biscuit's space | The blog of photographer Katherine Carver

Jun 24

Around Here: June

We have been enjoying some warmer temperatures recently, and it really feels like summer! Below are some items that have occurred around here in June! Happy Summer!

-continuing to work steadily on my long-term photography project, and I have a few more months to go to finally finish!

-since it is officially summer now, Doug and I are currently working on finishing our summer ‘bucket list’ of fun things that we want to accomplish this summer!

-celebrated a fun Father’s Day together!

-we are working on the final details of Victory’s portrait, which is Audrey Hepburn inspired, to be finished in the next couple of weeks, similar to Biscuit’s painting where they will hang side by side in our home!

-we finally got our house windows cleaned, inside and out! It is wonderful to be able to clearly see out of our windows again, as they had not been cleaned since our house was built about almost three years ago!

-next week we are finishing our ‘spring cleaning’ with having our bedroom rugs cleaned along with cleaning out a few remaining closets!

-enjoying time at our neighborhood pool!

-enjoying time on our decks together in the evenings, watching the sun set.

-burning summer scented candles in our home!

-when it is not too hot and humid, opening our windows and letting fresh air into the house!

-enjoying long walks around the neighborhood and dinners together outside! Victory still very much loves going for rides in her Hound About!

-began reading Spark Joy — a good read so far.

-watched the second season of Bloodline, a really good series!

-started watching the first season of the River, a new television series.

-still using my Fitbit and I’m hitting 10,000 steps per day most days.

-continuing to make incremental progress on our ever-growing to do list!

Happy Friday! It is supposed to be beautiful weather here this weekend, and we plan to take full advantage of it this weekend! Hope that you have a good weekend!

Jun 22

Quotes: Letterfolk

Doug recently helped me hang our new Letterfolk letter board in our home, and I love it! I love quotes, as our refrigerator is filled with quotes and photo magnets! With our letter board I can now, as frequently as I would like, change the quotes displayed in our home! If you love mantras and quotes, this is a great way to easily and visually display the mantras and quotes you love. Our Letterfolk board currently reads, “Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.” — Helen Keller.

A few photos of Letterfolk boards, from around the web, are shown below.

Happy Wednesday!

The above images are via Letterfolk.

Jun 20

1 Comment

Victory: Photography Project — 89

Beginning in January 2014, I started a weekly photography project with my muse, Victory! I will continue to share this project on the blog this year! My goal is to document all of Victory’s changes, while preserving fleeting moments and memories, while capturing moments of our everyday.

Happy Summer! We hope that you had a lovely weekend! It was beautiful, gorgeous weather here! Doug enjoyed a really nice Father’s Day — his third Father’s Day with our fur girl, Victory! For Father’s Day, we went to Andy Nelson’s for dinner, a favorite of Doug’s, followed by Rita’s for ice cream, which Victory also loved! We had a great weekend together!

Little Victory has good taste and she gave her Daddy some nice Father’s Day gifts, pictured below: a custom Lionel train car featuring Doug and Victory; Duke Cannon shave cream and soap; a new bourbon; a custom photo mug featuring Doug and Victory (a yearly tradition); and a custom key chain featuring Doug and Victory. Doug was very surprised and pleased! A few photographs from our weekend are shown below!

Happy Monday!

Jun 17

1 Comment

Have a Lovely Weekend!

What are you up to this weekend? The weather here looks beautiful this weekend! We’re celebrating Father’s Day, attending a neighborhood party, and plan to make it to the pool for some relaxing and reading time! Victory is all ready with her gifts to give to her Daddy on Sunday! We can’t believe that summer officially begins on Monday, and Doug and I are currently working on our ‘Summer Bucket List!’ Hope that you have a great weekend, and here are some fun links from around the web…

Comfort dogs are helping Orlando victims.

The new issue of Four & Sons is now available.

Why you need a true hobby and not just a side-hussle.

Guide for making a gallery wall.

Loving these comfortable shorts.

Love this blog, filled with very interesting content!

Fun mugs! I especially liked this one.

Some fun summer recipes.

How to overcome worry and be a friendlier person.

Are you right-brained or left-brained? (I use both sides almost equally.)

The importance of to-do lists.

“And if you are alive and in relationship, you do vulnerability. If you are alive and in relationship and in business, you do it hourly.” – Brene Brown in a Fast Company article from a few years back.

Finally, my friend’s book just came out this week!

Jun 15

Fostering Creativity

Below are some ways you can foster more creativity into your life, which have helped me when I have felt stuck creatively.

1. Set a Schedule – Setting and sticking to a schedule to work on your creative endeavors is really important. Otherwise, too often, time slips by with little work completed. Take advantage of little bits and chunks of time, even if that is all you are able to work into your schedule. Small, incremental progress adds up over time, and you will be amazed how much you can get done in a small amount of time, if you put your mind to it!

