Grand Rapids and the Reoch's

Working in the midst of summer was both refreshing and challenging. There was so much going on and so much to do that I found it hard at times to focus on any one thing. The house seemed to be a little messier than usual, I took longer to respond to emails, and my desire to spend time with my family took the lead over everything else there was to do. The weather was interesting as well. Not the typically hot summer days I'm used to, but I have to admit, I think it was pretty perfect. Not so hot that the butter melts into a pool on the kitchen counter, but warm enough to want to spend time outside enjoying the sunshine. This may go down as my favorite summer yet. Yes, I think it will.

I wanted to look back just a bit to tell a little more about the summer adventure in Michigan. The part where the boys and I traveled to their cousins houses for some "one-on-one" time with each family. Matt is the second of five siblings. All are married and soon, all will have at least one child.

The first stop was the Reoch's. This is Matt's older brother Scott, his wife Susan and their four, yes four children. Elizabeth who is a year older than Mason, Natalie who underwent three heart surgeries before the age of 3, Edward who is just about the toughest and softest boy I've ever met and Katie who is just over one and a spitfire.

They live in a beautiful home in Grand Rapids, MI not too far from the airport. They have a huge front yard with two lawns and a long flat driveway, perfect for riding bikes, scooters and playing ball. Their backyard is even bigger with a large sloping lawn which bottoms into a play area for the kids to swing and climb. A perfect place to be for a few days.

Susan and I have always had a strong connection. Maybe it's because we're two girls who came from similar backgrounds that married into this incredible family. Maybe it's our passion for nutrition and eating healthy. Maybe it's just that we seem to "get" each other. Whatever the reason, I loved spending time with her and the family and having three days to just hang out, was awesome.

I tried to do one special thing with each family. Our highlight here was our visit to the Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park. Not only was it an incredible place to walk around with sculptures throughout the grounds but the visiting artist was Chuhuli the glass blower. I missed the exhibit when it was here in SF so I was excited to be able to see it in Michigan. His glasswork is amazing and the pieces were incredible. The large sculptures were breathtaking. It was incredibly hot that day and the kids were melting as we walked around the grounds so we ended the trip at the children's area where they had some water features that the kids could play in. We let them get completely soaked in their clothes. I don't think my boys knew what to do. Mommy had NEVER let them get wet without their bathing suits!

Overall our stay with the Reoch's was great. The boys saw their Uncle Scott first hand try to shoot an animal. (don't get me started, I'm just going to write that and move on.) The cousins had a blast playing with each other, I loved talking with Susan about life and it was sad when it was time to go. We packed up the car, waved goodbye and headed to the next family on the adventure, the Boyer's. Matt's youngest sister's family.

One more additional note I want to add is that Susan has been knee deep in exploring her children's health and nutrition over the years as have I. It's been a true gift to be able to talk with her about it and to share experiences with gluten and the lack of it in our diets as well as NAET, the new approach we're both taking to try to heal our children and ourselves. I promise to write more about that at another time!

Susan, Scott and family, thank you so much for your hospitality. For feeding us and playing with us and sharing your home with us. We love you guys and will never forget our time with you! Here are some photo's from our time with you.

It's All Good Working With the Goodnickels

One of the things I love about designing wedding albums is working with talented photographers. The Goodnickels are no exception. They do beautiful work and have such a fun and casual style. When I look at their photo's I just want to hop in and be a part of the party.

We designed two albums for their "sample collection". One from Kiss for the simple but beautiful album and of course, a Leather Craftsmen for those couples looking for a little flare.

Here are a few shots of the books. You can check out their BLOG as well to see more, not only for more photo's of the books, but, stay a bit and check out the rest of their posts. I think you'll enjoy yourself!

Bridebound - Everything from "yes" to "I do"

This brightened my day today. FMN Design was "spotted" on the Bridebound blog today. This is a beautiful new Bay Area wedding blog that features everything you need to know for your big day.

Check it out...!!!

Side Door Studio - Summer Camp

Summer. Sigh. It's over. Officially, now that school has started. Sad but true.

One of the things that I love about summer though, if I can reminisce, are summer camps. It's fun to look at all of the options and talk with Mason about which camps he wants to attend. Lego camp through Playwell has been at the top of the list for two years now. Swim lessons are usually right up there too but for whatever reason, swimming didn't happen this year. Maybe because we spent most days at the lake and at the pool, but swim lessons took a back seat to Vacation Bible School and Sculpture Camp. I gave Mason the choices and that was what he decided.


I have to admit that I was so excited that he wanted to go to Sculpture Camp. Being artists here at home, any way that we can encourage Mason to explore his creativity we'll take. A friend and mother of one of Mason's pre-school classmates started Side Door Studio this summer and it's really taking off.


