Etsy Holiday Sales!

hey everyone, just want to let you know that ALL photos in my etsy shop are on sale for $6-12! Shipping is only 50 cents. This means you can combine prints and spend less than $20-how great is that? I really am working on updating my entire shop but would love my inventory to disappear, so please check it out!

Los Angeles...

Hey everyone, I'm the worst blogger in the world. Basically after I got back from Los Angeles I was swept back up into school. Final exams are next week and I'm trying to finish everything (including that dreaded art history paper that I have yet to start). While I'm away and thinking of new and exciting posts to share, take a look at some photos from L.A. We stayed in Venice Beach, went to Disneyland (everything is so much smaller! guess thats what happens when I haven't been there since I was five), and drove around the crazy L.A freeways. Soon I'll be gathering great gift ideas for my Holiday Gift Guide, but for now this will have to do. Until next time...
My sister Tara of Pacific Bride Guide, and Me, trying to look cool

Venice at sunset


The super tall palm trees...I'm missing the warmth right now!

Check out the rest of the photos here. Have a great day!

On and Off and Wedding Love

Sorry to be late on posting, but I'm trying to get settled into a new year at school. So much reading! So much to be done! I promise I'll be back with more to share very soon. In the meantime, check out the long-awaited wedding of Design*Sponge blogger, Grace. The beautiful Savannah, wedding is being fawned over the entire blogosphere, check out all the pics at D*S. So many details from amazing artists...it really pays to have friends in the business!

Awesome idea-she printed her wedding invites on vintage handkerchiefs. A lovely keepsake and better than printing on paper!

Little fans with silhouettes of the bride, groom and their cats for the hot Georgia heat.

I think what I love most about their wedding is the gothic southern charm. Twisted iron railings, chandeliers and old mossen trees...could it get any better?

photos via Design*Sponge, taken by belatheé

End of Summer

This week marks my first week back at school-I'm officially a junior! (Hopefully) one more year of college and then I'm out on my own-its quite frightening but relieving knowing I wont have to deal with textbooks, shelling out hundreds for supplies and listening to pretentious 20-somethings in boring lecture classes. ANYWAY. I though I'd leave the summer with a seriously gorgeous wedding shoot done by the gals at OnceWed and Simply Bloom set up for the guest post at Design*Sponge...so dreamy and soft!

Etsy Tuesday: Kari Herer

I cannot express how much I adore Kari Herer's photography. She captures such mundane objects as if they were precious pieces of art, all with a feminine style and chic approach. A well-known photographer around the web (you can find Design*Sponge gushing about her, among others), she does amazing portraits as well as images of flowers and food. I was able to ask Kari a few questions-here we go!

When did you start photographing?
I started photographing when my mom bought me my first Pentax in high school. It's long been broke but I still use the strap today on my canon.

What inspires you to photograph?
The challenge of finding light, composition, and personality in everything that I photograph.

From one photographer to another, what advice can you give to stand out from the rest?
Spend the money on a good lens.

Very well said! Thanks Kari!

You can pick up her prints at her etsy shop, visit her website and read her blog. I would love to put 4 small prints up in my room-I just love that atmosphere she creates. Amazing work!

A Few New Pictures

I finally got around to uploading the last pictures I've taken, along with formatting my memory cards and buying batteries for the upcoming wedding i'm shooting (ack! exciting!!). Here are a few, please check out my flickr site for more. I really have a thing for photographing flowers...


Also, sorry for the lack of posts last week, I moved into a new apartment and everything was a mess! This week I have some great things to share with you.

Loving It: Stylist Lucyina Moodie

I was just looking over at decor8 and spotted gorgeous photos of stylist Lucyina Moodie. She sets up interior and exterior spaces and the results are breathtaking. I want her to design my entire future house! What an eye for design and just the right touch of lived-in-ness. Visit her site and portfolio here.

Photo of the Day

Haystack Rock, Cannon Beach, Oregon

Another great Wedding

OnceWed never disappoints. In fact, almost every single wedding featured on their site has my mind exploding with "I want that!" and "thats sooo cute!!" Their newest wedding lives up to that too. Take a look at some photos from Jordyn and Bradley's wedding.



photos via OnceWed and tec petaja

Loving It: Old Theaters

I found this link through NOTCOT and had to share it. Photographer Julia Solis went to dozens of abandoned theaters and captured them on her website. Its so entirely eerie yet a great reminder of the passage of time. I love the theater thats built into a pool and one where theres vegetation taking over-so great. See the slideshow here

Inspiration Boards

I am a huge, huge fan of inspiration boards, especially online boards. Finding inspiration on the web is hugely exciting and thrilling, but sometimes its hard to keep track of your book marks or putting them into a cohesive statement. Luckily there are great resources to use out there to help you put images together.

I use bighugelabs to make my mosaics for each post-its soo simple. You can also use photoshop or any other photo editing software to insert multiple photos and come up with a board that looks amazing and "put together".

