I dig this girl...

My initial jump on the social networking scene was like that of many ladies.  I was a mommy blogger. And in writing, I ignored the fact that my posts were less than interesting and cared more that my site looked so plain.  I ran to the friend who introduced me to blogging and said, how can I get one of those cute decorations for the top of my page? [header] [and yes, I’ve always been this tech savvy].  She pointed me in the right direction. 

Enter the beautiful, talented, and oh-so-creative, Vanessa Warren...

photo by Lauren Larsen

I liked her work but I was especially drawn to her as a person-I thought we had a lot in common.  I just didn’t know how much...We had both lived in Nashville, we were both from Texas, and our husbands were musicians.  What I didn’t know is that our paths had crossed much earlier.  Kind of.  Michael used to sing at a weekly event in Dallas.  Mark Warren sang with him.  I married Michael.  Vanessa married Mark. But we didn’t find that out until we were well into our first blog design...

 Vanessa worked on three blog layouts for me over a three year period.  As I read more from other people, I developed a little bloggie “conscience” and decided that I was kind of boring. I began each year thinking a “new look” would somehow spice up the style [and frequency] of my posts. Vanessa always did her part...So when it came time to [VERY quickly] develop the brand for jen armstrong photography, I begged Vanessa to save me. I was in over my head; I knew she could translate “code” into English and simultaneously, make the translation look fancy.  Have you seen my logo?  ;)

...Today she’s the “mompreneur” behind butterflyspArks DESIGNS and butterflyspArks CREATIVE and she’ll tell you that she’s “honored to help the other moms who keep their households running and sit at computers at night, pursuing some of their other passions.”  

This superwoman has designed countless logos and other branding elements and she’s now doing styling work with photographers like Shannon Sewell, David Bean and Kelli Trontell. Over the holidays, Kelli and Vanessa were featured in http://www.GiftedMag.com [pg. 56 it begins]. Next up, she’ll be in Vegas at WPPI in February creating a set design for Shannon Sewell & Millie Holloman's Triple 7 Shootout. 

Get out.  And I knew her when she was designing my mommy blog.  

I'm even loving the way she's gotten me to look a little differently at my own approach to shooting...

“Really the story on how the CREATIVE piece came about was an effort to remove myself from the computer and allow my love for interior design and all things fashionable to be used in a creative way. I love photography and dreaming up a storyboard of what to shoot. So, naturally, I just fell in love with prop styling ... there's just such a freedom when you step away from the digital world and just let your mind run wild & make those crazy dreams come to life in a photograph."

The bottom line is, I just completely dig her, am inspired by her, and I wanted you to know!  Go look her up on Facebook.  She's a rock star.  Tell her your tech-savvy friend, Jen, sent you.  When she hears tech-savvy, she'll definitely think of me. 

Let's do this y'all, 

jen