We are now booked for the fall.
~ I will be on maternity leave December thru February.
~ All holiday orders are due by Saturday November 15th.
Here are some useful links to help you navigate the site. You will find more information in the title bar above.
Prices - Portfolio - Collages - Books - Mini Brag Books - Christmas Cards - Halloween Cards - Clothing Guide - Session Info - FAQ's
I don’t know how Brian manages to get this child to give him expressions like this when he’s got the camera in his hands. She won’t give me the time of day. It probably helped that she had just found my stash of Halloween candy in the studio that I’d left out there the other night, but still. I try to bribe her with candy all the time and it gets me no where. She might sit still for me, but she doesn’t do cute stuff like this…
I’ve been working really hard lately to make some headway on this baby’s room and I feel like I’m finally making some progress!
Anyone who knows me, knows that I’m a little bit obsessed with cherries…okay, maybe more than just a little bit obsessed. I’ve loved them for as long as I can remember. When I was pregnant with Abbey, I was told I was having a boy and ended up buying all black furniture, so when the time came to redo it, a pink and black Paris poodle room seemed like the perfect solution (I also really, really like Eiffel towers). But I’ve always wanted to do a little girl’s room in a cherries theme, so when I found out that I was having another girl this time around, there was no stopping me!
I was inspired by the work of my aunt, who also loves cherries, and she had painted some canvases for her daughter Matilda’s nursery two years ago. I painted something similar for Madison’s nursery to go above the changing table and it is by far my favorite thing in the room…
And my second favorite thing in the room would have to be these pink canvas storage totes, which were a must-have from Pottery Barn Kids. I’ve never bought anything from there before, but I’ve always wanted to. And after buying wicker for Abbey’s nursery and hating it, I decided some durable canvas totes would be well worth the investment and could even be used for toys later on. I spent hours online searching for just the right color and size (with the help of my sister-in-law Jessi) and finally decided to splurge for these. I’m SO glad I did! Aren’t they awesome?
This is the little corner next to the closet…
This little table below has been sitting out in my garage for like 6 years collecting dust. I believe it came from my grandma’s house after she died. It was a dark brown, magazine stand from the 70’s (I’m guessing) and it wasn’t very attractive. I was so close to throwing it out a million times, but I kept it because of the cute trim on it and I figured I could put it to use someday. It had little “wings” on the sides that I ripped off. They were like wooden pockets or something…I don’t know, but they were ugly. Then I painted it to match the other furniture. It’s SO much cuter now!
I found the shelves at a local antique shop and painted them to match the room also. I didn’t have much to put in them, so I raided my hall closet and found the vintage ceramic baby thingies. I’d picked them up at various antique shops over the years and had just never done anything with them until now. I think they look pretty cute sitting on her shelves.
I found the lamp at Target on clearance and recovered it. It was purple and white gingham before, but I loved the base and knew I could make it match the nursery better. My mom gave me the little hanky a while back and I’ve been waiting for just the right opportunity to use it. I found it in a box this morning and was very excited that it matched the room perfectly! I’m not sure if I’ll leave it under the lamp or not, but it seems to work well there for now.
I’ve also seemed to acquire a collection of Mary Engelbreit Mother Goose stuff for this baby. I already had the photo album (pictured above), but had never put any picture in it. My cousin Tiffany sent me the little frame, and I found this “Baby’s Early Years” journal at Amazon.com the other day and fell in love with it…
This is an ultrasound photo holder and poem that I made on my computer. Abbey has one too. I obviously still need to add a picture of myself in the bottom box and get it printed and framed, but you get the idea…
This is the view you see from the bedroom door. As you can see, there is still lots of wall space left for more shelves, photos, etc. The bows are just hanging there temporarily. I think I’ll hang those on the back of her closet door when I find something else to fill that space.
I just finished painting her name on the wall today! I was hesitating because Brian isn’t too crazy about the name and I wasn’t sure if we would change it or not. But now that it’s on the wall, I guess it’s official! Her name will be “Madison Elisabeth McKay”. Isn’t that the most beautiful name? I think it’s so perfect. I’ve always loved it, and Brian thinks it’s okay, but it’s not his favorite. So we had one last discussion about it before painting her name on the wall this weekend. Brian loves the name Kaitlyn and he wanted to call her “Kate” for short. I agree those are beautiful, very classy names, but I just wasn’t sure about naming her “Kate McKay”. It just seems too rhymey to me. He said he’s sure he can get used to Madison and once she’s here, he won’t be able to imagine her being named anything else.
