENIUS!

So, that took care of my dilemma for storage. BUT, I still did not have a place to put my new organizing system! I needed something to put them on. A shelf, a unit, SOMETHING!

SO, my husband suggested I head to Lowe's after I stop for the materials I needed for my organizers and see if there was anything on sale. He knows I will NOT buy anything at full price. It had to be a bargain. When I got there the only "bargain" was a 3 foot mahogany shelf for $20. NOPE. Not gonna do it. I had to get really creative.

I decided I could do much better than that myself. I headed over to the lumber and found a 2"x10"x8' piece of wood for $6.63, some spray paint for $3.87, and a couple of $1.29 brackets. Now, that is MUCH BETTER! I had the nice man at Lowe's cut the wood in half, giving me two 4ft. pieces. That's enough for TWO SHELVES! Plus, I had only spent around $18 so far.

I was so excited! I went home with my finds, my husband just shaking his head at me (wondering if I could really pull it off.) I got right to work!


I spray painted the brackets and gave each piece of wood 2-3 coats as well. While they dried, I went inside out of the heat and made my "Littlebits" inspired organizers.


Finally, everything started to come together. When I brought in the new shelf I managed to distress the edges like my sis has shown me, although I must say I don't have her particular talent for this. I did my best, though.


I then recruited my husband to hook up the drill and hang my new shelf. It was so exciting, knowing that I started from nothing.

But, once I got my new organizers loaded and put on the shelf, then hung my backdrops in their new home it really made a HUGE difference.


Finally, my studio is beginning to look like just that. I already have customers booked to come in tomorrow, and I can't wait to show it off. Maybe soon I will run a new special just so I can take advantage of my newly re-designed space!

Friday Fives - My wish list!

It's time for the Friday Fives again! Today's topic is the top 5 things on my wish list. I am going to go off the assumption that since it is a wish list, this means that I can really dream, so here goes....

1. A Maid!!! Wow, this was an easy one. I cannot express enough how much I hate cleaning. I don't mind it occasionally, but I can't imagine how bad my house would look if I only cleaned occasionally. Sadly, I prefer to keep my house spotless, with everything in it's place. LIKE THAT EVER ACTUALLY HAPPENS!!! I do try, but such is life I guess.



2. Unlimited home improvements!
I have an older home, built in the 60's. I love the old houses, they have so much character. I wanted a house that I could change and work on. I LOVE working on my house. Probably too much. I could spend all day (and way too much money) in Home Depot, Lowe's, etc.... Since I am blessed with that creative brain I am always coming up with new things I would like to do to my house. At the moment my list is getting quite extensive (pave the driveway, new patio, new sidewalk, deck, shrubs....). Thankfully, my goal of painting my brick exterior in under way right now, so I can check that off my list soon. (Although not until the heat goes back down a little...)
If only I could just have a carpenter on staff I would get it all done!


3. A million dollars? Or two??
Don't we all wish for this? Who doesn't have things they could use a little extra cash for? Save for kids' college, retirement, MAID!


4. A new camera!
Being a photographer, I always have a wish list of stuff I would like to get for work. Right now at the top of my list is a new camera. My current one works fine, but I have my eye on a new one. It's the Canon 50d and it is AWESOME!



5. Cricut cake!
Have you seen this thing? It is amazing! It's made just like the Cricut scrapbookers use, except it's for cake. It cuts fondant, etc. into anything you can imagine for decorating a cake.... Oooooooh, I would so love to get my hands on one of these! With my new hobby of decorating cakes this would just be awesome!! "The icing on the cake", you could say....

Photo for the day

I know, I have been mostly absent from my blogging duties this summer.... Sorry! It has literally flown by before my eyes. We have had so much going on, from activities to out of town guests, it hasn't left me much time on my computer. So, today I wanted to at least get a photo of the day up while I had a few minutes.


Isn't she a doll! This is Roxy.

I was tasked a couple of weeks ago to be the "official photographer" for VBS at our church. I basically walked around taking pictures of everyone and everything that would stand still long enough (and some that didn't!)

I came away with a ton of great shots. Lots of kids having a wonderful time. I can't deny that this is one of my favorite shots from that week. She was running around in her pink princess swimsuit between the water slide and bouncy house, taking a quick break for something cold to drink.

I just love that she wasn't posing, she simply turned around and smiled at me when I called her name.
Then, she was off again.....

Honey Time!

