If you’ve been around here very long you know how much I love photo albums. I love for my clients to be able to take all the photos from their sessions home with them. The best way to do that is in a photo album. These albums contain your precious memories from a time gone by. My dream is that these albums will be looked through, put on coffee tables, moved from home to home, put out at graduations, taken to college, and passed on to future generations. I love to design the albums and add personal touches as well, your favorite quotes or scripture passages and even letters from you to your children. In an effort to get more of these precious memories to my clients I am offering “The Great Album Sale”. This sale won’t last long so you have to jump on it quickly. Put in your order for an album from your session by Feb. 12th and I will give you a 35% discount off the price of the book!! You may only see this sale once a year so now’s the time to order your album!!

The layflat binding in these books is amazing!!

The top book is the 5×5 size and the bottom is 8×8 size. I am more than happy to show you these albums so you can see for yourself the great quality of these albums!

{Jackson, TN child photography}

I love looking through photo albums. Reliving days gone by.
Remembering those who have gone before us.
Learning more about a certain time or place in someones history.
Photos tell the stories that only our minds can remember.
Photos take us to a place and time that has already flown by.
Photos connect us to generations past. Photos tell OUR story.

When you’ve taken time to save money to invest in a custom portrait session,
book that session, pick the right outfits,
count down the days till your session,
and have enjoyed the process of being photographed
the only thing left is to choose which photo will become
that family heirloom portrait that you will hang proudly on your wall.

No doubt choosing just one will be difficult. But there will be one that stands out.
One that says “this is me/us, right here and right now”.
There will be one that will receive the place of honor as a large framed portrait or canvas hanging above your fireplace or sofa.
There will be one that will be ooohhed and aaahhed over time and time again when friends and family come to visit.

But what about the others? What about those amazing images that show other glimpses into who you are as a person or a family?
Those images deserve a place in your home as well.
Those images deserve a custom photo album to showcase all the special moments captured from your fun, memorable session.

Designing your album is something I look forward to being able to do.
I want to help you put down your memories in a book that will make your coffee table proud to hold it.
That will make your magazines jealous.
That will make you beam with pride anytime someone asks to see it.

Your story. Told. Time and time again.
In YOUR album. With images of YOUR loved ones.
Let me capture your memories and tell your story.Albums come in three sizes, 5×5, 8×8 or 12×12, each with 20 pages.
Your favorite quotes, scripture passages and letters to loved ones can be included in the album.



Here are a few of my favorite layouts from Sara Grace’s album.

Call me today so we can start the conversation about creating your family heirloom portraits and keepsake album.

For the past five years I have been taking an insane amount of pictures. You see, that’s when my first child was born. I’ve been a photographer longer than I’ve been a mother, but I’ve been capturing my own family memories in great detail for almost five years. I always took photos of my husband and I when we went on vacation or when we were visiting friends but didn’t just randomly snap off 100 photos because my hubby was looking so cute (I don’t think he would let me). I have always been the one taking the photos and placing each printed photo into an organized album with care. I have shelves of photo albums and LOVE looking through them. I entered the digital scene full time about a year and a half into my journey as a mother and the number of images of my family skyrocketed.  However, the number of photo albums to look through plummeted. The images are stuck on my computer. Many people say, “You’re a photographer you must have your photos all over your home and you must have tons of albums”. The sad thing is…I don’t. And I’m slowly trying to remedy that.

I tried traditional paper scrapbooking for a while and I love to do that, but once Naomi was born my time was cut in two. Add two more kids to the mix now and well, you get the picture. I discovered digital scrapbooking and jumped on board with full force. My computer was very slow after a while of doing this and I got very frustrated with trying to create even one page. I only have one “almost finished” album of random pages from Naomi’s first year. So sad. Eventually I just started uploading images online and putting them in a cookie cutter, boring old album just to get them off my computer. This works but it’s not me, it’s not pretty. One thing I make sure to have done is a birthday album for each of my kids after their birthdays. Their album includes pictures from the party, a letter from us, photos from their birthday photo session and a few pages with my favorite images from the past year. I love doing these and know that at least something is getting printed and my kids will have some way to remember their childhood. Digital media is constantly changing. If we do not print our images how are we guaranteed that our children will be able to access the images from their childhood?

Maybe you have Photoshop or some other digital editing program, I hope you are using it. But if you are like me, it still takes time to learn the program and to design pages that will make you happy. I was so excited to learn about My Memories digital scrapbooking software it is the perfect response to my dilemma. My dilemma being; finding the time to properly preserve the memories that I am capturing day in and day out of my children and finding a way to easily showcase our memories so that we can sit down as a family and reminisce and not have to crowd around my computer screen.

