Newborn Shoot: Lots of Tears

It's almost Friday! I couldn't be more happy with how busy I am with my photography business these past few days, annnnddd tomorrow is Friday! I am so thankful to be able to take photos of two little boys tomorrow afternoon! The newborn photos Brayden turned out so amazing! I honestly couldn't have asked for a cuter baby to take photos of. Although he was not too cooperative, I am not sure I would be happy if someone was changing me out of warm clothes non stop. All in all, everything was great! Check out all of the photos on my Facebook :  https://www.facebook.com/SamLeonardPhoto. I am thanking the Lord that I can relieve some stress with my photography during finals week. The last couple of weeks of a semester can be the toughest and the stress just seems to pile up! Having sweet babies as my subjects lets a lot of sun shine on my week. I am excited to show everyone the final products from the shoot tomorrow! Be on the lookout =) .

Sunday Braids

Happy Sunday! I hope everyone had a delicious Thanksgiving weekend filled with anything that could possibly make you gain weight! Those foods are always the best. To recover from this amazing weekend, I had a productive and somewhat lazy Sunday. Lipstick, crocheted tops, and braids seemed to have been the highlight of my day. Even if you're not going anywhere special a little lipstick makes any day a pretty one. I have been switching up my hairstyle a little lately with some funky braids. I had my friend try the one displayed in the picture today and it turned out pretty well despite some sideways pieces. It started as a french braid and graduated to a fishtail braid. I thought it looked pretty awesome! Other than my new-found hairstyle obsession, the photo shoot with Brayden is finally here! Friday is the golden day to place Brayden on my new antique finds! I found some amazing props for the newborn shoot the other day for a great price. It kind of made my entire year how cheap everything ended up being. Blog ya next time! CheesyMcCheeserson.

Reese's Dilemma

Happy pre-Thanksgiving! With all of the excitement of the delicious holiday decadents, I have neglected a very close friend: Mr. Gym. I wish there was just a tad bit of motivation inside my body...somewhere...no? Ok! Instead of digging deep inside and finding my inner strength, I decided a one pound pack of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups was so much more important. Yes that was correct, no typo, two half pound cups of smooth peanut buttery heaven. I had been thinking about this pound of Reese's for about a week now, deciding whether to splurge. I decided to head to the grocery store and just do it, but of course I had a plan. The plan was to buy at least two other items to cover up the large orange wrapper encasing one pound of candy; so it was hummus and strawberries (odd combo). Despite my strategic plan, as I approached the cashier, the bagger states to the cashier, "She is taking on the challenge!". Seriously? I'm not going home to eat this entire thing right now! This was my super embarrassing moment of the week, but it was totally worth it and I may go back for the one pound Hershey's bar...kidding! Happy holiday splurging! 

November 16, 2:45 pm, 7lbs 6oz

This sweet little man was born two days ago. How could you look at this and not be happy? My cell phone snapped this picture in the hospital, and for now this will have to suffice until the new family is all settled in. I can't wait to have this little guy as my subject! Stay tuned pretty people!

Little Baby Birdie Brayden

Happy hump day! I'm thanking the Lord that this week is halfway over and the weekend is beginning to appear in sight. I am SO excited that one of my good friends, whom I have known for seven years, is due to have her sweet little boy sometime this weekend. I am even more excited to get to put these adorable little newborn hats that Hearts and Hooks Crochet made for me on Brayden's teeny head. It will definitely be a fun photo shoot! The cute birdie hat decided that he wanted to make an appearance before his actual debut due to his extreme nervousness of being responsible for the warmth of that wittle head on the big day.

Be on the lookout for baby Brayden photos! 

Hewo fwiends!

Termites and Crazy Love

Good Evening bloggies. I was outside of my boyfriends house this past Saturday and saw a beautiful piece of heaven just laying in the midst of a pile of brush calling my name across the street. Naturally, I asked Joe to go dig it out of the brush so I could hang it on my wall....your'e judging. It was a piece of a fence that was the perfect length and width for a project I was wanting to use it for. When we got it home to my house, my Dad took one look at the fence and his first words were as follows: "Are there any termites in that fence?!". Well Dad, that is a fantastic question considering I just rescued it from the side of the road. Why is it that Dad's always think of the last things that would ever pop up in our crazy minds? Although I was forbidden to even step foot into my house with that termite infested fence, I am thankful for my Dad. If I had no one to display the obvious things in life so clearly in front of my clueless self, I am pretty sure I would not have a home thanks to that pretty fence. Thank you termites for ruining my craftiness. Side-note, why is love so crazy? That is all I have to say about that. I should have renamed this post after writing it since the sneaky termites seemed to consume it. Goodnight lovelies.

My future home

Happy Halloween lovies! Every year for the past few years, I have chosen to creatively design my own costumes. This year, I would have to say, has turned out to be my favorite so far: Minnie Mouse! It was simple and cute, although my wonderful boyfriend refused to accompany me as Mickey Mouse. Here I was with this adorable imagination of a cute little Minnie and Mickey Mouse strolling along with their matching ears and gloves. I may seem to win most disputes between the two of us but this one was a victory for Joe, not Sam. Boo. I don't have much to report this evening other than my long night which has consisted of perfecting my resume for an internship fair tomorrow at UNF (keep your fingers crossed people) and the occasional "trick-or- treat" coming from outside. I am still awaiting my beautiful pallet bed, which I am hoping to see some progress on this weekend. You can't rush a busy handyman! I hope everyone has had a wonderful Monday!

