March of Dimes 2012 Donation Raffle Winners - Northern California Wedding & Portrait Photographer

Well I survived the crazy weekend, and I'm excited to announce that the final amount raised from the donation raffle was $360! Through sunburns and leg bruises (yeah, I wasn't totally coordinated that morning and walked right in to a railing right as the walk began)  we made it through the sacramento route, which was slightly changed this year.  A huge amount of the donations came from the parents of my dance students, and without them I probably would not have even reached halfway to my goal for the year! I had my phone out, instagram-ing random little things along the way, so here is a peek in to our March of Dimes experience! So now it's on to the long awaited prize drawing! All names were placed in to a cup (because I still do things old school) and shaken around. Drawn out in the following order. Winners should be recieving an e-mail later this afternoon, where they will be able to claim their prize, or allow it to be passed on and redrawn for another person to have a chance at it.
Banana Cherie Pettiskirt Winner: J. Sheng
Little Penelope Lane Hair Accessory Winner: A. Fong
Botanical Seductions Bath & Body Collection Winner: J. Peters
Apprehensive Films DVD #1: J. Carroll
Apprehensive Films DVD #2: M. Benson
Freeze Frame Portrait Package: A. Orilla
Freeze Frame Portrait Package w. 16x20 Canvas: S. Jenson
Thank you SO much to everyone who donated, and I will be in contact with all of you very soon!

Dallas & Kaelynn - Children Portraits

It was a few days before my March of Dimes raffle kick off, and i realized i had items to showcase, but absolutely NO photos to go with them! I posted a shout out on facebook looking for little models, and didn't get much of a turn out, so I shot a message off to a friend from elementary school. She was thrilled with the idea, and we made plans to meet on thursday afternoon, the day before the raffle kick off, and have some fun! Her two oldest kiddos fit the role i needed just PERFECTLY, and well... you'll just see how adorable they are yourself!
Kaelynn was simply adorable, with even her nails painted to match the purple theme of the shoot. and once i pulled out the purple "whirly pop" i had purchased for the shoot, she was in heaven!Dallas and i got along, once i pulled out my two secret weapons. i have a "baby buzz" (as lorelai calls it) keychain on my wallet that worked for an excellent hide and seek game. as well, i once downloaded a ringtone that would said "to infinity, and BEYOND" every time i got a text message... that idea lasted about a day for me before i started going crazy, but the kids love it!
The balloons... oh how i love the balloons. i feel like they just tied everything together so perfectly, and both Dallas & Kaelynn had fun with them!
We ended the session with a race. Kaelynn had the elements working against her, by being the little sister AND having to run with balloons in the wind. They did an EXCELLENT job, and i'm SO happy with how everything turned out!

Banana Cherié Skirts & Accessories

Sorry for the hold up! Had quite a bit going on this week/weekend with the documentary and studio shooting for classes. But finally i bring you the last of the pettiskirts! One again, aimee and jewlie are super adorable, and you can't deny it :)jewlie had an uneasy start with this candy corn one. apparently she felt it didn't spin quite like the zebra ones... just wait, she'll prove you wrong :)aimee sitting pretty, and ready to be the pumpkin patch princess. (and can i just say i love this little stool i purchased? it has come to great use on many occasions!)
after 2 years of being hauled around in my car, i finally had a use for these funkins! (yes, that's right. they're funkins. fake pumpkins!) goes to show that adding props the correct way does NOT make an image look tacky.just wait for it... here is the jewlie spin! i love how even aimee in the background has a little swish going on with her skirt. these skirts truly are every little girl's dream. or even ariana's... she's 22. but thats a different story ;)if you are interested in ordering a banana cherié pettiskirt, or have any questions, please feel free to send lisa an email at carrollcousincreations@gmail.com
also! we will be at a second craft fair 10/30 and would love to see you there! the location is 6446 Sylan Road, Citrus Heights, CA from 10-3pm. we look forward to hearing from you!

