And the $150 gift certificate goes to…

Dawn’s family!

Special thanks to all the people who voted for their holiday card! Their design won by a landslide! Happy Mother’s Day, Dawn! I’m SO looking forward to our shoot this October! Congratulations!

P.S. For even more blog praise (open to all blog readers), name the TV show I have in mind that featured the exact location shown in the above photograph on a recent episode. Hint: this is near New York City’s upper-something-side.

STACEY, YOU WIN!

Stacey correctly answered both trivia questions! For all her efforts in checking the blog everyday, posting comments in each of my card designs, and then winning the tie-breaker, Stacey and her family will be treated to a free family session! And, as an extra bonus, I’ll add to that a set of 50 greeting cards. Congratulations, Stacey! Happy Mother’s Day! Call me asap to schedule your appointment because I have very few time slots left for the year!

BOB, YOU ALSO WIN!

Bob also checked the blog everyday, posting comments in each of my card designs. He and Stacey were entered in the tie-breaker contest to see who would win the free family session. But I swear Bob let Stacey win because he not only didn’t answer the questions correctly, he answered them SO wrong and I know he would have gotten the “little red wagon” answer because he’s the master of Coffeedrome, where the whole Tree Grower’s Diary began. Bob, you are the sweetest guy on the planet. So, because I know you have a very large family, I would love to come hang out at one of your family gatherings and take pictures for you — a free extended family session. So take a look at your calendar, and let’s figure out when the next big gathering is! Happy Mother’s Day! Say hi to everybody for me!

By the way, the correct answers were: “What is 15?” and “What is the little red wagon?”

Check back later to find out who won with the most votes for their holiday card design. My mom is spending the day tallying the votes for me. Thanks Mom! I love you!

I took these pictures last November on leaf-raking day.

Congratulations to michelle, Steve G. and Dawn!

Each posted a comment in almost every card design in the STIFF COMPETITION for a free family session.

I went through and re-checked all the posts and found that Steve G. missed one, michelle missed one, and Dawn missed one. It was a very hard contest, I admit! Thank you all SO much for playing!

To show my appreciation to you for keeping that eagle eye on my blog, each of you may take 30 percent off the creation fee of your next family session! All you have to do to redeem this little “coupon” is reference me back to this blog post when it comes time for you to book your session. Just click the title of the post, then copy and paste the url of the blog post into your email message to me at the time of your booking. The coupon never expires!

So, this post is for bob and Stacey — the two remaining contenders in the competition for a free family session. CONGRATULATIONS, BOB AND STACEY! YOU ARE FINALISTS!

Bob and Stacey posted comments in every one of my card designs! WOW!!!!!

Thank you to ALL my readers for checking out my blog and helping me boost my google rankings!

Every time you visit my blog, google counts you as “traffic” to my site, and the more traffic a site gets, the more popular google thinks it is! Plus, every time a reader posts a comment, my site gets “updated” with fresh content in google’s eyes. This is another factor that keeps my site high in the rankings. Thank you to ALL my blog readers who give me lots of traffic and post comments! You’re the BEST!!!

So, on with the show, er, uh, the contest…

Bob and Stacey…

…to win the free family session, you must follow the directions EXACTLY.

1. Your response must be correct, as judged by me. If neither responds correctly, the one with the CLOSEST answers wins.

2. You must EMAIL your responses to me in the form of questions, like on Jeopardy, before midnight, May 8. My email address is shown on the blog, and within my main web site.

Here are the Jeopardy-style answers, both with visual hints within this blog post:

A) A non-growing item of special significance in the Tree Grower’s Diary.

B) The number of leaf bags Bradley, Gregory and Gabe accumulated on November 26, 2007.

Good luck, and there is no guarantee that ALL the leaf bags are shown in the picture!

One more thing: A very special thanks to Brad, Gabe and Greg for all that raking! You guys are the BEST!!!!!

The winter contest rules stated that the three holiday card designs that received the most comments would be entered into a finalist round. We ended up with FOUR finalists because there was a tie.

So, pick from the numbers below and leave a comment with your vote for the ONE CARD DESIGN YOU LIKE BEST.

