workin it: cindy branton

a bunch of months ago i did 3 (or 4?) spotlights on small businesses/entrepeneurs i know and love. i've been meaning to write this one up for awhile but i keep losing my mind and forgetting, so before i forget again, here is my beautiful friend Cindy Branton, and her incredible flower accessory store on Etsy. (if you don't know what Etsy is, it's a website for disgustingly talented and carfty folk, like cindy, to sell their art. it's pure danger. you will sit in front of your computer for hours, drooling, and wanting. hide your credit cards. except to buy cindy's stuff :)

so this is cindy:

actually, it's cindy and her beautiful tiny baby brielle. (cindy, next time i'm wearing cargo pants, i will probably put her in one of the pockets and just steal her!) look at this picture. once you get over the beauty of my friend (good arm-muscle tone!), and then her daughter, your eye rests on the hair piece that cindy is wearing. amazing, i know. and she made that one, and a buttload of others like it, all by hand. i know she has made over a hundred of them and sells them at different events around the valley. i think she is waiting for lily and topher to be agile enough to work for her, because they are asian, and should already have jobs, and were made for sweatshop-life. Haha. just kidding. kind of...

anyway, check out cindy's shop at: http://www.etsy.com/shop/crbranton
(omg people!!!! i got a link to finally work!!!!!)

here are two of the pieces you will find there:

they are $7, and come in a variety of colors, materials, and centers. amazing, right? and they look incredible in your hair, but you can also pin them on to a hat, scarf, headband thingy (brielle is almost always sproting one :), pretty much anything. happy shopping!

ps. if you are an entrepeneur of sorts and would like to be featured on my blog, please drop me an email or make a comment in the comment section!

Small Business: Chris Fleck, Plumber Extraordinaire

i feel kinda bad cause i have tons of pics of my other small business friends that i am plugging today. i unfortunately do not have any pics of chris fleck. the man who saved us million$$$$$... ok. thousand$$$.

two weeks ago we had an issue with one of our rental houses. apparently the cold water wasn't really working. so chris (mine) got to calling some plumbers. he called a company that he had heard advertised on the radio. they said it would cost $40 for someone to come out and look at the issue. just to LOOK. 'ok' we said.

so the guy comes out and Looks. then he calls us and tells us something happened with our water softner, and it blew pellets through the pipes and we had to replace everything. for $2,800. yikes. and then the guy said we owed him $70. we said 'no'. his company quoted us $40, so we paid them $40. don't know what the extra $30 was about. still don't. and now i don't care.

then barb suggested we call this guy- chris fleck. he used to be the superintendant of plumbing for Pulte Homes, one of the major housing developers in arizona. but of course they lost a ton of money, and chris (the plumber) lost his job with them. but he has since been doing his own thing. which was great for us.

chris (the plumber) came, assessed, and fixed everything. for $800. the other guys said it would cost an extra $2,000. i don't know what that's about. still don't. and i don't care. maybe it was for the advertising that chris (mine) heard on the radio. the only advertising for chris fleck you ever hear may be here on my blog. he doesn't have a website. but you can find him on www.linkedin.com.

i never met the guy. but i know he is a hard working, honest man, trying to raise his daughters. if you need a plumber, call chris (the plumber. not my chris. he can't help you. unless you want your sink to get tazered or something.)

Small Business: Jenny Bishop Photography

meet Jenny Bishop. she is 3 weeks away from being a 100% full-time photographer!!!!
for now she is doing her due-diligence wrapping up her job at ASU. i don't remember what she does there, mostly cause it doesn't matter because that was not her calling! photography is!

Jenny is a severely talented photographer. her photos are all very crisp, clean, professional, yet occasionally whimsical, and always tons of fun. she does senior shoots, families, weddings, maternity, newborn, you name it, she will shoot it. (with her camera.) my personal faves are probably her wedding pics and her newborn shoots. whenever i see a cute bucket or basket, i want to put a baby in it and have Jenny photograph it. the thing i love most about her wedding shots are the unexpected pics that she takes. she often hangs the bride's gown and takes a picture of it hanging in a tree, or window. or she'll take pictures of shoes, whether the bride's or the ring bearer's. just little things that make a wedding album truly special to the bride and groom.

here are some of my favorite shots from her website (which you can find a link on the side of my blog):


one of my many faves of jenny's newborn pics!


a great wedding pic!


this is a great shot jenny got from the serious men, in what seemed to be a pretty fun and beautiful wedding.

anyway, i encourage you to give her a shout. she is now up in scottsdale, but is not afraid to drive. especially since this photography thing is her full-time gig :)

Small Business: Robert Watson Wedding Officiant

this is Robert Watson getting ready to perform YOUR WEDDING. that's his beautiful, supportive wife standing next to him.

this is Robert Watson performing a wedding I went to. Look how happy the groom is. he is happy he hired Robert Watson. who happens to now be his brother-in-law.


this is Robert Watson's website: www.azpastor.com

call him. send him a message. hire him. he is good at what he does. i have another post here somewhere... i already talked about him. but i am on this new kick right now where i am plugging small businesses/entrepeneurs that i know and love and want you to know and love and hire. they're all good, family oriented folks who are just trying to do the things that God has blessed them with the ability to do, and which they in turn love to do, and in turn give praise to God for allowing them to do what they do.

Small Business: Erin Dezago Photography

this is my friend erin.
she's a stunner. and she takes stunning pictures.
when i look at her pictures this word pops to mind:

e⋅the⋅re⋅al  /ɪˈθɪəriəl/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [i-theer-ee-uhl]
–adjective 1. light, airy, or tenuous: an ethereal world created through the poetic imagination.
2. extremely delicate or refined: ethereal beauty.

erin's pictures are very delicate, and very refined. every photoshoot looks like it is taken on the perfect sunday afternoon. (although, i guess a lot of her pictures really are taken on sunday afternoons since she works part-time, and is a full-time mom.)

erin takes amazing pictures, and i would say her forte is (are, actually, she's got more than one!) family pics and senior pics. she is so great at capturing people's personalities- from little babies, to big kids, to parents. she also does weddings, and maternity, and newborn pics, which are all really creative and beautiful. and ethereal.

anyhoo, there is a link to erin's website on the side of my blog. (note: i CANNOT get a link within the body of my post. what is up with that?!?!? someone who is smarter than me- help me out!!!)

this should be what you see:


give her a call if you need some amazing pictures taken of yourself, or your loved ones. she also made my birth announcements for topher, and i have been to her house while she was putting together wedding invitations that she ordered/designed for a couple. i probably should check with her if she actually still does that stuff, but she is a creative genius, and God was real heavy-handed when He threw artistic abilities her way.

here are a few pics that i love that she has taken:


this is one of my favorite pics from erin's website. it's just a fun family having a fun time and erin having a quick trigger-finger to capture a pretty awesome moment.


yes i love this pic! yes, it's of my sister and her family. it's a double-whammy of love!


senior shots! so so so so so fun and awesome!