An Ode To My Thirty Year Old Man

Braden's birthday was last Sunday. A month before his birthday, I thought about planning a surprise party for him. I looked around Pinterest for a good theme, I made a Pinboard filled with ideas. I bounced some ideas off my family, and I began to make lists. Then I got frustrated.

I became frustrated because all my ideas and all the things I pinned were more about me than my husband. I had a dessert table planned, a burger bar, a cool creative tablescape, adorable decor, fun games, and a darling photo booth planned. Unfortunately, while Braden would have been a good sport about the whole thing, the truth is he is rather low key. He's not really one to be the center of attention (clearly this is another case of opposites attracting) and he'd much rather our money go to different place than on a party for him. The more I tried to plan the perfect party for him, the less it was about him and became about me. I realized this in the nick of time and out of utter frustration I scrapped the whole thing and settled on making him his favorite breakfast of biscuits and gravy and having burgers with family. There was ice cream cake of course (another one if his favorites) but other than that, it was a pretty basic birthday. It made me kind of sad and a little disappointed in myself to have not made his day more special.

But, when I saw him laugh and laugh at the dinner table, and share his cake with the twins and about die laughing with my dad over a stupid Bud Light commercial I knew that in spite of the lack of grandeur, he had a pretty great day. And that's why my Braden is so wonderful. He is a simple man. He'll never cure cancer, or go to the moon. He'll probably never rescue anyone from a burning building, win a Nobel prize, or be on the Forbes richest list. But he is tied for the best father that's ever lived (tied with my father, obviously) and he has quickly and quietly become the most perfectly crafted companion for me. He fills in all my gaps, doesn't put up with my crap, and forces me to be the best person I can be (usually by teasing the crap out of me). And honestly, lets be real, he is absolutely crazy about me. I'm pretty nuts about him too, so that works out.

Since we're getting all gross around here, I'd like to spill a few of the best things about Braden:

1) He pretends to not like newborns but I always sneak in and catch him talking quietly to Clementine and smooching on her when he thinks no one is watching. That little girl will be the end of him.

2) He loves how spicy Georgia is and always calls her his firecracker. Then they squawk at each other.

3) When Evie couldn't go to sleep tonight he went in a snuggled her in the tiny daybed the twins share until she fell asleep.

4) He always talks to Penelope in her crazy Peepers language ("ah-AH-ah" for those of you that have heard this) and tries to do her crazy eye (for those of you that have seen this) with her

5) Landen is his best buddy. Hands down. And he ALWAYS buys him a new racecar when he goes to the grocery store. We have a thousand cars in this freaking house

6) When Olivia forgot her gymnastics clothes today, he drove all the way out to drop them off so she wouldn't be sad she forgot them. He does all kinds of special things for the kids so they won't feel sad for a minute.

7) He is seriously the funniest. His best talent is singing and changing the words to songs to really inappropriate hilarious new lyrics. I just told him today that its too bad that no one else will be able to hear his songs because they are so freaking hysterical but so so so naughty. He's a riot.

I'm super glad he made it to thirty- lets hope he can survive the next 21 years raising all these crazy kids (and being married to me)

My Beauty Squad: Leah Fitts

As much as I love doing hair & makeup, I love having an AMAZING hair stylist & makeup artist to work with for my clients to look gorgeous for their portraits. 

Leah is my go to hair & makeup guru, and of course she can make herself up to look this fabulous every day. It's funny because she was the most nervous of all my Glamour clients because she was worried she'd be awkward; but honestly, check. her. out. Stone cold fox, that one.

She's also the most fun girl to hang out with ever, and I couldn't be luckier to be able to work with such a talented friend.

I Heart Before and Afters

Transformations. We are obsessed with them. From Extreme Home Makeover to Beauty Blogs to Bar Rescue to What Not To Wear; I'm a huge sucker for a good transformation. When I decided to launch a Glamour Portrait Line, I knew that the transformation would be a big part of it.

You take a happy, fresh faced girl next door and turn her into a drop dead gorgeous vixen. Then you show her how to be a model, and BAM! you have magic.

