Me: I’m Chelsey. A wife to my best friend, and a mommy to my sweet little girl, Laureli (a.k.a. Ruari). So far being a mama has been beautiful, surprising, and difficult all at once! On this path through mommy-hood I hope to enjoy life as much as I can (even when it seems impossible). I’m a photography lover, crafty crafter, blogger, finder of curious creative goods, and a mama!

Hubby: Mike. We met WAY back in 2002… at the Dave Mathew’s concert at the Gorge in George, WA. He started off as a good boyfriend, turned into a great hubby, and now he’s a wonderful dad. He’s my chef and best friend.

Laureli (a.k.a.: Ruari): This is my little baby girl. Her name is Laureli… but, we call her Ruari (yes, like the Gilmore Girls. ;D). She was born on December 18th, 2009… it was a crazy birth (which you can read about here)… but, worth it in the end. This girl is my baby boo. Love her.

Angus: This would be our Chihuahua. He’s a little stinker. He makes our baby laugh all the time… even though he doesn’t really mean to. He’s just so funny looking!

Pistachio: This is our 17 pound chunk of a kitty. He comes to “chunk chunk” and is very lazy. He gets hair all over our house, but is a great cuddler!

Princess: I found this kitty in 2003 in a mall parking lot in Washington. She was just a little kitten mewing in a bush. I rescued her. She is one of the weirdest cats ever…. She’s recently decided to carry around baby’s bibs and socks in her mouth while yowling and walking them around the house…

F.A.Q.

Family questions:

- Was your baby named after Rory from the Gilmore Girls?

Yes she was!

- Do you live in Oregon?

Yup! I heart Oregon!

Photography questions:

- What’s in your camera bag?

Canon Digital Rebel Xsi

Canon 50 mm f/1.4

EF-S 18-55mm lens

Canon PowerShot SD870

my iPhone

PS CS3… want to update soon to CS5

Wishlist:

Canon Speedlite

Canon 18-200mm standard zoom lens

Canon Macro 100mm f/2.8

A drawing tablet

Illustrator

- Do you prefer natural light or do you use flash?  If so, what kind? I seriously prefer to never use a flash. I think it just really washes and bleaches everything out. I’d rather deal with editing noise out of a photo then trying to fix a crazy bright/washed out flash photo. I DO have dreams and plans of purchasing a Speedlite in the future… Christmas?

- Do you prefer either RAW or JPEG, or could you care less (I know this is usually a personal call)? I seriously don’t even understand or know too much about RAW… that’s my goal for the rest of this year… decide if I like RAW or JPEG better. Good RAW post on Paper Heart Camera: RAW vs. JPEG

- What is your everyday, go-to kind of lens? Well… as of right now I only have my kit lens and a 50mm 1.4 lens. I pretty much just keep my 50mm on at all times.

- How many batteries and memory cards do you have? I have one giant memory card (it’s able to hold about 3,000 photos) and one battery. I figure in the future I’ll purchase more… as a update my camera (dreaming). I also have an external hard drive to transfer photos from my computer… since I’m taking about 1,500 photos a month. Whoa.

Shop questions:

- Do you do custom drawings?

Yes I do! You can go to my shop for more info! I’d love to work with you. Expect a 1-2 month wait. If you want to order for the holidays… I recommend ordering at least 2 months early! I’m not sure how busy I’ll be.

- Can you help me make a blog button and blog grab box for me?

I do make blog buttons in my Etsy shop here. I include the grab box html for you when you purchase a button. If you want to make your own button… but, don’t know how to make the HTML code… check out this blog button grab box tutorial on my Paper Heart Camera site.

- Can you make a blog or shop banner for me?

Yes. I can help you out! Check out my Etsy shop here for more info!

- Do you do blog design?

No… I’m not that good. Html confuses me. I can just create Banners and Buttons for you in my Etsy shop here.
Blog questions:

- Where did “The Paper Mama” name come from?

Well… back in 2008 I started a blog: The Paper Lady (aka: Paper Lady Invites). I wrote on it here and there… but, I was never really into that blog. Due to my wedding/pregnancy/life… I barely kept it up to date. Especially after the really rough birth I had.

SO, when my baby girl was 4 months old I was having a really hard time with my post par tum depression… So lonely… everything felt empty. Terrible. I needed some way to connect back with the world. Just randomly while baby was taking her 20 minute nap… I decided to get back into blogging. I knew I wasn’t the Paper Lady anymore… so, who was I? I was The Paper Mama. The end.  

- Will you do a guest post/interview on my blog?

Probably! Email me and we can talk.

- Can I do a guest post on your blog?

No. I don’t usually have guest posts on my blog. I prefer to be the only writer on my blog. On occasion I may contact some of my favorite bloggers to post if I’m away… but, mostly no.

- Will you do a giveaway/review of my product?

Maybe. Email me and we can talk. I only give away items valued at $50 or more and prefer to do a review at the same time. If I feel your product doesn’t fit with my blog, I’ll let you know.

♡ Chelsey