Diane Jarvis-Schuller

I came across two really cool projects and you’re going to want to do each one! The first one is a project utilizing your own photographs making customized coasters. I just finished reading the instructions and was so amazed at how simple it seems, that I had to share it with you. As regulars here know, I am a HUGE proponent of getting your photos OFF the computer (and off CDs) and into print. This particular project will provide you with a unique way to show off or showcase a few of your favourites.

Kelly over at Carrot Top Mom blog has the instructions so you can Make Your Own Photo Coasters. Head over to check it out. I’m going to make some too! What a great gift idea. If you comment on Kelly’s easy peasy project, let her know I sent you.

Speaking of another Kelly, don’t forget that Kelly James of Jax Does Design is featuring my equine art and she has a giveaway with the draw happening on Sunday, and the winner being announced at her blog on Monday.

Here is one more easy peasy project for your family photos. Since I was sharing the link to the photo coasters, I thought I’d see if anyone had great instructions on making photo cubes. Well, sure enough! I read through a variety of results from my search and am sharing two links, each equally easy. Head to the brown paper packages blog for her cute ideas and easy instructions (and more really good craft ideas if you care to browse around there). Check out the simple instructions the Alphamom blog has provided on making your own handmade photo cube. With Valentine’s Day coming up either of these two projects would make a great Valentine gift for the sweetheart in your life. But don’t limit yourself to Valentine’s Day — make them anyway.

What unique crafts or unique ways have you turned your photos into something other than prints?

“An image in hand can touch your heart more deeply than an image on a computer screen. Printed photographs are gifts.” ~ Meredith Winn

That is EXACTLY how I feel too. Thanks Meredith.

Some Handy Resources …

A little something, at a reasonable price, for keeping your printed photos:
Live-Love-Laugh Black Bookbound Photo Album w/ Memo Holds 200 Photos

Pearhead Side Photo Album

Malden Family Bookbound Photo Album, Holds 200 Photos, Black

Or if you prefer to read about family snapshots:
Phototherapy Techniques: Exploring the Secrets of Personal Snapshots and Family Albums

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Photographs Never Forget! Keeping memories alive with custom portraits and albums.

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As I mentioned earlier, my first photographic gallery show is NOW ON in Beaverlodge, Alberta at the Beaverlodge Cultural Centre. I have nineteen photos featured and thought I’d give you a sneak peek. I didn’t have my camera bag when I took these during my opening, so didn’t have the correct lens for my camera. That’s why the field of view is so narrow; hopefully you get an idea what it’s like. For those in the area, I hope you’ll visit the show between now and July 23rd. The volunteers always have tea or coffee and some homemade sweets for gallery visitors to enjoy in their sunny tea room.

Back at home. As some of you know I’m battling a flu that simply does not want to release itself from me. I’m getting so worn out that I’m also getting restless and a tad on the cranky side. No one outside of home knows I’m cranky (but now that I’m blabbing about it, you know) because I do my best to push all that ‘stuff’ inside and revert to my happy face when I’m with friends or neighbours. I don’t mind admitting that this flu is really getting the best of me. After posting a couple photos from my backyard a week or so ago, two of you mentioned you’d like to see more of where I live. So, here is another glimpse into my yard.

This is in my front yard. I’ve always loved weeping caragana so thought I’d show this photo taken last week when both it and the lilacs were in bloom.

We have a patch in our backyard that we don’t mow. It’s the remnants of an old country flower garden, once the joy of my husband’s mom. For several years I used to break my back shoveling and weeding, pulling the incessant crab grass. My back finally began telling me that was something I needed to give up but I refuse to allow my husband to mow that area. Every June the orange oriental poppies that were once an integral part of my mother-in-law’s garden come through the thick patch of crab grass. This photo was taken just before they all popped open into their blousy blooms (remember those night photos I shared the other day?). I loved the lighting and was especially taken with how these two were like weeping sisters. What I hadn’t noticed was this little fellow who had been looking straight at me (see the inset in the lower right).

