Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Garman Family

I met Dorothy & her family at the school Dorothy went to as a girl.
 I couldn't resist taking pictures of the school while I waited for them to arrive.
  Dorothy had some fabulous ideas and fun props ! The sun was still too bright for the one pose so we took a few pictures using the field lane. I love the background !

                                                              Sweet little Adalie


                                                           Sisters -  Giana & Adalie
                                            I LOVE this picture - the sunlight is awesome !


Cheers to Matt for hanging the light in the tree !! I love the vintage feel of this picture.


                                                                 Matt & his girls




 Another family picture
 Cute !!!


We did a second session a few days later in a soybean field - it was sooo cold and windy but we managed to get some great pictures!




 We used a quilt made by Dorothy's grandmother.

 Dorothy ordered this picture as a canvas ( without the words) and had this quote created in word art   to hang with it. She put this in Adalie's bedroom, I need to have her send me a picture of the wall !



I love doing this type of session - capturing life as it's lived., not having everything so posed and creating a series of pictures that all tell a story and capture a families love and interaction. I also love the personal touches like a family quilt, a fav. book, fun hats & boots ! Dorothy & family, thanks for letting me work with you !


                                                                 Blessings,
                                                                            Esther

Color for a winter day !!

     
Let's think summer and warm breezes and pink and cute little girls !!

This is part 2 of Akilah's birthday shoot. Her Mom had this awesome pink chair and I had the pink hanging thingy !
Akilah was so excited for this photo session 




What a fun outfit !


Love those pink boots !


And then her Mom got out a paper cone of cotton candy !!!

She was so happy when we told her she could eat the cotton candy



Thanks to Kendra for getting this together & editing these pictures !We did one more session with Akilah that day, so look for part 3 !! I have so many pictures to share with you ,but I've been having a hard time getting them to upload onto the blog, so frustrating !!! I will keep trying .


Blessings,
  Esther

Sunday, January 22, 2012

My living room mantel

 Finally taking the time to post a few pictures from my mantel this past fall & christmas. Our house has a huge sandstone fireplace in the living room with a huge wooden mantel on top. Since moving here we've discovered it's a common thing in our area.

 Pumpkin's & gourds bought at Sycamore Springs & Joanne fabrics the yr before at highly discounted pricing !! I only purchase things on sale and try to add a few nice pieces each year.


 I found this picture at the reuzit shop and I loved it, something about the scenery just pulled at me ! It's a pain to store but I use it for the fall season.


 A side table arrangement - i pick the worst times to take pictures of my decor  =( hence the shadows.


 Mantel is cleaned and ready for christmas decorations ! I tried something new this year - using fresh greens on the mantel. My friend has huge bushes of cedar or something like it and while I was cutting some to add to my artifical greens I remembered  a mantel I decorated while working at Sycamore Springs. We had covered the mantel with fresh greens, pomegrantes, pinecones & berries, so I decided to try my own version ! I filled the 2 containers with blocks of oasis and water to help keep the greens fresh.


and here is the mantel filled with the fresh greens - they were sooo pretty and smelled so good !



 I added beaded fruit ( Dollar tree), berries & Magnolia leaves to the greens. I was wishing for a few more berries but nothing else I had  worked

 I usually have lots of lights on the mantel for christmas but thought I would try it with out and just let the greens shine BUT it just didn't pop at night so I ended up adding a string of lights under the greens!


Love having lights at night !!!

                                             just makes everything warm and inviting !!


                                                   The beaded fruit twinkles in the light !


I 'm dreaming up a winter idea - time to take down the greens !! I've been impressed though at how long they have held up and not dropped all over the floor.


Hope your inspired to go re-decorate !!

Blessings, Esther