Instagram Earrings

Earrings are always top sellers, so we stock new styles every week. Yesterday enamel teardrops debuted. $18/pr

These brushed silver trefoil earrings are lightweight and unique. The long kidney style of ear wire is my personal favorite for its comfort and security. $21/pr

If you're an Instagram user, follow me at LauraBeeSeattle.

Quickie Photo Shoot: Our Gift Wrap

Kaleigh wore these adorable striped gloves today, so we had an inpromptu photo shoot of our gift wrap.

Finally: The Party Postcard Image!

Anniversary Party Postcard, originally uploaded by Laura Bee Seattle.

Design Inspiration: 1940's Teatowel

One of the least expensive items to buy at most thrift shops and antique stores are vintage linens. I bought this pretty blue tea towel in Bellingham for three dollars.

It caught my eye for several reasons. First, the lovely linen is soft and nubby with wear. I love the flower illustrations, and especially the little bumblebees.

I also think the color palette is unique and lovely. Here are four colors I extracted from the my photo using the eyedropper tool in Photoshop Elements. I pulled one blue from the highlighted areas of the image and another from the shadows.

You can use this technique, or my more low-fi version, to put together a color palette to use to decorate a room, some cupcakes, or anything else that needs a color pick-me-up.

My Mom's Interior Design

Children's Sculptures, originally uploaded by Laura Bee Seattle.

These sweet little clay projects are on display in a special nook in a space designed by my mom for a client. The child who made the sculptures is all grown up, but the whimsical pieces will always remain young.

Greek Revival Nook, originally uploaded by Laura Bee Seattle.

Earlier this summer I visited my mom in Rochester, NY. We dropped by several of her interior design clients' homes so that I could take pictures of the spaces she's designed. I've never taken shots like these, so this project was a learning experience.

Vintage Mirror, originally uploaded by Laura Bee Seattle.

Some of my favorite images are shots like this picture of a mirror. I like small detail photos that show the colors and style of the room, but are also quietly mysterious.

Handmade Rug, originally uploaded by Laura Bee Seattle.

My mom works with several craftspeople who have old world specialties. One of these vendors hand wove this custom rug for a Greek Revival house.

White Curtain, originally uploaded by Laura Bee Seattle.

Since I took all of the pictures using natural light, metering correctly was a real challenge for a novice like me. If I had the correct exposure for the windows, then everything else became dark. So for most of the pictures I overexposed the windows to get detail in the room.

This picture is one exception. I wanted to capture the creamy shadows of this curtain so I let the hallway fade to near black.

A Ballard Adventure

Intrepid photographer Sandi Heinrich just posted a great piece about our photography adventure through Ballard, USA. One of my favorite locations was Bop Street Records, site of the shot above.

I urge you to visit her site to read her witty narration and to view lots of the great pictures she took of Susannah, Laura Bee Bags, and even a few shots of me.

Website Refresher

We have a new slide show on the front page of our website. The fresh images, like the picture above, are the results of the August collaboration between my sister (model), Sandi Heinrich (photographer), and me (stylist, location scout).

And She's Off

Otis is in love with his Auntie Susannah, my sister. Each morning she stayed with us he'd sniff outside her door until she came out to play with him.

While she was in town, Susannah modeled some bags for our first professional fashion shoot. That's Sandi Heinrich on the right taking pictures at all of the Ballard hot spots. We had quite an adventure faking autumn on a hot August day.

Sandi sent me a quick peek at several of the shots from the photo session. Check out how great this looks! Susannah brought the yellow jacket with her from Boston. Both my sister and the coat are quite photogenic.

Here's another fun image taken by Sandi. Good-bye Susannah. Thanks for visiting!

Swing Time

Part of our little photo shoot yesterday was a quick jaunt to Salmon Bay Park, which is a great spot a few blocks north of the shop. I wanted to try to capture the motion of the swing while photographing a sharp picture of this Eve bag. I set up my tripod facing the swing set, focused on the purse, and selected a long exposure.

Then it was 'ready, set, go' - Ashley would swing as I released the shutter. The picture above was the best shot of the bunch. (Be sure to click on it to see it much larger.) It's not perfect, but it's my first attempt at this sort of thing. I wanted to try it with the merry-go-round too, but it was full of happy toddlers.

Speaking of toddlers, this little girl makes a tiny cameo in the motion image. It appears that she was wondering what those crazy adults were doing on the swing set.

Macro Challenge: 30 Days Completed

Click the image above for a larger view of the mosaic. Don't forget to visit the whole challenge pool on Flickr here to see images taken by over 100 participants.

Macro Challenge: Image Twenty-Nine

Violet, originally uploaded by Laura Bee Seattle.

Macro Challenge: Image Twenty-Eight

Blue Tile Chair, originally uploaded by Laura Bee Seattle.

Macro Challenge: Image Twenty-Seven

Door Knocker, originally uploaded by Laura Bee Seattle.

Macro Challenge: Image Twenty-Six

My Pug's Tail, originally uploaded by Laura Bee Seattle.

This is my Pug Otis Redding's curly tail. Many people don't realize that pugs' tails go limp when they are sleeping or not feeling well. In fact, you can measure most pugs' moods by the look of their tails.

Macro Photo: Image Twenty-Four

Telephone Pole, originally uploaded by Laura Bee Seattle.

When I first moved to Seattle back in the '90s there was a recently enacted law that banned posters on telephone poles. For years indie bands had stapled show posters all over town, but the powers that be felt that this practice was a safety hazard.

These rusty staples and scars on the wood are evidence of this old guerrilla publicity method. The piece of paper on the left is a sign about a missing cat.

While Otis Snoozes on the Couch at Home

Ashley's dog Tucker visits the shop each Thursday.

It's a serious case of puppy love.

Photos by Sandi Heinrich/Soulstice Imagery

Macro Photo Challege: Image Twenty-Three

Motorbike, originally uploaded by Laura Bee Seattle.

Macro Photo Challenge: Image Twenty-Two

Birdcage Through Glass, originally uploaded by Laura Bee Seattle.

Macro Photo Challenge: Image Twenty One

Oregon Grape, originally uploaded by Laura Bee Seattle.

Springtime means that color is on everyone's mind these days. Our customers are hungry for bold yellows, juicy oranges, and the hottest pinks. Nature is bringing forth color too, in the form of tulips and cherry blossoms.

These yellow flowers are adorning our Oregon Grape in the planter outside the front door of the shop. One detail of this image that I like is the soft purple background. I took a color theory class a couple of months back. One of the things I found most interesting was the subtle use of complementary colors in paintings and other art. While yellow and purple in full saturation can read as kind of tacky, the use of complements in shadows can really make an image sing.

For more color inspiration check out the current issue of Martha Stewart Living, which articles all about color, including this one about ombres. Here's a great blog, Colourlovers, that offers daily color inspiration.

Macro Photo Challenge: Image Twenty

Vintage Wood Button, originally uploaded by Laura Bee Seattle.

Here's a very belated Button Thursday image for you.