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Welcome to my blog! My name is Jen Schleicher and I am a wedding and portrait photographer based out of Tempe, Arizona. Here you will find my latest work, news and much more. Whether you are a client, future client, or fellow photographer, please make yourself at home.  You may want to bookmark this page or add it to your RSS reader so you won't miss any updates.

Comments make me happy :)  Introduce yourself.  I would love to hear from you!

 

Happy reading!

-Jen


DIY Kid-friendly thank you cards

Now that the party is over, it is time to write those dreaded thank you cards. I think it is very important for kids to be involved in writing them. But how does that happen when your child cannot write words yet? Well I recently stumbled upon this blog post on penmanship and courtesy from Smile and Wave. Perfect! We set to work. My son traced “Thank you” on the front of each card and signed his name on the inside. I wrote a few words about the gift above his name. Easy peasy.

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Little sister even wanted in on the action.

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If you want your child to trace more than just “Thank You”, you can try this program. It will automatically create dotted lines to trace for whatever is typed in.

August 19, 2011 - 3:14 pm Marie-Helene - AWESOME BLOG POST! Hey Jen, just ran across your blog last night. Great pictures and stories! Thanks for sharing. I'm glad I checked it out. I have a child entering first grade that has really struggled with writing thus far and I can see that cool font being very useful.

January 18, 2011 - 2:51 pm Laura Durrer - LOVE this!!!! I'm turning the page vertical and writing Thank you for the (gift). My daughter is drawing a picture above it and then tracing the words. She was writing each one, copying my words but it was taking about a half hour per card. At 17 gifts this was going to take forever. Thanks for the tip!

The Big 4 – Race Car Party

We celebrated my son’s 4th birthday early this year. We haven’t had a big party for a couple years now, and I wanted to make it special for him. His requests were easy (balloons, cake, friends and race cars) so I had a lot of room to play. The flags were made from kebob skewers and craft paper.

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Hot dogs, veggies and chips. He was begging for his juice box all morning long. Where is it? He drank it as soon as the party started ;)

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One of his requests was “black cake with black frosting.” Coming right up…

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Blowing out his birthday cupcake:

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My first run at making a pennant. I think it turned out pretty well. How I made this pennant HERE.

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Shirt from Hobby Lobby on clearance for $1.75 + iron on number for $1.35 = one super cheap and stlyin’ birthday shirt!
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Happy birthday my big boy. I love you so much!

If you are wondering where I came up with all those super crafty ideas, I got a LOT of inspiration from Ashley at THIS blog.

DIY Felt Pennant Banner

My son’s birthday is coming up. He requested a race car party. And what is a race car party without a checkered flag pennant? I have never made one before, so I made things up as I went along. First I went to Hobby Lobby and purchased 4 felt sections (2 checkered, 2 red felt, 2 black) to use as the flags for the banner, and one package of black bias tape (4 yards).

Using a ruler, I measured out 3 equal flags per piece and cut them out.

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After I had all my flags cut, I arranged them on the floor into a pattern that appealed to me. I originally started out using one checkered, then one red, but it didn’t look quite right to me. I went back and bought some black felt to add to the sequence and was happy with the change. If you are wondering why some are cut in half, I was originally going to sew the extra pieces (produced from cutting the main flags) together to make additional flags, but later found I had enough whole pieces and did not need to do this.

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When I was happy with the pattern, I took out the bias tape and pinned the triangle flags in place (sandwiched in the middle). I left about a foot of bias tape on each side for tying the banner.

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Using my old, basic sewing machine, I sewed a straight line across the bias tape, and voila cute race car pennant!

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Making the banner took me approximately 45 minutes to do, but will probably be faster in the future now that I have made one.

Cost of materials:
2 checkered felt sections – $1.00
4 solid felt sections – $1.00
1 package black double fold bias tape – $1.15 (on sale)

Total cost = $3.15!

January 13, 2011 - 8:10 am The Big 4 – Race Car Party » Jen Schleicher Photography - [...] My first run at making a pennant. I think it turned out pretty well. How I made this pennant HERE. [...]

