Photo Shoot and Sewing

Holy flying trash cans! An astonishing wind accompanied the rainstorm last night. I was happy to be nestled all snug in our bed and very thankful for a well-built cottage.



"Fasten your seat belts, it's going to be a bumpy night."
Blogging has taken a bit of a back seat (no pun intended) the last two weeks, and I blame this man. . .


Steve Roundy, Photographer

Okay,  "blame" is too strong a word. 

Five weeks ago a writer with Angie's List newsroom contacted me about featuring our cottage in their "new nationally facing interactive publication called Angie’s List Weekly." After a few emails back and forth she interviewed me over the phone and arranged for Steve to come for a photo shoot.

Two Saturdays ago Steve photographed the cottage exterior, and last Saturday he photographed the interior (which I really appreciated, because I needed that extra week to get things ready). 

Incredibly, I still had some flowers in my garden to cut and arrange for the shoot.




While Steve worked, I managed to take a few shots of my own.



I learned a lot about photography just by watching him.



Professional photographers have all sorts of nifty tools and filters to handle touchy lighting situations.



Steve loved our cottage (and Dennis' studio) and we loved sharing it with him.



Everyone had a good time.



Our cottage will be featured in February. In the meantime Steve is going to send us a CD with all the photos he took. I can hardly wait to see them.

Having someone come to photograph your home is great motivation for completing projects like making a cushion and pillow covers for the settee.





I have a stool I wanted to makeover and use in this room, but I didn't have time to work on it before the photo shoot. Earlier this week I sewed a slipcover for it.






Now the stool sits in the sitting room where it can serve as a footrest or a little table. I love it!


Although I still have work to do in this room, I feel I've made pretty good progress thanks to the push from Angie's List and Steve.

Do you ever need a little push to get things done around your home?


39 comments

  1. Congratulations! And how exciting to have all your hard work acknowledged.
    Keep us informed as to how we can view Steve's work.
    (We must live some what close to each other because we had a huge storm last night, too!)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Congratulations! What a wonderful honor.

    ReplyDelete
  3. That's fabulous! and your house is so adorable!!! ps All About Eve is one of my favourite movies of all time :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. What fun, Nancy! It must have been a treat to photograph your brand-spanking-new cottage. :-) Congrats on getting a few more projects checked off of your to-do list!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Nancy this is exciting, congratulations! Looking forward to the feature in February. Glad you weathered that storm! Philly is expecting rain and high winds tomorrow.
    xoxo

    ReplyDelete
  6. Congrats Nancy this is wonderful. You worked hard on creating your new cottage and so happy it will be featured. What a wonderful honor.
    Kris

    ReplyDelete
  7. Congrats and everything looks so pretty. Love the fabrics you chose to sew with. I have a push too and have so many projects I want to get done. My Brother-in-Law and his family is coming for a visit on New Years Eve and we have not seen them for over 10 years. I want the house to look perfect and trying to touch up alot of things by then.

    ReplyDelete
  8. What an honor. I would love to see the pictures. Let us know how we can view the article. Yes, I need a push to get projects done. I need a big one after the first of the year because I have some big projects to accomplish before hot weather hits. I like your cozy sitting room, great place to relax with a book.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Congratulations to you and Dennis! You both have built a beautiful home and it's no surprise to hear that you are being featured. How exciting and I can't wait to see your feature.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Wow, congratulations and thank you for the inspiration you are to me to work on projects here in my own little haven.

    Happy Thanksgiving week ~ FlowerLady

    ReplyDelete
  11. Oh Nancy, your cottage is a dream. And your husband's ATELIER!!!!!!!!! OHHHHHHHH and we too had a professional photographer here last April for a photo shoot for French Country Living magazine.....I learned a lot from him too! And we are having those fierce winds right now as I type and before I go out to work. What a November!

    ReplyDelete
  12. What a treat to have photographer Steve feature the cottage and the studio!
    (Welfare treated too with your pics of him taking pictures!)
    Lovely it is to see your "creation in charm."
    Loved everything . . . the beginning photo with flowers and sculpture is wonderful . . .

    ReplyDelete
  13. How the word WELFARE got in there . . . I don't know . . .
    Must have been holy flying trash cans or something like that!
    It was meant to say . . . we were treated too . . .

