I loved taking these photos and I hope to repeat this assignment every year. Wouldn’t a photo book of all these photos make a great high school graduation gift? I can also imagine my boys looking through their detail books with their own kids and telling the stories of their childhood. That motivates me to take more detail photos of everyone in my family. I love the idea of sitting around sharing family stories and a detail photo book seems like the perfect inspiration to make that happen.

I don’t have step by step photos right now, but the next time I sew some pump pockets I will update with more photos.

1. Cut two rectangles: one 6 in x 4 in and one 5 in x 4 in.

2. Place the rectangles on top of one another lining up one of the short  sides. They are the same width so those sides line up, but since they are different lengths only one of the short sides will line up.

3. Using a 1/2 ” seam allowance, sew along the matched short side, leaving an opening for turning in the middle. In other words, sew from the outside edges toward the center, but do not stitch the center closed.  I usually leave about 1 in open in the center.

4. Align the other short sides. This will make a bubble because the rectangles are different lengths. Flatten the fabric so that the short side seam is not at the edge of the rectangle anymore. The large rectangle now folds over and the seam connecting the two is about an inch from the edge. Sew the other 3 sides closed.

5. Turn the pocket right side out through the opening you left in the first seam.

6. Sew a piece of hook and loop tape (Velcro) to the pocket between the short folded edge and the first seam.

7. Decide where you want the pocket on the shirt and sew the other piece of hook and loop tape to the shirt. I have found that if the top of the pocket is at about the bottom of the arm holes it works best. Placing the pocket too low on the shirt makes it pull and stretch more.

8. Stick the pocket to the shirt with the hook and loop tape. Topstitch the pocket in place, again with about a 1/4 in seam allowance. Begin and end the stitching about 2/3 of the way down the hook and loop tape. If you stitch the pocket all the way to the top on the long sides it is hard to get the pump in and out. The hook and loop tape will hold the pocket closed so the topstitching is not needed at the very top.

February 9, 2010: day 39

Light from a flourecent lamp with a cream shade:

February 10, 2010: day 40

4:45 on a winter afternoon light:

February 11, 2010: day 41

7:45 on a winter morning light:

This week’s challenge over at i heart faces is kisses! Here is my favorite smooch photo:

Unfortunately, my all time favorite kiss photo of these two has a super distracting background. When I get better at Photoshop I’m going to fix that photo up as well

For me, blogging about my experiences is another very important part of the process. First, this blog is my time for reflection.  Action is so important, but the real power is in the combination of action and reflection. Second, writing on my blog is often my first step in saying it OUT LOUD.  Once I share it with the world through writing it is easier for me to say it with my voice, which makes it easier for me to live it. No matter what “it” is. My path to authenticity.

So this is what I’d like to share from my first business building exercise. An agreement with myself and the universe: Right now I agree that I will ride the ride and not give up or be let down by difficult times. That I will believe in my place in the universe, and I will do my best to put myself in the best place I can be.

Just two activities into this soar! adventure my feelings have already started to change. But at the very start what I felt most strongly was excited and exposed. Excited because I am passionate about photography and living a creative life. Exposed because I have not expressed my passions openly before. Exposed because most of my life I have not viewed myself as a creative person, and being a creative person seems risky. A creative person seems more susceptible to judgment, criticism, and failure. This photo really captured what I was going for, and I love what Charisse, Jen & Karen added!

Choosing an object to represent my feelings was much more difficult. Maybe because I usually live life honestly and in a straightforward manner. If you want something, then get it. If something makes you feel bad, then get rid of it. Representing my feelings with something other than myself is more circuitous.  I actually didn’t have the words to describe my connection to the egg, it just felt like the right thing. Again, thank you so much to Charisse, Jen, & Karen for putting words to my image for me. You all got it even when I didn’t know what I wanted you to get: “fragile, nourishing and nurturing, and peeling away a protective outer shell to reveal a softer, yet still firm, existence….somewhat of an unveiling.” Yes, that is exactly it.

Here was my assignment:

“This is a Self Portrait Photography Exercise. You will take TWO Self Portraits.  One image will have you in the photo.  The second one will be an object that symbolizes you.  Both Self Portraits are meant to document where you are in your journey of life.  When you think about this present season of life–this monumental moment in your journey of being committed to SOAR!, being on your way to become a successful photographer…How do you feel?”

The next part of the exercise is to share your photos with others. I can do that. Without giving any explanation or excuses. This is where it gets harder. Because if you know me well you know I talk more than I listen. Which is something that I’ve been trying to work on for YEARS!, but I’m still not very good at.  Here’s to personal growth all over the place.

So here are my two photos:

Will you help me with the next part? The ladies at the confidence workshop last weekend shared their photos with a small group. Then the others in the group would complete 3 sentences about each photo: I see . . . , I think . . ., I feel . . .

So please, tell me what you see, think, and feel when you look at my first two self portraits. And then it’s my turn to extract my tongue from my teeth and tell you what I was going for!

January 23, 2010 {day 23}

January 24, 2010 {day 24}

January 25, 2010 {day 25}

January 26, 2010 {day 26}

When the SOAR! scholarship was announced many of us vowed that even if we weren’t one of the recipients we would follow along as the chosen three worked their ways towards that bright sun in our sky:  professional photography. Well here I am, the tag along who wasn’t exactly invited, but who hasn’t yet been told to bug off either. Me Ra’s first assignment was to write about your beginning thoughts. So here are mine.

6 weeks ago I promised myself that I was going to follow my dream of starting my own creative business.  I was not sure exactly what that would be, and I thought that I would try a few things and see which one took off. Maybe I would write a book of simple, cute clothing patterns for boys. Maybe I would turn some of my sketches of quilts into patterns. Maybe I would plan for a summer on the craft fair circuit selling my home sewn goodies. Although I had just sold my fancy sewing machine to buy my first digital SLR camera, I was not thinking of portrait photography, because honestly, that is for people who went to art school, right? And even though I enter photos in the county fair every year and have won a few ribbons and have never entered anything that I have sewn, I am a sewer, not a photographer, right?

Well, Me Ra Koh told me that I was wrong. That even though I did not go to art school I can still learn portrait photography. And even though my 35th birthday is just around the corner, I can still reinvent myself any way that I choose.  As I watched Me Ra’s video introducing the SOAR! scholarship I knew she would change my life. And she has. I have never before thought of myself as a photographer. And now I do.  A complete stranger to give me permission to dream. So I did.

My dream is to be a portrait photographer. Yes, being a SOAR! scholarship recipient would be amazing, but my dream is bigger than that. So I’m going for it. And it feels so good. It feels good to want something for myself that is also good for my family. It is a little bit crowded right now squeezing one more thing in to my life, but all the other things are slowly moving over to give photography more room. It is not going to be a quick transformation, but that is good, too. I’m going to take this journey slowly and savor every step of the way.