Sunday, May 31

Sneak Peek

I am pleased to introduce Baby "J", 10 days old.
He's so sweet and cuddly, dontchaya think?
These are far from perfect by technical means, but ya gotta start somewhere...and regardless, the subject is as perfect as can be!
Thanks again to the new Mommy & Daddy for putting up with the crazy lady and the unruly beanbag chair.




Saturday, May 30

For Lexi

Today is her 1st birthday party....been meaning to make these letters for her since before she was born. Didn't turn out quite as good as I hoped. At 3:30 last night, in a fit of insomnia, it seemed like a good idea to ink the edges to make them extra shabbylicious. Which is a fine idea, just probably poorly executed by yours truly.

And can't you just hear him? ".....I feel pretty, oh so pretty...."
Paybacks...I dare him to sass talk me at the age of 16, no, I double dog dare him, *insert malicious laugh*

Friday, May 29

{FIF}

Oh shes a cutie!
{original}


{Soft & Sweet}

{Black-n-White}


Check out the other edits....I*HEART*FACES!

ETA: Thanks for the sweet comments everyone, you sure know how to make a girl blush.

Thought I'd share my general Photoshop Elements 7 workflow here.

Duplicate your layer.
Run defog (USM 20/60/0) Then I usually turn down the opacity on this layer a bit...75-80% usually....but it depends.
Check Threshold for the whitest/darkest points of the pics (remember these areas)
Open up layers, click the white dropper to the lightest, the black dropper to the darkest. This sets your white balance pretty accurately....play around as needed. The on the histogram slider, bump the midtones a bit....to what you like.
Next is IMPORTANT! Hold the ALT and click your mouse on the white slider under the histogram. This will reveal the color channels. Ideally, the image will be black indicating nothing is "blown". Any colors you see here are those that need to be adjusted. Make note which colors.
If there are colors to correct, open up a Hue/Saturation layer. Under the dropdown, select that color, then on the desaturate slider, reduce back a little at a time. The open a new levels layer and recheck the channel to see if color has disappeared and the image is now black. Do this for every color that need adjusting. The more you do this, the better you can eye it and know how much to pull back....

Once its all good, flatten image. Now if too dark, duplicate layer two times, so you should have 3 layers of the same image. One the middle image, over in the layers palette, change the blending mode to Overly, change the belnding mode of the top image to Screen. Now pull back the opacities of each of these layers until it looks good. Overlay will give you contrast/color pop. Screen will lighten. Flatten when done.

Now, eye pop. Sounds complicated, but it aint. Use Lasso tool to circle around one eye. Hold SHIFT down and circle around the other eye. Both eyes should now be selected. Go to the top menu, choose Select>Feather>5pxls
Now, Ctrl-C, Ctrl-V....to copy and paste the eyes to a new layer.
Go to Filter>Other>High Pass and then set the slider to the point that you just start to see the details of the eye be defined. Now change the blending mode of the layer to HARD LIGHT. Then you can lower the opacity as needed to soten the eyes....no over-doing eyes please. Major No-No!
Flatten when done.

Then on this photo, I ran thru the freeware version of Noiseware....I did the Portrait preset to give a nice smoothing.

Then I did some fine tuning. I touched up some midtones to brighten a tad. Duplicated my layer again and ran the Autosharpen under Enhance. I erased back the eyes and lowered the opacity. Didnt want super sharp but thats totally up to you.
The cropped and burned edges....I am a burnt edge junkie...I admit it.

Ok, so there you have it. Sorry if it sounds confusing. I've done these steps a million times so I can do it my sleep. Feel free to ask if you have questions or just to tell me I make no sense, lol.
And one more thing....if you really want to improve your PSE skills....go right now, this very second to your nearest bookstore and get the Scott Kelby book for whatever version you have. The man is a genius and speaks clear English with step by step instructions. Trust me.

Thursday, May 28

Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh!

The itty-bitty baby I was waiting for arrived late last week so looks like I'll be taking pics Sunday afternoon. Ahhhh *knees shaking*
Murphy, please keep your Law far, far away....

