brick dancing

// One cool autumn afternoon, I decided to make art out of bricks //

Art can be found anywhere.

Happy Wednesday friends!

xo,

hannah

happy fall

As you may have noticed, I gave the blog a facelift! I wanted to incorporate some darker colors, and I realized it's been a while since I had a photo header. I like it, I think it has more of a "fall" feel than my previous one.

If you want to get an autumn makeover for your blog, visit my design site and I'll hook you up with something fabulous :)

How do you like it?

xo,

hannah

life as of late No. 4

1. Breath Hannah, breathe. 

Lately I feel like I've been forgetting to breathe. I forget what it's like to not want or expect things, and remember the things that trouble me. What with highschool tennis, ridiculous amounts of homework, and trying to keep up with blog designs, I'm wound up so tight I'm about to burst. It's times like this when I just need to grab a mug of tea, eat a cupcake or two, and read a good book. Or paint. Or even just sit by a window and forget things for a while.

2. Little joys

This is sort of a continuation of number one. I want to list some of the things that have made me happy in the past few days:

-hugs from Mark

-packages in the mail that contain perhaps the most adorable keychains in the entire universe

-new shoes

-laughing at inside jokes

-highschool football games

-chewy chocolate chip granola bars

-birthday wishes (yes, my birthday was on 9/11. God bless the victims and their families of that tragic attack.)

-nail polish

-inspiring quotes

-the fact that Kate decorated Jodie's hair with flowers 

-peach rings from my brother because of my tennis accomplishment

-my tennis team

-secret handshakes between Mark and myself

-the office

-designing blogs

3. Fall

Omigoodness I cannot believe it's fall. Right at this very moment a chilly breeze is hitting me from my window. Fall is without a doubt my absolute favorite season. Jeans, hot chocolate, pumpkins, bright and crisp leaves crunching with every step you take outside...... No other season is quite as cozy as fall.

What has your life consisted of lately? Are you as excited for fall as I am?

xo,

hannah

define your eye || gel eyeliner review+tutorial

No, I have not fallen off the face of the earth. I have been overloaded with homework and tennis. I guess it's a typical "beginning-of-the-school-year" thing, but to be honest, it's quite annoying. Anywho, I'm so glad I'm finally back and writing a post.

Today I'm going to be reviewing wet n wild's creme eyeliner in 886 Black.

In general, I like this eyeliner. Some people have compared it to MAC fluidline, but since I've never gotten my hands on that product I can't tell you you how it compares.
It's very black, and it definitely defines your eye nicely, but.... I don't know. It seems to dry out somewhat quickly.
It lasts all day, including through 5 hours of playing sweaty tennis matches. Since my eye isn't necessarily oily it didn't slide around at all.
It retails for $3.99 and comes with .13oz of product PLUS an angled eyeliner brush.

So here are the overall pros and cons:

Pros:

-Very black
-Stays for a solid 12 hours
-Sweat-proof ;)
-Easy to work with
-No funky scent
-VERY reasonably priced

Cons:

-Product dries out in pot pretty quickly
-Doesn't come in more colors


Here's a quick look that brightens and defines the eye using this eyeliner:

As always, prime your lids first. Then sweep a light cream-white eyeshadow all over your lid up to your brow-bone.

Next, clean your waterline with a q-tip. This prepares it for eyeliner and gets rid of all the oils, which makes the liner last longer. Line your waterline lightly with white eyeliner

Brush a medium-matte shadow into the outer half of your crease.

Smudge a shimmery brick red/burgundy eyeshadow onto your upper and lower lashlines.

                                                              

With the same white eyeliner you used to line your waterline, highlight the inner-corner of your eye.

Line your upper lashline with black creme liner, winging it out slightly. Then apply mascara and you're done!

Hope you guys liked this! Hopefully once the highschool tennis season slows down I'll be able to post more :)

xo,
hannah

how I shoot

I apologize for the lack in words on this blog. I feel like I have nothing to say. School has kept me busy and whenever I get time to shoot I take it, and I often forget about the story woven into the images.
And was trying to change that. I was trying to make each click of the shutter mean something to me. But I realized that for me, it's not about each individual photo that is produced, it's not about the story in one or two of them.
It's about the pictures as a whole, and how I feel while I'm taking them. Because I'm finally seeing that maybe that trying to pull a story out of every single photo just isn't how I shoot. That isn't what defines me as a photographer. I like to see the big picture.
Everybody is different and unique. This is just how I prefer to shoot and think of photography.

What about you?
-hannah

a&e || portraits

 So I babysat these cuties last night. I brought my camera along, just because I thought I might be able to get some shots. As it turned out, they were totally up for a mini photo shoot.
But lately, Amelia has gotten into photography herself, and she wanted to do a double photo shoot. Since her 'camera' was lost, I handed over my phone, which she handled with great care. Elizabeth was dubbed the model for the night, but I couldn't help snapping some of her older sister as well :)

Which one is your favorite?

-hannah

mark-y boy || portraits

Just a few photos for you on this lazy Sunday! My hands were itching to hold my camera and shoot, so I snagged Mark for literally two minutes and produced these photos. 

What have you been doing this weekend?

xo,

hannah

so it's back to crazyness and love

So I laugh,
and I joke,
and I learn,
and I sleep.

So I talk,
and I play,
and I listen,
and I smile.

I remember and I forget.
I soak in the words. The sights. The sounds.
I am a freshman.
I am happy.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

I want to savor every last moment of highschool. I want to tuck away memories into the files in my head and pull them out whenever I need a smile. I want to embrace the busyness that comes with school and forget the tough times.

There are so many things I want to do, so many things that mean so much that I just don't want to forget.

This past week of school has been a whirlwind of faces and classes and bus rides and so so many things to be happy about. My design business has also taken a leap in the past few weeks. Here are some recent designs:

I'm currently in the process of designing three other blogs, and I can't even tell you how in love I am with this form of art. Each and every new design is a new adventure, a new opportunity, a new way to express my creativity and the client's personality.

I'm in love.

If you're interested in getting a design by me, just check out my site Simply You Designs :)

What's one of your favorite forms of art?

xo,

hannah