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    • Kristen the designerKristen the designer

    Happy Fridays: Baby Shower Themes!

    February 18, 2011 | Posted by Kristen the designer

    So I recently stumbled across an amazing party planning blog full of some really great ideas for every possible party and occasion. Celebrations at Home has a range of content from DIY projects, to themes and decor, even delicious treats to serve. I skimmed through some of the baby shower posts and just had to share a few of my favorites here.

    Theme: Bold and Bright

    I am a total sucker for bright colors! And these 2 showers had the perfect combination of hues and tones to help tie it all together. You always run the risk with bright colors that decorations may look over the top, but the above images showcase great examples of how to avoid this. They chose their base colors and stuck to those for every little detail to ensure a harmonious spread. I especially love the table spread in the top image :)

    Theme: Backyard Shower

    I love the attention to all of the tiny details at this shower. From plates and napkins, to invites and favors, everything has that extra little personal touch. I also like the southern feel of a backyard wedding :)

    Theme: Garden Shower

    Now the above images are actually a birthday party, but they were simply too gorgeous not to share. Plus I think it would be super easy to take a lot of the birthday ideas and apply them to a baby shower with the same feel and decor. This shower was held in an actual greenhouse, which may not be doable for everyone, but you can always find foliage (fake or real) and spruce up a friends house or backyard!

    Theme: Pretty in Pink Shower

    I about died when I saw this one…definitely my favorite! How lucky was this mom to be? This is definitely a very detail oriented shower…lot’s of personalized tags, display cards, desserts, and favors! I imagine this was no easy feat to tackle. But, the overall theme is probably the simplest. Pick one color, maybe pink for a girl and blue for a boy, but really any color will do and stick with that one color for everything. Makes it much easier to pick out accessories and not have to make sure it is the exact right shade for each one. I actually really like the mixing of the different tones of pink. So gorgeous!

    Well I hope this provided everyone with some lovely baby shower inspiration! Make sure to check out Celebrations at Home for so many other wonderful ideas. Happy Friday!

    Adele CabanillasAdele Cabanillas

    Session Share: Pastel Hugs

    February 15, 2011 | Posted by Adele Cabanillas

    Inspiration:
    Lately my Inspiration comes from all things Handmade, Vintage, Neutrals and DIY projects. I am drawn to Nature, open fields or locations with Texture and Different Colors.

    Favorite Element:
    In this Session? Almost everything. I love how we combined soft colors with brighter colors and added the roughness of Wood, Most of my sessions include these Elements.

    Biggest Challenge:
    Was definitely the Mosquito’s. I was shooting at some low light conditions too. The Sun disappeared behind clouds and it soon become over cast and nightfall was only a few minutes away. I think all in all the low light conditions contributed to the softness these Images now have.

    What Clients said:
    “Oh Adele, you have me in tears…. Happy tears. Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

    Photographer’s Final words:
    There are so many helpful and Inspirational blogs out there these days to help Parents prepare for their Family Sessions. I love when my Client include me in the planning process, I even love giving ideas. I encourage each Parent who has an Idea or Concept for a session to share it with your Photographer and together plan a Session that will for years to come hold special memories.

    Alice ParkAlice Park

    NAPCP Announces Photographer of The Year: 2010!

    February 14, 2011 | Posted by Alice Park

    The National Association of Professional Child Photographers (NAPCP) is thrilled to announce its first Child Photographer of the Year, Dana Pugh of Short and Sweet Photography! A winning image from Dana was featured on an electronic billboard in New York City’s famed Times Square.

    Based in in Calgary, Alberta, Dana has been bringing her unique mix of quirk and documentary photography to families since 2007. Known for creating collections of images that work together to tell a story (and produce big, soul-filling smiles), Dana’s work has been on the cover of Birthing Magazine and was recently the subject of a spot on Shaw TV.

    The overall NAPCP Child Photographer of the Year winner was determined by total number of points scored in both 2010 NAPCP Image Competitions. Thousands of stunning images were critiqued by a blue-ribbon panel of experts based on impact, technical merit, composition and creativity.

    “The overwhelming response to NAPCP’s image competitions underscores the creative passion of the child photography community,” said Kyu Park, co-founder and president, NAPCP. “We are excited to be able to honor the unique talents of these professionals—and especially Photographer of the Year Dana Pugh—for their ability not only to capture the fleeting image of youth, but also to craft true works of art that delight families for generations.”

    Congratulations to Dana on her fantastic accomplishment!

    Check out the press release here!

    Kristen the designerKristen the designer

    Happy Fridays: Valentines Day Crafts!

    February 11, 2011 | Posted by Kristen the designer

    So for this Happy Friday post I wanted to do something a little different. Every time I feature one of these really great craft projects I am dieing to try them myself  :) Valentines Day gave me the perfect opportunity! Valentines Day can be a tricky holiday because traditionally it can be all about the chocolate and the flowers, but your kids aren’t really interested in either of those.  I went through photos of several projects and picked 2 that would be perfect for a whole family, or just the kids! I also picked projects that were cheap and quick…both important things for busy working parents. Each project is also a great way to recycle a certain art supply that usually gets thrown away: crayons! How many times have you tossed away the little left over crayon nubs at the bottom of the box that are too small to color with? Or maybe a crayon breaks and can no longer be used? Now you have a solution! No excuses this weekend…it’s time to get crafting!

    PROJECT #1 CRAYON HEARTS

    Supplies: metal heart shaped baking pan, old crayons, sharp knife or scissors

    1) This first project is a great way to give your child the freedom to create whatever crayon color they want! First, gather your supplies. You will need to gather bits of old crayons together and perhaps brand new ones to mix and match. You will need enough crayons to fill each mold of the heart shaped tin. I found a tin at Michael’s Crafts on sale for $4! It had twelve heart shaped molds that were about 1.5″ x 1.5″. Perfect size!