Wednesday, May 27

An Internal Debate

So seems like everyone has read Twilight. Yeah, I know, like so 3 months ago, right? Well I've resisted thus far and promised I would not go down without a fight...but I'm growing weary and as they say, curiosity killed the cat.
Good thing cats have 9 lives, huh?
Meow.....
Which reminds me, I am not a cat person.
But anyway, a love story and some romance, be it with fangs and junk, never killed anyone, right? Maybe made them a little nauseas but they lived....so I will raise my white flag and join the minions out there, was getting kinda lonesome up here on my high horse anyway....
Better be as good as I have been promised.

Tuesday, May 26

I promise. Not another dress...

but instead, a SKIRT this time. Ok, a tutu, whatever.
Really, maybe my internal biological clock is trying to tell me something...



Please pay no mind to my organized chaos in the background. Yes, its messy and I like it that way!

Priceless

SPF50 Sunscreen: $6.00
Cars Swim Trunks: $6:50
Nemo Pool: $15.00
Laughs, giggles and splashes.....
Priceless!







Had enough yet?

I've created a dress making monster...
That silly ruffle was almost the death of me...grr.


Monday, May 25

Muggy Mug

Ok, last project for today...maybe.
A way-late, but better than never Mother's Day gift for my Mom.
So cute!

Dress #2

This one ended up way small...maybe 3-6months size. Any takers out there?

Musical Monday

So I will be the first to admit that l feel dumber after listening to this, but how can you hear this and NOT want to dance?!
Tis true, I have a soul of a dancer trapped in the body of a sumo wrestler, HA! Now go shake a tailfeather!
1,2,3,4....


Sunday, May 24

Introducing...

Our new kitchen wable (wall table), lol...the fruit of our trek to Ikea on Friday. We've been wanting something to go in there but the space is much too small for an ordinary table. Leave it to Ikea to have just what we needed at a price that didn't make the Old Man sweat too much, lol.

Pillowcase Dress

For my niece Lexi....she turns one on the 29th. Hope it fits her...probably should have measured her yesterday. Although, measuring is for weenies, lol.
This was fun and I am sure the more I make, the easier they will get. Curses to bias tape though....argh, my nemisis.
Now, just need a little girl of my own to dress up................................


Saturday, May 23

For Fun....

Maybe someday, far, far from now, I can get a real macro lens....now that would be fun!





Twitter, Take 2

Ok, so my last attempt lasted all of a day I think. I'm giving it a second chance...maybe I'll shoot for 48hrs this time, lol....

Twittely-tweet.

Thursday, May 21

A memior, beautifully

Days with My Father
by Phillip Toledano

Have a tissue or two close by....

Wednesday, May 20

And the sky opened up....

and a bright ray of light shown down on me and angels could be heard in chorus.
Why?
Because 47 minutes ago I started my 5 day weekend. No more BS until 8AM Tuesday and then all can go back to its usual crumminess. Until then....I am free and don't have to give a crap about any of it.
Tra-la-la-la-laaaaaa!
Umm, be glad you can't hear me. I can't sing to save my life....truly. lol.

Tuesday, May 19

*inhale.......exhale*

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change
courage to change the things I can
and wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time

Enjoying one moment at a time
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace
Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it
Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His Will
That I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him forever in the next. Amen.
--Reinhold Niebuhr

So I'm thinking, maybe I'll have this tattooed to my palms. Seeing as I sit with my head in my hands most the day, this might actually have a fairly decent chance to soak in by osmosis.

I*HEART*FACES {Blub Photo Book}

Oh gosh, this was hard. The challenge was to choose what you consider to be your best face photo ever. I am my own worst critic I guess. I have favorites but none that I feel are great. After much debating with myself, I settled on this one.

"I am submitting this photo into the http://www.iheartfaces.com/ Blurb Book photo contest. I am granting I ♥ Faces permission to use my photo in a printed version of a book for commercial use and possibly advertising of a photo book on both the Blurb and I ♥ Faces web sites."

Click over to see other entries for this week's Blurb Book contest!

Sunday, May 17

OK, I lied....2 More

Guess I've been bitten by the sewing bug or something.

{front}
{back}



Just One

I sure do love me some baby eyelashes....


Friday, May 15

{FIF}

Ohhh, this was fun....

