Tuesday, July 31, 2012

mckinley CSA weeks 6 & 7

Things have been a bit busy lately and I seem to be getting behind in my CSA posts. Not that they're difficult or anything... Silly me.

So here are photos of our shares from last Saturday and the previous Saturday.

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Wednesday, July 25, 2012

7th annual FLOW northside arts crawl



Below you will find information about the 7th Annual FLOW Northside Arts Crawl.  I'll be showing some work documenting what McKinley CSA has been up to thus far this year.  I'll be in the Juxtaposition building at 1108 W. Broadway this Saturday from 2-8.  Come visit!  :)  My prints will also be for sale.







Since 2006, FLOW Northside Arts Crawl has become the premier art event in North Minneapolis.  Highlighting the uniqueness of the Northside community, this free, family event is a unique collaboration between the business and arts communities that showcases artists of all ages from the Northside. FLOW is a self-guided art tour featuring visual and performing artists at businesses, studios and organizations along West Broadway in North Minneapolis.




FLOW Northside Arts Crawl has been at the forefront of the cultural corridor work now happening throughout the metro area.  We have been ahead of the curve in such efforts as Pop-Up Galleries (see University Light Rail Project), Storefront Art (Whittier Neighborhood) and public art as part of the streetscape (NEA Plan-It Hennepin).  Come to West Broadway and witness the ongoing transformational impact that art has had on the avenue.




FLOW 2012 will focus on 3 clusters:



  • Logan Avenue N & West Broadway

  • Emerson Avenue N & West Broadway

  • North 2nd & West Broadway




Event Highlights Include:




FLOW Pedal Stage sponsored by CityPages - 




A full line up of bands and music will crawl along a half mile of N.2nd St looping from the Lundstrum Center for the Performing Arts to C. Caldwell Gallery & FLOW Artist Market to Mpls Center for Photography & Two Tigers      Gallery in the Northwinds Lofts Building.  Hop on a bike or walk along side as you make your way from site to site.




World’s Longest Soul Train Line - 




Obsidian Arts, KMOJ and FLOW invite you to join us on The Curve of West Broadway to break the Guinness World Record for the Longest Soul Train Line.  Part public art project, part community gathering, this record attempt seeks to bring 1000 people together to pay homage to the Soul Train Line – a particularly vibrant cultural artifact from the African American Tradition.  Bring your skates, your Soul Train era gear and your soulful attitude to this positive community art and culture project. Register here:  https://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/eventReg?llr=iloga5cab&eidk=a07e5zsxzlq7c699a70




Storefront Art - 




Northside365 (http://northside365.com) is a collaboration of photographers, amateurs and professionals, coming together to tell the story of north Minneapolis through a daily photo exhibit. The seven photographers from this photo project will have select images in storefronts on West Broadway between Bryant & Emerson Avenues




West Broadway Historic Walking Tour - 




The Free History Pin mobile app reveals historic photos of your current location and allows you to view them layered over the modern scene in front of you.  Look for the footprints on the sidewalk to see historic photos line up exactly with how things look today. http://www.historypin.com/channels/view/6930144/#/home




Photography Contest - 




Post your photos to FLOW Northside Arts Crawl’s Facebook page.  There will be an online vote to select the best images from this year’s event.  Winners receive a cash prize and their photo will be used in 2013 materials




KMOJ headliner Noel Gourdin - 




        7:00pm at the KMOJ Stage, Logan & West Broadway presented by Snapple & Cub Foods.  A gifted singer-songwriter, national sensation Noel Gourdin is influenced by classic soul as well as the contemporary sounds of R&B and Hip-Hop.




JXTA Expansion - 




1108, the newest addition to Juxtaposition Arts’ campus, will host performances in the intimate Moja Space and exhibit dozens of artists in the newly completed artist studios.




Summer Festival - 




KFAI radio & Cookie Cart team up again in the parking lot behind the bakery.  Enjoy music, cultural dance groups, climbing wall, The Minnesota Lynx, magician, art-making activities, bakery tours, the Smack Shack Food Truck     and of course, COOKIES!




BLO’s Beer Garden - 




Back in business after being closed for over a year due to damage by the 2011 Tornado, Broadway Liquor Outlet is back on Broadway.  Celebrate their reopening at the outdoor beer garden on Logan, right by the KMOJ Stage




The Historic Capri Theater - 




In addition to exhibiting visual art, The Capri will present a diverse lineup including the documentary film Cornerstones:  A History of North Minneapolis, Mu Performing Arts: Mu Daiko Taiko Drums and The Capri Big Band




Public Art - 




Dozens of pieces along West Broadway include vibrant murals, photo installations, sculpture, audio installations, façade improvements and art-in-real time.




