Quick peek for mom (and big sis’ – Hi, Tates!!)… who spent the morning sweating it out with me to snap some pics to celebrate Miss Olivia’s first birthday. Hope you love these, Aimee. More to come soon!

Once upon a time, not so long ago (ok, so it was probably 1992), one of my best friends was forced to pose for her school photo in a cheap, foldable director’s chair.  Picture it.  One leg draped over the side, elbow on her knee, fist on her hand, fake smile.  You can see it in your mind, I’m certain.  I’d show you the photo (because, yes, I still have my wallet copy), but I know for certain that she would strangle me.  I’m all about self-preservation.

Fast forward about 18 years.  Think about your own child’s school photos for just a minute… sure, there are the occasional ones that turn out “kind of good” or maybe even an exceptional one here or there.  Generally, though, the response most parents have to school photos is less than desirable.  I believe I heard a former co-worker last year refer to her child’s Fall school portrait with the phrase “this one’s not SO bad“.  Did she buy one of the packages offered through the chain photography studio that was hired by the school?  You bet she did.  You want to know why she did?  Guilt.  Plain & simple.

Back in 1984, my mom purchased my kindergarten pictures through the school.  And in 1985, she bought the first grade ones.  We won’t even discuss the disaster that happened in 1987, after I’d lost a few teeth and was ridiculously sweaty (yes, we shot the school photos that year after recess).  She bought them all… because she’s my mom and she loves me, right?  Obviously.  And because she did it for me, I believed I had to do it for my own child.

I’m a professional photographer and it’s only been a little over a year that I’ve been able to release myself from the guilt of not purchasing my boy’s cookie-cutter, fake-smiling, arms-folded-over-the-chest, neon-backdropped school photos.  I overcame it.  Finally.  And thank goodness because it felt pretty ridiculous writing a check to another photographer for something so sub-par, I gotta tell ya.

As a reward to you for making it through this rant (you still with me?), I’m pleased to announce that you, too, can be freed from the grasp of those horrendous depictions of your child. 

Yep.  You can look at your child’s photo and actually want to print it…  instead of saying, “this one’s not SO bad”.

August 16-19* – Back-To-School Studio Mini-Sessions are happening ’round these parts.

Get something fabulous.  Remember your little nugget as he/she begins the school year (and yes, we’ll revisit at the end of the year too, so we can see how much they’ve changed!)… contact me to book yours ASAP.

Applies to all kids school-aged (as well as pre-K).  Interested in preschool annual photos?  Contact me.

*additional dates may be added, if needed.

I am currently booking weekday sessions in the month of August (sorry, no weekends left) and have some of both week and weekday options for the month of October (though the weekends will go f-a-s-t for Fall family sessions).

If you’re even remotely considering booking in October, please contact me asap to discuss!

I’m bitten by the craft bug.  If you don’t believe me, just come & take a peek into my spare bedroom.  It’s terrifying (slightly less so since I took the time to organize a bit a few days ago) to say the least.  I have tubs full of fabric scraps.  Ribbon, notions, buttons, fabrics (some of which are too fabulous to part with even the tiniest scrap of).  I’m always looking for something to do with those scraps – some way to use them up and showcase their fabulosity.  Most recently, I came up with the idea of making quiet books.  This was my first attempt and I thought I’d share it here!

Materials Needed:

• Felt squares (I used 12 total for my book)
• Lots & lots of fabric or ribbon scraps, cute buttons, and a general imagination.
• Embroidery machine is optional, but helpful if you don’t want to include paper words (or don’t want to kill your fingers by cutting each letter out by hand)
• Sewing machine
• Thread
• Needle

I don’t have photos of the actual steps I used in this process (only ones of the finished product), but it’s super duper easy.

1. Cut your felt squares into the size you want your finished book to be.  Be sure & cut enough for all of your pages plus the front/back cover (and a blank backer for each of those!).  I cut 14 rectangles in total.
2. Design your pages & attach your fabric/ribbon embellishments in the order you want them to be on the page.  An important note: be SURE and remember that your pages are going to be attached back-to-back.  This means you have to design half of them to leave space for the “binding” on the left side, and the other half with space on the right side.  That’s so it doesn’t look stupid later.  Trust me.  I almost messed this part up.  Good thing I’m a quick thinker, huh?
3. Attach your pages together front/back (see above step) like a sandwich.  Stitch around the entire border (this is actually 2 pages stacked on top of each other) to create a finished page.
4. Sew your finished pages together (I was able to sew all of my inner pages together by machine, then hand-stitched the front & back covers on)
5. Re-read these instructions because I’m not a very good teacher.  And then probably google a little bit to figure out a better way to do this, or at least find more concise directions.  Or email me.  That’s an option. 

Here are a few photos of my finished project! Oh and ps, for all the moms out there – this book really is “quiet”. As in it makes no sound. Making it perfect for church, weddings, or any other occasion where you need to busy the kid(s) but need them to be quiet!

We spent the entire day shooting yesterday. First, in the studio where both girls took turns being the most fabulous rock stars you have ever come across…

Then, we shot a little outdoors in one of my fave urban spots. I’ll need to write a whole separate blog posts on that one, because we got tons of great shots of these two! Here are just a few of my faves.

(Her momma won’t like this next shot, I’m sure, because she isn’t smiling… but you guys know me. And you know I’m a SUCKA for a serious faced nugget like this…)

And another fave from today.

…and that’s precisely the thing I needed to see after almost a solid 72 hours of being stuck in bed sick. My face is happy.