Quick post

One of the beautiful roses that "my husband" wanted me to have ;)

Okay-quick post tonight. Why? Because I can't seem to sit down at the computer anymore without 2 hours going by. And because my poor old laptop is getting a little wonky tonight. So-after the look on my husband's face last night when I showed him the "after" sun tea photo, "i know this is important, but I don't know why she is showing me this....", I decided I should include a before and an after photo with my grungey photos. So here it is. Above is the before photo of one of the roses I bought over the weekend.

(grungepaper2 by fudgegraphics and font karabine)

And here is the after "grunged up" photo.

This is the "before" sun tea photo from yesterday's post.

And this, of course, is the Christmas card photoesque picture that you will be receiving in December...don't laugh, I still love it that much! Happy Wednesday!

(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!

Sunday Funday

Hello Sunday!

(Sunday overlay by Ali Edwards for Designer Digitals, available here.)

Hy-Vee was having a sale on roses, so I picked out a dozen that I knew my husband would want me to have ;) They are truly beautiful! And-my first large tomato is ripe! We will eat it tomorrow!

Taking lots of photos, making strawberry freezer jam, sun tea brewing outside, hanging around the house. Didn't do much of anything...just playing around with some photos. Have a great start to the week!

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!

Grunge Look

{Products: Daguerrotype 2 and Subtle Grunge 5 from Lost and Taken, and Brown paper texture from jessicasprague.com}

Still playing in Photoshop Elements 6.0 with new info from jessicasprague.com from her free class this week. I am totally loving this look!

Musicians-Trumpet (Cornet) Lessons

Bryan is taking summer trumpet lessons. Below is the excitement that followed. Above is the last time that I saw the clarinet at home making noise {circa 2004!!!!!} Normally, the clarinet stays at school. But this story is about Bryan. No one else has been showing up to Bryan's trumpet lessons. So he is basically getting one-on-one lessons. Like 10 of them-for $30. It is sweet. I hope he sticks with it. And the best part is that he can walk to his lesson! He is sounding pretty good. I LOVE LOVE LOVE having a bigger house for this practice. Because that little house was NOT good for practicing.
So on the day of Bryan's first lesson-Elizabeth actually got her clarinet out to play some tunes with him. She even played some Pep band tunes. I was impressed.

Bryan is kind of liking the one-on-one lessons.

He says that he can buzz his lips really well and that was one reason why he chose the trumpet.

The fact that there are only 3 fingers needed helps a little too.

Anything that gets the clarinet some air to the real world is a good thing!

Despite herself, Elizabeth said she misses marching band and is looking forward to starting back up very soon.

Surprise!!!!!

Check it out! The saxomophone even made a special appearance. It hasn't been out of the CASE since 2007 when William said one year was ENUF!!!

But he looks soooo cool playing it....and he knows....

I love you guys-and I love that you at least TRY to love music! Happy Friday!

Almost Twins

14 and 16-the best thing about having a brother...is "borrowing" his clothes....

the best thing about being an older sister...knowing that he is NOT going to actually hit you...and if he does......well.....then he's in BIG trouble....

Learning a few new techniques from jessicasprague.com and her free class. Her classes are really awesome-her voice is soothing and filled with knowledge. Anyway-the original photo is below:

Totally loving the tie-dye shirt that Elizabeth made with a friend that was part of the huge purchase of "Summer Projects" that we made a while back. So glad it was put to good use. They did a great job creating them!

So you'll see that while I love the color of the shirt, I also knew that it was SO colorful that de-saturating it wouldn't detract from adorable Elizabeth. Using Photoshop Elements 6.0, I desaturated the photo, cropped it, and then colorized the photo slightly, giving it a bit of a sepia tone. I chose not to colorize her cheeks. I totally love the result! Miss you Elizabeth! Looking forward to you coming home soon!