Brian’s sister Jessi helped me come up with the design for her name. When she first described it to me, I thought seven cherries in a row sounded way too crowded, but I scribbled the design on a piece of paper anyway. The piece of paper laid on my desk for about a week, along with about five other, more simple designs, and out of all of them, this one kept catching my eye and it really grew on me! I think it turned out pretty cute. It still needs something though, maybe a tad more shading? Or maybe some small white polka dots like the canvas on the other wall? I just don’t want it to get too busy.
This is the fabric I’ll be using to make her bumper pad. It was the inspiration for the whole room. The bumper pad shown above is just on the bed right now because my niece Mckayla slept in it the other night.
I must say, I am very proud of myself for how well I have done with the budget on this nursery! The crib and changing table were given to me by my aunt Shara (it was Matilda’s nursery furniture, but she barely slept in the bed so it’s just like new!). The curtains and lamp were on clearance at Target I found the doll bed at a kids’ consignment shop for next to nothing and snagged the doll from Abbey’s room because she had cherries on her shirt. I never found any bedding that matched the theme well enough, so I’m going to make my own bumper pad and Brian’s grandma is making her a cherry quilt! I’ll have to post pics of it later because it is a work in progress. So, let’s tally all of this up and see how well I’ve done, shall we?
Furniture: $0
Shelves: $22
Small table: $0
Lamp: $20
Curtains: $40
Curtain rod: $12
Canvas wall art: $20
Paint $80
Canvas storage totes: $90
Fabric: $50
Doll bed: $10
Bow holder: $1
Baby journal: $0 (used an Amazon gift card)
Accessories: $0 (dug them out of the closet)
Ultrasound wall art: $0 (made it myself, but it will need a frame)
Total cost for my DREAM nursery???
$345!! Not bad eh?
This dress has been a staple in my wardrobe for the past couple of months. It’s what got me through that part of pregnancy when I was too big for my regular clothes, but not filling out my maternity stuff yet. You know…that part where you look like you’ve just put on a few pounds and people are afraid to ask if you’re expecting…
I love this dress because it’s really comfortable, and it takes just a couple of seconds to throw on, but it’s so cute that it looks like I actually put some thought into my outfit. I love it. Unfortunately, it’s not a maternity dress, so I will be outgrowing it very shortly I’m sure, and I wanted to be sure and get at least one photo of me wearing it before that happens.
This part of pregnancy is by far the most enjoyable part, but also the scariest part. It’s fun because I’m far enough along to have a cute round belly and I know what the sex of the baby is so I can decorate the nursery, plus I get to feel sweet little kicks, but I’m not so far along that I’m being kicked in the ribs yet or losing sleep because I can’t get comfortable. And while I’m enjoying all of those things, I’m also a little bit terrified because I’m at the stage of pregnancy where the baby is of “viable” age now, meaning, if I went into labor, I would have a micro preemie on my hands. It’s strange knowing that I have taken care of babies that were as small as the baby inside my tummy is right now. It’s a miracle that we can save babies at such a young age, but those kids get a really rough start to life and some don’t make it…
See? My mind wanders to scary places during these crucial weeks of fetal development. It’s times like this that I wish I’d had my babies before I became a nurse so I would be blissfully ignorant of the trillions of things that could possibly go wrong.
Anyway, aside from those worries, I’m feeling great! I still want cereal 3-4 times a day and now I’m craving strawberry milk too. I’ve already had two glasses this evening. I was painting something in the nursery with pink paint, and when I went to rinse off the paintbrush, the water turned pink and my first thought was…”Mmmm! Strawberry milk!” and I made a beeline for the fridge.
Speaking of the nursery…it was coming along too slowly, so I kicked it into high gear the past couple of days and now it’s almost finished! I just have to finish painting her name above the crib and then I promise to post some pics! Hopefully by tomorrow or Monday!
