Sneak Peek: The Ham Family

I just love this family and their two precious little girls. We had so much fun playing tea party on this farm in South Georgia. I love how the parents jumped right in to play tea party too!

Favorite Artist of the Week: Stéphanie Kilgast

Wow, wow, wow. I love these teeny tiny little cakes made by Stephanie Kilgast. They are perfection. She also sells her miniatures and dessert jewelry on Etsy.

PORTRAIT SPECIAL: Free 8 x 10s

I'm having a special right now. When you book a portrait session in April you will get two free 8 x 10s of your choice (a $34 value). The session can be for anytime between April- July 2010.

Birth of a Son

I must admit, I've been a little busy lately. On March 9 I gave birth to our first baby, a son! Motherhood has been very challenging and rewarding at the same time. It has been a joy to watch our little boy grow and learn over the last month.

I've enjoyed making newborn portraits of him in my studio. He's a good little model!

Favorite Artist of the Week: LoveNostalgicWhimsy

I can't get over how fun these little cat beds are. They are made out of vintage suitcases and are sold by LoveNostalgicWhimsy. She also turns suitcases into other furniture such as chairs, bedside tables, and vanities.

Tutorial: Food Face Plates

Here is another great idea from At Second Street. She drew family member's faces on ceramic plates with Pebeo Porcelaine paint pens and baked them in the oven as directed on the package. When they were complete, she dressed them up in some yummy food. Looks like a great gift idea for kids!

Tutorial: On the Go Activity Book

I love this idea from At Second Street. It's a On the Go Activity Book that she made for her daughter to play with in the car or while shopping, etc. It has fun activities like dress-up, tic-tac-toe, and a coloring section. All of the directions are on her blog. Awesome!

My Home: Before and After

My husband and I bought our home about a year and a half ago and have enjoyed adding splashes of color to the walls and our own personal decorating style. We refinished the empty attic space and made it into a sunny guest room.


Olive colored walls, a new couch, chair, and rug bring the whole room together. The oil painting over the fireplace is one that I did in college of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.


The olive colored walls also warmed up the kitchen.

Spring Pillows at Helix

These are some of my new pillows for sale at Helix this spring. Helix is a hip gift boutique in Athens, Ga.

Favorite Artist of the Week: Tsuru Bride

I love these fun metallic clutch purses by Tsuru Bride. She has all kinds of animals from sheep to sharks in different sizes and shades. Check out her shop on Etsy.

Zoe's Quilt

My niece Zoe was born a few months ago and I made this bright and girly quilt for her arrival. She started using it right away for a little nap!

Newborn Shots

I've been thinking a lot about babies lately of course with my own little one due this week... so I thought it would be fun to put together a montage of baby portraits I've done in the past.

My Son's Nursery

I finally finished getting my son's nursery ready. He's going to be here in just a few days!

There were a lot of little projects I did in the room. I made him a baby quilt with sweet little elephants on it. I collected some fabulous art on Etsy and from family treasures. I distressed my husbands' childhood dresser (he carved a rocket on one of the drawers as a child.) This was the first time I ever distressed a piece of furniture before and I learned a lot, so I'm going to share my tips with you:

Distressing Furniture:

Step 1: Remove the handles. Sand off as much of the old paint or varnish as you can with sandpaper. (Mine still had a stained look which is fine. Just get all the shiny paint off.) An electric sander is not recommended because everything will look too perfect.

Step 2: Take a thick white or clear wax candle and rub it on all the edges of the dresser and drawers.

Step 3: Paint everything with acrylic latex house paint.

Step 4: Sand the edges and surfaces, especially where you put the candle wax.

Step 5: Apply a VERY THIN coat of Polyurethane. It is very important to only do one side of the dresser at a time while it is laying flat. I learned the hard way that if the furniture is standing up while you do this, you'll end up with a ton of runny drips running down the sides of the dresser.

Links to the Artwork I bought on Etsy:

Elephant Print

Crocodile Print

Alphabet Giraffe Print

Animal Wall Decal

Pregnancy Self-Portraits

As many of you know I am going to have a baby in a few weeks. YAY! It's hard to get good pregnancy photos of yourself but here's what I was able to capture....

Bella Wedding Album

Here is an example of what one of my finished wedding albums looks like. This is the Bella Album. It's an 18 page library bound album with the couple's wedding date printed on the front. The sample photos inside are from Sara and Jim's lovely wedding in Atlanta.

Maternity Leave

I am going to be taking maternity leave from Dec 24- April 15. We are expecting a baby boy in February. During my maternity leave I will not be doing any photo shoots or custom orders for pillows, quilts, photo books, etc. I will be available to talk by phone about photo shoots that you would like to book for after April 15. My Etsy shop will also remain open for travel photo and pillow purchases online. Clients can also still order prints online from my Client website. Thank you for understanding during this exciting time for our family.

Published in Pretty Little Pillows!

I am so thrilled to see that "Pretty Little Pillows," the book I will be published in, is now taking pre-orders on Overstock.com. The book will feature one of my "Poppy" quilted pillows and the instructions for how to make it yourself. Sounds like the book will be out in May 2010. Can't wait to see it!!

Sneak Peek: Caroline's Pregnancy Portraits

Caroline and Matt were so fun to work with at Lenora Park. She's been craving blueberries during her pregnancy and I just had to include them in the shoot.