{original}



{touch of vintage}


{texture-ific}


E.T.A: Texture was a freebie I snatched up about a year ago over on another awesome photo site... ilovephotography.com. But you can get some really great textures here.... JoySt.Claire.
Love her stuff!


Click on by and see other awesome edits for Fix*It*Friday!



Wednesday, May 13

A Timely Reminder

I have read this before years ago but it had been long forgotten. I think it might have answered some "Whys?" for me....and maybe it might do the same for you. Enjoy.
************************************************************

In Malachi 3:3 the Bible tells us that, "He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver." This is a very good description of God, unfortunately not many people know what it means. In order to understand the description someone must know what a refiner of silver has to do.

There was once a woman that wondered what a refiner of silver had to do with the silver so she set out to find an answer. The woman made an appointment with a silversmith so that she could watch the process. She didn't tell the silversmith that she had interest in the refining process because it was a metaphor for God. She simply told the silversmith that she was interested in the process.


She watched the silversmith as he held the piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. The silversmith told the woman that he had to hold the piece of silver in the middle of the fire where the flames are hottest in order to burn away all the impurities.

The silversmith continued that not only did he have to sit there and hold the silver the entire time but he also had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time. If the piece of silver was left in the fire for too long then it would be destroyed.

After quietly watching the process the woman finally spoke up. The woman asked the silversmith, "How do you know when the silver is fully refined?" The silversmith smiled at her and answered "I know the piece of silver is done when I can see my image in it."


The process of refining silver is a perfect example of God. God will put us through a lot in our life, much like a piece of silver has to be put in the fire. Not only will God put us in the fire put he'll put us in the very hottest part of the fire.

God puts us through the fire for our own good though. Like a piece of silver, going through the fire will burn away all the impurities in our life. But God doesn't just throw us in the fire and leave us there to burn. Like a silversmith God holds us and watches us the entire time in order to be able to pull us from the fire at the right time so that we won't be destroyed.

Then once we've been refined, once we've gone through the fire and had all our impurities burned away, that is when God can see his image in us.

Tuesday, May 12

Sew Cute

Wanted to share my latest adventure in sewing. Just a swanky little Bible cover. Still need to jazz it up some. Maybe some buttons or fringe? I dunno...we'll see. And don't look too closely or you'll notice all of my mistakes, lol. Oops, took a picture of it upside down...oh well, you get the idea.
I just love this fabric though. Would be perfect as nursery decor for a little girl.

A New Favorite

I stumbled across this photo last night as I sifted thru countless folders trying to find a laughing pic. I can't believe I missed this one. The chubbiness of his cheeks. The softness of his lips. The quiet expression of sweetness. All the things I want to remember years from now.


Monday, May 11

I*HEART*FACES {Laughter}

Laughter is the challenge of the week over at I*HEART*FACES. If you listen closely, you can even hear the giggles...

{kids entry}

Be sure to take a peek at all the other laughing faces this week!
Just click below!

Sunday, May 10

My Little Trooper

Poor Wyatt, he was sweet enough too exhausted to protest when I pulled out my camera earlier. I have been wanting to test out my black background for the longest though. But YAY! He actually looked at the camera for once!


Happy Mother's Day 2009!!

Just want to wish all the mommies in the world a very happy, peaceful Mother's Day. My festivities got underway yesterday when Jason took me to PF Changs for dinner....he even made reservations! So for the special occasion, it only seemed fitting to shave my legs and actually wear a dress! Yes, I do own one or two. And in addition to an oh-so yummy dinner, I got a gift card to a salon so I can get my hair did! Of course we arrive home and Gramsie infoms us Wy is running fever. Surely she could not be serious....we JUST got over Strep throat like 10 days ago. Surely he can't be getting sick again. Surely.
Well, after running fever all thru the night we made an early morning trek to the nearest Care Now and the verdict is an ear infection and most likely strep still. Ugh.

But before our appointment, I did manage to make my cinnamon rolls and I sure bet you are wishin you had some smell-o vision.
Yu-to-the-um!

Thursday, May 7

Thankful Thursday

Seeing as I don't got much to say, I'll devote today's post to something I am thankful for.
I overheard some gals at work today complaning about their DHs (dear husbands) who spend way too much time and money on video games. For all the other things I worry about, this is certainly not one of them here in the E household and I am truly thankful. I'll take hours of sports, ESPN, playoffs...and all that boringness over a video-head any day! I really hope Wyatt doesn't get sucked into those things either. Well if I have anything to do with it, he surely won't!