Laura, the owner and artist, is a wonderful, fun, loving woman who has two children of her own and a passion for life. I was so excited to be able to take some photographs of her art, the children, herself and her beautiful assistant Emma.


To introduce you to Laura Winter and Side Door Studio, here's a link to the slideshow of images I took during Mason's camp.





I thought it would be fun to ask Laura some questions about how she started her business and what drives her to move forward. Being a woman and a mom and starting a business is something I'm familiar with and I always love learning about other women's experiences. I hope you do too!

1. What was your inspiration to start Side Door Studios?

Here is what I said on my website: SIDE DOOR STUDIO was conceived by Sculpture Artist and mother of two budding sculptors, Laura Winter, while teaching classes in ceramics at a local school. Harnessing her own passion for self expression through sculpture, she encouraged the children to step beyond the lesson plan and freely express their own artistic vision. She was inspired by the sheer joy and passion that ignited the children and Side Door Studio was born.

When I began volunteering at MES I was disappointed with the lack of art being taught at our school. I asked a few teachers and was invited to teach clay projects. The feedback from the teachers was wonderful "I've never seen them so focused", "this classroom as never been so quiet" "What a joy to see them genuinely excited about something" were a few of the comments I received. I saw the joy in their faces when I really challenged them and allowed them self expression, as opposed to presenting a lesson and having them all make identical items. I began to dream about being able to do it more often, without the constraints of traditional art lesson plans found in school. I knew I could only do it it if I had my own studio. At Side Door Studio we really encourage the kids, try to give them the confidence to have their own "voice", enjoy the process of creation and emerge with a great sense of pride and achievement in what they have created. I decided to hold an art show at the end of each session so that the kids can really feel that sense of pride. I have been so moved at some of these shows that I have cried often while making a congratulatory speech! It is very moving to see a child with sensory issues, attention problems or a learning difficulty rise above those challenges and emerge from a week here with such a huge a sense of achievement. 


2. What are your plans for the business during the school year?

There are a lot of things brewing here at the studio! We are presently enrolling for after school classes "The Art of Clay Sculpture" for elementary age groups. We will be offering the same for middle school age too. I will be holding a class for seniors and going to various retirement homes to teach there. I am conjuring up a plan to have a family day where each member of the family sits together, builds one individual piece that at the end of the class would be joined together to form a collaborative family sculpture. I am meeting with a caterer and event planner tomorrow and we are coming up with a plan to host birthday parties here year round. Finally, "PJs & Clay" our babysitting club will start soon. Kids come at 5pm, work with clay or other sculptural materials, then we cozy up for a movie and pizza.


3. Tell me about Cocktails and Clay

Cocktails and Clay started because so many parents had expressed an interest in learning about clay too. Many of them stay at home mothers with a need to get out of the house and relax while doing something creative. Many felt intimidated "oh...but I've never done this before, I'm really bad at art, I haven't got a creative bone in my body"....and so on.. I knew that if we offered a relaxed setting, with no pressure or judgment and cocktails, the masses would come! Sure enough, the first night 10 women created some truly incredible things and surprised themselves all while chatting, eating and drinking and not even realizing what they were achieving!


4. Anything else you would want to say, any "fun facts" about you or the business?

We have a conga drum as a doorbell and I have often been woken to squirrels bouncing on it thinking that someone is here early for camp. I am in the process of making a giant sculpture of spaghetti and meatballs that will be made from over 400 lbs of clay and I am installing it on the roof. The spaghetti will literally be spilling over the sides of the house and sauce will drip down the walls. I am quite insane. Truly. A little odd :)


Laura, thanks so much for providing a safe creative outlet for our children and for us as well! I wish you tons of luck and success!!

100 Layer Cake!

I'm super excited to be featured on the beautiful blog 100 Layer Cake today! I'm a "Vendor Spotlight" and couldn't be more thrilled.

I put a guest book together using the photography of Stephanie Williams. I just love her work and creating the guest book was easy to do with such amazing photography. This is one of my favorite albums that I've made to date. It's sweet and beautiful. What I love best is that it appeals to my practical side as well as my romantic side by being able to double as a guest book AND a coffee table book.

I'll post some more photo's for you to see, and if you're one of those couples that has a bunch of awesome photo's from an engagement shoot or any other shoot for that matter and have no idea what to do with them, drop me a note and let's put a book together!

Back Home

There have been a handful of events in my life that I have felt that I was called to do by a force bigger than myself. God, my higher self, both, I don't know. Events like traveling to Thailand for New Years of 2000, moving home to spend time with my father while he was dying, going to Burning Man in 2005.