What’s at stake? The family with the card design that receives the most votes will win a gift voucher for my online store worth $150! It can be used toward anything in the store, or toward a new family session in 2008. So tell your friends to stop by the blog and vote for your favorite design!

To enter a vote, click “comments” below, enter your valid e-mail address, then your first name, initials or nickname in the “name” field. Type the NUMBER of the card you are voting for. You may vote ONCE per e-mail address. In case of a tie in the voting, I will add in the number of comments from the original card posts to determine a winner. Voting ends at midnight-NJ-time on Saturday, May 10.

GOOD LUCK!

There was also a competition among blog readers to leave the most comments relating to card designs. The person who left the most would receive a FREE FAMILY SESSION in 2008. You guys are GOOD because there was a 5-way tie! So, I’m going to keep counting and just see if any one of them falls out of the contest by not noticing this post. Sneaky, huh? If there is still a tie, be on the lookout for a tie-breaker in the form of a trivia question. I will post the question as soon as I determine that there’s still a tie.

ALL WINNERS will be announced on Mother’s Day!

HERE ARE THE CARD DESIGN FINALISTS

DESIGN #19: “JACK’S FIRST CHRISTMAS”

Click here to see the rest of this card and read the original comments on its design. Be sure to click your browser’s “back” button to get back here!

Click “Comments” below to vote for this design. Write “#19″ in the comment field.

DESIGN #3: “BEAUTIFUL IN BLUE”

Click here to see the rest of this card and read the original comments on its design. Be sure to click your browser’s “back” button to get back here!

Click “Comments” below to vote for this design. Write “#3″ in the comment field!

DESIGN #5: “CENTRAL PARK”

Click here to see the rest of this card and read the original comments on its design. Be sure to click your browser’s “back” button to get back here!

Click “Comments” below to vote for this design. Write “#5″ in the comment field!

DESIGN #11: “EVERYDAY MIRACLES”

Click here to see the rest of this card and read the original comments on its design. Be sure to click your browser’s “back” button to get back here!

Click “Comments” below to vote for this design. Write “#11″ in the comment field!

Want to send this contest post to your friends? Click here to link to the post or to copy and paste the url.

Oh, and by the way, these contests are meant purely to drive traffic to my site and increase my Google rankings. I DO NOT harvest email addresses from comment posts in order to send you email messages about my business. If you would like to subscribe to my newsletter, click here.

Sometimes it’s hard for me to visualize how my pictures will look up on the wall. So I designed templates in photoshop that allow me to change the wall color, and put pictures up on a virtual wall so I can get an idea how they all work together.

Above, I’m showing Janet a layout for the sitting area at the top of her stairs. This is a family unportrait as an 11×14 print matted in a 16×20 black frame and three unmatted 4×6 prints in black frames.

Janet sent me a snapshot of the wall she wanted to put pictures on, so I had an idea of the space and where the light would come from. Here’s the snapshot she sent me, below:

I estimated the space needed to hang the frames at around 36 inches wide by 24 inches tall. In most of the examples shown below, my clients would purchase the prints from me, and buy frames from any standard decorating store or frame shop.

Janet sent me this one too, above, and I figured she could use another layout for the opposite wall.

This is a much smaller display, and could either be used on that opposite wall, to the right, or, it could be used on the window wall, to the left of the window, as a full corner of Family Art with the plan to decorate the opposite wall similarly after her family’s next photo shoot.

Janet sent me this one of a wall in the master bedroom above a couch. Isn’t that so cool she has a couch in the master bedroom? I love it! I love being able to visualize the available space, and what the photographs would be hanging above or beside.

In this case, I felt that simplicity was in order, so I chose black and white pictures, and emphasized the relationships between mom and dad and each child.

Isn’t Janet GORGEOUS? WOW!

The side images are ones I know Janet loves: one of her and her daughter on the trampoline, and one of her husband and son checking out trucks in the dining room. These are 4×6 prints matted in 8×10 frames for a larger white mat, giving that wall a little extra contrast and light.

Those frames can be found online and in many stores like Kohl’s and Michael’s. You can also buy mats with smaller mat openings for 8×10 and larger frames at places like Michael’s and Pearl Arts & Crafts.

