I promised more beautiful babies.  Does she look like she just finished a Pottery Barn modeling gig or what?  I am fortunate that all little girls are not this cooperative or else EVERYONE would be a photographer!  Wait - everyone is a photographer - aren’t they?  Regardless, she was SO much fun to photograph.  Thanks Mom and Dad for allowing me this wonderful opportunity!

Can’t wait to see the final portraits! 

Get a load of these beautiful eyes!  She was so much fun and so full of energy at ONE.  Never have you met a prouder grandmother!  She was so kind to join us for a morning of fun.  Mom drove an hour north and grandma drove an hour south - which makes my studio a perfect meeting place for them.  Hopefully they will meet here often!  You think Santa is going to be good to her this Christmas?  Well from her performance in my studio - Santa better attach an additional sleigh - she was a VERY good girl!

We have had a run of beautiful babies here lately.  I will share more of them soon.  I am a little behind on the blogging due to Santa keeping me busy - so busy helping him make your Christmas extra special this year.  Can you say OIL, Watercolor, Portrait on canvas, Handbags, Jewelry??? 

Well a lot of you should be getting ready to say that often!  Not sure if you have been that good or your husbands have been that bad - but I predict you are all going to be VERY surprised!

Thanks for dropping hints to your husband that nothing would please you more than a Lori Grice for Christmas!

 It is official - READ ALL ABOUT IT - you have helped us break all previous Christmas Card sales records.  Amazingly our 20th year and more Christmas cards than in any of the other years.  The primary reason for this boost in sales was our Christmas in July sale.  Many of you took advantage of this great sale.  Those of you who missed the sale were encouraged by this to get an earlier start on your cards.  We had several customers order greater than 1,000 cards and one bought more than 5,000.  WOW that is a lot of LORI GRICE!

We have been working around the clock to fill your orders and make this year’s Christmas card your best ever.  Today our local newspaper the Statesboro Herald featured our studio in an article about the surge of custom created Christmas cards.

Read the entire article here:

By JAN MOORE
jmoore@statesboroherald.com
912-489-9463
Posted: Nov. 25, 2007  7:37 p.m.
Updated: Nov. 25, 2007 7:37 p.m.

Sending Christmas cards has become a top priority during the holiday season for many. This boon in Christmas card demand has translated into record sales for some local businesses that produce customized Christmas cards, particularly those with pictures included in them.

“A Christmas card is like a gift that you are sending,” said Lisa Lee, owner of Doodle Bugs Stationary, Invitations & Gifts in downtown Statesboro. “It is an inexpensive way to share your holiday spirit with others.”

Lee said her customers start ordering cards at the beginning of October.

“As soon as school starts, people come into the store and ask me when we are going to put out our Christmas cards,” she said. “We try to have everything out on display by October 1. People come in and immediately start to order. Christmas cards are a very important part of our business.”

From traditional Christmas cards with religious inspired messages to the now incredibly popular Christmas cards with family photos incorporated, the demand for holiday greeting cards continues to grow. Greeting cards manufacturer American Greetings estimates over two billion Christmas cards will be exchanged this year alone.

Local businesses such as Lori Grice Fine Art Photography in Statesboro began marketing their Christmas card products this past summer. DeWayne Grice said the photography studio offered a Christmas in July special that was very successful.

“You never know how these things will go over, but we had a tremendous response,” he said. “I guess you could say that we have working on Christmas cards for the last six months. In the 20 years that we have been in business, this is the biggest year for Christmas cards that we have ever had.”

The driving force behind the evolution of the Christmas card has been digital photography. Now that family photos are easily transferred into a greeting card format, businesses that are investing in the latest technology are seeing sales increase.

Gil Riggs, owner of Regency Photo on North Main Street in Statesboro, remembers when he began printing digital Christmas cards for his clients.

“I think it was back in the early eighties,” Riggs said. “We would print the photo card with a little white strip along the side. Then we would take a rubber stamp and literally stamp the greeting into the white strip. That has all changed.”

Riggs said borders, messages, and designs can all be changed and cards can be customized to the letter.

“That is what people want today,” he said. “They want the most customized card that they can find, and you have to be able to produce that and produce it quickly.”

Riggs estimates that he will print over 15,000 photo greeting cards for his customers this holiday season.

“It is the majority of our business in December,” he said. “The sale of photo equipment is no longer a profit center for us. We rely on the processing end of the business, and this a huge part of that.”

As photo Christmas cards continue to gain in popularity, traditional cards are still in demand. Janice Davis is the manager of the Hen House, a Hallmark Gold Crown store located in the Statesboro Mall. Davis said a significant percentage of her customer base still buys the traditional “religious” card.

“Our card display is growing every year,” Davis said. “However, as popular as photo cards are, our customers still love the traditional cards, and we have a tremendous selection of those. It seems that tradition still reigns.”

Lee said it is easy to see the impact that the photo Christmas card has had.

“How many times have you gone to someone’s house and seen their refrigerator covered in Christmas card photos,” she said. “It has almost become a phenomenon of sorts. People cherish getting pictures, and this is a great way to send one.”

  We have so much to be thankful for!  Over the weeks leading up to thanksgiving, DeWayne, Edie Grace and I spent some time thinking about all of our blessings.  Although 2007 has brought challenges we have way more to be appreciative for.  Having a healthy family tops our list.  We celebrated August being my five year anniversary from cancer.  They say that five years is the ”lucky” number.  If you reach that, your chance of cancer returning is very, very low.  Our list includes how blessed we are to have clients that are friends too.  We have really been amazed by our 20 year run here!  My mom has been giving me back lots of my “junk” and today she gave me a seat cushion from my high school.  (80’s vintage)  The back of it has ads from businesses.  A large percentage of those businesses are long gone.   This reminds me of how blessed we are to have friends and clients like you who allow me to create art everyday and flourish in an community I truly love!

