My Life in Pictures: A Canon Love Story

Before I decided to dive into the world of non-profits and fund development I worked as a journalist. And as any good journalist knows the lifeblood of any story lies not just within the words but the photo that accompanies it.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Not for a journalist. We already wrote the words, to me a picture is worth a thousand emotions.  (I know there are not actually a thousand different emotions, but you know what I am going for here so work with me.)
It is the image and the way it is composed that bring out the feelings of the people in the story and the feelings of the person reading it. 

I am getting pretty good as this photography stuff.

Last month I decided to walk on the wild side and relearn to shoot images off of the green automatic setting. Gasp! I swear even my camera was like "Calm down Jennifer, let's not go too far here."

During this course I started to remember what happens when I take the camera off the automatic setting and let my brain do the work. Then your creativity truly comes alive.

While sitting in photography class I looked at my old Canon Rebel. I ran out and bought this camera when I first started working at the Petawawa Post military base newspaper. It took me two years to pay it off but I was in love with it. That was a decade ago. It is now starting to show wear in the areas where I hold it, and I have lost battery chargers are lens caps more than I can count but we are still going strong. 

I recently took it in to be cleaned inside for the first time. When I picked it up the staff member pointed out that it was really dirty and to not let a decade go by before cleaning it again. Oops. 
I replied " Yeah it was probably filled with sand from Panama, Jamaica, and other beaches as it goes everywhere with me."

I finally took a picture of the moon!!!!!

Then I thought about what my camera has actually seen. From vacations and cruises to tropical places, beaches in Jamaica, historic churches in Panama, wine cellars in Napa, it has seen my own wedding, the day Charlotte was born, her Christmas's, baptism and first day of school. Because of my job it has also captured the sadness of a memorial  service for a fallen soldier, the sense of pride in a promotion ceremony and the sheer joy of families when soldiers walk through the door after being overseas. 

It has captured friends and family that we have loved and we have lost.  It has seen me at my best and some times at my worst. Many people would never think of their camera as any more than a piece of equipment and I mean it is but it is also so much more to me. My Canon has been there for ten years and has documented thousands upon thousands of my life moments without fail.  

It is not the most convenient thing to carry- especially on vacations, it is large and bulky but when my mother ask me if I am actually taking that big camera on our next vacation the answer is always yes.

People often say if these walls could talk, well my camera does. In the form of photos printed in newspapers, hanging on my wall, in my scrapbooks, all stories, emotions and memories captured through the lens. I don't know how long my Canon will survive, it has already outlived most equipment pieces in my life, but for now we are getting ready to embark on the next family vacation and my camera will be on the top of my packing list.

Fireplace Facelift

For those lucky enough to have a working fireplace in their home they know it is often the center of attention when people walk in the room. 

Guarantee someone will comment on it, usually a simple "Oh you have a fireplace," 

If the conversation ends there the person may have been taught that if they can't say anything nice don't say anything at all. 

Fireplace before in all it's green and gold glory

It may be time to step back and really take a look at your fireplace. If your paint colours, furniture and decor have changed several times over the years but you fireplace has not, it may be outdated. 

When it comes to updating decor the fireplace is often left behind. It doesn't have to be. Refacing your fireplace is a mid-level skill job that normally cost between $400 to $1000. Unless you really really need that marble shipped from Italy......

Here is my own Fireplace Facelift
I love my propane fireplace in the hosue we just moved into last year, I did not however, like the green and gold colour scheme going on there. Not only was it a little dated it seemed much too fancy for the rest of the rustic look of my house. 

The other thing I didn't like was the mantel. I felt that the corner fireplace that just ended with a shelf gave me this awkward corner to deal with. I believe the previous owners had a tv up there. 

We carefully chipped off all the old tiles. Be careful not to damage the fireplace, break the glass with a accidental chisel slip, hey it could happen..... Bye bye green tiles!

If you are keeping your mantel remove it carefully  and lay it aside. Reusing it will save you $$$. 

If you are building a new one source out the local building store for remnant pieces- you don't need much and it can save you. You will want to use a nice heavy wood for the project, such as oak. Hubby managed to score me a FREE piece of solid Cherry from a friend who had no use for it.

We framed up a wall to the ceiling and hung 5/8 boards to the front to adhere our stone to. This is less than $100 to finish.

Love my fireplace even more at Christmas time

The stone product we used is available at most hardware stores. It comes in tiles that you install with adhesive. Keep in mind you will need a saw blade that can cut through this type of stone tile. Refer to the experts at the hardware store for help. The tiles cost us approx $300 for 3 boxes.

We then scored some black tiles on the discount table at the hardware store for less than $20 because there wasn't many left of the discontinued tile in stock. No worries! I didn't need very many. Just remember to keep a few in case one gets broken in future. You wouldn't want to have to tear it all out for the sake of one broken tile.

I then stained the mantel a dark espresso brown to complement the grey stonework. We had this stain left over from our bar project. If not pick up a small can of stain for about $6-$10.

So there it is. In all it's glory. Commanding attention as soon as you walk in the room. It is especially beautiful at Christmas time. 

Now when guest come in the stop and say "I love your fireplace!!! Did you guys do that???"

Yes, yes we did! In one full day for less than $500. Have you done your own Fireplace Facelift? How did it turn out?