Above, here’s another way to showcase those same images, but this time, the layout would work well above a king or queen headboard. I changed the wall color just to demonstrate how easy it is to visualize wall displays in different rooms. Notice also that I used 8×10 prints in 11×14 frames for the side images in this one.

Janet also asked for a layout of images for her daughter’s room. I poked through the image gallery from their photo shoot to see if I could remember what the wall color was, and I believe it’s a very soft yellow. I also remember that there isn’t a lot of wall space in her room because of awesome architectural details like angled ceilings.

But there was a nice empty space above the twin bed, on its long side (not above the headboard, but above the bed itself) and there was space above the dresser.

I like big prints because they look so awesome, but Janet could easily take this layout and use smaller images — a 5×7 as the centerpiece and 4×6’s as the side images. Still, I’m certain the larger display will look more like wall art and less like snapshots so I say GO FOR IT!

And then I started to think: What if they painted the wall pink since I was there last? Here you go! PINK WALLS!

Above, a layout for her son’s room. When I was there last, his wall was a neutral taupe color, but this layout would work on just about any color wall because the colors of their images were so great with the colors of the fall leaves!

Applying my new wall display system to other clients, I started to wonder what it might look like for a client who is stuck with white walls in an apartment where painting isn’t allowed. Above, look how easy it is for me to change both the wall color and the mat color in a consultation with my clients!

My new templates are SO easy to work with! I made a huge Photoshop file with masks for the actual sizes, and everything from the frames to the mats to the images are proportioned as they would be for an actual wall display. (Then I sized the whole thing down so it would be workable on a smaller scale.)

Of course, the actual frame size depends on the width of the frame you buy, but this gives you a great visualization of how it might look to put certain images together at various sizes.

Above, the last time was at Kate’s house, she asked for advice on displaying images of her children above her upright piano on a wall painted a deep rust color. At the time, I could only imagine black and white images working in that space, but now that I’ve put it together, I love the colors!

In this case, I used my favorite image/frame combo, a 19×13 image in a black 26×20 frame. I call this my “JWS Signature Print.” I special-order these frames because I LOVE them! Displayed under very high quality UV-coated acrylic, the print will last hundreds of years. It’s a very light substance, too, so even though it’s a large frame, it’s not heavy and is perfect for display in a child’s room, family room or playroom! (For blog readers who attend my church, this is the frame I used to display that awesome image from The Last Supper dramatization. It’s still on display in the Narthex.)

Here’s another focal point display idea for a richly painted wall. One large “JWS signature print” surrounded by 6×4 prints in 8×10 frames.

Bookmark the blog and come back often for more wall display ideas!

And remember: when you’ve got beautiful images of your family, you have no need for Rockwell! If you take the time to build a display, I promise that you will cherish your Family Art for decades. Think about all the benefits:

* Beautiful images of YOUR family.

* If you want, you can keep those images up and add to the display over the years, OR, you can update the images as your family grows.

* Trust me when I say that your friends and family will be WOWED by your Family Art! The bigger the better, I say!

Coming soon: more canvas gallery wraps, storyboard displays and other fun ideas! And keep in mind that if you’re having trouble deciding which images will work best together on your wall, send me a list of favorites, measurements of the wall space you’d like to decorate, the wall color or a snapshot of the space you’d like to hang your family art, and I’ll post some ideas for you too!

And to my wonderful clients, Janet and Kate, THANKS for lending me your adorable children and asking my advice about wall displays. I am so thrilled to be able to offer this service to all my clients now! You’re the best!

DESIGN 20: FRONT



DESIGN 20: INSIDE
Message: “Ours was a Lego Christmas…Here’s wishing your 2008 will be just as fun.”



DESIGN 20: BACK
Specs: Vertical 5×7 card on archival linen with the inside design spanning the inside spread, folded in the middle.
This is my family! Every year we try to get out for some “family shots,” setting the camera up on a tripod and using the camera’s timer to get at least one semi-decent picture of all of us. This SOUNDS like a good idea, but honestly, it’s HARD! Plus, the picture always looks very posed and stiff, which is part of the problem with setting the camera on a timer. It’s like the countdown to a blastoff — very tense! So someday, I hope to connect with some other photographers and trade off on family shots!

