How to Care For Your Diamond Ring

Clean your diamond regularly. An easy way to clean your diamond is to soak it overnight in an ammonia-based household cleaner (such as window cleaner). You can do this once or twice weekly. In the morning you can gently remove debris with a clean soft toothbrush. Brand name jewelry cleaner is another good option. Be sure your setting is secure. Check the integrity of the prongs that are holding your most precious jewel in place. If you have small diamonds in your ring style be sure to inspect on a regular basis to ensure they are all still in place. Be sure your ring is sized properly. Your ring should fit snug. Take it to your jeweler once a year to be examined by a professional. Some jewelers require this to maintain the warranty and some offer it as a free service to customers. As an added bonus they usually professionally clean your ring at this time and generally at no extra charge. Avoid wearing your ring while swimming when possible. Chlorine can erode some of the metals often used in diamond settings and may loosen the prongs or in some cases dissolve the metal completely. Avoid wearing while doing dishes and other household chores. The combination of soap and water can very easily result in a lost ring. The water makes your fingers shrink while the soap provides added lubrication. It’s also a good idea to store it during labor intensive activities. Take your ring off while cooking and baking. Speaking from experience I once grabbed a hunk of cookie dough to roll cut out cookies with a ring on (not my wedding ring thank goodness!). I can’t even begin to describe how long it took to get all of the cookie dough out of all the cracks and crevices. Do NOT try this at home! Beware of taking your ring off in the bathroom. It’s easy to set it on a sink ledge and lose track of it or accidentally knock it down the drain or toilet. Be sure to store in a safe location when you are not wearing. Consider a safe or at least a safe hiding spot. Be sure not to leave it within reach of pets or small children. A drawer, jewelry box, or someplace out of sight is a good idea. Try to leave it in the same safe place every time as to avoid misplacing it. Be wary when packing your diamonds or even putting them away in a jewelry box. Be sure they are not touching any other jewelry as diamonds can scratch other jewelry pieces. Be sure to insure your ring. This is something that will not only carry monetary value but also sentimental value so you will want to be sure that it’s properly protected. Typically you may be able to add an additional policy to your home owners or renters insurance. You can also take out a policy through a company that specializes in jewelry insurance such as Jewelers Mutual. Be sure to have your ring appraised and reappraised every 2 to 3 years. Its value will likely go up through the years. It’s helpful to take the ring to the same appraiser each time and they will usually keep your records on file. Another wonderful article by Lisa Englert. You can read all Lisa's helpful wedding tips on our main site at The Portrait Gallery Niagara.

Super Zoom in Niagara

More tests on the new Canon Powershot SX50 HS. This camera lens really excells with lots of light. I finally got a decent sunny day today so I took the camera to the falls for some practice. This set of images was shot at various zooms from 24mm ( 35 mm equivilant ) to 1200mm then pushed X2. I was standing on the American side by Prospect Point in Niagara Falls State Park, shooting towards Clifton Hill in Canada. You can easily follow a man in a black cap walking up the hill. I think these images are very impressive.

Will You Be My Bridesmaid?

Will You Be My Bridesmaid? Article by Lisa Englert He asked! You said yes! Now it’s your turn to pop the question! Round up your girls and ask, “Will you be my Bridesmaid?” How will you ask them? With a phone call, a text, an email…..boring! These girls will be your right-hand (wo)man on your big day. They will be your bustle tightening (and re-tightening) team. They will make sure you don’t have makeup on your teeth and hold your dress up while you pee! They will keep you calm during all those stressful moments throughout the day (who are we kidding, throughout the entire time leading up to your wedding). They will be there to laugh with you and cry with you. They will help plan your bridal shower and bachelorette party! Trust me, they are earning their spot on the roster!! Be sure to show them just how much you appreciate their very important role in your big day! Here are some of our favorite ways to pop the big question to your wing women. You can always go the traditional route and ask with a proper ring (no need to ask for their parents blessing). How sweet are these ring pop boxes courtesy of Preston Event Planning on Etsy

Spoil her with a necklace that can double as a wedding day accessory found at Briguys Gifts on Etsy. Isn’t this just lovely? And it will match up with just about any wedding color in case you change your mind a time or two!

She’ll never be able to resist this cookie invite which hints at just how “sweet” your wedding will be with her by your side! Found on Rhondassweetretreat on Etsy.

