by Shelly | Sep 30, 2014 | baby, personal, SPCcreative, special project |
Last week I met up with a lady in the parking lot of a bank. She opened the trunk of her SUV to reveal baskets of beautiful tiny silk and satin treasures — baby outfits. Whoah, they were GORGEOUS , with lace and pearls, and elaborate embellishments, even tiny bow-ties . . . and the BONNETS! Oh Swoon!
Angel Gowns by Diane donated a supply of handmade gowns to photographers who volunteer with Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep. From left: Emily Crump, Affiliated Photographer; Renae Carr, Area Coordinator; Pamela Schwarz, Community Volunteer; Pamela Contreras, Area Coordinator; and Shelly Chetty, Area Coordinator
I hope and pray that nobody reading this post EVER becomes the recipient of one of these gowns, because they were sewn for babies who don’t get to go home with their families and grow up. But if you should ever go through an infant loss, and see one of these gowns or use the services of a Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep photographer, please know that your baby will be wrapped in LOVE!
You see, these aren’t just beautiful baby dresses. They have been lovingly crafted from wedding dresses by a newly-formed group of volunteers in the Katy area, Angel Gowns by Diane . Their concept is to use memento from a happy and joyful day to help ease the sting of sadness and grief when a baby dies. This specific supply of gowns in preemie to newborn sizes is going to the local professional photographers who serve with Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep, a worldwide nonprofit organization that provides bereavement photography at no charge to families The Angel Gowns group also contributes their gowns directly to hospitals in the area.
Want to get involved? Want to help?
First — NILMDTS is in DESPERATE need of more qualified professional photographers, both in the Houston area and throughout the United States. In Houston we ask our photographers to be on call and available to go to the Texas Medical Center just one day a month, and to help with suburban cases near their homes or studios on an as-needed basis. If you know a photographer or if you are one, I (or one of the other two local NILMDTS Area Coordinators) will help get you through the application process. You will receive training, and one of us will actually accompany you on your first shoot and walk you through the process so that it’s not as intimidating the next time around.
It’s just SO STINKIN’ SAD when a hospital calls us, and we do not have a photographer available to create beautiful images for the grieving family. There are SO MANY TALENTED photographers in this city, and I believe that just about anyone who wants to can find a way to schedule one non-appointment day a month to be available provide this gift of healing. Please check out the NILMDTS Web Site to learn more about our organization.
If you’re not a photographer,
you CAN still talk to photographers you know and encourage them to get involved.
Also, I know that NILMDTS operates on a shoestring. Tax Deductible financial contributions will help keep the organization’s website and resources up to date and to provide training and support for volunteers.
And if you’d like to to get involved with Angel Gowns by Diane. They need
- wedding dress donations
- people to dismantle the dresses, cut patterns and/or sew the gowns
- people to help coordinate with area NICU’s and with NILMDTS.
- People to pick up and deliver donated dresses
Just check out their facebook page (I understand that a full website is in the works) for more details.
by Shelly | Aug 31, 2014 | musician, senior guys, senior portraits |
For some high school seniors, the year is so hectic and crazy that they get all the way through the year and past graduation without ever slowing down enough to complete a senior portrait session. Keenan was one of those busy kids, so we took his portraits in the summer AFTER graduation — and that is absolutely okay.
After all, the images we created represent him at this particular stage in life — and when you’re looking at heirloom photography that will last a lifetime, what difference is just a few months?
Still, to avoid that crazy rush at the end of the year, it’s a very good idea to go ahead and schedule portraits NOW so that you’ll be ready to play by the time Senior-Itis kicks in. 
Of course any senior fortunate enough to drive an shiny red BMW like this one would want to include it in his portraits, so we shot his entire session at a local park rather than in the studio.
Keenan is a musician who was a member of the Taylor High School Band, but he really excelled and was happiest playing his guitar alone and with the THS Jazz Band!
Of course, I asked him to play for me just a bit while I photographed him. I always do that , and the TALENT kids have never ceases to amaze me.
THEY. ARE. GOOD!