A client recently requested a newborn coffee table book and we worked together to create it. I suggested printing a square 7×7 inch hardbound book with a dust jacket and I just love the way it turned out! It is such a cute size, not too big, not too small. The perfect size for her to show off her baby’s newborn photos…
I’m not the greatest at taking product pictures yet, but from left to right, you are looking at the front cover, an inside layout, and the back inner flap, where the mom included a sweet lullaby she sings to her baby girl.
Remember THIS SWEET COUPLE from a few weeks back? Well, they had their baby girl and they brought her over last night for some family photos. As I was preparing for their arrival, it occurred to me that this was my very first newborn session in the studio! (I usually haul all of my equipment to my clients’ houses for newborn sessions.) I think it went pretty well. We did get peed and pooped on a few times, but we were prepared for it, and since mom and dad are photographers, they fully expected it and just giggled right along with me. The goal was to get as many shot of the three of them as we could, since they can take individuals shots on their own, but I had a few poses in mind I was dying to try out. I really love the way these turned out.
Congratulations you guys! She’s absolutely gorgeous!
Location: Studio
My best friend, Kristen, brought her little boy over this afternoon for a really quick Halloween costume session. Abbey was very excited to see her best friend dressed up as a FROG!!
I have never seen a two-year-old boy cooperate so well for a photo shoot in my life! We got all of these shots and many more in less than 15 minutes! He did everything we asked and did it perfectly! He hopped around and “ribbited” for us over and over. It was one of those times when I didn’t know whether to keep taking pictures or run for the video camera! He was just being too cute!
I have been photographing him since the day he was born (literally), actually, even before that I photographed him in his mama’s tummy, so maybe he’s just getting used to me sticking a camera in his face all the time!
Thanks for the fun session Kristen and Aiden! We’ve missed you guys! You really need to come visit us more often! We love you!
Okay, so I know this is technically a “photography” blog, but I’ve had a lot of people tell me that they miss keeping up with all of my little craft projects on my old blog, so I figured I might share a few of them here.
Abbey and I spent the weekend decorating the house for Halloween! It seems a tad early, but we couldn’t wait any longer! I have always loved vintage style Halloween decor and while I’m very excited to see more reproduction items in department stores, I’m also a little bit disappointed because it’s everywhere, which takes away from the uniquness of it. I also love glittery Halloween decor and I wouldn’t mind having one of each item on THIS WEBSITE!
Last year, I found a glittery haunted house online and fell in love with it, but they wanted $150 for it, so I sighed and moved on. While shopping at TJ Max last week, I found a solid black metal house for just $15! I snatched it up with visions of glitter in my future. It looked very much like THIS ONE from Target. I brought it home and dug some glitter out of my craft stash and went to work. I didn’t have any glitter glue on hand, so I just used good old Alene’s Tacky glue and smeared it on with a paintbrush. The project went a lot faster than I thought it would and before I knew it, I was the proud owner of this beauty…
I thought the windows needed a little something too, so I cut out some yellow tissue paper, reinforced with clear boxing tape, and put it inside the house. The house was made to hold a tea light candle, but I’m afraid to risk melting the glue off the house, so I think I’ll just light it with one of those battery operated candles. It was such a fun, inexpensive, fast project and one I’ll know I’ll treasure for many Halloweens to come!
The next day, I was sitting in the backyard, admiring Abbey’s new playhouse and realized I’d never gotten around to putting spring flowers in the window boxes like I had planned to do, so I figured, why not some fall flowers instead? A quick run to the store and $15 later, this is what we came up with:
I must say, I was very impressed with Abbey’s floral arrangement skills! While I was putting flowers in the box on the right she filled the box on the left. I handed them to her and let her go to work. She poked them right into the styrofoam as though she’d been doing it for years! I came back to fill in the front row just a bit, but not much. Didn’t she do an awesome job? I definitely have a little crafter on my hands! 
She’s also very proud of her pumpkins. When we picked them up at the grocery store, she squealed and talked to them the whole time we were there. She kept pointing to each of them and saying “Mama pumpkin, Daddy pumpkin, and Baby pumpkin!” without any prompting from me.
I took some pictures of her in front of her house, in her Halloween costume, but I can’t share them just yet because I’m saving them for her Halloween card!
I had the most awesome photo shoot last night with the sweetest little family!