I started my inspiration board journey from a post at a wedding blog (totally forget which one..they all have them!) and was hooked from that point. Try them out for yourself and you can really channel your creativity and see what your interested in. Here are some inspiration boards that I LOVE.

boards via stylemepretty

Turning professional

So today I took the plunge and ordered a tripod (how have I not had one of these before?!), a new 2 GB memory card and a white/gold reflector for my photography. I had an epiphany that if I really want to be a professional, I need to have the gear.




Yesterday I read an amazing article on setting up photo shoots for photographing food by Matt Wright. He really gave some great advice on using basic equipment to create world-class shots and tips to improve your photos and setups.



I want to pursue my photography vigorously and am SO excited to try out my gear when it arrives. To read the article, click here. For great food photography, you can visit Tastespotting (follow them on twitter too!). Happy Memorial Day Weekend!

To see more of my photos, click here or on the link to your left!

Spring has Sprung

Ah, you know its springtime in Portland when cherry blossoms are blooming, and the farmer's market is back in all its glory! Today I visited the first farmer's market of the season (I have been waiting forever for it! I love the people watching, smells, and buying lovely little things to eat and enjoy), where I spotted Colin Meloy (lead singer of the Decemberists-one of my favorite bands!) and his girlfriend Carson Ellis (who just so happens to be my FAVORITE illustrator). Gah. pretty much my two favorite people, looking cute with their baby at the market. I took some pictures and am going to get more when the cherry blossoms are in full swing! What a great day so far!

New Items!

Yay! I just posted up my brand-spankin' new photo cards onto my etsy shop. They are so cute...check out my shop!

Images of Fall

Fall in Portland is always gorgeous. The leaves in the Park Blocks have already turned red, gold and yellow, and many of them are losing their leaves (funny...its still not *that* cold yet). I managed to snap a few pictures before everything fell.



Does anyone notice that fallen leaves leave a "shadow" on the cement? Its like the cement takes pictures of the leaves...its very cool. I love just walking through the leaves when the sun is out...especially when a gust of wind sends down a glittering sea of leaves, its so pretty!





Anyway...Happy Halloween! Be safe, eat lots of candy, have a drink or two to celebrate (I'm throwing a party at my apartment, fun!) And last but not least, enjoy the fall before winter rears its head and makes you want to stay indoors all day long!




Photos: lauradeponte on Flickr (hey thats me!), evilkewpie on Flickr, vicenakina on Flickr, opiummuseum on Flickr

Hello Fall!

I know I haven't been posting. In between work (at 6 am...groan), school, a boyfriend, and squeezing in some sleep I haven't had time to blog, or photograph anything! Its awful. BUT, I have completed my first woodcut in printmaking and am quite liking wood (dare I say more than linoleum? We shall soon find out!).

Today I went to see Drive By Press in action at PNCA. DBP is a group that tours the country giving printmaking lectures and demos, all from the back of their car! They set up a cool printing press in their Honda Element, where people can buy shirts and have them hand printed, right then and there. Artist Joseph Velasquez does the woodcuts for DBP and are sooo cool. I want, I NEED a token from their appearance in Portland.
See? In the back of their car.
Laying the block down.And one more happy customer with a rad tshirt. I want that to be me tomorrow!



Woodcuts!! The pieces at their appearance are HUGE. My hand would be so sore after carving that out.

Velasquez's work. I love the novelty Mexican imagery...its quite cool

You can check out Drive By Press here, and more pictures (including the ones I posted) can be found here. Check out their website for their tour dates.

Anyway...the next project for my printmaking class will be about the 21st Century. I really am intrigued with the independently made prints in response to the riots in Paris in 1968. The prints are very graphic and make a statement, and I think that inspiration will translate well into modern day conflicts.

So as I take a whiff of my delicious butternut squash soup bubbling on the stove (yes thats right, my first time making soup from scratch! Thank you fall!), I bid a fond farewell until my next post. Til then, enjoy the colder weather and make some soup, carve some woodblocks and print your own stuff!

Art in the Pearl

This past weekend was the annual Art in the Pearl-in, you guessed it-the Pearl District in downtown Portland. Each year artists pitch tents in the North Park Blocks and showcase their best works. It is always a treat to see what local artists are producing, so I had to go! Here is a small sample of the stuff I saw. The day was perfectly Portland: chilly and rainy, and some of the pictures aren't my best (I just took my little digital, not the Nikon). Click here to see a full list and links to artist's websites and work.

These cool prints were exciting to look through.

Loved these sculptural wall pieces using mixed media by artist Yoshi Aoki. There were also great nested pieces with wrapped wire. I can picture these in a salon/spa. Check out his website to see his awesome work.

I was delighted to see these delicately sculpted light fixtures that could instantly bring a room to another dimension. The shapes are inspired from nature like shells and flowers.

Mel Stiles is the mastermind behind her the line Stubborn Design Works. Her pieces were ultra-modern and are crafted of resin in metal. The jewelry's organic shapes would complement a structured outfit (by Leanne from Project Runway perhaps?) and are surprisingly feather-light.

Glass chinese lanterns!


What is a day outside in Portland without seeing owners showing off their dogs? These St. Bernards were HUGE.



These artists, in collaboration with the Oregon School of Art and Craft were forging metals, so cool!