Archive for March 2011 | Monthly archive page
Mar 18
Happy Birthday to Me!
This Sunday, I will be the ripe old age of 30. Yes, I said it. I am turning the big 3-0! I will do a full recap of my birthday weekend. My incredible husband has a full weekend planned (isn’t he cute?). I feel bad because he feels like he has to live up to his Surprise 30th Birthday Party that I planned. Oh silly man, anything you do for me will be perfect because I love you!
Lincoln has already kicked off our weekend festivities with this AMAZINGLY PERFECT cake, courtesy of my Aunt Honey! I am so in LOVE with this cake. I can’t wait to tell you about all the other fun things we are doing. You’ll have to wait until Monday though, I am officially taking the weekend OFF!! I’ll miss all of you!
xoxox,
Jessica
Mar 09
Trades are the way to go
So, I just love TRADES! Who doesn’t love to trade services? Honestly, it’s one of my favorite forms of payment! I trade for a lot of things including hair coloring services, photography sessions, baby sitting, hair accessories, etc. I just LOVE trades! Most of the time, I trade for items that I wouldn’t normally purchase for myself. It’s fun getting the little extra things for “free”!
Let me tell you a little bit about Mikael. Mikael Monson is a vivacious, beautiful Mommy of three who is the brains and talent behind Mikael Monson Photography! She is just starting her photography business and approached me to help design her logo. First of all, I am always honored when people ask for my help! I don’t know why, but it always makes me feel so happy and proud that they chose me! Secondly, I love designing logos. I have a few under my belt and I always have so much fun making someone’s vision come to life! Lastly, any time I can get photos of my adorable children I jump at the opportunity! You can never have enough photos of your kids, right?
Mikael knew just what she wanted. She described her style as “modern, fresh, bold, and edgy” just to name a few. I wanted her logo to express just that. I didn’t want anything that was too cliche for photographers. A logo should express the brand that you are selling. In this case, I wanted it to sell Mikael. Here’s what I came up with. I’ll show you the black and white version first. You know how important that is to me that a logo looks good in black and white first. Well, it’s true. There are so many times when you will need to use your logo in gray scale. Get it right and then add color.
Here it is in color!
What do you think? I know Mikael was really excited about it (that’s really all that matters, right?) and is proud to put it on all of her work!
She was spot on when she described her style. I definitely agree with her. For my “payment,” Mikael took us to the North East side of Portland in the Industrial District. Where some people saw garbage cans, grungy stairs, and discarded crates, she saw a photographers dreamland. She took one person’s trash and turned it into my treasure!!
Check out some of the photos she shot of me and the boys! (I needed a few head shots taken to include in some of my upcoming work.) Did I mention I HATE having my picture taken? I am much more comfortable behind the camera instead of in front of it! Oh well, at least my dudes look AMAZING!!! Here are some of my favorites so far. I will get the rest of them in a week or two! I can’t wait!
Can I just tell you something funny? I was in huge heels and had to stand way out of this shot. If you have boys you know they migrate towards water, puddles to me more specific. Do you see where I am going with this story? All of a sudden, Emerson turned around and started stumbling towards the puddle. Picture me running in my heels and skinny jeans that were falling off my butt. Funny sight, huh? I just barely grabbed his puffy vest before he face plated into the puddle. Thankfully, he only got his cute little black booties wet and a disaster was avoided. Man, did that get my heart beating. At least we got the shot! Anything in the name of good photography, right?
If you live in the Portland/Vancouver area, check out Mikael Monson Photography. She is an amazing portrait photographer. You will not be disappointed.
Happy Wednesday!! Someday I won’t have so much work to do and I can just blog and chat with you all day long!
Are you tired of sending out the same size birthday invitation, birth announcement, save-the-date, or {insert said event} ? Me too!! I am always trying to change things up a bit. I like to keep my friends and family on their toes, you know? I want my friends and family to open their card and “enjoy” it. Really look at it, analyze it, ponder the use of color, the texture, and sit back and marvel in my creative genius! Okay, so maybe I just want my cards to be different from the rest. I want my invites to STAND OUT!
Typically, a 5″ x 7″ (vertical or horizontal) card is the way to go! If you’re really crazy (or rich and don’t mind springing for the extra postage) you can send out a 5″ x 5″ square card. I know, wild huh? There are other options like folded, tri-folded, or accordion cards, but those can add up really quick. So, what are we left with? How can we make our “snail” mail stand out from the crowd? How can our cards look less ordinary?
Well, I’ve got the solution for you! Okay, so I didn’t actually invent these AMAZING card shapes, but I get to design them! Yay for me!!! Yay for you!! Gone are the traditional rectangle and square cards, unless they are scalloped. Say hello to these little gems.
I also have 45+ other card shapes to choose from. You have no idea how happy this makes me. When I found out I had all of these card shapes at my design disposal I was giddy! Yes, I wanted to tell everyone about how excited I was! Are you excited too? Can you think of the endless possibilities??
BTW- All of these designs are NOW available in my shop! If you want a custom design, just contact me and I’d be happy to help you!!
xoxo,
Jessica
Mar 02
Pinterest, I LOVE YOU!
I am an organizing freak. Okay, so that’s not really true. My house is a mess, but I have folders and folders on my desktop to organize all of my files. Most of my files include photos for inspiration for design, parties, food, etc. Well, I was lost in cyberspace yesterday (which happens all the time, I might add) and came across Tracie’s photography blog. I was so impressed! She had a post titled: my pinterest addiction and I was sold, hook, line, and sinker.
Basically, it’s a way to bookmark photos you see on the web. I currently use Delicious for all of my bookmarking. I love it, but it doesn’t give you a visual like pinterest. It’s honestly the most amazing thing. It would be perfect for ANYONE!! Who doesn’t love eye-candy, right? I can tell you that I’ve already overdosed today and it’s only 10:30 am. I better back off for awhile so I don’t put myself in the hospital! Can you have too much for a good thing?
I think pinterest would be essential if you are a mom, photographer, blogger, party planner, dad, creative type, lover of all things beautiful, etc. Did I miss anyone? Can you tell I am super jazzed about this?
Guess what? People have already pinded my photos too. That just makes me so happy! You have no idea. Check it out:
Keep pinning my stuff people! I would really appreciate it!!!
This is an exclusive little club of people. Do you want to join? It’s by invite only so contact me and I will shoot you an invite. You can also FOLLOW my pins too! So cool, right? What are you waiting for? Get pinning!
***Special thanks to Tracie for getting me hooked***
Lover of beautiful photos,
Jessica