2. Dedicated Work Space – Having a dedicated work space frees you from distractions, while providing a place where you can surround yourself with items that inspire you and make you feel the most comfortable. It also helps to separate work life from personal life, a mix that can often leave some people overwhelmed. Also, don’t be afraid to mix things up every now and then — working from the deck on a nice day can be a refreshing break in the routine, particularly when your creative juices have stalled.

3. Discuss Your Creative Endeavors — Share your work with others that you trust, and talk about what is going on in your work. Having someone/some people to share ideas and discuss hurdles, is vital to keeping an open mind and developing creative solutions.

4. Explore Other Creative Interests – Working everyday on the same project or types of projects can become a drain, at times. It is easy to get stuck in a creative rut and fall into patterns that you may not even realize exist. Exploring other creative interests, can provide you an outlet that is different enough to keep your mind stimulated, while still keeping you thinking about your creative work from a different perspective. Thus, it is a good idea to pursue other creative endeavors that you enjoy.

5. Get Ample Sleep – Sleep deprivation can make it difficult to focus on anything, let alone your creative work. When you are tired, you are not going to have many creative insights; and when your body is not at its best, neither is your mind. Thus, it is important to have ample daily sleep to help you continue to steadily pursue your creative projects.

6. Take Breaks – If you find that you are in the “zone,” and you find yourself working for hours, then embrace it. During these times, you often can produce your best work. However, a couple of regularly scheduled breaks, throughout your work day, can serve as a great way to re-energize. When you get stuck, it is a good idea to take a break, as it forces you to stop and step away and, during these breaks, you are more likely to see the problem you are trying to solve in a new light.

7. Regular Exercise – Daily exercise is a great way to get your creative juices flowing. It provides space and many people devise ideas while they are exercising that they would not otherwise discover. So, if you are stuck in you creative project, go take a walk or run, and you will be likely to solve the problem or road block that you are facing.

Happy creating!

Jun 13

1 Comment

Perspective on Time

“Time is what we want most, but what we use worst.” — William Penn

Sometimes it feels like I never have enough time to get everything done on my ever growing to do list. I believe one of the reasons we feel like we do not have enough time is we get caught up on what others are doing instead of focusing on what we can actually be doing. Often, we feel rushed, busy, and unaccomplished because of comparison. Comparison is the worst game because nobody wins. I feel better and much more productive when I focus on what I can accomplish versus comparing myself to what others are doing. The lesson to having more time: focus on your goals and dreams!

Additionally, I really like the idea of a “Stop-Doing List,” coined by Jocelyn K. Glei, which has changed my perspective in relation to time. Glei states, “In this Age of Distraction, we’re all dodging and weaving between so much incoming information that what you don’t do on a daily basis has become as important—if not more—as what you do execute on.”

Below are two lists that Glei follows, which also might help you create more time and space in your daily schedule.

Here’s a list of the things I don’t do while working:

I don’t schedule meetings in the morning.

I don’t listen to music or radio that has words.

I don’t look at my email until I’ve done 90 mins of deep-attention work.

I don’t treat emails from people I don’t know as urgent.

I don’t look at social media until the afternoon, and then only on breaks.

I don’t tweet live. (I schedule almost everything in advance.)

I don’t over program my daily schedule so that there is no downtime.

I don’t work more than three hours without a break.

I don’t answer my phone or texts in the morning.

I don’t read the news.

I don’t eat at my desk.

I don’t work past 6:00 p.m.

And here’s a list of things I make sure to do:

I do make my to-do list for tomorrow the night before.

I do focus on deep-attention before hyper-attention work.

I do regularly identify and update my goals for the next 6 months, and the actions I need to take to meet them.

I do always have a variety of projects on my slate so I can shift tasks based on my mood and energy level, while still getting important stuff done.

I do meet (or catch up with) one interesting person a week.

Jun 10

Listening: Podcasts

I enjoy listening to podcasts while I am working. Below is a list of my current favorite podcasts, that you might be interested in checking out!

1. Good Life Project Radio – Good Life Project Radio is hosted by Jonathan Fields. Good Life Project Radio comprises in-depth, unscripted, deeply-inspiring conversations and insights from artists, entrepreneurs, makers, and world-shakers. You can also view Good Life TV here, to watch past interviews.

2. Elise Gets Crafty — The Elise Gets Crafty podcast is hosted by Elise Cripe. The focus of this podcast is discussing creative small business.

3. The Lively Show — The Lively show is hosted by Jess Lively. The Lively show is designed to uplift, inspire, and help you add a little extra intention to your everyday. Episodes relate to various aspects of our lives including possessions, personal habits, relationships, and career.

4. The RobCast — The RobCast is hosted by Rob Bell, a storyteller and former church pastor, who explores the idea that everything is spiritual.

