Summer is proving to be very difficult to get time consuming things accomplished! My five year old daughter has reverted to her terrible two ways and has been sneaking behind my back every time I turn around. It's really getting to me that I can't just come to the office to work and trust her to behave...
In other news, if you are thinking about booking a Summer Mini, do so quickly because weekend slots are filling quickly! The response has been so great I am considering fall mini's as well, look for that announcement sometime in August.
I've been helping my Mom get everything ready for my niece's birthday in a month. She wanted a pool party, but my Mom doesn't plan things out as far in advance as I do and all the pools were rented already. Luckily, Chuck E Cheese was still available and now we get A/C for the late July event! ;) I am a manic party planner and well, there is just nothing you can do with a Chuck E Cheese party except show up and "enjoy" the ride. So I thought at the very least I could come up with some cute invitations and this is the base we are using:
I've added these to my Etsy shop because there just aren't many options for Chuck E Cheese parties and I thought someone may be interested in buying one! ;) My shop is here: Captured by Jess Prints on Etsy
Speaking of Etsy, my Mom has an awesome shop full of photographer props. She makes the CUTEST and best quality crochet hats for sizes newborn to adult. She is getting ready for the upcoming winter season and is revamping her shop and asked for me to make a coupon for her and this is what I came up with:
*Please note that as of 3am on Tuesday, the coupon code may not be active yet! You can find her shop here: Picture Perfect Props at Etsy
Another fantastic giveaway is going on over at Bad Sass Backdrops! (Find them on Facebook Here!) Their backdrops are freakin AMAZING and coming up with the split and tri split canvases was ingenious!
Totally something else I wish I had the money to invest in right now. I entered the drawing for this giveaway as well, wish me luck!
Also the Soulography Blog (soulographer.com) giveaway and sale ends today! Some lucky winners are going to get some amazing giveaways! Good luck to everyone!
Winning this would TOTALLY make up for the horrible birthday I just had! I wonder if I have enough karma points to actually BE the winner? Michele, if you are out there -work some magic for me! ;)
I wish I had the income to justify buying myself the workbook while it's on sale, but with my husband STILL fighting workers comp on his injury -that's just not possible right now. For now I'll just have to cross my fingers to the point of breakage to hope I win this latest giveaway!
This summer is a KILLER heat wise and technically, the summer season has JUST begun! I don't know about you, but I really don't want to be outside for any length of time unless I am in the swimming pool!! ;) SO, for this summer (and I am sure all summer's to come!) I am going to offer SUMMER MINI'S! Beating the heat and the SWEAT - cause who want's to look all sweaty in their photos? - with 45 minutes of photography time at a GREAT rate of just $40!
Don't wait! Slots will fill quickly! Call me at 940.634.0794 or e-mail me at capturedbyjess@ymail.com to book your summer mini today!!
It's too hot to do housework, so I have been working on cleaning up my digital files the past couple of days. I've got tons of stuff in a mass array on my computer that needs cleaning up so I can get down to business! However, I had to stop and make a quick little collage when I saw this frame! Isn't this tooooo freakin' cute?!?
THIS is why I am organizing my files! ;) Later gaters!
I don't know about you - but this heat is just draining me - and I haven't left my house! LOL It is SO flippin hot out there -- and it's MID JUNE!! I am not looking forward to July and August and the A/C bills associated!
I just wanted to gripe a bit and remind everyone to stay cool! As for me - I am headed to the pool - once the sun starts to set, that is!
I've been meaning to add this section for quite some time and I finally *remembered* to work on it! Below you will find several reviews and comments about my work and photos. If you are a past client or have something to say about my work - don't hesitate to contact me at capturedbyjess@ymail.com!
In other news, I recently lost someone who was very special to me and it's completely sent me spinning. My cousin, Michele James, died on June 5th at the age of 31.
As kids, we were SUPER close. We would spend the entirety of family gatherings together just the two of us. Playing barbies, reading books, talking about boys - of course it changed as we got older. I would spend a week or two some summers with my cousin and my aunt at their lake house and we would just be in our own world.
Michele (left) and I at her 1st birthday.
We were SO alike and shared SO many interests. Our personalities even shared many similarities. We were both BITCHES. Seriously. LOL So a big fight was almost inevitable. And it doesn't even matter what it was over, it was so miniscule when I think about it now. And it kept us from speaking for SO long. Years. Like 7 or 8 almost. And of course, that's a huge regret now.
She finally got a Myspace page so I could stalk her- LOL. Then when that page disappeared and a Facebook page popped up I was able to check in on her from a distance again. I finally worked up the nerve to speak to her and sent her a message about her hair color. She'd dyed it black and I thought it suited her very well. Then, when their family dog passed away from old age I made a collage of photos for her mom and sent her a copy of it, the gates were open and she was back in my life again.