I've now made a Before & After page on my website for you to take a peek of all my amazing transformation make overs. I'll be updating it after each shoot so you can feed your makeover obsession ;)

Pinterest Tips: Client Inspiration Boards.

Not sure if you are following me on Pinterest, but if you ARE you may have noticed a few changes I have made

I have done a ton of research on how to utilize Pinterest for your business. Here's a new tip I found that really made me realize it was time to stop randomly pinning every single thing all over the place and take the time to purge my collections and start curating my content more. I mean really- 13,221 pins? Now you know what I do with my life.

I recently watched a creativeLIVE class on Building a Successful Boudoir Business. I don't know if I'm going to take the Boudoir plunge or not, but it's always interesting to me to see how to integrate other people's business models into my own. Jen Rosenbaum had a TON of really interesting elements to her business, but my favorite tip was that she creates custom Pinterest Boards for her clients so they can get a visual idea of her vision and everyone can come into the shoot on the same page. I was making pinboards for my glamour clients anyway, but wasn't sharing them with the clients. Getting your client's input and suggestions for their own shoots is a brilliant idea, and it also shows that you are spending a little extra effort in planning the perfect shoot for them.

After my consultation with Jessi, I knew she was looking for photos to use online for her various internet projects so she needed a lot of headshots both professional and more showing her funny personality. So, when I was coming up with her Pinboard, I specifically looked for images that featured women in comedy.

Source: msknope.tumblr.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

I found some amazing images of Amy Pollard, Tina Fey, and Zooey Deschanel and this one was especially inspiring to me. I thought that this would be the perfect shot to recreate with Jessi, and here's what I came up with.

Creating pinboards for clients is very addicting, the sky is really the limit on how elaborate you want to plan your shoot. I have a ton of shoots coming up in March, so keep an eye out for my client's images that are inspired by their own custom pinboards.

And the Winner Is.........

Comment #8: Nicole! Thanks for playing along and check your email today for info!

Who's That Girl????? It's JESS!

This is Jess.

She slays me.

I've known her since high school, and she's always been a riot. Her blog, Shuggilippo is filled with hilarity, and her numerous numerous projects (sounds familiar ;) are filled with her huge personality and wit. This Glam Shoot was a little different due to the fact that she specifically wanted "funny" pictures of her doing hilarious things and laughing, and I was totally down to oblige.

The whole shoot was pretty much a whole lot of this with a little "glam" sprinkled in for good measure. Most fun shoot to date. Best thing ever is being able to connect with your clients and give them what they ask for, in your awesome version.

App Happy II: More Instagram Apps & a Free Font!

In my last App Happy post, I went over my favorite apps for editing my Instagram photos. Here's an updated list to add to the Insta Fun!

Afterglow ($0.99)
Really pretty filters and fun guest filters. I use in conjunction with my PicFX app on almost every insta

Shapely (FREE)
Just found this one and I LOVE it! It's free and it comes with a lot of combinations, but if you want to get really creative, you can buy add ons, which I think is genius.

VSCO Cam ($0.99)
Another good filter app, these are more gritty and edgy. Good for landscape images & guys.

Vine (FREE)
This isn't really an Instagram app, but it IS a ton of fun. You make short little 6 second videos by touching your screen. I don't love that it captures the sound (really distracting), but still fun. To see our silly little videos my vine is @Rosemary Watson.

AND, since Phonto is proving to be my most used App, here is a fun little font I created to use in Phonto!

Just go here to download the font, or you can email it to yourself if you have an iphone and you can load it directly in Phonto!

Of course, along with my Birdsong font, you MUST grab some of Rhonna's Instafonts to use in Phonto. If you grab the bundles you get a crazy amount of designs to have fun with!

Rhonna has a ton of fab tutorials on her blog how to use her Instafonts, and she snuck in a hint to her upcoming online Insta Class! Can't wait to get the details on that.

Now go forth and create some amazing mobile photo art!

