Shoot & Share 2017 – International Photography Contest

A few months ago, I saw an ad for a worldwide photography contest called Shoot & Share.  You could enter up to 50 photos to 25 categories (I entered 40 photos).

This year, the contest had their largest turnout yet, with 332,768 photos entered from 141 countries, and had over 49 million votes!

There were SO many AMAZING photos in each category!  I was shocked and proud to find out that two of my photos had placed in the Top 100 in their categories, three photos were finalists (top 3%), eight photos were top 10%, twelve photos were top 20%, and five were top 30%!  You can see my photos and their placement below (top 10% and above).

Shoot and share top 100 boys by creek

This photo of my boys by the creek placed 50th out of 23,969 photos.

Shoot and share top 100 mother daughter in cotton field

This mother/daughter image placed 61st out of 22,299 photos.

Shoot and share top 10%

Shoot and Share Finalist

Shoot and Share Finalist

Shoot and share top 10%

Shoot and share top 10%

Shoot and share top 10%

Shoot and share top 10%

Shoot and share top 10%

Shoot and share top 10%

House Tour

Well, better late than never, right?  After living in this house for two years, we’ve decided to sell it and build our dream home.  We accepted an offer on it last month, and it closes at the end of this month.  Since I had to take some good photos of the house for our listing, I figured I’d share them with you.

Craftsman Style House

This home was so great to us.  The boys had an enormous playroom, I had a huge photography and sewing studio over our three car garage, and we had the most wonderful neighbors.  I was so sad to leave, but I’m glad we can look to the future and the home that our children will grow up in, and hopefully bring our grandchildren to one day.

Knockout Roses

We had new landscaping put in last summer, and a couple weeks ago when I drove by the house, these knockout roses were in full bloom and looking gorgeous!  It’s too bad I won’t be able to enjoy them, but I hope the new owners love them and care for them like I would.  I’m going to be sure that these hot pink roses make an appearance at our new house.

Craftsman Style House

Here’s the backyard and garages.  The boys didn’t play out here much, mainly because it wasn’t very level, and we were right next to the woods, as you’ll see in the next photo, so I was afraid of all the creepy crawlies.  Not to mention the wasps and hornets that made their home in our yard.

Craftsman Style House

Here’s a view of the back of the house from the opposite side.  As you can see, our house was surrounded by woods on two sides.  It did make for a beautiful view, though.  Especially in the fall and winter!  (See below)

Winter Wonderland

This was a picture I took this past January, when we got 8+ inches of snow!  The most snow Tennessee has gotten in thirteen years!  This picture is currently printed out as a large 16×20 print, and hanging in our bedroom.

Craftsman Style House

Here’s the view as you walk in the front door.  The rug is from Target, about three years ago.  I was going to post a link, but didn’t see it on their website anymore.  We had that long table custom built when we lived at our last home, and it fit perfectly here in the entryway.  The family collage picture frame on the wall above it is from Hobby Lobby, and was a Mother’s Day gift from my wonderful husband a couple years ago.

White Baby Grand Piano

To the right of the entryway is the dining room.  Since we’ve never had a dining room table, we used it to house our white baby grand piano (which, coincidentally, is actually getting picked up today by its new owner).  Since we’re in our rental house while we build, we have no room for it (even though it’s beautiful), but we plan to get an upright piano once our new home is built.  My husband and I both play the piano, and I plan on either teaching the boys myself, or hiring a piano teacher for them once they get a bit older.  They tend to listen better when I’m not the one instructing them (Moms, can I get a witness?).

White Baby Grand Piano

Here’s the view of the “piano room” looking from the entryway.

Living Room

The entryway opens up into the living room.  We didn’t buy any new furniture when we moved into this house, so we just made do with what we already had.  These brown couches are from La-Z-Boy, and comfort and function trumped looks when we bought them.  The dark brown hides dirt REALLY well, and with two boys and two large drooly dogs, hiding dirt is a must when considering furniture.  The curtains and pillow covers are handmade by me using fabric from Joann’s Fabrics.  I actually made the curtains for the kitchen window of our last house, which was shorter and wider.  So I just cut each panel in half lengthwise and added some matching blue fabric to the top to lengthen them.  I think they turned out great!  The candlesticks on the mantle are also from Joann’s.  I searched high and low for candlesticks I liked, and when I saw these, it was love at first sight.

Living Room

Here’s another view of the living room from the opposite corner.  It opens up to the kitchen and the stairs.

Living Room

And, of course, our monstrosity of a TV.  That thing is 80 inches!  I bought that ladder displaying my quilts at a local antique shop, after searching for one for months.  I always get asked about my oversized wooden ruler that I use to measure the boys.  I found that at Kirkland’s, and it’s actually on sale right now!  The wreath next to the ruler is from Home Goods, and I have to mention my Magnolia Market metal sign my hubby bought me for Christmas this past year.  He actually bought me three things from Magnolia Market for Christmas, so now I have a little bit of Waco, TX in my home.