I think I am gonna attempt to channel my inner Paula Deen again this weekend and make these ooey-gooey cinnamon rolls again from scratch. Let's just say I learned from my first attempt that whole wheat flour probably isn't the best choice. I mean really, they're buttery, sugary rolls of insta-atherosclerosis so why bother even kidding myself with the wheat flour? If you're gonna be bad, might as well be good at it, ehhh? I do pinky promise to just nibble on the smallest one of the batch...scout's honor!

Tuesday, May 5

I*HEART*FACES {Hats}

The challenge this week is hats. I've been trying for 2 days to get Wyatt to stand still long enough for me to get a shot with my oh-so-slow-to-focus camera. Frustrating to say the least. Snapped this one tonight and it is way soft...off focus and garbage by the technical standards, but if nothing else, it captured his essence. Oh and a little bit of his pirate too, lol.

{Kids Entry}





Check out all the other hats this week at I*HEART*FACES.


Tick-tock-tick-tock

Argh....I am downloading the the trial version for Adobe Lightroom2 and it seems like it is taking for flipping ever! Come on already!
I have resisted it thus far, but what the hay, I sure ain't getting any younger, lmbo......and zip it, Jason.
Grrr, we must have the slowest internet in all of Fort Worth or something.....

Ok, whilst I wait....here a few zoo pics. I wasn't terribly inspired by an of these so it took me a while to get some of them done. There were more edited but my computer froze before I saved them and I just don't have the heart to go back and re-edit them all over again. Maybe if Lightroom ever hurries up I might feel more like playing.....weeee!

P.S.. you'd think it would kill him to give me some eye contact even just once....










Monday, May 4

Musical Monday

I heard this song with fresh ears yesterday, as if for the first time....so may you hear it for the 1st time all over again too.

Saturday, May 2

Say what?!?

It's May 2nd....now how the heck did that happen?

Anyhow, to update on the Rugrat, he's back to his spunky, driving-me-up-the-wall-and-outta-my-mind self. Let's see...today's band-aid count: 1, so in my book, it was a good day. I also finally finished painting the dining room area today. On to the living room next....any volunteers out there? Surely All-You-Can-Eat Little Ceasars pizza must be at least a little tempting, right? HA!

And from Lori over at Teacher Turned Mommy...I accept your challenge!

8 Things I Look Forward to
Sleeping thru night again sometime before I die
- Retirement, HA!
- A cure for Diabetes
- A trip to Paris....someday.....
- May 22-25...Stay-cation time!
- A vaccine for H1N1
- Chinese food...haven't been to Pei-Wei in forever!
- and last but not least....the GRAND OPENING of SAM MOON just one exit from our house! sorry Jason....but WOOHOOO!

8 Things I Did Yesterday
*ok this is gonna be painful....I have no life
- Showered
- Went to work
- Did my Fix-It-Friday photo
- searched high and low for my IPod and it's officially MIA
- went to JC Penny's and only spent $20!
- Wore a pair of jeans I hate and was uncomfortable all day
- Promised myself I would take a sewing class....
- Ordered this super cute crochetted bowl as a newborn prop.....CUTE! I love ETSY!

8 Things I Wish I Could Do
- Wake up 50lbs lighter
- Not have a potty mouth sometimes
- Payoff my mountain of student loans
- Tell my boss to "Take this job and shove it......" but alas, see entry above
- Take better photos, like the ones I drool over
- Be more patient
- Be better with money

8 Shows I Watch
*this is a stretch.....I don't really watch these all the time
- America's Next Top Model
- How I Met Your Mother....this is greatness if you've never seen it before!
- Survivor
- Chopped
- Good Eats
- New Adventures of Old Christine
- The Unit....Scott Foley. yumm.
- Spongebob Squarepants...one of Wyatt's faves...

Friday, May 1

I*HEART*FACES {FIF}

It's Friday, you know the drill.




Hmmm, looking at my edit now it looks like I overdid it a way too much....oops.
You can see everyone else's versions over at I*HEART*FACES!