Sisterly Love - Banana Cherié Preview Post

still working on my edits, but here is a quick preview of a shot that i just LOVE. aimee & jewlie. two adorable girlies (one that's a student of mine at my dance studio) and you can just tell they loved taking pictures. just WAIT until you see the spinning ones to come :)

Banana Cherié Skirts & Accessories

Kailyn was such a cutie! I haven't photographed a one year old in quite some time, and it was a refreshing session :) I hadn't seen Kailyn since Melissa's baby shower last year (aka, she was still in tummy) and i was SUPER excited to be photographing her. i missed the days where they just sat, smiled, and looked cute without too much of a care in the world. Kailyn did just that. Just chilled on her blanket with pooh bear by her side. get ready for some lack of teeth adorable smiles!
kailyn is such a good listener. i totally told her "can you grab the first layer, and help show off all the ruffley goodness of these skirts?" tyra would love how well she takes direction.
believe it or not (if you've known me for years, you'd know to believe) i used to hate pink... everything about it. but i can't get enough of it on baby girls. especially these pictures of kailyn with the zebra print!
cheerios are a wondrous thing. help bringing smiles to little ones since forever :)kailyn started getting fussy, but we made it all the way through! thanks so much melissa for volunteering your adorable little kailyn to come help model the skirts.

Bella Vista Craft Fair 2010

another craft fair has come and gone, and we felt like someone seasoned craft fair veterans this year. well, in the way of knowing the ins and outs of the whole set up/tear down process and so forth. we felt like our booth was WAY improved from last year and even though we were in a different location, we were still proud of that fact. oh, and i'm almost sure at this point you're thinking "why is emily talking all about something crafty on her photo blog?" and i will answer that "because you get to see the detail shots that aren't posted anywhere else, that's why!"and here is a quick shot of the the walking advertisement we had for probably the 2nd half of the day. not in her silly camera stealing moment, but its just as precious with her profile :)

Banana Cherié Skirts & Accessories

With a name like "brennan" you just have to think "she sounds like a cutie" right? well of COURSE she is! i met up with brennan and her mom sarah over at the king road park in loomis for a short pettiskirt shoot, and she knocked these shots out like they were nobody's business! and the pigtails? super cute! every girl has to rock pigtails in their life (seriously... i'm 20 something and i still attempt it every so often. its one of the rights of being a girl!) and brennan looks cute as ever! ok. enough of me. take a look at her :)candy corn. in the park. you cannot resist. is my hypnotism working for you? no? okay. more brennan for you. ok. now with the next ones... i could NOT just pick one or two. so lucky you gets to see four super cute pictures of super cute brennan in some super cute pink zebra print. did i say super cute enough times for you? didn't think so :)i love a good on the tummy shot. my portrait studio days have trained me well :)thanks so much brennan and sarah for coming out and playing dress up in the park. you looked adorable as ever! and there you have it! the finale of my monday banana cherié pettiskirt shoots! now, i know what you're thinking... you're thinking "but emily, when will i see more pettiskirt posts from you?!" and to that i say, soon my dears. i have one shoot tomorrow morning with an adorable one year old (yes! one year olds can be pettiskirt-ified too!) and possibly one more shoot before saturday's craft fair. and remember, if you're looking for a skirt and bow set of your very own, email lisa at carrollcousincreations@gmail.com, and tell her emily sent you! p.s. pettiskirt offer coming soon. very very soon :)

