I’m away this weekend with my family – these are a few snaps of my photographic subjects this weekend – something of a change from normal for me!!!  Don’t forget the Ramadan Promotion runs until tomorrow – let me know if you are interested in purchasing a beautiful canvas (or 2 or 3) either from a previous session in 2010, or if you have a future session scheduled.

Lots more Abu Dhabi gorgeousness to come soon – and much more pretty than these (oh but aren’t those sand gazelles so cute?), Kirsty xx

In the spirit of Ramadan I’m running a promotion on large canvasses. My Ramadan promotion on large block prints last year was hugely popular but this year my clients are loving the canvasses so this is your chance to get them at an amazing price. The 2 largest sizes I offer will be discounted by 30% (30 being the aproximate number of days in Ramadan), if you order one of your whole family. If the picture doesn’t feature your whole family I’ll discount by 15%. This will run up till the end of Eid Al Fitr and is open to all current and past 2010 clients.

And you may remember I had a photo shoot for my family booked for our trip back to Ireland… well, it didn’t quite work out, so I had to resort to the self timer for our own family portraits this year!!! (and unfortunately I don’t rock the self timer quite as much as some of my gorgeous photographer friends – see Kristen and Rikki’s fabulous self portrait work) Help me choose which I should pick for my own walls….. leave your suggestions in the comments below.

Ramadan Kareem to you all, Kirsty x

PS for my photographer friends in far off lands who may be interested – here are some of my posts from Ramadan last year 10 minutes to Iftar, Ramadan – Food,  Sheik Zayed Mosque - where we went for Iftar, Almost Eid, Eid Mubarak

And the absolute best thing – my printer has just added the possibility to upgrade to having pictures on the cover – and they are GORGEOUS! I got my sample last week from Indy’s birthday shoot and it is just cute as cute can be!

Until next time, Kirsty xx

The important thing to remember, and a professional framer will do this for you, is to make sure there’s space between your print and the glass to allow it to breathe. Yes, breathe, like a real living thing! Expecially in the climate we have here in Abu Dhabi, which varies between hot, humid, dry, cooler, dusty, hot again, aircon on, aircon off…. etc etc,  your pictures are really subjected to extremes. Because of the climate extremes prints from 8 x 10 inches in size are mounted, which helps to stop them from warping, and just gives them greater longevity.

Sometimes the mounted print won’t be the exact same size as the frame and so you may need to cut the print slightlyat home. Here are some easy steps to show you how – as demonstrated on a storyboard I had printed for my hubby as a Christmas gift from the girls. The frame is a fairly standard Ikea one.

First of all make sure you have a cutting mat, or a piece of heavy duty cardboard underneath. Then take a metal ruler and cut with a craft knife. This should cut all the way through the foam mount too.

Then make sure you use something as a spacer to allow that breathing space. For this one I cut a very thin rectangle from the mat mount that came with the frame – it meant that there was equal amounts of space between the glass and the print all the way around.

I then inserted that into the frame, making sure it was thin enough that it wouldn’t be seen from the outside.

And voila, finished product – breathing, mounted, ensurint it stays looking as good as possible for as long as possible – and ready to hang on the wall for Daddy to show off his girls at work!

Hope that helps – but let me know if you have any more questions about mounting and framing, Kirsty x

PS I am super paranoid about finger prints so I do all of this whilst wearing white cotton gloves  - and yes, I wear them when packaging up customer orders too – cute look huh?!!!

This wall in my living room has a pretty big painting on it – it’s 44inches by 66 inches (including the frame) – it still doesn’t take up the whole wall, but also, it doesn’t overwhelm the room.

How big do you think this next picture is? 8 x 12?  12 x 16? 16 x 24? No, it’s actually 20 x 30 inches and it still doesn’t even nearly fill the space.

People often think in terms of a regular 5 x 7 print – and so they think  that am 8 x 12 is big – I’m here to show you there’s nothing big about an 8 x 12!!! Check this out… an 8 x 12 block print on that same wall!!! Does that just look a bit silly? Even 2 of them side by side would still just be dwarfed by the space. Even if they were matted and put in frames, they’d still be teeny tiny on that wall… a wall which is just crying out for pictures to show off.

So here’s what I did next…. I got 2 16 x 16 canvases of my girls and 2 16 x 20 canvasses too and I put them all together to create a wall display in that space. In total that makes 37 inches by 33 inches of wall space (accounting for one inch between the pictures). Still nothing like as big as my original painting, but a MUCH better use of the space than those smaller picures. In fact after our next family photo shoot I think I’m going to make an even bigger wall display and fill more of the wall and really maximise the use of the space… but for now I’m really happy with this.

