Spell It Out Photos

April 28, 2010

Wedding season is coming up. Somewhat funny to think there is a season for that, but there is. I remember when I was preparing for my wedding (24 years ago), I wanted everything to be unique and different. I was young and didn’t realize what a hard task that was with almost no money and not enough life experience to really know what “different” looked like. Let alone no internet to search things. How did we survive? Anyway…this is for those who are trying to find a unique idea for their wedding day. It’s just a small collection of ideas on how to personalize their day using our products.

Tables –

- Create a canvas that says LOVE or WELCOME and display it with a table top easel on the reception table, sign-in table, or gift table.

- Create a frame or canvas piece with the couple’s last name. Then display it on a standing easel in the church entry.

Bridesmaid Gifts –

- Order a set of our LOVE greeting cards. They’re delicate and unique. It will be a beautiful way to share your love.

- You can also create a custom card with each bridesmaid’s name.

(Write us a note in the comments section of your order and we’ll put each pack in an organza bag for you. It’s only a small amount additional, but makes a lovely presentation.)

- Create a special canvas or frame for each attendant. It can say her name or a special word.

Wish her a lifetime of JOY. Thank her for her LOVE. Say you’ll be FRIENDS forever.

BIG Ideas –

- Have a big wall that you can decorate? Get a load of this. Order individual canvas’ that say “Rob and Sue’s Wedding”, “Forever Yours” or whatever you like. It will beautifully fill a wall and create a great conversation topic for your guests, especially while they are waiting for the wedding to begin. Each canvas is a letter. It’s a beautiful and creative way to cover a large space. Want something that can be used in your house? Try phrases like “Love is in the air”, “Live, Love, Laugh”, or “For today, tomorrow, and always”.

Bride’s Gift –

- Gentlemen, if your bride is taking your name, think about creating a framed piece with her new last name. It’s a lovely gift that will hang on your wall for years to come.

Love our letters, but need something different? We love being creative. Send us your ideas This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it we can’t promise we’ll be able to do it, but we’ll certainly try.

Other sites that may help with ideas

www.brides.com

www.theknot.com

www.onewed.com

www.wishjars.com

www.beau-coup.com

www.weddingchannel.com

www.projectwedding.com

www.weddingmusiccentral.com

March, 21, 2010

Joy and laughter are such great words.  They’re words that instantly lift your spirit and bring a smile to your face.   There is a very personal reason why Lynn and I chose to put them on our new card series.

I’d like to share a story with you about the woman behind these words.

You see, it all started with the very first person that I met when I moved to Moraga, Mary.   We met while waiting in line for baseball sign-ups.   Mary kindly gave me doctor recommendations, ideas on places to shop, etc.   She was the dream person to be next to in line, when new to the area.  Life was good.

Over the next 5 years our friendship grew.  Our boys were often on the same baseball team.  Our families traveled to tournaments together.  You get the picture.  It’s a small town, so it’s easy to get to know people.   Every now and then, I’d hear Mary say, “ahhh, joy and laughter…laughter and joy”.  Whether it was to end a statement after a good laugh or as a reminder to look at the bright side after a tough day, these words become part of Mary’s being.   Sometimes she said them with bold enthusiasm and other times as a soft whisper at the end of a sentence.  Anyone who knew Mary, knew that she was filled with Joy & Laughter.  Quite simply, she was a hoot.

Mary had fought Hodgkins before and won.  However, in 2008 she developed cancer again, Triple Negative Breast Cancer to be exact.  She fought it with the same determination and will as she did in the past.  She led her battle against cancer, with a persistently positive attitude, a strong desire not to let cancer define her, a funny wit, and yes…amazingly with Joy & Laughter.   Mary knew that life was short, but that Joy & Laughter was an essential part of LIFE.

Sadly, Mary did not win her last battle.  However, she left a lasting impression on all that knew her.  It became crystal clear that amongst our community, the phrase “Joy & Laughter…Laughter & Joy” had taken on a whole new meaning.  It was a reminder to enjoy the day, because you HAD the day.   You could almost hear Mary’s voice whisper the phrase in your ear.

