Maui...here we come!

I just booked my 2nd family session in Maui yesterday! That means it is a done deal...we are going!!! Yea!
Flights are being made and hotel reservations are booked! I would LOVE to get one more family to join us for this incredible portrait adventure.
June 4-11 is when we will be there.
Call the studio to reserve your spot on a black sand beach...it will be unforgettable!
PS: There are white sand beaches too, and rocks and cliffs and waterfalls......

Happy New Year!

Wow 2010! It seems like yesterday we were all a little freaked out about Y2K and here it is a whole decade later!
Just to keep you up to speed on a few things that have happened over the past few weeks:

• Rebecca got engaged! Congratulations Rebecca and Jay!
• The studio has been closed since Christmas Eve and the staff has had a over a week to spend with their friends and family! Rebecca has been planning her wedding and I have been doing some much needed projects around my house! Sandy and Jeanette have been spending much needed time off since a lot of overtime was put in to get to Christmas!
• Home for the Holidays was a huge success! We had so many families interested we had to open up another whole day! We had fabulous weather...Thank you God!
• We are planning our trip to Maui right now! We have two families going with us to take some of the most spectacular portraits you can imagine! If you want to join us, act now, we are making all of the hotel arrangements, flights and itineraries.
• Trey and I leave for Nashville for the National Convention of the Professional Photographers of America on Saturday Jan.9. We are giving a platform presentation on Sunday Jan 10 to hundreds/thousands of photographers. We are excited to also give two presentations for our fabulous Professional Lab, Millers! We love our lab!
• There are many exciting things planned for the winter and spring so keep your eye out for the newsletter!
• If you are not on our email list....You have missed out! A special gift was given to all of you on our email list on January 1st! Don't miss another amazing opportunity...get on our email list now. artisticimages@portraitsbyelizabeth.com

Hope your New Year has gotten off to a fabulous start!

Blessings,

Elizabeth

Little Cupids

Here are some of the images of our upcoming Valentine children's special event.
"Little Cupids" will be on FRIDAY FEBRUARY 5th!

The colors in this scene are so rich and beautiful! Don't miss out on this never before done Valentine Angel Portraits!

Thanks to Devan and Jeffrey (and their parents too) for being awesome models!

Stay Tuned for more images...

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Here is a little video to put you in the Christmas Spirit!

Dear Blog

Dear Blog,
I am sorry I have neglected you over the past few months! Christmas time is a real blur for me and I just haven't had any time to post anything!
Please forgive me, I will try to be a better blogger.

Here are some highlights of what has gone on the past few months:
I have taken MANY family portraits...I have lost count!

I have taken MANY portraits of children with Santa Claus and MANY portraits of children without Santa Claus.

I have created MANY, MANY Christmas Cards for my clients, all have been AWESOME and will be the talk around the dinner table!

I have been busy booking HOME for the HOLIDAYS! In fact, I have completely booked Dec. 26 and have opened up another day on Dec. 27! I only have 2 appointments left!

I have been busy booking MAUI! Yes, we are definitely going to MAUI June 4-11th 2010 and already have one family booked and 3 that are working out the details.

AND...Trey and I would really like to go to Venice, Italy for a cruise with friends, but the only way we can go is if we book at least one portrait session while we are there. So, all you world travelers, call me ASAP so I can book this trip of a lifetime!

Oh yeah, I also went to Paris. Had a blast and I have AMAZING images, just no time to show you, but I will be showing them off soon!

Trey and I will be going to Nashville for Imaging USA 2010 where we will be a platform speaker. Our program is The Power of Projection, Jan 10, 6-7:30pm. We will also be giving a studio seminar to professional photographers Feb 21-23.

In the middle of that, our nanny resigned and we had to find a new one. Thankfully, we now have a new nanny, Sarah.
So, you see, it has been a busy few months. I am BLESSED to be so busy and to have awesome clients, friends and family who help me with my crazy life.

Just remember, when the craziness gets to you this Christmas Season...

Jesus is the REASON for the Season.

May you all have a Blessed Christmas!

Busy busy busy!

