Kayla : I am so blessed to be surrounded by so many creatives! My life has been marked by different creatives colliding into it. They always blow me away, inspire, challenge, and encourage me and Amanda Conley is continually one of them. I met Amanda through an arts festival at our church a few years ago. She is a handmade artisan jeweler. She has a heart of gold, and a passion and a talent that is truly inspiring.  Her work is gorgeous, precious, unique, and each piece usually has a beautiful story behind it. Take a moment and let her inspire you and check out her stuff! These pieces make beautiful accessories to your wardrobe for an upcoming photo shoot. Here is a little of Amanda’s story and art:

Amanda : I live in Nashville, (as a native Nashvillian – rare, right?) with my husband and three little boys, that are really not so “little” anymore. My oldest son will be turning 14 in October and I also have a 9 year old and a 4 year old. Our house is chaotic, loud, messy (in a lived in way) and a lot of times stinky from all the various art projects we have going on and all the “boy” stuff laying around. Although it sounds like an unpredictable “artists” life, I think I’m pretty boring. I eat the same cereal along with blueberries every morning, exercise at the same time everyday, make dinner every night in order to eat at 5:30 and bedtime is always early. In between our home’s “system” there’s some disorderliness, but over all there’s a lot of structure in our house.

Despite being a mom of all boys and being completely outnumbered in that way, I am a very girly girl and I’ve somehow been able to hang on to my femininity through the last decade plus. But on the other hand, having a house of testosterone has probably helped my metal-smith business flourish, because I don’t know that I would have had the courage to try out all my various tools if it hadn’t been for some need to prove my macho-ness to my husband and boys (and also if I hadn’t had my husband to show me I wasn’t going to just out-right keel over and die, kill anyone else or burn down the house when I turned on my torch for the first time.)

Making jewelry all started in art school (where I met my husband, who is also a working artist.) I majored in fine art and had a special love for 3 dimensional design. I just wanted to do it on a small scale. Thus my love of jewelry making was born.  Turning my jewelry making into a business and adding to my skills have both been developing processes. A business isn’t created overnight – and neither is the skill. I gradually built up my studio and my collection of tools as my finances would allow (which was very, very s.l.o.w.l.y) and with each acquirement, I would learn what I needed to learn in order to use that tool. Same thing with my business, which to be truthful, had a much greater learning curve for me. My brain is not cut out for business, so I spent hours scanning marketing and branding articles trying to figure out the next step for me to take.

Eventually things clicked into place and I began to be able to sell.

One of the things I wrestled with for a while was how to reconcile my love of art and metal with my love for Jesus Christ. I wanted to be a successful small business owner, but even greater than that I wanted the work of my hands to give glory to God. I vividly remember, during a day of complete stress trying to get ready for a show, putting all my tools down and praying to God asking him to take this business from me and make it belong to Him. I know that was the only way it was going to work – if He made it work. And from that moment on I began having major jewelry brainstorms during worship services, sermons and in my quiet time, or during random times when I was reflecting a certain verse. I’m convinced that my ideas don’t blossom because God made me a creative person, but deeper than that, they aren’t my ideas at all. He’s just using my hands to make them.

On the lighter side of jewelry making, it’s nice to have multiple accessories! My style is pretty much putting together what I already have in my closet in a fashion forward way, and even sometimes deconstructing old items to make new ones. I’m a fashion lover on a budget. Actually on NO budget. You have to have a maximum you can spend when you’re on a budget and my maximum is usually a big fat “0″. So I’m thankful that I can borrow jewelry from myself! I love a good dress, but typically you’ll see me in ratty jeans and a tank top (and if it’s cold, with a cardigan.) I justify my casual attire with a pair of dangly earrings. Or sometimes I’m in the mood for a necklace. Lately I’ve been wearing long ones. Sometimes by themselves, and sometimes layered with a shorter necklace. My own personal rule is “a lot of necklace, then tiny earrings” and “big earrings, no necklace (but maybe a fat ring).” I’m not a “jewelry set” wearing person either. I’ll make a set if someone wants one, but I prefer to mix it up. I like to mix up metals too. Which is one of the reasons I make a lot of silver pieces with gold on it. That way you can wear it along side any color you already have.

