we had the best first in july this year.  it was a wonderful weekend filled with great friends, too much food, beaches, games, late nights, hot dog and marshmellow roasting, lots of red white and blue, fireworks, freezing waterparks, finishing eachother’s sentences (lol, guys!) and america’s favorite pasttime.  it was the perfect way to start the month!  and we’re lucky because we get to end it the same way!!  hurry back allemans!  we are anxiously counting the days until you return!!!

i got the bright idea to make all the kids matching shirts at about 10pm friday night.  after a trip to walmart and target to get everyone shirts and supplies, cute and crafty skye arrived to help me finish…thank goodness, otherwise it would have meant going to bed at 4am instead of 2am!!   but i do have to say…they turned out so cute!!!  thanks to the  fun idea from “i am momma, hear me roar” (click for the tutorial) i changed it up a bit for the shirts we were using and think they turned out so fun!  and i can’t for the life of me find where i saw the little girls shirts, but it was simply red jersey fabric (an old t-shirt) ruffled up and stitched on to a white t-shirt with a blue square of fabric.  so fun! (something’s up with the colors in these and photoshop is being wierd.  i’m too lazy to figure it out so they are being posted as is. )

have a great day!
-t

I started in this business shooting kids and it’s really what I love to do…where my heart is….so I am returning to my roots.   I am excited about the possibilites of refocusing just on the little ones in our lives.  I love to create a scene and let them play.  My philosophy and style are very photojournalistic, provide a fun environment and let them be. 

As a result of  these changes I will be making a few changes to pricing and packages too, so if you are planning on scheduling a shoot, please make sure to check those out.   Pricing and Session Info

Throughout the month of August I will be running a special for children’s shoots…$75 for the sitting fee.  Sitting fee includes 1 8×10.   Spots will go quickly, so email me at tammy@tammymitchellphotography.com if you are interested. 

Along with regular shoots I will be offering a few “themed” mini shoots throughout the year where I will set up a great scene and the kids will be invited to come and play.  I am SUPER excited about these!!!  It will allow me to combine my love of design and party planning with my love of photography!!  Stay tuned for details of the first theme shoot coming in Sept.  It will be a back to school shoot…details and session information/sign-ups coming soon!!

Here’s a little taste of what’s to come.  A “fake birthday” I had the pleasure of creating for a client last week…watch for these shots in your local craft store and even on HSN and QVC!!

have a great day!
-t

The blinged out pretty little girls stand…

We just let this little one play to her hearts content with the lemonade bowl.  Needless to say she was covered in the pink sticky goodness by the end of the shoot, but she had SO much fun!!!

I absolutely loved the idea of the ghetto looking boy lemonade stand looking like he had just set up shop right next to his sisters.  The spray paint, duct tape, the frog and the toys IN the lemonade pitcher were a crack up.  See what I mean??  The details were PERFECT!

 I wouldn’t call these the best pictures I’ve ever taken, but I do have to say they are my favorites.  I talk all the time about shooting a ton so that you have a story to tell, and here is a perfect example.  If I only had one of these shots it just wouldn’t be the same!   It was the end of the shoot and we were trying to get these three little balls of spunk to cooperate for one last group picture.  Well, they weren’t too interested to say the least!   Mom had brother hold the frog and had the girls stand near him (they weren’t too fond of the frog when he was out of his cage)  I just kept shooting rapid fire, simply because when you’re working with a squirmy group of kids, it’s the best way to guarantee a few great shots!    Mom instructed the three to stand there and say cheese, but brother had other ideas.  Now that I look back and these pictures it just makes me laugh.  You can see him concocting the idea all along.  Check out the devilish little smile in the first picture as he holds the frog.  Well, on the count of three he flung that little frog directly at his sisters and then, as they screamed, he laughed, clapped and jumped up and down in total delight.  It was absolutely hillarious!!!

thanks so much for another memorable shoot, pam!!

have a great day!
-t

You know me, when somebody says party my brain goes into overdrive!!   When planning a party I always think about a theme first.  Whether that theme is a color palette or a style doesn’t matter….just something that makes bringing everything else together easier.  I immediately thought of a vintage baby boy theme since I have some cool vintage glass plates and cups that I have been DYING to have an excuse to use, so this was perfect!   You can find them pretty easily at most antique stores.

I found this cute little shop online, Pretty Little Studio, that makes the most adorable vintage baby flashcards and all kinds of fun stuff.  I had her custom make some invitations for me and I think they turned out SO cute!!

We served simple breakfast foods that were yummy…a parfait bar with yogurt, fresh berries and granola, bite sized cinnamon rolls and other pastries, and a yummy drink.  To go along with the theme I made a little label for each food item

I just made them in photoshop and printed them out on cute scrapbook paper.  I also made one for the gift table:

Now my favorite part…the favors!!   John thinks I’m crazy because I spend hours making things like this, but this is honestly the most fun part for me.   These are very easy and inexpensive to make, but they are time consuming.  If you have the time and love to be crafty then these are perfect for you!

to make the giant cookies find the recipe here

for the bags you will need:

a roll of parchment paper

thread

a sewing machine

ribbon

a hole punch

pinking shears

any deocrations you want for the bags

Cut parchment paper into 6.5×14″ strips.  fold in half and stitch the sides up using a colorful thread and a zig-zag stitch.   trim off the excess on the sides with the pinking shears.  slip a cookie into the pouch.  fold the top of the bag over and punch two holes at the top about an inch apart.  feed the ribbon through the holes and tie into a bow on the front sideof your bag.  decorate as you like.

like I said, pretty easy, just time consuming but I think the result is WELL worth it!

