Creative Collaborative: West Elm Birmingham & Urban Standard

For the first installment of our Creative Collaborative with West Elm Birmingham we hit the streets of downtown and ended up at one of this city's most loved coffee & food spots. Urban Standard opened it's doors in 2007 as a creative venue for local artists to come together, share their work and grab a latte & food. From music to improv comedy, the small stage at the front of the space draws Birmingham's locals to explore the culture & creativity of the city around them. Many of this city's formative meetings have taken place here amongst the eclectic mix of tables and antiques. 

On a normal day, an iconic sofa occupies the stage with a salvaged coffee table. Worn from years of conversations and study sessions this sofa boasts of tufted leather cracked with age and wooden curves any antique lover would be attracted to. 

We snagged some of West Elm's newest throws & pillows and a few accessories to give this charming sofa a makeover and loved the result!

West Elm has some amazing new textiles incorporating the artwork of New York based Leah Durner and the always fabulous Kate Spade. Bright, art inspired prints perfect for adding a pop of color to any room. We're also loving their Fringe Pillow collection handwoven by skilled Indian artisans. 

Throws are available in numerous colors, textures & materials. The Chain Lock Throw and it's chunky knit is close to Heaven on a cold day. The Softest Throw available in ombre and solid tones is a close second. 

For an unexpected touch we added in the Mongolia Lamb Pillow because we're digging fur right now and it's incredibly soft! For accessories we chose the simple design of the Hex Side Table. It's clean lines and marble top contrasted nicely with the worn sofa. We filled a gold Hedgehog Animal Planter with West Elm air ferns. And of course, no visit to Urban Standard is complete without a latte & snack. 

Special thanks to Trevor, Luke & the amazing staff at Urban Standard for letting up invade your space for an afternoon! Keep up with us on Instagram & Facebook for next month's Creative Collaborative and peaks into our daily happenings!

Spark & Arrow

(Photography/Styling by Spark & Arrow)

Info for products used is listed below.

1. Leah Durner Cobalt Pillow 2. Perfect Throw 3. Stripe Fringe Pillow 

4. Chevron Diamond Pillow Cover 5. Cable Knit Throw 6. KS Floral Study Pillow

7. Reversible Border Stripe Throw 8. Hand Loomed Pillow 9. Corner Fringe Pillow Cover

10. Mongolia Lamb Pillow 11. Hedgehog Animal Planter 12. KS Shifting Shapes Pillow

13. Ombre Softest Throw 14. Hex Side Table

Alcorn: Baby Pics : Hoover, AL

Last week we got to photograph this handsome baby boy. His mother wanted to document his sweet expressions before he got too much older. Absolutely precious & aren't those eyes striking?! He's gonna be a heartbreaker for sure!

We'd love to capture your family memories for you. Contact us or visit our website for more info on our sessions & rates!

Spark & Arrow

And the best baby outtake!

Spark & Arrow - Get to Know Us

First off, we have been beyond blessed the past few months by our clients, friends & family. Some of you know our story and some of you don't. Today, were sharing our background, vision & heart with you and hopefully a few smiles.

Spark & Arrow is Sarah Arrington (right) & Kamin Williams (left). Just FYI, we don't always look this put together & our office is never this clean. Our individual bios are on our website but today we want to talk about Spark & Arrow as a company.

In one sentence, what is Spark & Arrow?

Spark & Arrow is a photography, styling & creative production company helping individuals and companies establish a visual image which represents their unique lifestyle or brand.

How did Spark & Arrow start?

We both worked together for 7 years as staff photographers for a publishing company. It was our job to basically show up, set-up lighting, find the right angles & take the pictures. While this sounds like a dream job to many we found ourselves stifled creatively by the process. Creativity has run in our veins since the day we were both born and we needed a way to express it; to share it with others. We started a fun blog and started dreaming big. Decorating a party, offering styling advice, or sprucing up a room gave us a creative outlet that utilized all of our strengths, not just photography. It was from this idea that Spark & Arrow was born.  

Where does the name Spark & Arrow come from?