To see the jewelry I have in stock, you can browse my shop: www.bijougirldesigns.etsy.com
To see new pieces and custom orders I’ve done, become a facebook fan at: www.facebook.com/bijougirldesigns
To commission a piece, email me at: amandaconley@live.com
and to learn more about me, visit my blog: www.amandaconley.blogspot.com

Amelia : Amanda, thank you for taking the time to share a little of your life and love of art with us. As a mom and business – owner, I am humbled and inspired by your art and your heart. THANK YOU!

You can purchase both of the new Christmas Overlay sets “HERE” The 35% new release sale price will apply to both of these sets:

Very Merry 9 shapes: Regularly 30.00 will  be 35% off at 19.50

Very Merrier 12 shapes: Regularly 39.00 will be 35% off at 25.00

I am so thankful that I took these photos for Kerri and Brent! Anniversary photos are a great way to continue to celebrate and document your relationship. Congrats to you both! Here’s to another TEN YEARS…

Last month I had the opportunity to photography my sweet little nephew, Sawyer Moore :) I LOVE baby sessions because it reminds me how quickly babies change and grow. New life is a miracle and I am so honored that I get to capture this precious time. I also designed their beautiful Baby Announcements!  I asked Stacy (Sawyer’s mommie) to share a bit of her story as a new mom and what it meant to her and Matt to have Sawyer’s photos taken:

Stacy: It was really important for Matt & I to have Sawyer’s pictures taken within the first 2 weeks of his birth because he’s growing and changing so fast that we wanted to be able to capture all the details of how he looks as a baby. We know that he won’t always be this little so it’s nice to have the pictures to remember the little things like the size of his hands and feet and how much hair he had when he was born. Sawyer did a good job for the photo shoot. Amelia worked with us on taking his picture at a time that was convenient for us. This helped me to not feel stressed out with a screaming or crying baby. Sawyer was also relaxed and at any point that he wasn’t Amelia let us take a break to get him relaxed again. This definitely helped make the picture taking process go smooth.

Stacy: I can’t tell you how many times I went over and over the pictures trying to pick out “the best one.” It’s hard for me to pick one single image that I like the best, which is why I went with a birth announcement that shows multiple pictures instead of just one single photo. Each picture was unique in its own way.  It’s important for me to send out birth announcements because not all of mine and Matt’s family and friends could be here when Sawyer was born and by the time we get to see most of them he will have changed so much. With the birth announcements we get to show a lot of people what he looked like when he was born so when they do see him they can see how much he has grown.

Stacy: The thing that I have enjoyed the most about being a new mom is seeing my little boy change every day and take in his new world when he looks around. I love watching his personality develop and being able to hold him in my arms now instead of just feeling him kick inside my stomach. One of my favorite personality traits of Sawyer is how much he enjoys looking around at everything while making cooing noises. He also loves to have his hands free and can get very grouchy if they are wrapped up inside of the blanket. I love that when he sleeps he likes to have his hands above his head and has cute little snores.

I (Amelia) obviously had WAY TOO much fun picking out hats for Sawyer’s shoot. I found these on etsy. And I used a bean bag to get him nice and comfy in the photo above. We did some inside pictures which I LOVE, but of course I had to capture some creative ones outside too. Matt & Stacy were great at letting me run with a vision. Make sure you check out Matt & Stacy’s maternity photos too (click here).

Sawyer, I praise God for your life and look forward to capturing lots more photos of you!

So, I have some fun news to share! I am now part of the Vol. 25 Design Team with nine other amazing photographers and designers. Vol. 25 produces “eyecandy” overlays for photographers and scrapbookers to use in their work. Jessica is the voice and inspiration behind Vol. 25. We will be working Jessica’s overlay designs into our photographs for creative input. The overlays are a fun way to add a little more personality to your photos. I’ve already been inspired by the team and the overlays. There are so many things you can do with the overlays and there’s a variety of sets. The overlays are shapes that you import into Photoshop or Elements and then you can play around the color, size and layer effects. They are SUPER EASY to use. Jessica describes the overlays like this : “eye candy overlays” are a little something extra you can add to your photographs… I kind of think of them as the icing on the cake. :) They take a really great photograph and add a personal unique touch. There are several different sets available… one for each and every occasion… and the collection is still growing. Because these are vector based custom shapes, you will be able to change they’re color and manipulate (stretch) the shapes to fit various situations without loss of quality. Here are a few examples…