It’s easy to do this for any shower boy or girl, or even if you don’t know what it is just make a mix of boy and girl vintage tags!   It would also be cute for a little girl’s birthday party if you played some vintage games and added a few more decorations and changed the food a bit!

Hopefully that gets your creative juices flowing for your next party!

Have a great day!
-t

Remember my quest to be more organized this summer??  I think I may have just managed to do it!!  And, it’s not too late for you either!  I have come up with something that I’m hoping will give the kids something fun to look forward to every day and keep the summer a little exciting and fresh…all while still being easy for me to accomplish!!  Whew!  A tall order, I know.

So, here it is…the Summer Fun Advent Calendar

The idea behind it is simple.  Give the kids something fun to look forward to everyday…it can be something little that takes 5 minutes, or an all day activity.  The key is to mix it up.  But, the biggest excitement of all is that it’s kept a secret until the day of.  They are left wondering each day what the next day’s activity will be.  So far, so good in our house!   The beauty of it for us moms is that it’s totally changeable if something comes up…because it’s a SECRET and a WHITE BOARD you can change activities to fit your schedule as unexpected things come up without the kids knowing anything about it!   I’ve also devised a system to prevent arguments between kids as far as who gets to reveal the day’s activity.  By making the squares with numbers you can assign odd/even days if you have two kids, and by making them different colors you can assign colors for more than two kids! 

Here’s what you’ll need to make your very own:

Dry erase generic calendar (I got mine at walmart for $7.88)

A dry erase marker

alphabet stickers

number stickers

8 sheets of cardstock (any colors you want)

I think the instructions are pretty clear just by looking at the picture.  Just make a fun header and title for it…you can definitely customize the whole thing…it does NOT need to look just like mine that’s for sure!    Add your activites under each day, stick your paper on with a piece of tape and wa-la! 

Now…the impotant part…coming up with the activities.  Like I said, some activities may take all day, some may take 5 minutes.  The important part is just to give the kids something to look forward to and something that they know they are doing that day to hopefully prevent them from asking you all day!!

I divided my activities up into categories:  in the kitchen, crafts, outings, and fun around the neighborhood.  I also tried to keep things very inexpensive or free to help keep costs down.  Here are some suggesstions to get you started:

make popsicles

get a slurpee

have a waterballoon toss

run through the sprinklers

tissue paper art

corn syrup painting

make ice cream

go to the pool

go to the library

make tin can phones

have a lemonade stand

beach

free movies at the park

dollar tuesdays at Baskin Robbins

silly string fight

bonfire and smores

bowling

sprinkler park

make a fort

have a picnic

movie night

play a game

water guns

make iron on shirts

that’s enough to get you through a whole month!! (I only did M-F since we often have other things going on on the weekends)  The best part is you can repeat many of these things!  Who doesn’t want to have a waterballoon toss  or go to the pool more than once during the summer???   Hopefully this will help make your summer fun and easy and minimize the curse of summertime boredom!!

I would love to hear fun ideas for things that you find in your community.  Leave a comment with any suggestions you have here on this post so we can help each other come up with stuff!!

Have a great day!

-t

I kicked off summer this week with one of my favorite families.  You know it’s going to be a GREAT shoot when you bring along this little guy…

I can’t wait to share more of these cuties!!  

Have a great day!
-t

a little after workout nourishment…

my little bathing beauty…

(on a side note, I bought her three swimsuits to get her through the summer because they are usually thrashed pretty quickly…(yay for $4.97 suits at the gap!) but each morning she comes down in the pink one assuring me that she will wear the other ones “tomorrow.” )

have a great day!
-t

I have had MANY requests for a summer session of {Picture Perfect} while the kids are out of school and schedules are more flexible.  So…sign ups are now open for the summer session which begins June 28th.  You can register  HERE.   Spots for this session have already started filling without me even officially announcing it yet…so they will go fast! 

For those of you headed out on vacations and such and worried about timing, I want you to know that these are VERY flexible classes.  You can watch them at any time during the six week period (I usually leave access to the videos up for a few extra weeks for you too, so you can catch up) you can watch them as many times as you like, AND there is a pdf each week of the lecture with all the info and picture examples so you can print it out to keep and reference forever.  Just for those of you concerned about missing a week!

And just because I can’t post anything with out a picture…here’s a little sneak of  a  baby shower from this weekend.  vintage little boy theme…so fun.  more details and pics to come!

have a great day!
-t

i came home from new york to be thrown into the last week of school chaos.  parties, awards assemblies, teacher gifts to plan for etc.   last week was the busiest week i’ve had in quite some time!  i was grateful for yesterday when things slowed down a little!

due to all the craziness I am WAY behind on editing my pictures.  i can’t believe that I haven’t even posted Ash’s birthday yet…and that was in MARCH!!  YIKES!!!  the two thousand pics from NYC are breathing down my neck.  here are a few just to old you over….

Yankee Stadium…more on this once in a lifetime game to come…

lady liberty…SO amazing to see in person

WTC site…so many memories came flooding back from that day…so emotional

our stay at the one and only Plaza Hotel….AMAZING!!!

hopefully this will help until i can get it together and get the stories to go with it.

have a great day!
-t