Glittery Garland and Shimmery Ampersands...

Hello Lovelies~

I hope you are all doing well out there in the world. I am doing very well over here! To start, I am diversifying into engagement photography and I shot an amazing couple over the weekend. I offer styling services with my engagement shoots so people can pick unique clothes that really compliment their look. Well, this couple was all for it! They looked adorable. I will post some shots from that next week, but here are some pictures of the things I made for their shoot.

Mini corsages are all the rage for boys this year. I made this one out of felt and put it on the girl!

I made this glittery ampersand to use as a prop and it looked really good under the lights.

I see cool garland everywhere and it's always astronomically expensive, so I made my own! Looks like a 1950's prom. I love it.

If you're local and want to book a shoot, give me a hollar on my Facebook wall. It's a ton of fun.

And, I found the most amazing thing in a recent junking escapade, Kiddies! I have been looking for bull horns for above our mantel for years but they're always too expensive or damaged or have an ugly mount etc... Well, imagine my delight when I came across the huge pair below, complete with hair and an inscription that says: "Tijuana, Mexico 1969" for $40! I love them and they're hanging above our couch now (the boar I mentioned months back is above the mantel). What do you think?

Speaking of vintage goodness, a friend recommended I check out Jena Ardell's vintage-inspired Polaroid work and I'm glad I did. The faded colors and fun angles look like many of the Polaroids you see from the 60's and 70's (back when they were throw-aways, not objets d'art). I especially enjoyed her Wanderlust series, some of which is below.

I found a great shop on Etsy recently that makes handmade pillows that look retro and like the type that my Grandma had on her couch. MillsDesignCo also carries vintage items, but it's really the pillows that reeled me in. My favorites are below, but she makes a ton of different styles. I would like about 14 for my couch.

And I'd like to wrap up with a movie recommendation. I'm not sure if you've heard of Roller Boogie, but if you haven't, you're going to want to check it out ASAP. It's from the 70's, it stars Linda Blair and Jim Bray (some random dude who roller skated a lot back in the day), there is a ton of ridiculousness, oh, and there's Linda, playing a flute and rocking a side ponytail (as shown below). It's hilarious and it's on Netflix instant play right now. Go watch!

In this scene, Linda is thinking "Wow, and I thought I'd stooped as low as I could doing The Exorcist."

Until next time: unpleasant dreams...

Red Coats, Green Trees...

Hello Lovelies~

I hope this week finds you all doing well out there! So much to share as usual over here. To start, I moved into my brand new photography studio over the weekend and after much cleaning, organizing, hanging and decorating, it's ready for business! I will take pictures this week and post them for your viewing pleasure. It's going to be such a great place for creativity and commerce, I can tell!

In other business, I have finally finished the first shot in my Red Army mini-series. This series is a personal project that subtly shows the true power behind the man (or in this particular case, boy since his Mom kissed his cheek). More fun uniforms and striking men to follow!

I am doing a holiday portrait shoot this weekend for a couple and I decided to make custom boutonnieres to dress up their suits and give them some extra flair (because I'm all about the personal touches). And in the course of gathering materials, I found this amazing listing on Etsy for a huge lot of beautiful vintage corsages from VelvetFinch! Look at them all, you guys! So shiny and beautiful. I am all about accessorizing men in my photography with vintage and/or fresh flower boutonnieres and these are just great. (Too bad they are way out of my budget...)

And speaking of great photography (hehe), I have discovered yet more great vintage circus photography in color via The New Yorker that I just have to share. This work is by Sverre Braathen (an attorney by trade), who traveled with the circus in the 40's and 50's in his spare time, chronicling circus life. I think the colors and the people and his composition (especially that man flipping in mid-air without any blur), are on par with the greats. And of course, the subject matter is also intriguing. Follow the link for more images.

We're going to wrap up this week with some strange and disturbing art that I just have to share. As you know, I like taxidermy, I even own some. But I find the work of Les Deux Garçon completely disturbing and in many ways, wrong. Why? Because they put animal pieces together like they're toys and they put a dog head on a teddy bear body. That's why. However, I guess from an execution standpoint, it's beautiful. I could see it both ways. Here are some examples, what do you think, Faithful Readers?

Until next time: unpleasant dreams...