sjp – Page 20

January 10, 2017January 10, 2017

| The Allen Gals Annual Family Portrait | Decatur IL | Christmas Photos |

I absolutely LOVE working with this beautiful family! I get to work with Melanie every year for the senior yearbook, dances and organizational photos for Warrensburg-Latham High School. And for the last couple years I’ve had the chance to photograph both Melanie and her lovely girls, Savannah & Sophie.

This year we did an in-studio session for a little change and created a Christmas look on our fireplace, something a little traditional and classic and then finished up with a little personality with our very own BoxDropsbySJP Sweet Scarves backdrop (a personal favorite).

I think this family image below ended up being my favorite. The laughs and cuddles with just a tiny hint of tween ‘ew do I have to’ mixed in made that one the most genuine to me and I just love it!

Head on over to our Facebook Page to give this family some love with your likes & comments!

January 6, 2017January 5, 2017

| Beery Family Portraits | Christmas 2016 | Decatur IL |

holiday card, christmas card design, family photos, families, family portraits, sarah jane photography, sjp, sjp families, decatur il, central illinois, outdoor portraits

BONUS Friday blog post, whoop whoop! Ya’ll kept me BUSY the last quarter of 2016 and I wouldn’t have it any other way… but that means I have so many sessions waiting in the wings for their moment in the sun here on the blog. Doing our usual 2 a week features we’d be still posting fall photos come summer (seriously I have them scheduled out to APRIL already)…. so it’s time to amp up the blog with some bonus post Fridays (and heck we might get real crazy for a few weeks with a Monday or two).

And I can’t think of a better way to end your week than with this adorable family! How cute is Mila?!?!? She is just a year or so older that our very own BabyB and I see my future in this gal who is 100% energy and giggles (with maybe a dash of sas). I had a blast photographing, playing (and chasing) her around for their fall Limited Edition Session.

This was part of our Christmas Limited Edition event so we, of course, created some curated holiday images but with such beautiful fall color on the ground we couldn’t pass up the chance to create a few more timeless images for them.

I’m in love with the card design we created for this family too. It’s fun classy with just a little love and whimsy! PLUS check out these custom address labels to add a really unique touch:

Our Limited Edition Sessions are a bit different than our full boutique sessions especially in that we do not begin with our design consultation (where we customize/design/plan your session and discuss the final destination for where we want these portraits to land: on the wall, in an album, gifts, card, etc etc). So though we hadn’t pre-planned to create some custom artwork for the Beery’s homes, Lindsay fell in love with the image below (on the left) which is just such a clear depiction of life with a toddler. I love that it shows her and her husband, Robert, walking together and looking lovingly at their beautiful daughter as she runs unbridled through the park (that’s about what our life looks like with a toddler!).

Don’t forget we have already announced and opened out Limited Edition sessions for 2017. These filled very quickly last year and we want to give you plenty of time to plan ahead. These sessions are NOT themed (though we’ll have a Christmas set available in November) but we’ve positioned them to allow for Holiday portraits coinciding with Easter in April and of course our November date is in time for Christmas. May is a great time for some spring color outside and will be PROM time for you high schoolers and our goal for August is to fit in all those extended family portrait sessions ESPECIALLY for any college students who will head back to school.

December 29, 2016December 11, 2016

Petals | Small Business Feature

It’s time to feature Decatur’s number one location for custom-personalized EVERYTHING! Petals is a full-service gift shop and they specialize in personalization (especially birthday t-shirts!). Monograms, team spirit, you name it they can do it!

The Details: Kari Calhoun, Owner of Petals | In Business: 8 years

Hours: Monday-Friday 10:00am-5:00pm & Saturday 10:00am-4:00pm | Location: 1351 Hickory Point Dr Suite C Forsyth, IL

Tell us about your business… What do you do? We are a full service gift shop. We not only sell fun women’s clothing and accessories, gifts for men, school spirit wear and gifts for all ages we personalize these gifts for you. Monogram your items, create fun tshirts for baby to adult, embroider most items or let us design rhinestone shirts for fun or your school. Birthday shirts are our specialty.

What makes your business unique/special? We create custom personalized items. Infant, toddler, youth and adult. From special 1^st birthday outfits to a funny tshirt for grandpa.

What item/service on your menu or in your shop do you just LOVE and think everyone needs? We love our custom birthday items. Tutus, diaper covers, bow ties, hats, banners, t shirts and onesies. Another fun item is our custom t-shirts. Funny sayings to business logos. We love helping you design something unique, fun and just what you want.

Tell us about YOU… WHY did you choose to do what you do? I decided 8 years ago to open a gift shop after leaving the medical field. It has evolved into a gift shop with personalization over the years. We grow each year and are very thankful for our repeat customers and organizations. I am married to a wonderful man that shares my passion for Petals and creating new products.

