About the artist: Internationally recognized photographer, Ashley Swierczek-Bowns, of Columbus NE, specializes in custom fine art portraiture. Her whimsical style is highlighted through her use of natural light, one-of-a-kind props, and unique locations. With her playful approach to photography, Ashley rewrites the portrait experience, creating sessions that are relaxed, fun, and enjoyable.
I had the pleasure to meet back up with little Molly at her family’s farm. Molly is the cutie seen above in my slideshow, snuggling on her mom’s shoulder. It is crazy how much babies change by their half birthday!
Molly was such a little sweetie but she would NOT smile, no matter how silly we played! It took mommy sacrificing her hairdo to get her to crack a smile : ) but smile or not she is a doll!
You both are so cute, I can’t wait to see your little one!
I have been sitting on this idea for some time now, but I needed to find a mommy who wasn’t afraid to get her feet wet ; )
Thank you Ashley for braving the windy 65 degree day… you are absolutely GOURGEOUS and I LOVE THESE!!!
I was happy to do my first senior session this year with my brother : ) It is crazy to think he is going to be graduating in 2011, but I’m excited for him!
part one of many : )
My little man turned 3 today! He is growing up so fast and now every time I call him baby he promptly replies with “There’s no baby here!” He is ready to be a big boy, but I’m having a hard time letting the little things go. It was not long ago that I was pushing him to get to the next milestone, now I find myself wishing he would slow down a bit. It is true; they grow up WAY TOO FAST!
Happy Birthday Cayen, you will always be my baby!
We celebrated 3 birthdays this February in my family and Cayen became very concerned about when HIS birthday was going to come. He would talk about how he was going to have piñatas, cake, and a UNICORN at his party! I wanted to make this birthday as magical as the one he was dreaming up in his head : ) minus the unicorn for practicality.
Planning started with this 10 by 20 foot tent that we purchased on Ebay. We have a corner lot and the tent added the needed privacy and wind protection for the party.
I wrapped a string of carnival flags around the brim and flanked the top with four sets of balloons (the same colors as the balloons used in the above picture, which was featured on the party invitation). The tent called for weighted anchors so we painted plastic jugs and filled them with water. The two wall sections that faced the house where pulled back to create a U shape.
I decided to run with the color theme from the flags and made up rainbow cupcakes with lollipop toppers. The cupcakes were made by coloring the batter, it took awhile to layer all the colors but they turned out great! Cayen’s cupcake was served on one of my teacup saucers which was a perfect fit.
Cayen is big into letters these days, so I made these cute signs to add a personal touch to the decorations. They are just layered squares of colored paper topped with paint and strung on ribbon. I painted clothespins and used them to hook the some of the signs to a little wooden picture frame I had lying around. The clothespins came in handy for pining other things up around the tent.
And because I’m a sucker for little details, I made the center pieces out of little treat boxes. I stuck colored tissue paper in them to help prop up the lollipops and then added the ribbon.
The mini gumball machine party favors where found in the Easter section at Wal-Mart for $1 a piece (the ones I was looking at online ran $3.50 a pop, YEAH for me having an April baby)!
We also served sugar cones rolled in rainbow sprinkles, for older kids it would have been a good make-your-own activity. For our craft project we made pinwheels, but I don’t have a picture of them from the party. The pinwheel kit can be found HERE.
We stuck with finger foods for our 2:00 PM party focusing on “Treats & Sweets” to make things easy. Notice the cleaver use of scrap book paper ; )
And then last but not least we had the candy piñatas! I didn’t want to send a group of three year olds around with swinging bats so I reserved 6 of the paper lantern decorations to use for this. I taped 6 long ribbons to the tops of each with only one being REALLY stuck to the paper part. That way the children could all pull on the ribbons but only one on each piñata would actually tear the piñata enough to pull the candy out. It was so cute to watch them all pull the strings and they didn’t have to worry about taking turns because they all had a string to pull. 
All in all the party was a huge success, but it turns out Cayen doesn’t like surprises(he gets this from me) and he had a little bit of a hard time with being the center of attention (also from me). When everyone started singing “Happy Birthday” he bolted : ) it was kind of a bummer but seeing this shy side of him made me love him that much more!
I took the weatherman’s advice and moved the session to a new location. It turns out the weatherman was wrong about the rain, but right about this being a better session spot.
I love spending time with soon-to-be-married couples; their happiness is diffidently contagious.
Thank you Chad and Kim, your marriage is sure to be full of laughter and love, best wishes!
Today was the 96th day of my “365 Days of Cayen” project. As the 100 day mark approaches, I feel blessed to have these images to help me clutch to this wonderful time in Cayen’s life. The innocence and pure joy of being a child is just so magical. I think we could all use a little more playtime in our lives, so remember…
To follow my project, click HERE.
On May 16th, 2010 I will be offering Spring Mini Sessions. These $50, 20 minute sessions, are designed for up to two children (sessions can be combined for families). I’m ecstatic about the location and new props I have set aside for these Mini Sessions, the portraits are sure to be full of spring whimsy! For more information, please email me at abowns@yahoo.com or call 402.910.6505. Space is VERY limited.