“My Memories Suite is the #1 rated scrapbook software (that comes as an instant download so there’s no waiting for your CD to get started (although you can order a CD to have as a back up)).  Not only is it affordable and fun, it’s also extremely easy. Whether you’re new to digital scrapbooking or a seasoned pro, My Memories Suite is the perfect digital scrapbooking software to use.” You can create albums in a snap, whole years worth of memories preserved and printed for all to see in a matter of a few hours (not including print/shipping time of course). The learning curve on My Memories Suite software is very short. In fact, let me make a little confession. I was given this product to review two weeks ago…but then my daughter got sick, then I got sick and I finally downloaded and started playing with the software on Tuesday. Wednesday my computer was not turned on and Thursday I crafted this post/giveaway (too much info? oh well, now you know the truth). So in a matter of a day and a half I was able to create three beautiful albums that I would be proud to print and show off. Yes, I will add more pages and maybe some more little embellishments but I’m a simple kinda girl and I don’t like a lot of fluff on my scrapbook pages, so these pages suit me just fine!

This video will show you all the awesome things that this software can do:

My husband was telling me the other day how he’d like for me to start printing more photos so that we could look through albums again. I was kind of surprised by this but then again not really. Like I said before, who wants to crowd around the computer screen. My Memories Suite has so many options that you are sure to find the type of album that you need. When you download the software you are given awesome templates, papers and embellishments. There are so many options that you won’t have to make the same page twice…unless you want to! You can also use any of the papers and embellishments that you have in your personal digital stash. The software is not very difficult to figure out and if you need help with something there are video tutorials online. It’s like they hold your hand and walk you through it so you have no excuse to not be able to make the software work for you. They also have a TON of digital products to help you in your quest for the perfect layout. I will admit that I am picky when it comes to digital scrapbook supplies and I have a specific style that I look for. The designs at My Memories are awesome. I found myself making a list of all the kits I wanted to buy…*shhhh* don’t tell my husband .

Here are some more details about this great scrapbook software straight from their website:

My Memories Suite 2.0 is a fun and creative way to keep and share memories, whether you have a Mac or PC. The scrapbooking software’s design tools will help you to build entire albums effortlessly using one of the many installed templates, or designing your very own pages from scratch. Version 2.0 includes 20+ new templates, over 1,500 new papers and over 1,300 new embellishments. There is even a new color swatch library with matching sets of papers and embellishments. And if you’re searching for even more templates, visit My Memories Suite’s online Design Shop, which offers a growing library of digital scrapbooking templates, papers, and kits to inspire your creativity!

My Memories Suite Version 2.0 software is bursting at the seams with new features! With Version 2.0 you can…

• Drag & drop page elements such as embellishments, backgrounds, and layouts from a convenient sidebar with the Resource Gallery.
• Have precise control of your page design with Zoom.
• Position journaling around circular and angled shapes.
• Create your own word art with effects like bevel & emboss, gradients, warping, and more!
• Space elements on your page evenly with advanced align function.
• Search through thousands of embellishments quickly to find the one perfect graphic.
• Layer multiple background papers—perfect for mats, paper strips, frames, and more.
• Combine pages from albums with different shapes.
• Edit your text directly on your page with precision.
• See your effects on your page as you add and adjust them with intuitive preview.
• Duplicate and mirror your pages easily.
• View your page layouts one at a time, or together as double-page spreads.
• Easily share your album with enhanced photobook, calendar, and card wizards.
• Add multiple pictures to your layout quickly with FastFill.
• Burn your creations onto a CD or DVD with better optical device support.

You have to go to the website and check out all the great things you can do with your pages once they are created. Gone are the days of scrapbook pages lying dormant on your hard drive. Share your album with your family and friends by getting it printed, burning it to a CD, and posting albums online. Bring  your memories to life. The great thing is that after you create a great scrapbook page you can take it a step further and add video and audio to the page. I have some great video of Hannah laughing at Naomi and Micah so I added it to the scrapbook pages of her. I can burn that all to a DVD and watch it on my TV. Not only do I get to see beautiful images of my daughter but I get to hear her laugh as well. Amazing! That’s what capturing memories is all about.

Let me tell you about a few other things that My Memories has to offer. They have a Design Club: you pay a discounted price upfront and get 5 digital packs each month and a discount on all other downloads.  They have weekly challenges to get you using your photos, creating beautiful layouts and preserving your memories. There are great software tutorials to help you when you’re stuck. They also have a YouTube site so you can get even more information The MyMemories site is very well organized and you can search for kits by the designer, themes, bestsellers, top products and they even have a DOLLAR STORE!! yay!! If you know me you know how much I love the dollar spot at Target and the Dollar Tree so this is right up my alley. Not to mention the freebies that you can download and use right away with your awesome digital scrapbook software. Okay, enough talking already…let’s take a quick peek at something I whipped up in a matter of minutes.

If you’re like me you are a digital scrapbook paper/element hoarder. My Memories Suite allows you to use papers that are on your hard drive. It’s super easy to do and you will have an album done in no time flat. It’s high time we get these amazing memories off our computers and into our lives!!!

The possibilities are endless! Think of all the hybrid cards you can make with these great templates and supplies. Everything is printable so you can make tons of different items for your home. I will share more projects that I’ve done with this great software later in the week…

My Memories Suite v2 sells for $39.97 which is a fraction of the price of many other digital photo editing programs. That is a steal of a deal when you realize all that My Memories Suite can do. But you my readers are in luck…I’ve got a COUPON CODE!!!

