caitlin elizabeth photography | personal | virginia photographer

yesterday i turned 23.

one of my best friends called me all the way from the equator to wish me happy birthday.

i awoke at 6:46 to a 'happy birthday' serenade. 

i received an email that made me tear up with the out-pouring of love it contained.

my 13-year-old sister called me old.

my daddy told me he was proud of me.

and i spent the evening at bible study.

what a wonderfully simple, beautiful way to turn 23.

[these pictures are from our church's annual valentine's day supper - this year, featuring a photo booth and 'minute to win it' competition... these women keep me young, and remind me every day that i can be a dynamic individual, regardless of how old i am or will be]

grandmama - this woman is going to be 87 this year and she is lookin fabulous and still active.

my mama - the best mama in the world :)

my aunt betsy and mama - they remind me a lot of my sister and me... we're goofballs, we make each other angry, and we love each other unconditionally.

happy friday ya'll :) if you're looking for something to give YOUR mama for mother's day - check out the sweet mini sessions coming up!

mother's day mini sessions | caitlin elizabeth photography | hampton roads family photographer

you read correctly :) ROUND 2 of caitlin elizabeth photography minisessions is coming your way! this time in honor of MOTHER'S DAY i'm offering MOTHER'S DAY MINI SESSIONS 

(not ON mother's day, silly, FOR mother's day ;)

mamas: this is the perfect opportunity to give yourself the gift of PICTURES - of you, of your children, of you & your children, of you and YOUR mama (you get my drift... the possibilities are endless!)

daddys: have you been wondering what in the world to get those lovely mamas in your life? well, why not round up those children and get a picture taken of them?  or what about pictures of you and your darlin?

kids: my mama always wanted pictures of us and we ALWAYS went to stuffy studios... looking back i WISH we could've given mama some sweet, simple photographs taken on this SUH-WEET couch ;) 

(couples and individual portrait slots are also available, but limited - contact caitlin quickly to get your preferred time slot booked)

what you get:

- that green couch ;)

- up to 25 minutes of quality time with me and my camera

- a cd with up to 10 high resolution, edited images including print release 

(you can print your images, but no editing/altering is allowed! i will also provide you a cd with images for internet sharing!)

- time/date reserved upon payment

- location disclosed upon receipt of payment

- once payment is made no refund is available, but the full amount can be put toward 

your next session with caitlin elizabeth photography

for more information or specific questions of what you want your mini session to entail (or to BOOK YOUR SESSION DATE/TIME), contact caitlin directly: caitlin@caitlinelizabethphotography.com

PINday | an alternative to mason jars

my friends can attest to my undying love for mason jars.

they can also attest to the fact that i have BEEN in love with them for forever.  back in college i wrote a blog called the 'mason jar monologues.'  i stored my pens/pencils on my desk in a mason jar.  it was not uncommon to see me walking to class or roll into staff meeting with a mason jar of sweet tea.  one christmas i gave my besties a 'sweet tea making kit' including two mason jars, tea bags, sugar, and a freakin adorable little poem with the foolproof steps to sweeten it just right.  i decorated my dorm room with mason jars full of colorful candy and ribbon (my undying love for ribbon is worthy of a whole separate blogpost)

it deeply saddens my heart to know that all of these bandwagoners have ruined any chance of me actually going through with the mason jar themed wedding i've been dreaming up since i was a wee little thing drinking lemonade from a mason jar on the front porch swing... 

SO for the first official installment for PINday i've prepared an alternative for mason jars :)  

PINday is a new installment on the blog - basically i have a pintrest board devoted to crafty things that YOU can 'like' and i'll try them out for you... because honestly, how many things have you pinned on pintrest that you are NEVER going to do?! that's right. a bunch.

the inspiration for this project came from this DIY yarn bottles project i found.  i mixed it up a little, to fit what resources i had readily available:

