Jen Owens Images: April 2011

I love it when the weather can't do anything to dampen a great day! Last month I met up with the lovely Helen & Dug on a somewhat wet and grey Sunday to have a chat about their wedding and take their engagement photos. Despite the cold and rain, we had such a fun time exploring not one, but two castles! Doune Castle (funnily enough, at Doune) is just, quite simply, amazing. I can't wait to shoot their wedding there, with it's winding staircases, stone archways and grand seats - it's a photo-opportunity waiting to happen!

On to Duntreath Castle where the rain really did try its best, but still, it couldn't beat us! Here's a few of my favourite pictures from the day...

Jen x

www.jenowensimages.com

Get in touch! jen@jenowensimages.com

Spring is here! Hurray! And what better way to celebrate than to kick off the season with a series of interviews with wonderful wedding industry peeps. First up is the truly fabulous Konnie Kapow!

I first met Konnie at my first ever craft fair and hit it off thanks to our mutual admiration for all things craft and stationery-related! Konnie interviewed me on her blog way back in June last year and I thought it was high-time I returned the compliment.

Here be the interview of this wonderful lady :) ...

Tell us a bit about Konnie Kapow! and how she came into existence...

Towards the end of 2009 I had a few months off work suffering from anxiety and depression. I couldn’t muster the courage or energy to leave my flat most of the time and got sick of watching tv every day.

I’ve had a passion for stationery since I was a little girl (I used to have about 50 penpals who I judged by merit of their writing paper and handwriting!) and have always loved making offbeat and slightly ironic / sarcastic / weird jokes; all the better if I could incorporate them into my stationery!

Anyway, I’d made some of my own stationery for our wedding in summer ’09 and had hundreds of card blanks left over and started churning out card after card. Some for specific purposes but mostly just because I thought it was funny. Friends started saying I should sell them so I opened a shop on Folksy.com in September 2009. I started getting sales straight away and my shop is now fairly well established on Folksy. I have also recently started doing offbeat wedding stationery.

Where are you from originally and where are you based now?

I'm originally from the Isle of Seil which if you know your Scottish geography is 16 miles North West of Oban "The gateway to the Isles". I grew up on my 100 acre family farm and moved to Glasgow 10 years ago to attend university.

Who is your partner(s) in crime?

The debonair and devilishly sideboardedly handsome Mr Kapow! (See his Folksy shop here) He's a talented artist so we make a good team! he mostly does what I tell him too!

I'm also often to be found with the little minx that is Lucy loves... she's a soap maker also based in Glasgow and my real life BFF!

If you could have one superpower, what would it be and how would you use it to fight the baddies?

Apart from being a card making Superhero? You know, I've given this a lot of thought and I think it would be the power to suspend time. You know, just pause everything if I fancied a wee break or a few uninterrupted hours with my book! I'd obviously use it to save people in peril too although I imagine I'd mostly use it to cause mischief!

Marmite: good or bad?

Good Jen, good.

Describe yourself in 3 words...

Awesome, springy, Bombshell.

What's in store for Konnie Kapow! over the next 6 months?

We're focusing a bit more on our offbeat wedding stationery! Having tied the knot myself in 2009, I know how hard it is to get truly unique and un-sappy stationery so I'm hoping to plug that gap for people like us! The idea will be that people can approach us for a one-off design at an affordable price.

Your 'And you thought you were special' birthday cards listing celebrity birthdays are my favourite! How long does it take to put them together?

Oh my god, years! I've only just come full circle with them and they're not quite all done yet! I really loved researching them and I guess they'll need a revisit every so often to make sure they're still 'current'. You can't help but read about the people while you're doing the research which means it takes far longer than it should. Although, I'm pretty handy at the old pub quizzes now that I've stored all of this random info about major and minor celebrities!

What's your favourite book?

I have a degree in English Literature so I looooove books and will read almost anything. I think my favourite book is called The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy, my favourite author is Margaret Atwood, she's the smartest lady in the world.

And your favourite film?

It's a toss-up between Willow and Jurassic Park.

And your favourite band/musician?

Patsy Cline or The Drive By Truckers.

Where can we find you online?

My website www.konniekapow.co.uk

Folksy www.folksy.com/shops/konniekapow

My blog www.konniekapow.wordpress.com

Facebook www.facebook.com/konniekapowpage and

Twitter www.twitter.com/konniekapow

Where can we find you next in person? Any shows coming up?

Watch this space!

Thanks Konnie!