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Beautiful NW water views, amazing purple sunsets, rock collecting, sandcastle building, bald eagle sightings, campfires & picnics and….

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Navy Growler fighter jets roaring violently overhead…

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Huh?

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Such is a vaca on a Whidbey Island naval base. Not just any naval base–one plunked right on the beach at Cliffside. My retired Air Force father-in-law hooks us up with a lovely spot next to the ocean. We look forward to it every year. This year we actually had some warm weather to play in the sand.

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Whidbey Top 13 FAVE list~

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1) The quest for heart shaped rocks. PH and and I have a game to see who can spot one first. Wouldn’t you know that we hoofed it up the beach about a half mile before we found one…and OF COURSE it was huge and heavy….and OF COURSE, we found another one the same size. I was a happy camper as my lovin’ man trekked his way back with both rocks on his shoulders. He was saying that those lurking Growler pilots must really think that crazy guy loves his wife!

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2) Rachey and her annual “bakery on the beach“.

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3) An imagination that’s on vacation and comes up with nifty projects to take home…I smell a driftwood theme in my immediate future…

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4) Fab antique treasure finds in Anacortes, a cute little town with some great restaurants.

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5) Watching my children play with wild abandon on the base and feeling perfectly safe to not watch them every second.

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6) Sunsets with tree silhouettes that blow your mind.

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7) Cliffs and the stunning view they provide.

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8 ) Windblown trees and winding paths…so many metaphors come to mind here, I just can’t get them out fast enough.

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9) JOY and more JOY. Ken, the campsite host finds these incredible driftwood pieces to make our favorite word. It’s all over the camp and makes you smile when you see it catch the sunlight in the morning or evening. He is a magician and creator of wonderful things.

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10) Time alone to do a “walk about” with my camera…no agenda…just being aware of the beauty around me. Peaceful and sweet…

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11) Fort Casey State Park and all that the former artillery post and lighthouse has to offer in terms of photo opps…

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12) Barns and quaint little gardens in town

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13) Uninterrupted time with people I love…

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How does that song go? “I’m gonna sit right down and write myself a letter…”

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I did that this week while my mind was on vacation-mode. It was surprising.

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Sometimes getting away provides something unexpected. First of all, I was calling a sleeping bag a bed for the duration and I couldn’t get my tuckus out of bed to do my Morning Pages. Funny thing…I really missed them! I’ve been doing them long enough now that I really think I’m having some breakthroughs as a result. Lots of stuff to share that will affect how LBI will run…so many matters of the heart coming up (all good stuff!).

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I’m making some changes.

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I’m excited about it

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and am

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sure of my footing.

The kidlets and I were painting, cutting, coloring, soldering machines! Now, lovelies, I know better than to place a 1000 degree soldering iron in the hands of my 8-year-old. She created the ornament “scene” in the box and I encased it in metal. These were our Christmas gifts for family (like the MPG inspired one above). At least that’s how they started out.

…and then..

I got the idea treadmill going….silhouettes abound…and VOILA, I give you:

THE SHADOW CHIC COLLECTION
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These are little ruby slippers purchased at a dollhouse store. They sit up about 1/4 of an inch inside the box, which is “wallpapered” with text from the story.

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The back of the charm…inspiration for a woman who needs to be reminded….

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We Blair girls most definitely “craft our pants” this holiday. (Thanks to that blog title owner for providing us a chuckle). This was an image ornament I made as a Christmas gift.

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The back…

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….aaaaaand, I really enjoyed making a certain Frenchie Princess a special little Shadow Chic box of her very own. It’s on the way!

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PH was engrossed in building his model airplanes (cute, huh?) and I was busy destroying the kitchen island with little boxes of joy.

Some are designed as specific gifts.

Some are wearable art for the fearless (namely, me).

….and some are Etsy-bound. They’re on there now.

Have a great week…I’m going in to the studio to whip things into shape! Wish me luck…

Lara

Okay, friends~ can’t decide what special gift to give your sweetie/mom/assistant/sister? Look no further! The gift of heirloom portraits is something they will kiss you for….especially when they hear Mary’s sweet voice on the phone telling them about what great care we will take of them during the LBI Experience. We have the most beautiful packaging…your gift will be the best one under the tree!

Give us a call and we can process your gift certificate over the phone and deliver it to you…all without you having to fight for a parking space at the mall. What’s that worth?!

I loooooove making holiday cards. It’s one of my favorite things to do in the studio. We make our famous custom cards all the time—they are a bit more of an investment, because they are time-consuming to think up (with the client) and produce digitally…but boy, are they worth it. We do offer some very cool ready-made designs. We love these colors and patterns! Something pretty nifty about these templates is that you can customize your colors and message and these cards are less of an investment. If you have already had a session with us in the past year, we can email you some ready-made design suggestions (which we feel go with your session images the best) and you can choose at home and place an order over the phone. We know you’re busy and sometimes it’s just difficult to come down and see us! We understand! Email us if you think this might be the way to go for your LBI holiday cards.

Here’s an example: