Can I just say how much I love it when parents contact me to capture those little milestones their children are going through? I first photographed this guy when his little brother turned three for a most fabulous ghost birthday party. So I was delighted when Aimee called and said that one of Liams’ front teeth was about to fall out and she absolutely needed to get photos of him done with both front baby teeth still in. And it’s true – once those big teeth come in it totally changes the face of your child – no more little baby look to them – they’re all big kid.

I also love how much Liam’s personality shines through these – he’s sweet, charming, personable and ALL boy! He jumped right in to help me figure out locations and poses he liked, and I love it when I get that kind of assistance from kids.

Wiggle that tooth!I think this is my favorite:Another wiggle photo. I couldn’t resist!

I’ve had this project completed for a few months now and am excited to finally be sharing it on the blog! When I first saw it on Pinterest, I knew it was a project I could get into, and I had the perfect wall for it. I am so thrilled with the results. When we first moved into our new house three and a half years ago, I felt the need to add “stuff” to the walls. Just generic stuff that didn’t mean a ton to me (think World Market wall art – but not as cool). I was sick of it after a year. Since then I’ve slowly begun the transformation to finding specific things I really LOVE and that displays more of our personality. This pallet shelf is perfect.

The first step was finding a pallet. They’re free at lots of places or on Craig’s List. Or if you have amazing friends who will drop it right off at your front door. Those are the best kind.     On most pallets you would need to remove one side of the boards in order to get to the “shelf” part. Amazingly, this pallet came as-is and already had one side removed. All we did here was stain and hang. Ready:

1. Stain: 

2. Hang: 

Ok so there’s no actual “hanging” photos. It was a two person job and Mike and I both had our hands full. But all we did was find the studs and screw the pallet directly into the wall. Where there were no studs we used heavy duty anchors. They are my new favorite thing to use around the house.

I love displaying little gifts or personal touches here. Our holiday card from last year is held by a little photo holder my brothers’ girlfriend made.

It’s no secret that in our house, Mike is the cook. He’s pretty much my hero – he comes home from work every day and just starts whipping up dinner. So a year or so ago I started keeping my eyes peeled when I was at antique shops for “man” cookbooks. And I’ve run across a couple of really funny ones. Like this one published in 1944, and sold then for $2.00. I have no idea what a “Stuffed, Boned Squab” is, but if you have this book you can certainly make it.  

Or this newer one from 1985. The recipes are much less intricate than in the one above, including “Fancy Hotdogs”, “Scrambled Eggs” and “Cheese Grits”. The authors, three young studs pictured on the inside, clearly didn’t believe bachelors of the day could cook. However they did claim that “Your girl friend will be thrilled you can cook a meal for her”. I’m not quite sure I’d be super impressed with Fancy Hotdogs, even in 1985. 

My goal was to incorporate lots of different layers, textures and sizes. This is my favorite image of my grandmother with Sophia.

Since we’re having a baby in July, I opted to leave a lot of space for new additional images. Currently I have framed, matted and metal prints displayed here. I will be incorporating standouts and possibly canvas with the new images coming in the next few months. I love that the images are so easy to interchange and swap out!

And I simply hung some twine from the bottom with mini clothes pins to display Sophia’s artwork. Although she’s constantly taking it down and bringing it to me to look at again.

The shelf is displayed in between our dining area and the kitchen, which is all open. I love walking by it all the time. It makes me so happy!

I always love reading about and seeing other photographers’ packaging. Pretty packaging just makes me happy and fuels my own creativity. And since I updated my packaging a month or so ago, I thought I’d share it here. I can’t lie – figuring out exactly what I wanted and then actually going out and SOURCING my vision was not super fun. Lots of late nights scrolling through yet another company that offers print boxes and various colored tissue paper, but in *just* the wrong shade. The fun part came though in finally putting it all together and using some of my scrapbooking resources I already had for some finishing touches.

Before I even talk packaging though, I wanted to share what the desktop and wall prints my clients receive look like. They’re not flimsy pieces of paper. They’re mounted on matboard with a matte texture and finished with an environmentally safe coating for protection. I just love how sturdy they are.

I’ve always used twine in my packaging, but decided that it needed a little something to go with it. Textured yarn it is! And while I adore stickers and use them in other places, I really loved the idea of having stamps made that I can reuse over and over. So I had this one of my logo made. All the other “thank you” stamps you see below I already had in my scrapbooking supplies. But after seeing the result of my logo on a stamp, I’ll definitely be custom creating some more to use in other areas of my business.

My new CD cases are made from recycled material, which of course I love. Insert my thank-you card and disk usage guide and it’s complete!

In addition to the twine, I’ve always used the material and look below to wrap my old disk cases.

I love the simplicity of these boxes. And then I loved them even more when I added my stamp and yarn/twine. These are the boxes I use to package various size prints in, and I have them in all sizes of prints I offer.

And the final product my client receives. The hanging tag is just a piece of scrapbook paper cut out using a cutter-thing. Truth: I obviously have no idea what it’s called. But you insert paper and it cuts it to that shape. I know, I’m so technical.  

If you’re a photographer feel free to leave a link to your packaging – I’d love to check it out!

Perhaps it was a few people telling me how big Sophia looks lately.

Or how large my belly has gotten.

It could be because at this time last pregnancy, I felt much more prepared. I was reading “What to Expect” nightly. Sophia’s room was ready. But I failed to realize that she wouldn’t even be in that room until she was three months old. So maybe that’s why the baby’s room looks like this:

Once Sophia moved into her new big girl room, any and every baby toy I’ve found in the house in the last month has been thrown into this room. And then I closed the door. Oops.

It’s not that I’m not excited for this little peanut to make his or her way into the world. Quite the contrary, actually. One of my favorite times of day is immediately after I wake up. I hear Mike in the shower and roll over to hit my radio and listen to the news on NPR. And as I do this, that little life inside me stirs as well. I love that we wake up together. I don’t actually sit up for another five or ten minutes. Because these moments in the day are ours, and ours alone. S/he is in there, flipping around, kicking, banging, pounding, doing whatever it is that babies do to make my belly physically shake. I rest my hand on my belly for those ten minutes and feel movement from both the inside and out. Sophia and I used to do the exact same thing, at the exact same time of day. I smile as I remember those mornings well, and how tiny she once was. And maybe that’s why I’m feeling time fleeting. Because I do remember what Sophia felt like in my belly so long ago, and now she’s a true “big girl”, ready to take on the world without any assistance from us (don’t ask her if she needs “help”. with anything. the answer is always “no”.).

We’re currently raising caterpillars that will soon be butterflies.

They’re snuggled up in their cocoons right now, but will soon emerge an entirely new shape and have new abilities. As will our little family. And while I’m seriously looking forward to it, I need life to just sloooow down a bit.  :)