Photoshoot with Lesley: Maternity Shots in Lehi, UT

Lesley has always been kind enough to ask me to second shoot on some of her photography outings. I am always happy to go because it helps me get some experience with real clients--not that I'll ever do what she does, but I love the practice. And I love second shooting 'cause there's less pressure on me! :)

The complete posting of Lesley's maternity photoshoot is on her kensingtonblue blog, but I've posted some of my favorites that came from my lens.

This shoot was also special for me because at the time I thought it would be the last photoshoot we would ever do together since her husband got a job in NYC. Turns out I was able to be in New York when she got her first client and I got to second shoot at Bethesda Fountain in Central Park with her, which was also very special for me. Thanks for everything you've taught me, Les, and also for giving me confidence in my abilities and encouraging me to keep going.

Taken for Kensingtonblue.com

Book Repair: Anno's Counting Book

My sister had this book called Anno's Counting Book that was completely falling apart and she asked me if it was worth fixing. Absolutely! It was a book that was removed from the Harold B. Lee Library in the 50s. The entire project took about an hour to fix.

All the signatures were loose and/or separated and needed to be resewn together, which wasn't a huge deal.


The book is a counting book and went up to the number 12, but since it was missing 12, and I thought that 11 was a weird number to end at, I got rid of 11 and had the book end at 10. I had to peel off the back endsheet of the book so that I could replace it with the last page of 10; I was going to pull off the front endsheet but it wasn't going to come off without being destroyed, and I didn't have an existing portion of the book that would work for a coversheet. So I decided to sew the remaining signatures directly into the book.


This is a side view of sewing the signatures together. And this is the back of page 11 that was going to be glued down as the new back endsheets. The spine is not glued or else the pages will not open. The endsheets are what keep the book secure.

And here's a view of the gutter with secured pages. Hooray!

New Young Adult Series, the Donna

For the past year I've been working with some fantastic people to edit a new young adult book called the Donna. We've finally got it ready for preorder, so I finally get to write a blog about it!

The book is about a 13-year-old girl named Britte who is destined to become a donna--a profession that nobody wants. But along her way she learns a lot more about the donna and how it will shape the rest of her life. It's a genuinely compelling story about the development of a heroine, and the more that I've read it, the more that I love it.

I'm completely thrilled that this project has come as far as it has in such a short amount of time. I saw the first proof print of the book last weekend, and I can't even tell you how excited I was to see that the story is more real than it has ever been before.

Check out the website at donnaseries.com.

It's a Boy! (x3) Invitation

We had a cute little party tonight to celebrate the darling little boys that have come into our extended family this year. (Yes, recycled giraffes from a prior invite).