Hands-on Art Books for Children!

These children's art books are one of my favorite gifts to give! They introduce children to the world of art with a "hands-on" approach. You can find them online at UncommonGoods.com.

This set comes with 4 books. Each book features famous works of art that have fun commentary, tactile materials and interactive components. Learning about art doesn't get more hands-on than this!

The set is only $35 and includes:
1-Brush Mona Lisa's Hair
2-Feed Matisse's Fish
3-Make Van Gogh's Bed
4- Pop Warhol's Top

Sophie's Notecard

Here's a notecard I designed for a client that's blank inside so that she can send notes and thank you's out as needed!  It was from her 1st Birthday party that I photographed and the background is a close up of the cake, but the card isn't specific to her birthday so she can send them year round.

Back of Card:

NYC Fall 2007 Images

This is Gabriel.  He's a cutie pie that I photographed last Fall in Prospect park.  The leaves were so gorgeous & made for a perfect background!  Even so, it's also great to have Black & White as well as Sepia images from this time of year as shown below.

I love this photo where we were both lying on the ground & he was peeking up at me.  He was still a little shy with me at this point in the shoot, but still made for an adorable image!

I can't say enough about how beautiful NYC is as a backdrop!!  Central Park is so gorgeous this time of year and I'm really looking forward to the shoots this fall also.

Holiday Card Designs (2007)

1-Card Front:

Inside Spread:

Back of Card:

2-Card Front:

Inside Spread:

Back of Card:

3-Card Front:

This was the card back.

Hip Slope Mama

Are you looking for a great website for parents?

You should check out Hip Slope Mama which is read from coast to coast. Here's how they describe themselves:

"A Blogazine, based out of Park Slope, Brooklyn, that features fun and interesting articles. Topics include: parenting, society, real estate, career, style, spirituality and more. Updated every weekend with new posts."

I'm excited to announce that I wrote one of the featured articles for them this week!! So instead of reading my usual photo tips in this section of the newsletter, check out my recent article on how to find a professional photographer, located on their site.

This is a topic I've been wanting to share tips on for a while, so I'm honored to also share with their readers around the country. In the article I talk about five tips to remember when hiring a professional photographer to photograph your family.

To read the article and learn more about Hip Slope Mama - click here.

Run...don't walk, to your iTunes store!!

My new obsession are these adorable & fun kids songs! Here are a few on my play-list, but you may discover your own picks to sing along to with your kids, lighten your mood and brighten your day...

Elizabeth Mitchell sings:

*Three Little Birds
*This Little Light of Mine
*Ladybug Picnic
*One Day, Two Days, Three Days
*Little Sack of Sugar

Frances England sings:
*Sometimes
*Blue Canoe

Click on the artist's names above to link to their websites.

Calling all Ballerinas & Superheroes!!

I just love ending a photo shoot with kids playing dress up. How cute!

A new catalog called Chasing Fireflies has adorable clothes and costumes for kids girls and boys. They also have great T-shirts with numbers on them for different ages and I've also photographed a family before with the "big/little sister/brother" T-shirts that they sell. A few other GREAT resources that I love are Posh Tots and Koo Koo Bear Kids.

Check them out, then call me to set up a shoot! :0)

Gifts Galore!!!

Do you know that you have the greatest gifts for others right in front of you?? Yup! Those images from this past summer are a goldmine and your loved ones will cherish the gifts that you create out of them. Talk about bringing an instant smile to someone's face! :0)

Here are a bunch of different ways you can use and preserve your photos and create wonderful gifts at the same time!

PHOTOBOOKS!
MyPublisher is a great resource for producing your own beautiful photobooks. To receive a coupon for a free copy of your book when you publish a MyPublisher book at the regular price, send an email to studio@nikkiincandela.com with the words MyPublisher in the subject line.

COOKBOOKS!
How about creating a family cookbook using family photos and favorite family recipes? You can do that at LuLu.

CALENDARS!
CafePress allows you to create your own calendars with a different image for each month. They also have notebooks, kids shirts, ornaments and many more items that are begging for you to use your precious photographs.

STAMPS!
Did you know that you can print legal postage stamps with your own images? How about creating stamps for grandma with your childrens' pictures or send holiday cards with custom holiday stamps. You can create them online at Stamps.com or at Zazzle.

PHOTO CARDS!
Once those stamps are created, you need the cards to go with them. Exposures is just the place.

OTHER FUN STUFF!
*With Zazzle you can create a ton of great gifts coffee mugs to skateboards.
*Custom Makeup Bags (that are great to use for your camera when traveling!)
*Custom Photo Cakes for special occasions (check locally for this type of item)
*Custom gorgeous Coasters (I did this with my wedding photos as some gifts!)
*Photo Cuff Links are great gifts for him!
*Silver Locket Keychains let you take your special photos everywhere you go.
*Custom Playing Cards, Mouse Pads, Cute Baby Books, and more here.
*Sign the mat of a custom framed photo for any event (big or small).

(Really, the list goes on and on for the different items you can buy/create using your images and resources to find them at. Some of the better known ones being Shutterfly, Snapfish & Kodak.)

Charleston, SC 2008

This is Parker with his big friend Pistachio!  :0)

Thanks Danielle, Christian & Parker!! I had a blast with you all!!