Senior Rep Program!

Hello everyone,

KX2 Photography has created a Senior Rep program for the 2014-15 school year. We look forward to working with some wonderful seniors. If you know anyone in this area that is graduating in 2015 and would like to be a part of this, then be sure to send them our way.

Senior Rep Requirements:
•You must currently be a 2014 Junior, graduating in 2015.
•You must live in and attend a high school within 40 miles of 13452 or 13491 .
•You and your parents must agree to promote only for KX2 Photography for your senior portraits from the time of acceptance through the entire 2014/2015 school year.
•You will receive a minimum of 3 watermarked, web-sized images to use as your Facebook profile picture and will be required to use one of them for at least 2 months.
•You are responsible for sending KX2 Photography a minimum of 3 referrals. These referrals must book, pay for, and complete their senior session by March 2015.
•If minimum of 3 referrals is not met, no further discounts or special incentives will be given.
•Your parent or Guardian MUST sign a model release, allowing KX2 Photography to use your images for advertising and promotional purposes.

What do you get??
•A discounted mini-session (only $15) this Summer (2014) before school starts. This shoot will last up to 45 minutes and include up to 2 outfit changes. You will be using the images (between 10-15) from this session to advertise throughout the year! With this session, you will be provided 50 customized referral cards with your name, photo & my contact information to pass out to your friends!
•A Senior Rep spotlight Facebook post, featuring you, and your hobbies & interests!
•10% off your print order for every 3 referrals that book, pay for, and complete their senior session, and a discounted session fee of $20 for up to 2 hours of shooting.

AND THERE'S MORE!!

If you send 7-15 referrals that book & pay for their session, you will receive a $25 Visa gift card!
If you send 15+ referrals that book & pay for their session, you will receive a $50 Visa gift card!
PLUS, all of your referred friends will receive 8 free wallets from their session!

Okay so now you’re interested. What do you do next?

Before you can become an official Senior Rep for KX2 Photography, you must fill out the Senior Rep application.

Send an e-mail to kx2photo@gmail.com with the following information:


First Name
Last Name
What high school do you attend?
What year are you graduating?
Your E-mail(if different from the one this is sent from)
Phone Number
Address
City
State
Zip Code
 
Birth Date 
Month  
Day
Year
Name of Parent or Guardian
First Name
Last Name

Please take a minute to tell me a little bit about yourself! What are your interests & hobbies? Do you belong to any teams, clubs or organizations?

Do you have a Facebook Page?
 Yes  No  

What are 3 words you would use to best describe yourself?

I understand and agree to the terms & conditions as described on this page.
  Yes

If chosen as a Senior Rep, I agree to promote only for KX2 Photography.
  Yes

Crafty Tuesday - Cold Porcelain

Hello crafty people...and not crafty people are welcome too! Today I am going to show you what I created using homemade cold porcelain. First, I followed a very simple tutorial on how to make my own cold porcelain. That can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch/?v=AxqmMyLwxk0
Be sure you are very careful measuring the ingredients, I had a little bit of an overspill with the oil and now my clay is very very oily and takes FOREVER to dry. I have also found that I need to brush some cornstarch on the project to reduce the oily shine to it.

My daughter began trying to create a cat sculpture but quickly became discouraged when the head was too heavy to sit on the body she created.

I used markers to 'dye' the clay and used a simple blending technique with just my hands to create the gradated colors for this rose. I didn't take step by step pictures because there are tons of tutorial all over that would do a MUCH better job of explaining that I could. I then created thin strips from the blended clay and began making a rose. (Again, no step by step, but you can do a quick search for making a clay rose and find tons of tutorials online.) After the clay dried a little and wasn't quite so soft, I used a darker red marker to create some contrast detail on the tips of the petals. I really like how this one turned out. 

I created several different colors for this and balled each color and stuck it to the next. Once I had all the colors I created a long snake out of the clay and just spiraled the snake into the metal hoop. After flattening the clay I used stamps to create impressions in the clay and used markers to create the contrast.

These were just created by me messing around right after the clay was done 'resting'. The first image shows what the clay looks like dry and uncolored. Like porcelain, it has a slight translucent quality to it. The second image I colored with an ink pad. I thought I would like the rough edge but I think this is my least favorite of everything I have created so far.

 

I still have a pretty good bit of clay left and not sure what I will create with it just yet. Perhaps more roses as that turned out the best out of everything I made.

 

Once again, if there is any project you would like us to try, please leave a comment and let us know!

 

 

 

Charity & Michelle

Crafty Tuesday

Well hello fellow crafters...Today I (Michelle) want to talk to you about an easy, inexpensive craft project that can be used for just about anything.  I am going to explain step by step what I did and also show you with a few pictures along the way.  I hope you all enjoy.  Please let us know if you like it, and maybe comment with a craft that you may want to see in the future.  Okay, so here we go....

