Pull back, home tour…

pull back, home tour, beane company home renovation

Beane Co home tour

So as some of you already know, we have moved and are in the middle of a renovation. It’s funny to see comments (after I have posted something on social media) from friends saying things like, “I can’t wait to come over”. Or, “how exciting, I bet that’s so much fun!”. Friends, family, strangers that follow me, …. this is not exactly what you call “fun“. Here are some shots inside my construction zone that are carefully and masterfully staged. I am going to give you what I’m calling the “Pull back, home tour”. I am sharing some of those pretty pictures… again. Then I am going to pull the camera lens back and let you see what it actually looks like. Stay with me. Read more

Spring Photography Workshop Part 1

Arizona Photography Workshop

In honor of my third up coming workshop I thought I should at least showcase some of my favorite bits from most recent spring photography workshop. I hosted my second workshop in the late spring this year. This workshop was on a much smaller scale offering more time to really answer any questions in full detail without feeling like I might not be giving other individuals the time they needed as well. You can see a big difference in color scheme and over all theme here, which I was really excited about. I love bright, rich colors and textures. This was a stretch for my dear gal pal Paige from The Love Designed Life, you can read more about that HERE. She goes into detail about how she masterfully thought and brought to life this amazing table-scape. Her florals were purchased from Arizona Flower Market.

BHansen Photography Workshops

Before I go into detail about the workshop, I want to comment about how truly important it is to me to support small business, local small business whenever I can. Shopping local means not only are we keeping money in our communities, we are helping feed the families of those business owners, helping them pay their electricity bills, and encouraging them to continue to follow their passions. Sure, I can buy a lot of things from big box stores, and surely I do, but I spend quite a bit of money in my community, in the surrounding communities, and in Arizona in general. One of our local vendors for our most recent workshop was Mamas Cold Brew Coffee company. Check them out, Jennifer the owner is amazing and I have developed such a great relationship with her and her company. We worked out a trade, coffee for my attendee’s for family portraits to be taken this fall. I will share those when they are all complete.

BHansen Studios Workshops

We also found a local baker who made the most delectable donuts you ever did taste! Big and rich and flavorful, what more could you ask for? Grano de vida is so tasty. We purchased them from The Simple Farm. Lylah, is a beautiful local caramel maker who is a huge advocate for creatives and makers all over the valley. You can read about her goat farm HERE.

Fresh Guacamole and salsa

In addition to the perfect pairing of coffee and donuts, I added in some of my own homemade fixin’s. Fresh guacamole and heirloom tomato pico de gallo. Alright, alright, that’s the jist of some of the amazing parts of attending one of my workshops. There is soooo much that happens behind the scenes to put a workshop on. I want to create a workshop that both attendee’s and small businesses want to be a part of. Bringing together community, business, and art. Now let’s get into some of the teaching portion of my workshops.

Desert Florals

This picture is exactly the same… or is it? Which one do you like better? This lesson was all about depth of field. You control your depth of field by changing your Aperture in your manual settings. Depth of field is the amount of subjects or objects in your image/composite that are in focus. You can change depth of field to create more stunning and powerful images by adjusting aperture to a higher or lower number. A lower aperture (also known as f/stop) means your lens is open wider, creating a smaller depth of field. This is great for portraits. A higher aperture or f/stop creates a larger depth of field, resulting in more subjects/objects in focus. An example of when a higher aperture is required is Landscape photography. You would need as large of aperture your lens will offer you.

Now that we have covered aperture, which photo was taken with a larger Aperture? The left or the right???
If you guessed the right, you are correct! The photo on the left was taken at an aperture of 2.8, the photo on the right was taken at an aperture of 10.

To learn more about shooting in manual mode, stay tuned for my up coming workshop schedule!

BHansen Photography Workshops

This is an example of what a practice set up looks like. The areas are designed with the attendees in mind, spacious areas with multiple pretty things to photograph. Each attendee has room to shoot and then share some of their images with myself and others. We compliment each other and help each other achieve the lighting and focus we set out to.

In my workshops we cover the four key components to shooting in manual mode; ISO, aperture, shutter speed, and white balance. Let’s be honest folks, having full control of your images saves you so much more time in the long run. No more long nights trying to fix things in some free or cheap editing programs, no more masking your color problems with Instagram filters, and no more wondering why your kid isn’t in focus but the pile of laundry right behind them is clear as a blue sky!

