Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Wedding photo vows/favorite song lyrics

Because of the popularity of a design I made with one of my wedding pictures, I have decided to expand on that lately. And the results are getting to be so beautiful!

Recently I had the chance to work on a wedding photo of a couple friend of mine and there's nothing more rewarding than getting their excited reaction to the work I've done! This is exactly what drives me to do my best and make something really special for each one of my customers! Something that  they will cherish and that will become part of their everyday lives by being displayed at their house.

Here's part of what they had to say:
"Wow!  Nice job Lucia!  They are all great!  You’ve taken a photo we never bothered displaying because of the background and replaced it with something personal, fun and well-designed." - Brian

"I love it Lucia! Thanks for doing this to our photo :) It is really such a unique effect, I never seen anything like it anywhere. Great idea girl! Awesome! - Amy

I could use wedding vows, the couple's first dance song or their favorite song, repeat words that was on their invitations in several different languages (as a customer requested) as well as "I love you" in different languages as the background (last picture below).

Below is what I've done for them:


And here are a few more before and after examples of the photos I have worked on.
I'll be expanding on the 'Pet' Category pretty soon...
Their favorite song after I retouched their picture
Their favorite quote printed on the wedding invitations repeated here in several different languages

Their favorite song together
'I love you' in several different languages

My designs are available at Etsy and at LuCintra.com

Saturday, June 9, 2012

Success is just around the corner

"Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up" - Thomas Edison

I don't know why but ever since I read this quote a few years ago, it stuck with me. It made me really think about everything I was doing with my life and in one occasion, when I was loosing steam and thinking that maybe I had to start doing something else, it actually made me have the strength to continue going after my dream. His quote immediately came to my mind and I thought to myself: "I can't give up now, I might be really close to success, just need to keep going a little longer".

I admire Thomas Edison for his determination and accomplishments. I may even say that perhaps there's a little bit of stubborness in that mix, something I definitely also have and I won't settle until I get what I want.

I also liked his philosophy on failures. When working to invent the lightbulb, he said: "I will not say I failed 1000 times. I will say that I discovered there are 1000 ways that can cause failure".

To me that is a great mentality to have. When you try something one way first and it doesn't work, it doesn't mean that it can't be done, you just try it again a little bit differently the second time.

It's like walking down a path and all of the sudden seeing this huge steep mountain in front of you. Sure, it might be hard to climb it and you might even fail to do so, but how about going around it? The path could be longer, but you can still continue on forward one way or another. You might be really close to getting to the other side but if you turn around now, how would you know?

So I will leave my thanks to Thomas Edison because perhaps by not even realizing, those words spoken so long ago, were able to keep this girl here going and more determined than ever to go after her dreams.

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Just like dad


Father's day greeting card available here.


I simply love this picture! My husband and I were just getting to a park close to our house and as we approached the lake, I saw this little boy fishing next to his parents. I snapped this picture so fast while I was walking towards him so I wouldn't distract him and it ended up being one of my favorites.

There's something so simple and serene about this scene and I love how spontaneous and in the moment he is! It gives me a feeling of innocence and tranquility... One of those lazy afternoons enjoying life next to the ones you love.

Makes me wonder what that little boy was thinking handling that long fishing rod, trying to be just like his dad. That's why I chose this image for a father's day card because when we are little, we really want to be just like our mom and dad.

Friday, June 1, 2012

Best friend's day - June 8th

A few weeks ago I was searching the internet for a list of holidays and special days throughout the year. I came across some very interesting stuff, I gotta tell you, but I also learned that June 8th is Best Friend's Day.

I think we have to value and cherish the people that we love all the time, but it's nice to have a special day to celebrate a true friend! To tell her how much she means to you and that you love her.

I've created this design with my best friend in mind since we both love dogs as well as cute things. So why not make a cute doggie design? LOL

Card design available here
But how about you? How do you celebrate that person in your life that has been always there for you? The one that has shared the laughter and the tears, the good and the bad times?


Monday, May 28, 2012

New design and a story behind it

Just in time for Father's day: a new card has been created that can also be ideal for Dad's birthday. I was trying to create something simple but unique and that idea with the photo letters came into my mind.

As I mentioned before, I basically take pictures of everything (which annoys most of my family and friends - sorry, I can't help it), but even if something looks 'random' to someone, I can always find a use for it. I have a collection of cloud pictures, wall cracks, floor and ground textures and etc... I don't always have something specific in mind when taking those pictures, but most of the time I end up using them for something (I have blended in my designs a lot of these photos ).

So lately I got into taking pictures of things that resembles letters and how fun is that! I find myself not  looking at the object itself, but its shape and dimensions. You kind of have to look beyond what's actually there in front of you.

Let me tell you how I came to photograph the letter 'A' for my latest Dad design greeting card:

It was a hot day and it was my sister's graduation as a fellow in Oncology. They were going to present her with a diploma in a very nice country club but when getting there, we had no idea where to go as there were no signs anywhere.

So picture me, my sister and my dad, all dressed up and in high heels, walking around this huge place trying to figure out where the party was being held. Did I mention we were in super high heels walking outside in that heat? LOL

Well, I saw this sidewalk with a few 'cut' details on it that I thought to be very neat. And then it
hit me: I also saw several letters, specially the letter 'A' and it was there jumping at me.

I HAD to stop and take a picture... or several because that was just too perfect. It didn't end up being very fun running in heels trying to catch up with my dad and sister who had kept going and had no idea why I was taking pictures of the ground, but now I think they know. And I think the picure turned out great and I have the most perfect random letter A for my collection and my designs!

The new design is available at LuCintra as well as my store at Etsy



Friday, March 9, 2012

Hello and welcome to my blog!

Since I get my inspirations and ideas for my designs from a lot of different sources, I thought about sharing them here so I can tell the stories behind some of my creations.


Besides being passionate about photography, I love to to play and mix photos, graphics and colors together to end up with (depending on the theme) a lot of cool, elegant, cute or simply fun digital images.

I use a lot of my photos on my designs. I'm that type of person who won't leave the house without a camera and the kind that sometimes annoys family and friends because I have to take pictures of  everything.

Well... let me just say that although people don't understand why I photograph certain things,  I have used a lot of my close up ground and wall pictures for different texture background looks for my designs, other images that I turned into vector graphics and some that were just pure inspiration or a reminder later for a design idea that came to me while seeing something.

I also like to write about what motivates me and little things I notice on my day to day life that sometimes makes me think about the bigger picture...

So please enjoy and I hope to see you here often!