We welcomed the first baby girl from my immediate family in July -little Miss Avery Isabella! I couldn't be happier for my oldest brother Eric and his wife Sonya! She's perfect in every way -and so alert and only two weeks old! Her mermaid outfit was created by my talented friend Arlene "Spoiled Rockin Custom Crochet". She also made the sweet lion outfit for my nephew HERE.
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When we first moved into our home it was so funky and outdated! Not cool vintage outdated but more like the previous owners decorated in the dark! We had beachy sand light switches (odd) with old crystal door knobs, blue and white checkered tile in the entry way, and a reddish laminate floor! Yes I said RED!!! It was not cute at all! Then we had these lovely wooden shades to make the house even darker than it already was! Being on a budget, I decided to paint these shades white to brighten the place up a bit! I found this tutorial online and I thought that this would be a great temporary fix because I couldn't look at these dark blinds any longer (especially since we had dark brown couches to match). So I bought some white spray paint from Home Depot and after washing my blinds I hung them out to and sprayed my life away -literally! But this way didn't completely cover each blind so I had to take each blind out and spray them individually like this... Each set of blinds took 4 flippin cans! After spraying 3 sets of blinds my hands were shaking like a Chihuahua and I swear I had carpal tunnel for a week! I even sprayed the pull strings. I was so happy with the way they came out! My only complaint is that the strings came out stiff which wasn't a problem when I needed to open the shades to let the light through, but it posed a problem when I wanted to pull the whole blind up to let more air in for those really hot days -they would get stuck. So I hardly pulled them all the way up. Don't mind my crappy phone picture, or all the junk at the bottom, or my mom lecturing Jack Jordan hahah! It was a week after we moved in.
UPDATE: In October it will be 2 years that we have lived here and we recently got new windows installed YIPPEEE!!! So I gave away my old wooden blinds and installed some simple roll up shades from home depot because I love the way the new windows look now and all the natural light it lets in. I intend to leave my windows open more often and when the roll down shades are open all the way you don't even notice that they are there! WALLLAHHHH!!! When I found out that "my brother in law" (aka my husbands best friend) was getting married, I jumped at the opportunity to document their wedding! Tony has been my husbands best friend since elementary school, my great friend for the last 11 years, the best man in our wedding, and an uncle to our sons. We couldn't be more happy for them! They are a great example of opposites attracting and complementing each other perfectly! Karina's soothing sweet personality balances out Tony's inner wild child! When Karina and Tony asked me to be a bridesmaid, I was completely blown away! What an honor to be included in such a huge moment in their lives! The pressure to give them a great experience from both the bridesmaid and photographer was on! :) Karina had a sweet first look with her father! Many thanks to my lovely talented friends, Maria & Jenna, for taking photos while I fulfilled my bridesmaid duties :) I couldn't have done it without you gals! Also a big thank you to the amazing team who made this wedding come to life...
Venue - The Christmas House Wedding Coordinators - Janice and Aileen Florist - Wisteria Grove Bakery - Cucamonga Cakery Hair and Makeup - The Girls Beauty Shop Dress - The Dresser DJ - Paid to Party Videographer - Alex Hoggard Photographer - Janelle Marina Associate Photographers - Jenna and Maria When Promise asked me to be apart of her new fashion series for 2015 I was so SHOCKED! I've worked with her before at her Go Live workshops but never did I think that would lead to me photographing her one on one. Let me just give you a little overview of why I was super intimidated -well for starters she is the sister to the uber talented photographers Aimee & Troy Grover (huge deal), she is also great friends with my first photog idol Jasmine Star (another major deal in the industry), AND to top it all off she's been photographed by some of thee top notch photographers. So can you blame me for wondering why the heck she chose me! Once I got to her house all the nerves slowly began to dissolve -maybe it was the Dayquil kicking in (because of course I got struck with a horrible leaky nostril -yes only one! that same morning). Promise is just as cool as she looks! She is so down to earth, humble, sweet, kind, all the good characteristics a person can have - yeah she has em! She has a fun eclectic style that has no rhyme or reason and it totally goes with her! Not to mention she's freakin gawgeous and rocks the heck out of a picture! In my 3 years of photography she was definitely my easiest model! This girl is super natural and relaxed in front of the camera she made my job beyond easy! It was super fun shooting outside of my comfort zone too! I've never shot fashion before and its different from was I'm used to. The model doesn't look at your camera that often since its more about the clothing. Its kind of funny because years ago when I was researching poses for my own website profile pics I had included some of Promise's photos from her previous shoots for inspiration because of how natural she looked in them. Who would of thunk (yes I said "thunk") that I would actually be shooting this fun girl who has inspired me in so many creative ways! She's not only an amazing person, fashionista, web designer, but she's also great at interior design! Okay now that I've made myself sounds like a super fan, I'll stop talking now and you can check out the photos from her first outfit below. Visit Promise's blog for outfit details here.
With wedding season coming to an end I've had more time to finish some DIY projects around here. This is a mirror that was given to me by my father in law -it was the perfect size to go above my couch to bring in some extra light. But it wasn't my style so I decided to spruce it up a bit. The frame is soo thin so there wasn't much I could do with it! I wanted to make it look industrial-ish, so here's how I did it :) I covered the mirror with newspaper to protect it from paint splatter. I saw some industrial styled mirrors online that were decorated with bolts so that's what I decided to try. We measured where the bolts would go and I used my chalk markers to make my points. I'm a weakling so I had my father n law drill the holes :) I bought these bolts in a package of 50ct at Home Depot for around $6. If the bolts weren't so shiny I would've left the wood natural, but I decided to paint over everything with a old nickel finish spray from Home Depot. And here is the final look! My house is always so dark -I'm hoping this lightens it up a bit! I love my bolts! This striped wall is so huge that this giant mirror actually looks small on it! I still need to add more to this wall to make it look complete -in due time :) |
I'M JANELLE MARINA
Wife, Mama Shark, + Photographer. Most days, you'll find me in mismatched socks and a top knot, working behind my computer with a smile on my face, listening to Zac Brown Band and R&B --or, dancing in the kitchen with my 3 littles and hunka husband, seeing who could come up with the coolest dance moves. I'm a wedding photographer, West Elm lover, aspiring advocate for our buddies with special needs, and a Certified Dreamer since 1986. We live in a cozy city in Southern California and are always up for a good adventure. I enjoy telling stories with my camera, grubbing on spicy food, and solving the latest Dateline case.
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December 2019
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