What you will need:

1. Glass candle holder or vase (depending on what size you want)
2. Glass candle stick
3. E6000 industrial glue
4. River rocks (again, depending on what you will use this for)



Next you will need to prep everything.  In this case we need to take the stickers off of our glassware.

The sticker on the candle stick came off very easy.  The one on the candle holder was a bit more temperamental but with some extremely hot water it ended up peeling right off.  After obviously drying off the glassware I was ready at this point to attach the two together.  So now we need to get our glue out....

I put a generous amount of glue on the rim of the candle stick.  Then I carefully placed the the candle holder on the top directly in the center of the bottom.

 I actually decided to flip it over and make sure it was centered.  I then put a heavy book or two on the top just to add a little weight to make sure the glue really adhered.  This glue dries fairly quickly, however obviously the longer you wait there would be less chance of it not being dried.  I had mine sit for about 2 hours (mainly because I got distracted doing something else. haha ).

 It was then ready to flip over and add my stones.  Again, you can add what ever you would like.  I am going to be using this to hold paint brushes.  You can also use something like this to hold pencils or basically anything else you can think of.  If you didn't want to use it for craft/desk purposes, you can alwasy use this for decoration around the house.  You can put a candle, candy, cotton balls, etc. basically anything you can thing of.

I was actually able to fit the whole bag of stones into this container.  I added the rest after this picture was taken, but for reference if you were wondering if they all fit..yes, yes they do.

I enjoyed this project because it was extremely easy to do and inexpensive.  The initial cost of the glue is worth it because this will last you quite a while for many projects.  You can use this glue on fabric, metal, wood, glass, ceramic and so much more.  It is also a permanent bond, but washer/dryer safe and flexible. I think I was able to find mine for $3.99, I am not sure if I got it on sale though or it was marked wrong.  The rest of the items came from Dollar Tree.  So, if you already have the glue this project would really only cost you $3.00 which I don't think is bad at all.

I hope you all enjoyed our Arts and Crafts Tuesday!!  Please comment let us know what you think and again if you have a project you want us to try out and show you guys let us know!


Thanks!!!

Michelle & Charity

Monday Contest

We enjoy many different forms or art and we would like to invite you all to share you talents with us.

Whether you paint, crochet, write, take photos we want to see it!!!

Now I know you see contest and immediately think...ooh, prize.  I am sorry to say that no prize will be given other then the fact that we will post you and your talents in our blog post next week.

I know what you are thinking...really no prize...why should I even submit anything.  I'll tell you why, even just by submitting to a contest with no prize it shows that you have confidence in your own talents and would like to share it with everyone.  Also, even the smallest exposure of your talent can eventually turn into an amazing experience that you wouldn't have otherwise if you didn't do that one certain thing.

With that being said,  depending on how many entries we get we may have a top three list. 

Now here's the real challenge...The theme needs to be Spring (warm weather)


I don't know about you all but Charity and I are getting pretty tired of the winter weather.  We want to see or read beautiful warm, sunny Spring like Art.  I am depending on you people!!  We need some inspiration and motivation to get us through these (hopefully) last few weeks of winter!

So now your thinking...ok well maybe I will just send something in it can't hurt.  You're right...it can't ;), but where do I sent it.  Well I will tell you, you are going to send your entries into our email.  kx2photo@gmail.com.  We are limiting the entries to two per person.  So make sure you pick your favorites!

We are super excited to see what you send us, so don't waste any time go searching through your talents and send some beautiful art our way.  We'll be waiting!


Michelle & Charity

Wedding Wednesday

Hello all you brides and grooms, and even the bridesmaids, maids of honors, groomsmen, best men, mothers of the bride, fathers of the bride....well, you get the point. Today, we would like to have some fun and share some neat information about wedding traditions.

#1 The Bouquet

What is your ideal bouquet? Beautiful flowers? Many colors or all white? Roses, daisies, lilies? How about garlic and dill? Apparently that was the beginning of bouquets and started around the time of the plague. Not sure about you, but we are sure glad that people use flowers now!

#2 Garter Tossing

This is usually the part of the ceremony that everyone loves, a little intimate where the bride and groom share a moment and then the male guests get to fight over catching the little piece of elastic and lace. However, in medieval times, it was customary for guests to rush a bride at the end of the ceremony to snag a piece of her dress as this was considered good luck. Someone finally decided to toss the garter out to keep the bride from being trampled.

#4 The Veil

The veil was originally intended to protect the bride from evil spirits. It was also a boon to the bride's family in an arranged marriage where usually the bride and groom never met until the ceremony. The veil would ensure that the groom would not see the bride until the very last minute when backing out of the marriage would be near impossible.

