Come and join us for the GRAND OPENING  of KID CULTURE’S new location in THE JUNCTION, TORONTO.  Come with your kids and peruse through an amazing selection of beautiful, locally-made clothing for your kids, while they have fun in my interactive PHOTO BOOTH.

Interactive because I’ll let them help me take the photos and then print them on portable printers so they can take their photos home!

Promises to be fun!

The THEME will be “TRAVEL THE WORLD”.

In the meantime, please stop by Kid Culture’s Facebook page and let us know if you can make it!

Support Small Businesses! It means the world to me!

Kid Culture

Leikey Designs

The Blushing Maple

 KIDCLICKS is back for a second round of summer photo walks designed for kids ages 4-12!

What’s a photo walk, you ask? It’s a fun, novel way to explore the city with your kids while learning how to take better photos of all the interesting things that cross your path.

Our KidClicks Photo Walks will be a great way for moms to meet other moms, and for their kids to have fun exploring their new environment with other kids. After the walk, you’ll be encouraged to upload and share your photos to a KidClicks Flickr page and on our Toronto Mom Now Facebook page. You and your kids will be excited to revisit your outdoor experience and to see everyone else’s photos! We recommend that you participate with kids ages 5-12 but younger siblings are welcome to come along.

KidClicks 2013 Summer Schedule:

Sunday, June  9, 4pm

Toronto EverGreen Brickworks

Sunday, July 7, 4 pm

High Park

Sunday, August 11, 4 pm

Distillery District

The walk will last an hour.

What you’ll need:

a digital camera, iphone, point and shoot, whatever type of camera you have

snacks

sunscreen, hats

your happy self

It’s Free But You Have to Register Here!

exact meeting location will be revealed upon registration.

It’s a busy time for photographers and a few of the ideas I had for this month fell through the cracks. So, I picked up my kids after school in a bit of a panic over what I could possibly shoot so late in the day when Eden magically asked if he could come over and play with Andreas, my youngest son.

Perfect.

I’ll shoot them together as friends.

I’ve been meaning to do so for a while now. But, as life with boys usually has it, Andreas had no interest in being photographed despite my cajoling and practically begging him to join his more than willing best friend.

Story of my life.

But suddenly, after we ate dinner together, Andreas declared that he was ready for the “shoot”! And once outside, they were both struck with a silly streak I was more than happy to photograph. I shot this series in the 10 minutes before my husband had to cart them off to their Tae Kwon Do class.

So here you have it. Ten photos taken in 10 minutes! Not recommended for beginner photographers!

Before you go, please stop by Australia-based family photographer, Kylie Dunlop’s 10 on 10 here!

There’s a certain collective energy when family and friends gather to celebrate a baby’s first birthday that makes all the planning and attention to details worthwhile. It’s one of the few milestone occasions where everyone is genuinely happy to be there! And for me as a photographer, there’s just enough kids invited to make the room sparkle wit the kind of movement and joy I love to photograph.

Margot was awake and happy throughout her special day, and it was lovely to see her ponder what do with during her “cake smash” moment.
She needed a bit of help from her mom and dad, but eventually decided to give it a go. So was so very sweet and so very loved.

Happy Birthday Margot!

Does your baby have a birthday coming up? I’d love to hold the date for you.

Contact me here for more info.

Photograph and interview women onto something GOOD.

Women who wake up each day with steadfast dedication and commitment to their work, ideals, and dreams.

Women who may not always get the recognition they deserve.

Forward-thinking women, women on a mission, women who believe they have something to GIVE.

Women like Lindsay Zier-Vogel…

Woman on a Mission Interview No. 2: with Lindsay Zier-Vogel [Toronto-based writer, arts educator and bookmaker, creator of The Love Lettering Project: a community arts engagement project that had brought nearly 3,000 love letters to strangers since 2004. Lindsay has been featured on CBC Television’s The National and was deemed one of the top 50 reasons to love Toronto by Toronto Life magazine. She is currently working on her second novel. As an arts educator, Lindsay teaches writing and book making workshops in the schools and community settings.]

