SHOOT: Piece of Fabric

In less than an hour with an amazing 8 year old, I learned a piece of fabric isn't just a piece of fabric. 

NEW SERIES: Kids, Without the Kids

I'm working on a new series where I show kids without showing the kids. (Yea, that's right, I'm getting a little wild and crazy over here at FlippyGirl headquarters.)  
  

Dirt and Petals

Took a few days off to play in my garden—picking strawberries, turning compost, trimming privet, transplanting seedlings, chasing my own "seedlings" with bubbles, building trellises, watching baby birds, shoveling dirt, laying out straw, hoarding the last whiffs of peonies and mock orange, dodging thunderstorms, and overdosing on strawberry smoothies. From the busy Boston street out front, you'd never know this was out back:

  

SHOOT: More Than Just Toys

Over the years, I've been lucky enough to meet and work with some very talented, creative people in the advertising world, who inspire me to no end—here are two of those people: Andrea Gavin and Amy Flanagan. Their talent shines in the new work for B. Toys. A few months ago I shot some kids for the catalog but not until I shot some of the actual toys yesterday did I realize the depth of their talent. Really. Every inch of the toy packaging is covered in color and texture and personality. Here's a tiny taste:   
And if you're a mama reading this post, get to Target now because the toys are flying off the shelves!


click here for an earlier post on the B. Toys Catalog 2010 photoshoot
and follow this link to chief B. toymaker Gisela Voss' wonderfully inspiring and funny blog  

The Little Buggers

What are these bugs all over my lovely lupine plant? Are they aphids? How do you get rid of them? Hose them off? They're all over this one plant but nothing else. What is it about this plant that attracts them? 
  

Career Day

So it was career week at my son's school. They asked me to do a day so I put together a "professional" shoot for 15 wild, happy kids. Brought in some giant balloons, a white seamless backdrop, a big fan, music and some costumes. (They thought the fan was the coolest thing ever!)  
  

Top Shelf

Okay this is what the top shelf of my refrigerator looks like in Spring—mealworms, lacewings and ladybugs stacked neatly next to the baby food:

Sneak Peek

  
Psst. You, yes you, one of the three readers of my blog. Just thought I'd let you sneak a peek—the new website is going up. Be forewarned, you may feel like skipping, singing, napping, baking cookies, eating mudpies, jumping on a bed or being silly when you're done. Do not, I repeat, do not operate large machinery within one hour of peeking.  www.kimlowe.com    
   

Dahlias

Organic Gardening has some great info on growing dahlias.
  

OLD WORK: The Lost Coast

I was thinking about Northern California this morning. We hiked along The Lost Coast which was one of the most amazing trips of my life. I know I've written about it before. But waking up to the sound of "munching", unzipping your tent, looking out into the face of an enormous bull elk and his harem 10 feet from your head — yeah, I'd say it's worth writing about twice. Aww, and it's kind of cute the way he tried to disguise himself. You're a giant elk, you can't hide under a few leaves and some grass!!