I talked to his mom just the other day, and learned that he is already moved in and settled in his dorm at Colorado School of Mines in Golden, Colorado. That’s just up the road and on the other side of Table Mountain from the neighborhood where I lived with my boys many lifetimes ago.
I know that if he ever gets a chance to look up from his books, he will love the laid-back Rocky Mountain Lifestyle that Colorado has to offer. I have a feeling that several ski outings are already on his agenda.
Happy Trails to you Keenan! Enjoy your time in college and study hard. You are very smart, and you’ve got a good head on your shoulders. YEP — YOU’VE GOT THIS! 
by Shelly | Aug 9, 2014 | pets, special project |
I did something just a little bit different this week, and as a result, I fell a little bit in love.
I went to meet and photograph some cats that really would like to go home with a human and STAY.
Oh my catnip, was it fun!
For starters, let’s meet BOOTS —
Boots is a big gorgeous two-year-old hunk who would do well in a home without human kids – — or at least someone who is a real neatnick.
You see, he has a tendency to play with things and eat them. Things like toys and yarn.
As much as he loves hanging out with the staff at Green Trails Animal Clinic in Katy where he’s staying, he says he’d much rather not have to do that surgery thing . . . AGAIN.
OOPS! BURP
So, how did I chance upon Boots and his buddies?
There’s been a sign about adoptable cats on the door at our veterinarian’s office for so long that I almost quit noticing it. Then the last time I stopped in to pick up some meds for our geriatric Aussie, I learned that the clinic currently has 10 cats and 16 kittens that will need to find fur-ever homes.
The kittens aren’t quite ready to go yet, but all the rest of these guys can go home with you TODAY. They are all HEALTHY.
They’ve been spayed or neutered and micro-chipped . . . and they get handled and loved on every minute that the staff can spare.
Oh, and did I say . . . they’re HEALTHY!
So let’s meet some more of this gang.
Seventy is a lovely two-year old Saraparilla Sweetheart. She loves her catnip mouse, and she tells me that she’s really ready to trade in her clinic crate for a cushy pillow in front of someone’s television. She especially likes to watch old sappy chick-flics but says she could learn to like football and WWF.
-MEOW-
Now, if you’d like a cat that’s going to keep you laughing, then you should meet 116
He’s just 19 weeks old. He’s a big lover, and probably the most playful in the bunch. Oh so active. This guy will keep you hopping.
He’s also the brother of 115 below:
115 has a purr motor that you can hear across the room. He’s extremely curious about things, but very cautious at the same time.
Smart Kitty!
I personally think that 115 and 116 would love it if they could stay together.
—PURRRRRRRRRRRRRRR—
So, have you noticed that not all of these cats have real names? Their numbers started remindnig me of Jean ValJean, the hero of Les Miserables —
Valjean, known only as 24601 before he re-entered the free world once told Marius “You have love. That’s the only future God gives us.”
—
This is 107. She’s a playful 10 month old female tabby who needs love. She needs a future. Do you see some Cosette in her eyes?
I do.
meow meow meow
And now there’s ALICE.
Alice might be a Maine Coon Cat. She’s a big ol’gal at 13 months.
She’s got that deep growly kind of meow — the kind that says she knows what she wants and you ARE going to get it for her.
She’s very vocal, a big lover, and playful too.
If I could take one of these kitties home, I think Alice would be my choice but our geriatric Aussie would probably think we were breaking in a replacement for her, and it’s just not worth the trauma.
-PURR-
Our next guy is #76.
He’s a two-year old tabby with piercing green eyes. In addition to lots of love, he needs a special diet because he’s prone to urinary problems, but the clinic staff says that as long as he stays on that diet he is as good as gold. I only told you that in the interest of full disclosure, but SERIOUSLY, it shouldn’t be a huge issue in finding his new home.
-MEOW-
Awww ——— Next we have 113. He’s just 18 weeks old, and he’s a sweet mellow bundle of love. I think the 13 moniker makes him a lucky charm for somebody.
PURR-PURR-PURR
Our next guy, who looks like a Russian Blue, probably needs a Russian name.
But he’s shy and he doesn’t speak Russian — OR English for that matter.
He probably wouldn’t care if you named him Sobaka, which means DOG in Russian. He will just be happy for you to notice how ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL he is.