It's a Valentine's Giveaway with Style Me A Lady

I'm THRILLED beyond belief to announce the launch of my sister in law, Lindsey Taylor 's, launch of her new Personal Styling website- Style Me A Lady!



 I had the honor of designing her website, and I must say it's one of my favorites to date! So fun and bright and happy.

And guess what? We're having an awesome giveaway for this lovely little Valentine's launch!

The winner will receive one Style Party for themselves and their closest friends with Lindsey, a double makeover & modern glam portrait session for themselves and their bestie with Rosemary Watson (yours truly), AND this darling little Kate Spade Bow Pendant Necklace

What a fab giveaway right? I can't wait to see who the lucky lady will be to score these amazing prizes! 

There is SIX fabulous ways to win this amazing collection of prizes:

1) Leave a comment here with your name and email address

2) Become a fan of Style Me A Lady on Facebook and let us know in the comment section

3) Pin the giveaway image on Pinterest and let us know in the comment section

4) Share a link to this post on Facebook letting people know how they can enter too and let us know in the comment section

5) Tweet a link to this post on Twitter with the hashtag #stylemealady

6) Share the giveaway image on Instagram with the hashtag @stylemelady

This giveaway is open until Monday, February 18th at midnight, and the winner will be announced Wednesday, February 20th!

**This giveaway is not sponsored, endorsed, or administered, or associated with Pinterest, Facebook, or Twitter. You will NOT be announced publicly on Facebook if you are a winner. You must be 18 to participate. By entering this giveaway, you are providing information to Rosemary Watson & Lindsey Taylor and NOT to Facebook or Pinterest. Prizes do not have cash value. There will be no returns or exchanges on any items.

LINKS:

Lindsey Taylor on Facebook 

Lindsey Taylor on Twitter

**GIVEAWAY NOW CLOSED

The Curse of the Holiday Procrastinator

Per usual, I overbooked my schedule for this month and am racing to finish both photography and design work for clients as well as celebrate the second fun holiday of the year. I'm falling behind with the celebratory stuff, but am pleased with the work I'm producing for others! I've set aside some time today after my Wedding Photography reSTART class I'm taking online today and meeting with a bride for a consultation this evening to get all my kid's valentines for their classes done.

I downloaded these so super fun Olliblocks from Caravan Shoppe and had the kids glue them on some bright colored cardstock so we can stick some suckers on the back and give out

However, whenever I need a minute to clear my head, I get to snuggle up to these sweet peas. We have a fun day planned out for tomorrow at Grandma's with our cousin-friends.

Love Week: My Crafty Valentine

The most romantic holiday of the year is upon us, and I'm trying to scramble and get all my Valentiny stuff done as soon as can be so I can enjoy the holiday instead of trying to play catch up!

I thought and thought of what to get my kids for Valentines, and then I saw these on Pinterest:

Source: swoozies.com via Swoozie's on Pinterest

And I knew just what I wanted to do. So I'm hot-gluing my little fingers off to make some red sequins hearts to rock my kids' faces off.

Directions:
1// Cut out a red felt heart

2// Starting on the outer edge and working your way around and towards the center, add a little bit of hot glue at a time to the heart and press some stringed sequins onto the felt heart. I bought my sequins strings at JoAnne's. I bought gold & red!

3// End your string in the center and then carefully cut the sequined string. Add a dab of hot glue to where it is cut on the heart and press a single sequin into the glue to clean up any rough end.

4// Hot glue an alligator clip on the back and stick on your shoes, your bag, in your hair, wherever you need a little pizzaz for Love Day!

Source: akissofcolour.com via Olatz on Pinterest

What I'm Working On: Style Me A Lady Brand Identity

There has been a lot of designing going on here lately. In addition to some new Branding Clients, I have been working on my own Branding & Design Website to show my design portfolio to potential clients. I've more design requests this week than ever before and it's going to be really important to stay organized and focused to ensure I am giving my both my photography & design clients the best service & communication I can give, plus stay on top of marketing and managing my businesses.