Recently, I wanted to make a card for a friend.  I was trying to think of a happy phrase, and of course, Joy & Laughter came to mind.  You see, even though my friend Mary is gone, her funny wit and joyful spirit lives in those words.   They were the perfect words to put on a card.  Of course, I liked the cards so much that I made some extras for myself.

I happened to use one of my Joy & Laughter cards when I gave flowers to a young friend who was in the local High School play.  Within minutes after arriving home, I got a call from her mom wanting to buy the cards.  She said that she and her daughter say these words to each other at least once a day (they knew Mary) and that Joy & Laughter is an important phrase between them.  She went on to say that they use that phrase just like Mary did; to celebrate good times and to lift each other up during hard times.

That was the turning point.  It was then that Lynn and I decided to offer these items on our website.  I contacted Mary’s husband, just to fill him in on what we were doing and to let him know a percentage of the purchase price would be donated in Mary’s name.  That’s when he graciously asked if we would donate to the Stanford Cancer Center, to help the doctors that worked so tirelessly on Mary’s type of cancer.

Therefore, our Joy & Laughter cards & canvas pieces are as meaningful as they are beautiful.   5% of your purchase will go to the Stanford Cancer Center as a donation in the name of our much missed friend, Mary.

We’ve learned that Joy & Laughter is a way of life.  It is a frame of mind.  These are words that should be shared daily to the ones you love...and to everyone else too.

After all…little Joy & Laughter is good for the soul!

J & L ~ Sue

January 22, 2010

Many of you have asked about creating custom cards with our letter art photography.  We completely understand the desire to use our images to create something special for someone.  So we’ve added them to our product line.  Our custom line has a beautiful glossy finish and looks like a photograph.   They’re TERRIFIC ~ we’re so excited to offer them.

The best part is that YOU have control of designing the front of the card.  YOU can choose from 7 background colors.  YOU create the word or message on the front.  The front can be up to 10 letters.  If you want to make 2 words (still up to 10 letters in all), just enter the words without a space.  Then simply make a note in the comments section of your order, “Please put a space in between the words  __ and __ .”    We’ll add a small space in between the images and in the wording below.

How can you use custom cards?  Oh, I’m so glad you asked.  Besides giving you a flip answer like, “for everything”, here is a good brainstorm of ideas.

-          Hostess gifts

-          Teacher gifts (great end of year idea)

-          Present toppers (I did this for an extra lil’ something on top of my holiday gifts)

-          Support your school “GO COLTS”

-          For your sorority “DELTA ZETA”

-          Bridesmaid gifts – names or the word FREINDS

-          Wedding gifts – A nice collection would be 20-of his name, 20-of her name, and 20-of their last name

-          A unique card for work (company name, employee names, etc.)

-          A gift to your clients or customers

-          Bar Mitzvah - Mazeltov

-          Graduation gifts –

-          Mothers Day

-          Confirmation

-          Valentine’s Day – Be Mine, Love

-          Or, just make a card with a special word(s) – (Celebrate, Be Happy, Joy, Get Well, Relax, Dream, Party, Hello, Family, Ciao, or Faith)

We hope you enjoy the new addition. 

Don’t forget, we are still working on other themed photo galleries.  Keep checking back with us for new products and images.  We truly have SO MUCH FUN taking the photos and creating these options for you.  We’re always happy to hear from you.  Tell us what you think, or what you’d like to see.  And if you like what we do…pass it on.  We love to see how Spell It Out Photos is shared from one friend to another. 

Enjoy ~ Sue

january 13, 2010

Robert Indiana's Hope, a symbol of newfound HOPE for America.   Recently, '60s pop artist Robert Indiana, the creator of the Iconic stacked LOVE, has now created the word HOPE. The enormous bronze sculpture now sits outside of the Pepsi Center at the Democrat National Convention in Denver Colorado. Created in the same chunky, stacked letter format with the unmistakable tilted O, Indiana is donating proceeds to Barack Obama's second term presidential campaign.