The Pinning Epidemic

Ohhhh good day people! It is ALWAYS a good day when I am pinning. What in the world is pinning you might ask? Pinning, in a lot of women's lives, is a very important verb used in daily conversing....ha! No but really, women do seem to get quickly addicted to this social website called Pinterest (including me). What is so attractive about this website that makes it even more fun than the, dare I say, almighty Facebook? You can basically plan the rest of your life on this site! It is quite amazing the wonders a simple "repin" click will work in your life! I have successfully planned my future wedding, children (yes I have a perfect little vision for my future children, don't judge), and home decor. If you are reading this post and do not have a Pinterest account, consider yourself both lucky and missing out. Lucky because this is a serious addiction people, pinning is no joke! It will consume your days and disrupt your daily routine. Missing out because, although pinning is very hooking, it is so fun! Your final thoughts while reading this chaotic post is to make an account and disregard my warnings, seriously do it. Goodnight (if Pinterest will let me sleep) and happy pinning to all!

My entire night summed up on one little screen

Sweet Somethings and Vintage Finds

Hewo bloggers! There is nothing that makes me more happy (other than blogging and listening to Pandora) than receiving a simple and beautifully handmade gift. What would make the situation even better is if it was crafted by the person I love the most...wait...it was! I am so lucky to have such a sweet boyfriend who takes the time to tediously work with a piece of metal and tiny tools to make me a ring that I have been wanting. Yes, I said make  me a ring. I saw the cutest little thing wrapped around a friend's finger that spelled out her fiance's name. It was made out of metal, which surprisingly was adorable! I told my boyfriend (Joe) that I wanted one, told him the shop she got it from, and when I saw him later on he had worked all night to make it for me. It's the little things that make people the most happy sometimes!

On another note, I finally found a headboard for the new bed that Joe is constructing for me (such a handyman). It was a great find from an antique store for $30 dollars: a window pane! It may seem like a lot of money for an old window pane, but good Lord, I have been searching everywhere for the perfect window pane/ headboard and I am so relieved I have found it. All I need now is my new bed =). I can't wait to post pictures of the finished product!

Check out the sweet crackle effect! So vintage!

How to Spice up an Old Mason Jar

Happy Monday! Before I study my entire day away, I thought that I would post about my new obsession: mason jars. These simple little jars can be made into anything imaginable, not to mention how easy they are to find! I have found mason jars at craft stores like Michael's as well as antique stores. They come in a number of sizes depending on where you buy them from. For the mason jar pictured on the left, I found some leftover fabric and thin brown rope to dress up this old jar. I simply cut the fabric so that it would fit around the jar and hot glued it to the jar. For the rope, I just wrapped it around the fabric a few times ,until I was satisfied with the thickness, and tied a cute bow to finish it off. On this project, I decided I wanted to fill my jar with water and float a few tea lights to make this jar different than the others. I actually LOVE the floating tea lights as opposed to placing a candle at the bottom of the mason jar (it causes a huge mess when the candle is finished burning). By the way, if you ever need a cake stand, mason jars and old plates make the perfect combination! This plate and mason jar were purchased from an antique store for only $5!

Cupcakes Galore

On this lovely Saturday, I have been preparing for my father's 50th birthday party. Yesterday, I worked all day baking 63 cupcakes homemade. It was definitely a different experience and allowed me to realize that I will NEVER take up baking as a profession. I absolutely love baking for friends and family, but when it comes to making enough homemade cupcakes for over 50 people, this may be my last venture in the bulk cupcake bakery. Fortunately, I have the honor of saying that those 63 cupcakes did not defeat me! I tackled each and every little cake one by one, piping and sprinkling until my hands fell off...and feet...and legs. I have a much greater appreciation for bakers now! Every little detail has fallen perfectly into place and all we are awaiting now is for the wonderful guests to arrive (and they better eat each and every cupcake). It is safe to say that I am very satisfied with my photography endeavors. Happy Saturday lovelies and BAKE ON!

Maternity Shoot

Hello Bloggers!

For my first entry, I wanted to talk a little bit about the last photo shoot I worked on. I was so excited to shoot my first Maternity photos, and thankfully I had the honor of my best friend as a subject! Little Braedon was very cooperative on this day and helped us take some gorgeous photos. I set up the shoot in my personal studio: my living room. This surprisingly turned out to be the perfect setting for my beautiful mother-to-be. I set up the white muslin ( which turned out to be a GIANT pain), and positioned my lights and camera exactly where they needed to be, after moving them several times. When doing an indoor photo shoot, I have learned that you never get the lighting right during the initial set- up. Once the pregnant Arielle arrived, we had a lot of fun using a few props (handmade baby shoes) to make the photos a bit more intimate. When I felt confident with the inside photos, we moved to the great outdoors! These photos actually turned out to be both of our favorites. The combination of the bright green trees and a beautiful pregnant Arielle, made this site perfect. We even found an old white barn that added to the natural feel of the photos. All in all, we had a great time! I can't wait until the little guy arrives in November to take newborn photos. Sidenote: I am super excited about the new shipment of newborn crochet hats, thanks to Hooks and Hearts Crochet! Everyone check out her site: https://www.facebook.com/heartsandhooks .

Have a wonderful day!