Generation Y: Facebook and Twitter

The world is changing and we've got to keep up so here goes!

Facebook is the #1 social networking site. You can find us by clicking here. We've decided we're going to start posting images from sessions on Facebook and tag our clients! Make sure you're friends with IP. This is a great way to show off your images!

The New York Times calls Twitter "one of the fastest-growing phenomena on the Internet." TIME Magazine says, "Twitter is on its way to becoming the next killer app," and Newsweek noted that "Suddenly, it seems as though all the world's a-twitter."

We're now officially on Twitter. You can find us at www.twitter.com/IPbyKG or watch the Twitter updates on here!

Daddy's Little Man

Meet Trey - a born and raised Davidson Wildcats fan. His dad, Ronald, was on Coach Bob McKillop's first recruiting class 20 years ago! According to Trey's mom, Melissa, Coach McKillop is ready to sign Trey to the Wildcats now, since he already knows he'll attend Davidson after high school. Here's a few images of Trey in his dad's jersey.





Trey is Stephen Curry's biggest fan, so we had to get a few images of him in his #30 jersey!

This is one of our favorites. His session was about a month after his 4th birthday.

We wanted to share this session with you because it had a unique theme... and we love the Horton family! But keep this in mind for Father's Day. This would make every daddy's heart melt!

Purple Day - February 25th

The Power of Purple can help save 90 additional LIVES in the fight against Cancer through Relay for Life! Purple Day is Feb. 25th.

Watch as we paint Cabarrus County Purple! We dressed in purple to show our support for Relay for Life and the fight against cancer!

We're participating in 2009's Relay for Life in Concord on May 9th, so stay tuned for more info. We hope to display our 2008 survivors and maybe even recruit a few new ones while we're there!

Safe Kids Cabarrus Event

Remember, we told you a few weeks ago about Safe Kids Cabarrus and Karen joining their advisory board. Well, we've scheduled an event you're going to be very excited about!

On Saturday, March 21st, Irresistible Portraits will be hosting a Safe Kids Cabarrus Event. From 10am to 2pm, there will be Child Passenger Safety Seat Certified Technicians available in the Fifth-Third Bank parking lot (next door) checking to make sure your car seats are installed properly. This service is FREE! Any donations given will go directly to Safe Kids Cabarrus.

*Quick Fact: 9 out of every 10 car seats are inproperly installed!! (Scary, huh?)

But that's not all, Karen will be photographing portraits with Concord's 1968 restored Seagrave firetruck. Packages will be available for $60 and half of the proceeds will go to Safe Kids Cabarrus. (There will be no appointments. Just drop by between 10am and 2pm!)

Here's a few images of the '68 Seagrave firetruck...

I think this fire truck is every little boy's dream! Mr. Franklin (from the Fire Department) said we could climb on it, sit in it, everything but drive it! So, this will be lots of fun for the kids!

We're planning on having hamburgers and hotdogs available for lunch, so mark your calendar to spend your day with us!

Safe Kids Cabarrus is such a great organization. We hope that we can raise a significant amount to donate!

Head over Heels

Meet Julie and Don Shaw. They've been married just a little over a year now and wanted portraits made together. We had so much fun with these two! They were both relaxed and easy going, which made it easy to capture true emotions. You should see the way they look at each other. They're head over heels for one another!

Take a look!















Julie & Don, thanks for being so great! We had a blast with you and look forward to photographing your family portrait! BFF! (haha)

Avalyn Claire

We have fallen in love with this beautiful little girl. Meet Avalyn Claire. She's only 9 months and already we think she's a top model! Just look at her beautiful eyes!



This is a new idea that we saw recently and had to have one! It's a tall, skinny wrap with texture on top and bottom. We decided to make a sample; pretty unique, huh?



We'll let you know how beautiful it is when it gets here!!

Cute Valentine Story

Here's a cute Valentine story for you....

So, Nia has been in pre-school for three years now. She's watched all the princess love stories, makes up her own elaborate stories; which are always very dramatic. Anyway, there is a boy at school named John that she says she wants to marry. She started saying this when she was two. At the time, this kid wore a pooh hat every day (kind of a security blanket). Michael said I need to have talk with this kid named John. I told him he shouldn't worry about a boy that wears a pooh hat every day. Even at Halloween, he wore a skeleton costume with his pooh hat :-). That was when he was two, now he's four and wears gloves every day and has since he was three. He gave up his hat and wears gloves every day without fail. Even this summer in 90 degree weather, he'd be on the play ground wearing gloves. Nia remains true to her glove wearing Romeo. Michael says this kid should get it in writing!

So, we're making valentines for school and we're writing little sayings on the hearts like "Cool Cat", "Purr fect", "Be Mine", "UR Kind" etc. I say do you want me to write "Marry me" on John's and she says: "Yes!" Had to get this photo for a great laugh someday.

At least she's not fickle....... :-)

Smiles,
Gina

Krazy Kidz!!!

Our Krazy Kidz frames have arrived. They're being displayed on our front porch right now!

We're so excited about promoting this new line of frames! There is an unlimited amount of different colors and combinations you can put together to form the PERFECT frame for your print. There's polka dots, swirls, stripes, solids, textures. There's wavy trims and shaped fillets. The sky is the limit!

These frames are perfect for nurseries, play rooms, and children's bedrooms! These sessions are a great opportunity to let your kids have fun. Let them pick out their favorite outfits - even if it's mismatched.