Other elements of FLOW include:




Seven stages, spoken word, food trucks, musical theatre, emerging artists, live music, art making activities, free shuttle, art-in-real time, artist market, dance performances & artist studios.




MEDIA CONTACT: Dudley Voigt, FLOW Artistic Director,  info@FLOWNorthside.org  651-274-9154




More Information available at www.FLOWNorthside.org    Photos available on request.




Come celebrate the Northside!




FACEBOOK: FLOW: Northside Arts Crawl




TWITTER: FLOWNorthside




FLOW is an arts crawl that shines a light on the Northside community through the arts. It unites, celebrates and transforms in collaboration with the broader communities that surround us.




FLOW is produced by the West Broadway Business & Area Coalition.


Monday, July 23, 2012

weekend head shot session { frost on flower }

I had a really enjoyable session on Saturday. I particularly enjoy head shot and single portrait sessions. I like the time devoted to getting to know someone, photographing them, and then replaying our conversations and what I learned about them when editing and viewing the photos. It's a really neat experience.

This gentleman is new to the Twin Cities and is getting back into acting. In fact he has an audition tomorrow so I speedily uploaded and edited his photos so he would be able to choose a head shot in time. In order to speed things up I skipped my final review of the photos where I cut out a significant number. So he was left with quite a few to look through but at least they were in his hands on time! :)

The morning was quite rainy but for the most part the rain stopped just before our session and there was a perfect amount of overcast for our time together.

As always I've chosen some photos to share. Have you noticed that I share a lot? It's often really difficult for me to choose just a few! I find this especially difficult when I spend time getting to know my subjects because each photo begins to take on a significant meaning to me and they each tell a story. This makes deleting and narrowing down a significant challenge. So I believe I have 15 to share with you. :)

I would love to have more opportunities to take head shots and emotional/thoughtful portraits of people. Any ideas?

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Friday, July 20, 2012

AstroBrights back to school crafts #goastrobrights

This post brought to you by Astrobrights Papers by Neenah Paper. All opinions are 100% mine.



Have you ever had an office job?  Maybe back in high school or in college?  I did.  And I fondly remember AstroBrights papers.  I always enjoyed when I was able to make choices about which color to print something on.  I would also often save scraps and use them for personal notes or crafts.



I didn't realize... AstroBrights comes in 23 different colors!  I assume you can find the perfect color for your flyer, presentation, or craft project.  They make it pretty easy to be creative, have fun, and make your project look good.  



As you probably know we're right in the middle of the "back to school" season - school supplies are on sale, clothing stores are advertising must have outfits that your children, and teachers are gearing up for the fall!  You can help your local teachers at your local elementary school by entering the "Give a Brighter Year" sweepstakes.  Your school can win a bunch of school supplies valued at $30,000!  And you can also win a cash prize!



Keeping in line with back to school season AstroBrights is hosting a family-friendly design challenge. Make sure to harness all of your family's creativity and enter the "Make Something AstroBright" challenge.  Share photos and videos of your project and make sure to use the hashtag #goastrobrights if you share your creation on Pinterest or Twitter.  You can win AstroBrights paper and other awesome prizes.  



I actually think I have a couple of stacks of AstroBrights paper in my craft room.  If I get a chance I'll get Olive to work and we'll share with you what we made!



Visit Sponsor's Site

mckinley csa week five

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This week’s share from McKinley CSA in north Minneapolis, Minnesota includes green beans, zucchini and summer squash, cucumbers, broccoli, swiss chard, carrots, and onions.

Last Saturday I took photos at the Cityview site and created a detailed smart spreadsheet to keep track of the produce being put into each type of share box on the various pick up dates as well as their weights.

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

what are you putting in your body? { food dyes }

Without knowing too much of the specific science behind it we tend to avoid food dyes in our family. Olive has had very little thus far in her short life and I hope that, especially in her childhood, it says that way. Overall we easily avoid food dyes within our home because we eat very naturally. Very little to none of what I buy each week is processed or contains more than 5 ingredients and those that do, do not contain colors.

When I look through sources of inspiration for crafts, snacks, and meals I am blown away by the amount of "kid friendly" food that is so disgustingly bright colored. Maybe it's pretty? To me it just seems gross - food is not naturally BRIGHT blue. Yes, you can naturally find bright colors, but in terms of our food it's a little more rare. I'm also easily annoyed by artificially colored foods and treats because it's actually really easy to color things without them. Did you know that? People seem to think that kids need bright and exciting food in order to eat - think Lucky Charms or something of that sort. Fortunately a few companies that still seem to think that have at least sought out natural sources of color. But I wish we could just skip that whole trend all together. Kids don't NEED neon food. They just don't.

