In honor of our beautiful hairstylist's birthday today, we're giving out gifts to you guys to celebrate! How great is that? It's Amanda's birthday and we're giving YOU gifts!! How do you enter? Tell Amanda Happy Birthday on our Facebook Page or this Blog of course!!! :D I'll post pictures of all the gifts we're giving away throughout the day! Keep checking back to see more gifts! ♥ And if you have something great to say about the Amazing Amanda Adams, Share the love!! Our drawing will take place tonight! Some lucky ladies and gents will win the gifts below...
Our Amanda Themed Gifts to You!!!
First Gift Giveaway Post:
2 lucky ladies will receive $35 gift cards today to use with Amanda at the beautiful Stem Hair and Body Salon! Thats where Amanda works full time. On top of stylin' all our beautiful pinup girls, she's my personal hairstylist too! <3
Second Gift Giveway Post:
If you know Amanda, you know that she always has the prettiest kitten necklace hanging from around her neck. It's a heart and inside it, a kitten sits adorably with a gem in it's collar. So, I thought for this next giveaway gift, why not get a kitten for another to wear? One that is just as sweet as the one Amanda wears. Check out this fun kitten necklace from the fantastic Donna's Dress Shop! A lucky person out there who wished Amanda a happy birthday will win this adorably unique gift today!
Third Giveaway Post:
Amanda LOVES dresses! It's true and something that I happen to love about Amanda (I'm in love with dresses too!) Well, for our next giveaway gift, one lucky gal will win a $50 gift card from Retro Vixen to buy their own beautiful dress today! Thanks to everyone who has wished Amanda a Happy Birthday so far!! ♥
Our Final Giveaway Post:
For our final gift to you on our hairstylist's birthday...you may have already guessed it! We are giving away a Limited Edition Pinup Session in honor of our lovely Amanda! The session you could win is outlined in the "Be Some Bunny for your Hunny" photo above! :D
I haven't done a personal post on here in a very long time-since I started this blog last summer. That's lame. I know that I should be writing on here about interesting things happening in my life, my business's life, and about all the different topics you guys voted on through Facebook! Especially since that was in my New Year's Resolution.
It is with this realization that I deem Sundays to be Bloggin' Fundays!
Yes, yes. Indeed.
On Sundays, I will tell you something neat I did, a cool thing happening in KC I attended, or ridiculous adventure I had over the weekend with friends, family or strangers that became friends.
So, since I didn't prepare this Sunday with appropriate photography of said weekend, I don't have much to report. This is what I have pictures of, though!
Amanda Adams changed my hair color from a faded red (5 inches of roots people!!) to a really pretty red with blonde highlights. I love it!
My husband Alan baked me an apple pie as well-his first apple pie in the history of his life.
Pretty cool!
(That's our dog Harley behind him. I know tons of you were praying for our puppy! Thank you so so much for the love. Harley just got over a 4 day stay at Crest Animal Hospital and is doing SUPER great!)
It might seem hard to believe, but we DID have a more eventful weekend then this. I just don't have pictures of it. Next week, next week...
I will definitely have something interesting to tell you and I wont forget to take pictures!
I just love February. Tomorrow is Valentine's Day, too! It is definitely time I post about our February Giveaway.
In case you didn't know, we are giving away something EVERY month of this year on Facebook, twitter, or our blog! Last month we gave away a $50 gift certificate. The lucky winner was Heather McGlothlin! This month we are doing something a little bit different...
Today is the first day of SNOW! I know-for all you Chicago people out there you guys are thinking, what is she talking about? We lucked out in that today was the first day that it snowed and stayed on the ground. I thought, how can we incorporate this into our giveaway for February? This is what I came up with!
I want to see your favorite Winter Photos!!!
1. Email me your favorite winter picture. It has to be one that you took! The picture can be funny or serious or just pretty. It doesn't really matter-just one that is special to you and showcases something awesome about snow! Email that to hilary@hilaryhopephoto.com by THIS FRIDAY February 17th, 2012. (This means if you don't have a snowy photo-you still have time with this week's snow to get out there and snap some shots). We will choose our 10 favorites and post them to our Facebook Page on Saturday February 18th in an album titled "February Giveaway!"
2. Have you, your friends, your family, your family's friends-everyone you know "Like" our Facebook Page and "Like" YOUR Snow Covered Photograph when we post them on February 18th! They must do both for their "like" to count as a vote for your photograph. Voting will take place until Midnight on February 25th!
3. We will announce the Winner of our February Giveaway on Sunday Febraury 26th, 2012!
THE WINNER RECEIVES:
1 Creative Lifestyle Session Credit to use in March, April or May on any type of Creative Lifestyle Session on our website!