Bhansen Photography Workshops

Bhansen Photography giveaways

Oh, and I have some pretty awesome giveaways. I like to keep things exciting. This last item won is a personal favorite of mine. One that I use almost daily. It was an EyeFi SD card. It transfers your images to any smart device immediately using internal wifi.

styling by The Love Designed Life

This last photo is a taste of what’s to come in Part 2 of this post. This little Romper is featured in the live shoot out we conduct at the end of each workshop. Each attendee gets to see me in action with a perfectly styled family, by The Love Designed Life. There is time to ask questions, see the images on the back of my camera. Learn to pose families, and much much more!

Life Created Workshop

Not long ago I posted about an amazing urban goat farm I came across and visited. Well after immediately falling in love with the farm, I began to follow her unique story. Lylah is truly a giver, she gives to those she loves, she gives to her animals, she gives to her community, and now she has begun yet another giving adventure, she is giving to the creative spirits of the world. She has collaborated with many other talented local artists and makers to bring to all of us The Create Series . And as soon as I saw what she was doing, I knew I needed to be a part of it. With many of my own personal projects on the horizon I needed to be selective about which one I could attend. And with my endless love of learning and my passion for photography my choice was pretty clear. Introduction to food photography, put together simply and beautifully by Life Created. Stephanie is a natural light photography with a serious eye for still life and styling. I have also been following her through social media for quite some time now. I can appreciate the art in styling, and I am sure you all know that from all the collaborations I have done with my dear friend and designer Paige with The Love Designed Life . I knew I needed this food photography workshop for two reasons… 1: I love food and to create lovely inspiring recipes. 2: I have absolutely no game when it comes to styling or staging. Now to me, those are pretty vital pieces to the blogging pie I hope to master sometime this year. So here are some photos from the workshop. Stephanie did such an amazing job staging the table and covering all things necessary to show casing food and still life to the fullest. I will share a few things I picked up in the workshop, but encourage you aspiring photographers to take one of her workshops as well! I won’t give away all her secrets so hopefully that entices you to sign up with her soon, she fills spaces quickly!

Life Created Workshop

Life Created Food Photography Workshop

One of the key things I took away from her workshop is color. Keep it simple folks. Neutrals help allow the food or the entrée steal the show. Have some great go to props to include in your photos, ones that don’t shout out “look at me… I’m in like half the photos”. These things can be but are not limited to; napkins, wooden cutting boards, large bowls or plates, and serving ware.

Food Photography Workshop at The Simple Farm

Another key learning for me was not to over think it. Its ok to have a few short cuts. If you only have a few good looking berries, stuff something under them in the bowl to make it look like you have dozens of perfect berries spilling out of your quaint little vintage bowl. I know that seems like its not a huge “Ah Ha” moment. But for me it was. I can personally attest to not taking a picture because I thought I didn’t have enough of something. Ummm, hashtag PefectionistProblems!

Life Created Tablescape

The last take away I’d like to share with you all is be true to yourself. Don’t sit and compare yourself to others all the time. And please don’t just try and recreate what others have created before you. That of course makes so much sense to me as a portrait photographer, but what a thing to say when it comes to still life and food photography. Are there really that many ways to stage a bowl of strawberries? Yes, there are. And as a photographer every snap you share with others, you are sharing a bit of your creative passion. Be kind enough to be authentic with each and every thing you do. If you do that, you’ll do great. I hope you love the images and tips from this awesome workshop! There is always something that can be learned if you are willing to listen. I am so grateful to have attended this workshop and finally meet a photographer I have looked up to, and of course just be at The Simple Farm and see Lylah.

If you’d like to see what a portrait session looks like at The Simple Farm stop over at The Love Designed Life and check out my recent session with Paige and her family. They are expecting their third baby, and I am always blown away at Paige’s visions.

