Peahead Prints

what a beautiful little boy! he was soo good to us…we had such a good time with him and his handsome big brother and mom was a blast!

here’s an itty bitty sneak peek of thi gorgeous little biy at 13 days.

more to come mom!

i adore nichole van, her work and her post process tools for photographers. it’s hard to pick an absolute favorite but i think if i ha to pick one reason why i love her actions, its her clean edit actions from the workflow set.

picture perfect fixes!

sharing some templates i had created for a couple different projects. get all three sets for just $25!

Pink Grapefruit

a funky, clean layout in bright pinks and orange. floral overlay add’s a modern touch. all colors are completely customizable with quick and easy color overlays.
5×7 and matchinf trifold layouts included. WHCC specs.

Pretty Paisley

perfect for announcing a baby or a senior info card, simple, sleek and of course all color can be changed with quick easy color overlay effects. 5×7 and 5×5 templates included. WHCC specs.

Simply Sweet

a simple damask pattern, clean modern design. color changes can be made with an included hue and saturation layer. use for any occassion.

Get them all here!

i have a little bit (ok ALOT) of OCD when it comes to my holiday tree…the ornaments are strategically placed through out the perfect amount of lights..of course each shining ball is of a color that matches the motif of the living room in which it stands. this guy was NOT invited! who put him there!? someone is being very sneaky!

nevertheless, amongst the craziness, our tree is officially up!

i just LOVE the holidays!

it has been way too long since i have blogged anything personally on my “side” of this happy little blogsite. i apologize, whole-heartedly, i swear i do!

between shooting, editing, card design, my real life job, two kids, and a mini vacation i have been drowning in all that i love!

sessions are all booked for the holiday season and the end is in sight! if you are looking for a session for this year, for the holidays, i apologize that we booked up so fast this year! i have had the pleasure of meeting and re-shooting such wonderful families, laughing and making friends along the way!

while juggling all of the craziness, i did manage to take part in the redesign process for a VERY important website.

the littlest heroes project was created with the intention of capturing the little fighters in this world that are suffering from a variety of disease and illness. it is such a great cause and something that i am so proud to have offered my design skills to. thank you queen darcy for all your coding magic..this never would have worked without you!

thank you felicia for bringing this project to life.

if you would like to donate your services as a photographer or if you know a little hero yourself, please head over to the site and fill out an application into the program. please forward the information onto any and all families you may come to know that may benefit from the works of the littlest heroes project.

back to shooting and back to more edits…i’ll be back soon my dear blog….soon enough the rush will be behind me and i will be refreshed and reinvented for another year of photo fun!

if you are a mother, father, granparent, heck if you just know a child, you can only begin to understand what this family is going through.

A designer, photographer and friend of Prop Insanity has lost her little boy today to pneumonia caused by the H1N1 virus. My heart breaks as i attempt to get through this post.

please read about little Nate here. and if at all possible, please donate, even a single dollar to help raise funds for Nate, his family and his foundation.

we lost our Pop this past weekend. he had been battling an infection that he beat but left him weak and in and out of rehab facilities and hospitals for the last 6 weeks. we said our final goodbyes with family and friends yesterday. it will be so hard to go on without him. how strange it will be on holidays and birthdays to not hear Pop’s stories, his whistle or his silly songs.

we agreed that it be necessary for the “big” girls to come for only a few minutes to say their own goodbye’s to “Poppy”. they made cards for him to take to heaven and they blew kisses big enough to carry him the whole way. And then my niece, as she always does, said somethings that made us laugh when we needed it most.

aly: ”did you see poppy”

kelly: “yes i did. did you see poppy?”

aly: “yes i did. he is the King now”

where does she come up with these things!

as we stood over the casket in prayer and the girls added their handmade works of love to the casket, we hear this:

my sis: “ok girls. its time to let poppy go to heaven now”

aly: “this….(arms raised) this is heaven? (turns to the room full of friends and family in mourning) all of this is heaven?”

and we laughed some more.

remember the good times. laugh at the memories, it helps to stop the crying.

we love you Pop! we miss you more than words can say.

because i CAN!

little lea is a special kind of kid. she’s got issues. on top of her reflux induced vomiting on everyone and everything, she suffers from just about every food allergy there is. she’d just short of 1 year old and we celebrated with family and friends this weekend. oh yeah, it was my birthday too….but who cares about ME when this cutie comes along? thanks for stealing my thunder kid…your lucky i love you as much as i do.

back to poor lea. allergic to EVERYTHING she couldn’t savor in the standard birthday treats.

(get the recipe for these little numbers here. a BIG hit for the kids and soooooo easy! if you know me, even a little, then you know that i do not COOK, nor BAKE! never, ever really.i’m not kidding. and even i could do it!)

instead of these decadent treats, lea got to eat these:

looks tasty, doesn’t it?! not really sure what it really is. leave it to my sis to search out some sort of gluten, dairy, nut, egg, everything else that’s tasty, free. we dropped one of these on the floor and i think it’s still stuck there. sure am glad i could scarf down a couple slices of strawberry shortcake instead of eating one of these “cupcakes”.

lucky for us, little lea doesn’t know the difference. she seemed to think they were quite tasty.

or maybe not. she doesn’t look so sure about it.

nevermind. that looks like a sign of approval.

have at it little lady. your not going to have many more chances to inhale a cupcake in nothing but a diaper and a bow.

happy birthday baby girl. aunt gigi loves you (even though you walked all over my celebration!)

if you like chocolate (and who doesn’t) you might not want to continue reading! this will surely add to your addiction and i mean ADDICTION!

if you have ever eaten a truffle, ever in your life, if it wasn’t from the 5th Avenue Chocolatier, it wasn’t the real deal. i was hooked at first bite! creamy chocolate heaven, wrapped in a semi-sweet powdery goodness…it really is like a little wooden box of heaven.

5th Avenue Chocolatier is owned, and has been since 1974, by the wonderful Whalley family, fortunately for me, they are like family to me (not fortunate for my hips!). their stuff is out of this world, rich, creamy, and just to die for! you really have to give it a try!

this past week we came home to one of the best surprises EVER!! besides a bag full of my favorite truffles (i have a standing agreement with the Whalley’s that when i shoot their family they pay me in chocolate) there was another surprise for me (and for kira)

that’s right! a solid chocolate camera of goodness!

kira really got a kick out of it! it was killing her to have to hold back and not take a bite…and then i let her have at it!

and she did

she really did a number on it!

lindz felt left out…we gave her a “fake” chocolate face…you have no idea the tantrum that would have persued if she got her hands on this bad boy!

thank you Whalley family from the bottom of my now big old chocoate filled butt!

you MUST ger yourself some of these treats!! head over here to grab some! need a gift? is there really anything better than chocolate? send someone their own little piece of bliss!