so much to share today! i recently had a very cool maternity session with my friend sara, her husband and their son at the very cool once upon a bash in maplewood. i’ll be writing more about once upon a bash and sharing more pictures soon, but i wanted to include a little sneak peak from the session. the little vintage ditty in the slideshow below will just have to do for now. oh, be sure to check out the checkered floor..how awesome is that?!?!

and in an attempt to quench your hunger for eye candy, i also have a little sneak peak from our heart day mini sessions. this was such a fun group of kiddos to photograph. from the two aiden’s who kept turning the heart upside down to douglas, who had a couple of pez candies and kept me on my toes. oh, and i definitely can’t forget joey, annabeth, michael and eva. we talked, we laughed, we had fun. what a great day of mini sessions!

and last, but definitely not least, i came across an awesome idea thanks to daily candy and brooch bouquets. let your eyes behold this gloriously awesome bouquet in the slideshow below! again, how awesome is that?!?! a la pee wee’s place house, that is our phrase of  the day. but seriously, it’s such a unique take on a wedding day staple. and, if you use jewelry from friends and family members, you’ll have your something borrowed!

well, that’s it for today. i hope you enjoyed the eye candy! and i hope you had a fabulous heart day!

so, i have dreams of grandeur of someday being a diy goddess. now, granted i did make the invitations, favors and centerpieces for our wedding and i did make our son’s diaper bag. but keep in mind that the making of all of these things was accompanied by many, many words spoken under my breath…many, many words i would not wish for my son to hear. so, in the last couple years i’ve decided that i may not ever become the diy goddess i once dreampt of being. sure, i may make some cute, fun projects here and there, but i will never be the mom who makes cool outfits from scratch or the gal who can whip up unique and fun diy goodies to sell on etsy. instead, i will help spread the word about all the cool crafters and artists out there and i will help all the couples who want to incorporate some neat diy projects into their weddings.

so, you may be wondering about the title of this post and why i have a day of the dead wedding and martha stewart in the same title. although it would be interesting to see what martha stewart would come up with for a dotd wedding, i have to admit that they’re actually two different web pages that i’ve come across. the first is a very cool etsy article featuring a day of the dead diy wedding and the second is an awesome diy project for wedding reception table decor by from the diy guru herself, miss martha.

the bride and groom incorporated a lot of diy projects into their wedding, including their cake topper, save-the-dates, invites, programs, and seating cards…among other things. they also made their wedding as green as possible by doing little things like getting their flowers from their local farmer’s market the morning of their big day. now, i’m not exactly a skull and crossbones sort of gal, but i love how they have created a wedding that is both dark and sweet. want some day of the dead eye candy? here are a some images that showcase the awesome rewards of their diy efforts.

all images by the super talented mr. matt miller of our labor of love in georgia.

so, remember how i said i’ll take on the occasional diy project. well, thanks to my fellow photog friend, stacy, i came across and took on this martha diy wedding project to use in for my heart day mini sessions tomorrow. instead of the awesome blue pom poms pictured below, i’m making red, pink and silver ones. i can personally attest to how super easy they are to make and they were pretty inexpensive too. a win-win combo for diy…especially for this diy goddess wannabe. be sure to check back here on monday, for that’s when i’ll be posting images that feature these pom-poms and some crazy cute kiddos!

just in case i don’t make it to the blog tomorrow…have a great heart day!!

drumroll please…storyboard #1 featuring the adorable mr. douglas!!! a big congratulations goes out to lil d and his parents, dave and andrea! this cute little family participated in our holiday portrait party at queeny park last year and what  a blast we had! i love it when children bring things they love with them and douglas totally did not disappoint in bringing his much beloved trains. trains, i might add, that were hand-made just for him. how awesome is that?!?! mom, dad and i just kind of sat back and let douglas do his thing, which makes for the best pictures in the world in my opinion, and evidently your opinions too based upon the number of votes his pictures garnered, 113 votes to be exact.

as a big thank you for being  our awesome clients (and friends) and as a reward for getting the most votes, they will receive one of our free documentary sessions!!! thank you so much dave, andrea and douglas for being our clients and friends. and a big thank you  to all of their friends and family for voting!!