So hard to coordinate though. Take my family as an example. We couldn’t get it together to take our Christmas card pictures until Christmas Day! But the reasons were solid. The first weekend we had planned was a total washout. The following weekend was also a total washout. And the weekend after that I was sick and not feeling like doing much of anything. So, Christmas Day, it wasn’t raining. Everyone was well. Out we went!

What I love about this design — As most of my clients who’ve visited my home know, Bradley and Gregory are obsessed with Legos. My living room is like The Lego Store. This card certainly captures that — my pet name for this card is “We All Live in a Lego World,” which is why I photoshopped Bradley and Gregory into the Lego snowglobe picture on the front.

The inside spread picture was taken the day after Christmas when I took Bradley and Gregory into New York to go to FAO Schwartz and Toys R Us to spend some of their “Lego money.” (Yes, they got Lego money for Christmas. Those kids needed more Legos like I need another Lego hole in my knee.) But, my boys were thrilled that Toys R Us in Times Square had brand new Indiana Jones Lego sets that weren’t available anywhere else! WOO HOO! (Mom’s a hero!) I snapped the picture in the 15th floor cafeteria lounge of The New York Times. It was almost dark outside, and quite dark inside too, making for interesting colors and contrasts. (Love the deep blue outside the windows.) I didn’t have any special equipment to boost the lighting, so it’s just fluorescent ceiling light, certainly not the best lighting situation. But sometimes, you just have to go with a great picture regardless of the overall quality. I LOVE Gregory’s expression. It goes so well with the “here’s wishing your 2008 will be just as fun” sentiment! And of course, Bradley’s “I’m cool” face is SO THIRTEEN! As I’ve been known to say, it’s about the moment!

BUT WHAT I LOVE MOST is the tiny little set of pictures on the back of the card. There’s one that shows Bradley and me from our 2006 holiday card, and one that shows him and me exactly one year later.
HE GREW SO MUCH! Be warned, ladies, get lots of pictures of your little boys because some day they’re almost certainly going to be taller than you! (Bradley is king of the eye roll!)

THE CONTEST: Since the 19th post (”Jack’s First Christmas”) marked the last of the holiday card posts, I’ll start today by turning off the comments on each card one-by-one. It’s only fair to give all the families as much time to gather comment posts as the first cards to be posted had. Once Jack’s card has been up as long as the first one was, I’ll announce the finalists!

If you haven’t been playing all along, you can still win the big prize of a free family session! It just takes a little strategizing: you have to visit the blog everyday and you have to figure out which cards you posted comments on and which ones you missed. You don’t have to say something nice about the design, a simple “awwwww” will do! Several people are in the running for the big prize but even if today is your first day on the blog, you can still win, so KEEP PLAYING! (If you’re wondering where your friend’s card is, some clients’ cards aren’t posted for privacy reasons.)

REMEMBER: post one comment per day on a different design to WIN!

Click here for contest details, but be sure to click your browser’s “back” button to get back to this post so that you can leave a comment about THIS card design, especially if you are commenting in order to help your friends win the prize!

Cheers! And thanks for visiting the blog!

DESIGN 19: FRONT



DESIGN 19: INSIDE
Message: “May your holidays be merry and bright.”

The card was signed under the little picture.



DESIGN 19: BACK
Specs: Vertical 5×7 card on archival linen with the inside design spanning the inside spread, folded in the middle.
Do you know this family? Help them win a prize by leaving a comment about their card design!

What I love about this design — TALK about a keepsake! Mom and dad will NEVER forget Jack’s first Christmas card. At least I hoped they wouldn’t when I was designing it! I love the Christmas lights on the front, and the cute pictures of Jack in his little Santa hat are just ADORABLE! He’s so cute with mom and dad in his derby on the back too.

This post marks the last of the holiday card posts, well, there is ONE more, but you can’t vote on that one because it’s MINE! One-by-one I will disable comments on the cards that have already been posted, up to the point that Jack’s card is up as long as the first one was. Then the tallying of comments will begin! If you haven’t been playing all along, you can still win the big prize of a free family session! It just take a little strategizing: you have to visit the blog everyday and you have to figure out which cards you posted comments on and which ones you missed. You don’t have to say something nice about the design, a simple “awwwww” will do! Several people are in the running for the big prize but even if today is your first day on the blog, you can still win, so KEEP PLAYING! (If you’re wondering where your friend’s card is, some clients’ cards aren’t posted for privacy reasons.)