Kitchen

The kitchen is the next room on our tour.  We brought our kitchen table from our last home, so it doesn’t really match, but it was functional, and with two little boys, we didn’t really want to invest in a new table just yet.  I found little table and chairs under the window at a local craft fair, and now at our rental house the boys sit at it every day when they eat.  Oddly enough, when we lived here, they rarely sat there.  The gorgeous wood sideboard table was handmade by a guy in Springfield, TN.  He posted about ten of them on our local Varage Sale page, and I knew I just had to pick one up!  Can’t pass up handmade furniture made out of REAL wood!

Kitchen

Here’s a better view of the kitchen.  I loved that bookcase on the end of the island (there’s one on the other side too).  Perfect for all my cookbooks!

Kitchen

Laundry/Mud Room

Next to the Kitchen is the laundry room and “mud room.”  I have that in quotations because ideally I wanted to put in a cool bench and locker area there, but we never got around to it.  That’s something we’ll definitely have at our new house! My husband bought that aqua coat rack for me for Christmas last year from the Etsy Shop MidnightWoodWorks.  If you look closely, you can see our kitty, Lacey, getting a snack in the laundry room.

Bonus Room

If you walk up the four steps to the right of the laundry room, you’ll find the large bonus room over the three-car garage.  I used this room as my sewing and photography studio.  Couches are from La-Z-Boy, throw pillows are made by me, and coffee table is from Ikea.  Bookshelves are from Walmart, but didn’t survive the move.  We’ll be getting better quality at our new house!

Bonus Room

It was perfect for me, because it had a half bathroom, and two huge closets that I used for my hoards of fabric and photography props.  In our new house, the sewing room will be in the large laundry room, and I will have a separate photography studio, so clients no longer have to walk through our house.

Guest Bedroom

On to our guest bedroom.  I liked that this room was on the first floor, away from the boys’ bedrooms.  I made those blackout curtains for our master bedroom at our last house, and since this room came with no blinds of any kind, they certainly needed some curtains for privacy!  Bedspread is from Target, and the dresser is from Sam’s Club.  That cute little rocking chair in the corner is a family heirloom from my husband’s side of the family, and I sewed a little cushion cover for it.

Guest Bathroom

The guest bathroom was right outside the guest bedroom.  Again, this decor was leftover from our last two houses.  But it’s pretty neutral, so I don’t mind it. Both the rug and shower curtain were from Target.

Master Bedroom

Now for the master bedroom!  It pretty much stayed an empty slate above the bed, because Steve and I couldn’t agree on something to go in that wall space.  I picked out the most beautiful medallion from Kirkland’s, but once he saw it, he couldn’t get past the thought of it falling on his head in the middle of the night.  So back to Kirkland’s it went.  I pouted for at least a day over that one.

Guest Bedroom

Isn’t that dresser amazing?  I found it at a local antique shop, and I just HAD to have it!  They don’t make furniture like they used to.  This is absolutely my favorite piece in our entire house!

Master Bathroom

Here’s our master bathroom.  The storage in here left something to be desired.  This tall cabinet is the only linen closet in the entire house, and those little square drawers, once opened, are only about two inches wide.  Basically, I had to buy a plethora of baskets to store all my hair and makeup products.  Rugs and hand towels are from Target.

Shower

The shower in our master bathroom was pretty neat.  Where I’m standing is actually another shower head, but we only ever used the one, because the water pressure in this one was better.  Haha!  The river rock flooring also took some time to get used to.  Kinda painful when you’re used to standing on a smooth surface.

Gray and Blue Elephant Nursery

Now for the upstairs.  Oliver’s gray and blue elephant nursery was one of my favorite rooms in the house.  It turned out almost exactly like I imagined it.  I made his gray chevron blackout curtains, as well as the blanket that’s hanging over his crib rail (among several other blankets).  I also made his name sign above his bed by covering 8×10 canvases in fabric, and gluing painted wooden letters to the front.

Gray and blue elephant nursery

Here’s a more straight on shot of the name lettering that I took for my Chevron Baby Blanket tutorial.

Little Boy's Room

Grayson’s room was next to Oliver’s.  He got his big boy bed shortly after he turned three.  We decided to go with a cars and trucks theme in his room, since that’s what he’s obsessed with.  Everything in this room is from Target, minus the frames, “G”, and lamp.  I just realized that I shop at Target probably more than any other store, except the grocery store.  I made the “G” above his bed by painting a large cardboard letter from Hobby Lobby and then gluing a little wooden car (also from HL) on it.

Little boy room

Here’s the view of his room looking from the doorway.  Again, I made his blackout curtains to match his bedspread.  Those frames on the wall to the left of the window were a cute Pinterest project we did, making truck pictures out of his footprints.  The rustic wooden frames they’re in are from Hobby Lobby.  I believe I found the Planes Trains Trucks & Toys canvas at Home Goods.