As a tribute to Robert Indiana, and his dedication to LOVE and HOPE worldwide, we at Spell-It-Out Photos have created our own eclectic version of HOPE. We have taken letters from our California Country Side collection and arranged them in a similar stacked format. We hope you enjoy it!

A Unique Way to Propose

December 23, 2009

I know it may seem far away, but Valentine’s Day is just around the corner.  Plus, if you are planning on popping the question around that time, you are most likely already thinking about different ways to propose.  So, let me help you with a few ideas that can be done with our letter art photography.

Not only will our photographs provide you with a unique way to ask someone to marry you, your custom creation will be a keepsake to look back on and cherish for years to come.

Here are a few ideas…

Order just the photos spelling (MARRY ME, WILL YOU MARRY ME, I LOVE YOU FOREVER, or what ever you wish).   Go to Photo Gallery to see your options.

1. Send her each photo one at a time.  She won’t really know that they are letter art until she gets them all and puts them together.  You can number the back of them (in spelling order) to give her a hint.
2. Give them to her all in a beautiful box (in order) and let her figure it out.
3. Tell her that you want to show her some photos.  Put them in order inside a photo sleeve.  See if she can put it all together.  If not, you may need to help her.  Either way, those photos will be a cherished part of your history together.
4. Put them in a photo book that she can flip through.  Again, it may not hit her at first, but it will…
5. Tape them to the mirror, so that when she wakes up in the morning, she’s see your message.  Don’t forget to be there to give her the ring.
6. Insert them into clear magnetic photo frames and put them of the refrigerator.  Have her over for dinner and ask her to get something in the frig.

Order our LOVE frame (in Other Products).  It’s beautiful.  Then give it to your special someone for a Valentine’s gift.  Wrap the ring around the hanging wire in the back or a ribbon around the frame.  Be ready to get on one knee once she opens it!

If you are sure that she will be changing her name, you can order a custom frame or canvas with your last name (Jones, Smith, Tenerowicz, etc.).  Make your Valentine’s gift something special.  Ask her to take your name.   NOTE – if your name has an O in it, we have a great leaf in our O’s that’s shaped like a heart.

Order individual canvas letters that spell your proposal.

Order one canvas that says MARRY, and another one that says ME.  You can even add another that says her name to make it more personal.  Drop us an email, we may even be able to do MARRY ME on one canvas for you.

Order a custom frame that says MARRY ME.

For the above 3 items  you can do the following…

1. Place them on your wall and invite her over for dinner.  The rest I’ll leave up to you.
2. Coordinate with a restaurant to have them hanging above the booth that they place you in.
3. Work with an art gallery (local ones may be more flexible) to hang them up the day of your visit (you might need to include her name on this one).
4. Have a store put them in its window, so as you (pre-planned) walk by, you can stop to “window shop”.

Of course, we at Spell-It-Out Photos, are hopeless romantics.   Do you like the concept, but have something else in mind?  Send us an email and we’ll coordinate something special for you.  Perhaps not available to the general public, but we’ll try to work something out.  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Proposals don’t have to be elaborate.  They just have to be personal and from the heart.  Make it your own.  If we can help to create a special memory with you…we’re thrilled and happy to do so.

Remember, we do custom work, which could take 2-3 weeks (including shipping time).  Contact us early.  Valentine orders need to be in by January 23, 2010 to ensure arrival by February 14^th.

To those who are planning on proposing ~  Our Best Wishes to YOU!

Here’s to LOVE!