Go to MyMemories.com and enter this code: STMMMS59866 to get $10 off the price of the software…but it gets even BETTER. Once you download the software the nice people at My Memories will give you a $10 code to shop in their store!! Yippee!! That’s like a $20 coupon! Trust me you won’t have a problem finding something to spend your $10 on once you have this amazing software!

The coupon code can be used anytime!!! But the giveaway is being hosted at The Trendy Treehouse, so head over there to enter to win the software.

Good luck, I really hope you win because this software is amazing!

{Jackson, TN Lifestyle Photographer}

The right frame really can make all the difference. It’s like icing on the cake. An outstanding, moist, delicious, homemade cake topped with store bought icing is okay. But a homemade, moist, delicious cake topped with homemade butter cream frosting is amazing! Just like images of your family are great and when framed they look good on the wall, but when you take those images and pair them with an Organic Bloom frame you’ve got a statement piece. A work of art. I strive to bring only the best to my clients and when looking for a frame company that I could proudly offer my clients The Organic Bloom was the one for me and most importantly for YOU! If you prefer the more traditional-not-as-much-of-a-statement-piece we can make it happen. But I know once you see your memories behind one of these Organic Bloom frames you’ll wonder how you went so long without them before. Customized from the color, to the size and down to the finish these frames are just what your walls are begging for!!! Call me today so we can get your session scheduled and get your images framed behind these amazing works of art and up on your walls…not in a cardboard box or on your computer. Give you family memories what they deserve, art galleryesque treatment!Meg in black

With so many color and frame options you sure to find two or three that are begging to be hung in your home!
MaryAnn in DragonFruit

{Jackson, TN Wedding Photographer}

I am thrilled to be able to show you today a great product from a great company. KISS Wedding Books makes gorgeous albums and I want to show you why. I have tried a few different wedding album vendors and have decided that KISS Albums are the way to go for my amazing clients. These wedding albums start and end with two page spreads…no more weird first and last pages that you’re not exactly sure what to do with. There is no gutter in these albums so the 12×12 albums are actually 12×24 layouts, which means lots of photographic territory for your wedding memories. The leather on these albums is incredible. It’s like they put a comfy leather couch on your wedding album. Thus making you want to sink into a comfy chair, pull out your wedding album time and time again to relive the most important day of your life. These awesome albums also come inside a “swank” cloth dust-cover. I cannot wait to help you capture the memories from your wedding day and preserve them for you in this incredible album from KISS Wedding Books.

Here are some photos of the album that I designed for the amazing Karla and Jason. I really do love designing albums and cannot wait to help you pick the photographs that you want showcased in your wedding album. Don’t worry if you’re already married, we can work on an album for your coffee table too! Give me a call and book your session so we can make a gorgeous book for your gorgeous coffee table (because trust me, this is not an album you’re going to want to put on a shelf).

This is a 12×12 White Leather Album! beautiful!!!

I also made a small 4×4 album using the same designs so Karla would be able to carry their wedding album in her purse! I wish I had a small copy of my wedding album!

Do you need some business cards? I do. I had some when I lived in San Antonio, in fact I still have them and have been handing them out here in Jackson but then I’ve had to say “everything is current except the phone number and the location.” So it would be nice to be able to hand out a business card without having to state a disclaimer. Well the wonderful folks at UPrinting want to give away 250 business cards to one of my lucky readers. These aren’t your plain, boring white business cards. These are full color, gorgeous, get-your-name-out-there business cards.  You can also choose from some of their awesome die cut business cards. And the great people at UPrinting provide you with the templates you need to help you with the design of your cards. Not big on designing your own card? Not to worry there are plenty of great designs that you can choose from, then just enter your information and you’re all set.

The Prize details:
250 pcs Die Cut Business Cards for one winner 1.75″ x 3.5″, 2″ x > 3.5″, or 2″ x 2″; 2.5″
Diameter (Circle) Rounded Corners, Leaf, Rounded Single-Corner, Half-Circle Side, or Circle;
14pt Cardstock Gloss / Matte / High Gloss (UV), or 13pt Cardstock Uncoated,
6 Business Days Turnaround, *Free shipping die-cut business card, templates available for download
Restriction: Limited to *US residents 18 years old and above only.

Giveaway starts 7-13-11 and the winner will be chosen Wednesday 7-20-2011 at 10pm CST using Random.org

It’s easy to enter

just leave a comment on this post telling me what you would use the business cards for.

For an extra entry you can head over to Facebook and “like” my page, then come back here and leave me a comment that you did so (or leave me a comment if you already “like” my page)

This business card printing  giveaway is sponsored by UPrinting, no monetary compensation was given for hosting. For more information about online printing services, please visit UPrinting.com.

I was contacted by a client to create a custom scripture painting for her mother-in-law. She gave me some idea of what she wanted but then she also gave me something that I love, a creative license. She told me to just go with what I thought would look best using the colors, size and Bible verse that she wanted. I had a great time working on this piece and am happy with how it turned out. I really hope that Susie loves it and that she is proud to give it to her mother-in-law. I love this verse and have a feeling that I will be using this in the future for more gifts. Do you have a favorite Bible verse that I could paint for you?