So, before your photo shoot, think about your time and money investment, think about how you want to display the artwork we’ll make together to make it really, truly special, and think about how big you want to go – whether you want one huge picture or several to hang together, and remember, don’t let those 8 x 12′s get lost on your walls,

Until next time, Kirsty xx

Display it on your coffee table, on an easel, on a shelf, on a book stand.

You can change the pictures on display every now and then so you can rotate your favourites – it’s like the predecessor of the digital photo frame!

Most of my albums have a spread which goes all the way across 2 pages – which on a 10 x 10 inch album means a 20 inch wide picture – which is pretty decent sized and definitely has some wow factor. This gorgeous family chose their album from my LUSH range – thick luscious pages, slighly textured printing and heirloom quality heavy – they are truly albums to fall in love with.

So don’t think of albums as meaning your stunning pictures and artwork are hidden away – if yours is on display, send me some pictures to show me what you’ve done with it. Until next time, Kirsty xx

Why do I love them so…? Because we’ll keep them forever. And when our children grow up, as teenagers they might be embarassed of that huge wall hanging of them aged 2, but they’ll always love to snuggle on the sofa with you, or maybe secretly in their bedrooms take a look at the pics of them in an album. They’re something to look back on. They’re heirlooms, part of our children’s inheritance, a legacy of their youth, an investment in their memories for the future…

I LOVE huge wall pictures too – for sure – and my home is full of them – but those I’ll change every few years and update – but the albums, they’ll be kept safe on a shelf somewhere that I can find them easily and have a few moments to reminisce – to remember that very point in time…

 just every now and then… 

as the years go by…

I do this with my wedding album, every now and then I’ll grab a coffee and have 5 minutes to look back on that day, and the last 5 years – I do this when I go home to my parents – we always sleep in the room where the albums are kept and I always find 10 minutes to have a walk down memory lane and giggle at my brother and I in tartan flares (oh yes!!!).

What would you save if your home was burning down? Almost everyone says their wedding album – imagine saving that, and not saving the memories of your child growing up? The thought of not looking after their memories almost breaks my heart… In this digital age we all too often forget to print our photos out and really, really treasure them, and the memories they represent - which is why a photo shoot is a perfect opportunity to ensure you preserve that exact moment in time forever…

So, my name is Kirsty, and yes, I’m very definitely an albumaholic – if you’re one too, please let me know so I know I’m not alone! xx

This beautiful book was designed to celebrate the life of a very special little Princess and as Saffy turns 4, this month  marks another year that Ava remains a 3 year old Princess in the lives of those who love her.  

The promotion will run from today (my big Princess’s birthday) until March 2nd (my baby Princess’s birthday).  If you are a customer with a session scheduled you will need to pay for this now, via paypal or cheque to get it at the special price. If you are a past customer I will re-upload your gallery for 24 hours for you to choose prints (upto 14 per 10 page 5 x 5 book). All orders will be placed at the end of the promotion period.

More piccies of my 2 Princesses coming soon, I promise….

Until then…. Celebrate Princess Month, for your Princesses, for my little Princesses, for Ava and her wonderful family, and for all the little Abu Dhabian Princesses out there, Kirsty x

First of all, thank you for some wonderful nominations for Giving is Awesome. I have had lumps in my throat, tears in my eye and felt moved beyond belief. It’s wonderful to know there are such compassionate people in our community here in Abu Dhabi and I have chosen a family I feel are truly deserving as winners. I’ll be in touch with them, and their nominee soon, and I can’t wait to meet this family.

In response to customer feedback I am excited to be introducing tiered collections for 2010. These will offer great value savings over the a la carte prices and reflect the boutique products that my customers have been falling in love with during 2009. And watch the boutique for some amazing new products – including an album which will seriously Rock-your-socks off – every coffee table needs one!!!

And because we always need some pictures, this is what Santa brought for me…

a limited edition “Pretty in Pink – Holgawood” camera, (so cute and so retro), and the most adorable nedckace, handstamped with a “S” and an “I” on flowers (very ME!!) from The Vintage Pearl - am I a lucky girl or what?

So here’s hoping Santa was good to those of you celebrating too – and to a happy, healthy and prosperous 2010, love, Kirsty x

And because every post needs a picture – check out these cute sandy toes!

Kirsty x