Banana Cherié Skirts & Accessories

how could i let the week go by without more pettiskirts? well, i guess the fact that i have two more little lovelies already photographed, and up to three more to happen soon would keep me from that! and today we've got my seasoned model, kaylyn! and by seasoned, i mean she frequents the photography of her sister, and one of my middle/high school friends, suzanne :) you can see suzanne's work over at blank canvas photography. if you're in idaho and need a photographer, she's your gal! although, she's currently awaiting her very first brand new baby girl ANY time now (making kaylyn an auntie for the THIRD time!)
not going to lie. i love the fall. sure its not full of flowers, but i love the sort of rustic feel everything gets with the dried leaves and the lack of grass. kaylyn was such a trooper for sitting in all these stickery leaves and things!see what i mean about the rusticity... rusticness... rusticism... you get my point, right? sure makes the colors that are there pop that much more! and on that note, here comes the candy cane skirt :) i just love these next three of kaylyn. something about them has a sort of alice in wonderland feel to them with her soft expression and those eyes she's got!hello gorgeous! i'm sure she'll be quite the looker when she's older. just like her 4 older sisters :)saved my fave for last. love love love. thanks kaylyn and momma laura for letting me tromp around your back yard and play dress up with you. you look did a great job my dear!

Banana Cherié Skirts & Accessories

i promised you more pettiskirts, and here they are! this is anna, and isn't she just the cutest little thing? all these shots are taken at their home, and there were even more spots that we didn't get to that had so much potential. i let her go ahead and pick which skirt set she wanted to start in, and she picked the candy corn ensemble. be warned. some massive amounts of adorable cuteness are to follow... NOW!the skirt, the bow and the shirt are all coordinated to match. (the shirt is a bit hard to see, but it has a piece of candy corn painted on the front of it) perfect elementary fall festival outfit? i think yes. and on that note... time for more zebra!
i think she looks like such a little doll in this one. and truth is. she totally was! oh zebra print... why am i becoming so attracted to you?and here comes the fun part. check out the spin factor on these skirts! if i had one in my size... i would totally spend 95% of my day spinning in it. no joke.
thanks so much anna (and her mom clara!) for helping model these skirts for us! you were so much fun to work with, and i hope you had a blast playing dress up for the afternoon :) and for all you viewers out there, there will be more cuteness coming tomorrow and thursday so stay tuned!

Banana Cherié Skirts & Accessories

you loyal readers of mine have all met my cousin lisa. well, maybe not met her, but you've seen her, the husband man, the two year old cuteness, and in more recent shoots, the baby boy to be. and if you're an uber loyal reader, you've been to my other blog, and seen that i'm crafty. and well, as genetics have it, so is lisa! well, here we are, at the end of september gearing up once again for this year's craft fair at bella vista high school. with this being our second year there, we are taking in our experience, and trying to amp it up for this year. This is where me and my lovely camera come in. we're working to bring in more of an online/visual marketing of some of our products, and we're first starting with lisa's pettiskirts. she has spend the last weeks/months/i-can't-remember-because-its-craft-fair-time-and-it-all-starts-blending-together working on these pettiskirts in various colors, prints, and holiday themes. our first "shoot" happened in our grandma's back yard on saturday, and bekah (lisa's little sister) was a trooper-even when i made her sit on the random wood pile. who knew an 8 year old could work it like tyra banks (guilty pleasure of mine = america's next top model. i admit it) so with all that said, here are a few of the different skirts from saturday.don't you just love the zebra print with the pink? i'm not one of those die hard animal print lovers, but this combo on this skirt style... LOOOOOOVE. and the bows. super fab with those skirts.
here is your best bet for no calorie candy corn. seriously, can you get any cuter without everything blaring out ghosts and goblins for halloween? yeah, i didn't think so either.and yes, believe it or not, christmas is right around the corner. and i KNOW you families are thinking "hm. how can we get festive without going the ugly sweater route?" ding ding ding! we have a winner! seriously. can you NOT imagine your little girls in these skirts, spinning and twirling for your holiday card photos? yeah. i totally put the image in your mind. no need to thank me :)
i will be photographing more skirts coming this week, so stay tuned! plus, there might just be a special offer coming soon after i'm off this craft fair prep week. those of you with an adorable girl in your life will want to stay tuned! to commune with lisa about pettiskirt potentials, you can email her at carrollcousincreations@gmail.com (if she doesn't reply... you might get me. i love to answer emails. and i am one half the carroll cousins that do the creating. heehee)