Kelly & Chris Engagement Shoot.

We had a wonderful easter spending the day with Kelly & Chris. We shot for 4 hours (maybe even 5) all around the LACMA and Le Brea Tar Pits. The shoot came out fantastic - we couldn't be happier. Their wedding will be in ONE week in Palm Springs I can't wait! so fun. It is going to be a blast and totally gorgeous. Here are a few pics to entice you to go over to our blog to see the rest. We started with a little picnic then wondered around with a big yellow balloon (the main color of their up and coming wedding) then took a fun break at Molly Malones capture them hanging with some beers and goofing around on the stage. Then to the fabulous lamp post installation piece in front of the LACMA. It has been so photographed by tourists and others alike that the photos are now becoming part of the art! We also included a little Cuppielove... which I then devoured the props... mmm :)
So fun I hope we didn't tire them out. we got a little bloglove on Style Me Pretty hooray!

Let's give it up for the liner

Nothing say's "I'm extra important" then a invitation lined with a colorful paper. A liner makes everything extra fun. Wouldn't you agree?
Envelope to liner: "You complete me!"

She's Krafty and She's just my type!

Yes the Power of the kraft... envelope that is. This is by far the number one choice by 95% of my clients. The softness, the organic, and the overall "non-wedding" look of this envelope is what draws my clients to choosing them as the very first impression and peek at the wedding that their guests will see. You say white - I say Kraft. Her beauty is just her simplicity, especially when letterpress or a fabulous over the flap to the front design has embellished her. This envelope has graced many weddings from the shabby chic to the playful sophisticate. It has been used with soft and bright palettes a like. Can you resist? I think not!

Cuppielove- a cupcake that stands out from the rest.

I recently just discovered that our friend and client Kelly, has a up and coming cupcake business, Cuppilove. The name says it all-cuteness fill with delicious. Uh hum.. can we say red velvet to die for.... the best thing about them is she uses dixie cups as the holder, how cute is that?? We will be shooting her wedding on May 2nd and just recently shot their engagement session, which I will have up next week. This pic is actually your sneak peek of that... But for now you must go to her website and order a cupcake or many (perfect for your bridal shower) You will not be disappointed.

Alex & Josh engagement shoot

This is an engagement session we just shot last Friday.

Here is a sneak peek to entice you to go see them all over at our

photo blog Go take a look they were such a fun couple putting up with the rain and cold... And a giant monster... If you go look you'll see what I mean. :) these are just 3 of my favorites of many that we took. Erin and myself are having so much fun shooting together. we have another engagement shoot to post this weekend just as fabulous. Can't wait.

Our humble but totally boring home!

So we were totally stoked to find out that Design Sponge wanted us to send them pics of our home for their sneak peek section they do every monday... So after days of scrambling and making sure everything looked as tidy as a work/home space can look we took loads of pics and sent them there way. Then this morning I get a email thanking me for the pictures but telling me that my home is not "quite right for the site" OUCH! that really made my husband and I feel like we were a complete pile of shit thrown up against the door. As struggling artists with massive student loans and working hard running both of our businesses, we have stayed in our same apartment for the last 6 years. We don't spend money on fancy furniture as one day when we have saved enough money to buy a house in california, we plan on finding the perfect furniture and found objects that fits that style of house. We are planning on moving this year and upgrading to a house, rental of course, but in the meantime we do our best to live humbly and enjoy ourselves everyday. We are thankful for what we do have so we keep our focus on trying to fulfill our dreams of working for ourselves as artists. So I thought instead of letting these photos go to waste, I would share with you our humble but not design sponge friendly apartment and workspace. I did show our work space before on a previous post, but here it is again along with the rest of our space. Are there any entrepreneurs, artists, or small business owners out there that make sacrifices for the better of your business? Do you still live humbly? However bad we felt from this rejection, we are still happy with where things are in our lives and what is going on... don't forget my post yesterday as there is so much going on with tons of exciting weddings and NEWS to come....

Erin did a project during school where he would print photos directly on the backs of skateboards... this was done in the darkroom using film GASP! :)
our coffee table is a salvaged piece of marble that sits on an old wooden beer crate filled with all our travel photos.
I collect the beer caps I just love all the colors when together.

you know when your work takes over your home when a fax sits upon your wine cooler.

Erin named it the "La Vin du Fax"
One of my paintings
a mixed media collage piece I did

our tiny little garden in our "back alley yard"

A new light

This is how I'm feeling right now! New weddings, fun projects, awesome
photography, & the most exciting news ever ever!!!!

A little invitation assembly help for the betrothed.

Assembling the invitations can be the biggest challenge for a wedding couple. And my invitation designs are always a pain in the booty as I love suggesting fun elements like tea dying the paper to give it a vintage look or stitching to add some fun texture. A lot of my Brides fall head over heals in love with the ideas but it is not in their budget to have me do all the assembly and/ or sometimes they feel that it would be to overwhelming to do it themselves. So for those couples that live in the greater Los Angeles area I will offer a day of assembling where they can come over (with beer of course :) ) and I will do the assembly with them. We just turn it into an assembling party.
This past friday Brett and Bowen, whom we are also photographing their wedding, and I am doing the bouquets and boutonnieres, and we have all now become great friends, came over so we could do the final touches on their invitations. This included a little gluing of the backs to the invite and stitching all around the invite. Bowen brought her own sewing machine so we could both sew together. While we were sewing her fiance Brett attached the little sealing stickers to their rsvp and cut all the twine for tying.. The rsvp is a fold over card with the address on the front the response space on the back and on the inside is a place where the couple has asked all their guests to write down their favorite recipes. Really fun! The invitation is a 2 color letterpress which I will take pictures of the completed suite a bit later...
We had a great time with a little pizza and beer and hopefully it gave them that fantastic feeling of completion! Although they still had to take them home and tie a little twine around it, stuff, lick, stamp and send but the major assembling was finished and nothing was sacrificed, as all the fun design ideas were accomplished with no stress or budget overload. Perfect.
I had my husband pick up the camera and document our little venture.

My Family...

Not sure if it is the economy, the sudden explosion of DIY weddings, or maybe it is me? But things have been slow in the invitation front...I have lots of other stuff going on with our photography and my flower design, making May and June very busy and lots of fun. But I can't help to wonder What can I do differently to stay focused, motivated, and inspired right now? Blogging isn't one of them. :) So on a search to find some inspiration and motivation and with the death of my computer last week I have been slowly trying to reorganize what was saved and I found all these images of my family (that I had scanned a while ago) I haven't looked at in a while...

My parents on their wedding day! My most favorite picture....EVER!

My grandmother with my mom as a baby... this picture always makes me feel joy. And gets me excited for the day my husband and I start a family.

My dad doing his dentistry on my brother.
My dad and brother at our old house ( One time I fell out of that door at the top of that barn)

My mom with me on her lap and my 2 sisters. I don't think I was too happy getting my picture taken.. :)

Me with my grandma on halloween.
My mom and her little sis, my Aunt Cindy....
My Grandma, so gorgeous.

My Grandmother again... she was an actress this was her headshot.