Pendants Galore!

I have continued to make glass tile pendants, but realized I had not posted additional images online. For that I am sorry! The photo below shows a variety of patterns that are available and can also be customized with a single monogram or hung on a diagonal so it would be a diamond instead of a square. All pendants come with a 24 inch silver ball chain that I can cut to a specific size or you can do with wire cutters once you try it on.

All patterned pendants are only $12 and that includes shipping - what a great stocking stuffer!!

Top row L to R: Pink Dots, Purple & Orange Paisley, Pink Geometric, Retro, Fuschia Hearts, Snowflakes, Christmas Tree

Bottom row L to R: Funky Flowers, Snowflakes, Christmas Tree, Christmas Lights, Retro, Candy Cane, Pink Geometric

As you may have noticed, since the patterns are cut from one large sheet, sometimes the same pattern (ie: pink geometric) looks different with each pendant. I can work with you if you want a specific part of the pattern.

I also offer single monograms on solid papers. Below are some of the colors and letter options.

Block Letters

Dot Letters

Pattern Letters

More Pendants

As I mentioned in my last post, I am also using other materials for the pendants besides photos. Here are some additional examples of pendants I made for tomorrow's holiday bazaar.

I hope that my table setup comes together as seamlessly as I have pictured it in my head when I go to setup after work tonight. If not, at least I have some time this evening to figure it out before the doors open at 9am tomorrow!

Glass Pendants

I recently started making glass tile pendants. For those of you reading this post, you would probably be most interested in the photo pendants such as...

The one for a mother whose son, a Marine, was sadly KIA:

Or, as another example, my 16 week ultrasound:

The tiles are a 7/8 inch square which seems to be a universally complimentary size regardless of who is wearing the pendant. I will be taking orders for photo pendants as well as selling ones made with other materials (later post coming on those!) at our church bazaar this weekend.

If you are interested, e-mail me for more info and come back in a day or two to see more examples! 

Fall Family Portraits

On Sunday, October 24th I did a portrait session with some friends out in Mt. Airy, Maryland. The fall foliage was just where we wanted it and the little one even had a fun time. Here is a sneak peek:

Family Reunion

I wanted to share a few pictures from a family reunion.

End of Summer

How do you know summer is coming to an end?

You find yourself enjoying the bounty of summer's harvest every chance you get.

No matter how old you are, you are eating corn on the cob several times a week.

And enjoying every last kernel.

Vacation Bible School

My church here in town held Vacation Bible School (VBS) every evening the week of July 12th. Since it was at night, I volunteered to help and thought that offering to take photos would be a great option since my work hours are not "set in stone" and I could not guarantee I would arrive by 6:30pm every night. It ended up working out great!

I became the photographer who would go from music to storytime to snack to arts & crafts taking many candid pictures along the way. The children were from age 3-12 so some of the younger ones were camera shy if they realized you were taking their pictures and some of the older boys got silly at the same time.

On the last night when the parents attended, I had a simple slideshow playing on my laptop so they could see what sort of activities their children did during the week and we also had it playing before church on Sunday. The head of this year's VBS told me "we almost didn't have church on Sunday because everyone was looking at your pictures!" I'll take that as a compliment although the Pastor probably wouldn't.

I also took videos the last night with my Flip camera of each group singing and dancing. It was a precious sight for sure. Those may be on the PMUMC Website soon as well.

Since I don't have the parents permission to post the photos on my blog - I turned all of them over to the church - linking to the church Website will have to suffice for now, but only a handful are online.

Guestbook

I'm back!! My full-time job has been more than full-time hours for several months now and unfortunately I have not been posting updates to this blog as often as I should have been (obviously). My apologies!

For the 50th Anniversary back in April I was also asked to design a guestbook since they were having a large party. I used photos of the anniversary couple only throughout the years and sprinkled blank pages in between for people to sign, more like a yearbook than a wedding guestbook. The family included a poem in the beginning and my client said her parents were thrilled to have the book as an additional memento from their celebration.

Here are three pages:

Celebrating 50 Years

Just about two weeks ago I finished a video in celebration of a 50th anniversary. I met Kim through another wedding vendor (thanks Pat!) and began working with her in the beginning of March, discussing this project for her parents. This past Saturday, Kim and her family, including two sisters, hosted a 70th birthday party for their mother/50th anniversary party in the New York City area.

Kim shared hundreds and hundreds of photos with me and we worked together to do everything possible to ensure that all party guests were included in the video at least once. You can see that her parents have a large network of fun-loving friends who like to travel and share their days laughing together.

I also created a guestbook for the event that had only photos of her parents through the years. More on that in another post.

I hope Brad and I celebrate our Golden Anniversary with a party in 2058!

April Showers bring...

...new clients?? On Sunday, April 11th I participated in an aforementioned bridal show with some great wedding vendors from the Frederick, Maryland area. More than three dozen
vendors participated and our tables took up the full atrium at the FSK Holiday Inn. I met some new vendors, such as Norma who runs a stationery business in Wheaton/Silver Spring and my table was near two vendors I have worked with in the past, Julie Hipkins from Originations Photography and Pat "the Bra Lady" Schoonover. Let me know if you want her contact information

Not only was this event an opportunity to meet future brides that may be potential clients for their wedding, anniversary, or honeymoon, but an opportunity to network with other bridal professionals. To the left are two photos of my table from the show. I showed a rotation of five wedding-related videos and shared examples of my wedding and honeymoon albums.

This bridal show experience was a positive one, but I am not scheduled to participate in any additional shows at this time. I have found that the fall and winter are peak times for shows because of the frequency of spring and summer weddings.

