Holiday Photo Shoot

On Wednesday we had a photo shoot for Linoto.com. We're putting together a brand new collection of holiday photos and I wanted to give a sneak peak and a look at the process. We were fortunate enough to shoot at a gorgeous loft apartment on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.

In these behind-the-scenes images, you can only see a snippet of the amazing interior. In the final photos, you'll be able to get the full effect of the space. A great deal of time was spent setting up the different scenes, organizing props and making sure everything was perfect for the shoot.

Katrina Parris Flowers designed the floral arrangements for our dining room table shots. She used hydrangeas, dahlias, orchids, roses, and snap dragons.

The photographer, Alexey Kotlik, been shooting interiors and portraits in New York for 5 years. He has a great eye and really understands the technical rules of photography.  He used a Canon 5D Mark II camera, which he typically prefers to film. You can see more of his work at his website.
The work paid off in the end and I'm thrilled with the results. I'm sure you'll be too when the new images go live on Linoto.com!

Beautiful Designer Wrapping Papers

It's mid-October already and the holiday season is rapidly approaching! That means lots of shopping for friends and family and I really enjoy giving gifts to the people I love. It brings me great joy to see them open that "just-what-I've-always-wanted" present and see the expression on their face. But what if you could inspire that look of awe, wonder and delight before it's even opened? I'm talking about fabulous designer wrapping paper, like these:

Michelangelo-inspired "Italian Architecture" paper from Luxe Paperie

"D-vine Inspiration" double-sided gift wrap from Whimsy Press's line of 100% recycled wrap

"Folk" is one of the many bold designs from Eieio Studio

"Cavallini Gift Wrap, City Maps" uses vintage maps in a whole new way at Kate's Paperie

Each one of these stores have dozens of other wonderful designs, I only picked a few. Find your favorites - and happy wrapping!