I’ve been keeping something from you. And I’m not proud of it.

I’ve been keeping a whole bunch of awesome giveaways from you guys for no other reason than we’ve been so busy it’s hard to give a lot of love to the blog!

SO on this GLOOMY Monday and with a house full of SICK kids (luckily I had foresight and hired our awesome sitter to help me cope today!) I decided it was high time to share some of these awesome products with you! And if I can keep it up, maybe this will be the week of giveaways! We’ll see!

So to start out, we have the AWESOMELY talented Holly McCaig! She’s a local girl who is so full of creativity it spills out in more ways than I can count! She also is just an amazing person. When she saw we were doing the Mohr Mini Sessions to benefit the Mohr family she offered to give us some headbands to use that day but then she took it to a whole new level and took some of our fabric from our backdrop to make CUSTOM headbands! Can you believe it? She went so far out of her way for us it was amazing. And so appreciated. Here are some of her headbands at work!
OK! Are you obsessed? You should be! Holly is amazing and well, we’re LOVING all of her headbands we now have in the studio to play with! Holly if you ever want to send us  more… HA! Seriously, her quality is awesome and she does CUSTOM headbands for anyone! Not just two local photogs begging her to help them make the Mohr Mini’s extra special!

Holly answered some questions for us so take a minute and find out about all the other things she’s got up her sleeve these days!

1. You are SO busy! Can you tell us about each of your businesses?

I own Holly McCaig Designs, LLC which is my company that houses all of my creative operations. Currently, I run three operations with the most extensive being Pink Ink Studios, a design and template resource store for photographers.  We’ve been in business since 2007 and have been very successful with it. Luckily, I have lots of help from our team. So I’m able to manage the store and the designers that sell with us, and find time to create and sell my own designs. My other area of creative revenue is what I’ve been calling Holly McCaig Creative.  This is where we sell our handmade chalkboard props and headbands. Certainly more of a side thing. We don’t overly promote or overly stock the store. It’s more for fun and a little extra cash. My mom does the production and shipping of the chalkboards while I make headbands for fun when I have time. I just really enjoy that distraction when I have the opportunity. And, there is my photography business. Unfortunately, that hasn’t been very lucrative for me, so I haven’t been scheduling it or promoting it. My focus really has been on Pink Ink Studios and designing. I know it seems I have a lot going on, and while I do, when you spell it out like that I kind of like keeping my hands a little in everything. Creativity is good for the soul!

2. What was your inspiration to start making headbands?

I just ADORE fancy hair pieces. I cannot pull them off myself. I wish I could. But, I started with a trash the dress session and I made a few pieces for that and then just stopped. I love being crafty (always have been) so finding something I could do while watching television was a must. I look at it as being more down time for me. Sewing and putting them together while watching The Real Housewives is pretty crazy for me on a Saturday night! 🙂 After a while, they started piling up – the finished pieces – so I figured, I would sell what I make, and why not offer them to other photographers?

3. Out of all the creative things you do each day, what’s your favorite way to spend your time?

I miss shooting so much. But, the constant need to make it a business foremost with the dreaded part of dealing with undesirable situations and clients made it tough. If I could do it every day, for fun, and not worry about money, it would be that! But, I love interacting with my fans on Facebook with my daily Question of the Day. Even if it’s just generic questions that spark conversation. I’m a big believer in “NO SECRETS” so if I can engage dialogue that helps someone else out, that’s pretty awesome to me too.

4. Kim and I are both aware of how hard it is to separate yourself from work when you do what you love and work from home… so how do you give yourself “down time”?

I guess I could consider myself fortunate that no one really relies on me (meaning, no kids or hubby) except my doggies (3 of them). So, I can start my day when I want and end when I want. I can feel it in my body when I’m just too tired and I need to stop. If I need to sit until 10 a.m. drinking my coffee while all three dogs pile on top of me sleeping, I’m good with that. But, family always comes first. If my brother comes over, I stop everything and hang out until he leaves late at night. If my aunt wants to run to the craft store, I will go with her. If my family wants to go see my grandpa, I go. It’s about priorities and I think of my family as down time.

5. What’s your best stress-relieving trick when deadlines loom?

LISTS! Every morning, I start my day with a list. I transfer items from the day before. Writing it down on paper and having it next to me is important. I look at my email and I add new things to it. I determine which needs to be done first. Even if I don’t do them all, I feel accomplished because I can see what is there. To relieve some of the stress, I may stop and have a drink with mom (martini please) or get another cup of coffee and go outside for a little with the dogs (if it’s warm, of course). Then, I feel like maybe I can get back to it and get the next step done.

6. Anything new coming up to watch for? You always have the best ideas, we’d love to be looking out for the next one!

YES! I have just launched a new website called, Inside the Locker. I know, you must think I’m crazy! It’s a website/blog that will be for senior portrait photographers. It’s inspiring, helpful, resourceful. If I could photograph one subject it would always be seniors. I know I’m not a baby photog (you two win that one!) and I know I love the age of these kids and getting to know them and helping them feel great in their photos. If I can’t be lucrative in the photography business, I knew I wanted to still be involved. So, I developed this site and am starting to get lots of great feedback. We have a lot of people I’m talking to about coming on board as contributors. It’s completely open, free, and no forums. It’s just great inspiration and information right there for people to come see. It was a site lacking in our industry. Seniors need love too! You can find it at www.insidethelocker.com. My intentions are for it to be a daily blog, but for now, we’re slowly getting it going and winning fans. It also challenges me to shoot for fun with some special assignments (that feeds my creative soul, too).

THANK YOU HOLLY!

And are you ready for the giveaway?

Ok.

First, go like Holly McCaig Creative on FB and then head to the Fresh Art FB page to let us know you did! Leave a comment on the contest there (on our FB page) letting us know you “liked” Holly and you’re entered to WIN a CUSTOM headband valued up to $25! How awesome is that? Custom! That means she’ll make one JUST FOR YOU! Because she’s rad like that.

Thanks for the giveaway Holly and for sharing here on the blog! Hope this cures someone’s Monday blues!