5. Design Matters — Design Matters is hosted by Debbie Millman. In this podcast, Debbie Millman interviews all types of designers, artists, writers, and educators, and the conversations during the interviews are fantastic and very thought-provoking.

6. The Minimalist — At age 30, best friends Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus walked away from their corporate careers, jettisoned most of their material possessions, and started focusing on what’s truly important. In this podcast Joshua and Ryan, known to their millions of readers as “The Minimalists,” discuss living a meaningful life with less stuff.

Happy Friday! Wishing you a great weekend. If the weather holds, we plan to go to the Eastern Shore with our little fur girl!

Jun 7

Prints Matter: Printing Your Images

We live in a digital age, and most people today no longer print their images regularly, but they have thousands of images housed on their digital devices. However, it is really worth printing the images that you like and enjoy, as it brings so much joy! With the amount of images from our cameras and iPhones, computers, and those taken by friends and family, it can be difficult to keep up with all the digital images you have taken. I do my best to stay on top of my images by editing them soon after shooting (and upon receiving images from others); then, I pick my favorites and have them printed: to place in albums; frames for around the house; and frames for our walls.

On my computer, I organize my personal images in main folders and sub folders, by chronological date. You can also organize by the type of event, date, person, etc. Whatever works well for you to keep track of you images.

1. Edit – First, edit your images to your desired look, using Photoshop, Lightroom, and other photo based apps.

2. Back Up – Additionally, I always back up my images in two additional places for safe keeping.

3. Printer – Next, depending upon the cost and quality of printing you prefer, find a printing service you are satisfied with, and then start printing your images in the desired sizes, while keeping in mind: (1) the size of the image file and your desired resolution (the larger the image file, the larger you can print your image at your desired resolution); and (2) how you want to present these images — in a frame, on the wall, in a custom made frame with a mat, etc. This will help you determine what size image you should print, etc. There are many places online where you can have your images printed as well as having archival fine art prints made, which last much longer than a traditional print, if protected and cared for properly.

4. Presentation – Next, find albums (made with acid free paper) and frames that compliment the image(s). If you go the custom frame route, make sure you are using an acid free mat and use a framer who specializes in archival framing of photographs.

5. Frame – Finally, frame those images and place in your desired locations!

If you get into this habit, it is much more manageable than sifting through thousands of images while trying to organize a massive quantity of images at one time. Working a little at a time, is much easier to manage and keep up with.

Importantly, after printing and framing images around your home, you will likely find that your home looks and feels better and, most of all, brings you joy!

Additionally, if you want to easily bring some personal images into your kitchen, I highly recommend the Sticky9 magnets — you can have many images on your fridge, and you can continually update your images using these magnets very easily! We currently have over 100 Sticky9 photo magnets on our fridge! You will never have to worry about images falling off or getting damaged this way!

I also like making yearly calendars and photo books of significant events and of our trips that we take each year, and I recommend using Artifact Uprising.

Happy printing and framing!

*Images are courtesy of Pinterest.

Jun 3

1 Comment

Photographs: Baby Liam and Family

While we were recently visiting family in Michigan, including meeting our nephew, Liam, I did a photo shoot for my sister, Kassie, to forever capture this special time with her little family. Several of my favorite images are shown below.

Wishing you a great weekend!

Jun 1

2 Comments

Snapshot: Baby Liam

We recently spent several days in Michigan where we met our sweet and good-looking nephew, Liam! He is simply adorable! He is a really good baby, and Victory loved meeting Liam, too. Victory was very gentle with Liam and, while Liam was nursing, Victory gave Liam multiple licks on his tiny toes and the bottoms of his tiny feet, and Liam did not seem to mind! Victory did really well on this trip and she had a great time at her Grandma and Grandpa’s house and her Autie Kassie’s house! Also, while in downtown Ann Arbor, Victory enjoyed her first ‘pup-cake’ from the Cupcake Station!

My sister, Kassie, is doing well and she is a wonderful mom, very at ease; and Liam loves his Mama very much! While we were visiting, my parents and Doug and I all took turns holding little Liam and feeding Liam his supplemental bottles! Kassie and I even gave Liam his first full bath. Doug was a natural with Liam, whom he coined, ‘Little Dude!’; Doug even held Liam for over an hour and a half straight without any fussing from Liam! We also took Liam to Eastern Market for the first time and he did really well.

We wish little Liam lived closer to us. We look forward to our trip together next month, where we are spending time together at a lake house on Lake Michigan! We can’t wait to hold precious Liam again! I already miss his wonderful baby smell and his velvety soft skin! Thank goodness for FaceTime!

A few snapshots are shown below from our recent trip to Michigan meeting baby Liam, who is a month old in these images! (As you will see, ‘Uncle Nick’ is still getting acclimated to little Liam!) Additional photos from our trip are forthcoming!

Happy Wednesday!