We get asked a lot, "Who's Spark and who's Arrow?" The answer is neither of us. We are both Spark & Arrow. Sparks start fires and are often the result of great things being forged. They are unpredictable yet precise at the same time. Metaphorically, Sparks are our ideas. They are the beginning of something new, unique & inspiring. Arrows are meant to be aimed at a target and if executed right will hit the mark. We aim to create an end result that will give our client's exactly what they are looking for. Brilliant execution of unabashed ideas... that is Spark & Arrow.

You are both relatively new moms. How does that play a role in Spark & Arrow?

We believe you can still be a hard-working professional woman & invest time in your children's lives. It's a balance that both of us are still fine tuning every day. Spark & Arrow is the leap we were both willing to take for our kids because we knew it would ultimately allow us to be better moms. Family is important & who we are as creatives and professionals is important to our families. Children need to see parents pursuing dreams & dreaming big and parents need to show their children that it can be done. It is our hope that one day our children dream just as big as we are. 

What's on the agenda for Spark & Arrow for 2015?

We've been booking up our usual weddings, family sessions & events and are looking forward to the amazing people we get to meet with these. We're also getting fired up about the clients we have wanting all new photography for their companies. Helping them form a visual brand through photography & styling is exciting and adventurous. These images are being used for new websites, social media & marketing materials. A well executed image can do so much for a company. We are also working on creative collaborations interconnecting local creatives, artisans & businesses to cohesively market a particular lifestyle or cause. Instead of working against each other, we want to form a creative community that supports each other. And whatever else this year wants to throw at us, we'll take it!

What is the creative collaboration with West Elm Birmingham?

We will be hosting several events focused around styling & photography. Also, every month we will feature a local business and incorporate them with West Elm's amazing products. West Elm will post a shot styled & photographed by Spark & Arrow and we will give you the details on our blog. Birmingham is making a huge comeback and credit is due to the small businesses and individuals who are taking chances on this wonderful city. And it's working. Are you interested in being featured? E-mail us at sparkandarrowcreative@gmail.com and tell us about yourself!

Meet Our Friends & Vendors: Big Spoon Creamery (Birmigham, Alabama)

Ryan & Geri-Martha O'Hara met at Bottega, a Birmingham restaurant know for their impeccable food, drinks & historic atmosphere. Ryan was working as a line cook & Geri-Martha as a pastry chef. After several failed attempts at catching Geri-Martha's eye, Ryan didn't give up and eventually won her heart. They were engaged on the balcony of Bottega in April of 2013 & married last year. 

The idea for Big Spoon came while they were dating. Both were passionate about artisan ice cream and felt like there was a void for it in Birmingham. Ideas for Big Spoon began to form. They wanted to start small and build a company that fit their vision & dreams with a superior product. They spun their first batch of ice cream July 4th weekend of 2014 and have been growing exponentially ever since.  

What makes Big Spoon special is not just the punch in the taste buds you'll get every time you take a bite but, they source all their ingredients locally. Fresh milk & cream from Wright Dairy, locally roasted coffee from Octane & Revelator, fresh produce from local farmers and even local honey. It's as fresh as fresh can be. They use no preservatives and keep batches small. Egg yolks create a rich texture reminiscent of the summer nights of your childhood spent eating homemade ice cream.

Production happens weekly at a small professional grade kitchen the couple rents out. Here you can find them hand stamping labels, taste testing new flavors & packaging freshly spun ice cream.

Their Ice Cream of the Month Club offers customers their newest seasonal concoctions delivered directly to their door once a month. At $16/month or $14 for a year subscription we can attest that it's well worth every dime! They also cater for weddings, parties & special events. You can find them selling at Pepper Place and hopefully bringing their cart to your local business during lunch hours soon! Who doesn't love an ice cream break?!

Ultimately, Ryan & Geri-Martha want to not only serve ice cream to their community but also serve the community by giving back. By building relationships & fostering a love for small business they hope to bring dreams & inspiration to local youth. 