Tell us about your mission? What was the inspiration for your idea/company/project?I ask people to write love letters to the things they love about the places they live in, and then hide these love notes for strangers to find. I’m starting in on the 9th incarnation of The Love Lettering Project and I am more in love with this project than ever before.When it started (in 2004!) I was sitting in a park with my dear friend Rhya Tamasauskas (http://rhya.blogspot.ca/) and I were going through love poems we had written and decided to slip them into airmail envelopes marked love and leave them for people to find. It was so much fun, I’ve done it every year since, leaving love letters on bikes, in a library and for the last while, I’ve been setting up tables at events all over Toronto and asking people to write their own love letters to the things they love in their cities. The shift from noticing what doesn’t work in the place you live to the things that do is an incredibly powerful shift in perspective.Last year, the Toronto chapter of the Awesome Foundation helped fund 14 The Love Lettering Project events across Toronto and this year, I’ve received partial funding from The Canada Council for the Arts to head over to the UK for a 5-city tour of The Love Lettering Project. I can’t wait wait to hear what people across the pond love about the places they live. When I’m not love lettering, I’m writing. I just finished my first novel (fingers crossed someone picks it up!) and have just started my second. I love slipping into Claire’s world every morning. And thinking about it on my bike, and while I swim for the rest of the day. And when I’m not doing either of those things, I make books. Small run, limited edition hand-bound books.

How would you describe yourself in 10 words or less?
Writer, love letterer, bookbinder, crafter, artist, observer, engager, baker (of the gluten-free sort), lover of mail…

What is most sacred to you?
Mornings. I write in the mornings, before the day begins, before most people are up. I love those few hours in the morning in the quiet, with CBC and a coffee.

Who or what is a current influential force in your life?
In my love lettering life, I am so inspired by the city I live in – Toronto – the neighbourhood I live in – Roncesvalles – and those who share what they love about the places they live, the small corners of their neighbourhoods. And in my writing life, I am so taken with the small details of Amelia Earhart’s life. That she loved tomato juice. And always wore silk scarves. And had a dog named James Ferocious when she was a kid.

What was the hardest part of growing up for you?
I’ve often (always) lived in my head – that’s where the best stories live for me. So getting outside of my head wasn’t always easy. It’s still not…

What advice can you offer to young women with GOOD ideas today?
Do them. All. Just do them all! Even if it’s just the very beginnings of something, even if it’s just the first step, just do it. You never know where things will end up. You never know what doors will open, the people you’ll meet, the endless inspiration that might reveal itself…

Where will you be in 5 years? What will your ‘mission’ look like?
Five years. Hrm. I will be writing. And love lettering, or doing some sort of community engagement project. But I have no idea how any of that might look right now. I know that for the next few years, I’ll be writing this novel that I’ve just started and that I’ll be chatting with people about what they love about the places they live in. One of my favourite things about The Love Lettering Project is that it’s not planned out years (or even months!) in advance. I figure things out each year as the summer approaches, and I love the chance to be open to opportunities and whatever might be happening right then.

Where can we find out more about your project?
I’m heading to the UK for a 5-city tour in June (!) bringing The Love Lettering Project to London, Oxford, Liverpool. Brighton and Nottingham (partially fnded by the Canada Council for the Arts). I’ve just kicked off a fundraising campaign to fill in the rest. The project details can be found at: loveletteringproject.com (and my writing and book-making work is at: lindsayziervogel.com). My books will also be featured starting at the end of May in an exhibit at the Thomas Fisher Rare Books Library in Toronto.

 Do you know of an exceptional woman on an exceptional mission? I want to include her in my Woman on a Mission (WOAM) photo series! Submit your suggestion here. 

If you have some time that day, please stop by and create a customized charm bracelet for yourself or a loved one.

The cost is $20 per bracelet and all proceeds go towards Mums for Mount Sinai NICA.

Hope to see you there!

Or according to my boys, “WELCOME TO THE SAUSAGE STADIUM FIGHTS”!

This past Sunday I woke up remembering that I still had no idea what I was going to shoot for this month’s 10 on 10 when I stumbled down the stairs to witness this:  My spy kids rolling themselves up likes sausages with their bed covers and then proceeding to do some serious sumo-style wrestling.

I was just a few steps shy of my first cup of coffee but this photo opp was not to be missed!

Hmm, not sure I have much more to say other than I hope this gives you a fun glimpse of my crazy life with boys.

Make your next stop on our blog circle by visiting my friend and Burlington’s best photographer, Robyn Russell’s “10 on 10″ here.

Learn more about my ROCK THAT KIDSHOT! photo workshops here.

Photograph and interview women onto something GOOD.

Women who wake up each day with steadfast dedication and commitment to their work, ideals, and dreams.

Women who may not always get the recognition they deserve.

Forward thinking women, women on a mission, women that believe they have something to GIVE.

Women like Michelle Sengara…

Woman on a Mission Interview No. 1: with Michelle Sengara [Canada Director of SengaraKreig, Secondary School Teacher/TDSB: Grade 5 & 6, and recent Ph. D Candidate at York University, Toronto: Education, Language, Culture & Teaching]

How would you describe yourself in 10 words or less?
Ohhhh… tought one for a person with no so much self-confidence…
I guess that would be the first word: Self-concsious!
Energetic
Supportive & SupportED (great family)
Communicative
Thoughtful
Anxious
Determined
Loving
Direct (too much so at times!)