Click here for contest details, but be sure to click your browser’s “back” button to get back to this post so that you can leave a comment about THIS card design, especially if you are commenting in order to help your friends win the prize!

Cheers! And thanks for visiting the blog!

DESIGN 18: FRONT



DESIGN 18: INSIDE
Message: “May your holidays be joyful and bright.” The card was signed under the little picture.



DESIGN 18: BACK
Specs: Vertical 5×7 card on archival linen with the inside design spanning the inside spread, folded in the middle.
Do you know this family? Help them win a prize by leaving a comment about their card design!

What I love about this design — LOVE the colors of this card — the reds of the girls’ dresses, plus the greenish-brown-tinted front with distressed borders and that pretty yellow inside. But what I love most is the fact that there are actually not one, not two, but THREE pictures of these girls on this card. And it’s no accident that the message on the front of the card says “peace.” The girls dropped by my house one morning in their beautiful holiday dresses with mom’s goal of a back-to-back picture for their Christmas card. We shot for about an hour. Those three pictures were the only three I considered even acceptable! It was TOO FUNNY, like a comedy scene actually, and the main reason I don’t shoot traditional posed children’s portraits! I believe that the girls are looking at my cat walking in front of them in the cover shot. When I saw that beautiful picture in the mess of hundreds of blooper shots, I think I may have actually screamed! And there was peace in my heart.

Click here for contest details, but be sure to click your browser’s “back” button to get back to this post so that you can leave a comment about THIS card design, especially if you are commenting in order to help your friends win the prize!

Cheers! And thanks for visiting the blog!

DESIGN 17: FRONT

DESIGN 17: INSIDE
Message: “May the magic of the holiday season never end…for the greatest of gifts are family and friends,” signed under the message on the right.

DESIGN 17: BACK
Specs: Horizontal wide format 5×7 card on archival linen, folded in the middle. The card opens on the short end resulting in a unique wide format card that opens to a full 5×14 spread.

Do you know this family? Help them win a prize by leaving a comment about their card design!What I love about this design — See the background on the front scrapbook-style photograph of the children? That’s not your standard holiday card background image. That’s their lake! And that’s the family in that boat on their lake! How do you get a holiday card more custom than THAT? It looks like a painting! I also like the wintry swirls on the border, giving the fall photographs a subtle hint of winter. I love the unique wide format layout in the center with not an inch of wasted space. But, other than the front, which I just LOVE, my second-favorite thing about this card is the classic family photograph on the back, given a timeless appeal with a sepia tone and a worn texture. Who can’t help staring back at that beautiful dog’s gaze? Love the dog!

Click here for contest details, but be sure to click your browser’s “back” button to get back to this post so that you can leave a comment about THIS card design, especially if you are commenting in order to help your friends win the prize!

Cheers! And thanks for visiting the blog!

DESIGN 16: FRONT
(The text at the bottom actually showed the boy’s name, replaced with fake type here, but I LOVE his name there!)



DESIGN 16: INSIDE
Message: “Happy holidays” was written in script at the bottom right corner.



DESIGN 16: BACK
Specs: Vertical 5×7 card on archival linen with the inside design spanning the inside spread, folded in the middle.
Do you know this family? Help them win a prize by leaving a comment about their card design!

What I love about this design — I feel a sense of peace just thinking about this card, and a card that gives me a moment of peace during the hectic holidays is one worth keeping out all year long. I love the richness of the front with the browns and textures and the boy’s natural smile. Love the inside with the subtle pulling back of color in that unusual but playful photo choice for a holiday card. The addition of a faux linen texture on the image enhances the actual linen texture of the paper on which it was printed. It’s the whole card design, the flow of it, that gives me that much-desired peacefulness, but the back is my favorite panel. It’s just — *sigh* — a sweet layout for a beautiful family.

Click here for contest details, but be sure to click your browser’s “back” button to get back to this post so that you can leave a comment about THIS card design, especially if you are commenting in order to help your friends win the prize!

Cheers! And thanks for visiting the blog!