New Business Cards

New business cards have arrived! I nearly ran out of cards a couple weeks ago so instead of simply ordering more, I also made some modifications. Since I have started projects besides DVD montages and photo books, I wanted to highlight them on my card so potential clients know I am almost a "one-stop-shop" for their media needs. I also made a few minor changes to the front of my card - added my blog address and changed the font of my name so there was less script. I am exhibiting at a bridal show in Frederick, Maryland on Sunday so I wanted to make sure I have plenty available!

Spring Special Deal

I know it may have taken a few weeks, but I decided that I am going to offer a Mother's Day/Father's Day special. If you would like a video for your mother or grandmother, father or grandfather, please send me an e-mail or call me anytime! Mother's Day is less than seven weeks away and Father's Day comes next so start selecting your photos now!

For $150 I will create a video with 100 photos or less for you and you can give it as a gift. I ask that you select the photos and then I can get started. I am going to run this special through April 18th which allows time for previewing, final edits, and shipping. This is not valid for any projects I am currently working on.

Please spread the word to other friends and family members. I can promise that no one else will gave your mom or dad the same gift this year :).

April Showers Bridal Extravaganza

This week I decided to participate in a Frederick-area bridal show on April 11th. The show will be in the atrium of the FSK Holiday Inn and will feature a few dozen area vendors that could help with local weddings. The show is managed by Susan with Studio C photography (www.studio-c-photography.com) and was a success when it is done in 2008.

Admission is FREE and I will have a table with sample videos playing as well as books ot share with potential clients. If you are in the area, please stop by to pick up a porgram, take a look around, listen to some music and have a complimentary drink!

In Like a Lion...

Has it really been nearly a month since my last post already?! Can I blame it on February being a short month? How about the back-to-back blizzards we had in Washington, D.C.? That is definitely not an excuse since I was home all week. Although I did start and finish a Valentine's Day video during the snowstorm. Unfortunately, the extreme backup with the USPS mail system in this region complicated matters, but it all worked out in the end.

I have been in touch with some potential clients thanks to some great female business owners I have met at various events. I am working on carving out additional time to focus on Memorable Designs during the weekend, but also during the week because now that the snow is finally melting, there are many outdoor activities I would like to enjoy. No, cutting down brush along the edge of our yard isn't one of them, but I will be doing it anyway.

I will be promoting a Mother's Day/Father's Day special soon and would love to hear some feedback on what you would be most interested in. Photo books? Video montages? VHS to DVD video converting? Leave me your suggestions to help me decide!

Valentine's Day special

For those of you still thinking about a special Valentine's gift for your "sweetie", call or e-mail me about my Valentine's Day special! If you get me your photos by Tuesday, February 9th, I will design a video with up to 50 photos and two songs for $75. If you are out of the DC area, the sooner the better since I will have to expedite shipping and that cost will be added to your total. Scroll through my blog to see some longer examples.

A Tribute

Last night I turned a video around in 18 hours. Why the speed? Sadly, a really good man passed away unexpectedly and his family wanted a video to play at the memorial service. It isn't appropriate for me to post on the blog, especially without their permission and because it is such a private time. But I did do something different that I can tell you about.

The grown son gave me about 100 photos from childhood to the present and I couldn't stop laughing at some of them. He was one funny guy, let me tell you. I put all the photos from his younger years at the beginning in what seemed like chronological order and then I noticed some trends and I sectioned off the pictures that way. He played rugby (in the states and abroad I think), liked to have drinks with friends, loved dogs, and especially loved his wife and son.

I researched various quotes related to the sections and put them on a black background with white font at the start of each section. One was funny, the rest more thoughtful, but it really helped the video flow since they opted to not use any music. Although this is an incredibly sad time for the family, I hope they can look at their video and laugh a little knowing that he would probably want them to.

This Kind of Love

Emily and Eric are friends from college and Emily was once my roommate. They met and got engaged on campus, but got married two hours north in North Carolina. The wedding was on a lovely Saturday in June and the weather was beautiful for them to take photos outdoors.

A Wedding Day video is a thoughtful gift for parents, grandparents and friends who played a role in your wedding. It is something they can go back and watch over the years and remember the memories of your special day.

It was a fun weekend to see friends and have a good time and of course celebrate with the bride and groom. Happy 6 (okay, almost 7) month anniversary you two!

The Dating Years

The dating years is a great video to share photos of the bride and groom fromt he start of their dating years to the present. This is a fun way to highlight the day you met (if you caight it on camera), vacationa, your engagement, etc. Now in this case, Blair and Joe are not planning a wedding (not yet at least), but since she is one of my closest friends, I decided to use them as an example.

You may notice that the video is significantly shorter which is because of the number of photos selected. Even though the video is only four minutes long, it gives you a taste for their fun personalities and some trips they have taken. In terms of a "dating years" video for a wedding or engagement party, it is an especially good idea if you don't have access to older photos from childhoos for a "through the years." Group photos with friends and family are also fun to include.

Girlfriends

In "honor" of the upcoming bridal show on January 16th (visit frederickbridalfair.com) I am going to post a handful of videos that will be shown at my vendor table. The first wedding special is called Girlfriends and is a thoughtful memento for a bride and her closest girlfriends with photos from a bachelorette party, bridal shower, and bridesmaid luncheon. Other "girl" events can be substituted and added as appropriate.

The photos in the video below are from my wedding activities and it brings back a lot of funny memories with wonderful friends. Looking at the photos I can't stop laughing and it makes me sad to think that I will probably never have all of those friends together in one place again : /. Enjoy!

A Personal History

A few weeks ago I completed a video as a surprise to honor "A's" grandmother. I think the large DC area snowstorm (16+ inches) may have postponed the party, but grandmother Peggy did get to view the video soon after.

"A" provided me with wonderful photos from Peggy's childhood and years as a young wife and mother which really enhanced her video. I am glad she asked me to be a part of preserving their family memories.