    2) Once you have your supplies, you will need to start chopping up the larger crayon bits. I chopped mine up very fine because it helps them to heat up more evenly. However, if you want a more multicolored crayon I suggest mixing larger pieces together.

    2) Once chopped up, set in piles on a table along with the tin. Let your kids decide which colors they want to mix together. I mixed mostly like colors for mine, adding a little white to each. The white helps create a gradient effect so that the color of the crayon changes as you color.

    4) Have your oven heated to about 200 degrees. Place the tin inside for about 10-15 minutes. I have a gas oven so the crayons melted very quickly for me. If you leave them in longer the colored waxes tend to run together into a muddier solid color which isn’t very fun :( Remove the baking tin and let it cool for about 20 minutes to be safe. The crayons will dry and re-harden much faster, but the tin will still be very hot.

    5) Time to enjoy! Let your kids go to town coloring all kinds of new pictures! The really fun crayons were the ones I made with several colors mixed together!

    PROJECT #2 TRANSPARENT WINDOW HEARTS

    Supplies: Crayon shavings, wax paper, craft paper or thin towel, iron, scissors, thin ribbon or twine

    1) You will need about a 12″ x 20″ sheet of wax paper. Now fold this in half length wise. You will only be covering half of the sheet with crayon shavings. Lay the wax paper on either a thin towel or a sheet of craft paper (brown paper).

    2) You will need about 7-8 crayons worth of shavings to coat the entire sheet. Maybe more or less depending on the the type of crayons you want to use. I used only the pinks, reds and oranges, but feel free to let your kids use whatever color they like. You can use a crayon sharpener, but I actually found that an eye pencil sharpener worked best! Go figure :)

    3) Once the sheet is mostly covered, fold the wax paper in half. Cinch the edges by making a 1/8″ fold on the other 3 sides. Place another sheet of craft paper on top, or a thin towel. I say thin because if you use a thick bath towel (like I did at first) the iron will not be able to melt the shavings. You will need to run the iron over the towel or paper a few times. Make sure to check every few seconds to see if the shavings have completely melted.

    4) Let the wax paper cool and the crayon wax harden for a few minutes. Now trace hearts, or other Valentines day shapes, onto the wax paper. Be careful when cutting out shapes not to rip the wax paper.

    5) You can hole punch and string each one or do what I did and tape the string to the back of each heart. My hearts weren’t large enough to hole punch :)

    6) Hang in a well lit window!

    I hope everyone has a wonderful Valentines Day…Happy Friday everyone!

    Kristen the designerKristen the designer

    Product Feature: Bumble and the Bum Book!

    February 9, 2011 | Posted by Kristen the designer

    This week’s fabulous feature is all about Bumble and it’s creator, Cory Kingston! Bumble sells an amazing product called the Bum Book, as well as the brand new Bum2 (squared) Book. If you are like most parents and want to record every minute of your new little one’s day, look no further. These adorable journals are perfect for jotting down notes, marking important dates, and making sure you don’t miss a thing along the way. Plus Cory and Bumble have been kind enough to offer a giveaway to one lucky winner! To find out more check out are interview with Cory below :)

    A little more about Cory and Bumble…

    How did it all start?

    The bumble concept was created in 2006 with the birth of my first child. Being a project manager and dedicated list-maker, I saw an opportunity to create a keepsake-quality book that would help moms and/or caregivers to easily and neatly record the details of baby’s day – feeds, diapers, wake time, sleep time and more. It wasn’t until my daughters 4th birthday on June 17, 2010 (and another baby later) that the concept became a reality. I called it my bum book and formatted it so you could begin to see helpful patterns emerge and start to feel a bit more in control. I even added a space for those special moments and milestones you want to remember but don’t have hours to write about (I don’t know about you, but those enormous baby books full of empty lines stress me out! who has the time?).

    What was your inspiration behind it?

    The concept itself isn’t new. Like many new moms I know, I began jotting down every little detail about my newborn daughter (and, 2 years later, my newborn son) right there in the hospital, in a boring old notebook. I carried on with this at home and even after I went back to work, not wanting to forget anything. Dirty diapers, nap times, feedings, first smiles – for both practical and sentimental reasons, I wanted to record all of it.
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    How do you make it all work?  Tell us about how you maintain balance between your family, building your business, and time for yourself.

    You just do. Seriously though, its tough. Partially why it took me so long to turn my concept into a reality. I have a a full time job in addition to Bumble and 2 toddlers. It’s important to keep them all separated. When I’m at work, I’m at work. When I’m with my family, I’m with my family. I work on Bumble after the kids go down. My husband even made a sign that says “open for business 9-midnight”.
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    What are your goals and aspirations for Bumble?  Where do you see yourself and Bumble in 3-5 years?

    It’s funny you ask because I just hit one of my goals which was to expand the line and am thrilled to announce that we just launched a daily journal for twins – my Bum2 [squared] book. Its been a huge hit amongst the twins community. In 3-5 years, i see the line having evolved as well as our Bum Books as an integral part of every baby registry checklist and must have lists.
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    To learn more about Bumble please visit the website here, and the blog here!
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    Bumble is kindly offering a giveaway to accompany this post. You could be the lucky winner of one of these gorgeous, environmentally friendly, Bum Books!

    Want a chance to win a Bum Book or a Bum2 Book? Here’s how!

    Rules:

    (1) Must “Like” BOTH Bumble’s and NAPCP’s Facebook page

    (2) Write something nice on Bumble’s Facebook wall on behalf of NAPCP

    (3) Post a comment on the NAPCP Facebook page to let us know that you’ve completed all of these steps!

    Deadline: Thursday, February 10th at 11:59 pm es


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