Wednesday, February 16, 2011 3:22:41 PM (Mountain Standard Time, UTC-07:00) ( )
Alright! Let's face it . . . you're busy, I'm busy. Let me cut to the chase. I would LOVE some feedback on what products you would be interested in seeing from Flourish Emporium and/or my {life as art} workshops within the next 6 months. I want to use my time developing products that others will find useful.
So, I've created a little survey. It's short, sweet and should take less than a minute to complete. As a thank you for taking the survey, everyone who completes the survey will be entered into a drawing for a $200 gift certificate good toward any of my products. So you could use it to buy $200 worth of goodies from Flourish, or you could put it toward your favorite {life as art} workshop. There are so many possibilities!
Take the survey here!
This survey and contest will run until February 26th.
Also, don't forget to get your free Valentine's template set (hey, there's always next year, right?) and save 20% off any Flourish purchase. You can see the details here.
Thanks so much!
Monday, February 07, 2011 11:57:18 AM (Mountain Standard Time, UTC-07:00) ( )
Well, it's been insanely cold outside the last little while, so we thought we'd heat things up a little with some great deals and new stuff at Flourish Emporium and the {life as art} Workshops.
For starters, we have begun to make other Flourish products compatible with Adobe Photoshop Elements. Elements can be somewhat difficult when it comes to installing and using actions, but we've managed to take the headache out of the process. Our new Elements installer will install Flourish Elements actions for you, allowing you to just open Photoshop Elements and start using your actions. We have always had PSE versions of the Essential Color Pop and Essential BW sets, but we are happy to announce an Elements version of the Ethereal Actions and Textures set. We anticipate rolling out Elements versions of the Chic Vintage and Antique Vintage sets in the upcoming months. We are also working on a Textures and Tints action set for Photoshop that will include some slick new texture features, like a texture picker box so you don't have to go hunting through harddrives to find the perfect texture. So stay tuned for more goodness!
And to spread a little love, let's do a pre-Valentine's day sale at Flourish Emporium. Enter this coupon code at checkout to receive an additional 20% off your total purchase:
Valentines2011
And best of all, for a limited time, we are offering a free set of Valentines templates with any Flourish purchase. You can see the set here. Just add it to your cart along with other purchases before you checkout. This set is fantastic as it includes regular 5x7 templates, but also some rep card templates for Miller's Lab. I love rep cards for Valentines Day. The beauty of Millers rep cards is that the front of every card can be different. So you could print 25 or 50 cards and each one can have a different photo. I use rep cards to create custom Valentine cards for my children and clients to give to friends and put my logo on the back as an added little bit of advertisement. Don't forget to add this free set to your cart when you checkout!
Some of the templates:
As an extra bonus, spend more than $100 at Flourish Emporium and
receive a $25 gift certificate. Just checkout with at least $100 in
products in your cart and write "Gift Certificate Please" in the notes
box at checkout. We will send you a $25 gift certificate to put toward
your next Flourish purchase.
Also, we are starting up our 2011
workshop season and had our first lighting workshop of 2011 last
weekend. The workshop was fantastic and just makes me even more excited
for the rest of our 2011 workshops. If you've been waiting to enroll in a
workshop or to purchase a workshop in a box, now is your chance. Here's
a coupon code that will give you $50 off your purchase at http://workshops.nicholeV.com:
BoxFeb2011
Note that all coupon codes will expire on Friday, Feb 18th.
Also,
if you own a {life as art} Workshop in a Box and would like to attend
an in-person workshop, please contact us. We have decided to apply the
majority of your Workshop in a Box purchase toward your in-person
enrollment. So please email us and we can give you all the details!
Monday, January 31, 2011 11:54:02 AM (Mountain Standard Time, UTC-07:00) ( )
Well, as many of you know, I was lucky enough to attend Imaging USA 2 weeks ago. It was fabulous to see so many old friends and stroll through the tradeshow and look at what vendors have to offer this year. Not to mention escaping the bitter cold and leaving the kiddos in Utah for a fun weekend away in San Antonio with my husband, haha.
