How to make your own photo business cards - for free! (or close enough!)

So I have recently embarked on a new adventure. I am attempting to start a photography business. I have always loved taking pictures and wondered if it were possible to make my adoration for the camera into a career.


I have had a DSLR for about a year now, and just six months ago I took the plunge and put my camera in Manual mode. I am ashamed to admit I had no idea the power that was in my possession until I made that tiny adjustment. Tiny because it was a click or two from the "auto" mode or "portrait" mode. But really I couldn't fathom what an enormous change that little click would make in my photographs.

Fast forward to today and I feel like I'm getting a good handle on what I am doing. I love learning more and more and I hope to get better and better. But here's the thing - I don't have the cash flow necessary to start a business right now.

Recently I was at the bookstore browsing around and found a book I had seen mentioned by one of my sisters. The title is "Steal Like an Artist". Naturally, fancying myself an artist, I wanted to see what exactly that meant. The book is a great and quick read, and I recommend it to anyone trying to be anything. One of the biggest take aways for me was "Fake it til you make it", or if you want to be something pretend you are that thing and eventually you will be. That's what I'm trying to do.

Another tip they mentioned was that when faced with too many choices, a person can go crazy just trying to decide. This is one of my main problems. I don't have a focal point - I don't know what direction I should be going in. I love doing so many different things. The author's suggestion at facing this challenge is to put yourself in a situation where you don't have a choice. To limit yourself. To make a painting using only one color or start a business with no capital. Ding! Ding! Ding!

So here I am, trying to take on that challenge.

Firstly I have created a free gmail account for all of my business related emails. Next I created a Facebook page (here it is if you are interested). Both of these were free and easy to set up. Of course I want a big fancy website and I even started a free trial at a site specifically geared towards photographers. But once the trial is over they want $250.00 to make my site a reality. And I just don't have the dough right now.

The next thing on my list is some kind of advertising. And that's where the business cards come in.

I got a terrific idea from some ladies on a photography forum that I am a part of. They suggested a site where I could buy these awesome cards with a photo on one side and my info on the other. Brilliant! They look beautiful and they showcase my work! I ordered a bunch of samples and am waiting for them in the mail...and then it occurred to me: I can't afford to actually buy these fancy business cards!

So of course, I made my own. Here is the final product:

I know, I know - they look fantastic, right??

All I had to do was make up a template at the correct business card size, drop my photo of choice in there and then take that whole thing to another 8 1/2 x 11 sheet, where I made a center line and put a card on each side of it. Two columns and five photos in each makes 10 cards per page. Then I made the back up using the same business card template to make sure all of my info fit. Dragged those over and copied them ten times over, placing them so that they will print exactly on the backs of each image.

I test printed the sheet of photos to check alignment and coloring and then stuck it back in the printer, blank side up to test the info side. When it all check out ok, I just upped the quality of the print, stuck in some heavy white card stock and let them go! 

Of course, I did have to whip out my handy dandy paper cutter (yes, the one I used to hand cut all 6 layers of all 120 of my wedding invitations back in the day). You need a steady hand and a little finesse, but anyone can do this. And the best part is that it took me the better part of an hour, a few sheets of paper and minimal amounts of ink. That's it!

Now I have something to start handing out to potential clients, and I am so excited!

Best Carrot Cake Recipe. Ever.

So every since my wedding I have been obsessed with carrot cake! It's also now my husbands favorite kind of cake to request for any special occasion. So I found this awesome recipe and I tweaked it a little and now I have the very best carrot cake recipe. Ever. 

Mmm...don't you just want to dig in?

So here it is:

To make one two layered 9 or 10 inch round carrot cake, you will need....

Cake Ingredients:

• 2 cups of granulated sugar
• 1 1/4 cups of vegetable oil
• 4 large eggs
• 2 cups of flour
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp of salt
• 1 Tbsp cinnamon
• 3 - 4 cups of coarsely shredded carrots
• 1/2 cup white or red raisins (optional)
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (also optional)

 Frosting Ingredients: 

• 32 ounces of softened cream cheese
• 2 sticks of butter
• 5-6 cups of powdered sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla extract

Preparation:

Get the party started by preheating your oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour two 9 or 10" cake pans (for this cake I used 9 inch pans).

