I wanted the house to resemble a bakery counter.  I made a simple sign with cardstock and some poster board and the help of my great neighbor Karen’s cricut machine.  I set the island full of cookie sheets of homemade cookies, cupcakes to be decorated, donuts…etc.  When the girls arrived they were each given a cute apron and a chef’s hat with a matching yoyo on the front to wear while they were baking.  The talented Bobbi from Bobbityboo on etsy made the aprons and hats…they were SO cute!  

We kicked things off by making sugar cookies.  The girls rolled the dough, cut the shapes and made a giant mess…they were having so much fun!

Once the cookie fun was done I whisked them away to bake them while the girls decorated pink bakery boxes.  I picked them up at my local donut shop for $1 a piece.  They probably would have sold them to me for 50 cents, but since the lady looked at me like I was nuts when I told her I wanted to buy just boxes…not donuts, I offered her $1 a piece.

I collected stickers, rhinestones, glitter, die cuts and all sorts of other fun scrapbook supplies from my never ending stash and let the girls go to town.  I labeled each box with a blue polka dot flower that had their initial stamped in the center to identify them and tie them into the rest of the party decor. 

then we played pin the sprinkles on the cupcake…   By then the cookies were baked and cooled and I brought out the decorating supplies.  We spent some time decorating cookies and cupcakes, sang happy birthday and ate till their bellies were full and opened presents.  Each guest then took their pink bakery boxes that they had decorated and filled them with goodies that they had made and some from the bakery counter to take home and share with their families. 

Ashley STILL talks about it.  I have to say that aside from making some cookie dough and cupcakes ahead of time, there really wasn’t a whole lot of prep.  It was fun and easy and a lot of “bang for my buck.” 

I hope you are feeling inspired to throw a birthday bakery!  If you do, send me some pictures so I can see it!!

Do you have a great party to share?  I’d love to see it!  Check out the submission guidelines and send it on over so I can feature you here on the blog!

Have a great Monday!

-t

can i say photogenic???  i was having such a hard time choosng what to share…i’ll stop here and save some suprises for mom in her gallery.

have a great day!
-t

stay tuned for more!

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

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

To hold you over until then here’s a few of another new cutie that I got to spend a few minutes with last week. 

have a great day!

-t

Yesterday I received a package I had been waiting for…some super cute new hats for Pink Peppermint.  I ran Ash outside to snap a few pics for the store on the driveway.  Within a few minutes I had a crowd all asking me to take their pictures too…it was too cute!  Here are a few of these cuties…more to come.  

this little one is such  HAM!  she was totally working it for the camera…LOVE her!

this little one has the most piercing eyes…i could shoot him all day.

I am LOVING these new newsboy caps with the cute little brim!

those freckles…those blue eyes…the teeth!!  i am dying over here!!!

i love how kids are just so comfortable in front of the camera and actually ASK you to take their pictures.  I wish we could get more comfortable as adults in front of the lens!!

more to come…

(oh, and there’s a mother’s day sale running now through Sunday…more details here: Mother’s Day Sale )

have a great day!
-t

some cute little piggies and little sneezes…

come visit again soon little girl!!!  we miss you!!

have a great day!

-t

I can’t even believe how much fun I am having with these classes.  It is SO fun to see how everyone is learning through their pictures and the questions and emails that I get.  I feel like I am making great new friends from all over the world!! It is so fun to share a common interest like photography and have a place to chat about it!

I have had several people ask and several register already, so I thought I’d let you know that if you are interested in signing up for session #3 enrollment is now open. Class will begin May 1, 2010 and run for 6 weeks. The cost is $200. I do keep class size limited so that I can answer questions in a timely manner and give the individual attention to each student.

If you’d like to join us for session #3 you can register securely through Paypal here:

This class is structured so that it is VERY flexible. The only time we have anything scheduled is Tuesday nights at 7PM PST for our weekly chat(I know, that’s right during American Idol for some of you!!! ) but if you’re not available at that time I am on the board daily to answer your questions that come up! We will cover getting to know your camera, focusing techniques, aperture, shutter speed, ISO, white balance, metering, lighting and composition. We WILL have you shooting manual and loving it by the end of this course!

I will be posting the lectures on Saturdays this session so that you have extra time on the weekends to watch and practice before the chats on Tuesdays.  

A few things people are saying about the class:

“Tammy rocks!  I definitely learned a lot and things I haven’t learned in other photography classes.”

“Thanks so much for doing this class. I have taken a few at the local community college and came away feeling like I should just sell this camera and pay for a good photographer every few months. Now I am actually excited to take my camera places and I’m not afraid of it anymore!! THANK YOU!!”

“I just wanted to extend another thank you for helping me to understand my camera.  It felt so good to leave class knowing so much more about my camera then before I took the class.”

“You just really teach this very well…you are addicting..you are easy to learn from .”

“I just wanted to thank you for all the effort you put into making this such a great class.  It was really easy to follow..leaving not too many question to be asked each week on the MB.”

have a great day!
-t