It was also a huge honor to be a part of PPA's first Grand Imaging awards. Usually with PPA's international print competition, the best any one print can do is to be accepted into their Loan Collection for the year. But for 2011, they decided to start doing Grand Imaging Awards, where they will honor the top 10 prints in a category (the categories being Wedding, Portrait, Editorial, Digital Imaging, etc.). I was thrilled when one of my wedding prints made it into PPA's 2011 Loan Collection. But I was even more astonished when I received a call about a month ago and was informed that my print would be honored as one of the top 10 Wedding images for 2011. Definitely did my happy dance!
So anyway, here is the print, which most of you are already familiar with:
And here I am on stage at Imaging with the other top 10 finishers and the presidents of PPA. Image is courtesy of Chris Hanoch.
I'm always a little star-struck in these situations and just can't believe that my prints can compete at this level. So thank you everyone who cheered for me! I so appreciate your support and encouragement!
Thursday, January 20, 2011 12:13:34 PM (Mountain Standard Time, UTC-07:00) ( )
Whew! It's been a crazy week attending Imaging USA and catching up on everything. But I'm back in front of my computer and ready to roll out some great new things for 2011.
But first, I wanted to thank everyone who has taken the time to email or message me about my weight loss over the last 6 months or so. It's been a long journey, but I really feel that I have the photography community to thank for it all. In particular, those who have attended my workshops over the last 2 years. Let me explain.
I've always known that the vast majority of people who are in the late 30's and are physically fit and a healthy weight work very hard to maintain their bodies. Very few people can be 37 years old, eat whatever they want, never exercise and still be a normal weight (though I know a few who are . . . . you know who you are . . . . yes, I'm staring at you . . . . ). The rest have to work hard at it. Over the last 2 years, I've had some wonderful conversations with workshop attendees about photography, but also about life and balancing parenting and work and health and everything else. So last summer, I just decided that if all these amazing people could balance kids, family, a photography business and STILL have time to look fabulous, I could do it too! So thank you for all your incredible examples and being so inspiring for me to just get with it and pull myself together!
Also, I've had a lot of emails from people asking about what snacks I eat when dieting. As I've mentioned before, I basically eat every 2 hours all day long. I never eat too much, but I'm also never hungry. I'm the kind of person that can't feel like I'm "depriving" myself when trying to diet. So if I feel hungry or like I never get to eat yummy foods, I just won't stick with a diet. So here are a list of snacks that I love that are between 70-150 calories each.
My personal fav is Mango Lhassi. I make homemade probiotic yogurt out of super low-cal, organic local skim milk (it ends up being around 85 calories per cup) and then blend 1/2 cup of my plain yogurt with 4 oz. of ripe mango, 1/2 cup ice and a little water and ZSweet. Add a dollop of fat-free RediWhip and you have 2 cups of heaven with less than 125 calories.
I also love to make a Cranberry-Strawberry Smoothie too. Blend 1 cup strawberries, 1/2 cup cranberries and 1/2 cup yogurt with 1/2 cup ice, a little water and ZSweet to taste. Again, it's around 125 calories (depending on the yogurt you use).
For something starchy, you can't beat a 100 calorie bag of popcorn. But I also love multi-grain, whole wheat bread. Sunflower Market makes a deliciously hearty bread that only has 50 calories per slice. I toast it and instead of butter on it, I smear a wedge of Laughing Cow Light French Onion cheese (or Light Garlic and Herb from Sonoma Jack). Only 135 hearty calories and so yum!
For a sweet treat, you can't beat protein bars. I love Atkins Chocolate Oatmeal Fiber Bars. They taste like oatmeal chocolate chip cookie dough and have fiber and protein and only 130 calories per bar. I also love Atkins Caramel Nut Chew bars. They taste like a Snickers and again, have protein, fiber and only 130 calories. South Beach also makes some good protein bars . . . . Basically, I just went to the store, bought one of every type of protein bar under 200 calories and made a list of my favorites, haha.
I also always have a large supply of fruit and veggies on hand. So a snack can also be an apple, a pear, an orange or a grapefruit (again, sweetened with ZSweet). I also have some 130 calorie bags of pistachios and other nuts. They also make for a quick, easy snack. Crunchies are also delicious to snack on. To be honest, I find myself scheduling my snacks everyday, because they're all so yummy, I can't wait to eat one, haha.