Playroom

And finally, the playroom.  This house came with two bonus rooms, and this one was perfect to use as a play room.  It only ever looked this clean a handful of times in the two years we lived here, but it was probably the most lived in room in our house.  I made the Alphabet Wall letters out of cardboard letters and scrapbook paper from Hobby Lobby.  My parents graciously bought the two anywhere chairs for the boys from Pottery Barn Kids.  That rack on the far wall next to the window is actually shelving for their immense hot wheels cars collection.  I made it using this tutorial on Pinterest.  Cube storage is from….of course….Target.

Playroom

Here’s another view of the playroom looking from the window.  I bought those superhero capes through a co-op, and the wooden coat rack they’re hanging on is from Magnolia Market.  Our neighbor gave us those awesome superhero pictures in the large frames, because her boys weren’t using them anymore.  I believe she said they were from Pottery Barn Kids, but are several years old.

Sunset

I hope you enjoyed my house tour!  Better late than never!  I’m going to leave you with this gorgeous sunset photo I took from our playroom window.  These sunsets were a weekly occurrence, and one of my favorite things about the house.  Once the building on our new home starts, I’ll be blogging almost exclusively on that process.  I can’t wait to get started!

 

 

Afternoon Shenanigans {Hendersonville, TN Family Photographer}

So many things have happened since my last post!  On March 9th, I turned THIRTY!!!!  I know, I can’t believe it either.  I used to think that thirty was SO old.  Like, when you turn thirty, you are a legit adult.  I mean, being a wife and mother of two boys had me doing a lot of “adulting” already, but once I turned thirty it’s like I could feel my youth being sucked from me.  Haha!  Don’t get me wrong, I still feel ever bit as young as I always have, it just feels like I have to be more responsible now or something.

Nashville Child Photographer | Southern Daisy Photography

Another big thing was that we moved from our large, beautiful home into a much smaller rental house while we, Lord willing, build our dream home.  Our new house is going to be everything we have always wanted in a home, and I will even have my own photography studio separate from our house!  That will be such a blessing!  I can’t tell you how many times I have apologized to clients because of all the toys that were scattered around, or the dishes that were left out on the counter.

Nashville Child Photographer | Southern Daisy Photography

Our puppy, Skye, is now a huge 73+ pound giant of a dog, and is steadily gaining between 3 to 5 pounds a week.  It won’t be long before she passes up Kaylee, our St. Bernard.  Here’s a snapshot of her growth so far.

Puppy Growth Pictures | Southerndaisy.com

Speaking of Kaylee, she and Skye had quite the play session the other afternoon.  Here’s a little bit of what went down.

Skye and Kaylee - southerndaisy.com

Skye and Kaylee - southerndaisy.com

Well that’s just ridiculous.  And could Kaylee look any more like a senior citizen?  I mean, she is eight years old, but she looks at least twelve in this picture!

Skye and Kaylee - southerndaisy.com

Grayson wanted to get in on the action.

Skye and Kaylee - southerndaisy.com

Not sure what Kaylee is doing here.  Probably gagging on a stick.  Don’t worry.  She’s fine.

Funny dog - southerndaisy.com

See?  What a goober.

English Mastiff puppy - southerndaisy.com

Then there’s this precious face.  I mean, how could you stay mad at a face like that?

English Mastiff Puppy - southerndaisy.com

We just love her.  She’s been a great dog so far!

dogs and kids - southerndaisy.com

Grayson says she’s his dog, and loves her a lot more than Oliver does.  Oliver doesn’t like when she comes up to him when he didn’t invite her.  He basically likes her only on his terms.  Whereas Grayson doesn’t care what she does.  He just laughs and snuggles with her and tries to play.  It’s so cute to watch.  I’ve heard him say on many occasions, “I love you, Skye!”

dogs and kids - southerndaisy.com

dogs and kids - southerndaisy.com

dogs and kids - southerndaisy.com

dogs and kids - southerndaisy.com

Then there was the time I told him to give Skye a hug, and he did this.  Haha!  We’re still working on appropriate positions for hugging dogs.  Luckily Skye didn’t take offense.

Nashville Child Photographer - Southern Daisy Photography

Oliver would much rather play with a dandelion than take pictures with our dogs.  Which is fine by me.  It made for some great photos!

Nashville Child Photographer - Southern Daisy Photography

Love these boys.  I often get asked if they are twins when we’re out and about, and although they are almost 20 months apart, I feel like they’re twins most of the time.  The only difference is that Grayson can communicate better than Oliver and is potty trained.  Hopefully Oliver will be trained by two and a half just like his brother.  So we’ve got three months to work on that. 🙂  So far he isn’t interested.