Thursday, June 7, 2012

We'll all float on, alright



red dress: mom's closet // polka dot dress: handmade by my grandmother // bag: gift



Being a person who loves to stuff everything in her pockets, when I got this bag as a graduation present, I was excited to try it out. Knowing I was actually going to go into public, and it's so hot out, I wanted to match my bag, something that I have never done before in my life. It's an extra challenge being all matchy matchy with your accessories, but since I just have this one brightly colored bag, I'm mostly just excited to try something new.




I wore this when I met with my clients (woah, don't I sound so professional?) at coffee to discuss wedding things. Matt, my friend Jacob, and I are the wedding photographers for our friends' wedding and as the day quickly approaches, we're getting more excited and apprehensive. If you follow me on tumblr, you know I've been freaking out just a little bit about the wedding, as it is my first one, but after this meeting, I'm not too worried anymore. It's such an exciting opportunity and because they're confident the photos will be amazing, I'm confident they'll be amazing. So be warned, in two weeks, this blog is going to turn into a wedding blog.




Because it was such a sunny day, my nail polish turned bright pink (it changes color based on the amount of UV rays in the atmosphere). I even started sweating a bit taking these photos--in sixty one degree weather too. Yeah, Alaska makes you tough, except I'm going to be a big baby when I charge headlong into ninety degree weather when I go to college.





Let's hope this awesome weather continues! I'm meeting with people the rest of this week for photoshoots, and I have a special shoot planned for next Saturday. Life is looking good!

How's your summer going?



where we begin




day 158


Just click on the photo. Just. Do. It.

This is the inspiration for this photo:



That photo was day 57 of my first 365 project (in 2010). It's crazy to see just how much I've grown ... This is super cliche to say, but if you had told me then what I am be doing now, I would have thought you were crazy. And I'm always improving and it's a weird concept to think that a person is never done growing; there's always something to learn and always something to improve on. But I digress.

I was going to post other photos from today, but I just couldn't wait to get this 365 photo up! This is the first of many model photos, as I've been recruiting like crazy. For those of you that have been reading my blog for a while, you know how frustrated I've been with not having anyone else to shoot, so I've been busy busy on facebook the past couple of days getting people to volunteer to model for me. I already have seven more people scheduled, and also seven kids in one day! (We'll see how that photo works out, hah!) I'm super excited for this because not only does it give me a lot of practice editing-wise, but I'm learning a ton about directing other people and not being timid about things.

I'll (hopefully--I make no promises) have more photos from today up, as Aly and I went on an adventure to Target (this photo was actually taken in the parking lot), and I got to go on a date with Matt! Tomorrow will be pretty busy as well though. I'm taking more pictures in the morning and then in the evening I'm off to a birthday party. I really love being able to go out places and hang out with people. I would say this is turning into a fabulous summer.

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

we were warriors



day 157

color version:


These are my brothers, William and Nicholas. They so kindly agrees to model for me and as you can see by the photos below, they followed direction completely. :)








diy shoes




Be warned, this probably isn't the best diy in the world as my creation started cracking after a few wears. This would probably work better with a pair of cloth shoes. Just so you know. Anyways!



You'll need: shoes, obviously. I chose to paint over my old fake oxfords to make them super pretty. I saw these shoes on amazon and decided it would be super easy to recreate them myself, even if I would only be able to wear the shoes once more (I had a hunch the paint would chip as my shoes were made of cheap material).

You'll also need spray paint, painters tape, sandpaper, and paint brushes. The glitter and glue I thought about using for the centers of the flowers, but I ended up not doing it.



Step one: wash and sandpaper. You need to wash your shoes to remove any grass and dirt that may be on them. After drying them, sand over them lightly with some sandpaper to remove the paint/whatever is on the shoe so that your paint can soak in.



Step two: tape. Be wary that sometimes painters tape doesn't always work. I suggest pressing hard on the tape to ensure no paint soaks through. Also you'll need to remove any shoelaces that may be on the shoe.



Step three: protect. Stuff the inside of the shoe with paper towels, newspaper, or plastic bags to make sure the shoes keep their shape as well as to protect the inside from any paint.




Step four: spray away! Follow the instructions on your spray paint and have at it! Keep in mind any wind that could affect the direction of the spray so that it doesn't get on your clothes.




For my shoes, I did two coats of white paint, making sure each coat was dry before moving on to the next. Then I let the shoes continue to dry overnight.




Step five: add details. (Ack! Forgive me, this is the first time writing with my tablet so I got off track with the numbering, haha. Silly me.) Now that the shoes are dry, you can paint on any details that you like. I even added white ribbon to serve as shoe laces.




And that's all! Again, there are a couple little cracks in the paint after wearing them so much, but I think my shoes still have a little bit of life in them, and with this fresh coat of paint, they've regained just a little bit more stamina.