So, why do we avoid artificial food dyes?

Many food dyes have come and gone from availability in the US. Most of those that have disappeared are due to the harmful effects they have caused which were apparently not known at the time (sounds familiar, doesn't it?).

The current food dyes used in US are listed below along with their main uses, toxicity findings, and in what countries they are banned.

RED 3 - Candy, Desserts, Baked Goods - Thyroid tumors, Chromosomal damage
RED 40 - Beverages, Candy, Desserts, Pet Food - Lymphomas - Banned in European Economic Community
BLUE 1 - Beverage, Candy, Baked Goods - Chromosomal damage - Banned in France, Finland
BLUE 2 - Pet Foods, Candy, Beverages - Brain tumors - Banned in Norway
GREEN 3 - Beverages, Candy - Bladder tumors - Banned in European Economic Community
YELLOW 5 - Pet Food, Beverages, Baked Goods - Allergies, Thyroid tumors, Lymphocytic lymphomas, Chromosomal damage - Banned in Norway
YELLOW 6 - Beverages, Candy, Desserts, Sausage - Allergies, Kidney tumors, Chromosomal damage - Banned in Norway, Sweden

Blue 1 was not found to be toxic in key rat and mouse studies, but an unpublished
study suggested the possibility that Blue 1 caused kidney tumors in mice, and a
preliminary in vitro study raised questions about possible effects on nerve cells. Blue
1 may not cause cancer, but confirmatory studies should be conducted. The dye can
cause hypersensitivity reactions.
Blue 2 cannot be considered safe given the statistically significant incidence of tumors, particularly brain gliomas, in male rats. It should not be used in foods.
Citrus Red 2, which is permitted only for coloring the skins of oranges not used for
processing, is toxic to rodents at modest levels and caused tumors of the urinary bladder and possibly other organs. The dye poses minimal human risk, because it is only
used at minuscule levels and only on orange peels, but it still has no place in the food
supply.
Green 3 caused significant increases in bladder and testes tumors in male rats.
Though the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) considers it safe, this little-used dye
must remain suspect until further testing is conducted.
Orange B is approved for use only in sausage casings, but has not been used for
many years. Limited industry testing did not reveal any problems.
Red 3 was recognized in 1990 by the FDA as a thyroid carcinogen in animals and
is banned in cosmetics and externally applied drugs. All uses of Red 3 lakes (combinations of dyes and salts that are insoluble and used in low-moisture foods) are also
banned. However, the FDA still permits Red 3 in ingested drugs and foods, with
about 200,000 pounds of the dye being used annually. The FDA needs to revoke that
approval.
Red 40, the most-widely used dye, may accelerate the appearance of immune-system
tumors in mice. The dye causes hypersensitivity (allergy-like) reactions in a small
number of consumers and might trigger hyperactivity in children. Considering the
safety questions and its non-essentiality, Red 40 should be excluded from foods unless
and until new tests clearly demonstrate its safety.
Yellow 5 was not carcinogenic in rats, but was not adequately tested in mice. It may
be contaminated with several cancer-causing chemicals. In addition, Yellow 5 causes FOOD DYES
A Rainbow of Risks
vi
sometimes-severe hypersensitivity reactions in a small number of people and might
trigger hyperactivity and other behavioral effects in children. Posing some risks, while
serving no nutritional or safety purpose, Yellow 5 should not be allowed in foods.
Yellow 6 caused adrenal tumors in animals, though that is disputed by industry and
the FDA. It may be contaminated with cancer-causing chemicals and occasionally
causes severe hypersensitivity reactions. Yellow 6 adds an unnecessary risk to the food
supply.

What are some natural means of coloring food? You want to make a trendy rainbow birthday cake... so how do you do it?

diy with paint chips { toddler activities }

There are so many opportunities for you to make your own games and activities for your kids. A really helpful resource is the paint section at a hardware store. We're in the process of picking out exterior paint colors for our house so I grabbed some extra colors to make a few things for Olive last time we were there. We probably shouldn't all run to the store and take all of the paint chips though - they might start charging if they keep disappearing!

Paint chips can be used for a lot of things but since Olive is only 16 months old I kept this first activity simple. I'll show you a few other ways it can be used though and some other tips to expand it.

I grabbed a few basic rainbow colors - red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple. Using a paper cutter I cut off the name and number from each one and then cut them in half. Using packaging tape I taped one full set to a piece of cardboard.

I handed the free pieces to Olive, one at a time, this morning and she put them down in the correct place. So maybe I need to expand this idea for her already!

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You can expand on this general idea by sticking them to a backing surface a little more nicely than I did (haha), by using many more colors, by making shapes, patterns, and pictures, writing the name of the color on the cards, ect.