Thanks again for all your kind words and support!
Thursday, January 13, 2011 12:02:36 PM (Mountain Standard Time, UTC-07:00) ( )
Alright, though I should be posting one of the fabulous weddings I’ve shot over the last few months, I’m instead still fixated on recipes (I did mention that I love to cook, right?!). So stay with me, haha!
As many of you know, I lived for a year and a half in Italy with most of my time being spent in and around Florence. This is a dish I had a LOT while I was there. It’s incredibly typical of Tuscan cooking and northern Italian cuisine in general. And it’s about my favorite way to cook chicken. I’ve presented two ways to cook this recipe below, but there are endless variations of it. You can easily substitute any other kind of citrus for the lemon. Oranges also make a delicious chicken too. Italians would typically serve this meal with oven-baked diced potatoes and a spring mix salad with balsamic dressing.
Quick Dinner Option 1
- 3 large chicken breasts (about 8 oz each), sliced in half to make a total of 6 thinner chicken breasts that are about 4 oz each
- 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
- 1 T. dried rosemary or 2 T. fresh
- 1 t. dried sage or 1 T. fresh
- 1 large lemon
- 1 T. olive oil
Gently heat the olive oil over medium heat and add the garlic. Fry for less than a minute, until the garlic is fragrant but not brown. Add the rosemary and sage and fry for another minute until fragrant. Add your chicken breasts and cook on both sides until browned and cooked. Zest and juice the lemon. When the chicken is done, pour the lemon juice over the chicken and toss in the lemon zest. Remove the chicken immediately from the pan and use the lemon juice to deglaze the pan and bring up all the browned bit on the bottom (if you can). Pour the lemon juice back over the chicken and serve. Each 4 oz chicken breast will have around 140-150 calories.
Plan Ahead Dinner Option 2
- 1 whole chicken
- 5 cloves garlic
- 2 T. dried rosemary
- 2 t. dried sage
- 2 large lemons
- 1 T. olive oil
Zest your lemons and toss the lemon zest, garlic, rosemary, sage and olive oil into a blender or food processor. Process into a paste. Rub the mixture all over and inside of the whole chicken. I actually try to get it in between the skin and the meat of the chicken. Place the chicken onto a rack in a roasting pan and roast at 325 until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 170 (or so) in the thigh. This usually takes at least 2 hours. Once the chicken is done, remove from the oven and pour the juice from both lemons over the chicken. Cut and serve immediately. For a tasty (though not low-cal) treat, use the drippings in the roasting pan as a dipping sauce for bread and the chicken.
Here is a photo of the chicken breast preparation with winter squash and peas. It's a yummy meal with around 250 calories. It's really hard for me to feel like I'm "dieting" when I eat food like this, haha.
Friday, January 07, 2011 4:28:57 PM (Mountain Standard Time, UTC-07:00) ( )
So many of you have asked for this recipe, so here you go!
First of all, don’t be daunted by this list of ingredients. This soup is simple, delicious and wonderfully healthy. This recipe also makes a TON. About 10 quarts of soup, so make sure you have a big pot. You can scale down the recipe if you’d like; just cut all the ingredients in half. But I like to make a lot and then freeze it in 2 cup containers. It freezes beautifully and allows you to have a pre-portioned, healthy, home-cooked lunch in a matter of minutes. When cooked, each cup of soup will have about 100 calories, tons of protein and fiber and lots of wholesome veggie goodness. Note that this chili will have a little heat/spiciness to it; not a ton, but a little. Most of the heat comes from the chili powder you choose, so keep that in mind. If you’re really concerned about the heat, omit the other types of peppers and just use lots of bell peppers. You can also make this dish vegetarian by omitting the meat and using 1 lb diced portabello mushrooms and veggie broth instead.
- 1 29 oz package Bob’s Red Mill 13 Bean Mix or 29 oz of dried beans of your choice.