This trip, this trip to Michigan to spend time with Matt's parents, this was one of those times.

The visit was perfect. I really couldn't have asked for more. Three weeks to spend enjoying summer and family. The only thing I would have changed, was for Matt to have been able to stay the whole three weeks.

The main motivation of the trip was to spend time with Nana and Papa. With Matt's dad having ALS, there is a desire to have our boys spend as much time with him as possible, while he's still able to communicate and move around in his chair. I have a strong wish for my boys to know their Papa, to talk with him and to spend time doing things with him. Maybe it comes from my never knowing my grandfathers. They both died before I was born. I always felt like that piece of me was missing. I want my boys to know their grandparents as much as possible. I knew that this summer would be a perfect time to make that happen. Life could be on hold for a bit, I could take a small break from work and spend part of our summer in Michigan with family.

Week one was spent at Matt's parents house. Their home is honestly a little slice of paradise and I feel so blessed and lucky to have the chance to spend time there with them. The house is a beautiful three story home on the perfect corner of the lake. The backyard is a huge hill of grass with a dock, a speed boat, a pontoon, small sail boat and seedoo. All just waiting for someone to take them on the water. The neighbors have a paddle boat and kayaks that they graciously loan out any time. There is a raft to swim to when you feel like it and an overall feeling of summertime that overwhelms me when I'm there.

We definitely got some good time in with Nana and Papa as well as with some of the cousins and Aunts and Uncles over the 4th of July weekend. And for a bonus, Matt's grandparents came for a visit while we were there. It's so unbelievable cool for the boys to know their Great Grandparents. They are the best, I love them deeply and it's always so good to see them.

The first week flew by but was as wonderful as I had hoped. The boys were able to water ski with Matt which was awesome. This was the third year for Mason and Matt decided to drop a ski with him this time around. Seeing them single ski together was amazing. After watching his brother jump in the water, Miles wanted a turn and at 3 years old, was in the water, skiing with Matt. Unbelievable! They were also able to fish on the dock, sail, kayak, swim, play and just be boys.

Matt was only able to spend that first week with us. We had to pack him up and drive him to the airport which was a sad day. But, we were headed off to our own adventure that day. A tour of the cousins houses around Michigan. A chance for us to go to each of Matt's siblings houses for some one on one time. A rare treat that was so great. (I'll post about those trips later.)

It's funny, when I tell people that I spent three weeks in Michigan they always ask twice if I was at my in-laws house. I think it's a rare blessing that I enjoy them so much. I just love being with all of them. Matt comes from a wonderful family, all close and all loving. And even in the face of conflict, which is a rare thing among them, it is faced with love, respect and kindness with God as the foundation. I. Am. Blessed. to be a part of it all.

Sign. I miss having my morning tea overlooking the lake and going to sleep to the buzz and light of the fireflies. It was a magical time. I think the I am happy to be home though. The boys and I missed Matt and it was time to slide back into our routine, although that needs to wait a bit longer since my mom is visiting for the next two weeks.

I'll post more about the side trips later as I edit the photo's, but here are a few from that first week in Michigan.

Style Unveiled

Being away in Michigan has made summer feel even more like "summer". Something about being on a lake and in hot humid weather. Spending time with family and watching the boys play with thier cousins. It's just...great.

I have been doing work while away. Finding time here and there to respond to clients, do design work and prepare files. It's a way I like to work. Integrating work with life in more of a seamless way that doesn't feel so separate and isolated.

Sharing more of what's happening here is something I wish I was doing, but as I said in my last post, sometimes enjoying the moments are more satisfying than writing about them. (Facebook has also taken a bit of the "blogging" bug away since there's the instant gratification of posting a photo with a one line caption.) I do promise though to write about our trip, share some photographs and thoughts about our time away.

For now, I'm super excited to share the Style Unveiled blog post that mentions both FMN Design and GB Photographers. Matt and Garrett recently photographed a pre-wedding event as well as the wedding and after dinner party of a great couple. The images are just beautiful. I would check it out if you have the time and even go to GB's blog to see more of the pre-wedding event that was shot at the horse races.

What's really cool about the whole thing is why they mentioned FMN in the blog post. Emily, the bride, found GB Photographers from stumbling upon my blog. I love that! They also used one of Paloma's Nest's ring bearers bowls which are so beautiful and sweet. She made me a "Forget Me Not" bowl as a thank you to one of my vendors and it was just beautiful. I want to order more!

Well, check the post out it when you have some time. I hope you enjoy and I'll be back soon with some images from our Michigan summer. (I'm using my sister-in-laws computer at the moment or I would add a photo to this post. I couldn't connect to their wireless network so you'll just have to be patient!)