Share Six – May Theme – Floral

Share Six – May theme – Floral. This months theme kind of stumped me, at first I thought I would buy some flowers, stage them and take pretty pictures. But to be honest, I really didn’t want to buy flowers, because I really hate that they die. I like receiving flowers, but those die too. Then I thought, perhaps I will buy some flowers and plant them. And then I remembered all the times I have planted flowers, only to see them die. You get the idea here… flowers come to me to die. I am basically the flower reaper. As this was adding up in my mind, and not at all in a pretty way, I almost let the theme pass. (Kinda like how I dropped the ball on last months theme “Tasty”, I could have done a lot with that one too!) But I didn’t, and I am sure glad that I made it a point to participate.

I did not do all of my growing up in the desert. I spend my childhood years roaming my neighborhood playing hide and go seek or roller hockey amongst the most beautiful tree’s. The grass was green, there were four seasons, and flowers survived, everywhere. (Greeley, CO) It was grand. I have never really loved living in AZ. Its hot, like a lot. But now that I have become a photographer, I have finally learned to love the desert and its landscape. And certainly can appreciate the flora of the hot dry desert.

Just for fun, I have added my camera settings. All photos were shot with a canon 5D Markiii.

Jumping Cholla
100mm 2.8 Macro: F/2.8 1/100 ISO:1000

Fishhook cactus
50mm 1.2: F/2.8 1/2500 ISO:400

Palo Verde
100mm 2.8 Macro: F/2.8 1/100 ISO:1000

Jumping Cholla Blossum
100mm 2.8 Macro: F/2.8 1/125 ISO:1000

Dying
100mm 2.8 Macro: F/2.8 1/100 ISO:1000

Prickly Pear Cactus
100mm 2.8 Macro: F/2.8 1/60 ISO:3200

Here are some fun out takes from our family hike at San Tan Regional Park, that where I took these lovely desert photos.

Family Hike

Where I Stand

So it looks like there is a new sheriff in Town, Share Six. This is going to be replacing the previous photography group I was in called Project Ten. New group, new fresh ideas, I’m on board. This months theme was “Where I stand”, the title alone had my wheels spinning in so many different directions. If you know me personally, you know I have strong views on many matters. But aren’t always comfortable talking about them with people. Because, quite frankly, people get offended too easily these days. Having deep meaningful conversations happen few and far in between. Only because topics turn into debates, rather just listening to where someone else is coming from.

But don’t worry, I’m not going to really talk about debatable things. I’m just going to share with you Where I Stand in my parenting role. And how far I’ve come in accepting my place in my home. The struggle is real.

I never wanted to be a stay at home mommy. I can’t even recall thinking about motherhood and a family of my own at all growing up. I didn’t think about my dream wedding, prince charming, or the little house on the hill with a white picket fence. I thought about going to college, and having an awesome job that paid the big bucks. I thought of ways I would conquer the world. Be great at something, write a book, and eventually land on the couch of Oprah answering all her inquisitive questions on how I became such a great success. Add the dreamy full house music as you start to drift off and imagine it. Now snap out of it.

Well life didn’t happen that way. And that’s not a bad thing, it has just been a hard thing. So here’s where I currently stand. I left a great job making great money in 2011 to stay home with my five kids. I wasn’t happy in my overall career and felt like there was no “top” for me. The main reason was that I had a family. I just couldn’t move forward in my job with out traveling more, putting in more hours, and sacrificing activities for my kids in order have personal gain. It was the toughest decision I think I have ever had to make. I am not great (in my eyes) at being a domestic mom. I get mad, I get frustrated, I bark at my kids and even my husband when I get overwhelmed. I won’t pretend it was easier to manage adults than children but I will say its 100% different. And I didn’t know how to do it. I’m still learning that part. I often feel defeat because I’m not winning awards doing the laundry or cooking a delicious and healthy meal. I sometimes drown myself in feeling lonely because I hate that so many others seem to be loving this stay at home mommy life. I don’t hate them, I just do not relate. At least at work I had a sense of community. When our personal values were different, it didn’t matter we could relate to the job. Commonalities seem to be very important in the mommy world, or so I have come to find. I kick myself for not getting out there more and meeting other moms to combat that lonely feeling. I don’t because of all the mommy drama out there. There is plenty of it; from what we feed our kids, to how we raise them, to what school project we helped with (thanks to pinterest). I’m not that mom. Some of you may think “whatever crafty Martha wanna be” but let me explain. I don’t put my kids before everything. Don’t misunderstand me, I love my kids, and I would give my life for them in a heart beat. I just don’t do as much as the next mom. I don’t proof their homework, I don’t put their laundry in their drawers for them, I don’t make their breakfast or pack their lunches, I don’t volunteer to be at the school, and I certainly don’t enjoy curriculum nights. And mom’s out there getting it done and loving it, that’s awesome. You are truly a rockstar. I’m here to let all those other moms lurking in the shadows not volunteering to hang out with a class of 30 kids at the zoo in the blazing heat know that it’s ok, there’s another mom who will gladly step in. Do your thing, whatever that thing is. For me it’s working. If you see me doing a craft, it’s probably something I intend on selling. I tried to be that other mom, and it’s just not me. I tried to make cake pops for my sons class one year for a party, then the other kids wanted them as well. The next thing I knew I was making over 100 cake pops, something I had never done before, for a bunch of kids who would have been fine with a stick of gum instead. I wasn’t really making the cake pops for the kids, I was making them so all the other moms could see how cute they were.  Who was I trying to kid. I’m no baker. And if I am, its for my family. I have nothing to prove to the next mom.

