A Spring Flower Workshop

Hello lovelies!

Last weekend Sunny and I had the pleasure of throwing another floral workshop here in Green Bay. This was our 5th flower workshop since we started 2 years ago (can't believe it actually!) and this time Sunny hosted the event at her floral studio, Ebb and Flow Flowers (check out her stunning website!), in Olde School Square. She has the most adorable shop with beautiful antique details and modern finishes. It was the perfect place to host this smaller, more intimate event and I think the ladies had a wonderful time relaxing amongst the flowers and happy chatter. 

Sunny taught us how to create a floral arrangement with a more organic, foraged feel and an asymmetrical shape. Exactly the sort of bouquet I appreciate most when I see the arrangements these floral stylists create. She made it look absolutely effortless in her demonstration and when we set off to create our very own masterpieces we kept her easy instructions and tips in mind, hoping for the best! 

I tend to float and chat and take pictures during our workshops so I'll use that as an excuse for my arrangements veeeeery, how shall I say it .... organic (yes!) looseness. Haha! It's pictured above, a little before Sunny helped me by adding a few things here and there in a way that made my jaw drop at the obviousness of the whole thing. "Now why didn't I think of tucking a tulip into that open space? It's perfect there!"

So here are plenty of photos from our morning together. Thank you to the lovely ladies who attended this workshop with us. We loved your sweet company and hope the events of that morning in addition to our great floral prowess serve to usher in the charms of springtime. Fingers crossed!

If you'd like to get on our mailing list and receive news about upcoming floral events, send me a note to kirstyloug@gmail.com or Sunny at info@ebbandflowflowers.com. We try to keep our workshops affordable, so that every girl (all creative ladies and flower lovers) have a chance to try it out without an extraordinary investment to do so. In addition, please let me know if there are any other workshops, parties or fun get togethers that you're interesting in being a part of. I have some ideas brewing that should be really fun in the summer. So keep in touch!

xx Kirsty 

My Favorite Little People

It's so rare to get a photo with all 4 of my littles but we were able to grab a few together on this beautiful evening, in honor of Mother's Day - May 2014. We all know how hard it is to get a group of children to stay still and smile, even with tons of practice. The result is usually a nutty mix of sincerity and plastered straight line smile (see far left … in every shot :). Elliot is great at being "real" in front of the lens. He has a gift in that regard and will likely go on to be a brilliant actor … or a surgeon. Yes, really! He has an enormous and bewildering (to me) fascination with the body. It's impressive and quite funny. And Parker is comfortable taking a picture as long as Scarlet is in it, just like me.

They are magnificent creatures, each unique and quirky and so clever, with hearts that love fully and passionately. That's one thing a mom is never lacking in, LOVE. Gym time, yes, lunch on a plate, yes, dates with husband, yes, freshly painted nails and shiny hair, yes. But love, no! We are packed tight with love from all sides. Our love tanks are full!

Prepping for a Shoot + Behind the Scenes

Before I shoot anything "big" for YOU magazine (cover shoot or fashion spread), I do some test shots at the location a few days before. In this particular case it seemed very necessary, since our spring has made its arrival this year at a snail's pace and even still seems in a state of bewildered confusion (I am at this moment watching large snowflakes falling slowing outside the kitchen window, the kind that I might even call beautiful … in January … grrrr). So I took the kids to our spring fashion location and snapped a few photos of them exploring and playing late in the afternoon one Sunday. You'll notice a bit of snow still clinging to the hills. That was all melted away a week later when we reappeared models in tow. But now, well, it's likely back (smiling through gritted teeth).

My boys obediently stepped onto rocks and sat on tree roots as model stand ins. Sweet things. Scarlet was in the Bjorn the entire time; quite the work out!

My husband accompanied me to the shoot the morning of which was really fun. I had loads of props with me. As I went through all the pictures to edit I noticed that he had also snapped a slew of photos and they turned out wonderfully, a unique point of view so to speak. So here is a behind the scenes look at our shoot with the girls. First, taking pics of each other and figuring out my camera settings (this time we were there in the morning and I was hoping to create ethereal, sun bleached, slightly faded images) and then of me getting those fashion shots.