• This may sound silly but make sure you have your battery(s), charger, memory cards and any other camera accessories you may need. Yep, I’ve left the charger behind before.
• Perspective – taking a site seeing photo or family photo look at things differently. Shoot from high, low, an angle, get in close, zoom out, and move around don’t standing in the same place and take these shots. You don’t have to keep all those photos, only your favorites.

(Here I took the shot from a balcony looking down over the pool area covered in palm trees)

• Think in terms of a story – Introduction, Body, Conclusion
  • Take an introduction shot – a sign, landmark, brochure, hotel – start the story.

  

         (The entrance to the park, this will be the beginning of the scrap book with a short story about our trip)

• As you go through your day take several snapshots of the sites, family, close-ups, signs, patterns, color, unique vegetation. This is the body of your story
• Take your end shot – what was the last thing on the tour, that you did that day?
• Now you have a story of images for your scrapbook, maybe a wall display but most of all you have the story of that vacation captured.
• Be candid - take fun, candid, un-posed shots. Capture the eyes, smiles, tears, screams – the emotion and personality of the vacation.
• Locals – try to capture images that represent the local culture and the heritage of your destination. This could be the people, the architecture, the shops, the grocery store or market, there are so many things that define a destination.

(The sign of the local restaurant we love)

• Details – get in close and capture the small pieces of objects, signs, brochures. Look for repetition of a pattern, texture, color, small pieces of the details. These can make for great backgrounds in scrapbooks or compliment the collage you can create later.
• Lots of Pictures! If shooting digital don’t be afraid to take lots of pictures, you can delete them later but the more you take the better images you’ll get.
• Ever go on vacation and never get that family shot with the landmark in the background? Don’t forget to capture the family with landmarks, signs, or whatever you want to remember in the background. Take the landmark shot but make sure you get the family there too.

(You can find this image for sale at www.juliem.pro/shop)

Have a great vacation and get those shots! Until next time, Julie

See I have always been a ‘glass is half full’ type of person and these negative thoughts running through my head, the negative influences around me and some other junk stuff had to stop. I needed positivity again, I needed to have a smile on my face and to just feel like things were going to be fine again. SO I changed my thoughts, I woke up daily with a good thought or something I was grateful for. I made sure I surrounded myself with positive people and removed the negativity from my life. It was amazing but in no time things looked up again, my thoughts became positive and I focused on the good. I was trying to live in the moment in lieu of looking at all that was ‘wrong’ with everything in the world. This REALLY worked!

Well let’s speed up to just the other day now. I have had some not so great thoughts again because of some personal circumstances, some close friends really struggling through some horrible stuff and just these cold dreary days – yuck….it was happening again – negativity was back…time to run! I am not kidding you that every blog I read that day in my feed (at least it seemed that way), every quote I looked up for a project I’m working on, tweets on twitter, posts on Facebook, even one of  my photos I pulled up, were about being POSITIVE. Being GRATEFUL. Looking at the BLESSINGS. Stop having the pity party, stop looking at the bad and dig around for that positive. Now just to be clear I’m not looking or feeling down or full of negativity I was just feeling really bad and a little down for some friends.

These signs would not stop popping up in front of me – ALL. DAY. LONG. This made me start thinking, what if everyone, for 30 short days, would look for the good, look for the positive, look for the blessings in front of them. Because truly there is always something in our life that gets us down, there is always something to deal with – big or small. So if you put into practice now the positive thinking imagine what will happen when you really need those thoughts, when you are really struggling through something that is hard for you. Think how much easier that thing may be to handle. Think about the smiles you will give out that could help someone else, think about the kindness that will happen in the world, think about how good you will feel. SO I challenge you, for just 30 days, to look at the glass as half full. Be POSITIVE. Be GRATEFUL. Here are some ideas to help you start:

• Wake up and smile, look in the mirror and smile. Doesn’t that feel good?
• When you first wake up state out loud three things you are grateful for, even write them down.
• Call a friend to see how they are, do they need a helping hand today?
• Write down on a note that is handy – “but it doesn’t matter” (or another similar phrase) – when that negative thought pops into your mind add “but it doesn’t matter”. Example: I’m so tired and don’t want to exercise, I’m so overweight it will never come off. BUT IT DOESN’T MATTER I will exercise and it will make me feel better.
• Journal – write down all the negative thoughts and stuff, then cover it up with art, this can be so freeing.