Enjoy ~ Sue

December 4, 2009

I spent Thanksgiving week in San Diego with family.  The weather was beautiful and I was able to get several great shots from Mission Beach.  We’ll be adding some to our gallery soon.  We’re also going to be mixing a few more shots from the wine country into our California Countryside gallery.  We have both winery and vine shots.  For the Napa and Sonoma crowd, it will be fun to see if you can guess the winery.  My favorite shots are ones from Castello Di Amorosa. It is a beautiful picturesque winery built by Dario Sattui, great grandson of San Francisco California pioneer vintner, Vittorio Sattui.  It started out as a small project and is now a 121,000 square foot, 12th century style, authentic Tuscan castle winery.  It's definitely a site to behold.  Of course, I’m a castle fan, so this winery just speaks to me.

I’ve also been adding to our sports gallery.  This will be a separate gallery and not mixed with our other shots.  These are all shots of equipment, fields, or stadiums that make letters.  You won’t believe the things we’ve found!  I had a great day shooting at UC Berkeley last month.  CAL fans will have some fun choices.

These are terrific options for a kids room, coaches gifts, sports themed family rooms/basements, and group gifts.  It’s not just one sport either.  You’ll find shots from a variety of boys and girls sports.

Lynn and I want to wish all of you a Happy Holiday Season.  Thank you for your support.  Here’s to a wonderful 2010 filled with peace, joy, good health, and LOTS of spelling.

Enjoy ~Sue

November 9, 2009 

With the holidays quickly approaching, I thought I’d talk a bit about gifts.  I absolutely LOVE getting someone a gift that I think they will be excited about.  It’s a treat to feel like you’ve gotten an “OH WOW” gift for someone.  However, it’s really quite hard to find those kinds of gifts.  Especially for the people who seems to have everything, every gadget, every toy, etc.

A custom letter art photography creation can be THAT gift.  It’s unique. It’s personal.  It’s decorative. And most likely, they don’t already have one.  Here are a few ideas.

-         First or Last names

-         A holiday word for the decoration lovers  (NOEL, JOY, HAPPY HOLIDAYS, PEACE, HAPPY HANNUKA)

-         Special words (HOME, WELCOME, CUCINA, SALUTE, CHEERS, VINO)

-         For the person who REALLY has everything…try spelling out a phrase with our individual canvas pieces, where each letter is printed on its own canvas.  It can be anything from WELCOME TO OUR CABIN to PEACE ON EARTH.  Whatever suits your fancy.  Inspirational phrases are great. 

Need gift on a smaller scale?  Try a set of our greeting cards.  They are great for hostess, teacher, or office party gifts.  They also make great stocking stuffers.

Remember, if what you want, just isn’t working on our “design your own” page (too many words, need spaces, etc) pop us an email.  Maybe we can help you figure out a solution.  We can’t promise, but we will give it our best shot.  Please keep in mind that custom creations take from 2 – 3 weeks for delivery.  So plan ahead.

With all that said, the absolute best gift is time, family, and spreading good cheer.  Yes, it sounds a bit corny, but it’s so true.  It would be great if that special holiday spirit continued all year long.  Let’s try. 

On a side note – I’ve been taking day trips to Sonoma and Napa adding photos to our Wine Country Gallery that is in the works.  We may be adding a few of the shots into our California Countryside Gallery for now, just until the Wine Country Gallery is set to go. 

~ Enjoy ~

Sue

PS   I’ve attached a link to an article about us in the Lamorinda Weekly

http://www.lamorindaweekly.com/archive/issue0317/pdf/page%2015.pdf

October 26, 2009

Image integrity is very important to us at Spell-It-Out Photos.  There are many things I see that would make GREAT letters, if they were turned on their side or upside down.  For instance an arch over a door could be a great D.  However, and this is a big however, THE SKY GOES ON TOP!!!!!!   We'll never use images on their side to create a letter.

For a photo letter art creation to flow, it must have a sense of continuity and realism.  The last thing you need is to turn your head on its side to see a letter, because the letter is created by an image on its side. It breaks the flow.  And for me, it’s just confusing.  We will continue to bring you our best work.  We want each image to be worthy on its own.  Not just a letter, but a nice image for you to enjoy.