- 2 15 oz cans diced tomatoes
- 2 15 oz cans tomatoe puree (not sauce)
- 1 little can tomato paste
- ½ t. black pepper
- 12-15 cloves fresh garlic, finely diced
- 2 large onions, finely diced
- 4 T. New Mexico chili powder or chili powder of your choice. I like New Mexico chili powder because it has lots of flavor but only a little heat. You can usually find it in the Hispanic spice section of any grocery store that has a decent selection. Of course, any kind of chili powder will do. If you’re using a different kind of chili powder, you might want to start with just a tablespoon or two of chili powder and then keep adding it in until you think it tastes right.
- 1 t. cumin
- 1 lb super lean ground beef
- 1.5 lbs super lean ground turkey (look for lean ground turkey breast meat)
- 3 large fresh bell peppers, seeds and membranes removed, diced
- 2 large fresh Anaheim peppers, seeds and membranes removed, diced
- 3 fresh banana peppers (or sweet yellow peppers), seeds and membranes removed, diced
- 1-2 fresh poblano peppers (optional), seeds and membranes removed, diced. You can also add other peppers like jalapenos or serranos if you like more heat. Personally, I like to keep the chili somewhat mild so my kids will eat it.
- Beef boullion (enough to flavor 4 or 5 quarts of fluid). I recommend Tones beef broth base from Sam’s Club.
- 1 bag matchstick carrots or about 5 finely diced carrots
- 4 medium yellow or green zucchini, diced
- 2 cups frozen corn
Rinse the beans and sort through them to make sure there’s nothing icky in them. Then soak the beans overnight in a generous amount of water. Drain the soaking water and rinse the beans well. This is an important step if you want to have gas-free beans.
Put the beans into a large pot if you’re making the full recipe (at least a 15-quart pot) and cover them with water. Add the diced tomatoes, tomato puree, tomato paste, garlic, onion, chili powder, black pepper and cumin. DO NOT add any broth or anything with salt. This will make it so your beans won’t soften. Cook for about 1.5-2 hours or until the beans are soft. The time kinda depends on your beans and how long you let them soak beforehand, so don’t be surprised if this takes more or less time.
As your beans are cooking, brown the meats together in a large sauce pan and thoroughly drain any fat off of them. Once the beans are soft, add the meat, all the peppers and the carrots. You might need to add more water at this point, if you feel that your chili is too thick. In the end, you should have about 10 quarts of soup. Once your water to soup ratio is good, add beef boullion cubes or paste. I usually add enough to make about 4 quarts of broth, but it’s really up to you. Add it until you feel the taste is good. Cook the veggies for about 10 minutes or until their softish. Then add the zucchini and corn. The zucchini will cook quickly (in about 3 minutes), so I add it at the very end. Dish and serve! Yum!
Note: When cooking with tomatoes, you might need to adjust the salt-to-sugar ratio in your dish. Sometimes tomatoes have more or less sugar in them. Also, the cheaper the canned tomatoes, the more likely you will need to adjust the sugar. If your chili has flavor, but seems like it’s missing something, try adding a little sugar (like 2 T.) and then ½ t. salt. Keep adjusting until the dish has the right zing.
Thursday, January 06, 2011 1:44:36 PM (Mountain Standard Time, UTC-07:00) ( )
First of all, thank you so much to everyone who posted or emailed or FB'd me about my last post. You all brought tears to my eyes! Thank you so much!
Many people have asked me about what I eat and what else I'm doing to lose weight. So as I promised in my last post, I wanted to just describe what I've been doing. Let me just begin by saying that I'm not a dietitian nor do I have a degree in nutrition (though I don't have a degree in Photography either, haha), but I do have a basic understanding of most of the types of diets and weight loss regimes out there (South Beach, Adkins, Weight Watchers, etc.) So saying that, please note that I'm just sharing what I've done.
For starters, I know that weight loss is fairly straightforward. It's just a question of calories in versus calories out. Once you have a calorie deficit of 3500 calories, you will lose one pound of weight. What you eat can make a huge difference in your overall health, but a calorie is a calorie is a calorie despite what anyone else says. Even if you eat super healthy food, if you eat too much of it, you won't lose weight. And vice versa, you can eat a super unhealthy diet (like this guy) and still lose weight as long as you're eating fewer calories than your body burns. You won't be healthy, but you will lose weight.
