Merry Christmas everyone!!

Now that all the cards have been sent and are hanging on fridges across America, I can share a few of the cards I designed this year.  I calculated over 2,000 cards that went out with my name on the back…that’s a lot of cards!

Here are just a few I wanted to share.  I love how each card really shows the personalities of the families that chose them.

I can’t believe tomorrow’s Christmas Eve!  I hope you are all tucked in with your loved ones, enjoying these days in your nice cozy homes.

-Kristin

I love the entire process.  Brainstorming locations, picking out clothes, getting to know families, having fun, capturing the perfect moment, downloading it all, oohing and ahhing over what I get to work with, and finally adding my artistic touch to the image.

If you give 4 photographers the same photo, you’d end up with 4 different versions.  We all have our own style.  But, sometimes it’s hard to narrow down the direction I want to take a photo.

Here’s an image of Jillian I took this summer.  I was playing around today with different versions of the same girl. 🙂

And sometimes I decide that I just want to crop it totally different than the way I took the photo.

I’m off to snuggle with this cute girl…

-Kristin

Before we even begin, I’m going to warn you this will be a loooooong post.  I guess I’m making up for the last few where I just showed one image.  And I have good reason to share lots…we had an awesome photo session!

Can you believe it was 50 degrees??  It’s the coldest day since I’ve been here and Erika and Jacob had to make it look warm and toasty!

Are these two not the cutest couple!?  And the sofa…oh, the sofa.  As soon as a client starts talking about taking furniture outside, I know it’s meant to be. 🙂

I just gave a photography class to a local mom’s group and was telling them that doorways are one of my favorite places to shoot.  Not only does it frame the subject, but the light comes in perfectly.

Later we ventured down the street and found this amazing textured door…

And we couldn’t leave without incorporating a bit of orange.  It’s the new black, you know.

Erika told me her favorite pictures of the two of them are kissing pictures, so I have to post one for her on the blog…

I have a feeling you will be kissing the same way when you’re 90.  It’s great to see people so in love…

-Kristin

Today’s post isn’t about the picture…

…but I had to share any way.  Ben snapped this for me with his camera phone.  They installed the pictures I took way back in October.  I think it’s the biggest I’ve ever seen my work!  I’ll be going by to check it out soon and will take more pictures to share.

Fresh Foods Cafe opens in January at Catalina Landing in Long Beach…so go check them out!  If their food is anything like what Ben makes at home, it’s going to be phenomenal!

-Kristin

Now is the time of year when we are able to pack: 4 parties, a job, bake a cake, write a Christmas play, send out the rest of your cards and shop for presents.  All in a single day.  It’s crazy!  Today, has been one of the those days for me.

I started out the morning with breakfast on the water (love that about long beach!) with good friends, then headed over to Jillian’s preschool Christmas performance (or sperborbans as she calls it) and 2 parties in the boys’ classrooms.  After that I came home to clean my house, do some photo editing then head off to Rascals to Rebels for more Santa pictures.  After that it’s time to make dinner and prepare for a chocolate fountain feast for 20 or so college students.  All in a day???!??

So, as you can see my blogging has had to take a back seat, but I will fit it in for the day.  🙂  I had to share one of my Santa pictures from today.  Here he is with the cutest dogs ever!  They were wearing matching sweaters with pom-pom trim and had rhinestone collars on.  I can’t image what they told Santa they wanted for Christmas!

I hope you had a productive day too! 🙂

-Kristin

I just got off the phone with a client, telling her about how I’m constantly driving around looking for the perfect locations.  I have a mental file of what locations fit the needs of my clients.  This time I was looking for a pale, sort of blurred out background.  The portraits will be hanging in a home with mostly white decor, so I wanted something really soft.

Jillian came with me in the hunt.  Of course she’s wearing all dark colors…woops.  It would have looked better with a lighter color palette, but cute nonetheless.

Have a great Thursday!