So I’ll be showcasing some of my work with the overlays. The first is the “Ahoy!” set. This overlay set is available for purchase at $30/ set BUT it is on sale for $19.50 until THIS FRIDAY!! Check it out! Again, it’s a FUN way to add a little bling to your photos. Of course I was inspired to use my boys with this overlay set. So we set out to the pool to capture some shots. AND when we got there, it started to rain! This didn’t stop them from getting into the pool and  swimming the rain. After about 20 minutes, it started thundering and lighting, so we headed home. Since they were already wet, I just let them play in the rain and continued to capture more shots of my little pirates! And thankfully my husband came out to hold the umbrella over my camera. It was an unexpected shoot, but it worked great with this overlay set. Make sure to check out the site for additional ideas – it doesn’t just have to be use solely on little pirates.

Here are the actual overlays in the set:

And here’s my official  Design Team photo :

First up is this super stylist bag (photo above) from www.epiphaniebags.com.

The Epiphanie bags were designed by a female photographers for gals! OBVIOUSLY. The designs are very hip and practical. I LOVE the color and design options. There are a variety of styles and colors. And they are so popular, my bag was on back order for a while. I choose the “Lola” Red camera bag and feel totally cool carrying it. I wanted a bag that didn’t look like a camera bag and wasn’t bulky and black. I want to look like a girl going to a dinner party, not the photographer (until, of course, I pull out my camera). So many times I ended up sticking my camera in my larger purse just so I wouldn’t have to carry around my “real” camera bag. So I set out to find something a little more stylish. And I found it! I’ve gotten so many compliments on my camera bag. I traveled to Philly a few weeks ago to shoot a wedding and the girl sitting beside me on the airplane commented on my awesome bag. I told her it was a camera bag (and that I was a photographer) and she was very impressed with the bag. I dig the inside – it’s violet, so it’s easy to spot my gear (yes, sometimes I have problems with dark interiors). The bag is well made and a great size for leisure events. The down side is – I’ve had a hard time fitting all my necessary gear in it – Canon 5D Mark II with a battery grip and 24-70mm lens, an extra prime lens and flash. The SLR body with the 24-70 attached is a pretty tight fit. Even though the gear can be accessible, it is hard getting the camera in and out of the bag. And it’s also cumbersome to carry around all day. During the same Philly trip, I visited a children’s museum for a few hours and I was definitely tired of carrying the bag by the end of the visit. I will use this bag when I go to personal social events and need to carry just a few items, can put the bag down and of course when I want to look super cool. Plus I LOVE the design of their website:

Next is my all time favorite, practical camera bag – the Lowepro Slingshot 200

I bought this bag about 6 years ago and have used it in a variety of situations – from day traveling around Guatemala to weddings. It is the perfect on-your-body-all-day bag. Lowepro has a variety of bag options for this purpose. This sling comes in three sizes. This is the “medium” sized one. I thin it fits enough stuff and is still practical to carry all day. I love the way it fits on my body and I can fairly easily get to the gear – I have to unsnap, swing and unzip to get a new lens in a fewseconds, but it stays on my body and swings around waist-height allowing me to change the lens easily. The only option with more accessibility might be some type of hip pack. But because of the deign, I can easily carry it on day trips where I’m walking all day – on a hike or a bike trip. Of course anything tires your shoulders, but this bag is the lightest to carry all day. I can fit Canon 5D Mark II with a battery grip and 24-70mm lens, an extra prime lens and flash. And it has two extra pockets for personal items, memory cards, snacks, diapers,etc. The PRO and CON is that my zipper broke and my seamstress didn’t repair it correctly so I had to put my bag aside for a few months. But I just recently contacted Lowepro and all their bags have a lifetime guarantee, so they will be replacing my sling this month! It was super easy, I should have contacted them awhile ago.

While I was on the Lowepro site looking for their contact information, I came across this bag that caught my attention: The Passport Sling

Maybe I’ll put this one on my Christmas List!

My very first bag, I call the Travel-All-In-One Camera Bag is my Tarmac Expedition 4

This is my gear bag. I take it on every shoot and every trip. It’s the perfect size backpack for travel. I wouldn’t take it on a hiking-type trip as it’s way too much space for what I need and probably a little too heavy for my non-National Geographic adventure. But it’s great to pack all the non-absolute-essentials: 2-3 extra lens, radio poppers, battery chargers, extra batteries, extra SLR back up body; plus it has several large and small pockets. It’s easy to pack and easy to carry. But you can also see why I might not want to take this on my personal social shoots. No quite a fashion statement.