So knowing this, I knew that I just needed to reduce my caloric intake. Of course, doing so isn't usually all that easy. Also, I'm not one of those people with a hyper metabolism who just massively overeats junk food. I've always had a relatively healthy diet (i.e. rarely drink soda, eat fast food maybe 4 times a year, never eat potato chips, probably haven't had a twinkie or other similar food in 20 years, etc.). I just have a slightly slower metabolism than normal which means that I fight tooth and nail for every pound that I lose. In looking at my current daily calorie intake in August (which was around 1800-2000 calories a day), I knew that I was going to have to drastically cut my calories in order to lose weight. I had cut my calories to 1400 in January 2010 and had tried to lose weight, but it just wouldn't really budge. So this time, I was determined to succeed.
So I decided to cut my calories down to 900-1000 a day. I know this seems drastic to some, but any more than that, and I just don't lose weight. My metabolism just isn't that fast. But so few calories a day just seems almost impossible to do for month after month. Here's what I know about my own body and weight loss:
1. My body will viciously hold onto weight if it feels that I am "starving."
2. I don't do well with food cravings if I'm feeling hungry.
3. I have a serious sweet tooth and love food in general. So dieting is hard if I feel that I'm "denying" myself yummy food.
What to do?
The first simple solution to problem 1 and 2 was to eat every 2 hours all day. If my body always had food to digest, then it wouldn't feel that I was starving. Also, with food always in my stomach, I wouldn't be hungry all the time. This would also help my metabolism and hopefully keep it elevated throughout the day, burning more calories.
The third problem I tackled head on. I LOVE cooking. I always have. It easily rivals photography as a passion for me. So I turned all my cooking energy into creating delicious, low calorie foods; foods that would leave me feeling like I had had a delicious treat. I also decided that NO food would be considered off limits. I could eat anything that I wanted. I just couldn't exceed 1000 calories a day. So if I wanted to blow all 1000 calories on a milk shake, I most certainly could, haha. However, if I want to have a full stomach all day and not have nasty cravings, then I need to choose low glycemic, low calorie, highly nutritious foods.
So here is a list of what I ate on Monday along with photos of the food. This is EXTREMELY typical of what I eat on a daily basis. (As a sidenote, I've also realized that I STINK at food photography . . . . definitely something to work on, haha).
8:00 am: Big bowl of Bob's Red Mill Oat Bran cereal with peaches and sugar-free maple syrup (150 calories)
10:00 am: Whole medium grapefruit smothered in powdered erythritol, my fav zero calorie sweetener . . . tastes like sugar, looks like sugar and is all natural. Zsweet is the brand I prefer. (70 calories)
12:00 pm: Super yummy, hearty, homemade 13 Bean Chili (2 cups) with a clementine orange. (230 calories)
2:00 pm: My non-coffee version of an almond mocha latte with foamed milk and 1/2 of a GoLean Crunchy Caramel Chocolate bar (I mentioned I have a sweet tooth, right?). (100 calories)
4:00 pm: This is the time of day that I'm always fighting the munchies, so this day I opted for something "snacky:" a 100-calorie bag of kettle popcorn. (100 calories)
6:00 pm: Tuscan Lemon-Garlic-Rosemary chicken with fresh winter squash and peas. It all tasted soooo much better than it looks. Yum! (250 calories)
And that was my Monday. I usually don't eat after 6:00 pm as I want to sleep on an empty stomach so my body will burn fat while I sleep. Final calorie count for the day: 900 calories
The one thing you will notice lacking from my day's food here is bread or really flour of any sort. Though I say that no foods are off-limits and I do feel that I can eat anything I want, I've generally cut out all bread and flour. That's been the hardest part, because I do love bread. But I had found that highly glycemic foods, like white bread, don't make me feel full and actually spike my appetite. So 20 minutes after eating a slice of white bread (which usually has around 100 calories), I would find myself feeling even hungrier and really, really craving more white bread. That effect in itself was motivation enough to stay away from white flour in general. By moving to whole grains, beans, lean protein and fresh produce, I've really helped to remove a lot of the food cravings. I'm planning on continuing to post my menus and recipes (like the chili and chicken from this post) for people who are interested in them.
