through the glass

i read this book in november.

it only took me a couple days...

i couldn't put it down.

i highly recommend it.

i have met shannon moroney.
she is an incredible woman,
you will see this in her book.
her honesty, passion and integrity are inspiring.

as a victim she went to CJI (where jude used to work) for help.

she had heard about restorative justice and was seeking it out.

that is only a small part of her story...

An impassioned, harrowing and ultimately hopeful story of one woman's pursuit of justice, forgiveness and healing.

When Shannon Moroney married in October of 2005, she had no idea that her happy life as a newlywed was about to come crashing down around her. One month after her wedding, a police officer arrived at her door to tell her that her husband, Jason, had been arrested and charged in the brutal assault and kidnapping of two women. In the aftermath of these crimes, Shannon dealt with a heavy burden of grief, the stress and publicity of a major criminal investigation, and the painful stigma of guilt-by-association, all while attempting to understand what had made Jason turn to such violence.

In this intimate and gripping journey into prisons, courtrooms and the human heart, Shannon reveals the far-reaching impact of Jason’s crimes and the agonizing choices faced by the loved ones of offenders. In so doing, she addresses the implicit dangers of a correctional system and a society that prioritizes punishment over rehabilitation, and victimhood over recovery.

we have a copy of this book and would be happy to loan it to you.

if you can - read this book!

everyone needs a family photo...

i had the chance to do a quick shoot for some friends the other day.

this is the hogg-saunders family:

alex, olivia, christine, steve,

and josie (the dog).

they are fun, creative, generous and very musical.

both steve and christine are musicians 

and i have no doubt that they have passed the gift on to their little ones.

(you may have seen olivia here before)

jellybeans were key for these photos!

christine tells me they were well overdue for a family photo...

i sure hope these ones make them smile!

design process

i thought i would write a little bit about how 

the design process goes when doing custom card designs.

the first step is to find a photo or two that you love:

 i changed this photo to black and white and opened it in photoshop.

choose some colours to work with the photo
and then start playing around with shapes and fonts.

once i have a design that i like, 

i send it to the client and see what they think.

in this case, they liked the design, but wanted a different colour.

once i make their adjustments i save it as a jpeg.

as a jpeg you can send it to the photo printer of your choice 

and in no time you'll have a photo greeting card!

the holidays are getting closer...
very exciting!

i just got my cards from the printer,

now i have some writing to do.

pretty smiles

this is the horton family.

d.w. and sarah, ruby, lily and ava.

apparently the girls were practicing their pretty smiles 

in front of the mirror for our time together!

lily

ruby

 they also had some pretty great silly faces that they loved to share with me!

ava

 these photos were all taken right on their property,

and yes - they have chickens!  

i'm jealous...

loving the chicken in the family photo.

such a sweet, kind and beautiful family,

it was hard to choose which photos to share here!

paterson family

this is a family that is full of life, love and personality:

meet paul, devin, sofia, and abby. 

they own an online game store - how great is that?!

check it out here and then come back and enjoy these family photos!

devin - age 7

sofia - age 5

there was ice that morning - they had fun with it!

i love that sofia is dancing and twirling here...

i had such a fun morning with this family 

capturing photos in their new neighbourhood.

a place where many memories have and will be made.

paul and abby - i hope these photos make you smile!