You can also use other objects to match colors to ensure color generalization, such as the peg people below.

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You can even turn it into a game - the good kind of game where there is no winner.. just fun! Put the pile of cards upside down, take turns turning a card over, and placing the corresponding peg person on the corresponding color, as shown below.

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You can use the idea pictured above to make a large game board, kind of like Candyland. If your child is old enough you can invent a game together! You can incorporate numbers and letters and color names - the opportunities are endless.

You can work on fine color discrimination - such as the difference between certain shades of blue using the paint chips that come with 3-4 colors. If you get two of those you can keep one whole, cut up the other, and fix the pieces to the ends of clothespins and then have your child work on pinching the clothespin while matching colors.

You can ask your child to find items in your house to match to each color on a board such as the one pictured above. Or you can put the colored cards onto a bin and work on sorting colors with toys, blocks, puff balls, etc.

I would like to get a bunch of different colors and make alphabet flashcards for Olive to use when she's a little older. It'll be a lot more exciting than white cards with letters for sure! Maybe match up each color with the letter? Though I'm not sure what color starts with X...

The opportunities to use paint chips for fun and educational activities really are endless. I hope this gives you a few ideas! Pick up a stack of colors the next time you're at the hardware store and give it a try. If you mess up or your child doesn't like it you're not really losing out on much - it's quick and virtually free!

Enjoy! :)

What kinds of homemade activities do you do with your children? I can't wait to make more activities for Olive as she gets older.. to work on discrimination, sorting, labeling, fine motor, and more!

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

washington trip photo book.

I just finished making a photo book via Shutterfly of our trip to Washington. I'm really excited! Click the "view larger" link below to view it. :) I wish I could embed it here for you to see... but wordpress doesn't allow that. :(


Click here to view this photo book larger



You'll love Shutterfly's award-winning photo books. Try it today.

Saturday, July 7, 2012

mckinley csa week four

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This week’s share from McKinley CSA in north Minneapolis, Minnesota includes Mokum carrots, cucumbers, Swiss chard, peapods, French fingerling potatoes, and my choice of two herbs: mint & rosemary.

Last Saturday I took photos at a few of the sites and then did a lot of much needed weeding at the Cityview site.

How did I use last week's share?
Red potatoes joined some farmer's market red potatoes to make a huge batch of baked lemony potatoes.
Beans joined two meals but were cooked the same.. Pretty simply cooked for just a few minutes in a pan with coconut oil and a little pepper and sea salt on top.
Most of the raspberries were eaten by Olive. I bought more at the farmer's market to include in some quinoa muffins.
We enjoyed some lettuce mix today in a quick salad.
I made beet and carrot soup again.
We ate the beet greens this morning for breakfast - I sautéed them in bacon fat after cooking bacon and added some maple syrup, pepper, and sea salt midway through.
The broccoli is still waiting to be used.

a trip home for a wedding and other fun { frost on flower }

Earlier this month I had the pleasure of photographing my friend's sister's wedding in Chicago.


It was a wonderful set up - Tyler, Olive, and I drove to Illinois the day before the wedding and shared a hotel room at the Blackstone downtown with our friend's Brooke & Scott. I'm from just outside of Chicago and Chicago is where Tyler and I met while we were both living there.


We all woke up Saturday morning and I headed upstairs with Brooke to photograph the ladies getting ready while Scott, the brother of the bride and my fellow photographer, captured what the men were up to. Tyler and Olive did some adventuring around the city.


The ceremony took place at the Chicago Veterans Memorial in the middle of downtown, right on the river. It was a hot and sunny day! I think we all complained about the heat that day but it's been so much worse since then - I'm so glad they got married at the beginning of the month! After the portraits were done in the same area we headed to Reza's where the reception was being held. Scott walked with Tyler and Olive while I took a cab with the bride and groom.


It was so much fun to photograph this wedding. Starting early with a wedding party, photographing them getting ready, and having time to get to know each other really makes for a wonderful atmosphere and experience for the entire event. And its always fun to work with friends. It was extra special that Tyler and Olive were able to pop in to visit every once in a while and also attend the reception. The reception was enjoyable and exciting well into the night. Scott and I made sure to put our cameras down and get in on the dancing.


We spent the rest of the weekend visiting with my family in the suburbs. Tyler's family also drove in from Iowa to visit. Our moms watched Olive for the day while we took a trip up to Six Flags Great America with Tyler's little brother and sister. Overall it was a wonderful weekend. I love photographing weddings and events out of town but love it even more when I can turn it into a trip to visit family as well!


Here are a few of my favorites from the day:


Be sure to check out my flickr gallery if you'd like to see more and to see Scott's perspective of the day you can see his work here.


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Congratulations!! :)