This is getting rather long and since I prefer to keep my posts brief, I’m going to begin closing down the tour with two final photos. I love flowers of all sorts, including a lot of ones that people call weeds. Just as difficult as it is for me to pick one favourite book or novel I’ve read, it’s equally difficult to say I have only one favourite flower. Among my favourites however, are peonies. I’m particularly partial to the old heritage varieties such as Sarah Bernhardt –oh what a divine fragrance they have. I got that love of peonies from my darling mother — she was a master at growing lush peonies and had a sylvan thumb with bountiful tomatoes as well. This is the first of my peony plants that is currently in bloom. Two more in the backyard should be opening up within a week.

And finally, this is what I saw outside my office window the other evening, looking through my backyard. This is the true colour and that’s why the photos I took the other evening were so orange. The sky really was this colour! I did no photoshopping to this; only sharpened it slightly for the web and added my watermark — nothing else. Now you know why I had to grab my camera! G’night.

PS: Did anyone watch the Queen’s Plate today? I’ll be so glad when that darn soccer is over; it’s causing me to miss all my favourite summer equine events. Anyway, I love CBC’s coverage (of everything) but they did such a great job telling stories today about the Queen’s Plate, about the Queen and her horses, about two of the jockeys, and each of the horses. Naturally I watched it! The jockey was so thrilled to actually get to see the Queen, he was beyond ecstatic. How wonderful.

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Photographs Never Forget!

I was on vacation in Victoria, BC when I took these photos. I was meandering, taking in the intriguing sites and architectural details. The window is a very old building at the harbour and obviously once opened up from an active place of commerce. It’s now more decorative than functional. Numerous buildings had beautifully detailed and crafted door handles. I thought this pair of bronze keys was particularly clever. Although the building, also located on the harbour, was likely a bank it now houses a tastefully appointed fish and seafood restaurant.

I’ll be heading back to Victoria in February so was browsing through some of these images from my previous visit. It’s interesting how my vision through the lens was so varied. Many photos are of the details, some include the people, oodles of the photos are taken of boats and the water, food and street markets abound in the photos, and I forgot how many I had taken at night. It will be the same time of year when I revisit Victoria so I wonder what I will focus on, in terms of the photos I take, for this upcoming trip. Funny how we see the same things differently at different times. Funny how time seems to have actually enhanced the beauty and details of these old building features. Funny how people took the time to create beauty in the everyday details.

Time is a brisk wind, for each hour it brings something new… but who can understand and measure its sharp breath, its mystery and its design? ~Paracelsus

Continuing from my previous post, I’m coming through by showing samples of the CD Covers I have been making. As many of you know, I don’t give high resolution photo files on CD (for very good reason). I do offer a low resolution file, not suitable for printing, but ideal for sharing images in blogs, Facebook, etc. but charge accordingly because it’s prints I prefer people to enjoy and show off in their homes. A while ago, I had been wanting to create a few CDs with samples of my work to give to a couple friends and a family member. I don’t have a printer that prints directly on CDs (though that would be the ideal and most professional looking), so had contemplated what other options I had for personalizing the CDs.

I decided against the stick on CD labels because they are known to peel and jam up inside CD players or computers. I sure didn’t want that! I found templates for printing out the square labels that slip inside the cover of the plastic jewel cases, but was still hoping for something just a bit nicer. Then someone in one of the photography groups mentioned trying the template at bighugelabs.com for making a personalized CD cover. I checked it out and liked the idea. It also seemed easy enough to do so I thought I’d try it out. It was surprisingly easy to make and all I had to do was create my cover image in Photoshop, upload it to www.bighugelabs.com, print it out using their template, and cut along the edges. It turned out really well. The first ones I only used a single sheet of printer paper and thought it needed a bit more heft so I laminated a second sheet of paper to the back, let it dry, and that greatly improved it. Since then I’ve improved upon them by printing on a lightweight card stock (so I don’t have to monkey around with laminating). My husband LOVES them and thinks I should sell them! Now that’s quite an endorsement (though I have no intention of selling them) because he is so fussy and always looks at things with an eye to quality.