but don’t turn off your computers just yet folks, for the winning isn’t over. remember, our one lucky voter who’s supposed to also get a free documentary session? well, that luck voter is the one and only Mr. Carmack.  and (in my best infomercial host voice), that’s not all! our second and third place clients also win something! coming in second place is storyboard #27, which features mr. michael. such a cutey-patutey and so deserving of all the votes he received! michael and his mommy and daddy will be receiving a $25 giftcard for us! not too shabby, eh? at last, but definitely not least, is our third place winner…storyboard #10! this darling brother and sister pair stole my heart and wowed our voters. for getting the third most votes, their proud parents will receive a $10 studio giftcard.

congratulations to all of our winners and a ginormously huge thank you to everyone who voted!!!

here’s a little more info about our 2011 model search. if you’re currently a high school junior or you know someone who is, you need to read this or pass it on…cool swag and free sessions are at stake here!!! check out or postcard below for more info!

so, the contest…dave will be happy to know that douglas is in the lead!!! i’m going to finish counting tonight and will post the results before falling blissfully asleep. stay tuned!!!

edited to add: not only will the winning client get a free documentary session, but one lucky voter will win one as well!!! be sure to vote…that lucky voter could be you!!!

{1}

{2}

{3}

{4}

{5}

{6}

{7}

{8}

{9}

{10}

{11}

{12}

{13}

{14}

{15}

{16}

{17}

{18}

{19}

{20}

{21}

{22}

{23}

{24}

{25}

{26}

{27}

{28}

{29}

{30}

{31}

{32}

{33}

{34}

{35}

{36}

We are excited to announce that we’re doing free heart day mini-sessions on valentines day!!! Each session is half an hour long and completely free!!! yep, you read that correctly, absolutely free. and in my best infomercial voice…and you also receive 10% any orders you place!!! a free session and 10% off orders, you really can’t go wrong! just call or email us to reserve your spot.

p.s. i’ll be announcing a very cool photo contest involving all my clients from 2009 very soon…stay tuned!!!

after over a year in the making (long story), crwstudio:the blogsite is finally here!!! i am so over the moon with our new online home, i can’t even begin to verbalize it. as much as i loved our old site, i felt it just didn’t represent us well. we definitely have a unique vision and style and i feel our blogsite showcases that much better. and, it makes things super easy on our clients! no longer will you have to travel back and fourth between our site and our blog…it’s a one-stop dealio now!!! so, without further ado, here she is…

crwstudio:the blogsite

p.s. we are doing an awesome giveaway today…if you leave a comment, your name will be put into the mix for some really cool swag!!!  good luck!!!

after first meeting lauren and rob at a bridal show back in march, i knew we’d have a great time and boy was i right. we had a blast over the summer when we did their engagment session in new town and their wedding last month was no different.

i had the distinct pleasure of meeting laura’s mom, carol, a few months back at a wedding. she was the florist and we hit it off immediately while i took some ring pictures. she was so very kind in telling me that i was sweet and talented and mentioned that her daughter was getting married next year. well, we ended up finding each other on facebook (have i told you how much i love that site???) and i told her about the harrah’s bridal show. i then got my second distinct pleasure of meeting laura at a the show. just like with mom, we hit it off immediately and before i knew it, they made my day by telling me that they wanted me to document laura and ryan’s wedding. {insert happy dance}

laura and ryan wanted fall colors in their engagement pictures, so we ended up doing their session really soon after the show. again, i had another distinct pleasure in meeting someone, this time it was ryan. what a fun fella he is…and what a sweet, loving couple they are…what as sweet, loving family they all are.

we started the session out at the thies farm pumpkn patch and i was super happy when i spotted carol there before the session. since she was the one who introduced me to laura and ryan, it was only fitting that she was there for the session. despite the rain, the four of us had a fabulous time getting some awesome pictures and later while chatting over dinner (thank you so much carol!). the pumpkin patch, that bridge (thank you again carol!) and lastly the restaurant…what a beautifully fun session!!!

i definitely can’t wait til april!

happy living,
ro

it may have been a brisk october day but the love and the warmth that came from jena and brandon as well as their friends and families warmed us right to the core. i met jena and her mom at a bridal show in illinois back in januaray. in fact, it was our first ever bridal show and they became our first ever client from a bridal show. it was kind of special for us.

after having an awesome e-session with them back in april, i just knew we’d have an equally awesome time once their wedding day rolled around. and we did! from the girls getting their hair done that morning to the hilarious moment of watching them seeing their newly decorated car for the first time, we were able to experience a wonderful day with the now mr. and mrs. doty. thank you so much jena and brandon for letting us be the ones to document your big day! and may everyday be as wonderful and magical as your first day as husband and wife.

here’s a little slideshow of your special day…

congrats!
ro