Back when the wildflowers were in bloom I did a photo shoot with three little cousins. This was such a perfect setting for three giggly little girls!
I already can’t WAIT for the wildflowers to come back. Next year I’m going to start early…there just wasn’t enough time this year!
-Kristin
I’m so excited to share a few places that I’m featured on the web!
First up is the “Just Spotted” blog. I’ve been nominated for this photography blog! The cool thing about this is that I’ve only been in business in the OC for 2 years. The award will go to the blog with the most votes, so pretty please throw a vote my way!!
To vote, click HERE and once you’re on the Just Spotted website (www.justspotted.com) click on the link to vote!
Remember Cooper’s birthday party a few weeks ago? Well, the party has been around the web! It’s featured on Sara’s Party Perfect.
And a Spanish website called Alguma Bossa. I’m not sure exactly what all the text says, but I think it’s good!!
Lastly, the website where I bought a lot of my party supplies at, Garnish, featured me on their blog!
Exciting news! So, don’t forget to spread a little blog love around and most importantly, DON’T FORGET TO VOTE FOR ME! http://www.just-spotted.com/2010/09/youve-just-been-spotted-oc-blog-award-nominees-2/
Have a great day!
Kristin
With the cold-ish summer we’ve had, I’m making my first trip to the beach with the kids today! Speaking of beach…I spent plenty of time in the bay doing photo sessions. Even when it was a bit chilly, my clients always put on a brave face in the summer clothes and made it look warm. 🙂
I love the vintage pedal car they brought for the boardwalk. Such a timeless photo!
I’m off to soak up some sun with the kiddos on one of the last days of summer break. After such a busy work week, I’ll enjoy it even more!
-Kristin
I had another fabulous weekend at Rascals to Rebels! The kids were so cute and each one had their own fun personality! My background photographed so well, too. I couldn’t be happier!
Whew! That was a big post! And that’s only half the sessions. I’ll share the next weekend at Rascals to Rebels in a few days. 🙂
-Kristin
This summer has been a blur! I can hardly believe that we are less than 2 weeks away from the first day of school. Brent pulled up the class lists for the kids last night and ever since they’ve been talking non-stop about their teachers, who’s in their class and all the fun things they’ll do this year. In the midst of a crazy summer, I had a cold, then allergies, which then turned into a sinus infection, then an ear infection. I kept telling myself…if I’m still sick by the time the kids start school, I’ll make an appointment. That’s how much I love going to the dr. Well, the workload won out, so I made an appointment and found out my list of aforementioned problems! All that to say, if I sound stuffy on the phone…it’s not my normal voice and hopefully I’ll be back to myself soon.
Way back in the beginning of summer, I did this By the Bay session and I love the way the overcast sky gives a whole moody look to the pictures.
This last image is my absolute favorite. The way her hair is blowing in the wind and the sideways glance…oh and her tunic. Sigh. I feel like she is in Southern France.
-Kristin
We call our kids blondies and if you’ve seen them, that’s an understatement. Jillian’s hair can more accurately be described as WHITE and the boys have only recently turned a darker shade of blonde. It’s cute to hear them use it in conversation…”you know Evan, he’s a blondie.”
One of my favorite newborn sessions was with a blondie. Little Austin had the lightest of newborn hair and peachy cream skin. He’s just adorable.
I used one of my newborn cocoons since he was in such a deep sleep. The peacock blue color was amazing with his skin tone!
If you’re a photographer interested in purchasing a kid silk mohair cocoon, Kathy has them in her etsy store right now. Click here to see more. She’ll be adding more, so stay tuned!
When I photograph newborns, either clients will come to my home studio or I will travel with all my supplies to their home. In this case, I met Austin at his home…which was a tiny (but gorgeous!) space. They were gracious enough to move furniture so I could have adequate light. All this to say, sometimes a very glamorous picture doesn’t look very glamorous when we’re making it. My clients trust me and I’m so glad they do!
Here’s a bit of the ‘behind the scenes’!
I should mention that most birthdays at our house are usually inviting three friends over to do your favorite activity and enjoy some cake together. When I was planning this party, we invited our close friends and their kids and before we knew it, there were over 40 people. I think the guest list could have easily been over 100…we really have gotten to know so many great people since we’ve made the move 2 years ago. I only wish our house could fit them all!
We started the party with the kids swimming and when everyone finally got hungry, they got out of the pool to eat. After that I took the kids to the front yard for a water ‘canon’ fight(so the adults wouldn’t have to join in).
Here’s the birthday boy…
And some of his pirate friends!
Instead of a cake, I bought eight glass mugs (they’re at Walmart for $2!) for his eighth birthday. We did rootbeer floats instead of a cake…and the kids loved it!!