I want to be a solid provider. It’s hard for me now to have an income. Having an income is very fulfilling to me. It makes me happy. Being a happy parent is also important.  I am still raising my kids, but just not the way I thought I should have been doing it. And that was a misconception of mine. I have a right to determine my style of parenting. It has been said “wow, you run a boot camp” and I often laugh it off. I don’t run a boot camp. I just stick to my word. I am firm about my rules. If I expect my child to do something, it better get done. There isn’t a lot of warning in my house when it comes to a consequence. They have, for the most part, come to know there are consequences to every action. And attitude is everything. Sounds like a scary house I know, but it really isn’t. We are a home filled with laughter, fart sounds, and funny memories. Just like the next house. I teach my kids to be independent, to be able to care from themselves at an appropriate age. (Mainly for my own sake, but also the value of the lesson for them.) An example, I teach my kids a few basic cooking skills right about the ripe old age of five. But I’m talking basic stuff, like toast, a sandwich, basic use of a kitchen knife, then as they are comfortable they move onto other things, and they usually tell me what they want to learn. I would say most of my kids could scramble an egg by the time they were six. Once I knew, they could make their own breakfast I stopped making it for them. Sure I occasionally get up and do it, but that is rare. More often than not they are making the occasion breakfast for me. My kids eat like Kings and Queens every morning. Eggs, bacon, toast, pan cakes, home made donuts, waffles, and oatmeal just to name a few. And they all task each other with an item and share in their feast. That’s just one example of how I feel I am empowering my kids. They do sometimes ask that I cook something for them and I agree.

I am just now finding my groove, accepting the fact that it’s ok to choose something for myself before putting that extra time into my kids school project or class party. My sanity is their sanity. I spend a lot of time with my kids. “Me time”  isn’t just important to me, its necessary for me. It’s fine to admit that staying home wasn’t my first choice. It’s ok that I am a dreamer. I hope that my kids grow up remembering how hard I worked to make that extra money that allows me to be home so I could get them where they need to be. I hope that they will recognize I wanted to give them life skills like gardening, raising animals, creating something, time management, and generosity. They know school matters, but I usually let the school handle it (if I need to step in then I do).

This is my youngest son Brooks, he is the one that has had the joy of having me home the most. He will start school in the fall. He is the one that hears me say, “ok we will play that as soon as I am done working”.

Dang Quesodilla

He is quite a character. He is five and hasn’t yet mastered making a quesadilla. But he can make a piece of toast, and a PB&J sandwich. He loves getting a “mocha” from starbucks, which is a kids milk with a splash of vanilla, he prefers no ice, that way he can mix the whip cream once he drinks most of the milk. He loves to go to QT and has just recently discovered that there are more than the two where we live. It was a pretty monumental Ah Ha moment for him.

Playing Monopoly

He is good about finding something to do while I get my editing done, or I’m working on a new post, or I’m sewing something. He loves board games, although he doesn’t really play them. He mainly goes through the motions with the dice and enjoys it just the same.

Playing with his Wild Cards

He is a lover of learning. He is kindergarten ready! He knows his ABC’s, counts to 100 repeatedly throughout the day. Loves to tell me he loves me, and loves to give me snuggles. This is how I know whatever parenting style I’ve chosen, its working out ok.