    ReplyDelete
  14. Ah, yes! I need "little pushes" quite frequently! YOUR photos are great - and I can't wait to see the professional's ♥

    ReplyDelete
  15. So exciting!!! Love the fabrics you chose for the settee. I need to get my butt in gear for decorating my LR... Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. LOL. I hope I've managed to give you a gentle nudge. :)

      Delete
  16. That is so exciting to be able to share your sweet new cottage with the world. All of your hard work shows so well in the pictures here. Please share the pictures Steve took if you can. I had my old farmhouse professionally photographed just for the fun of it and now I am so glad I did. My heart is still in that home and when I miss it too much I can look at the pictures!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Congratulations, Nancy!! How truly exciting. What a wonderful way to commemorate the completion of your cottage build. I know that you will treasure those photos. I love the fabric you used to slipcover the stool. Big surprise! ;) AND...Bette Davis is classic Hollywood in All About Eve...one of my favorites!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Fabulous Nancy - you have made your home so cozy and attractive. I love the pix of Dennis in the studio - beautiful paintings!

    ReplyDelete
  19. How utterly exciting Nancy! I'm so thrilled about the honor of having your home featured, because you and Dennis have worked so very hard to get to this place of joyful living :) It is amazing all the tricks photographers have to get their photos to turn out so amazing, if only I had the $$ to invest in some of their fun equipment, lol! Your slipcovers and pillows are just gorgeous - you are the talented seamstress too! What a beautiful touch it adds to your living room space. So thrilled for you Nancy! And yes, I guess you got the storm, flying trash cans and all, that we got. Thankfully, I checked yesterday and it seems we only had one tree down, thank you Lord! Flying trees are really scary around here - 3 people died because of those downed trees.

    Hope you have a blessed and wonderful day! :)

    ReplyDelete
  20. Kudos on having your cottage photographed and featured.

    The wind has been howling here, too.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Hi Nancy, how exciting for you guys to me in a magazine! Your sweet place is so perfect and new. Love all that you are doing with it. Hugs, Jo

    ReplyDelete
  22. what a wonderfully worthy honor for a wonderfully darling cottage and its owners. :) congratulations!!!

    ReplyDelete
  23. Your place is darling! How exciting to have it photographed. I like your new settee cover and cushions. Very nice together. Nancy

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you,Nancy. Choosing fabrics is one of my favorite things to do.

      Delete
  24. Nancy! That is so exciting for you and your hubby...after all your hard work and planning you are being featured as well!! Is the article going to be showcasing small space living? You will be the perfect spokesperson for that. I love the hand expressions of your hubby in the pictures,,,,you can just tell that he is right into the conversation. I would love to get some tips from a professional photographer,,,right in my own kitchen!! That is awesome.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The series is about "dream homes", so I think the article will be more about the features of our home than the small size. Thanks for the compliments, Dawna.

      Delete
  25. Congrats and it must of been exciting...I'm not part of Angie's list and hope you'll share it on your blog so we can see. You cottage is really coming along....Many times I need motivation instead of sitting in my chair knitting, it's just that its so comfy!

    ReplyDelete
  26. This is so exciting! I hope you'll tell us more when the time comes about how we can see it. You can tell from the pictures that everyone was happy while doing this. Your fabric projects turned out beautifully!

    Now you are all spiffy for the holidays--well, you were before that too!

    ReplyDelete
  27. Congratulations Nancy this is wonderful and so exciting. The two of you have put so much of yourselves into your home and all of that love certainly shows. In years past whenever I needed a big project done around the house, I would throw a party. When Steve knew that his friends where showing up, he would not hesitate jumping into a project and getting it completed. This removed any procrastination on his part, LOL. I'm made the other way and people have to tell me to stop and take a break . . . it's not energy as must as it is drive, and I'm not so sure that is a good thing :)
    Have a happy weekend!
    Connie :)

    ReplyDelete
  28. Do I ever need a little push? LMAO! :) of COURSE! :)

    How exciting to read about this and everything looks lovely and it looks as if you had quite a fun time. I have some similar fabrics to your choices...at some point we had exactly the same taste when fabric shopping! :) What a nice project!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm not surprised about choosing similar fabrics, Deb. I've seen enough of your fabrics to know we our tastes are very close to the same. :)

      Delete
  29. I LOVED seeing more of your cottage home. Following the photographer around was such fun. I can't wait to see more. Every nook and cranny of your home is just right! Yes, I do need a push. Often! Whenever company is planned my home gets more attention than usual and I always seem to make a bit of progress on my to-do list.
    ~Adrienne~

    ReplyDelete
  30. It's looking wonderful, Nancy! How exciting! And congrats on the upcoming feature. It's well deserved!

    ReplyDelete
  31. Yippee, how exciting for you.
    I agree with Anne, well deserved!
    Carla

    ReplyDelete
  32. Congratulations! What an interesting experience it must have been!

    ReplyDelete
  33. I went back to read this exciting news. How fun!

    ReplyDelete

Your comments bring me joy! Thanks for stopping by.