This a great article to read –  http://www.marcandangel.com/2014/01/08/8-things-to-remember-when-everything-goes-wrong/

Give it a try, leave a comment about something that works for you, most of all enjoy each moment.

(For Sale for digital download or print purchase in the shop - www.juliem.pro/shop)

Until next time, Julie

I drew her in pencil and then transferred her to the journal page, I think added watercolor, distressed stains, marker (tombow) and colored pencil with a little pen work. The text is all done in pen as well. I was going to do the word ‘beauty’ and ‘be happy’ in a different color and then get into a groove with the writing and forgot. I still am very happy with the way she turned out though. So much so I have decided to transfer her into a digital form and here is the start of her digital transformation. Oh, and this so far has all been done in ProCreate on my iPad, while my little is falling asleep we sometimes play in there. I start working on her in Painter or Photoshop soon. (I can’t wait until this one is done and I can print it out on fine art paper)

There is something I just love about starting out a piece by hand and then transforming it digitally.

Until next time!

Julie

If you want to check out Mermaid Circus here is the LINK.

I think I may take this one a little further as well and make some prints and maybe some other items, not sure yet.

Until next time, Julie

This past week was drawing quirky birds and I so wish I would have taken photos of progression….because in the beginning I DID NOT like these at all! But I am really happy with the end result.

Check out LIfe Book HERE

And my quirky birds, enjoy.

Positive traits of PURPLE:

• Luxury
• Wisdom
• Creativity and imagination
• Calming
• Inspirational
• Sophistication
• Feminine
• Romantic

Negative traits of PURPLE:

• Cruelty
• Exaggeration
• Excess

Did you know that in ancient times purple dyes were expensive and typically royalty were the only ones seen wearing purple. Could be why it is associated with royalty.

Another little fact about purple is that in the military the Purple Heart i a symbol of courage.

Enjoy finding and using the color purple in your home, office and art.

Enjoy and interact through the comments

Until next time, Julie

I’m talked out now, have updated some family and friends with the details but it all still is somewhat surreal and overwhelming. I’ve decided to write about it here for a few reasons, I’ve been asked about it a lot recently and not sure who I’ve spoken to and who I haven’t, this blog is a little bit about me, my life and things I love {design, color, art and photography}, so it just seems appropriate to talk about it here. Plus I want to share this since I’m told that I’m on the younger end of the spectrum for the severity my valve is at and maybe, just maybe, I can help someone else.

I will be having Da Vinci mitral valve repair surgery later this year, yep named after a famous artist/architect (I like that ). It is supposed to be the least invasive way to repair the valve which is great, still a hospital stay but recovery is supposed to be quicker. Scary, terrifying, all the things that  wonder in your mind about surgery. I have the added bonus of the fact they are messing with my heart, that muscle in the body that keeps me alive, the fact they will be stopping my heart to repair it and then starting it back up again, boy, that one terrifies me….I’m not even sure that is the right word or that there is a word for what goes through my mind on that one.

Now it is time to plan for the surgery, plan for the recovery, to get all legal documents in order, to make sure there are NO excuses in getting our family portraits done (this one is so very important to me, I want pictures of the kids with me!). I want to make memories galore the next few months and every day after the surgery. Even though I have the little voice in the back of my mind whispering crazy thoughts I know I will be here to make many memories for years to come. The reason is because I am young and healthy, other than my heart. Once they repair it I’m told that I can return to all normal activities, exercise, etc. and that I will feel much better. That I don’t know how bad I really feel, considering they rate me at a 3+ on a scale of 0-4, I think they may be right. I will be healthier, stronger and so much better off in the long run. The surgeon and my cardiologist both say my prognosis is very good and that is really wonderful news.

So on to a few more appointments with the cardiologist before the surgery and lots of planning!

Until next time,

Julie