Mary Colleen Photography

09/02/2026

08/30/2026

It’s time for another Community Spotlight!

Meet Josie & Jeff McKay, the wonderful people behind Valleyview House Concerts!

For the past 15 years, they’ve been bringing incredible, award-winning musicians to Valleyview through Home Routes, creating an intimate space where our community can gather and enjoy truly amazing live music.

What started with their love of music has grown into something pretty special for Valleyview. If you have not been to one of their many concerts or even heard of them check out what they have coming up and check them out! Read more about them below 👇🏻

🎶 VALLEYVIEW HOUSE CONCERTS 🎶

We’ve lived in Valleyview for almost 40 years, and we’ve always loved live music. About 16 years ago, while listening to CKUA, we discovered Home Routes—a network that brings world-class musicians to small communities through volunteer hosts.

We thought, why not Valleyview?

For the past 15 years, we’ve been hosting Home Routes concerts, and at times we’ve welcomed 15–20 concerts a year! These intimate house concerts feature incredible, award-winning musicians from across Canada and beyond, with genres ranging from folk and country to blues, jazz and singer-songwriters.

As volunteer hosts, our family promotes the concerts, handles tickets, feeds and houses the musicians, and sends them on to their next stop. All concert proceeds go directly to the artists. Supporting live music and giving musicians a place to share their music with our community is something we’re incredibly grateful to be part of.

🏡 A few House Concerts 101 details:
• Located just north of Valleyview
• Doors around 6:45 PM
• Music starts at 7:30 PM
• Two 45-minute sets with a snack break
• Usually around 30 guests
• Most concerts are $35 at the door / $30 in advance
• Students $25 | Kids 14 & under FREE
• Cash at the door or e-transfer in advance
• Free snacks, coffee and juice
• Artists usually have CDs and merchandise available

It’s relaxed, welcoming and all about great people, great music and supporting artists in an intimate setting where you get to meet the musicians.

Please message, text or call ahead so we know how many people to expect.

Reminder - to come scent-free: Because we share this intimate space with people who have scent sensitivities and allergies, please avoid strong perfumes, colognes and hairspray.

Come join us for a concert sometime—you might just discover your new favourite musician!

Thanks so much for supporting live music! And please share this with friends who may be interested. ❤️🎵

Concert Dates!

Here is the list of concert dates for the 2026/27 Homeroutes season at Valleyview House concerts.

Text Josie at (780) 524-8517

- Kristina Olsen — Saturday, September 19

- Murfitt and Main — Sunday, October 18

- Marin Patenaude — Tuesday, November 24

- Mark Rubin — Wednesday, March 10

- Sarah Beatty — Thursday, April 8

- Marie-Veronique Bourque and Christine Tassan — Friday, May 7

Don’t forget there is also an extra concert on Tuesday, September 15th -Sean Burns and Lost Country with Erik’s Fowler.

We look forward to seeing you!

08/29/2026

The Roaming Booth that moves through the crowd just like you do. Roaming, connecting & capturing the moments that happen naturally. Events, Festivals, Celebrations, Golf tournaments - it’s even been on the dance floor! Elevate your next event 📷

Thanks Jenna and Greg for the amazing music- what you hear, is them playing! No audio overlay. ❤️🎸

08/29/2026

What a day!

Today I had the pleasure of partnering with the Town of Valleyview, local artists, vendors, and an amazing group of community members to celebrate Alberta Day — 121 years of this incredible province!

The Town of Valleyview Recreation Department absolutely delivered! From lawn games and delicious hamburgers to glitter tattoos and all the little details that made the day so much fun, your hard work did not go unnoticed.

There was ice cream from Carrie Anne & the Backyard Cart , incredible vocals and music from local artists Greg & Jenna Loewen that created such a beautiful atmosphere throughout the day, face painting, and so much more!

And of course, Mary Colleen Photography was there to capture the fun! The Social Booth was ready to capture those must-have moments, while the Roamer Booth made its way through the crowd, bringing the fun right to everyone. There were definitely some great smiles, laughs, and memories made!

A huge THANK YOU to everyone who helped make today so special — the Town of Valleyview, Recreation Department, local artists, vendors, volunteers, and everyone who came out to celebrate with us. ❤️

It takes a community to create a day like this, and Valleyview showed up!

🇨🇦 Happy Alberta Day! 💙💛
Here’s to celebrating our community, our province, and the people who make it such a special place to call home.

ShopLocal SupportLocal

08/27/2026

✨ Big news! ✨

I am excited to announce that Mary Colleen Photography is partnering with a new school for their school pictures for the 2026/2027 school year!

I’ve had the pleasure of working with the Fox Creek School in a few different capacities over the past two years, so this partnership feels extra special.

Niki and I are excited to officially be the ones behind the camera for their school pictures! We can’t wait to see all the new faces, big smiles, personalities, and little moments that make school pictures so much fun.

Here’s to a great school year and lots of new faces to photograph!

08/23/2026

NEW PRODUCT ALERT! You might have already seen — or even have — one of my popular circle keychains.

Well, I’m adding something new to the collection.

Introducing the Mini Photostrip Keychain.

You already know and love taking your photo strip home from an event and putting it on your wall, in a scrapbook, on the fridge, or somewhere special. Now you can take those memories with you wherever you go.

Attach your Mini Photostrip Keychain to your purse, backpack, camera bag or keys and keep your favourite photos close all the time.

And here’s where it gets really fun — these can also be branded on the back for events. Think weddings, grad celebrations, corporate parties, team events or special celebrations. Your guests get a fun little keepsake featuring their memories from the event, with your event branding on the back.

It’s a photo strip, a keepsake and a keychain all in one.

Because why leave your favourite memories at home when you can take them with you?

Message me to find out more about the Mini Photostrip Keychain or how they can be customized for your next event.

EventKeepsakes

08/21/2026

There’s a LOT that happens behind the scenes before an event ever begins.

Right now, I’m getting the social booth ready to head out to Calgary for an upcoming conference—and that means more than just packing it up and sending it on its way!

There’s template building, design time for the video screens, creating and documenting instructions (today’s tasks), taking reference photos, and plenty of meetings to make sure everyone is aligned and on track.

It’s the behind-the-scenes work that helps everything come together smoothly once the booth is onsite. From the first design idea to the final setup, there are a lot of moving pieces—and a lot of teamwork that makes it happen.

A little peek at the prep before the social booth hits the road!

08/20/2026

Today I toured my partner lab here in Alberta — a business and team I’ve had the privilege of working with for more than 15 years.

The buisness and the people behind the scenes who help bring the products to life and make sure everything looks its best. Their expertise, dedication, and attention to detail are a huge part of what we do.

Relationships matter in business. Great products are built on great partnerships, and this team has been an invaluable part of my journey. From the Head of Purchasing, to Packaging & Shipping, Tech Support and the Head of the Company - I deal with all of them. Thank you for your support, your hard work, and for being such an integral part of my success. You are appreciated ❤️

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