What are you thankful for???

Edie Grace dressed as an Indian for school last week.  My Mom (mommy’s mommy to Edie Grace) came thru in a huge way and hand made Edie Grace this adorable outfit.  This time of the year - I am fortunate to even get her to the bus so it is good to have the extra momma help from time to time.  Guess I need to add that to my list of things I am thankful for!  THANKS MOMMY’S MOMMY!!

This couple has become a little famous around here.  Their pictures have been featured in newspapers, magazines, web sites and other media.  They traveled with us to Europe a few years ago and these two images are legendary.

A few weeks ago we traveled to their horse farm to discover how these “city” folks have become country folks in the city.  In their back yard they have a farm of sorts…there are horses and cows.  Cows that they travel all over the south showing and horses they compete with.  Their boys have really gotten into the fun of “country” life. 

This entire family is so photogenic and cooperative to my creative ideas.  We always create fun portraits - every time we are together.

We are working on our next International client trip to Italy in 2008.  These “models” have already signed up.  So look for more great portraits to come!

The fight against cancer took center stage on November 15 at the 6th Annual Waiting on a Cure luncheon. This unique fundraiser benefits the Curtis and Elizabeth Anderson Cancer Institute (ACI)* at Memorial University Medical Center.  The event was held at the Desoto Hilton Hotel in Savannah.  Sonny Dixon from WTOC TV was the emcee for the event.  We donated a portrait session and I attended to support the event.  What a fun and exciting event raising critical money for cancer research and celebrating the successes of cancer survivorship in the region.

Our package sold for $1,700!!!  Thanks to all who bid the package up.  I also would like to thank Sonny for all the wonderful things he said about me and my work.  It is a real thrill to be ALIVE and to be able to give back through such great causes like this one.

 You asked for it and we are doing it for you.  Over 100 of you are participating in this years Nutcracker performance at the Averitt Center for the Arts across the street from my studio in Statesboro.  This year there is no “event” photographer doing formal portraits.  You kept calling and calling asking me to reconsider photographing the Nutcracker.   

Thursday, Friday and Sunday I am offering $49 sessions in the studio.  For $49 you get a session and two 5×7’s and 8 wallets from my favorite image.  In addition, we are offering 25% off any thing else you would like to purchase.  Best yet, we are donating the ENTIRE $49 to the Averitt Center for the Arts.  That is correct - all of the money from the initial session goes to the Arts Center.  In fact, you will make your check to the Arts Center so you can count it as a charitable deduction.

These pictures are from today’s sessions.  Aren’t these incredible?  All for a $49 gift to the Arts Center!!!

Sessions are limited and you must have an appointment.  Call 912-764-7274 to schedule your appointment NOW!

Just one more way to celebrate a wonderful 20 years as your portrait artist and 15 of those years downtown!

Nothing is more romantic than a beautiful sunset…unless it is a Savannah Sunset.  I have been shooting lots of you on location in Savannah the past few weeks.  I try to work the Savannah sessions in every five weeks while we work from our place at Tybee.  Fortunately, there are more of you than I can schedule during these periods so I have been spending more time in this beautiful city.

This afternoon I photographed a beautiful family in Forsyth Park.  They are native Savannahian’s who have had a long journey to successfully bring their beautiful son into the world.  He is two now and so FULL of energy.  I will share these pictures with you as soon as they have made their selections.  You will agree he is the most adorable little guy.

After the session we went down to river street to have dinner.  While we were there I captured this beautiful sunset.  Did you know that there is a cruise ship that makes River Street a regular stop?  The American Cruise Line is a small cruise line that cruises the east coast from Maine to Florida.

We had the opportunity to meet the captain tonight and learned a good deal about this unique company.  Check out their web site and put it on your list of things to do before….

One, two and soon Three!  Mom has two adorable children and soon she will have three.  They are so much fun and always up for something new and fun.  Today mom visited us and picked her favorites and I wanted to share a few of these with you.

Can you guess what they were for Halloween?

WOW!  What an amazing and REFRESHING weekend.  This weekend I participated in Believer’s Church’s Christian women’s retreat at the W.W. Mann center.  On Saturday morning I shared my testimony of survivorship of cancer to nearly 100 women attending the retreat.  I also shared I how I feel God has called me and gifted me in wonderful ways.  One of my gifts is to continue to create and share the gift of portraiture for you and your family.  This gift is so important to create cherished heirlooms for generations to enjoy.

My second calling is to help empower other women to take control of their personal health.  To educate them about the importance of early vaccination for HPV and to give them hope that through strong faith and strong relationships ALL things are possible.

If you are involved with a women’s or church group and would like me to come speak - I would be honored by the opportunity to share my story.  Every time I have the opportunity to share my story - I pray that God will use me as a vessel to touch someone in a very special way.  This weekend that proved true in several incredible ways.  Email me at lori@lorigrice.com if you have an event or a group you would like me to share my story with.  The verses that have become very special to me are Exodus 3: 1-5.  Moses didn’t notice the bush because it was burning.  He noticed it because it was on fire and was not being consumed.  Whatever you may be going through right now…health–marriage–financial—whatever, you didn’t choose it but you were chosen for it and you will have the strength to get through it.  God promises to not give us more than we can handle.  I saw a cute little pillow once that said, “God said He won’t give us more than we can handle but I sure wish he wouldn’t trust me so much”!  I know I feel like that from time to time.  The tough part is not being “consumed” by whatever “fire” we go through.