MATERIALS: bottle, yarn/twine, hot glue gun 

obviously  you can use whatever you want, and the actual pin on pintrest calls for smaller bottles and yarn, BUT 

i am forever drinking wine 

and i love me some twine, 

so i just decided to use what i had 

and make up a sweet rhyme 

:) 

golly i crack myself up 

also: if you don't already have a hot glue gun, what are you doing with your life?! using it is probably my second favorite thing ever.  drinking wine would be the first.

just a little heads up: this wine (lucky duck) is from wal-mart and it is SO CHEAP and SO GOOD.  i particularly liked this bottle, which was a sauvignon blanc from chile i believe.  they have all different types - some not as good as others, but hey, for $4 a bottle what can you expect?

seriously though: twine is so useful.  and it seems to last forever.  i've had this roll since September and i use it every chance i get: decorating, packaging prints/products for clients etc. 

starting this can be a little tricky - i found that NOT having huge globs of very warm adhesive all over the place is helpful - less is more when it comes to hot glue guns - you don't want a huge hunk of glue at the top where you start wrapping the twine around.  i took a little dab and put it just inside the top of the wine bottle, attached the twine to it, let the glue cool just a little so i knew the twine wasn't going anywhere, and then started working my way around the very top of the bottle, using very small amounts of glue to make sure the twine covered the top lip of the bottle completely  

after you clear the top of the wine bottle it's easy as pie!  just keep wrapping the twine around the bottle, stopping every once in a while to put a little dab of hot glue to make sure the twine stays put!  again, less is more.  you don't want big pockets of glue sticking through between your twine

from start to finish this project took me about 45 minutes, but i'm sure that once you did it a few times it wouldn't be as time consuming. (or if you used smaller bottles)

these would be great to just have around the house as decorations OR you could use them as centerpieces or accents in tablescapes :)  you can check out the finished product later on in the week when i feature this DIY PINday project in a special little something i thought up over the weekend!!  

check out the PINday pinboard too and vote for the next project by 'liking' whatever you want to see me craft :)  thanks ya'll! 

kristen | hampton roads backyard portrait photographer | caitlin elizabeth photography

pop-pop lets kristen and me go through the revolving doors of the bank first, each of us holding scarves tied around $5 worth of pennies.  we are eager to cash in our earnings, and when we hear his loafers squeak onto the marble tiles we each hurridly take a hand and walk to the teller window.  she has our suckers ready - kristen gets yellow and i green, but before she lets kristen slip hers from the counter she asks from behind the golden bars:

'darlin, where'd you get that set of curls?'

my sister quickly quips: 'JC Penny's' and slides her sugary confection from the counter-top.

no, she didn't really get her beautiful hair from Penny's (she had gotten a hair cut that day at the salon though), but she did have quite a head of hair.  thankfully she can brush it on her own now and MAN what a STUNNER she has become.

ya'll are in for a REAL treat - not only do you get to feast your eyes on some gorgeousness (seriously, this chica is breathtaking) but you get to check out my madd styling skillz (that's right, styling, hair and make-up by yours truly <--which i feel like is quite an accomplishment, since if it were up to me i would inhabit sweatpants for approximately 100% of my existence).

BUT, before you meander through the following images - know one thing about miss kristen (and this may be the reason i love her the most): 

she has absolutely no idea how beautiful she is.

  

and with that, i give you kristen :) *she is currently taken fellas, but i have an application you can fill out for a chance to be put on the waiting list to be her beau ;)

these were some of the very first images we took - i knew my job was going to be easy!

the top right expression = really caitlin? you're going to have to try MUCH harder if you're going to get me to smile.

challenge. accepted.

all of this super cool old stuff courtesy of grandmama

 told you i could make you laugh :)

i'm in love with these:

ok seriously?! when did you become a model?

aaaannndddd THIS is why i love you. also - go hug mama and daddy right now for those perfectly straight teeth #bitterthatididntgetbraces

so. much. gorgeousness.

i am really feeling like i got the short end of the stick here mama and daddy.  this girl is WORKIN IT

cutie ;)

i was IN LOVE with the light - i took wayyyy too many pictures of her sitting on this quilt

 again - right image = why i am in love with you

 and we'll end with these detail shots - because i LOVE me some details ;)