We thought we'd introduce you to a few of the stars of Big Spoon Creamery. We had the privilege to photographing some of their delicious flavors and came up with the idea of shooting them on sheets of ice. We love the way they turned out!

First up is their Banana ice cream: Egg-less ice cream base with fresh bananas pureed & spun in. Topped off with homemade salted peanut brittle. 

One of our favorites is the Almond Coffee Toffee: locally roasted Octane coffee ice cream mixed with handmade chocolate almond toffee.

For a spin on the popular latin drink, Horchata offers a refreshing flavor: Steeped milk & cream with rice & cinnamon.

And lastly but definitely not least, Paris Tea: Harney & Sons Paris Tea leaves steeped in milk & cream before being spun. Clean & simple.

We asked the O'Haras a few questions to get to know them better.

What is the funniest story involving Big Spoon?

It is still funny that we started this company with a pop-up in our driveway scooping ice cream out of an old school chest freezer. We don't know how or why, but it worked! Here we are today and we can't believe how far we've come since that day!

What are your individual favorite flavors?

Ryan- I'm all about sweet & salty! Anything with nuts, peanut butter, salted caramel, etc. is up my alley. I also love to do new takes on childhood favorites. We made a cherry cola ice cream one time that tasted just like the coke floats I drank as a kid. That was definitely up there on the list!

Geri-Martha- Anything with Meyer lemon!

Since you spend a lot of time spinning ice cream, what music do you keep spinning to help you through those long days? (See what we did there?)

Ice cream is supposed to be fun, so we like to have as much fun as possible in the kitchen. We listen to a lot of old school stuff like Aretha, Sam Cooke, Jackie Wilson & Percy Sledge. It's hard not to be happy when you're spinning ice cream & dancing in the kitchen!

We've loved getting to work with & get to know the Ryan & Geri-Martha and are excited where they're headed for 2015! Keep an eye out for these two & grab a pint when you can! You'll never look at ice cream the same way again! 

Check them out on Facebook or e-mail bigspoonbham@gmail.com!

Until next time! Keep spinning, keep dreaming!

Spark & Arrow

(Photography & Styling by Spark & Arrow)

Michaels : Maternity : Oak Mountain State Park

This winter has been all about the babies, from newborns to maternity sessions to little boys rooms...and we are loving it!

This precious family is a long time friend and local photographer. And what an honor it is to not only photograph her maternity session but, we will also be waiting (impatiently) for that middle of night phone call to get to the hospital ASAP to witness baby girl M's arrival & document her birth story. 

Carmen is flawless as always but especially pregnant she has that baby love glow, and we couldn't resist some family pics with Kent and Walt too.

Congratulations friend, we love you so! 

Valentine Sparks: For the Gents

It's that time of year again...  the urge to buy yourself the box of chocolates on special at the grocery store is in full force. (Go ahead we won't tell.)

Chocolate, flowers, sparkly things & fancy dates are all ways for the guys to impress us ladies for Valentine's Day. But, if you're like us we're always at a loss for what to get them in return. Well, no worries! We've rounded up some Sparks for the man in your life and to make them even more fabulous they are all from our home state of Alabama!

There's the Ice Cream of the Month Club from Big Spoon Creamery. Birmingham made artisan ice cream delivered once a month to your doorstep. What man doesn't like ice cream, right?

Or maybe the Tobacco Bay candle from Great Bear Wax Co. A manly yet refined scent. And speaking of scents you'll love Bawston & Tucker's solid colognes.

For the foodie there's the DIY Cheese Kit from our favorite local cheese company Belle Chèvre.

Leather goods abound with Loyal Stricklin, Billy Reid and Hide & True. All made with impeccable quality.

And no man's gift list would be complete without protein. River Region Beef takes individual orders of their cuts & ships right to your door. (Did we just hear grunts?)

All this & more for your favorite gent, because he's worth it!

1. Ice Cream of the Month Club 2. Solid Cologne Trio 3. Card Wallet 4. The Localist 

5. DIY Cheese Kit 6. Leather Key Clip 7. Tabacco Bay Candle 8. Aviator Mug 

9. Beef 10. Birmingham Bike Art