Busy Bee: DIY "cool" Denim

Please note this ain't your typical school teacher denim we're talkin about today. If you like apples and busses and alphabets on your denim, this might not be the post for you.

(No offense mother in law - you rock those things - kids love it!)

I've been wanting a light colored "hipster" version of a chambray/denim shirt. Target had a really cute one, but I couldn't justify the $25 (I recall) they wanted for it. It was similar to this....

My hopes of wearing outfits like this....

While wandering through the thrift stores this weekend with my sis, I came across a giant section of denim button ups. I remember seeing a DIY ombre project for denim on Pinterest, so I grabbed one that looked to have some potential.

By potential I mean that it had some pretty cool details on it. I like the v-neck collar and the stitched seaming. I realized when I got home that it was even cooler, because its also got the little button up sleeve roll fabric flappy thing - (legit terms here people).

I literally just dumped bleach in a big bucket, submerged the shirt and ensured that all parts were saturated in bleach water mixture. I used about equal parts water and bleach. I also suggest doing this outside if you can - bleach stanks!

I let the shirt sit for 5 minutes, then flipped it around, just to make sure again that all parts of the shirt were covered in bleach water. Time lapse - another 5 minutes.

I rinsed the bleached shirt and washed it ALONE, with an extra rinse cycle.

And dryed it ALONE. I had to be sure I didn't ruin any of Mr. B's dress shirts...

I am ABSOLUTELY THRILLED with the outcome!

And the side by side:

Denim/chambray, red and leopard love.

Send Some Love - Postcard Style

I love Valentine's Day. I don't get into it for all the commercial reasons, but as corny as it may sound - love really is an amazing thing.

I love love.

I also love cards and paper things. I've been wanting to dabble into making more prints from my photos and this year seemed like a good one to try it out since I'm booking less shoots in anticipation of baby bee coming in April. So here I am nervously announcing that I've finally added some postcard photo prints to my Etsy shop. They're just in time for Valentine's Day! I hope you'll grab a pack and send to a few friends! I'd love to know what you think!

I've also included an Etsy Treasury list I put together. I think it has a nice assortment of gifts for just about anyone on your list to send some love to this year. If nothing else its some good eye candy :)

"Bee Mine"

  I assembled an assortment of found objects for each of these cards. I photographed them, edited and ordered them as one sided cards. On the back I've hand stamped each of them to create the

 postcard look.

Back view of each card

"Pearls and Perfume"

"Hello Friend"

Each one comes in a set of 4 post cards for $10.00 - Postcard size is 4x6 inches.

Thanks! - Mrs. B

Busy Bee: Saturday Banner Project

Saturdays are starting to become my project day. Mostly because I am not home during the week with enough day light to photograph them... isn't that sad? I think it is. Stupid day job (::sigh::)

We've been sprucing up our bedroom and this banner project inspired me to do one of my own.

(thanks again Pinterest)

 

So here's the step by step. Its a really quick project and a good one for days when you're stuck inside. Isn't it cute? I love how it turned out.

I started with this old burlap bag. You could use any fabric, but this really goes with the rustic/"beachy" theme we have. I really hate using the word beachy, because its not like typical corny beachy. At least I don't think so. The burlap bag was from a shipment of green coffee beans Mr. B ordered. Pretty cool I think - and I didn't have to spend the extra $$$ on a supply I didnt' have. I just cut out the parts that weren't stamped with spanish I didn't know. (ha!)

I cut out a template for the individual penants. I did a similar project for a Halloween 'Trick or Treat' banner, so I had a good idea of the size I wanted. The top was 6 inches across. In the middle (at 3 inches) I drew a straight line down that was 7 inches and then continued to make a triangle from those points.

 

I cut out the template and traced it onto my fabric. I put them every other upside down to save space.

 

I used a generic stencil I got at Hobby Lobby. I liked the more simple straight lines of it, rather than some of the fancier options, but use what you like and what fits with the rest of the decor you'll be using it for. Seen here a mini can of white semi matte spray paint as well.

 

Here is my first letter taped and secured, so that I only get paint in the open letter 'R' area.

And here's what it looked like after a couple sprays of paint - fail.