If you like this awesome set of wild cards you can find them on Etsy Here by Taylor Town Design. She is a local artist I found on instagram. And I just love her creative set of alphabet cards!

Lavender Love Maternity Session.

As promised, the images from the beautiful maternity session that inspired my DIY Flower Crown. This lavender love maternity session was a vision I had when thinking of my dear friends maternity session. When she found out she was pregnant she began to plan her maternity and newborn session together. And called me to help her share her new adventure with all her loved ones.

We have been friends for a long time. We met long ago when we both became mothers far sooner than planned. Immediately we became friends and we often supported each other in young single motherhood. We actually met volunteering at a youth center for young mothers, giving support and advice to other young mothers. (I’ll save those stories for another day.)

She has recently found Mr. Right, who is not just her Prince Charming, but truly her Mr. Right. She is now newly married and starting motherhood all over again, after all these years. I knew the moment she enlisted me to be the one to document this journey, I needed to make it extra special. I had visions of glamour, rich colors, femininity, and elegance. You can find the tutorial of this beautiful DIY Flower Crown HERE

So please enjoy these images of my dear friend ready to start in New Motherhood… again. She is so lovely that I just. Can’t. Even.

Once her sweet baby girl arrives, I will share the end of my creative inspirations and craftiness.

Flower Crown Maternity Session

Purple Flower Crown and Purple maternity dress

Handmade Maternity dress and Flower Crown

The Simple Farm – Totes McGoats

If you are in the market to find something cool to do during Spring Break, then take a morning trip this Friday to The Simple Farm! I posted about their caramels that we enjoyed during our Febuary workshop. But after reading her blog and following Lylah Ledner on Instagram, I just knew I needed to make the trip to check out her awesome goat farm. So we did just that last Friday. On Fridays the farm is open for caramel pick up, as well as fresh farm market. They have fresh eggs, produce, caramels, chocolates from Bee Hive Chocolates, and local raw honey. That’s just a glimpse of all the goodies she has!

Cute hand painted signs give directions to this Urban Farm.
Cute hand painted signs give directions to this Urban Farm.

Right as we parked, I knew I was smitten for this Urban Farm. Tucked away off what seemed like a normal street. Parking lined with rail road ties. Cute painted signs made from recycled pallets. When I think of Scottsdale, I admit, farming isn’t the first thing that crosses my mind. To be honest, I think of snooty, fashion forward wealthy people. All wearing their lulu lemon workout clothes (at any given time of the day) carrying a fresh poured coffee from this weeks newest trendiest coffee shop that probably cost them $10. I know I know, my “judgy” is showing. So when I pulled into the parking lot and walked back to this Urban Farm I was blown away. I’m not sure how many acres the farm is, but it was well laid out. There were garden beds every where, Vines, planting boxes and potting plants that seemed endless in sight. There were garden and farm staff quietly working on the plants. As you follow the signs back you come to a small covered area with tables to sit and enjoy some Mama’s Cold Brew coffee and creamer. A local momtreprenuer who has come to be quite infamous with in the greater phoenix areas. There is a cute little barn filled with fresh produce, herbs, caramels, tea spices, fresh eggs, and countless other things I can’t even remember.

Enjoy a cup of Mama's Cold Brew while you are thinking of how you will cook your farm fresh produce.
Enjoy a cup of Mama’s Cold Brew while you are thinking of how you will cook your farm fresh produce.

I forgot to take a picture of my coffee, I was too busy guzzling it down. I chose Mama’s cold brews vanilla creamer and my husband went with the Irish creamer. But the coffee is perfectly fine black, filled with rich flavors like cinnamon and nutmeg. I typically drink my coffee black but wanted to taste the homemade creamers.