$100 Print Credit, to use on whatever photos or products that your heart desires!
A featured blog post with 15+ preview images
A featured album post on our Facebook Page with 15+ preview images
Bragging rights to having the most "liked" winter photo in town!
Questions? Leave a comment on this blog post or email me!
I am SO excited to be able to offer this to you guys and I cannot WAIT to start looking at all your wonderful photographs. Sharing a memory is one of the best traits a photograph holds. I can't wait to see yours! Better get to emailing!!! :D
You must be 18 years of age or older to participate and all the above actions must be completed for your entry into our contest to be valid.
Entries start today, February 13th, 2012 and will be accepted until February 17th, 2012 12am.
Session must be executed in the months of March, April, or May of 2012 or prize is forfeited.
Winners must be Kansas City Area residents, or be able to make it into the Kansas City Area with their own transportation on the day of their session.
There is no purchase necessary and purchase will not help your chance of winning.
Winner is chosen by the public based on "likes" taken from our Facebook Page. "Likes" from a person who does not like "Hilary Hope Photography" on Facebook will not count towards the "like" total.
Though this contest takes place on Facebook, we are not an affiliate of Facebook.
I am so ridiculously excited right now. The amazing Katty De Lux has featured me on her blog Chronicles of a Sweet Tooth today! True story. I am honored to be a featured post within her series "Sweet Taste of Freedom." This series features a collection of women who own their own businesses and design their own schedules. I have to tell you, it's a pretty amazing honor to be grouped in with these awesome independent women who already have been featured and will be featured on her amazing blog.
So what does this mean for you, oh awesome Hilary Hope Photography blog reader? Well, check out the photo below!
We had a lot of entries into our Foxy Pinup Session Giveaway in December, and I read a lot of entries that were just fantastic! Seriously, it's so great to hear about strong women in our society-ones that show courage in the face of adversity. It was our mission to give a special woman, one who had an especially hard year but kept pushing forward, and her best friend a great session full of Foxy Pinup pampering for free! The winners of our Foxy Pinup Session Giveaway were Brandi and Stefanie!
Brandi was nominated by Stefanie and her entry was very moving. Brandi lost her fiance last year in a work related accident and Stefanie is the one who introduced them. After meeting Brandi, I can easily see why Stefanie nominated her. Brandi is so upbeat and FUN!! She had a smile on her face from the moment she walked through our doors. What a sweetheart! And by the way, Stefanie is totally kick-butt as well! Aside from her sweet attitude, she is in the military! Thank you for your service, Stefanie!
Brandi and Stefanie both participate in the Polar Plunge. This is the event in which awesomely brave people dive into FREEZING cold water to help raise money for special olympics. (Cold water frightens me, haha...but seriously). Brandi also helps organize Relay for Life-one of the organizations I love-that raises and donates money to the American Cancer Society.
I speak for both Amanda and I when I say that it was an honor to have met you both! Thank you for letting us capture a little of who you both are, and for being an inspiration to women everywhere! You girls rock!
We are going to cover a lot of material in this blog post, so I'm just going to start it off with our January Facebook Giveaway. Our Giveaway for January is a $50 gift certificate to do with whatever you please! All you have to do is follow the "share" steps on the Facebook page to share this lovely photo of Jessica in your newsfeed and you are automatically entered into the drawing! You must share using the "share" button on Facebook so that I see it in the feed! Also, make sure the "share" is public, otherwise I can't see your name in the posts on who shared the photo. For instructions and to pull up the photo, click here.
As David Bowie would say...
This year is going to bring about MAJOR changes at Hilary Hope Photography! First of all, incase you didn't know, Alan and I are expecting a little one on July 3rd!
We are really really happy!
And also, a little scared....
(I look great with my nostrils flaring, don't I?)
So obviously, the baby is going to bring about a lot of changes in our lives, as well as my business. The biggest change regarding HHP is that the Foxy Pinup Groupon from August of last year now expires 6/20/12 instead of 8/15/12. We sent out an email through Groupon regarding this change 6 months in advance for the ladies out there that haven't redeemed their Groupon yet. You are also welcomed to return and refund your Groupon as well! You can do that at http://www.groupon.com/support. If you have questions, don't be afraid to ask me!
A second change to the business is regarding scheduled time. This really wont affect you guys as much as it does me. I've reached the point where it is hard for me to get up and down-which means it's harder for me to show ladies "legs up," "not for you," and "I'm so cute" without getting out of breath. (Honestly-I think it's because this child is going to be a giant!) What this means for you guys is that we will no longer be taking up to 11 appointments per week (up to 3 per day). We instead will be doing up to 4 appointments in a week. This helps both me and you-you get a better experience with a non-cranky limber pregnant lady who can definitely get you your photos in a timely manner!
