Newest Printable

I mean, come on Maila, I sleep through the night for you!!

Arizona

Arizona has been awesome!! Seriously. This trip could not have come at a better time!! Everyone is happy, I feel so loved, I'm having lots of photo shoots, and spending all this time with my momma and dad! It's SO GREAT!!!

I did bridals on Tuesday, a family session yesterday, a family session tonight, a family session tomorrow and a wedding on Saturday! Busy, busy, busy!! But I'm so glad that I'm getting to do what I love and that people appreciate all the work I put into these shoots!

I'll leave you with a quick sneak so I can join my awesome family outside on the porch...

Enjoy!!

I'm Grateful...

... for inspiring and comforting quotes. Especially when I'm feeling like I'm going through a hard time.

 

P.S. I'm sorry for all the Debby Downer posts lately... but this is my blog and I use it as a journal so there's bound to be a couple things in there every once and a while. Hopefully not too many. I'm hoping that I'll feel better after a much needed trip to see my mom this week! I need a good cry, fattening ice cream, the movie White Christmas and some cuddle time with my momma. That always makes everything better.

:)

Stake Conference & Babies

This Sunday was Stake Conference and it was so wonderful! I heard so many things that I needed to hear! I can't even remember the names of everyone that spoke but I was trying to pay more attention to what they were saying! It's been a rough go the last couples of days, so today was just the day that I needed!!! So grateful for my church!!

Also... I photographed a baby shower yesterday! It was wonderful! They had it at the church and it looked like a reception more than anything! You could tell there was a million hours of work poured into it! I love seeing someone's hard work all come together! It was beautiful! The mom and dad were glowing!! LOVE seeing that!!

  

You'll have to wait until I'm done editing them all to see, but just trust that it was AMAZING!! Seriously. 

Happy Sunday everybody!!

I'm Grateful...

Be advised - feelings are about to be expressed...

 I've been feeling a little weird lately. I feel like I'm generally a good judge of character, but lately I feel like I've been so wrong on so many levels - it's a little disheartening. I feel like I'm a good person, a genuinely good person. I've got my quirks (my sarcasm is sometimes ill-timed) but I generally care about people. I thought that people knew that. Maybe I don't do as good a job as I thought showing it, but lately, I feel like I've been sucked into this deep dark pit that just keeps swirling me around and I feel like I'm suffocating. I've felt personally and professionally attacked. Multiple times. It's hard for me to understand some people's mentalities when they do things like that because I don't think I could. Why can't people just be happy for other people?? Seriously. With everything that's been happening to me, and around me, I feel like I've just been on a sinking ship. I hate that feeling. It makes me doubt myself, and my integrity and my ability to help other people.

So tonight as I was searching quotes for self-esteem, I came across this little gem and made a printable for my home...

I love this, but hate the thought that I've been the reason that I've been feeling so down and defeated. 
I guess the point of this super peppy post is to just say: I don't care what people say or think about me. People will always hate. Unhappy people will always find a reason and a way to be unhappy. And that's NOT MY PROBLEM.  

I know who I am, those who love me know who I am and my Heavenly Father knows who I am. And that is ALL I need.

Basically, all I really wanted to say what that I'm grateful for the people that love me, and support me and stand up for me, and encourage me to be exactly who I am. Whether I know them, or not. 

____________________________________________________________________________________


Now that that's out of the way - whew. - I did have a lovely photoshoot that I was really excited about (until all this junk hit the fan - but it's still exciting for me)!! This lady is being featured in a big article and she chose me to take her headshots for her! Exciting things!!

I'll let you know when her article comes out so you can read it!!

 

Sorry for the overbearing of my soul...but sometimes you just need to let it out.
bleh.
 

Sunburst Mirror Tutorial

These are all OVER the internet!! Super simple, SUPER cheap, and super easy. All of them are pretty much the same, but I wanted to show you my version...if you want a little more sparkle!

What you Need:

Circular Mirror

(I got mine from Hobby Lobby for 50% off - it was $5 or something)

LOTS of Paint Sticks

Spray Paint or Acrylic Paint

2" Craft Mirrors

1" Craft Mirrors

3/4" Craft Mirrors

 Hot Glue

(I've had this mirror for a couple months and the glue is holding up splendidly)

First things first - If your want you paint sticks painted, that's the first step. I didn't paint my originally and had to go back and paint them later. It wasn't that annoying, but definitely would have been easier had I painted them to begin with. 

After your paint sticks are dry, turn your mirror reflective side down and lay out how you want your paint sticks to look. After calculating how many paint sticks you need, for whatever pattern you want - attach the 2" mirrors to the end of each paint stick with hot glue. You don't need a ton, but make sure that they are secure.

After attaching the mirrors to the end, glue your paint sticks to the back of the large mirror with hot glue.

 You could leave it like that if you wanted. I left mine like that for about 3 months. Probably a little longer. But then I got bored with it and wanted more SPARKLE!! 

This is when painting it first would have come in handy. I decided I didn't like the natural wood color on my paint sticks, so I got out my acrylic paint, my handy dandy paint brush, and painted the sticks a bright white.

 If you're smarter than me, you can just skip that step because you've already painted your paint sticks.

Lay out your mirror on a flat surface, with the mirrors pointed up. (A table or something flat and hard is the best option.. I opted for my couch because I wanted to watch Castle while I did this part - but it for sure would have been easier and probably faster on my table.)

Take your craft mirrors, and one size at a time, place them on your paint sticks. DON'T GLUE THEM DOWN YET!! Make sure you get them all where you want them and THEN glue them to your paint sticks!!

3/4" Craft Mirrors, 1" and 2" Craft Mirrors

With the 1" Mirrors placed

With the 2" craft mirrors placed

With the 3/4" craft mirrors placed

Once you've got them how you like them, hot glue them down.

Glue an attachment to hang your mirror up on the back. This part was tricky for me, I used liquid nails at first to attach a hook to the back, but that fell off and it busted. So I ended up breaking off a piece of a paint stick and gluing that to two other paint sticks (see the picture) It worked like a charm. A bit barbaric, but it gets the job done. Just put a screw in the wall to hold up your mirror.

Then hang it up! Viola!! Isn't she beautiful?? And SO easy!!

 

Look at all the sparkle!! I LOVE it!!!