#5 The Best Man

This originated long ago when the groom would literally have to steal his bride away from her family. He would often choose his strongest, most capable friend to assist him in the stealing as well as protecting her during the ceremony.

#6 The Tiered Wedding Cake

In the old days, guests would each bring small cakes and stack them on top of each other. Eventually a French baker created a tiered cake to replace the small ones and the idea has been stuck ever since.


There are many, many more neat stories about wedding traditions that you can find. The point of this information, though, is to show you that you are not bound by tradition. Most things that people call tradition are nothing like they originated. Make your wedding day your own and be happy with it. All that matters in the end is that you have fun and seal your commitment to each other!

 

 

KX2 Creatives Contest!

We are starting out strong and want to offer up a chance for people of all art talents to enter this week. That means if you paint, crochet, take photos, write, or do anything creative you can enter it! Remember there is no prize other than being posted as the winner on next week's blog, but hey, it will still be fun! Depending on how many entries we get, there may be a top 3 listed. We can't wait to see your entries!!

So, here is your theme: Spring!! (a.k.a. warm weather!!)

With all the snow and ice and cold, cold weather, we want to take your mind off all that and get you thinking about all things warm and sunny. So send your warmest creative works (please limit to two entries per person) to kx2photo@gmail.com

Charity & Michelle

Face Lift - KX2 Creatives

New Blog Design

As you can see, our blog has undergone a bit of a face lift. The new design is meant to be simple, clean, and less distracting. We want you to enjoy your visit here and not be turned away by excessive designs. Our art and photography can be viewed by visiting the links above or our Facebook pages so we decided it wasn't needed to embellish the page.

New Programming

Along with our new design we will be working on bringing more regular posts including, but not limited to: Contests, Arts & Crafts, Wedding Info, Q&A, and Photography Info.

Contests will be announced on Mondays along with the previous week's winner. We plan to offer fun contests of all kinds while sticking with themes that fit our business. At this time, the only prize will be a mention with a share of your winning entry and a link back to your page (if you desire). Perhaps in the future we will be able to offer some real prizes!

Arts & Crafts posts will be posts including items we offer for sale, tutorial links and our experience with completing certain crafts. I imagine some posts will look more like 'Pinterest Fails' than actual crafts, but it should be fun!

Wedding Info is going to be a day all about weddings. We will be showcasing some of our wedding photography as well as decorating ideas, links to local vendors, and anything else we can think of to help out with that special day.

Q&A! We will be answering questions posted to us by our fans as well as posing questions to all of you. You never know what the questions or answers will be so stop by so we can learn together and have some fun!

Since a large portion of our business is photography, we have to have a day where we show off what we've done this week. Whether it's been family portraits, a concept shoot, or just some nature shots taken on a hike, we will be sharing our favorites with you.

We will be posting portrait sneak peeks as we get them so stay tuned for those.


We hope you enjoy the new look and will be back to see all the new things we have in store for you!

Charity & Michelle

1810: The Art Digest

Well, I have branched out and I am looking to create an art magazine based on color. I have been in the planning stages of this for several months now and I have finally launched a campaign through GoFundMe. I have a large goal to meet to complete a series of 4 publications which will include concept photography by myself as well as numerous art and written works submitted by other artists around the world.

For anyone who can, please go donate and help this project get started. And for those who cannot, I understand completely, but I ask you to at least share the idea and the link to donate. The more people who know about this project, the better chance I have of raising the money needed to completely fund it!

Also, if you are an artist, or art lover, you can follow the Facebook page for 1810: The Art Digest to keep up with fundraising and publications.

Getting Behind

Look at me getting behind on posting already. So much has been going on lately with personal things that I haven't had much time to keep everything updated. So here is a quick overview on what's been going on and I promise to make more complete posts about each of these at a later date.

#1- Crochet Frenzy
I have been doing a LOT of crocheting recently. Mostly because several of my holiday gifts are going to be crocheted items. Hats, scarves, baby blankets, and more are available to pre-order if you are interested in purchasing something for a friend or family member. Just send me an e-mail.

#2- Run or Dye
Perhaps you recall last month where I had the opportunity to shoot a colorful 5K run. Well, I was lucky enough to find another one to shoot as well. It was fun to be there and I was able to get some of the color toss shots this time. You know, the ones where hundreds of people toss their color packets at once!

#3- Shooting my son
Most people would get in trouble for shooting their son, but for me, it just means we took a lot of pictures! I noticed I didn't have any recent ones of him so I figured I needed to remedy that. (Let me explain recent, for me if I haven't had new pictures taken in the last 6 months, they aren't recent to me.) We visited several locations and I am happy to say that I can now create a new collage of him to hang on my wall.

