​With all the photographs I have, I am on the constant lookout for fun ways to share some of my favorite images. One of the best ways I’ve discovered is by making Photo Cards. They are useful, inexpensive, personal, and always beautiful! There’s no knowing how many people will be blessed to see the photographs on them since they are meant to be shared. I’ve made hundreds of cards over the last few years. And I plan to keep making them!

​A couple weeks ago, my husband and I took a quick trip to Las Vegas to celebrate our 3 year wedding anniversary. Las Vegas, despite it’s bad reputation, is a city that I LOVE!!!!! As a graphic designer & photographer, it really is a feast for the eyes. There are so many lights, colors, unique shapes, structures, floral arrangements, over the top theatrical displays, and amazing depictions of famous places all over the world. It’s like Disneyland for artists!

This summer I have been working on a fun project! Before I can share more about it though – let me go back to the beginning . . .

​Like most girls, I have always loved flowers.
Flowers are so fun and joyful and just plain beautiful! I can’t seem to get enough of them especially when photographing. And as a general rule if I ever need something to brighten my day – I usually turn to flowers! (My husband has learned this simple truth as well!)

I first met Bonnie Gray aka The Faith Barista last year at our church’s artist meeting. I was excited to learn she was a writer since writers and photographers can often complement each other’s work. And I was excited to find out she knew of my mom who also is a writer. Moments later, our group leader announced that Bonnie was the speaker for that evening’s discussion. She shared an amazing tale of how she landed a book contract but was in a state of paralysis and could not write her book. It was a crazy unbelievable story that gripped us all. She ended the evening by sharing that she didn’t yet know how things would play out and if there ever would be a published book.

​Alas – after a few very busy months – we have finally reached the end of another book project – Living in the Names of God Bible Study is joyfully complete! It was quite a journey! Judy Squier, the author (and my mom!) and I have worked together on two books previously: His Majesty in Brokenness and Living in the Names of God. As standard chapter books, they were both pretty straight forward and simple to lay out. So creating a Bible Study was a whole different creature for mom, me and her amazing editor Amy Mayfield.

​Let me introduce you to my dear friend Wendy Harrop. She is a long-time church friend, then my day-of-wedding planner and then a Scatter Joy Designs client! Anyone who meets Wendy immediately falls in love with the girl. She has the type of personality that just draws you to her and she constantly is doing amazing things like planning elaborate gorgeous weddings, learning flower arranging, bartending, throwing adorable garden parties or traveling to exotic countries.

As a photographer, I am always on the lookout for fun ways to turn my zillions of photos into something other than an unloved JPG file on my computer or phone where it almost never gets viewed. I want to give life to these beautiful captured moments so that they can be seen and enjoyed! Just recently I discovered StickyGram. StickyGram is a printing company based in England that transforms your fabulous Instagram photos into cool things like magnets, phone cases, and iPad covers. What fun this discovery was for me!

​Typography is something I love to play with. It’s amazing how fonts can come to life when they are artfully displayed! Recently, I had a fun typography design project – to create Note Cards based off of the 18 Hebrew names of God in my mom, Judy Squier’s, latest book: Living in the Names of God. I wanted to complement the cover image of her book so I echoed the colors and fonts. I then used moo.com to print them. Moo.com is fabulous because you can have up to 25 different images within the same printing order. Perfect for a project like this!! I liked how they came out so much, I decided to share the designs here! Enjoy!

​It’s always good to take a moment and look back at your progress. As we finish 2013 and begin a new year, I feel inclined to do just that – to take stock of what was completed and how effective it was. I am thankful to say that 2013 was a very exciting year for me both with Scatter Joy Designs & Scatter Joy Photos. Many projects were completed, many relationships were made or strengthened, and overall I feel satisfied with my work. Not only am I satisfied – I am proud of it and the part I played!