Featured: The Inspired Editorial | Blush and Honey Paper Branding Session

I have been a major slacker when it comes to the blog and keeping it up to date with all the loveliness that is going on in business, eep! Be sure to follow along on Instagram for weekly updates and behind the scene stories thanks to Instagram Stories...its just one more way for us to stalk each other! :D

One of the amazing items that I didn't share that I am BEYOND proud of is a feature in a new and fresh online magazine called The Inspired Editorial! It's a fantastic resource for small business creatives that has tons of beautiful eye candy and incredible tidbits and interviews with movers and shakers in our industry! Brit Chandler, the owner and creative mind behind the Inspired Editorial has put her heart, soul and talent into bringing the not-so-fun business stuff to creatives in a beautifully packaged, and easily accessible online platform! I'm thrilled that she interviewed one of my incredibly talented and best friends, Lauren Hitchcock, with Blush and Honey Paper for her FIRST Etsy Envy series! You can check out the snippet of the interview HERE, but be sure to download the magazine so that you can read the full interview!

Lauren began her watercolor portrait business about 2 years ago when she began watercoloring elements for her own wedding and found the passion and IMMENSE talent she has! It makes sense that Lauren has all this creativeness pouring out of her as she is an Elementary School Art Teacher and is surrounded by little ones that have open minds and no inhibitions. If you look at her Etsy page, you'll notice she has a way with painting the most whimsical and cheerful custom portraits! She focuses on pets, but has added many other custom works like family illustrations, home illustrations, and super cute greeting cards! She even surprised me with a custom illustration of my headshot, my wedding dress, bouquet and Rob's boutonnieres. I about died and absolutely love having them hang up on my wall above my desk! They are the perfect inspiration! Y'all...she's a force to be reckoned with! She just published her own kiddos book, D is for Dog: Pups from A-Z and in case I haven't gushed enough about her, she has teamed up with her local animal shelter and every purchase of a custom painted pet portrait feeds a pet in need! She is just fantastic!

I'm so excited to share these amazing branding session images that I got to take with Lauren back in Knoxville. We rented The Hive Knoxville for her session and by the end of it she was illustrating on their chalkboard and they asked to keep it up for the rest of the day! ;) Enjoy!!

BAY AREA LIFESTYLE HEADSHOTS | STEELE MY HEART

January 28, 2014; the day I met Ryanne will go down in our SF history! I decided I was going to find people here in the Bay Area in our industry...put myself out there (which, lets face it isn't easy for anyone) and make some friends, industry peers and, hopefully down the road, some connections. What I wasn't "planning" on was the incredible friendships I would make on this adventure. Ryanne Steele from Steele My Heart, Hand Lettered Signage, Modern Calligraphy & Wedding Planning, has turned out to be one of my best girlfriends! She has SUCH an amazing spirit...she's just effervescent!! From our first bite at an Alameda Thai restaurant to our jaunts around the Alameda Flea Market to working together on some fun and exciting projects, I just adore our friendship and was SO incredibly excited when she asked for new head shots for her website! No jacket or blazer for this chicky! We wanted to have fun, show off her personality and really show off how talented and unique she is! As she states on her site, "I believe that you should look to hire vendors that you feel comfortable with, the kind of people you would want to be friends with long after your Wedding Day." 

We had such a fun time hanging over in my neighbor's apartment (thank you Carrie!!!) and then we made our way over to a famous little corner of our neighborhood called, Vesuvio. We had a beer (or two) and continued with the shoot. I love how this head shot session wasn't buttoned up or covered up, but showed tattoos, curly hair, beer drinking and the most awesome handletterer and planner in the Bay Area! Enjoy!! {Makeup: Makeup by Adele}