Mix together the sugar, oil and vanilla until smooth. Add one egg at a time, mixing until well incorporated. Then add in the dry ingredients. When everything is sufficiently combined, pour in the carrots and nuts (if using). If you are opting to use the raisins, pour a small amount of batter into the bottom of each pan sans raisins, then mix the raisins into the rest of the batter and then pour into the pans. This keeps those pesky raisins from burning at the bottom of the pan (trust me, they will burn and totally ruin the flavor of the best carrot cake. Ever.)

Bake the cakes for 50-60 minutes. The tops of the cakes will kind of puff up, and seem jiggly even at the end, just use a toothpick (or in my case, uncooked strand of spaghetti) to test the center of each and if it comes out dry, it's done! Pull them out and cool them for 10 minutes or so, then turn over and release them from the pans.

Prepare your frosting by whipping together the softened cream cheese and butter. Whip, whip, whip it! Don't be afraid to overdo it, cause you really can't. Then add in the vanilla and the sugar. The amount of sugar you add is really a personal preference. Less sugar results in a less sweet and cheesier tasting frosting, but it's a little softer. More sugar means sweeter and stiffer (which is better for decorating with, at least if you plan to use it right away). Granted this recipe makes buckets of frosting (I like to lay it on thick and have some left over!) so you can definitely half it if you are going for a lighter frosted dessert.

Allow your cake to cook completely before adding the filling, layering and the frosting the outside. If you really want to make it easy on yourself you can even freeze the layers overnight, then frost them the following day. This makes the cake easier to spread the thick frosting onto and no crumbling to deal with!

Color some of the frosting with orange and green food coloring and add the finishing touches, baby carrots!

This cake can be refrigerated and will taste good for at least a week (if it even lasts that long!) It also freezes well for up to a couple months.

Yum, I can't wait to have a slice of the left over cake that's waiting for me in the fridge downstairs.... :)

Dying Easter eggs and homemade Easter basket made easy!

So today was a family gathering of sorts and as entertainment for the little ones, we did the traditional Easter egg dying extravaganza. My little monkey was mystified as this was his very first time dunking those pure white eggs into magical colored water and he just loved seeing them come back up transformed! 

Here is a shot of the action, the look on my son's face is priceless:

Of course, after the eggs were all dyed and dried, I came across a dilemma. We had no way to display them! No baskets of any kind were to be found anywhere (we purged a lot of our knick knacks in a very large garage sale last spring), so I had to improvise. I'd thought I'd share my solution with you all - cause it might help someone else out in a bind!

Make Your Own Easter Basket - It's Cheap, Easy and Quick!

All you need is a plastic container of some kind, it can be tupperware, a plastic bowl (preferably with steep sides) or an empty plastic container. I used an empty whipped topping container!

Then find a scrap of fabric, towel, receiving blanket or even a tshirt! I had half of a small yellow fleece blanket that I had cut up for a previous project. I have plenty of other kinds of fabric, but I didn't want to root through my stacks, and the yellow worked nicely and felt Spring-ish to me. 

The last thing you need is some plastic or paper basket filler. You can buy this, or you can shred up your own. I actually had a mostly full bag left over from Easter last year, and I only used a handful - so there's more for next year, too!

So here's how you put it all together...

Gather your materials...

Then wrap the fabric up and into the container of your choice. Just keep folding it and moving it until it seems to fit over the sides pretty well.

Fill it with the straw, plastic or paper stuffing....no need for glue, tape or any other adhesive, the weight of the eggs will hold everything down!

Add your eggs, candy or other Easter treats....

And you're done! Put that cute little homemade Easter basket on display!

It's that easy. From start to finish this project took me less than 5 minutes.

I love this idea because you can use stuff you have lying around the house, personalize it to your particular taste (I for one, shy away from the cheesy plastic stuff they have available at most stores this time of year), and when it's all over, disassembly is quick and painless.

I hope you can use this idea when you're in a pinch - I'm thinking about making another to stuff with some chocolate and treats for my little monkey!

Until next time, happy Spring!