Weezie

I'm always a little embarassed to write about personal matters on the Conway Photo blog because I feel like it should mostly be about my work, but I know a lot of you are animal lovers and will understand my thoughts today. A few posts back you may have seen my Christmas card this year with a photo of our little Abyssinian, Nell Blu -- also known as "The Weasel" or "Weezie." Joe and I didn't really say it out loud but we both knew that the reason we were taking photos of her while we were decorating the tree was because she probably wouldn't be around next Christmas. Though she was not very old, she had been very sick for several months and was fading before our eyes. We tried everything the doctor said but it was obviously just a matter of time and, for the past week, we had watched her give up. We decided we couldn't see her struggle any longer and today we lost her. Joe and I have been married for 25 years and have had a lot of cats in our life but this loss was especially hard for us. She was a good, little girl -- five pounds was her top, fighting weight -- and we'll miss her. I was just looking through my files and found this nice photo of the Weez in her prime, relaxing at the beach house.

Card Bonanza

I was hesitant to show you some of the many cards I designed during the Christmas season before Christmas day because, if you received one of them, I wanted you to enjoy the real thing from the sender and not my ramblings about them on a computer screen. A lot of my clients choose standard cards from my lab's catalog for obvious reasons of simplicity, but I really enjoy designing cards that are more personal and unique. This is just a sample of some from this year and I'll give a little info about them. Above and below are the front, back and inside of Angel and Tony Terry's card which was a combination Christmas card/birth announcement of little Isabella. I love that we were able to include on the back the photo of the bassinet and baby shoes ornament from the tree. Also, the background of the back of the card was the detail of the lace from the bassinet. We selected watercolor paper to print these cards on and they looked beautiful.

I've been doing Christmas cards of Miss Ryleigh since she was born and her mom always gives me free rein to design cards for her. This year I picked up the colors from the cute little outfit she was wearing for the polka dot background and we were even able to include Ryleigh photo from visiting Santa on the card.


We are always thrilled to see Skylar every year just so we can check out the pretty clothes she always has. She had some beautiful Christmas outfits this year and I just love a simple card that really showcases the pretty little girl.

I've shown you Hinton's photos from the cotton field before and it was his mommy's idea to share the sentiment "may all your Christmases be white." I used a burlap design on the brown background which I thought was appropriate for a field of cotton.

Joy and Brent Chafin in Ahoskie are blessed with four beautiful little girls. I had photographed the three older girls earlier in the fall when we could be outside and little Sophie arrived in time to make the card's front. And, this is probably my favorite card back on a folded Christmas card I've ever done; these four little pairs of shoes are just adorable.

Laurie and Mike Ordnung included Preston on the card they sent out from Valley Pine CC this year. He IS the newest member of the club!!

I did a couple of classic cards like this one this Christmas season and I think it's very special to have a really nice photos of all the children on the front that you can frame later and then open up the card and see the individual shots of each child. A heartfelt, seasonal greeting -- you don't need much more than this. Again, this card was printed on watercolor paper which I just love.

You all know how I feel about Carter and those big, beautiful eyes!! It's so much fun to play with color when you design a card. I actually picked up the color from his eyes to use as the background of the card.

The Dunn family used several of the photos from the Chowan sessions to wish a "Merry Christmas" to everyone.

Lynn (or "Miss Lynn" to the children that come by the studio) looked around for some card ideas this year and helped design her own card. We took this nice shot of her family from a summer wedding at the beach, turned it into black and white, and used just a hit of color for the greeting. I thought it ended up being one of the more unique cards of the season.

Hope you all had a Merry Christmas!! Maybe one of these cards will inspire you with an idea for your cards next year.

MY Christmas Cards

I've designed so many Christmas cards this year and had a wonderful, creative time doing so but time slipped on me and I had to come up with some cards to send out from Joe and me. I took some photos while we were decorating the tree and used some of them to create three different cards for our friends and family. Some people we send cards to know that we are nuts about our cats so I did one that's a close-up of our sweet little Nell (also known as "The Weasel") with the Christmas tree in the background. The other two cards relate a little more closely to my husband. One of them has his absolutely favorite girl, Marilyn Monroe, in all her skirt-blowing glory near the top of the tree. Most years he tries to put her where the angel should go at the very top. The last card reminds us both that he finished his thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail twelve years ago and made it home five days before Christmas. We have two ornaments that are an AT marker and a hiking boot that one of his trail buddies gave him. So, if you weren't on my list to get an actual card in the mail, hope you enjoy these on the blog!!

A Beautiful Christmas Wedding for Amanda & Zach

I'm finishing up Amanda and Zach's wedding photos and thought I'd share a little preview. Looking at them puts me in the Christmas spirit!

Zach, Amanda & Chester?!?

I'm working away on the photos from last Saturday's wedding of Amanda and Zach and trying to get them finished before the weekend. With this freezing weather that they say is coming in, I thought it was a good time to remember some warmer weather and share some of the photos from Amanda's bridal portrait session. I took her portraits back in the fall because she wanted to do them outside and we needed for the weather to be nicer. We had a wonderful afternoon at Chowan and the new swings that they hung up near the gazebo were put to good use. Don't you like the barefoot bride just swinging away? Amanda also just HAD to have some photos with her little Chester. I imagine that some girls are nervous introducing the new man in their lives to their father, but I think Zach should have been anxious about getting Chester's approval. Chester and his mommy are close!!! I think it's kind of sweet that they're walking off into the sunset in this last photo. I hope Chester's not too lonely this week because I'm pretty sure he got left at home for the honeymoon in Antigua.

Isabella

I took some photos this morning that I thought had such special meaning and I wanted to share a few of them. First of all, congratulations to Angel and Tony on the birth of their beautiful little Isabella. Angel called me several weeks before the baby was born to see if I would come to their home after she was born and take some photos in her cradle. It's such a special cradle because it is covered in fabric from Angel's mother's wedding dress. I've know Angel's family all my life and photographed her wedding and her sister's wedding and I thought this was just the sweetest thing I had heard of in a long time. I think it made it even more special to me because my father had done "Grandma Debbie's" bridal portrait wearing this gown and it was taken back in the day when my mother was the oil colorist who painted it. While Angel was taking a diaper break with Isabella, I put Debbie's bridal portrait in the cradle among the beautiful little lace pillows made from her dress and snapped a quick photo. And I'm such a sentimental slob that I was just enchanted with her beautiful little christening dress hanging on the closet door and the special ornaments on the Christmas tree including the cake topper from Angel and Terry's wedding and one of baby Isabella's first little shoe ornaments. I know it's going to be a special Christmas around this home this year!

Gift Certificate SALE!!!

We're running around like elves over here and looking ahead to closing next Friday afternoon for our annual two-week vacation. We're finishing orders, framing photos, and swimming in Christmas cards, and I thought I'd offer a sale on gift certificates that can be used in 2010 and beyond. We're selling gift certificates in any denomination at 20% off next Monday through Friday. This is a great last-minute gift or stocking stuffer for that person on your list who may want to visit us next year -- new moms and dads for baby photos, high school seniors and the endless wallets they need, brides and grooms for everything, and framing for everyone. If you're too busy to make it over to Conway or just want to save the gas, give us a call and put it on your credit card and we can mail the gift certificate to you in plenty of time for holiday giving. Be sure to tell us whether you'd like your gift certificate to have a baby, wedding or general photo on the front. Merry Christmas, everyone!!