I know Valentine’s Day is over…

But I had a few more hearts to share…

xoxo

Leslie

For many of us Valentine’s weekend will start with flowers, chocolates and the Olympics.

Mine started with fresh baked cookies from a friend.

Happy Valentine’s Weekend!

xoxo

Leslie

When it’s cold outside it’s a constant challenge to find new things to photograph and there are only so many pictures I can take of Mickey.

But my friend Tatiana recently joined the company Tribal Societé.  This dynamic company offers a variety of environmentally friendly jewelry and accessories made by artisans of tribal villages around the world.

These artisanal finds stem from designers in Colombia, Brazil, Ecuador, El Salvador, Peru and Thailand.

The colors and textures of the jewelry are stunning and the use of natural materials as Tagua and Acai make these designs truly unique.

The Tagua nut comes from palm trees, known as ivory palms or tagua palms, found in South America. It is eco-friendly, sustainable, durable and light weight. Jewelry handcrafted from tagua is absolutely stunning whether in natural tagua ivory or dyed. Tagua furthers important environmental and socioeconomic goals by stimulating local economies in South America, providing an alternative to destroying rain-forests and preventing elephants from being killed for their ivory tusks.  The brilliance of Tagua can be seen in the piece below.

Tribal Societé jewelry can be purchased direct from their e-commerce site or from select boutiques around the country.  As a globally inspired company a portion of sales are donated to The Global Fund for Women.

And if you or someone you know is interested in starting their own business Tribal Societe offers trunk show kits that allow you to become your own reseller of the jewelry.

My photos were shot with a homemade studio and the help of some low cost supplies from – Home Depot – not bad!

If you haven’t yet purchased your Valentine’s Day gifts I hope these images inspire you to shop at Tribal Societé.

Enjoy!

Leslie

Last November I posted about the site Cocodot.

A service of beautiful online invitations and greetings for all occasions.   Cocodot allows users to save time and money on printing, postage and design.

Invites can be customized with photos and text and a personal dashboard allows you to manage events, addresses, RSVP’s and more.

What is really exciting is their recent Vanity Fair news coverage as a favorite source for luxe-looking stationary and cards.

If you haven’t already tried Cocodot, I highly recommend giving it a try.

Enjoy!

Leslie

Architecture is a challenge for me.  I like details and large structures can be overwhelming to me.

But I keep trying and I’m committed to one day buying a wide angle lens to experiment even more.

One of my favorite photographers is Jean-Michel Berts (the French Ansel Adams of architecture).  He says “Architecture is the cultural reflection of a civilization” – so true, especially for Paris.

You can’t visit Paris and not want to be a part of it.  The city is beautiful, imposing, and sometimes daunting (Which I’m sure the kings liked).

Paris is one city by day and another by night.  When the sun goes down and the lights go on the city sparkles, but with more than two thousand years of history it can also feel haunted.

When you have a car in Paris there is nothing better than a “Paris by Night”.  Driving around the city at night with no other reason then to enjoy the city lit up.

Even if the photos aren’t perfection I hope they convey some of the emotion of seeing Paris by night.

Enjoy!

Leslie

PS: Visit the Sous Les Etoiles Gallery through January 29th for an exhibition of “The Cities of Jean-Michel Berts”.