Valentine's Day Party Printables

It looks like I'm getting this posted just under the wire but it's still Friday! I missed it by 7 minutes! Arghhh. . . .

I ran into a bit of technical difficulty in Photoshop when I wanted to do something and couldn't figure out how to do it. This is nothing new mind you, and most of the time Google is my friend. Sometimes though, no matter what words you type in, nothing comes up that helps . . . and that's when you try to call an expert.

The only problem is, I don't know to many people who know Photoshop, and none who use it for design type things. They sensibly use Illustrator.

However, I still managed to make these fun Valentines printables based on 1 Corinthians 13:4a and 7.

Minus the cupcake wrappers though . . . No amount of Googling helped me figure out how to curve a rectangle. Boooo!

I'll be hosting a Valentine's Party of my own with these, although I'll be holding mine early so I won't conflict with anyone else's plan. Valentines Day may be about all kinds of love but the sweethearts still like celebrating with each other. ;D

I'm going to bring these to Staples to have them printed. It will be a whole lot cheaper and they print much nicer than my home printer.

I hope you all enjoy these. If you use them for a party, share with everyone and post them on my Facebook page!

You can download the link here: Valentine Party Printables

Enjoy!

Anthony and Laura. Celebrating 10 years of Marriage.

Valentines Day is coming up fast and I wanted to remind everyone that it's not only about young love. (or even just about couple love for that matter!)

Laura contacted me early last year hoping to do a 10 year anniversary session with her husband Anthony in the summer. I thought it was a great idea and began hunting around for a great location. Luckily for me I have generous friends and Val kindly offered me the use of their backyard.

Which, as you're about to see, is not your average back yard!

I like to know a bit about the people I'm photographing. I can figure out how to tell their story much better if I know, for example, that they are avid hockey fans but hate the outdoors. That means no 'fun in the woods' sessions but perhaps a local rink, a couple of pairs of skates and a few sticks might be more appropriate.

In this case I may have done a bit of Facebook stalking . . . . (sorry Laura! I'm planning to send out questionnaires from now on . . . ;D)

What I discovered about Anthony and Laura was that they have been together since their school days and they love to have fun . . .

So that's what I went for!

Congratulations Anthony and Laura! I hope you had as much fun as I did.

I've decided that, in honour of Valentines day, I'd make them a short slideshow video as well. (as always, click on the cog in the lower right corner of the video and choose the highest resolution for viewing)

A big thank you to Doug and Val for the use of their fabulous 'backyard' (and the awesome chair!)

And because Valentines Day is about all love, not just couples love, I'm working on some party printables to help you all throw a party for your loved ones. Friends, family,  friends and family . . .

It's always fun to show your love with a bit of a party. Check back here on Friday for some great ideas and to download your printables. :D

Ruby. Newborn Photography.

I had sweet little Ruby in the studio just after Christmas along with her mom, dad and big brother Abe.

It's been a while since I've done a newborn and a few things became obvious fairly quickly. My studio space isn't quite large enough, (mom, dad and Abram hung out in the rather chilly hall while my assistant (and dear friend) Nicole and I worked in the studio) and poor little Ruby wasn't feeling quite herself that day.

 Newborns can go through  growth spurts, feel a little gassy, or would prefer to be at home in their own bed rather than hanging out with a photographer who snuggles them to sleep and then starts messing around, trying to get them into the 'perfect' position . . .

What's up with that?!

Big brother Abe was a sweetheart and thoroughly enjoyed climbing up on the box to pose for me. He would have been fine if we had skipped Ruby altogether! ;D

In the end, we decided to bring Ruby back another day and have dad and Abe stay home. I brought all my gear upstairs into my much larger office space and we did the shoot in there instead.

So much better. 

A big thank you to Ryan and Cindy who were so laid back through out this process. I know it can hard work getting out with a new baby and a toddler, especially in the winter! Thanks for letting me snuggle and play with your little ones.

How adorable is this sweet face?!

Check out their 'Welcome to the Family' video. (click on the little cog in the lower right corner, then click on 720 to watch it in HD)

 I love being able to add video clips to still photos . . .

Learning how to make a Poster in Photoshop

I've always had a fascination with the visual arts. Graphic art in particular.

I've never even thought of graphic art as something I could do. After all, even my stick men are barely recognizable!

And yet . . . I love a beautifully designed poster, an eye-catching book cover and even a well presented flyer.

And so . . . being the curious,' I've got to at lest give it a try kind of woman', I decided to tackle some of the tutorials offered by Design Cuts to it's clients.

People . . . if you are at all into design you've got to check them out! I love all the beautiful resources they offer at an unbelievable price! And no. . . I don't get anything for saying that . . . I just love them. They are sweet and helpful and English, and they drink tea! I'm not sure how they could get any better. . .

I spent yesterday afternoon and evening working on this poster. There were many steps involved. I had to do a bit of googling when my knowledge was lacking but it was soooo satisfying when I was done!

I'm not going to be a graphic designer anytime soon and I've go an even larger respect for their skills now that I'm done.

That said, I enjoyed this so much I'm going to tackle another one next week. Learning new things is awesome!

Talented Tuesday. Breanne Jansen, Motion Designer and Film School Graduate.

Learning a new craft takes work. In the creative world it's said that it takes 10,000 hours of work before you master your craft.

That's a lot of hours . . .

I'm always fascinated by creatives who are passionate about their work. It doesn't matter to me what their field is, art, music, food, I just love seeing someone immerse themselves in their craft.

It's why I love chef Jamie Oliver, Master gardener Paul James, and sharpie artist Emmy Star Brown

I thought it would be fun to share some of these fabulous, passionate people with you once in a while and today I'm going to share the work of my niece Breanne Jansen.

Breanne has always been creative, drawing, photographing and filming as a girl and into her teens. (Her mom says she was born with a pencil in her hand.)

She's got a unique view of the world (as do we all) and her work shows an amazing attention to detail. She's just graduated from Vancouver Film School and is ready to set out into the world armed with her carefully honed skills.

She's taking a bit of time off first as she's been invited to volunteer at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival next week in Utah. (A really big deal!) A pretty exciting adventure for this young woman.

I wanted to share a bit of her work, so here is her newly finished Grad project. It's message is the perfect way to kick off Talented Tuesdays . . .



Live What You Believe from Breanne Jansen on Vimeo.

It's really crazy how much she's learned over these last few years . . . and how many hours and hours of work she's done to get to this level.

 This is one of her early works. It's simpler, but still a big favorite of mine as it stars her niece (my great-niece) Celina.

What is it that you like to create? I'd love to hear about that thing you can lose yourself in for hours at a time. Are you a scrapbooker? Gardener? Cook? Painter? Musician?

I'd like to feature you and your talent. Leave a comment and a place to contact you and we'll talk. 
(The comment feature on the blog is working properly again! Whoo Hoo!)

Our talents are meant to be shared  . . .