Sippin’ and Stitchin’ at Forin Cafe

When Lea from Sippin’ and Stitchin’, a Philadelphia-based company that hosts embroidery workshops across the country, shared that she was looking for a photographer for an upcoming mixed media workshop, I knew I had to get involved! I first was introduced to Sippin’ and Stitchin’ back in 2019, when I attended a workshop at one of my favorite local bars, Tattooed Mom, and have been a fan ever since.

The workshop was hosted at Forin Cafe in Kensington, a small cafe artfully designed with split-toned green and cream colored walls and featured wine from Louis Jadot (whose beaujolais-village you may have spotted in The Last of Us). The workshop, hosted by Lea herself, was a mixed media embroidery class where attendees got to use embroidery to embellish and transform photographs into art.

As a photographer, I love the idea of combining photographs with another medium to bring a deeper meaning to our memory. Many of the attendees used photos of their pets (shout out to all the cat lovers there that day!) while others chose to transform pop culture icons over the course of two hours. It was such a fun experience photographing this workshop and watching peoples’ ideas evolve during the workshop.

Now I just need to get my tickets to the next one…

A South Philly fairy tea party

A couple of weeks ago, I saw a TikTok video from creator Maddy Olson about a fairy tea party and thought “I need to do that.” So I texted some friends— including my frequent collaborator and fellow photographer Carolyn. Five days later we hit up Trader Joes for snacks and fresh flowers and put together a magical fairy dinner party in my small South Philly backyard.

As a photographer, I sometimes find it challenging balancing my desire to take photos with my desire to spend quality time with my friends. This small event was the perfect balance of creation and conversation. The tables are all curated with items that we collectively owned. My favorite is the silver candle holder (we call it “the chalice”) that I bought from the Resource Exchange, a local nonprofit that sells salvaged and second-hand craft materials.

A mixture of homemade and pre-made snacks from Trader Joes.

In true fairy fashion, we were joined by this small mantis friend.

Portraits at Valley Forge

I had a wonderful time on this fall photoshoot with my friend and fellow photographer Carolyn Leonard. Carolyn specializes in family and portrait photography, but for this shoot we wanted to experiment, drawing inspiration from the dark academia fashion trend, and period dramas like Pride and Prejudice and The Imitation Game. And it all came together with at Valley Forge National Historic Park with the late afternoon sun and fall foliage.

As a photographer, it can be daunting being in front of the camera, but Carolyn absolutely nailed it for these photos. (I can only hope she can say the same about me!)