Inky-Dinky-Do Blog

Raid the Rolodex 1

We get calls all the time asking "hey does Stephanie know a good ______" Well Yes, I do.  The funny part is the odder the request I seem to have no problem finding a card of someone we recommend.  I know it sounds weird, but hey I'm an artist so you never know what I might have in that Rolodex.  We thought it would be fun to do a post maybe weekly spinning the Rolodex and seeing who we come up with.  I'll post why I think they are fabulous (or not.. which then I guess I have to explain why they are in my Rolodex!)  If you are looking for someone in particular (like April who called looking for a horse drawn carriage recently, or Margo who asked if I knew of a place that had sock hop skirts) then let me know.  You just never know we might have a great lead for you!

So to start this off I'm going to share.......

Sharon Brudenell of Uniglobe
Golden Empire Travel.
1820 Chester Ave Bakersfield, CA 93301
661-323-1213 / sharonb@uget.com
Uniglobe Website

So why do I love Sharon:  Because the girl knows her stuff and is so easy to work with.  I love it when you can just tell someone what you want and the present you with options and it is simple.  Sharon handles primarily leisure travel - Hawaii, Mexico, Sandals, Cruises etc. but she also books my travel for inky-dinky-do as well.  (See I love that she didn't just hand me off.)  So I've learned some interesting things about WHY you might want to book with a travel agent, first hand mind you.  So next time you are sitting at the airport and watching them bump people off flights... guess who gets bumped first- Yep, the on-line bookers.  I've been paying attention to this one over the last 2 years.  Now Sharon wouldn't confirm this but my theory....on-line bookers can't  get a person on the phone to help, while the ones that have travel agents have a real person 24/7 available.  I know I had a flight booked through Yahoo travel couple years back and it was a nightmare trying to get a real person on the phone.  The other thing is the room you get.  Did you know there are room classes?  A, B, C.... those C rooms might be next to the ice machine or the elevator- guess who gets those?  That's right those on-line bookings.  That one I know because Tracey used to work in the hotel industry.  One thing I didn't know that Sharon explained to me is since she is a Honeymoon expert she can make sure there are little perks during your honeymoon.  Love that!  Mike and I enjoyed having special wristbands that gave us some perks and such while we were on our honeymoon in Mexico.  When we went to Hawaii for our 1 year anniversary we also got perks for it being our Anniversary.  They upgraded our room to a fabulous multi room suite- it was great!  What I learned at the end of the day is that I can book on-line and save $50 on my flight or maybe $100 for a flight and room- but I now have to micromanage and deal with everything.  For $50 to not have lots of connections, chance of getting bumped, and a nicer room- it is worth every penny. 

So for my brides out there I strongly recommend giving Sharon a call.  She knows all the good spots, the spots that are too busy or whatever.  Tell her what you want for your honeymoon and then just worry about packing and having a great time!

Tell her I sent you and then just for fun tell her USC is awful.... go Fighting Irish... she will know who sent you!

Girls Giving Back

I'm really excited to let everyone know about a great night of fun and retail therapy coming up all for a great cause!  inky-dinky-do has been working on a little project and teamed up with Denise Haddock to make it a reality.  Trust us this will be a great night.  So if you ever have wanted to know what the new trend is, but more importantly how to incorporate it properly this is the night for you.  Not to mention a little wine tasting and sprinkle in some bling from the area's best jeweler and you have yourself the ideal girls night out!  I'll be leaking a little more information as it gets closer, but trust me ladies- mark you calenders now! 

inky-dinky-do presents....Girls Giving Back

hosted by Denise Haddock Unique Interior Designs

on April 25th (friday night)

Miss Katie helps out Plan B!

We have to give Miss Katie a huge thank you for helping out our Plan B photographers on a little field trip.  I've been working with them on a few concepts and this lesson was what to do when there is NO good light and you basically have a sticker patch and that is it!  So we played around doing a couple different things and perhaps the funniest part was me trying to get lens flare.  Yes, I know it is kind of trendy at the moment, but photographers have spent years & money AVOIDING lens flare!  So it is kind of like forcing me to do something wrong... don't know why but it kills me.  :)

So we had a little fun and I just had to share.  Again, Katie you are too sweet to help us out!  I hope you got all the stickers out of shoes!

Here is Miss Jen hard at work... notice how sweet Katie is... we coined a phrase while we were out there....

stickerlicious!

Some of Jens shots...

 

So today Kim and Kristen were working on some techniques here and caught a couple images.  One of the things the girls might hate right now, but will love later on is they aren't allowed to put the camera on auto- it is manual all the way!  Why?  Because I want them to understand the concepts behind getting the image.  Too many people throw a camera on auto and then it doesn't turn out and don't know why it didn't turn out.  So I'm happy that my Plan B ladies are well trained and rising to each assignment!

So Kim grabbed Miss Madison and then Kristen...

