The Highs & Lows of Halloween 2012

 {Pumpkin-Poos aka "Hot Dog Girl"}

High: being adorable. being creative. getting TONS of candy & smiles.

Low: walking "too far" ... she was SPENT & mommy making her wear gloves, making it difficult to grab that candy when people let you pick out your own piece.

 {Sunshine Girl aka "Balloon Girl"}

High: being sweet & sunshiny. being creative. getting TONS of candy & getting to practice being her new career goal: a balloon girl who will work at the zoo, giving away balloons to children for free.

Low: the huge balloon bouquet tied around her wrist somehow loosened & flew away at house FIVE. ugh. resulting in no "costume" & people asking, "what are you?!"

{My Favorite Little Mister aka "Ranger's Apprentice"}

High: being handsome. being super creative. getting carried away in his latest book series, that inspired the costume. HAND - MAKING the cloak with Daddy, thank you very much youtube!

Low: the WIND. it kept blowing is hood & cloak back, thus making it look like he had a piece of fabric on his winter coat. oh, he was heart broken. did not even trick-or-treat the majority of the time. also, his quiver full of hand made arrows kept falling off is shoulder strap.

Mommy's High: Seeing how amazingly creative my kids were in coming up with these costumes & making them together!

Mommy's Low: Seeing my son heartbroken after all of his hard work, as the costume did not fit as he wanted, due to windy conditions. Seeing my daughter watch her little sis get ALL the compliments of how "cute & adorable" she was, as she (the big sis) (who is BEAUTIFUL by the way) stands there & is asked "what are you?" "well, I was a balloon girl, but my balloons blew away...." She stuck with it & did well though.

Hope your trick or treating was fun!

Grace & Peace,
Julie

Christmas Card Designs Available through Life Verse

 Classy Style Christmas card {front & back}

 Elegant Style Christmas card {front & back}

 Vintage Style Christmas card {front & back}

 Rejoice Vintage Style Christmas card {front & back}

  Frames Style Christmas card {front & back}

  Stripes Style Christmas card {front & back}

  Filmstrip Style Christmas card {front & back}

  Simple Blues Style Christmas card {front & back}

 Simple Reds Style Christmas card {front & back}

Since I have been busy editing all of my red couch shots, I thought I would give you a preview of the Christmas cards available through Life Verse Design. 

Each card is a 2-sided flat 5x7 card, printed full color & includes envelopes.

Pricing is as follows:

Set of 25 $64

Set of 50 $100

Set of 75 $137

Set of 100 $163

Set of 125 $195

Set of 150 $225

Set of 175 $260

Set of 200 $295

Set of 225 $330

Set of 250 $360

{plus $5 shipping no matter how large your order!}

If you are interested in ordering a set, please contact me at lifeverse@gmail.com

Grace & Peace,

Julie

Love Covers All {Downers Grove Photography}

 This past weekend I held the 2nd annual Red Couch Event at a local park. I photographed 13 families in one {chilly} day & we had a ball!

 My dear friend, her loving hubby, and 3 adorable boys braved wearing "dress clothes", shivering lips & I was honored to photograph them.

 Snuggle up sweet baby boy!

A highlight was watching them sing & rock out with Daddy.

 Another highlight was witnessing the strong love between this couple, who have endured more than anyone's fair share of hardships in their life together. The joy of the Lord is their strength. I believe they are high school sweet hearts.

 My biggest highlight would have to be seeing how affectionate Daddy was with his boys. Both mama & dada have their PhD's {I am talking major brains in this family...}, but it is so clear that family & parenting comes first & they take such joy in their children.

 Here she is, the proud mama with her boys. Eldest brother was adopted from Uganda & middle brother was adopted from the Congo & baby boy was another gift from above. A true miracle.

 {art available here}

OH, & you may recognize her hands {& feet} ... as she graciously allowed me to immortalize her & middle brother shortly after he came home. All of you adoptive parents, you can thank HER for the inspiration of these verses!

Enjoy!

Grace & Peace,
Julie

New Product! Introducing The Vintage Alphabet

I am so pleased to introduce my NEW Vintage Alphabet line!

 Available here as a 12x12 gallery wrap canvas.

 Or available here as a 12x12 fine art print or here as a 5x5 fine art print.

 Also available here as custom made monogram note cards which will make a great Christmas gift for teachers, coworkers, friends, family, etc...

Here is the story behind my vintage style Life Verse Design letters:

While pregnant with my favorite little mister, I had drew & painted my animal alphabet for his nursery. Based on the classic & timeless font Palatino, I had the animals somehow interact with the letters in my watercolor & pen & ink style.

Since having kids & doing more work digitally, I thought of creating a new alphabet, but this time in my Life Verse Design style.

I hope you enjoy it! The ideas are endless.

As an introductory offer, between now & 11.03.12 I am offering FREE shipping on any Vintage Alphabet purchase! Just enter the code: Alphabet

Grace & Peace,

Julie

2 + 2 = 4 {Downers Grove Photography}

 I have photographed this lovely family for the last couple of years. It was a joy to meet the precious little one, as he was quite a trooper on this windy, chilly day. I love the color choices mommy picked out ... 2 blue + 2 purple = 4 crazy kiddos!

Grace & Peace,
Julie

One Growing Family {Downers Grove Family & Child Photography}

One thing I love about family photography is getting to see those families GROW!

I photographed the above mama 2 winters ago in the snow for a magical maternity shoot.

And, last week, I got to photograph them again with baby no.2 on the way!

Big brother was adorable, looking for a baby in his tummy too!

Grace & Peace,
Julie