My original plan was to stick a candle into a scoop of ice cream for each float, but the foam covered up the candle, so I had to stick a ramekin with a scoop of ice cream and all eight candles on top of the mugs…oh well!
I have to share one last post from the photo booth…that one will be coming tomorrow!
-Kristin
Sooo, Cooper’s 8th birthday party was a huge hit and a LOT of work! I made the kids my helpers and we worked on little projects for about a month beforehand. All the details were so cute, so I’m going to divide this up into a few posts because there are so many pictures to share!
We painted a pirate flag out of a $2 piece of black fabric and hung it where our flag normally goes. Then we taped a red X on the front door.
The favor bags were handed out first instead of at the end of the party. We wanted the guests to be able to dress up like pirates, so each bag had an eye patch, an earring, a pirate compass, a party blower and a few pieces of treasure (Hershey gold nugget bars). The kids helped me assemble these and I printed off ‘pirate booty’ stickers.
We had 20 children at the party, so I was looking for deals. Walmart was a GREAT source for inexpensive pirate themed favors.
The beverages were also purchased at Walmart. I wanted to do all glass bottles, so I bought all the old school favorites, like Orange Crush, Cream Soda and Old Fashioned Rootbeer. They were just about as much as canned drinks. I wrapped water bottles in velum and it worked perfectly…even after being soaked in the ice.
The paper straws were from Garnish and I made little flags to glue on plain red bendy straws. The appetizers were honey wheat pretzels (which I stored in little glass jars) with peanut butter dip along with veggies and ranch. I made up the peanut butter dip at the last minute. In my kitchen aid mixer, I whipped equal parts PB and cream cheese, then thinned it with some plain yogurt and added honey and cinnamon to taste. I piped it into little paper cups for dipping. The veggies were cut into matchsticks, then balanced in a paper cup filled with ranch dressing. The paper cups can either be purchased at Garnish or Smart and Final.
I bought striped fabric from Ikea to cover our patio tables and used the scraps to make pirate bandanas for the kids! The main table of food incorporated one of my wood photo backgrounds and paper flag pendants (which the kids helped me make).
For the adults, I made two different kinds of sandwiches. About a week before, I made several batches of focaccia bread the size of a baking sheet. The day of I had family help me assemble all the sandwiches, then we cut them into small portions and wrap them with parchment and secure with a flagged sandwich pick.
The turkey club had turkey, bacon, avacado, lettuce and tomato. The other had fresh mozzarella, tomato and basil. I also had family help me make the Kraft mac’n’cheese, which we portioned into take-out boxes from Garnish. They were wrapped in velum and tied up with twine and a disposable bamboo spoon from Garnish.
I also had a basket of Pirate’s Booty chips and small popcorn boxes embellished with ribbon and handmade stickers filled with a big bag of Doritos from Costco.
The food labels and stickers were created by making a stamp out of pictures of silverware (in photoshop) then using a rustic looking font. I wrapped shoe boxes and cans with paper to hold the plates, napkins and straws.
I wanted the pineapple skewers to be displayed upright instead of on a platter, so I looked around and found a big piece of wood that Jake had from woodworking. His final test was to nail different types of nails into the wood, so we pulled them all out, sanded it down and placed the skewers in the little holes!
For dessert I made rice krispy treats in 1×3″ squares on a stick dipped in chocolate. I also made mini chocolate cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. I got the pirate flags (along with the plates and napkins) on clearance at a party store.
We had a station with pirate swords and pirate hats to decorate (from Oriental Trading Company). You can also see the buckets of water balloon canons for later. The photo booth (complete with mustaches) was SO much fun…can’t wait to share those pictures!
Oh and here’s the invitation I designed…
Next up will be all the fun we had at the party!!
-Kristin
Baby Collin…just as sweet as can be.
I kept trying to get him to tuck his legs underneath him so he could curl up on the vintage suitcase with his little aviator cap on. Right when I snapped the picture, his leg popped out and I couldn’t love it more!
I have a few more newborn photo sessions coming up. I love the fresh look of a 2 week old for photos. It’s best to schedule with me while you are pregnant, so we can book the session within the first 2 weeks. Babies are sleepy, curly and don’t mind being moved around!
-Kristin
I just need one extra day to catch up! That’s what I keep telling Brent. After a week of Montana with my family, a huge birthday party for Cooper and a few photo sessions in between, I need time to stop for about 24 hours so I can get back to normal.
Since that’s not possible, I’ll work hard, then have a pool play date later today!! In the meantime, I wanted to share one of my recent ‘By the Bay Sessions’ of sweet little Elise.
I can’t wait to share Cooper’s pirate party on the blog, but the farthest I’ve gotten is downloading my cards! So, I chose to share just this picture of Brent and I, taken in the pirate photo booth. It was so much fun!!
Have a great week!
-Kristin