Artistically, unless it’s abstract art, photo images should remain visually correct.  www.photo.net talks about keeping horizons straight.  It’s a challenge sometimes, because photos taken at angles may create a level subject, but a slanted horizon.   Here is a link to a good tutorial http://www.ehow.com/how_5049967_make-horizon-line-photoshop.html from ehow.com.  It explains how to use photoshop’s horizon-line.

Keeping the horizon level will make a better image.  I hope a simple tip like this, that I use every day, will help with your personal photography at home.

Enjoy ~ Sue

October 14, 2009

It’s as simple as A, B, C.   How are we spreading the word about Spell It Out Photos?  We’re distributing our ABCs poster to various schools and businesses.  It’s a great way to see our images, spread some good will, and let people know about Spell It Out Photos unique letter art photography. 

We are located in a great part of the San Francisco Bay Area.  People have embraced our images and designs.  Joaquin Moraga Middle School has our ABCs poster in their library.  Camino Pablo Elementary School teachers have several of our posters.   We’ve even dropped some off at Lamorinda Pediatrics to spice up the exam rooms a bit. 

We’d also like to thank our Moraga branch of Union Bank for their great customer service and help in starting our business.  Of course, we dropped off a few ABC posters for them too!

Our Alphabet poster is unique and evokes thought.  Every time we hand it out, we watch people stare at the various images and say, “huh, look at how a shadow makes a V on the sundial.”  They seem to be intrigued by all of the letters, but the V appears to capture their attention first.  We were so excited about the poster that we made a submission to Call For Entry, the organization coordinating the purchase of art for the new Lafayette Library.  Wouldn’t a large canvas print of ABCs, created out of letters from nature and structures, be perfect in a library? 

Christmas is coming soon.  Yes, I know…Halloween hasn’t even hit yet.  However, if you are a plan ahead shopper, keep our ABC’s poster in mind as a teacher gift for the holidays.  A pack of our stationery is nice too.  Of course, don’t rule out a personalized letter art frame with the teacher’s name.  As you can see, not only am I excited about our products, they really do make unique gifts.

Enjoy ~ Sue

 October 4, 2009

Looking for creative project you can do at home with the kids?

We spend hours and hours hunting & finding letters for our gallery.  Letter Art Photography requires the right subject, lighting, resolution, and sizing to get the letters to flow together.  However, there are simple, fun things you can do at home.  One of my favorite family shots is when my family and I wrote “Hi Grandma & Grandpa” in the snow in front of our Maryland home.  I plopped each of the boys near the top and took a picture from a higher level.  It was a great shot!  I put it into a simple “insert photo on the front” card and sent it to my in-laws in California.  They loved it.  It captured the boys at a sweet age, the beautiful snowfall, and a heartfelt message. 

You can make home messages with many things.  Here are a few ideas.

-         Leaves spelling your message (of course, not on a windy day)

-         Draw your message in the sand.  I did an “I LOVE DADDY” in the sand for a Father’s Day gift.  My oldest was 18 months old and sitting next to the note in the sand.  The ocean was in the background with a glimmer of the setting sun shining on the water.  It was beautiful, if I do say so myself. 

-         Use M & M’s for a kid’s message.  Have their sweet little face right by the candy.

-         Create a message in rose petals for a special touch. 

-         Use nuts and chips for a Super Bowl invitation.

-         You can write “I LOVE CARS” with Hot Wheels and take a photo of your son (or daughter – I loved Hot Wheels) in front of the message.  What a great memory to look back on later in life.  One for the scrapbook for sure!

-         Use bottles, diapers, or baby pins to spell “WE’RE EXPECTING”.  It’s a fun way to tell your friends and family.  If you want a large number of people to know, post the photo on Facebook, or in an email.  It will bring a personal touch to an electronic message.

I could go on and on with ideas.  It’s just so much FUN!  Use your imagination.  This is a great little way to personalize an image.

Enjoy ~ Sue

We're on a roll now!

Two weeks into our launch and what a great response we have had. Orders have come in in all categories. Thank you to Mike & Julie T. & Jody N. for being our first frame & card orders.