So, that is it for now. In a few weeks, I will showcase another round of bags (yes, I have more).  And if you have a fav camera bag (professional or recreational purposes), leave a comment below. Of course I’d love to check it out!

Trendy Tuesday Tips with Kayla:

Well, it’s been AWHILE since we featured “Trendy Tuesdays.” Needless to say it’s been an extremely busy spring and summer! I’ve asked creative gal & stylist  Kayla  Penzien, to guest write a feature on the site: “Trendy Tuesdays.”  Kayla will share style & creative insight as it may relate in preparing for your photo session, but also to life in general. She has been my art friend for a number of years; in addition to assisting me during shoots, she also helps to plan session concepts and wardrobe consulting. Today’s post is about finding using toys as props:

As kids we all had toys that were our prizes possession….our little treasures. Mine was a stuffed monkey called Kiki (in the photo above). He slept with me every night and went on all my play dates.  The stuffing has literally been beat out of him, to say the least, he has seen his better days and is now retired to the shelf! But he’s still part of my life. Amelia had a tiny music box hanging over her bed and she remembers pull the string each night before bed (the last photo below). I know Amelia’s boys love their light sabers. I love watching them play, they take the stance of a warrior and for moment, they are invincible! Children are warriors, princesses, mothers, fairies, and kings with their toys in hand.

My favorite part about photography is capturing these “king of the world” moments that unfortunately dwindle as all of us get older. The moments that tell a story, their story.

So watch your kids, see what brightens their day….
What takes away the pain of a scraped knee? What gives them joy? What are the little outfits that they look so stinking cute in? I had a little bikini that my round tummy poked way out in…by the way, I think it is the only time that a belly and a bikini are acceptable. Do you like the “vintage” look?  Pull out your OWN old treasures (many of them are back in style)! Or your mom probably still has them.

Some of our favorite toys to use as props are: Bubbles, swords, cute shoes, big bows, dress-up clothes, stuffed animals, blankies AND candy (we save that one for last!). If they like it…..bring it to your photo shoot! We love the adventure of capturing these moments with children. We are all a bit intimidated by getting our picture taken, so a security blanket of some sort can be a great way to relax kids. While your kids play, we can capture moments of them with their treasures that define them in their moment.

Here are photos of some of our own families’ favorite toys (and candy) growing up…

- Kayla Penzien

This post features a beautiful custom family  album I just had the privilege to design and deliver! I love albums because they are a precious keepsake and a great way to showcase a variety of photos. The Talley family wanted to highlight their little girl, Kendall’s,  first 18 months. We did a photo shoot of her and the family every 4-6 months to highlight her changes (and her brother got in on the fun too!).   It is such an honor to watch children “grow” through the lens of a camera. It is so amazing how quickly they change!

I’m super excited to be able to offer this beautiful product that documents those changes and will last a lifetime. My standard family album is 8×8 inches, 20 sturdy matte pages, with either a photo custom or fabric cover. The albums are gorgeous! I asked Kendall’s mom to share a little bit about what she thought of the album:

We initially wanted to order the album because we had one for our 4 year old, Jackson.  We had his done when we lived in Memphis and it’s a good album, but nothing compared to the one we just got from Amelia!!  The album that she did for us is awesome and captures our daughter’s year and a half so beautifully.  So, after we saw her examples of albums…we were pumped to have one of our very own and not just to have, but to enjoy. The album is such a good depiction of Kendall.  It’s girlie, cute, fun, and filled with the great pictures Amelia has taken for us over the 19 month period.  We LOVE it and on top of being great to look at…it really is good quality.  I don’t feel like I’m going to rip, tear, or hurt the album with all the viewing of it I do!

It’s very important that I have some thing I can just go to and see the pictures of Kendall from just born to almost two…there is such a change in her over the months and I’m so thankful I have one place to go to see all of them. Amelia really takes into consideration kids and how unpredictable they are.  She’s always prepared with great help, great props, and even candy at times :)

Thank you Talley Family for allowing me to share this gift with you and capturing your beautiful family’s life moments.