I finally remembered to take photos of a couple of the earlier ones so you can see what they look like. These two are ones I gave to clients as a token of my appreciation — they contain a mini slideshow in pdf format. After cutting it out, the paper is folded in and I sealed it with a custom sticker. I think they would be great gift ideas even if you’re not a photographer. If you take photos of your kids, or pets, or both, it would be a great gift for aunts & uncles, siblings, parents, grandparents, or whoever. Another gift idea would be if you had taken photos of a family or workplace event, or a fun day with friends, to do up a CD of the photos to give to each person who was there as a Christmas gift. With your CD cover you can personalize it, the CD and cover are something you have made (so it’s really appreciated), and it doesn’t cost an arm and a leg. Who wouldn’t want to receive a gift from the heart like this?!

Diane is an on-location lifestyle photographer based from Grande Prairie serving all points in Alberta and northern BC. Visit Diane Schuller Photography.

My tulips are blooming!

Yes, finally my tulips are blooming and so are the dandelions. It just so happens, I don’t mind dandelions. In fact, I like them (hence my logo). If, unlike me, you do mind dandelions, I wrote about controlling dandelions in my last week’s environment column for Grande Prairie Ink! You can check out the archive of that article if you like but if you wish to hang on to the information, I’d recommend printing it out. The newspaper does not keep the archives online forever.

Although in last year’s environment column (for the newspaper I write for) I covered several other tips for controlling dandelions without using toxic chemicals, I would love to learn your methods or strategies for controlling dandelions. Please share them here in the comments.

Diane is an on-location lifestyle photographer based from Grande Prairie, Alberta (serving central & northern Alberta/BC). Visit Diane Schuller Photography.

sere  |sɪ(ə)r| |sɪə|noun. Ecology, a natural succession of plant (or animal) communities, esp. a full series from uncolonized habitat to the appropriate climax vegetation. Compare with succession. ORIGIN early 20th cent.: from Latin serere ‘join in a series.’

While visiting my mom in the cemetery on Sunday.

Diane is an on-location lifestyle photographer serving Grande Prairie and Edmonton, Alberta. Visit Diane Schuller Photography.

“The greatest gift of the garden is the restoration of the five senses.”  ~Hanna Rion

Did you catch the previous post on Down Jackets and Lawn Mowing? It’s worth a quick peek.

Diane is an on-location lifestyle photographer serving Grande Prairie and northern Alberta/B.C. Visit Diane Schuller Photography.

Not another tie … or baseball cap! I know, dads can be difficult to buy for. Make it easy this year and get a gift he’ll actually use: heartwarming photos of the people he loves (pets too).

Father’s Day shopping doesn’t need to be so difficult.  With that in mind, I’m helping you out by running a Father’s Day sale on gift certificates.  No trips to the crowded mall and a sure fire hit with any dad. It’s also a great way to get some photos for yourself too!  Besides, what dad doesn’t appreciate great photographs of his family?

To order your gift certificates, drop me a line at dianeschuller @ gmail . com (remove spaces) and we’ll get it done. My gift certificates come in the denomination of your choice starting at $50 and arrive gift wrapped. Don’t wait too long — there is less than a month to make sure you’ve got Father’s Day shopping all wrapped up. Father’s Day is June 21st this year.

To help you celebrate Father’s Day, for every gift certificate of $100 or more, I will throw in a non-printable DVD of all the successful images from the session (ideal for website sharing or email) as a bonus.  Feel free to share this offer with friends and family! Visit www.dianeschuller.com

Gift certificates must be ordered and paid in full by June 20, 2009 to be eligible for the bonus offer. Gift certificates, including any outstanding balances, expire in one year (on June 20, 2010).

“Any man can be a Father but it takes someone special to be a dad.” ~Anne Geddes

Diane is a lifestyle photographer serving Grande Prairie and northern Alberta/BC. Visit Diane Schuller Photography.