In addition to my diet, I have also added exercise. I am under strict doctor's orders to NOT do anything that will be jarring to my lower spine due to a massive birth defect of my lower back, so running and such are off limits. But I do power walk, bike and do circuit training 6 days a week.
Anyway, that's just a little of what I've been doing. . . . . more goodness is to come!
Tuesday, January 04, 2011 12:28:26 PM (Mountain Standard Time, UTC-07:00) ( )
So I've decided to do a little more personal blog post here about my weight loss odyssey over the last 5 months. And I couldn't seem to come up with a post title that doesn't sound like a bad infomercial for some lame weight loss product, haha, so stay with me.
I'm not a small person. I'm tall and don't have a petite bone structure. But I haven't spent that much of my life overweight. After my first two children, I was able to diet and lose the baby weight. However, with my third child, I went through so many hormone treatments and miscarriages to finally be able to have him and all of it just wreaked havoc on my body, my hormones and my weight. I lost 50 pounds in the months after having him, but I still had another 50 pounds to lose before reaching a healthy BMI.
So fast forward two years to last August. After 2 years of just coasting along, I decided to do something about my extra weight. I was tired of being tired all the time. I still was suffering lingering effects from the pregnancy (elevated blood pressure, sleeping issues) and I hoped that maybe losing some weight would help. Basically, at 37, I felt that I was too young to feel so old. I have young children and I wanted to have the energy to play and hike and explore the world with them. So I decided to lose the weight and gain the energy and strength I felt I lacked. And thankfully, my husband decided to join me, so I wouldn't be doing it alone.
I had three goals for my weight loss:
1. Lose the weight and reach a healthy BMI
2. Tone and strengthen my body so I could do the outdoor activities I love
3. Be able to fit into premium jeans and shop at stores I love, like Anthropologie and Banana Republic.
Now, let me say, I'm not a fan of fad diets. In order for weight loss to be permanent, you have to make a lifestyle change. If you go onto Nutrisystem or use a supplement like HCG or something, you will lose the weight. But the second you go back to your old eating habits or go off the supplement, the weight will come right back. I wanted to make a change for life; not just for a period of time. I wanted to lose the weight and keep it off permanently.
So as a family, we cut our calories, changed our eating habits and started an exercise program. No other gimmicks. Just losing weight the old-fashioned way. And as of this morning, I had lost 49 pounds . . . . soooo close to my goal, haha.
So here are some photos. I had really avoided the camera when being so heavy, obviously, but here is a still from some video we shot in July, right before I started dieting. The photo quality isn't the greatest, but you get the idea.
And here I am today in a top from Banana Republic (man, I kept them in business last month, haha) and my new pair of True Religion jeans:
And here I am today in the same pants I am wearing in the image from July. It was so cathartic to put these on and really see how much weight I had lost:
And my husband has lost about 30 pounds (and at a very trim 149 pounds, he is FORBIDDEN to lose any more weight). And even better, all of my health issues with my blood pressure and sleeping, etc. have gone away. I have had a lot of people ask me about what we're eating and such. So I'm planning on doing some blog posts with recipes and some of the little tricks I've adopted. But there is nothing revolutionary or gimmicky in it all. It's not based on someone's theory or a set of ratios. And that's what I love. Because that's what makes this sustainable and what has enabled me to stick to my "diet" even when it hasn't been easy. I'm still eating all the time, any and all kinds of food, and eating tasty, delicious, wholesome food. Sigh. See, it still sounds like too much of a commercial . . . . but seriously. I'm planning on listing daily menus and you'll see. So stay tuned . . . . more to come . . . .
Saturday, January 01, 2011 7:36:47 PM (Mountain Standard Time, UTC-07:00) ( )
Thank you so much for your holiday greetings. I've savored every card I've received and I also appreciate your comments on my card. And I wish everyone a happy, joyful 2011.