Have I mentioned how much I LOVE working with little kids! They are so innocent and they wear their hearts on their sleeves, which makes it easy to capture all kinds of emotions. I used to think toddlers were the toughest age to photograph because they were so fast and couldn’t follow directions very well, but now they are my favorites! I’ve learned to follow their lead and I love to see what kind of funny things they will do next.
I know photo shoots can be stressful for parents because they want their children to behave perfectly, but in my experiences of photographing children over the past couple of years, I’ve discovered that it’s actually the parents behavior that makes all the difference, NOT the kids’. What I mean by that is this: If a parent comes to the session feeling tense, the kids pick up on that instantly and react to it. But if a parent comes to a session completely relaxed, the kids respond accordingly. Kids know when they are being expected to perform and they don’t like it. I always get much better images when the kids are allowed to just be themselves because their smiles are more genuine. I also firmly believe that the more fun you have during a session, the more you will appreciate the photos because they will spark happy memories that you had that day, which is really the whole point of photographs in the first place isn’t it?
Anyway, when I talked to this mom on the phone the other day to make final arrangements for the session, and she mentioned that they would be wearing turquoise and brown, I knew right away that we were going to get along great! And when I met them in person, I liked them even more! I have never seen a dad get into a photo shoot as much as this one did. He was coming up with all kinds of fun shots and he acted like a goofball at all the right times to help me get his little girl to smile for the camera. Both of the parents were relaxed, yet energetic, and ready for anything! There were times when they seemed to forget I was even there, which was awesome! It was as though they were out enjoying a nice evening together and I just happened to be there to capture the fun. They skipped rocks by the river bed, tossed fallen leaves into the air, read books, chased bubbles, and gave each other butterfly kisses. It was about as perfect of a session as you could ask for.
Okay, enough rambling…let’s get to the photos! I seriously took more pictures at this session than any other toddler session I’ve ever done, so I’m having a hard time choosing which ones to post! Here are some of my absolute favorites:
I’ve never seen anyone get so excited about bubbles before. She was just too cute about it…
If you look close, you can see the bubble she’s watching.
Tiny cheerleader!
Thanks for the fun session “K” and “S”! Can’t wait to do it again sometime!
Location: Clear Brook - Owasso
I barely have any pictures of myself from the first half of this pregnancy because I wasn’t really showing yet and most days I am in the middle of a bazillion projects and I’m without make-up and the last thing I want to do is pose for a camera. But this pregnancy seems to be flying by, so I’ve set a goal to have Brian take a couple of shots of me each week until I deliver. So, get ready to watch me GROW! Here are a couple he took of me in the studio this morning.
And here is one from last week (23 weeks). I’m just now getting around to posting it.
These are my favorite pair of jeans, well capris actually. I can’t believe I still fit them. They’re unbuttoned for the photo, but I can actually still button them with no problem! They are low rise, so they fit perfectly under my belly and they have a little bit of stretch to them. I got them at TJ Max for like $12…ummm, two…wait, three years ago? I wear them pretty much every other day. In fact, if you’ve ever had a photo session with me, I’m sure you’ve probably seen me in them! I’ve been told before that I don’t dress very “professionally” because I show up to shoots in jeans and flip flops, but I figure that’s the beauty of being my own boss! I also figure kids are more comfortable around me if I dress casual.
So, someone tell me, are capri pants totally out of style these days? I seriously don’t pay that much attention to fashion unless it’s for babies/toddlers! But even if they are out of style, I don’t really care because I don’t feel all that comfortable in shorts and I get too hot in pants, so capris it is! I’m not much of a skirt/dress wearer, except when I’m pregnant, and then I LOVE them! The one pictured above is a good example of the style I like…stretchy, fitted tops, with a medium-length, comfortable skirt.
Location: Studio
Brian was in the mood to take some photos of Abbey in the studio this morning. I love it when that happens because all I have to do is get her dressed and send them off to play. It’s so fun to see all of the cute pictures he gets of her!
This one is kind of a fun perspective…
I love this one because it is SO her! She gives me this blank stare all the time. She’s always been such a serious little thing. Don’t get me wrong, she can be a total chatter box, or giggle box at times, but this image just captures her serious side very well.
Location: Studio
