Whitney | Portraits

Meet Whitney.

She's a creative brand strategist here in Richmond and she contacted me recently about doing some fun updated head shots for her new website!
I have to say that I definitely had way too much fun shooting with her. We instantly hit it off and I'm pretty sure we are just going to have to get coffee at some point because she's adorable and excessively talented and heaps of fun and just the cutest ever and I'm determined to be friends with her.
Oh and she can sing. 
Yea, no big deal.
Plus, I mean, hanging out on city rooftops at sunset? 
Count me in any day.

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Check out more here.

Interested in getting some portraits of your own done?

Email me for more info: by.leney@gmail.com

RAW: Natural Born Artists

Last night I went to check out the RAW showcase at the Hippodrome theatre.
I met heaps of very cool and talented artists, some of whom are mentioned below so be sure to check them out! 

RAW: Natural Born Artists is an indie arts organization all about highlighting the work of local artists and creatives in the city you live in. 
They have shows in 78 cities across the U.S. as well as in Australia and Canada. 
Their Richmond showcases are every other month and if you're a Richmond artist of any kind you should definitely check it out and look into submitting! It's a really great way to gain a little bit of publicity as well as meet other artists in RVA.
They have everything from fashion, photography, jewelry, visual art, film, music, hair and makeup, performing art and other artsy things. 
Even if you're not an artist, you should go check it out anyway because it's just a fun event to be a part of!

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Check out more photos (and tag yourself!) here.

Artists pictured:


If you see your work pictured and I didn't give you a mention, it's just because I didn't get one of your cards! Leave a comment below and I'll add you to the list.

Travel Inspiration

| Follow me on Instagram at @agirlnamedleney | 

A few travel related posts I've been in love with lately.
Because, you know, when am I not thinking about traveling?








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Do you have some favorite travel related posts?
Do share.


“We travel, initially, to lose ourselves; and we travel, next, to find ourselves. We travel to open our hearts and eyes and learn more about the world than our newspapers will accommodate. We travel to bring what little we can, in our ignorance and knowledge, to those parts of the globe whose riches are differently dispersed. And we travel, in essence, to become young fools again — to slow time down and get taken in, and fall in love once more.” -Pico Iyers

Do Ya Have A Question?


Photo Cred: Meagan Abell

Hey friends!
So I'm considering doing some monthly or bi-monthly Q & A videos (or maybe just blog posts because me on video is pretty awkward...), what do you guys think?
I get lots of emails and Facebook messages from you all with various questions, and while answering them individually is definitely doable, answering them all at once might be more efficient and beneficial for everyone!

So what do you think?
Would you have any questions you'd want me to answer?
Whether Etsy related, knitting related, photography related or anything else related? 
Let me know!
Post any questions you have here in the comments, or feel free to shoot me Facebook message or email: 
If I get enough feedback, I'll do a post early next month with some answers!


P.s. Thanks Janel for giving me the idea to do this. ;)

Maddie & Taylor | Wedding Part 3: Reception

As promised, here is the last post of some more favorites from Maddie and Taylor's wedding!
Sharing these with you guys is like living this beautiful day all over again.
Still so very excited for these two and their life together!
So much love.
♥

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Be sure to also see their...


And their gorgeous wedding video, by Josh Reid here
Interested in getting some portraits of your own done or having me shoot your wedding?

Email me for more info: by.leney@gmail.com

Maddie & Taylor | Wedding Part 2: Ceremony

Finally getting around to sharing more of this beautiful wedding!
I know it's been quite some time since I posted the first part, but I couldn't just not share the rest of these.
So here are a few (or more) of my favorites from the ceremony.
I'll be posting part three tomorrow!
(I did warn you that this wedding was going to get an extra blog post or two than the rest. But I mean, that's what happens when your high school best friend gets married)

Be sure to check out part one here.

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Be sure to also see their...





And their gorgeous wedding video, by Josh Reid here


Interested in getting some portraits of your own done or having me shoot your wedding?

Email me for more info: by.leney@gmail.com

The First Snow

It snowed here again a few days ago, and there's still some of it doggedly hanging onto little shady patches of grass and curbs and other untouched surfaces.
This has been my least favorite snow this winter. I am just more than ready for spring, and dresses, and sunshine and bare feet and windows down driving (actually, I still drive with the windows down when it's cold out... but I'm ready for it to be weather appropriate) and flowers and warmth and sweet tea (because for some reason I can only drink sweet tea when it's warm out) and sailing and reading on the beach and and.... well I guess you get the idea.

These were taken earlier this winter during our first snow (which I don't even remember when that was... we've had so much snow this year. For Richmond at least.) when I was excited about it and thought it was beautiful and magical and all of those sugary sweet things you feel about the first winter's snow.
I thought I'd share them today in an attempt to brighten my mood about this weather and to remind myself that spring will be here soon enough.
(Tomorrow technically, so I don't have long to wait!)


On The Road

On the road in Ohio
| Follow me on Instagram at @agirlnamedleney | 

I've been on the road quite a bit in the past few weeks. 
New York, Harrisonburg (twice), Ohio and now North Carolina. 
Lots of fun adventures, picture taking, knitting and donut eating (of course) to speak of.
It's a good thing half of my work is portable and can be done on planes and buses and in cars!

In other news, I just sent off my first ever wholesale order to a super cute shop in Oklahoma called Collected Thread. If you're ever in the area definitely go stop by!
They have a few of my Waldo Hats as well as some Original Snoods. 