I had been chatting via email with Lylah the week earlier to let her know I’d be stopping by, and to respectfully inquire about photography. Its important to me, especially since I travel in a larger pack than many, I ask about taking pictures when we go places. Some places don’t allow it. It preserves the spaces, and I respect that. You would be surprised at how many people (including photographers) don’t ask, and abuse places that do not have a policy. That can cause one of two things: a fee, or no “photography allowed”. So upon arrival she came up to the shop and was outside chatting with a friend of mine who plans to have some professional photography done on her farm. See her rules for photography HERE. And she said to her, “oh there is a photographer coming by today” and then my friend said, “yea she’s in there”! And then there I was admiring all her goodies, trying to decide what all I wanted to buy. Lylah came in and introductions where made. We got to talking about cameras and asked if I’d mind taking a picture of one of the goats. Ummmm, a chance to see the baby goats…. SIGN ME UP! I agreed and we headed back toward the house on the farm, I curiously sprayed my shoes with something labled “hoof spray” upon her request. And headed into the goats living quarters. They were such well mannered goats. A little nosy, wondering who this stranger was in their pen and what my business was. Then came the babies, soooooo cute! Once we got back there she noticed (who doesn’t) I came with a rather large group of kids. It just happened to be feeding time, and asked if some of them would like to help bottle feed the babies. DOUBLE YES! I went and got some of the older kids I knew would want to. Doowon (15 our Korean Exchange student), Beau (12), Braden (10), and Bennett (8). Caitlyn (14) stayed behind because she didn’t want to crowd the babies, and well Brooks (5) is just a little young and uninterested. He probably would have done fine, but I didn’t want to risk managing him around the baby goats.

Mama Goats Milk

Some babies took right to the bottles, and some weren’t as interested in feeding. They were more interested in sniffing us.

Feeding time for the baby goats

My kids love animals, all animals. And I have always wanted to raise some farm animals. But as of now, my HOA doesn’t see things my way.

Cherry is the only girl born out of 11 babies in the last month.
Cherry is the only girl born out of 11 babies in the last month.

Meet Cherry, the one and only baby girl. The reason our farm adventure turned into an amazing day out during our spring break. Because she needed a picture. Isn’t she the cutest?

Totes McGoats

Here are some of the Goats who received a lot less attention but are cute none the less. They are simply “Totes McGoats”.

B Hansen Photography Workshop #bhphotoworkshop

BHPhoto Workshop in Action

I am so excited to say that my first Photography workshop was a success. And as you know, I could not have had the courage to do it with out the help from my dear friend and designer Paige Rangel. She is the author of The Love Designed Life and mommy to two little beauties with one on the way.

I have been planning to start some small workshops at the request of many friends and clients for almost a year now. And as a small business owner, sometimes it can be hard to take a step in this direction and teach the up and comers. (Or AKA The Up and Coming Competition!) But in my third official year in business I decided to take this leap of faith and offer a beginner workshop and hope it does not hinder my business plan, but steers it positively.  I am branching out this year to offer these workshops, some individual mentoring, and some online tutorials. B Hansen Photography Workshop is a GO! I do admit, teaching and facilitating is definitely a passion of mine. (A reason that I have given this blog bit an on again-off again relationship.)

When planning any sort of get together I tend to go a tad over board. I like everything to match, have a cohesive design and/or theme. This is seriously any thing I do. SO when it came to planning a workshop I knew I needed the help of fashionista/designer/DIYer/over the toper like me friend Paige. I was able to give her some of my ideas and she brought them to life. She offered some ideas that worked brilliantly with the food creations, workshop book, and family styling that truly created a workshop to remember.

Beautiful succulents by The Love Designed Life
Beautiful succulents by The Love Designed Life

Here is an example of our practice workspace. The succulents are from Trader Joe’s and were a parting gift to each attendee. She made all the other floral arrangements and creations… By hand… Real Flowers. Did I mention how amazing she is?

Our delicious treats by The Bean Co and The Simple Farm
Our delicious treats by The Bean Co and The Simple Farm

When it came to food, I knew she has enough on her plate designing and styling everything else, so I took care of the grub. Another passion of mine. These are the most delicious hand made caramels any of us have ever had! Bought locally from The Simple Farm. They are made with fresh goats milk and are TO. DIE. FOR. The small food items I made were a brown rice pancake topped with some roasted carrots, beats, and chic peas. Our other tasty treat was my homemade baby lemon cakes made fresh from lemons I picked from a friends farm in Mesa.

Perfect natural aroma therapy by The Love Designed Life
Perfect natural aroma therapy by The Love Designed Life

This was the table set up for shooting in direct sunlight.

Perfect gift for a photography workshop. Scarf camera strap by The Bloom Theory.
Perfect gift for a photography workshop. Scarf camera strap by The Bloom Theory.