This post is for all you who have been writing and calling me lately.... THE HONEY IS READY!

Most of you probably know that my husband is a beekeeper. This is a side job he has held for about 3 years now. He really enjoys it, and has gotten quite good at it. I must admit, there is a lot more work involved in raising bees than I ever realized. Probably 9 months out of the year he tends to them, all in preparation for the one time per year when we harvest the honey to sell. It is a job that involves dressing in a bee suit during the hottest months of the year, getting stung, while going to great lengths to fight off pests and critters who would love to get a taste of the sweet stuff inside the hives.

So, last Monday I spent my time doing something I never imagined I would do..... I stood in a bee suit in 95 degree weather, using a leaf blower to blow bees off their hives while my husband took all the frames of honey and loaded it into his truck.

YIKES!

I am happy to say that I did not get stung, but probably because I was dressed with enough layers to play in the snow and I stood as still as I could get away with!

Thankfully my role did not last too long! Needless to say I was a little nervous. I am pretty comfortable around bees most of the time but it's a lot different when there are thousands of them flying around checking you out!

Once we got home Chip got to work extracting the honey, and has now gotten it into bottles. It was a long process. He was up most of the night. I sat and watched him for a while, but my OCD aversion to anything sticky sent me upstairs to bed.

Finally, the finished product was waiting when I got up the next morning. Beautiful!! Ooooh, and when I tasted it! Yum! I have to say it is the best yet.

Yes, I am biased. Yes, it's the best honey I have ever tasted. Plus, my kids allergies have virtually disappeared! Seriously, the bees pollinate the things we are allergic to and bring it back into the honey. The more you eat, the more you build a resistance. It's like a shot, only it doesn't hurt and it tastes great!

So get some while it lasts!

Friday Fives - It's Independence Day!

Thankfully, as I write this, the temperatures here in Nashville have dropped just enough to still be hot, but not feel as though we are living in a great, big oven. This will make enjoying Independence Day much easier!

I love this holiday. Not for what we get to do, although that is fun, but for what it means to me. I am the child of a VERY military family. I have so many family members who have served, it's hard to count them all. I also married a man in the army, whose family is equally full of military service.

So, for me it's hard not to think about the meaning of the holiday. It isn't about having the day off or going to a barbeque, although I welcome the chance to do any of those things. I just try to keep in mind what we are celebrating. So, having said that, here are my 5 things I like to do to celebrate the holiday!

1. Fireworks There have been plenty of times that I have headed downtown to see the enormous fireworks display. But, if you have read this blog before, you probably remember that I am not a big fan of crowds. I love the fireworks downtown, but it gets pretty crowded. So, for me, just sitting at my parents house watching the men shoot fireworks and seeing the kids enjoy the sparklers is all I need!

2. Bake While I probably will not get the opportunity this year, I usually love to bake some cool cake or other food that shows patriotism in a yummy fashion! Since cakes are my new found passion, I have found one that I am excited to try. I am putting this on my to do list for next year!

3. History Marathon

Have you ever noticed over the Independence Day holiday there is a bunch of cool stuff playing on a variety of channels? There are rarely times that I choose not to pour myself into housework and just watch something on TV, but I have found that on holidays like this one you can actually learn a lot if you sit and watch some of the holiday programming. Last year the History channel did an interesting series called "The Presidents". You could basically pick a president to learn more about and watch an entire hour documenting their life, both in and out of the White House. Obviously, I did not sit and watch TV for 44 hours straight, I simply set my dvr to record a few that I found interesting. There is all kinds to choose from, from historic movies like "The Patriot" (awesome, by the way) to Band of Brothers (another great series), all the way up to documentaries about 9/11.
OK, call me a nerd. That is fine. I like History, and I think that the more you learn about what our ancestors did for us, the more you appreciate the holiday.

4. Rest!!
Did you notice above where I mentioned how RARE it is for me to not spend my days working or cleaning house? Seriously, I stay pretty busy. So, I have decided that one way I celebrate is to take a day off. I am determined to enjoy myself this weekend. Let's not get crazy, I will not completely ignore my chores, but I promise to slow down a bit.

5. Thank a Soldier
I won't have to look far. As I mentioned before, my family is full of them. The latest is my husband's younger brother. We are so proud of him, he just graduated from Lousiana Tech and has been commissioned into the Air Force.
I also want to refer you to my sister's blog. She did a great post today that talks about this.