My day generally starts with a tiptoe across hardwood floors to the coffee maker.  After a big cup of black coffee has warmed my hands and de-fogged my brain, I steal a quiet half hour to myself…trying to start the day out right.  And trust me, I need it.  I’ll read my Bible and just pray or think about things that I’m far too busy during the day to stop and think about.  Most mornings the kids cross my mind.  When you have your own children, you quickly realize that your heart is living outside your body.  Their best moments are your pride and joy and their troubles are your gut-wrenching agony.  I’m so hopeful for my kids.  I love seeing their personalities and talents blossom.  I’m equally scared for the moments that we all must walk through.  Hurt feelings, disappointment, bad choices, general heartache.  When I pray for my kids, I pray for protection.  I pray they’ll make good choices and that their life will be blessed.  But, the other morning, I was thinking about how we are who we are because of pain.  We can’t have character without walking through some tough experiences.  It’s so hard, because I don’t want my children to experience anything painful…but I know that in order for them to build character, they will.  And my heart will get a few more bumps and bruises in the process.

I keep a constant list of inspiration and as something strikes me, I’ll write it down so I don’t forget.  It’s always exciting to cross something off the list.  Getting to see the end result is pretty awesome too!

I finally got my sewing machine out and figured out how to construct these fabric kites…turned out pretty cute!  Draw out the outline of a kite on 2 pieces of fabric and sew them right sides together.  Then I left an opening for the dowels, which I cut slightly larger than each side, so they would fit in nice and snug.  After I inserted them through the opening, I hand-stitched it close.  I attached a grosgrain ribbon and bits of fabric tied every few inches.  I photoshopped this part out, but I also attached a piece of embroidery floss to the other end, which my assistant is holding on to.  Making it look like the kites are flying!

This was such a fun project…I’m so glad to have Jillian and her friend Lyndsay as models for my kite inspiration!

Makes me excited for Spring!

-Kristin

A few favorites from a recent play date session…

I love Chloe…I’ve been documenting her life for the last year or so and I always look forward to seeing her!

LOVE the movement in her hair…so cute!

Hope your week is off to a great start!

-Kristin

Going from shy to coy in 3 seconds flat…

I love pictures that tell a story.  Know what else I love…light like this.  I miss it.  January was full of gorgeous light.  March, a month that’s supposed to be a SPRINGY month, has been full of gloomy overcast days.  Boo.  Come back gorgeous light!

An adorable shoot with Joah Love…

LOVE my models- Addie, Jayden & Lily!

Last summer I was asked to photograph the opening of the Anthropologie in Palm Desert.  It’s quite amazing…a team of people work day and night to transform an open space into a finished store in a matter of days.  The attention to detail is like none other.  And this company knows how to sell!  Even in a down economy, they are still opening new stores.

Everything is hand made or found.  All hours of manual labor pay off when you see how the theme is woven throughout the store.  Every vintage object is scouted out from local thrift stores and flea markets.  Laura of Ascot Friday was one of the leads on this project.

Loving these hand-sewn tags.  So many of the ideas can be adapted for at home use.

These blocks of wood create height in a table setting.  I love the idea of using it for a buffet at a party.  Every day items are escalated to chic with a bit of creativity.

Products are separated into the ‘rooms’ of the store.

This hand-made book shelf was so impressive.  A million little details that were each so beautiful!

The plants seen in the store are all real…it’s so cool to see how living things are incorporated amongst the product.

Oh these little twig hangers are so cute!  I think they’d look perfect in a nursery.

Loving the detail on these hanging lamps…copper and ticket stubs!

The team also made this bead from piping at lace.  This definitely needs to be re-created in someone’s home!!

As you can see…love is in the details!  If you have never been to an Anthropologie…hope you enjoyed this little peek into the Palm Desert Store!  And sorry to kill you with a million pictures…I have hundreds and had a hard time narrowing it down!!

-Kristin

There’s not much else to say about these super cute girls in their super cute dresses, so I’ll just leave you with some super cute pictures!!

It was actually pretty chilly the day we did this photo shoot!  I’m so blessed to have really sweet models that are so easy to work with and enjoy this whole girly process of trying on dresses for the camera. 🙂

I had fun with all the props and this is when I tried out the idea of pinning hearts into the trees…which showed up again in my Valentine mini-sessions.  I’ve been using them in various colors and they are just so whimsical and sweet.