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Pretty sure these kids could sell lemonade to just about anyone….hands down these are my favorite mini sessions we’ve done this year.  Summer is my favorite time of year and my kids make lemon shake ups as often as I’ll let them and they love having a lemonade stand too.  My living room is the prettiest shade of yellow and I know I’ll be hanging a big lemonade stand collage up soon!  Here’s just a few of my favorite’s but as always the facebook fan page is updated almost every day with recent sessions and I can fit a lot more there than I can on the blog!!

 

 

I have been blessed this Summer with calls from multiple vendors  asking me to showcase their products for them!  This means that I get fantastic goodies in the mail, find a model, and schedule a session simply for photographing each product.  This arrangement is a win/win for all involved.  Vendors get great photos, mommies and models get a fun session and a few images, and I get to keep all the product so that my clients can play with them for their own sessions later!  Some of these products include ties, headbands, and tutus.  Doing something like this for a local vendor is an honor for any photographer and I’ve been able to work with so many vendors from all over the country that I’ve decided to use my blog as a spotlight for my latest partners!  I will be interviewing each of them and showcasing the best images from each sessions!  Each post will provide contact information and a link to their website so that I can share the fun and make it easy for you to check out all this great stuff!

 

My first spotlight is on “Made With Delight”.  The face behind this fabulous product belongs to Nichole Marranca.  I sent her a little questionnaire, via email, and here’s what I found out:

 

JJP:  Please tell us your business name, location, and the products you have available

MD:  Made with Delight, found on Etsy and Facebook, creates custom crochet hats for children and photography props

JJP: So tell us a little about yoursel

MD: My name is Nichole Marranca.  I’m a full time commercial interior designer by day…compulsive crafter by night.  I’m also first and foremost a mother and wife.  My son just turned one and he is the light of our lives and a huge reason why I crochet.  I come from a very creative family.  My grandmother started me on crafts at a very young age and I instantly fell in love.  I have done everything from woodworking, sewing, knitting, beading, crochet…you name it, I probably have tried it.   I solidly believe that handmade items, though not always perfect are the most genuine and beautiful gifts you can give to another person.  Every piece has the crafter’s fingerprint on it and that can never be copied.

JJP: Why do you make your product and what started your business?

MD: I started crocheting in February of 2011 to “get a hobby” as my husband would say it .  I’m actually part of a small group that formed called the “Oak Street Hookers”.  We meet once a week and just laugh and tell jokes while learning from each other as well.  My business started with my owl hat; a very bad one at that.  I posted a picture of my son in it on Facebook and first some friends asked me to do a few hats for them, begged me to open an Etsy store and it has just snowballed from there!  I can safely say that if it wasn’t for their persistence, there probably would not be a Made with Delight.  I’m really enjoying this new found talent and sharing it with everyone.

JJP: When you shop Etsy, where do you go?

MD: I usually head straight for the front page or the search box!  I love to just search instead of always going to my favorites because you just never know when you will find someone new ad fabulous!

JJP: Where do you get your design inspiration?

MD: I get at LOT of my inspiration from my customers who are not afraid to ask me to make something I have never done.  Sometimes I get an idea in my head, and I can not stop thinking about it until I whip it up.

JJP: What is your “go-to” snack while you work?

MD: A glass of wine!  I can’t really eat anything since I work with both hands and I don’t want the hats smelling like doritos

JJP: What’s in the background while you’re working (you know, besides screaming children)?

MD: Usually, a movie that I’m “watching” with my husband or some kind of trashy TV like the Kardashians, Jersey Shore…you get where this is going.  A good ole marathon of trash TV and I can crank quite a few hats out.

JJP: Describe a typical day “in the office” for you?

MD: I work full time during the day, so my “office” day starts at about 8pm after my munchkin has finally gone to bed.  I grab my list of orders, binder of patterns, load up my bag of yarn with what I need and head downstairs to my cushion of the couch.  I can usually get about 203 hats in before I need to go to bed and repeat again!

JJP: If you had a storefront, what would it look like?

MD: I would be a coffee shop/yarn shop/place to hang out and knit or crochet.  We don’t have a place like this in the QC and it would be awesome to have a place for other artists to hang out and people to be able to watch us in action!

 

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Nichole is a fun, outgoing person to work with and has left me with a whole box of really cute, well made hats!  My favorite is her cow hat because my eight year old, Ellie, absolutely loves cows!  If I could go back in time and make her a baby all over again, I’d call Nichole right away and take a million images of Ellie as a cow.  If Ellie had a picture now, of herself as a cow years ago, she would be absolutely delighted!  For all I know, she would model it today if I asked her to! 
Thanks to Nichole for the change to work with “Made with Delight”!  Be sure to check her out online by clicking here for Etsy or here for Facebook!

 

Chrissy came into my studio for a maternity session with her little boy. I was so excited when she brought out the  finger paint and let her son paint on her belly! He was pretty serious about the whole thing, if you notice, with his face very intent on creating such a masterpiece. Mom looks great in everything from white and denim, to pink and blue, or green and brown. I can’t wait to see baby when he gets here and see what we can come up with for his first session!