What’s an awesome workshop without a raffle?? Not an awesome workshop, that’s what. Each guest was part of a raffle and the prize was a goody indeed! This fabulous scarf camera strap by The Bloom Theory. This gal did a happy dance after winning this sweet little number, picture of dance not featured.

And now to the fun. After each lesson we took a break and practiced what we covered in our lesson book. Then at the end of the workshop we offered an option shoot out. This is where my friend truly shines. (See how she styled this family HERE.) Here are the images taken by me. B Hansen Photography

This gorgeous session was styled by The Love Designed Life
This gorgeous session was styled by The Love Designed Life
Fresh floral crowns with perfect succulent accents provide a perfect dreamy addition to this fabulous styled photo session by The Love Designed Life
Fresh floral crowns with perfect succulent accents provide a perfect dreamy addition to this fabulous styled photo session by The Love Designed Life
Styled by The Love Designed Life, these siblings are too cute for words!
Styled by The Love Designed Life, these siblings are too cute for words!
after a long day of learning this awesome group of ladies are putting their new talents to work! Styling by The Love Designed Life
after a long day of learning this awesome group of ladies are putting their new talents to work! Styling by The Love Designed Life

Project Ten Glitter

This month’s Project Ten theme was Glitter, and of course a flood of sparkly goodness rushes through my mind as I am brain storming. Then I go to old reliable, Pinterest, to see what’s been done and get more glitspiration.  And I shouldn’t have been surprised that many of my ideas had already been done. But that didn’t matter to me, since I put my own flare to everything I do, at least I think so.

This little gal just turned 9, one more year before she’s double digits, so what better way to display glitter than to just have a good old fashioned glitter party! And it was a blast, complete with glitter nail polish, glitter lip gloss, glittery confetti, glittery balloons, sparkly head wrap, glitter, bangles, glitter backpack, and an overall glittertastic personality! Oh, and some Taylor Swift jams to rock out to while we made that glitter rain.

Glitter Party

Glitter bracelets by Justice

Glitter Party Wishes

Raining Glitter Fun

Laying in the Glitter Rain

Glitter Party for Elshadai

Head wrap, dress, and back pack from Target. Leggings and bangles from Justice. Hope you enjoyed this Project Ten Glitter party! Photo Credit B Hansen Photography

DIY Camera Strap Cover

finished starp cover

I have a lot of upcoming projects in the near future and I am so lucky to have one of my best and longest friends to help me. She is a complete in over your head DIY nut like me. You can see some of her amazing creations HERE. She is co-hosting/styling my very first photography workshop and we got on the topic of camera straps. And looking through them I was inspired to see if I could make one. THUS, the DIY camera strap tutorial is here! Granted, this was my first attempt and I didn’t bother measuring, ironing, properly cutting materials, etc… I just wanted to give it a quick whirl to get an idea of how complicated it could be. And I must say, although I am not in love with this one, it was pretty easy to make. So beginner level sewers out there – give it a try!

DIY camera strap materials

What you’ll need:
Fabric, 1/8 of a yard is plenty
Scissors
Something cute to add to it, I used sequin ribbon (optional)
Sewing Machine
Original camera strap
Go getter attitude

cut fabric based on strap size

I just laid my camera strap next to the fabric and cut the width. Be sure to give some hem allowance. As you can see I didn’t bother using a cutter but that would certainly make this project look a lot better.

sew on sequins

Taking one side of your strap fabric add your embellishment. It could be anything, or nothing at all. There are endless options when you start to think about it. And I just chose this based on what I had lying around the house. Hashtag – HOARDINGSTATUS.

Sew on second sequin ribbon

My sequin ribbon was pretty thin so I added two rows.

place right sides together

Once you’ve got your embellishment done, place the sides you want to show together.

sew right sides together

Sew the sides closed.

finish ends

I should have thought to finish the ends prior to sewing the sides, so be sure to change up my steps for faster results.

turn inside out

Turn it inside out and slide your existing strap into the cover. Mine was a pretty snug fit but I wanted it that way so that it is less likely to slip out of place. Now I am eager to make some more polished, super cute ones!

The benefit of this cover is that it is removable and can be washed. I know I get a little sweaty when I am taking pictures. TMI

tada, finished strap