In the meantime, we’ll just call him 120.
-PURR-MEOW-PURR-
And finally, I’m thrilled to introduce you to Snow White. She’s a two-yearol Blue Point Lynx who finds great comfort in her very own cardboard box.
Yep — a cardboard box. She’s NOT a high maintenance gal.
She’s a bit cross-eyed, but she’s a sweetie who deserves a Happily Ever After.
Dontcha think?
-MEOW-
ALL of these cats are safely tucked away waiting for you to come visit during business hours at Green Trails Animal Clinic.
They’re at 19825 Greenwind Chase, Houston, 77094.
You can talk to their caretakers by calling 281.492-6100.
Again — they’re all healthy, spayed and neutered, microchipped in case they happen to go wandering — and they just want a home to call their own.
Go take a look. If you don’t take home a new family member, you’ll at least leave a little bit of your heart behind — and there’s nothing wrong with that.
MEOW!
by Shelly | Aug 4, 2014 | senior gals, senior portraits, sports |
Have you noticed a trend with my seniors lately?
Scroll back through my last few senior posts… Beautiful… Sweet… GORGEOUS… SUPER COOL… Amazing…Stunning.
Well, here’s another. Meet Maddi! She ABSOLUTELY SPARKLES on her own, but having Cintya Velderrain bring her professional hair and makeup skills to the shoot — PURE WIN!
I first met Maddi a year ago when one of her friends came to view and select his senior portraits at SPCcreative Photography. You can probably imagine how THRILLED I was to see her walk through my doors again!
Get a load of those EYES! Oh MY!
Because she swam with the varsity swim team at Seven Lakes High School, Maddi and her mom wanted to create some fun and unique images that highlighted her swimming talents, so we decided to incorporate her bright green flippers and her goggles with a white formal gown. How cute is THAT?
Maddi has spent a good part of her summer coaching a kids’ swim team in her neighborhood,
but as that is wrapping up, she’s packing up her room and getting ready to head off to college where she is bound to be a head-turner.
Congratulations on your graduation, Maddi, and BEST Wishes for a great first year of college. When the finals drive you nearly batty, just come back and see me at the studio
where
LIFE’s A BEACH!
by Shelly | Jul 25, 2014 | senior portraits |
To the incoming seniors who still feel like high school will grind on forever, I PROMISE – PROMISE-PROMISE that even though we’re in the depths of summer, graduation day will be here before you know it.
In this part of the world, kids don’t typically get excited about senior portraits until springtime when their schedules are TOTALLY SLAMMED — And that’s when we see waves of panic-stricken seniors and parents wanting to get into the studio at the very last minute — but it doesn’t have to be like that!
We are offering an added incentive to plan ahead just a bit. This really is the best deal EVER at SPCcreative Photography, and it only happens once a year. Here’s how it works. You call before the end of July and reserve your senior portrait session. We schedule to shoot before December 31 — and YOU GET $75 credit toward your order. It’s as simple as that.
The really cool thing about this special is that we don’t have to actually take your pictures yet. I don’t love to sweat any more than you do. Going outside and trying to look great is HARD! Of course, if you don’t want to go outside, we can stay in the air conditioned studio and still get amazing images, but that’s missing half the fun. Why not choose a beautifully crisp autumn day instead? You probably already have your school schedule and calendar so you know what time you’ll be out of classes. You know when the UIL contests and scheduled games will be. You know when you’re leaving town for Thanksgiving.
No Excuses!
Our studio offers an amazing collection of background sets both indoors and out — or if you’d prefer to be photographed in a park, or at your home, or at your ranch, or HECK — even at the State Fair of Texas or on Times Square in New York City– by planning now we can handle that.
This is the best sale EVER — and it goes away after July 31.
So, what are you waiting for? Pick up the phone and give us a call. We’ll answer all your questions and build a senior session just for you… whether you just want a 30 minute in and out appointment with one outfit or the full day go and play with in-studio hair and makeup and multiple locations — or something in between.
Do it!
(small print — session retainers are not refundable, but appointments may be rescheduled with with advance notice)