What is most sacred to you?
Family & doing work that matters in life.

Who or what is a current influential force in your life?
Personally – My beautiful, strong and supportive mother.
Professionally – Ken Robinson & Sugatra Mitra (education revolutionists)

What was the hardest part of growing up for you?
Being bullied
Feeling unheard

What advice can you offer to young women with GOOD ideas today?
Organize your thoughts into a series of ideas.
Communicate these ideas to someone who loves you. See what they say.
Fine-tune your ideas and make them clearer.
Find the people you need to talk to to make your idea a reality.
Get support in making yourself ready to communicate your idea to them.
Communicate it to them!
TRY TRY AND TRY… you will not succeed if you never try.

REMEMBER: You are still going to be YOU (beautiful and amazing YOU) even if they say no or ask you to change some things around. Life is about rolling with the punches because you know that no matter what, you’ll be ok.

Where will you be in 5 years? What will your ‘mission’ look like?
I will have completed my Ph.D in the field of educational technologies and community-based education. During its completion I will have made the necessary contact both financially and academically to make my idea of community-based “Learning Centres” a reality. I will be starting to design my first centre, maybe in a community here in Toronto!

Where can we find out more about your project?
My Ph.D statement of intent for now I think… I would love to have my website up and running, but alas, not yet. Anyone could feel free to email me at: michelle@sengarakreig.com.

Do you know of an exceptional woman on an exceptional mission? I want to include her in my Woman on a Mission photo series! Submit your suggestion here. 

“A mother is a person who seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie.” ~Tenneva Jordan

 Help me giveaway a FAMILY PHOTO SESSION to a special MOM on MOTHER’S DAY!

 All MOMS are special in my book. But if YOU know of an amazing MOM who could be honoured with a Family Photo Session and complete Digital Collection of session images (value $1125) with Diana Nazareth Photography and more

then you should nominate her TODAY!

HERE’S HOW YOU CAN NOMINATE A SPECIAL MOM:

1. Tell us why the mom you nominate should win a Family Photo Session in about 200 words (about one paragraph-long) or less by leaving a comment on my Facebook page. Post a picture of her here too, if you wish, and if you don’t think she would mind. You can nominate your SISTER, your MOM, a GOOD FRIEND or NEIGHBOUR a CO-WORKER…any MOM you think is amazing by YOUR standards. There’s no strict criteria for who you can nominate but she is most likely a mom who inspires you or a mom you think would benefit from having a photo session to help document and preserve the love she shares with her family.  She may possess a trait you strive towards or maybe she’s been through a tough period in her life, or maybe you simply admire all that’s she accomplished while simultaneously keeping it together at home.

2. LIKE my Facebook page and share this Mother’s Day Giveaway with your friends. Ask them to visit my Facebook page and nominate a special MOM of their own. (We’ll need to receive at least 20 entries for the giveaway to take place).

3. Have your friends support your nomination by asking them to comment below your entry on my Facebook page. This will help us when it comes time to vote on the winning MOM.

Details:

The only requirement is that this MOM (single or married) lives with her family in one the following ares: Toronto/GTA, Oakville, Burlington, Markham, or Brampton. If she wins, the Family Photo Session will be extended to her immediate family members only and she must be able to schedule her session date before Nov. 2013.

Entries:

We’ll accept entries until April 30.  The winning Mom will be announced on my Facebook page on Mother’s Day, May 12.

 All entries will be read and the winner selected by vote by a panel of great woman servicing Moms and their families across the GTA. And as a special gift they’ve put together a “gift bag of goodies” for the winning MOM.  Please support local female entrepreneurs by visiting their websites and don’t forget to LIKE their Facebook pages!

GIFT BAG:

The winning MOM will also receive a GIFT BAG containing:

A  bottle of Pumpkin Seed Organic Moraccan Argan Oil (30ml) from Erica Ashmore of Everything Mom and Baby

Complimentary Mom and Tot consultation session (Value $107) from Maya Pande of Pande Family Wellness Centre

FREE admission to a nutrition workshop or a $50 gift certificate towards a one-on-one nutritional consultation with Aviva Allen, Nutritionist

Four 8″  organic cotton hankies hand-made by  Jennifer Webster of Play Me Mama Crafts

$40 gift certificate from Nature’s Pure Bliss

$100 gift certificate from Twenty Toes Fitness

Need more info?  Send me a message here.

We look forward to reading about the special moms in your life!