#4- Shooting my daughter
Again...with a camera! My daughter is usually the one that get stuck modeling for me when I get an artistic idea gnawing at my brain. (Which is why I had plenty of recent pictures of her to create a collage with.) This idea is one I have had for a while, but haven't been able to complete due to schedule issues between my daughter and myself. I was so happy to be able to do this one finally and I got some really incredible images. (You'll be sorry you only get to see one on this post!)

Well, that about covers the major points for the time being. Keep your eyes open in the next few days for more detailed posts on each of these. Feel free to get in touch and schedule a portrait session with us! The fall leaves make for some beautiful backdrops right now!

Color Me Rad!

I had the privilege of shooting the Color Me Rad event at Altamont Fairgrounds this last Saturday. Let me tell you my arms are killing me....still! It was worth it though. I shot for 8 hours (not straight through, I did have a little break), I was covered in pink dust (I had to be stationed at the pink area, of course), and I managed to capture over 6,000 images. I haven't managed to go through them all yet, but I have picked out a few favorites that I would like to share.

Before the first race began there was a lot of music and jumping and energy.

Pink dust flying everywhere! 

I love this shot...can't explain why when the head is cut off, but I do.

This one has me wondering what her story is....why is she running with shoes in her hands?

I think it's a prerequisite to dress up in the craziest fun costume possible for these races!

 

I have a few others up on our Facebook page and I may add others as I get through them and find ones I really like. I hope to be shooting more of these events in the future, so if you're planning on coming to one, be sure to smile at the camera!

Family Portraits & A Cake Smash

Today I had the pleasure of shooting a wonderful family. Their newest addition just turned one year old so I got to do a cake smash session too! Unfortunately, she didn't really get into the smashing part, but it was still fun and fairly messy. Here are some previews of today's shoot.

 

The Whole Family

 

 The Boys

 

 

The Birthday Girl!

 

Such a beautiful family, don't you think?

Mixed Media Art

We've stated in the earlier posts that we are not strictly a photography blog and now we want to show off some of our other talents. One of the more popular items from Koi Designs is the mixed media collages. We have done numerous custom works of these. We can do just about anything you request that is not copyrighted or trademarked. We've done some with kids names, just animals, and even a tribute to a family member that had passed.

The ones that seem to get the most attention, however are the ones with the newspaper backings. We created an African Animal series of these mixed media images. There were 6 images of different animals found in Africa. One has sold and one is pending a sale tomorrow morning. That means there are still 4 original pieces available for purchase if you're interested! Not to mention all the images are available as photo quality prints. The original elephant and the giraffe are unavailable, the others are up for grabs still.

 

If you see something you like here, let us know, or feel free to contact us for a quote on a custom piece. Prices start at $20.00.

Sports Pictures

I remember when I was young and in Little League there would be a photographer come to the field and take a team picture and individual pictures. Then parents could order and get one of those woodgrain printed 8X10 mats with the individual and team pictures in it. I may still have a couple of those in my box of old pictures. I don't know when that stopped, or maybe it is only for Little League or non-school activities. Well, KX2 Photography would like to offer your school sport, independent sport or other recreational activity the opportunity to not only offer portraits of your team/group members, but also use it as a way to raise money for your team!

Call, e-mail, or send us a message to set up a time for us to come shoot your team. We offer low prices that are affordable for any budget. KX2 Photography also makes sure we take several different images so you aren't stuck choosing from the standard and sometimes boring pose! We also offer multiple images on a single sheet, you won't find that with most photography studios!

As I mentioned above, this isn't just for sports or schools! Competition Dance and Cheerleading, Karate, Skateboarding, and just about anything else you can think of. (KX2 Photography reserves the right to refuse a group if it is based solely on political agendas, hate or racial views, or anything that is deemed inappropriate or immoral.)

To see more Sports pictures just click on the 'Sports' tab above! There are other tabs with samples of our work so feel free to look through them all. As usual, tell a friend about us, and find us on Facebook if you haven't already!

Changes

We are happy to announce the new price list for KX2 Photography is up and ready for viewing. Just click on the tab up above that says Price List. We have added some new things, like packages and different CD options. KX2 Photography will also work with you to create a payment plan so you don't have to pay all at once.

Also, if you look to the right you will see a neat little gadget that will allow you to schedule an appointment with us. Just follow the simple steps and we will get the information. If for some reason the day or time you chose is not available we will contact you as soon as possible to find a suitable day for you.

Don't forget this isn't just a photography blog!! We also create works of art, crochet accessories and lots of other crafty things. If there is something you would like just send us a message and we'll get back to you with a price.

Since this blog is just starting, I'm asking for you to please share us with your friends! You never know who might need one of our services.