O Christmas Tree!

Brush by Ali Edwards for Designer Digitals.

Found a new setting for my camera to use to get the "starburst" effect with the lights on the Christmas tree, a tripod, and a really slow shutter speed. Settings found here. I LOVE how it turned out! Have a great Tuesday! Snow is coming!

The Ranch, Part I

Laura and Charlie's ranch in Southern Colorado.

When Laura and Charlie found this horse, he was severely malnourished. He used to be a racehorse. They have had him for a while now and he still isn't up to his proper weight.

This is 86. Also known as, Houdini. She gets out of the pen a lot. Like twice in one day while we were there.

This is 96. He is still being bottle fed.

This is one of the hens. She is good at keeping eggs warm, so that is what she does.

Here we are with Laura & Charlie on Sunday night. They are totally awesome people and Laura did a great job of taking care of my husband before I was old enough to meet him :) Laura made some awesome food and we thank both of them so much for having us and putting up with us over the weekend!

Love this photo-I can't remember if Sarah took this one or if one of the kids took it. But it turned out great! And look at that backdrop! Love to get photos of me with my sweetheart!

I know Sarah took this photo. I am going to use this layout for the cover of my vacation book.

We had such a great time in Colorado! More photos of Sarah and Jeremy coming soon. Happy Popcorn Day {Thursday}!

Taking Photos

My sister and I love taking photos! Whether it is of each other, the beautiful scenery, or the local foliage (lots of these!) we always have a camera handy. And my sister takes fabulous photos! Thanks, Sarah! I actually got to be in some vacation photos!

Sarah saw a marmot hiding under a rock and stayed to take photos, so it took her a little while longer come down from the top of Mt. Evans. He was a cute little guy.

Sarah taking photos of the flowers around our campsite.

Sarah and I taking photos of each other taking photos at our campsite :)

I uploaded 250 photos to Shutterfly yesterday (it's not as impressive as it sounds.... ) It was really great sharing photos with Sarah as we took them so that we both have photos like this :)

I decided to create a photobook with my vacation photos, so I will be starting that process very soon. I can't wait to play with all of the photos! Happy Tuesday!

(grungepaper5 by fudgegraphics and font karabine)

I love this look so much that I just might use it for my Christmas card. So if you get a Christmas card this year that just shows sun tea on a table....yea...that would be from us...but anyway..

(grungepaper4 by fudgegraphics and font karabine.)

This is SOOO easy. Loving this free class by Jessica Sprague. This last 2 weeks marks the first time that I have used textures in my photos. Now I want to use textures on all of my photographs! I may have to join textures anonymous-I am just that addicted to textures....

Anyway...Last year I created a Summer mini-book {insert photo here-I lost one of my cameras and don't feel like going upstairs right now to snap a photo anyway} showcasing our "everyday" activities throughout the summer. I have been trying to decide what I want to do this year. In a way-my blog is my showcase of everyday life-whether it is summer, school year, or holidays. So I might just post to the blog and be done with it. Or I might use the photos that I post on my blog to print out in 4x6 and put them in a photo album. It just might be that simple. Anyway-I'm getting excited about our trip to Colorado! Off for more planning and figuring out how I'm going to pay for gas! Yay! Happy Tuesday! Hope it's a great one!

Through the Viewfinder

Still playing with new techniques that I'm learning on Jessica Sprague's class. This technique simulates the practice of taking a photo with your digital camera through an apparatus that connects to the viewfinder of an old camera in order to get the "square shape", black frames, and other assorted vintage goodness. It turned out way cooler than I would have hoped!

How it works:

First, I desaturated the photo and gave it a sepia tone. Then I used FakeTTV_8 (free on Flikr) and the multiply mode and a brush from HOF3 Sampler Brushes. It was WAYYYY too easy.

I plan to upload some photos and post something new later tonight or tomorrow.

Happy Sunday!

Junque Shop Finds

Loving this Kodak camera, circa 1939-1949.

I was sick yesterday and am still not 100% today, but I WAS able to make it through 9 holes of golf. I just shouldn't have eaten dinner.... Anyway, rather than spend a lot of time taking photos, I decided to share my junque shop finds from Friday.
Nothing like a simple blue bottle to spruce the place up.

I bought 3 aprons. Yeah, I know-WHAT am I going to do with 3 aprons. Well-2 are for the studio and one looks pretty :)

Loving this vintage tablecloth. Yes, I am aware that it is too small for the table. I love it anyway.

And finally...a frame that I found that I used to create my inspiration board for Jenni Bowlin's class at Big Picture Scrapbooking. It turned out awesome!

Happy Wednesday!

Birds at my Feeder

Birds were eating out of the finch feeder for about 2 weeks before I caught who was doing it.
Here are the Goldfinches.

I have also caught Mr and Mrs. Housefinch eating at the feeder as well.

These guys spook pretty easy in our yard, so they don't hang out long. Maybe they will hang out longer once the Zinnias start blooming.

Sometimes, the sparrows eat at the finch feeder too. But more on that another day. Happy Monday!

Puppies

When we were visiting at Mom's over Memorial Day Weekend, I had the opportunity to take some photos of the dogs on the farm. They LOVE to go for walks and they are so interesting to watch! And, of course, they don't complain or whine or complain or talk.... I printed both photos out at 5x7 on my printer and put them in the frames that I have on my desk at work which are for the dogs. (The photos that were in the frames were 2 years old. Ralph was much thinner then...) Happy Friday-have a great weekend!

Hard to Believe

It's hard to believe that this one is almost 16 years old...That we went from this to:

this. They grow up way too fast. We love you so much.

Found Photos

I was looking for a specific photo to blog (I didn't find it...I know what the date was that it was taken, but it isn't showing up in the right folder) but I did find some other really great photos to blog about. Clearly, only one of the photos was taken by me. I think William took the photo of Tigger and I, and Elizabeth took the photo of her and Bryan. I love "found" photos on my harddrive that I wasn't the one who set up the photo and photos that the kids take. I think they are as hooked as I am :) Love the Canon! Have a great Wednesday!

Celebrating Family

There is no way that I can think of to spend a long holiday weekend than spending it with family. I had a great time this weekend and can't wait to do it again! I loved playing washers and hanging out. It was very relaxing and a great time to take some photos of family and puppies!

Congratulations!

Congratulations, Patricia on your outstanding achievement! We are all so proud of you. Thanks so much for inviting us all over to join in the celebration! Love you guys!

Prima {donna downey} Canvas Album Page

I am really proud of this page, so I had to post it as soon as I uploaded the photos. I LOVE this photo of my husband! (taken earlier this week in the back yard and printed on my Epson Stylus Photo 280). The canvas was painted with red paint, then the heart was collaged onto the page (the heart was cut out of an old book that my Mom was going to throw out!)

Then I used a "B" stamp with white paint onto the page with a Making Memories foam alpha stamp. I used my sewing machine to sew some zigzag stitches onto the photo.

I wanted an acrylic heart, but I was out of those, so I found my last large acrylic flower. The button was part of a random set of buttons that I ordered from jenni bowlin's retail site.

Finally-the purple and pink outlining around the heart was done using Portfolio oil pastels. I love the way the page turned out! Happy Saturday!

Photoshoot

Lesson learned: If you don't want your photo taken constantly, it's probably not a good idea to buy your wife a new camera.

P.S. The camera was an awesome Christmas present. I love it!

Ralph has perfect concentration. His eyes never leave the soccer ball.

Happy Thursday!