It isn't often I take a break from my technical sewing to really work on my photography skills, so I was really glad when Larissa from Connected By A Thread started a no holds barred Easter Tour. Any pattern, any kind of sew. Just sew some Easter Happy. Finally a chance to focus on something OTHER than the patterns. So, with fingers crossed, I hoped to focus on my photography.

Now don't get me wrong, I still have a LOT of things to learn to make my photography any good, but I took some giant leaps with this photo shoot, and I'm glad that I did. My husband recently bought me a full soft light box kit, including new backdrops. YEAH, no more staring at my gray piece of fabric!

Unfortunately I was too overwhelmed to play with the soft light box. There's going to be a serious learning curve with this thing. But I can't wait to use it to improve my indoor photography. I REALLY should have used it to make the backdrop pop.

So I thought that using my new black backdrop would be perfect. It would make the whites look whiter. I forgot that our practically black hair would blend in without really good lighting. Whoops. Thanks to some really good photo editing, my photos weren't completed wasted. That's good because Ain't no body got time for that.

If you look carefully, you can probably also catch me testing out my camera remote. I don't think I'm anywhere near proficient yet, but I can see how this tool could really make for some fun photography sessions. I know it'll be especially helpful if I can get the kids to stop bumping the tripod while I'm photographing!

Want another sneak peek into my real life? I didn't even edit out the red bump on my forehead where I smacked myself in the head with the closet door while I was trying to get a step stool for the kids to sit on. Yeah, it just wasn't my day. I did do a little erasing on the photos I was going to actually print for our own use.

So, let's talk about the actual sewing!

I want to send a HUGE shout out to Urban Rag Trader for sending me this GORGEOUS Paisley Liverpool fabric for this post. This stuff is just gorgeous and well priced to boot! AND, all my readers get a great coupon code too! Use the code: HAPPYEASTER to save 20% off your order. That's a steal considering their already low prices! I purchased the beautiful white Liverpool from them too, although they're all out of that one. But I'm sure you can find some pretties that you just need.

I had just learned about Liverpool when I ordered this fabric. Despite google not being able to help me when I searched "what is liverpool fabric", I was able to figure out that liverpool has a beautiful layered texture to it that makes it turn any pattern into a magical creation.

Speaking of patterns, this pattern is the Patterns for Pirates Me Hearties and Sweetheart Dress. You might remember me talking about this dress on "Messed Up Monday". It was definitely a labor of love to get this pattern muslined and fit to my body. But my girls really wanted fully matching "princess" dresses, and I aim to please. And how freaking cute are they?! After our photography session, we were off to Ikea and you better believe more than a few people stopped and looked at the sweet little girls wearing their perfectly coordinating peplums.

No, I didn't wear my dress to Ikea. No, I am not the least bit sorry. Ikea trips always involve heavy lifting. I am not going to do any heavy lifting in anything I worked this hard to complete.

A few crazy things to note. #1- why are my pantyhose so shiny? #2-why do kids have to have such a low threshold for photographs? We were barely 1/2 way through the full session, (which only took about 15 minutes total) and of course the 3 year old was in tears. I fed them. I let them wear make up. They wore pretty tops and got to play with this super cute bunny, yet there's still always one. and #3- The red mark on my head from hitting myself with the closet door has NOTHING on the headache I got from hitting my head. Ouch! #4- These smiles are brought to you by one too many fart jokes. Whatever it takes to get them to smile.











Of course it wouldn't be a great "photography" post without a crap top of photos. So enjoy!

And of course don't forget to go check out the other stops on the CBAT Easter tour!