To introduce this new line of frames, we're offering 30 minute sessions with $ 40 session fees. But the best part is... you receive 20% off the price of the print, when you purchase a Krazy Kidz framed portrait. AND for an introductory offer, we're giving "gift prints" to accompany the frame. The quantity of gift prints you receive depends on the size of the framed Krazy Kidz portrait you choose! (But this is an introductory special, so don't wait to schedule your Krazy Kidz portrait session!)

We look forward to hearing from you!!!

Client Showcase - The Pless Family

For our first 2009 IP newsletter, we chose to showcase the Pless family. We like to showcase families that have an inspiring story to tell. Sara and Frank have just that!

Our relationship with Karen and IP started early in 2007. I'm in direct sales and had been picked by the company to represent them in Oprah's O Magazine. Talk about thrilled and shocked beyond belief! I had to have professional head-shots done and I immediately thought of Irresistible Portraits. I had heard about their great reputation and was vaguely familiar with their work. I was so excited to be able to give them a try.

So I took my son Kendall, who was 4 at the time with me to the session. After she had captured the business shots I shyly asked her if she minded taking "just one" picture of me and Kendall. You should know that I LOVE pictures, but being Mom - I'm always the one behind the camera. She was so gracious and didn't mind at all. Kendall of course was great, and we left the studio.





When she called me back to come and view the images I was blown away. The business shots were perfect but I was in tears over the images of Kendall and I. She couldn't have had more than 5 minutes with just the two of us, but she captured his personality to a T. I knew right then and there that I would not be going anywhere else for photographs!



Kendall's 5th birthday was later that same year in June, so my husband Frank and I took him and had family photos done as well. Once again, Karen was amazing. Frank and I both really don't enjoy having our pictures taken, but she worked her magic anyway! From that session we picked out a book of various shots of Kendall and a gallery wrap for the family picture. Everybody who walks thru my door (and being the Bra Lady - that's a lot of people...) comment on what a beautiful picture it is.

Fast forward to May 2008...my sister, Lisa and I were BOTH pregnant! Lisa was expecting her first child - a daughter. And I was expecting TWINS! Identical little girls. I didn't take the opportunity to have maternity shots done when I was pregnant with Kendall, and I regretted it. So I called my sister and to IP we went. That session was SO much fun. We laughed and bared our bellies and of course had Kendall by our sides as well. Lisa was due in June, and I in September. My belly was already as big as hers!

We went back to view those images and placed our orders. And while sitting in the comfort of the studio I couldn't have imagined what was in store for our family.

Just a couple of weeks after our session I found out that my little girls were suffering from TTTS - Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome. This effects an estimated 6000 babies a year, and about 80% of those die. The sad part is that this is largely due to a failure to diagnose or adequately treat the problem. Fortunately, we had excellent prenatal care and knew the girls were sharing a placenta. We knew it could be a complication.

TTTS is a disease of the placenta that affects identical twin pregnancies. Because some blood vessels are shared unequal amniotic fluid levels can result. One baby is overwhelmed by an excessive amount of fluid while the other is "stuck" to the wall in the womb. I vividly remember that ultrasound - it looked like little Madison had been shrink wrapped to the uterine wall. I went in on a Monday for that ultrasound and my little ladies were delivered by C-Section the next day - born 13 weeks early.

Elisabeth weighed 2 pounds, 2 ounces and Madison was 1 pound, 12 ounces. They were supposed to be 3 months younger than their cousin, but instead came exactly one week before. After fighting minor heart problems, infection after infection, two brain surgeries and a 75 day stay in the NICU I'm happy to report that Elisabeth Anne and Madison Gayle were able to come home by September 1st. They are little miracles and full of spunk!

For their 6 month pictures we took them to IP in December 2008. Now I was thinking - Karen is good, but what can she do with THREE little babies all at once??!! (My sister's little girl - Jacey - was also with us.) Magic I tell you! She was kind enough to tell their story on her blog and when I saw the images - they took my breath away. I'm dumbfounded at how she can even capture the personality of a tiny little baby. From their wondrous little faces to Jacey's huge dark eyes and grin - we will cherish these photos forever.

We've had portraits made at other "cheaper" places, but never again. What we love about Karen and Buddy and the rest of the IP family is the attention to details and the quality of the end result. You don't come away with "just a picture", it's a work of art that you just want the whole world to see!

Thank you so much for all that you do. From the comfort of your studio to the hand written notes that I receive each time - you will be our family photographer as long as you are in the business!

For more information about TTTS - go to www.tttsfoundation.org

More than 200 babies are lost each day to various fetal distress syndromes. For more information go to www.fetalhope.org

To read Elisabeth and Madison's story: www.caringbridge.org/visit/plesstwins

Warmly,

Frank, Sara, Kendall, Elisabeth (Ibby), & Madison (Maddie)

Sara C. Pless (704) 796-6662
"The Bra Lady"
EBW Certified Fitter
www.myessentialbodywear.com/thebralady

Upward Basketball

Here's a few fun images from Upward Basketball at Memorial Baptist!

Thanks again!

Upward Basketball

The past two weekends, we've photographed the Upward Basketball league for Jackson Park Baptist Church and Memorial Baptist Church. It was a fun change of atmosphere! We had a lot of fun! Here's a few fun bloopers from Jackson Park!

We had a few long breaks throughout the day and had some time to play! Tara was trying some different poses....

and Karen was reminiscing of trying out for her church's cheerleading squad. She claims she didn't make the team because of her crooked elbow! (haha)

Thanks to all the coaches, players, and cheerleaders! We had a great time!

Stay tuned for some images from Upward at Memorial Baptist!