I have gotten a lot of questions about the dress my daughter is wearing in the photos on my holiday card (Where I got it from, etc.). So I thought that I would do a little blog post about it. It's this dress here, just in case you were wondering:
Talk about motivation. This dress took work and planning, but I love how it turned out in the end. So here's the story.
I knew that I wanted to do a photosession in this ghost town with my kiddies. But I also knew that it meant styling my kids. And I wanted them to be wearing sort of vintagey clothing, but nothing trendy or too recognizable as being this "brand" or from that boutique. I also wanted some nice drama in a dress for my daughter. But I honestly couldn't justify spending $500+ on a true child's couture dress for her. Then a client put an idea into my head.
This particular client showed up at a session with her kids styled amazingly . . . . unbelievably cute clothing and nothing like anything I had seen this year for kids clothing. She had two girls (ages 6 and 10) and she had actually purchased them women's size extra-small clothing and then taken it in here and there to make it fit. Sheer genius! So a super-short, ruffled skirt on a woman became a knee length adorable skirt on a 6-year-old. Perfect! I could shop adult's clothing for my daughter. She's really thin but extremely tall for her age, so I thought it might work.
So I hit the mall and dug through ebay and found some great stuff (fantastic idea, seriously love it) but nothing that would work for my photosession. Then it hit me. In early 2009, I had purchased a 1940's vintage wedding dress off of ebay. I had wanted to use it for client sessions, but the dress was super tiny; far too small for any woman I know today. And the lace on the fabric was falling apart, so I had just put the dress aside kinda bummed. But now I thought about retooling it as a party-style dress for my daughter.
So here are some images of the dress before I tore it apart. This was the front:
Note the lovely ruffled lace collar, haha. The dress just had two ruffled tiers of lace that came to a point in the front. The back was just a sheer train and some pretty buttons:
Now I'm no seamstress and not too terribly handy with a sewing machine, but I did take Home Economics in 9th grade, so I know something, right? My first thought was to remove all of the lace and sheer sleeves from the bodice, leaving just a tank-top like shell. I also detached the bodice from the dress and took the darts in to fit my daughter. I then flipped the bodice (making the back the front of my new dress) and added some ruffled sage ribbon trim to the neckline and also made little cap sleeves out of it too. I then tackled the skirt. I started by cutting off the train and stabilizing the poor fragile lace. I then kept the length of the skirt and gathered it up into "rouged" puckers accented with sage ribbon flowers. In particular, I pulled the ruffles from the front around to the back of the dress to create a kind of cascade look to the back. In the end, it didn't take too long to alter the entire dress (about 5 hours) and I was pretty proud of myself, haha, given my general lack of sewing skills.
So here are some more details of the final result. Here you can see how I pulled up and puckered the fabric:
And here's a shot of the back, so you can see how all the ruffles kind of come together.
In the end it was SUCH a fun project. Of course, now I find myself spending even more time on ebay hunting for the perfect vintage dress, haha. But it is so fun to take something that seems like it is ready for the trash can and give it a new life.
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Nichole Van has repeatedly been labeled as a hot, new, up and coming photographer. As a Utah wedding photographer and a Utah
portrait photographer, she specializes in turning everyday life into art. Nichole loves expressing the unique beauty of
every client, creating artistic images that make people gasp when they see them.
As an international award-winning photographer, Nichole won the prestigious International 8x10 Portrait of the Year from
Wedding and Portrait Photographers International (WPPI) for 2007. Consequently, her international award winning photography
was featured in Rangefinder Magazine in June 2008. She has also taken First, Second and Third place honors from WPPI in other
international competitions for her child and family photography. Additionally, Nichole has received numerous Accolades of
Excellence and currently holds an Accolade of Photographic Mastery from WPPI.
In addition to her love for photography, Nichole loves teaching and enjoyed being English faculty at Brigham Young University
for nearly 10 years. As the best of both worlds, teaching photography to others is her passion. Nichole currently offers
international photography workshops focusing on helping others enhance creativity and artistry in their photos. Combining her
excellence in teaching with her photographic knowledge, Nichole’s Life as Art Workshops are quickly revamping industry standards
for photographic workshops.
Nichole lives in southern Utah County with her husband and three children. You can see her work at www.nicholeV.com.