I will be really happy when they learn to process their own stuff too!

Now how about when Miss Kristen get a hold of the camera....you will notice Kristen always has a different view of the world!  What do I notice... that I spent a lot of money of A&F jeans that have holes in them.... at least "back in the day" we had to go use Dad's grinder and stuff to get the look!

 

 

 

Of course what else to do for me... but to catch a couple of shots of them when they are working!

So the Plan B ladies have an assignment for next week.... if anyone wants to be abused a little... no stickers this time, drop us an email and we might hook you up with a crazy time and some photos.   The girls also don't know it yet, but they have to do some shots for a company.... so if you are needing something for advertising believe it or not we might have a great opportunity for you!  Email for details.

From Geek to Rockstar

This was something a friend shared with me recently that made me giggle a little.  Kind of reminds me of my older brother come to think of it... he is a geek... looks a little like this guy... and well i can remember him playing air guitar as kids!

Geek becomes Rockstar

Happy Easter!

We just wanted to wish everyone a Blessed Easter and we hope everybody has lots of time with family and friends today.

Of course we had to share since we caught the Easter Bunny at the studio... no it wasn't Blizzard our bunny...

See we even caught her red handed stealing carrots!

Thanks Miss Layla!  You gave us all a good laugh!

A funny little thing for us old married folks...

The Sad Truth About Relationships

Good Bye Miss Franzi

We are sad to see our favorite German exchange student head back home today.  We will miss your bright smile.  So we are dedicating a little post just to Franzi today.  I'm not sure the band will be able to continue without you... but we will try to make you proud. 

 

So how about a little Q & A with Franzi....

What is your name?
Franziska Leona Pfaffinger

What name do you think fits you more?
  Yasmin

Where are you from?
Berlin (Germany)

What school did  you attend?
Liberty High School Bakersfield

What are your plans for the summer when you get home?
I will get my drivers license and I`m gonna get a job.

If you were a fruit or vegetable what would you be?
A strawberry.

If you could have a super power what would it be?
I would be able to fly.

A piece of wisdom you would like to pass down to your classmates?
Live each day to the fullest.You never know which one is your last one.

Have you chosen a career path?  If so what cha gonna do?
I think I'm gonna be a nutritionist and work together with my sister.

What is your favorite meal?
Ange's fettucine alfredo :)

Would you rather eat beetles or drink pond water?
drink pond water

What is playing on your ipod right now?
beyonce with irreplaceable

What was your favorite thing about being an exchange student?
To see and experience a different culture and to see the californian life.

Any new favorite foods you tried while here?
fettucine alfredo and reese's peanutbutter cups :)

What was the strangest “American” thing that you were subjected to
while here?
That you don't have subways and buses to go from place to place.

You took photos with Stephanie- so really how bad was it?  (shhh we
wont tell her…)
:D it was awesome.I never did anything like that before. she made the
shooting fun and the pictures came out really good.

Coffee or tea or soda?
coffee

Did you miss any traditions while you were here from back home?
eating the meals together on the table.

What is your parting piece of wisdom for the next exchange student to
come to town?
Be honest each day to your host family and all the other people.if you
are,you will be able to have wonderful relationships.

Holy Shammrocks we have some crazy clients!

We had a blast today seeing everyone in their green.  hands down... The Garcia clan was the most "decked out!".  Now that must be the "new irish... garcia..." :)

 

We love that Kyle from Goodtime Entertainment brought his crew down- what a crazy bunch- fuzzy green hats and sassy- crazy guys!

Of course my famous super couple of the future Young Master Boyd Flannigan and Miss Lorilie Murphy came by... that will be part of my dating service in about 25 years- we have so many cute kids and good families I will become a match maker in my retirement!

So watch below and see what crazy fun clients we have that had the chance to pop by after reading the blog last night!  I know we didn't post till last night... it makes it more fun to see who is paying attention!  :)

love the "ears" DeeAnne!

How about a little Green?

So in celebration of St. Patty's Day (nope not Irish, but why not have fun anyway!)
We are doing a fun little crazy day.

Remember Halloween?  Same idea! 

Open house style at the studio 11:30am-1pm on St. Patty's Day- stop by and take a quick picture!  Freebie on us.  :)

Here is the catch..... You have to be wearing green!  Now we aren't going to accept that you have green undies on- that is cheating- so unless we can see it we wont count it!   Freebies- got to love Freebies!  Make it fun and memorable guys!

This one is inspired by Madison who is all about being Green- I guess I misunderstood what she meant... She meant green like earth day!

So all of our Irish or Irish for a day clients stop by!  Monday the 17th from 11:30-1:00pm for a quick little image and we will show them off on the blog and print you up one for the scrapbook!

Now let's see who pays attention to the blog!

Bunnies were a Blast today

Just thought we would share a couple of the cuties from today!