I'm really excited to be sharing Lindsey's Brand Board, it's so fun and happy just like she is! I know she's going to do amazing things and I love that we can cross market both our businesses together and help each other provide amazing experiences for our clients. I've referred many of my Senior Portrait Clients to Lindsey, and I'm planning on incorporating her styling services in more of my photography in the future.

We took some fun promo shots for her website and blog- here's a peek at one of my favorites.

I'll announce her site launch next week, and do a really fun giveaway you definitely don't want to miss!

Sister (In Law) Style

As if I didn't already have enough beautiful sisters, I married Braden and acquired this girl for a sister in law:

Lindsey is the business. She's funny, she's cute, she laughs at how dumb I can be, and she's always down to go out to eat and brainstorm about business. The last time we got together, it was more like a brain-hurricane, and I am so.excited. to help her get her new Fashion Styling business off the ground here in AZ. This girl's got impeccable style and she absolutely adores helping other people find their own personal style and work with their own closets and budgets to create a perfect wardrobe for all. We've been working on her new website, and at her Glam shoot we took a bunch of fun shots to put on her new site, Style Me A Lady. Come back tomorrow to see how her brand is coming together!

A Very Weston Valentine's Shoot

I've said it before. One year olds are the hardest age for me to photograph. They all are just learning how to walk and once you put them down, they are OFF. As always Gloria, Sarah, and I spent our morning with Weston, running and chasing him down, making sure he wasn't choking on rocks or leaves, laughing as he got SOAKED in the water fountains, making sure he wasn't jumping out of the wagon, or smashing his fingers in the adorable suitcase props his Grandma brought along.

But, as always, it was all worth it to be able to capture this beautiful little boy with his equally beautiful mom and grandma. So I will gladly spend more days with all the one year olds of the world, working up a sweat and relishing their curiosity, adventurous spirit, and speed.

The Greatest Love is For Yourself

Valentine's Day, the day of love, is fast approaching. As we all scramble to figure out what gifts to buy our husbands & children, what restaurant we will be going to dinner at, what special things we can do for the ones we love to show that we care, I feel like most of us forget who the most important person to give love to is. Yourself.


'The Light That Shines' a story for all from InBedWithSue.com on Vimeo.

This is on the surface a documentary about a woman fighting cancer, but underneath all that, there is a powerful message that is meant for everyone. The importance of loving yourself; no matter how you look, how healthy you are, or what your life is like right now. Everyone struggles and everyone has their own burdens to bear and paths to walk, but we all have a choice. A choice to feel sorry for ourselves (even though we have every right to) and be depressed about our situations, or to stand up, brush ourselves off and face our trials feeling beautiful, empowered, and alive.

Thanks and awe go to Sue Bryce and Hailey Bartholomew for creating this work of art. If I end up creating something even half as breathtaking as this in my life, I will consider it my masterpiece.

Sister Love: The Middle Child

You've seen a TON of images of my sister Eryn lately, and my sister Ashly thought it was high time I take some photographs of her too ;)

Ashly is the middle child of the family, and she is the most fiesty and fierce one of us girls. She's hilarious too, and her greatest gift is the ability to quote any movie she's ever seen. It's always a blast when we get together, and we had so. much. fun. taking her portaits. There were so many good ones, it was crazy hard to choose a few to show. My most favorite shot though, was the one I sneak peeked on intagram the day of her shoot.

FIERCE.

What I'm Working On: Wood Creations Brand Identity

You know how I love supporting small business, and you also know how much I love design. AND it's becoming more and more apparent how much I love photography, so the obvious thing to do, I guess, is to start helping new small business with their Brand Identities, designing needs, and photography needs. WIN!

First up, Wood Creations Furniture. They've been open for 6 years and are ready to start fresh and go in a new direction with their brand. They just recently started selling CHALK PAINT© decorative paint by Annie Sloan, and their exposure has skyrocketed because of it!

I came up with this Brand Board for them and then from that did a whole website facelift. Visit their site at woodcreationsfurniture.com to check it out!