I love Arizona Thrift Stores

For those of you who don’t already know, we will be moving to San Diego next month. I am sad to leave all my friends in Arizona, but excited to be closer to family and embark on a new journey in a new state! One thing I will most definitely miss are the Arizona thrift stores. They are just to good to be true. To prepare myself, I have been hitting up my favorite stores more often to get as many deals as I can before I leave. Here are some of the awesome buys I scored in the last few weeks:

Retro kid chairs. These totally remind me of the chairs I had at school when I was little. Super cute and a deal at $4 each.
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Cute necklace – $6
Retro wooden building blocks – $2, bakery twine – $4, pottery barn teen duvet – $7

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Kids apron. We always need another one in case a friend comes by – $1.80.
This stool was a super score. I saw it in the store and thought, “This matches our bar height kitchen table perfectly and will be great when we need an extra spot for someone to sit.” It was a great price too at $7. When I got home, I looked at the underside of it to see the maker and low and behold saw a Pottery Barn sticker. Turns out this $7 stool is currently selling at Pottery Barn for $99!
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Have you scored any good thrift store deals lately?

Scottsdale Marriott Wedding | Erika & Michael

Erika & Mike met on JDate, a Jewish online dating site. They are such fun people and are truly meant to be. They were married recently at the Scottsdale Marriott at McDowell Mountains.

The Amazing Vendors
Wedding Coordinator: Asaré Event Planning – Sara Cerny
Venue: Scottsdale Marriott at McDowell Mountains
Florist: Amy’s Floral Design.

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My second shooter, Lizzie, grabbed a great shot of her coming down the aisle:
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Tahoe Queen Wedding | Gena & Joel

Gena and Joel have been together for 10 years, and this July I had the opportunity to document their beautiful wedding in Lake Tahoe. The ceremony and reception took place on board the Tahoe Queen. Such a neat idea! There were gorgeous, ever changing views of the lake and surrounding mountains the entire time.

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Getting ready at Harrah’s across the street from the docks.

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The beautiful bride…

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and the handsome groom. The walk up to the boat was very nice.

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Gena and her sister keeping cool in the captain’s deck, waiting for her big entrance.

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The ceremony.

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Before the boat set sail for the reception, we headed to the beach to get this sweet shot.

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Congratulations Gena and Joel!

Hermosa Inn Wedding | Cara & Mike

Cara & Mike were married last Saturday at the beautiful Hermosa Inn in Paradise Valley, AZ. It was a beautiful sunny day…PERFECT for an outdoor wedding! Cara is such a beautiful person inside and out and Mike made it such a fun day with his playful demeanor. Here are some of my favorite pictures from the day:

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Congratulations Cara and Mike and have fun in Hawaii!

Desert Botanical Gardens Engagement | Erika & Mike

Recently, I met up with Erika & Mike at the Desert Botanical Gardens. Erika and Mike enjoy the gardens a lot, so we thought it would be a perfect place for their engagement session. These two never stop laughing. They are such a fun couple to be around. I look forward to their wedding in May at the Scottsdale Marriot!

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February 13, 2010 - 10:42 pm Laura Durrer - I love the creative view point on the first photo. The colors are all so fresh and bright!

Tempe Engagement Photos | Cara & Mike

Cara & Mike are tying the knot at the beautiful Hermosa Inn on March 6, 2010 in Paradise Valley.  Mike is an Arizona native and met Cara through her college roommate, Courtney whose wedding I shot last month.

Last weekend we headed out to Mill Avenue in downtown Tempe for an urban engagement session.

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For more of Cara & Mike’s engagement session, CLICK HERE for a slideshow.

November 30, 2009 - 4:20 pm Laura Durrer - Love the shadow shot, and the pointed finger reflection. Great work!

Remembering to be Thankful

This time of year is hard for me, the consummate deal-finder.  The onslaught of emails, ads, and twitters offering promotions are so tempting, it makes it hard to remember what this holiday is really all about.

I am thankful for so much: my husband and two wonderful kids, my health, my friends, clients, and the country in which I live.

Wishing you and your loved ones a very happy day of thanks,
Jen

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