I think, as adults, we had more similarities than ever. She also had a passion for photography and she was really good. Abandoned and derelict things were among her favorites, which if you follow my blog, you know is one of my favorite things to shoot as well.
By Michele James
By Michele James
By Michele James
By Michele James
She shared her troubles with me and in return let me share mine with her. If only I could have been there for everything. I only got to have her back in my life for a year. Living 8 hours away from each other, we didn't quite get to spend time with each other again. Michele lived in Lubbock, TX where she was a sonogram specialist.
When she got sick with meningitis and the doctors started being very cryptic, my family and I loaded up to make the drive to Lubbock. She was in quarantine in ICU, but after putting on safety coverings, I got to go in and see her. She was in so much pain and in and out of it from the medications she was on but she knew I was there. I told her I loved her and to be strong, but I couldn't speak without tears filling my eyes. Her body was being ravaged, her extremities were turning black and dying because they were flowing all of her circulation to her core to keep her organs going. It was so hard seeing her that way. The second day they wouldn't let us enter due to the risk to her and us. My niece and my daughter colored her pictures with grey cats, just like her beloved Harley, and they put them in the room where she could see them. We had to leave that Saturday evening.
Sunday her heart gave out several times and her family finally came to the conclusion to take her off of life support. She fought until she was ready and finally slipped away from us.
Her memorial was on my birthday, June 11th. I won't go into the details of why I am sick about her memorial - just that it was less about her and more of a Sunday sermon. I did get up and speak about her. A lot of what I said has been repeated here. I took my iphone with me, desperately wanting to play this song that is encompassing of how I am feeling without her - but couldn't work up the nerve to just do it w/o permission. So I will play it here, for Michele:
A fallen star, Fell from your heart, And landed in my eyes,
I screamed aloud, As it tore through them, And now it's left me blind,
The stars, the moon, They have all been blown out, You left me in the dark,
No dawn, no day, I'm always in this twilight, In the shadow of your heart,
And in the dark, I can hear your heartbeat, I try to find the sound, But then it stopped, And I was in the darkness, So darkness I became,
The stars, the moon, They have all been blown out, You left me in the dark, [ Lyrics from: http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/f/florence_and_the_machine/cosmic_love.html ] No dawn, No day, I'm always in this twlight, In the shadow of your heart,
Ooooh (x8)
I took the stars from my eyes, And then I made a map, I knew that some how, I could find my way back,
Then I heard your heart beating, you were in the darkness too, So I stayed in the darkness with you,
The stars, the moon, They have all been blown out, You left me in the dark,
No dawn, no day, I'm always in the twilight, In the shadow of your heart,
The stars, the moon, They have all been blown out, You left me in the dark, (you left me in the dark)
No dawn, no day, I'm always in this twlight, In the shadow of your heart,
Ooooh (x8)
Needless to say, I am a wreck about this and I haven't started accepting new appointments yet. With the shadow and random crying, I don't think it's best for now. I know she wouldn't want me to linger in sadness, I don't want to but my heart is still too heavy right now.
Wow, I am very bad at keeping this blog current! Hopefully I can over-haul and get back into a rhythm with posting here during the summer. But always remember (because it's SO quick and easy) to find the most current content from Captured by Jess, please find me on facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/CapturedbyJess!
So the summer has been SLOW going photography wise, partially because of illness and other engagements and I am blaming the rest on the completely MISERABLE Texas heat. On the other hand, my Etsy store has been on fire as of late. Mostly due to these really cute Girl Scout certificates I've created and posted for sale. If you happened to be interested in that sort of thing, please check out my shop here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/CapturedbyJessPrints.
[Camp Survivor Certificate]
Life has been ultra hectic. My baby girl finished up pre-k and will be in kindergarten next year! There were SO many school related events in the past couple months, I swear I was at her school just as much as she was! LOL She got a school pride ribbon for the last six weeks of school, I am SO proud of her!
[My Daughter's Pre-K class lined up for the first game at field day]
[My baby, Zoey (right) at field day with her BFF Ciara]
We've also been extra busy with Girl Scouts but have now slowed to a once a month meeting for the summer months. It was a big rush to "wrap up" the year and get their sleepover and awards ceremony planned and executed! I love helping out with the troop though, I've basically been promoted to co-leader, which gives me more authority over what I want to do with them and all. But, also takes up more time!
[Our awards ceremony invite I made.]
As if I am not busy enough, I've also added being on the PTO board at my daughter's school to my list of things to do. That's if my unfiltered mouth doesn't get me booted before the school year even starts. I am so bad, but I just can't keep quiet sometimes. ;)
Anyways, like I said, I intend (best intentions) to keep this more current. I've got loads of ideas for this blog if I could only slow down on other things and force myself to take the time.
