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  • Welcome to my blog! This is a place to showcase Keri Doolittle Photography images, family pictures and helpful hints for photographers. After taking a year off to enjoy family life, I am now booking weddings for the 2014 season. Please visit my website to inquire about wedding packages and pricing. Thank you for following our little 'ole blog from Denver, Colorado.

DIY Refinishing Project

Ok, so I thought I would venture into furniture re-finishing as a summer project.  I made sure to start small and work my way up from there.  Enjoy my step-by-step stool-refinishing instructions.  :-)

First, here is a list of products I needed for the transformation:

Stool (got for $15 from a friend who is moving), sandpaper (coarse and fine), flathead screwdriver, staple gun, electric sander, spray paint, gloves, plastic gloves, mask, packaging tape/plastic bags, staple gun, heavy duty staples, fabric of your choice

  • STEP ONE: I took off the current fabric by wedging a flathead screwdriver underneath all the staples that held on the fabric.  This step was really easy.

  • STEP TWO:  Time to get all that paint off.  I probably could have just spray painted right over the top, but this had about three different paint colors on it, so I decided to sand er all down, plus, the paint would “stick” a little better to the sanded wood.  I started with a variety pack of sandpaper I got at Target…it said “Sands Fast”, so I thought I could do it by hand.  That was mistake #1!  After using one sheet from the variety pack, I went right back to the store and bought some paper for my electric sander…MUCH FASTER!!!!

  • STEP THREE:  Home Depot for paint…on a Saturday…mistake #2.  Holy cow, we had to park in another parking lot, it was like Disneyland.  So, I called up my sister, Kristin, to get her advice on what kind of paint to get…she said “get the good stuff”.  Well, OK, whatever.  There are only about 100 different kinds of paint in the $4 – $6 range.  So, I picked out the one with a picture of furniture on the front, I mean, that’s what I was painting, so be it!  Before painting, I grabbed some packaging tape and old Target bags to cover up the top…those worked like a champ!

  • STEP FOUR: Time to paint!  Oh boy, this was frustrating.  I am impatient.  I just wanted to get the darn paint on without any drips, blotches or grass sticking to the stool (I painted in the middle of our yard…mistake #3…get a piece of plywood).  It took me about 3 coats, with some sanding in between, to finally get a smooth surface.  When they tell you to stand 10-12″ away when painting, do it.  I also used proper safety and used a mask and plastic gloves for this process.
  • STEP FIVE:  Once the stool was painted, it was time to cut out the fabric…I used the old fabric as a template and cut away!

  • STEP SIX:  I gave the fabric a quick iron and then it was time to re-upholster.  Mistake #3 – I started by using out christmas light staple gun and soon found out that that wasn’t going to work, so off to Home Depot I go (again).  I upgraded to a heavy duty staple gun (which are quite fun BTW) and 3/8″ heavy duty staples that worked just fine.  I made sure to pull the fabric nice and tight around the edge and gave er a quick staple, bam!  THE FINISHED PRODUCT!!!  Next project – I am upgrade my level of difficulty to a chair, keep ya posted!

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May 24, 2013 - 1:29 am

MOM - Nice job Keri!

Denver, CO Wedding Photographer – Style Shoot

Since I will be re-opening the doors for 2014 weddings, I wanted to get some updated images for my new website, which is set to launch sometime early fall 2013.  I didn’t want a huge production, so I entrusted the help of the fabulous Rachael from Girls and Curls and Blue Bridal Boutique was ever so nice to loan me two dresses for the photoshoot.  THANK YOU!!

The beautiful Melissa and Andrea free’d up their evening to get all fancified and were just amazing in front of the camera, thank you ladies, you rocked!!  And, thank you to Katie Hellinger for helping me out with lights, reflectors, etc!  :-)

Enjoy the images!

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A little off-camera practice…

Yup, I was bored.  I wanted to practice my off-camera lighting for an upcoming shoot I have since I hadn’t hooked up the A99 to my lights yet.  Well, some things went good, some things I would change.  I was working w a beauty dish as my main light and it was casting too much of a shadow, so I added a second light opposite side of the beauty dish.  Since I was working in a confined space, I didn’t have enough room to pull back my rim light, so that is a little over-powering, in my opinion.  Is was at 1/32nd power and still  too strong.  Oh well, you live and learn.

Here are a few test shots of Easton…all of these were edited in Lightroom, which isn’t my favorite for final edits, but I am trying to get better.  A couple pullback shots of my set up and some of the gear I was using as well.  Enjoy!

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May 4, 2013 - 11:18 pm

Mom - He is so cute!

High Altitude Bonspiel – Colorado Springs Photographer

This weekend we participated in our first ever curling tournament, which is called a Bonspiel.  We were fortunate enough to play inside the World Arena, in Colorado Springs, which is home to many Olympic athletes.  The tournament was a 4 game minimum guarantee, with the Championship matches happening as I type this.  :-)  We had a good run, went 2-2, lost in the semi-final match in the last end.  We have only been playing as a team for two curling seasons, so we walked away very confident in our curling abilities against some more seasoned teams.  I was able to bring “the big camera” down for a few actions shots, but first up is the other half of our team, Mark and Karen!  You two are such a blast to curl with…we hope to play in many Bonspiels together in the future!!

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April 28, 2013 - 9:31 pm

Jackie Gleason - Once athletes always athletes!

WSU Women’s Football Clinic

This past weekend, me, my sister and several girlfriends headed down to Pullman, WA, home of the Washington State University Cougars.  I hadn’t been to Wazzu in over 8 years, so it was most definitely time for a visit.  Our first stop was to Sella’s, which HANDS DOWN makes the BEST bread twists in the USA.  After our lunch, we did a little shopping and got some great Wazzu gear!

Then, we headed to the WSU Women’s Football clinic, which consisted of some drinking, a football player fashion show, a tour of the new football stadium additions, then a break-out session of offensive and defensive drills.  It was SO MUCH FUN!!  This will most definitely be an annual tradition!  Might have to actually spend the night next time.

I didn’t want to bring my big camera with me, so you get a collage of cell-phone pics from the trip.  Enjoy!

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