Happy 1st Birthday, Mary & Luna!

One year… WOAH.  It’s hard to say what I’ve learned because it’s been just one-foot-in-front-of-the-other kind of work. It's been a bit of a blur. It has been an incredibly steep learning curve from the time I started dreaming this up to when I started to plan out specifics to when I launched it all. That was all during the year building the business. Since last May, I’ve spent as much time as my brain can handle reading business information and doing all of the list pictured below and trying to create new work so I stay motivated in WHY I’m doing this. It’s all for the art, and if I don’t let myself have time to create, I forget why I’m doing all the business details.

Creative business is so much more intense than I ever imagined (seriously, don't you feel exhausted & overwhelmed just reading that?). It’s its own little world. Some days I’m so hard on myself and I feel like it’s so much work that’s not paying off, but the more I do it, the more I realize I’m actually really suited for it. It just takes practice in many unfamiliar areas & tasks and some time to adjust to it and find my rhythm. I’m still working on that. I know I can do it, because some of it has gotten easier. And I see a lot of similarities between how I’ve developed past things in my life (my babysitting business, my personal blog, my internet friendships, etc.) and the things I need in order to successfully run this business. I have to remind myself that I’m capable of doing it, because I often forget. But I just keep working.

I’ve made good, albeit slow, progress so far in one year. At one point several months ago, I realized that no part of me wanted to give up (and I have a lifelong tendency to lose interest and not finish things I start). That surprised me, but then I realized it’s because I know this is what I’m supposed to be doing. It’s just a process, and I’m still learning.  This business has become an extension of my heart and my soul. I’ve lost track of the hours I’ve put into it. These are my ideas and my emotions and my ART. It’s a very vulnerable thing. That’s why I’m being so hard on myself to do it right. This is who I am, and I want to be good at what I do. It’s scary. But I know I feel so good when I create a piece I love, and when someone likes what I do and buys a piece. I know I'm proud of how much I've done so far. I can’t wait to see where I am in a year from now. The possibilities are endless, and “adventure is out there!”

xo, Michelle

P.S. To you reading this, thank you for supporting me & following my work. I’m very grateful for you.

fairytale photoshoot: 3 month old baby Juliette!

I'm SO excited to share these photos from a shoot I did with an adorable little 3-month-old baby girl named Juliette. I approached her mom at pre-school (for one of my babysitting jobs), and asked if I could use her baby in a shoot to help build my portfolio! Luckily she agreed :)

I learn so much from each shoot. But this one was a major point of growth for me.

First of all, the weather. Oh my gosh. We had the most unusual 60mph hot winds, and I was so nervous the shoot wouldn't work. Somehow we managed to shoot for 45 minutes in the crazy wind, despite tree branches actually falling on me & Juliette's mom. We were blocking the baby! And somehow the little rockstar baby fell asleep! I would have loved to shoot longer, but I did what I could. Somehow despite cutting the session in half due to the wind, I still ended up with a handful of photos I love. That was majorly confidence-boosting for me.

Second, this is the first shoot I've done with 100% my own styling, the right lens, the exact lighting I wanted, and Adobe Lightroom for editing. I location-scouted for a very specific setting. (I wanted it to look like a forest. Not easy in a beach town!) I could go on and on about how much of a difference this combination made. Finally my work looks like me. I could not be happier, and I can't wait to shoot more and more and continue to build my portfolio and take on clients! I really love doing this. It's another creative outlet for me, and I love capturing sweet babies and making parents happy.

So here are my favorites!

xo, Michelle

If you're in the Orange County, CA area, and would like to do a baby or child photoshoot at a low-portfolio building rate, please email me!

Spring time greeting cards!

I made some new designs & put them on greeting cards! I will be releasing more new card designs in June too, for more occasions & more variety. I LOVE greeting cards. I LOVE stationary. I LOVE snail mail. and I LOVE writing notes to people I love! Having a great design on the front of a card is a unique gift- you're sending art AND love to someone! It makes me so happy. So here are some new greeting cards for this season! birthday, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Congratulations (perhaps for graduation season?), and some pretty thank you notes. Links to each card under each photo!

Buy: Happy birthday: sunflowers.

Buy: mother's day: baby snuggles.

Buy: father's day: shoulder rides.

Buy: congratulations: stepping stones.

Buy: thank you notes: classy.

I really love how these came out! Simple but sweet is my favorite, and always illustrative. I'm really into sketch style with pops of color.

You can also buy a custom set of any 4 cards right here! 

To view my art prints, visit my Etsy shop!

xo, Michelle

yes to 6-month-old babies in Springtime.

As I build my photography portfolio, I'm finding my style and trying new things and really trying to hone in on what I like and what I want my photography to look like. I'm taking any chance I can to shoot and play and get experience! I've only ever done photography as a hobby, but I want to take it to the next level. The goal is & has been that Mary and Luna will be art + photography. I live for babies & kids (and work part-time as a nanny/babysitter), so I see that being my primary focus. It's extremely challenging to get the shots you want with kids, but when you do, it's magic and I feel like my heart will explode. So here's my best friend Nicole's little doll, Peyton. 6 months old! We wanted Easter/Spring + girly photos of her. The faces she makes are so great. I just love her so much.

If you know anyone in Orange County, CA with little kids who would like a photoshoot at a currently low portfolio-building rate, please have them email me! maryandluna@gmail.com

xo, Michelle

Off to Neverland!

 

I celebrated my 24th birthday this weekend. I can't quite wrap my head around 24 years of life & don't have words yet (I just seem to cry a lot because I have such a hard time with time passing and growing up and everyone getting older). So I decided to make a happy list.

Peter Pan is one of my favorite stories ever written. J.M. Barrie is brilliant. And I absolutely love children's literature. The book, the Disney movie, all the stories inspired by Peter Pan, illustrations; I love it all.

24 reasons I love Peter Pan: 

1. The "never grow up" concept. Childhood in general.

2. London. The Bloomsbury neighborhood is a DREAM.

3. A whole world in a star, in the sky?! LOVE.

4. The Darling children's, Peter's, & the lost boys' love of stories

5. The beginning of the story takes place during nighttime, my favorite time.

6. FLYING. I want to fly (not in a plane) so badly!

7. Living in a tree/ a whole tree house underground.

8. The sense of adventure and exploration and play.

9. All the sections of Neverland (mermaids, Indians, pirates). They're so timeless and classic in storytelling.

10. Fairies!

11. Michael Darling in the Disney movie is the cutest child. Ever.

12. Tiger Lily is so great. And her name is even better.

13. The Lost Boys. The concept of lost/abandoned children finding a home.

14. The map of Neverland. I love maps. And I love Neverland.

15. Peter Pan & Tinkerbell's partnership. And Peter & Wendy's friendship.

16. The need for a mother's love.

17.  “So come with me, where dreams are born, and time is never planned."

18. “To live will be an awfully big adventure.”

19.  "I'm youth, I'm joy," Peter answered at a venture, "I'm a little bird that has broken out of the egg.”

20. “I suppose it's like the ticking crocodile, isn't it? Time is chasing after all of us.”

21. “You just think lovely wonderful thoughts," Peter explained, "and they lift you up in the air.”

22. “Would you like an adventure now," he said casually to John, "or would you like to have your tea first?”

23. “On these magic shores children at play are for ever beaching their coracles. We too have been there; we can still hear the sound of the surf, though we shall land no more.”

24. The overall scenery and aesthetic and imagination and fantasy. It's all my dream world. Neverland is the place my mind drifts to escape from real life.

xo, Michelle

P.S. A reminder that I have a rather new print for sale in my Etsy shop: Wanderlust :)