-Kristin

Today was rainy and mushy and all around yucky.  I had to go out in it because it was my last chance to do Christmas shopping.  Jillian’s home tomorrow and the kids have a half day on Friday, so today was it!  All that I wanted to do was curl up at home with a cup of cocoa and a good book.  After all my shopping I had a bit of time, so I decided to make a batch of toffee.  I only make this recipe at Christmas-time.  I grew up with my mom making it at Christmas, so it makes me feel all nostalgic.  🙂

Before I get to the recipe, I’ll share some pictures of the kitchen.  Like I said before, we knocked down walls and Danny took the support beam that hung across the kitchen and tucked it up in the attic.  It made the kitchen seem so much bigger!  We also kept the existing cabinets, but painted them white.  We went back and forth on the countertops and ended up splurging on a pale gray granite.  It looks really nice with all the white.  Oh and to balance things out, I got all my stainless steel appliances through craigslist.  That saved a lot…and I got to meet lots of “interesting” people.  Each appliance has a story!

One more note about the kitchen…I put all my baskets on top of the cabinets, but I’m not quite so sure about it.  I don’t have a lot of space, so it does solve that problem, but I don’t want it to look too “country” or too cluttery.  Any opinions on the baskets?  Should I leave them or store them away somewhere??

Alright, on to the toffee….  Like I said, I make this every year.  It’s so good and remarkably easy to make.  Take one cup of pecans and crush them with a big knife.

Then melt 1/2 cup butter with 3/4 cup packed brown sugar in a small saucepan.  Bring it to a boil and then stir constantly for about 5 minutes.  This is the only tricky part…don’t let it burn.  If you start to small a hint of burning, pull it off the heat…even it it hasn’t been 5 minutes.  And make sure you stir it the whole time…again, the whole burning thing is no good!  Spread the mixture over the nuts on a cookie sheet.

Finally, take a big handful of semi-sweet chocolate chips and spread them over the toffee.  I usually make a little tinfoil tent over the cookie sheet to make them melt faster.

Once they are melty, spread it around with the back of a spoon and let it cool.  Once it’s completely cool, take a big knife and chop it into small pieces…enjoy!

-Kristin

When we moved to the area, I came across Rascals to Rebels in Seal Beach.  They have the CUTEST clothes and the nicest sales staff.  One of the times I was in the store, I met the owner and we started talking about working together.  Fast forward a few weeks and I was photographing all the children that showed up to meet Santa and help raise money to fight breast cancer.

I had so much fun meeting families that I’ll hopefully photograph in the near future.  This is such a great community and I’m thrilled to be a part of it!

Here are some of the cuties that came to see Santa…

So, if you’re local…you must go check out the store.  And if you are booking a session and need some help with clothing choices, I’ll even shop at the store for you! 🙂

-Kristin

I must admit newborn photo sessions top the list as my favorite things to do on a weekend.  You see, there will be no more Eldridge babies 🙂 so I have to enjoy everyone else’s newborns.  Which is a perfect arrangement!

I met Jenna Grace and her parents out in San Juan Capistrano yesterday for her photo session.  With a little extra time on my hands, I decided to make a u-turn to check out the “barn sale” along the side of the road.  We don’t get a lot of barn sales in southern CA!  It was a total jackpot.  The owners bought an historic barn and were clearing out all the junk that was jammed packed inside.  Unfortunately for me (and fortunately for Brent) I was driving the camry and had literally no cash on me.  BUT the owner swung me a deal to buy this antique wire basket along with a great rustic wood bowl for about 75 cents in change.

I was smiling ear-to-ear as I showed up at the session with my new finds and even more thrilled to find out that Kim was totally up for my ideas.  So, here is the sweet little angel inside my new basket!

And a little more traditional baby shot…

Another of my ideas was to cucoon Jenna in a little crocheted cap.  And she already has such fabulous hair, we couldn’t resist putting a bow in it.

Now I’m sure you’re wondering where Jenna gets her good looks and you’re about to find out. 🙂

Kim and Jared…you guys are already such great parents.  It was really sweet to see the way your hearts are just overflowing with love for this precious baby girl.

-Kristin

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