Show her that you are ready to get the party started with a personalized Will you be my Bridesmaid wine glass! Weddings are about having fun, right?!? Found at Waterfall Designs on Etsy

Be original with a Mad Libs card from Camispaperie on Etsy. This card has the flexibility to be as funny or as sappy as you want!

And last but not least, show her even though you’re getting married, you’ll always need her in your entourage. This card courtesy of Littleladycompany on Etsy is cute and to the point…you need your GIRLS!

Now that you have some inspiration…how will you propose??? P.S. Don’t forget the flower girl! Found on Decadentdesigns on Etsy. A personal invite AND a princess wand! Your littlest helper will love this!

We thank Lisa Englert for sharing all her wedding ideas with our readers. If you would like to read more, we have all of lisa's articles on our my site The Portrait Gallery Niagara in our Wedding Planning pages.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

We wish everyone a safe and joyous holiday season this year. Thank you to all our customers for the wonderful experiences and memories and as always, thank you for your business. Merry Christmas everyone! and a Happy New Year!

Canon Powershot SX50 HS Sample Images

I have started my testing of the new Canon Powershot SX50 HS camera. I have included some sample images to show you the range of quality to expect. I bought this camera on recommendations from David Ziser's blog, Digital Pro Talk. I was also looking for a great walk around camera that would cover a wide range of optics,be lightweight and not break the bank. This camera has fit the bill so far. I find it very versatile for lanscapes, wildlife, and studio portraits if needed. The 12 megapixels is large enough to give me a decent usable digital file. I started off using RAW format thinking this would give me the most resolution, but I also find that using CS6 with Bridge in Adobe Camera Raw, I can tweak jpeg files just fine. The camera is a bit slow focusing but I think it is more me, I am not familiar with the Canon product yet. I have more images at our main site, The Portrait Gallery Niagara.

Canon xs50 hs ...WoW!

I am testing out the new Canon Powershot XS50 HS camera this week. I think it will make a great walk around camera. The optics on this camera are simply put...WOW! Here is an image I shot today, hand held, at the Erie County Botanical Gardens. One at 24mm and one at 1200mm, yes the 35mm equivilant to 1200mm, holy cow what a lens. Pretty awesome for a point and shoot camera. I have lots more testing to do but so far I like what I see. More to come soon.

How to Decorate your Wedding Reception Facility on a Budget.

Mr.& Mrs. Signs by Lisa Englert

I fell in love with these chair signs...but not so much with the price! We decided to recreate them to fit our wedding budget. First we started off by purchasing 2 wood plaques from Michaels (at 40% off) for $1.95 each. We drilled a small hole at in the top corners of both plaques (to hang them). We purchased a distressed ivory painting kit made by Rust-Oleum from AC Moore (with a 40% off coupon of course) for around $10 (we used this paint for several other wedding projects that we will be posting soon so it ended up being a really good buy!) We followed the kit instructions and painted the signs with the ivory paint. Next we sanded the edges and roughed it up a bit to give it a worn out look. Then we applied the antiquing paint that came with the kit, let it sit for 5 minutes, and wiped it off with an old cloth. This really added to the aged and distressed look. For the lettering, we printed the words “Mr.” and “Mrs.” in Edwardian Script IT font from Microsoft Word in the biggest font possible. We then enlarged them one more time to fit the plaques perfectly. To create an at home stencil, we then flipped the paper over to the blank side. We colored the blank side of the paper with a lead pencil where ever there was lettering on the opposite side. We colored the paper completely with pencil lead. Then we flipped it over so that the font side was on top and the pencil side was on the bottom. We positioned the lettering in the center of the signs and secured them with tape so they wouldn’t slip and slide. Next we took a regular BIC pen (any color) and traced the outline of the lettering. This transfers the lead from the pencil directly onto the plaque and gives you an easy to follow pattern. Once the patterns were completely traced and transferred we took them off and set them aside for reference. With a thin paint brush and black acrylic paint ($0.99 at Michaels) we painted the outline of the letters and then colored them in. After the signs were dry, we threaded approximately 24” of thick pink ribbon (purchased from Michaels with a 40% coupon) through each hole. We secured them to the chairs by looping each side around the chair and tying into a big bow. You can find more of Lisa's tips at our main site, The Portrait Gallery Niagara at this link.