Things over here are definitely super busy and I know I've been a little absent here on the blog lately but I promise I'll be back to posting more frequently soon.
I still have heaps of weddings to share with you after all as well as some travel photos and other exciting news!

Hope you all are having a lovely week. 
Thanks for all of your support and encouragement as always as I continue to pursue all of these crazy dreams of mine.
Couldn't do it without you.

♥ 

Goals | March

Photo Cred: Meagan Abell

 I have to admit that there were some things I wanted to accomplish from my February goals that I just didn't end up getting around to. I was initially a little disappointed by this, but then I remembered that these aren't just goals for the month, but for the rest of the year as well. I'm still in a process of achieving and acting out these goals and there isn't a time constraint to them. I can keep pursuing them even after their specific month is up. That was my original intent anyway was it not?

 For March I was definitely inspired by The Happiness Project and Gretchen's March goals and mine are very nearly the same. So there isn't too much originality with this month, but I think these are super important and even reflect January's goals to a certain extent, at least in the work aspect of things. I think I'm almost looking at this month's goals as a mid year boost if you will, to remember and continue on with my goals from the last two months. 

 A passage from The Happiness Project that I found particularly motivating was this one:
      "There's a common belief that happiness and ambition are incompatible. Many ambitious people I've known seem eager to claim that they aren't happy, almost as a way to emphasize their zeal, in echo of Andrew Carnegie's observation "Show me a contented man, and I'll show you a failure." Perhaps the happiness-thwarting feelings of dissatisfaction, competitiveness, and jealousy are neccessary goads for ambition. If I remained ambitious, was it impossible to be happy? If my project made me happier, would I become complacent? Was the arrival falacy an important mechanism to keep me striving? Studies show that many creative, influential people in the arts and public life score above average in 'neuroticism' (i.e., they have greater propensity to experience negative emotions); this doscontent arguably urges them to higher acievement. Other studies, however, show that people tend to think more flexibly and with more complexity when they're feeling happy. But whatever a wide-ranging study might show about the connection between ambition and happiness generally, I realized that for my own part, I was much more likely to take risks, reach out to others, and expose myself to rejection and failure when I felt happy."
This is very similar to how I am and the way that I work, so I'm going to keep this in mind as I tackle perfecting my work routine this month as well as remain ambitious and aiming higher in other non work related areas of my life. 
Wish me luck!



March | Aim Higher


Aim For Something Specific

  • Write down and finalize core values and share them. Have a clear direction for why I do what I do.
  • By doing a little bit each day you can get a lot accomplished.
  • Remind myself often to "Be Leney". Stay true to my vision of any given project.
  • I often have an idea of who I wish I were, and that obscures my understanding of who I actually am.
  • I want to bring more energy, creativity and efficiency to my work life. 
  • Remind myself how lucky I am to have the opportunity and ability to be as eager for Monday mornings as I am for Friday afternoons. Because I get to do what I love.
  • Challenge and novelty are key elements to happiness. The brain is stimulated by surprise, and successfully dealing with an unexpected situation gives a powerful sense of satisfaction. This is one of the many paradoxes of happiness: We seek to control our lives, but the unfamiliar and the unexpected are important sources of happiness. 
  • Start planning and designing the new pieces for the shop in the fall and come up with a game plan for creating inventory throughout the year and being more prepared for the busy season and holidays.
  • Re-write and update some of my About-Me sections on various social media. 


Enjoy The Fun of Failure


  • "Enthusiasm is more important to mastery than innate ability." -Gretchen Rubin
  • I'm often afraid of failure. And while it doesn't often prevent me from doing something, it does take me a lot longer than it should to initially build up the motivation and courage to do it. So remind myself that in order to have more success, I need to be willing to accept more failure. 
  • Failure is part of being ambitious and part of being creative. If something is worth doing, it's worth doing badly. 
  • Risking failure gives you the opportunity to score some success.
  • People don't notice your mistakes as much as you think they do.
  • Goals are much easier to tackle when you're in a happier state of mind. And often, once you've accomplished the goal itself, it then in turn becomes an engine for happiness itself. 

 Work Smart


  • Consider the way I spend my time. Are there pockets of time that I could use more efficiently? 
  • Wake up early. It's easier to get things done earlier because there are fewer interruptions. I've let my good sleeping habits slip over the last month, get back into them!
  • Figure out in which environment I best work in and when.
  • Find out new ways to incorporate novelty and challenge into my work routine.
  • What inspires me to work? Make more time for those things and make them priorities. For example: Art Galleries, adventuring and exploring new places, reading blogs, books and magazines, getting dressed in the morning (only stay in yoga pants if I'm actually going to Yoga...) and a clean work space.


Enjoy Now


  • "The arrival fallacy" is the belief that when you arrive at a certain destination, you'll be happy. It is a fallacy because, though you may anticipate great happiness in arrival, arriving rarely makes you as happy as you anticipate. Additionally, arrival often brings more work and responsibility. It's rare to achieve something that brings unadulterated pleasure without added concerns. The challenge therefor is to take pleasure in an atmosphere of growth. In the gradual progress made toward a goal, in the present. 
  • If I can enjoy the present I don't need to count on the happiness that is (or isn't) waiting for me in the future. 
  • Have the mindset that the fun part doesn't come later, now is the fun part.
  • "The chief happiness for a man is to be what he is" -Erasmus