In the Baby Lifestyles E-Mag for the Feb-March Issue! Turn to page 95 to see my picture of Jen & Josh Beeson! Baby Lifestyles Magazine

Ok, so I’ve made a goal this year to blog a few more personal posts and this is my first for 2012! I tackled this DIY Tufted Headboard project just after we moved and started setting up our new master bedroom. I am a huge fan of Pinterest and that’s where I got the idea. If you don’t know what Pinterest is than you haven’t lived. I love to make things and I had fun with this project even though I probably did make a few too many trips to Home Depot and JoAnn’s from not being prepared.

This project was a little bit more difficult than I though it would be but still was a fun project I love how it turned out. I read many blog posts before, during and even after my project. Below is a list of the most helpful ones.

• Jenny Komenda Interiors/Little Green Notebook
• Dream Book Design
• Centsational Girl
• Project Pretty
• Jillian Harris

Here’s a great video from Design Sponge:

And another with more details from The Upholstery Studio. They have several on YouTube.

I’ll give you some of the details I remember but the other blogs will help a lot too. If you are planning to give this project a go for yourself than read a few postes in their entirety. I wish I had done this as each of them have a little different way of doing it and each have their own super helpful tips.

I purchased most of my supplies on sale and with coupons at JoAnn’s. I purchased the wood, screws and bolts from Home Depot. They also cut my wood for free to the size I needed. I spent approximately $100 in total on this project.

Supplies:

• Staple Gun
• Batting
• Regular Density Foam
• Spray Adhesive
• Ruler
• Tape Measure
• Button Kit & Buttons (You may want to have a few extra buttons on hand. You may get a few duds.)
• Rubber Mallet
• Scissors
• Upholstery Needle
• Upholstery Thread (tough kind)
• Fabric
• Medium Density Fiber Board
• Drill
• 2×4′s (This is what I used for my king size headboard. You could probably get something smaller for a smaller headboard.)
• Screws
• Nuts and Bolts

Then took on painting the accent wall for our room.

So I forgot to take photos during the upholstery part. The blogs above will give you lots of good info on that though. I put the headboard up off the ground using boxes since I didn’t have 2 sawhorses. I first measured and marked where the holes needed to be drilled for threading the buttons and then drilled the holes using a drill bit not to much bigger than my upholstery needle. Remember to have lots of extra fabric to account for the tufting. I made te mistake of not getting enough fabric and ended up using a white table cloth I had but rarely used. I plan to use the fabic I got from JoAnn’a for pillows instead. For the foam you’ll have to get several squares if you are using the 22×22 from JoAnn’s but they also sell it in rolls which is a little easier but sometimes more expensive.

I pre-drilled 7 holes in the 2×4′s and then put the screws in to attach the legs to the headboard.

Stay tuned for Part 2 with pillows, nightstands and wall decor. Will post just as soon as I can make up my mind.

Bride and Groom models needed for my Valentine’s Day styled wedding shoot this year! I’ll probably be incorporating burlap in some way. You will need to be in wedding attire and we’ll discuss the hair and makeup look I’m going for. Please email me a picture of the two of you if you are interested. The shoot will take place on February 10 or 11 (depending on your schedule) in the Santa Clarita area. Please share with friends if you think they might be interested and you can check out last year’s shoot here 2011 V-Day Shoot.

I enjoyed seeing the Adraino’s again to shoot their family Christmas photos. The last time I saw little Owen he was a tiny newborn and now he’s almost walking around! I also took Elizabeth’s maternity photos back in April and you can see the photos from that session here. One of the things I really enjoy about being  photographer is being able to see a family grow year after year.  Elizabeth and Michael are both teachers and keep busy with being involved in school activities. They wonderful people and I’m so happy for them and their new addition to the family.

This shoot was my first newborn twin shoot and I was extremely excited for it. Patricia contacted me originally to take her maternity but as things tend to not go how we plan she ended up needing to wait until after the twins were born for pictures. These two precious babies truly are Christmas miracles! Caylee and Carter are a boy and girl, and Carter’s lungs are not healthy enough yet so you’ll see him with oxygen on in the pictures. I say he was being a good big brother and giving his sister more nutrients while still inside mommy.  This family is beautiful and if you think of them say a prayer as Carter is still having some health struggles that they are learning more about and continuing to manage.

I met Julie through a friend sending her my way and shot her daughter Ayla for the first time at a pumpkin patch. You can see the Pumpkin Patch session here. Julie is a beautiful and very sweet woman and I love photographing her family. As usual Ayla looks adorable in her romper but we did have to keep Daddy (Jim) from sneaking orange candy to her in fear of having some orange slobber smiles.

This year when I started looking into Christmas orientated picture ideas I decided to go a little out of the box for myself and shoot indoors but still use all natural light to light my subjects. Christmas lights are one of my favorite parts about Christmas so when I saw this background ida on Pinterest I decided to give it a go. I love how the images turned out and you’ll be seing a super cute twin newborn session and another family session using this background as well. Thanks for reading!

Nicole is a sophomore this year and is such a beautiful little lady! Her mom had me come to their house to shoot her and her brother Jacob and you can see his photos here.  While I was there they brought down some schnazy cars from the neighbors house for a few shots and then we headed out to the back of the property for more pictures with Nicole and her friends Anne and Logan. I love putting beautiful subjects in the middle of a rough and rustic area and these girls were perfect for this shoot. Enjoy the photographs! Oh and if you love boots like I do you, can find a pair like those pictured in the middle above from Steve Madden (my other crush).

A few weeks back I went to Jacob’s house to shoot he and his sister (which I’ll be posting soon). It’s been a while since they’ve had their pictures done so mom had be come out to do a session for each of them. Jacob is a little on the quieter side but he was super good at this taking pictures thing and I love how his session came out.

Last week I met up with Andrea in Michael in Valencia to take their engagement photos. One of the best things about this couple is that they like to have their goofy moments with each other. Well maybe it’s mostly Michael being a goof and making Andrea laugh at him, but still it makes for a fun time with them. I am excited for their wedding in May and I know it’s going to be a fun and beautiful day.