Thursday, January 23

The Bachelorette Gifting!

 
I am a part of this amazing group, The Artisan Group. It is an amazing collection of artists that have small businesses like mine. It offers great opportunities to gift to celebrities and stylists. This time, I have had the opportunity to gift to the stylist of The Bachelorette! I'm a huge fan (it was my secret addiction, but I guess the secret is out now)!
 
Although most of me wishes I kept them for myself, I have decided to gift these amazing earrings.  I'm so in love with them! They took forever to make, as I first pressed real feathers into sterling silver and brass. Then sawed them out carefully. I hung them on handmade sterling ear wires with dangle chains adorned with wire wrapped turquoise. Lastly, they were oxidized, hand polished and tumbled. This process brings out the amazing texture of the feathers and makes them shine!
 
Here's hoping the stylist picks them to be on next season, and that Juan Pablo finds the love of his life soon!
 
 

Monday, January 6

LET'S GET THIS NEW YEAR OFF RIGHT!

Just a little something beautiful to leave you with....

“The Paradox of Our Age

We have taller buildings but shorter tempers; wider freeways but narrower viewpoints; we spend more but have less; we buy more but enjoy it less; we have bigger houses and smaller families; more conveniences, yet less time; we have more degrees but less sense; more knowledge but less judgment; more experts, yet more problems; we have more gadgets but less satisfaction; more medicine, yet less wellness; we take more vitamins but see fewer results. We drink too much; smoke too much; spend too recklessly; laugh too little; drive too fast; get too angry quickly; stay up too late; get up too tired; read too seldom; watch TV too much and pray too seldom.

We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values; we fly in faster planes to arrive there quicker, to do less and return sooner; we sign more contracts only to realize fewer profits; we talk too much; love too seldom and lie too often. We've learned how to make a living, but not a life; we've added years to life, not life to years. We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet the new neighbor. We've conquered outer space, but not inner space; we've done larger things, but not better things; we've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul; we've split the atom, but not our prejudice; we write more, but learn less; plan more, but accomplish less; we make faster planes, but longer lines; we learned to rush, but not to wait; we have more weapons, but less peace; higher incomes, but lower morals; more parties, but less fun; more food, but less appeasement; more acquaintances, but fewer friends; more effort, but less success. We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but have less communication; drive smaller cars that have bigger problems; build larger factories that produce less. We've become long on quantity, but short on quality.

These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion; tall men, but short character; steep in profits, but shallow relationships. These are times of world peace, but domestic warfare; more leisure and less fun; higher postage, but slower mail; more kinds of food, but less nutrition. These are days of two incomes, but more divorces; these are times of fancier houses, but broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, cartridge living, thow-away morality, one-night stands, overweight bodies and pills that do everything from cheer, to prevent, quiet or kill. It is a time when there is much in the show window and nothing in the stock room. Indeed, these are the times!”
Bob Moorehead, Words Aptly Spoken

Thursday, January 2

NEW FAMILY PICTURES

FINALLY!  I feel like I have been waiting FOREVER to get family pictures taken. Last year made it a priority, and I'm so incredibly happy I did (especially before Kaleb grows up any more!)
 
Even though I have wanted them for a long time, it's always felt like one of those big luxury expenses. You know the ones that make you feel guilty for spending the money on. You know the type of purchases that you took the money out of the "fix the roof" or "new tires" budgets?
 
Luckily enough, I found a few ways to splurge on this purchase without breaking the bank. Here are my tips!
 
1. Find all the amazing photographers in your area. Like them on Facebook, follow their blogs, and sign up for their newsletters. Most of photographers do regular sales and promotions, and that usually means BIG savings for you! Look for deals called "mini-sessions." These are often just 30 minutes and a handful of pictures, but do you really need 50 pictures to choose from in the same outfit on the same day? For me I'd much rather do mini-sessions more frequently, and have a wide range of years displayed in my home.
 
2. Look for deals that come with the digital copies. This way you can print slightly lower quality prints at Costco or even Persnickety Prints for friends and family members that request them. You can even use them for next year's Christmas card (phew! that's one thing off the list!) For us, we did them pretty close to Christmas, and opted to print several copies and frame them as gifts. Really, this saved us a lot of time and money for Christmas this year.
 
3. Outfits.... (I'll admit, I might have bought a few of our pieces), but really you don't need to go crazy on purchasing new items for the shoot. The best way to remember the family is their best selves. Find coordinating outfits that you already own instead of buying new matching ones. I created a Pinterest board to organize all of the ideas in one place.
 
4. Frames do NOT have to be expensive! REALLY, IT'S TRUE! Rather than printing your pictures in a custom size and have them custom framed (bank breaker for sure!) Print them at a standard size and hit up your local Target, Ikea or Michael's (bring your coupons too!) Pre-designed frames in standard sizes are not only cheaper, but also come in lots of coordinating styles which help build your perfect gallery wall.
 
By saving money on prints, frames, outfits, and even Christmas presents we made this session very affordable. It was the best investment and Christmas present I've gotten in a long time.
 
Shout out to Kamieo Photography for such an amazing job! We'll be back for sure!
 
all photographs in this post are copy written @KamieoPhotography.com