When did you know you wanted to go into this business? It was just the time for me. I had always wanted my own business and I was in a position to change jobs or create my own. I chose the latter.

In what way have you gone above/beyond in the past for a customer? We help them get exactly what they want. Sometimes you have an idea and we can make it become a reality. Taking a gift and making it personal sets it apart from everything else.

What is the coolest thing you’ve ever had a client do for you? Become a friend. After 8 years in business some of my customers have become very close friends.

What tool/equipment/or other vendor could you not imagine doing business without? I could not do what I do without my embroidery machines, vinyl cutter, rhinestone software and sewing machine. All these tools help me create customer orders

What other local business do you just LOVE? Why? I would have to say Dels and Giggles. I love knowing I can go to either one of these and find exactly what I am looking for. As a small business owner, I have no time and hate shopping online. It’s great to know I can get great gifts local with wonderful businesses.

What are you passionate about outside of your business? My family and friends. Owning your own business is 24/7 job and when you create and make 80% or more of the items you carry, it really becomes your life. My friends and family understand this and will even come and work with me to spend time with me. It very important to have a support system.

Describe your PERFECT day… I think my perfect day happens very often. Honestly not all days are great, things go wrong, stress happens and it is hard wearing so many hats in a business, but I love what I do. Opening my shop every morning and sometimes looking around and seeing how far I have come makes a perfect day.

Introduce us to your STAFF…

Morgan Ground. High School Senior Maroa-Forsyth

Jessica Eastwood. Our newest employee who is skilled on creating embroidered items for our customer.

See the latest news at:

http://www.petalsgiftshop.com/

See our other past small business features to connect with more businesses in our area:

See more on our Facebook Page and follow us on Twitter @sjanephotog, Instagram @sjanephotograhy, and Snapchat @sjanephotog.

December 27, 2016December 15, 2016

| Tiffany + Damien & Family | Christmas Portraits 2017 |

One of my favorite parts of the Holiday season is that we start to think about our families, making efforts to travel to be near to each other, buy gifts that bring our kids and friends joy, share what we have with those that have less, etc. It’s also the time of year that families reflect on how much has changed over the past year and with it being our busiest time of year for family portraits I know it’s also the time of year that mommas (and some daddies too) think about capturing the memory of who our families and kids are RIGHT NOW.

On of my favorite additions to the SJP product line this year is our Limited Edition sessions. In years past I’ve offered similar short sessions JUST for the holidays but this year was the first time I offered a few other dates throughout the year and it’s been so much fun that we are absolutely going to offer them again this year. These sessions are SHORT 15 or 30 minutes and give us the chance to update your annual family images or celebrate a milestone (like birthday or holiday) in a quick and easy way.

It’s so easy to forget to update these portraits with the hussle and bussle of our daily lives so we already have our 2017 dates open for booking NOW. You can plan ahead, to block out just 15-30 minutes of your year to create a little piece of your family legacy. Booking available here for April 8, May 6, August 5 and November 4!

Tiffany & Damien are a couple of my clients who know how much their kiddos change each year (just look at how little they look at our last session on Facebook)!

Despite the crazy wind and cold we were able to not only create family portraits for these four but some individuals with the boys and a few updated ‘brotherly love’ photos with these guys together. I just LOVE the personallity of these two little guys who are always so much fun in front of the camera.

And if you know these guys you may have seen this in your mailbox recently. I love the rustic/glitz combination we put together for their design!

December 23, 2016December 27, 2017

| Liz + Justin | Family Portraits Decatur IL | Christmas Cards |

BONUS extra blog post this week! With all the sessions this fall I have our typical Tuesday/Thursday blog posts scheduled out until MARCH so it was time to throw in some bonus Friday blog posts to be able to fit everyone in for their little minute in the spotlight.

Elizabeth and Justin are getting married this May and I’m thrilled to be a part of their big day. We needed just a few images of these guys pre-wedding for Christmas cards so we were able to get them set for our Limited Edition session date down in Macon. I have been in love with this pine tree lane since Rebekah’s senior session and after we had her family session there I knew I wanted to host a portrait date there and the Nash family was on board and so welcoming.

The wind was a tad crazy that day (if you follow us on IG @sjanephotography you may remember seeing all our presents blow away!) but these four were rock stars and did a great job pretending it wasn’t freezing. Here’s hoping for MUCH warmer weather the next time I photograph these beautiful family.

Some of you guys may have seen this gem in your mailbox this Christmas. I LOVE the design they chose for the card!

Be sure to head over to our Facebook Page to give them some love with your likes/comments.