Wow, today was absolutely crazy. It seems as if over the weekend, everyone started thinking about Christmas portraits and Cards. Now is the time, if you wait any longer we won't be able to have things ready for Christmas. Our cutoff date is Thanksgiving. If your portraits haven't been taken by Thanksgiving, we probably won't be able to have them ready for Christmas gift giving. Only exceptions are the Wrapped in Red scene on December 5. Those will be ready in time.

Santa's Toy Shoppe was a huge success. The children were adorable in their sweet Christmas clothing. Watching their faces when they saw Santa was priceless. I am such a sap, I nearly cry every time...and I have been doing this for 17 years!! All sessions went so well with the exception of one...MY CHILDREN. Jacob did not want to sit at all in any chair so I had to tie him in. I know, it's mean but that was the only way! Then when he figured he couldn't get out, he fell asleep! Not kidding. He fell asleep on the set, trying to curl up on Jackson's lap. I was sweating, stressed out that I would not get ONE good photo of my three boys. Once Jacob woke up, Jackson decided he didn't want to do it anymore and Josh accidently saw Santa in the window and got a little scared. But we persevered and got some cute images. So, if you think your children are bad, you can remember this story and know that someone always has it worse! Ha ha. Later, looking at the images I had a good laugh.
Take a look at one of these less than perfect Christmas photos! Jacob is mid-yawn!

Santa Claus is Coming to Town!!

Santa is going to be here in 3 DAYS!!!!

There is so much to do before the big man in red arrives. We have to
1. Get some hay so the reindeer have some food while they wait for Santa to pose for his many portrait sessions
2. Decorate the Studio so Santa will feel welcome.
3. Get Santa's Toy Shoppe ready for all of the little children to visit.
4. Ask the meteorologist if they could make it a little cooler so Santa doesn't feel too warm in his big red fur coat.
5. Tell all of the children to have their lists ready to give to Santa!

A few words of wisdom for parents of little ones:

1. To little ones, Santa can be a bit scary. He sure doesn't mean to be, but sometimes little ones will LOVE him in a book or at a distance but when it comes to sitting on his lap, they may be a little frightened. Do not worry, we have done this before and we have a great system to create amazing Christmas images. The best thing you can do is not to overwhelm your child with too much talk about Santa before your visit to us. Bring your sweet child with their beautiful Christmas attire to us and let us do the rest.
2. Bring your video camera if you wish. Watching the story of Santa Portraits unfold is sometimes a magical thing. If you wish to video tape the event quietly, that is fine with us. But please leave your still camera at home.
3. Have your children bring a list of their top 3 wishes for Santa to bring to them. Have them write big so we can use it in the photograph and will be able to see what they wrote.
4. Don't coach them too much about smiling, let us entertain them and get those true expressions!

Spooky Day is tomorrow!!!!

I love this time of year...the colors, the smells and the fresh crisp air (although not so fresh or crisp out there currently-78 degrees and humid). I love watching my 3 boys get excited about all of the fall events that are happening. We just attended the Fall Fair at the elementary school, last night had the fall kids church choir concert and this morning we had the annual storybook parade for my youngest, Joshua. He dressed in a dinosaur costume that coordinated with one of his favorite dino books. The children were soooo adorable in their costumes with their grins from ear to ear! There is just nothing cuter than that.

Jackson's solo at the Choir Performance

Joshua as a Dinosaur!

This is just a reminder that tomorrow from 4-6pm is Spooky Day at Artistic Images.

Bring your adorable little ones in for a FREE mini session and FREE 4x6 portrait.

The set is going to be adorable...full of fall decorations and pumpkins.

You will be able to choose the image you want online and you will be able to purchase anything else your heart desires as well.

If you wish, we will be taking donations for the 22q13 Foundation. This is the chromosome disorder that affects my oldest son. The foundation is constantly researching ways to help these children. You can find out more information at http://www.22q13.org/

Cutest little girl!

This adorable baby was such a great subject last week. She was so good I asked her to model my newest little outfit. The pink pettiskirt is not new but the pink little leggings and top are! Aren't they cute? You too can borrow them if you have a little girl between 4 months and 2 years (they are stretchy).

She had a little meltdown here but I loved this image!

Santa Portrait Slide Show

Check out the slide show I made showing all 3 of our adorable Christmas Portrait options. Don't wait....appointments are filling up fast!!!!