Some times projects don't go as planned, but if at first you don't succeed, try, try again - and so I headed to the basement to see what other options I had for white paint. I was looking for a white sharpie or a marker pen, but I came across something better. Acrylic paint and a brush. DUH.

This worked MUCH better.

I strung the penants together with hemp. Since burlap isn't solid it was easy to weave it through.

I love it!

Website sneak peek!

I am SO excited about this!!! Will share more later, but just HAD to show some one! ( some of the images are stock photos... the roses are mine :) )

An Etsy Shop?

I've been brainstorming some ways to supplement my photography business and know that many photographers sell their prints. I'm exploring what I like and experimented a little with some printing. If I decide to sell, I'll start with Etsy. Anyone else know good places to sell/make prints? Let me know what you think! Happy Friday!

Rocky Road Rice Krispie Treats

Hello - I've been busy behind the scenes lately developing my brand, logos, and website among other projects and I'm on the verge of doing my first 'serious' wedding season. Scary yet so exciting! One project I've been wanting to tackle is documentation of making a recipe. This particular recipe is pretty easy and I actually had the time to do it! I found it on Tasty Kitchen Blog. I love their recipes and the food pictures are delicious eye candy. All these pics are unedited (SOOTC).

Here's the recipe:

•1 cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
•½ cups Peanut Butter
•½ cups Nutella
•½ cups Mini Marshmallows
•¼ cups Pecans
•¾ cups Rice Krispies

I also added toffee pieces and extra nuts.

I started with the PB and nutella in the same bowl, something microwavable and large, because you'll be adding all the other ingredients to it. Add the chocolate chips to the PB/Nutella bowl and microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring until chips are melted. I'll refer to this trifecta as the chocolate batter.

I could see this combo being very useful for other things as well, dipping sauce for pretzels, frozen on a banana, curing cancer...

Once the chocolate batter is melted and stirred together start adding ingredients, beginning with the rice krispies. You may have to add more krispies depending on how much extra chocolate batter you seem to have. Stir in each ingredient after you add it to the chocolate batter mix.

Add pecans...

Toffee chips (optional - but sooo worth it!)...

Marshmallows...

Have a buttered 8x8 inch pan ready to go... you'll then dump the krispie mixture with all its ingredients into the pan and pat down gently so it covers the bottom of the pan and its fairly flat on the top.

Top the mixture with more nuts or toffee...

And more marshmallows too...

Gently pat down toppings so they stick.

Refrigerate for an hour, or as long as you can stand to not eat them...

Me peeking to see if they looked ready to eat...

Forgot to mention, I bought a little step stool, because I am short... I can't reach anything and its come in handy for instances like this when I want to photograph something from above. I'll definitely be taking this with me on shoots. $12! At container store!! AND it folds up FLAT!

Set the table all nice too for our dinner guests where we devoured these treats...

Inspiration Boards

This is an inspiration board I made for my graphic designer. Rather than trying to tell her what I wanted for my logo and multitude of other graphics that I need, she suggested pulling fonts, images, business cards, graphics and other imagery to give her a better idea of what I wanted to go for. I can't wait to see what she comes up with!

I'll be sharing more of how the branding process is going and you can expect to see plenty more of the above in a similar manner on my website (coming soon!) and eventually here on the blog!

This is also a great way to start any wedding planning. Pulling together imagery of what your dream day looks like in your head, helps vendors get a better understanding of what you're imagining - and its pretty fun! Even if you don't have photoshop or other graphic design tools, you can easily copy and paste images into power point slides or even word documents!

Hope this helps you get inspired!

Unique, Personalized and Handmade Invitations

I am super excited about future meeting of the minds with Alaina, from Cheer Up Cherup designs, for several reasons. 1. Working with fellow vendors is always a plus and a great way to strengthen a business relationship. 2. She just quit her day job to make invitations full time! 3. She's my sister! Alaina makes vibrant and creative invitations for weddings, baby announcements, save the dates and and much more! Her designs can be seen here and here and here! I've also included a few images below. Look out for a spring 'Day in the Park' event, where Alaina and I will be joining our goods for couples to get great save the date cards!