Another schedule change is that instead of having appointments on Tuesday at 9am and at 12:30pm, we will be switching those segmented times to 4pm. The rest of our time slots will remain the same.
One of our biggest changes will be on our Facebook Page. Due to a lot of issues I had this year with Facebook images, I wanted to simplify it. We will still post photos on our Facebook page, though it will just be a little different. We will no longer be posting "previews" of images in albums on our page in the format we have been doing for the past year. Instead, any image you purchase from us you will also receive a digital copy to post on whatever social networking site you want. This will effectively eliminate the shopping cart option of purchasing social network images-giving you an extra $35 value for each photo you purchase. The digital copy will come on a customized flash drive with HHP written on the side. This is both for pinups and for creative sessions.
If you have purchased images from me that you would like to see on your Facebook page in 2012 from 2011, please email me. I will email you a digital copy of your file for you to post. A reminder about these particular digital files-they are sized exclusively for Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter, so they are not print ready images. We still retain the copyright for all of your photographs.
We are introducing Giant Metal Cover Wedding Albums! Choose Aluminescence, for that chic transparent, aluminum base that will allow the metal to show through or choose Brilliant, for a bright, clear glossy base that will showcase your image while maintaining true white and brilliant color that pops! For the back, spine, and protective corners choose from our great lineup of stylish leathers and synthetics, such as embossed crocodile, hot metallic, luxurious opal or thick distressed leathers. I am stoked beyond stoked after seeing these in person. Totally amazing and I am so glad that we are able to add these for our awesome clients!
You will still be able to shop directly from our website! Instead of being live for 60 days (excluding weddings) all events and pinups will be live for 30. You may extend your webshow for another month for $25. If you'd still like to extend your webshow after that, you can for $25/two week increments.
2012 is the year of Giveaways for us! We will be having a giveaway contest once a month for the whole year on Facebook, Twitter and exclusively for people that follow This Blog! We will also be doing numerous benefits, much like last years' Bassett & Beagle Rescue Pet Pinups! If you have an organization that you would like us to fundraise towards, please email me-hilary@hilaryhopephoto.com
Finally, our blog will look and feel a little different towards the end of this month. It's my personal resolution to write more on this blog about the different things we had you guys vote on in December! It turns out our readers (You wonderful People!) would love to hear about LOTS of different things going on in and around KC, fashion updates along with creative DIY ideas and updates on baby B! I'm going to make it happen for you guys and I'm really excited about it!
As always, thank you so much for letting me capture a little of who you are!
What our Facebook Page has been saying is true-we are giving away Foxy Pinup Sessions to two lucky ladies!
The Deets:
This contest is a very special contest to me and to Amanda. We want to give back to you ladies this Holiday season and we want to do it in a big way. This is the first time ever that we are giving away a Foxy Pinup Session, and we're doubling it to two!
Who wins?:
The winner of this contest is someone who shows love to everyone she meets even in times of trouble in her own life. We are looking for a strong, confident woman that needs a little pampering, especially if the past year has been hard on her. We want to give this to someone that really deserves it and needs a little loving in their life at this moment.
How do we decide?:
We pick the "who" above based upon what is written in the nomination by a friend. You cannot nominate yourself. The nomination of the "who" describes the situation the nominee has had, the character of the nominee, and any other fun things you'd like to put in about your nominee.
The nominee + the nominator BOTH win a Foxy Pinup Session together!
+Share This Blog Post Link on Your Facebook Page saying something along the lines of "You and Your Bestie Can Win a Free Foxy Pinup Session From Hilary Hope Photography! http://hilaryhopephoto.blogspot.com/2011/11/our-christmas-gift-to-you-december.html"
+Your friend that you are nominating's name, age, telephone number and email address
+Reasons outlining why your friend deserves the Foxy Pinup Session, especially if there are events that pertain to their past year's current situation
Fine Print:
You must be 18 years of age or older to participate and all the above actions must be completed for your entry into our contest to be valid.
Entries start today, November 11th, 2011, and will be accepted until December 1st, 2011 11pm.
The winners of the contest both win a Foxy Pinup Session together, which includes hair styling, vintage makeup application, a pinup outfit, a boudoir outfit, an hour in studio, photos together and single shots,an 8 x 10 for each participant and an online webshow gallery to share with all their special someones.
Session must be executed in the month of December, 2011 or prize is forfeited.
Winners must be Kansas City Area residents, or be able to make it into the Kansas City Area with their own transportation on the day of their session.
Their is no purchase necessary and purchase will not help your chance of winning.
Amanda and I will choose the winners and announce the winners on December 5th.
