A Very Betty Valenetine's Day/Gilbert Photographers

Stacie painted this masonite board with chalkboard paint for just a few dollars.   A heck of lot cheaper than looking for a large chalkboard!

She also made Tuck's shirt by using a plain white T, a bit of fabric cut in the shape of a tie and some "wonder under" to apply the fabric to the t-shirt.

S's cute suspenders were made with ribbon and suspender hooks.

Other signs and props were found at Home Goods and Etsy

It was fun coordinating the kids and seeing what everyone would show up in.  The only rules were red, grey, black, white and denim.

Celebrating friendship on Valentine's Day.

Nothing says Valentine's Day like Strawberry Crush in a bottle.

Some funny out-takes as we experimented with some different settings on our cameras. We love to talk shop when we are together! This session's topic... back-focus. Too silly to leave out.

  A loading dock was an ideal place to photograph...       it gave us great filtered light from the overhang above and plenty of space to spread out.  

Props from our bag of tricks!  "I mustache you a question.  Will you be Mine?"

This picture reminds us of one of our FAV Bible verses. 

He answered: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" Luke 10:27 (NIV)

A great Valentine's Day reminder.

-Love, The Betties-

Halloween Costumes!

As you might be able to guess from the pictures below...we LoVe Halloween. We have celebrated together with our families over the years at Stacie's (she hosts an amazing party every year). Although, the first picture is from 1995 at Dana's.  Enjoy a trip down memory lane with us and hopefully you will be inspired to come up with some fun costumes this Halloween!

-The Betties

     

Meet the Kids/Back-to-School

Last week we welcomed another school year and of course had to document the first day.  Here are the kiddos and a long over-due intro to some of them:

Stacie's kiddos

Tuck, we first introduced him in this post:  He is in the 5th grade and enjoys art...he can draw just about anything!

Next up S, who is Stacie's youngest and growing fast! She loves dance and is in the 3rd grade this year.

And Stacie's oldest, H.  She is a freshman in high school and is a cheerleader.

Next up, Dana's boys:

"J-man," Dana's middle son is in the 4th grade and plays football.

Mr. B, the oldest, is in 6th grade and loves baseball, Go D-Backs!

T, the baby by 10 minutes, is a class clown and started Kindergarten this year.

And finally R, who also started Kindergarten and loves Legos.

What a joy to watch these kids grow!  The Betties have had such a history together.  We can remember well the day that eachother's kids were born...visits to the hospital and holding the other's newborns.  Cheering one another on in this thing called motherhood.  Truly a gift to know someone for so long and we realize more and more that these friendships are far and few between!  

We wish everyone a successful school year!

-The Betties

Baking cookies~ Vintage style!

With vintage being all the rage, we decided to do a photo shoot with the kids using some vintage baking props. We had a lot of fun finding pieces to use. Most of them were purchased at an antique store in Chandler and the aprons were found at Marshalls! The shoot took hours, deciding on lighting and posing, but the end result was worth it! The kids had fun making a mess (I mean cookies :) and we got some great shots! The shoot was inspired by photos Stacie saw on another website, but it is always neat to see how differently it turns out when you put your own spin on it.

Introducing S, Stacie's youngest duaghter.  Dana will say it, "She is adorable and sooo photogenic!"

Wow, what an amazing model as we posed her and propped her for a very long time!  This girl has a future in modeling....hmmmm sounds like she may follow in her mamma's footsteps!  Stacie used to spend her time in FRONT of the camera...

Big sister H, steps in to show the group how to do it right.  She is the ultimate big sister role model!  Beautiful girl starting HIGH SCHOOL in the fall.  Girl, you are making these Betties feel OLD!  You show them how it's done!

Let's not forget the Bettie with all the boys....she is trying to raise little gentlemen who can find their way around a kitchen...little cuties indeed.  R, the oldest of the dynamic twin duo is all business as he tries to figure out this vintage flour sifter.

And where there is cookie dough there is T.  Dana'a youngest by 10 minutes!  

                                                                          -The Betties