Valentine's Morning

Dylan on Valentine's morning checking out his gift.  I love that he took the time to "read" his card.  :) Supplies: Erica Hernandez's Letter Template #23; Karla Dudley's Sunkissed papers; Biograffiti + Deena Rutter's Whole Lotta Love kit; Audacious Designs Good Dog kit; Instagram app; Pooh font....

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Shoot and Edit: Pink edit

I started my edit in Photoshop adjusting the levels and then used the Color Pop 2 action from the CoffeeShop Blog.  After it finished, I turned the various layers on and off to see what I liked.  I ended with the background, B&W, Sharpen and Color Pop Vignette on.  With the Color Pop Vignette layer, I reduced it's opacity to 20%. I was hoping to use either the Color Pop or Decaf layers but both left the hat looking really washed...

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Kudos

I've blogged about both my JJ Cole diaper bag and Maclaren stroller in the past.  Love them both for their style, practical use and affordability.  Add to that fabulous customer service by both companies. I first contacted JJ Cole last year when the fabric on my original System bag began to pull apart.  I had barely used it 6 months.  They were quick to respond and not only ship me a brand new bag, but the newer System 180 which...

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today ...

I'm trying to capture "everyday" moments in Dylan's album as well as the bigger ones.  This particular page is about our visit to the library a couple weeks ago for toddler time and reading. Supplies: Design House Digtial Fall Blog Hop kit (paper by Karla Dudley); Sweet Caroline Studio's Weathered Frames; Pink Trike Design's Word Art - Today; Century Gothic font....

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Crayon Roll

Making a crayon roll has been on my to-do list since before I was even a parent.  Kept thinking I might make one for my nieces or nephew.  Like so many other good intentions, it hit the back burner.  Then a few weeks ago, two of my mommy friends made some (check out Allison's awesome froggy roll) so, naturally, I had to do it too!  :D Here's the completed roll: Open and full of crayons: The outside (loving this cute fabric!): Detail...

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Shoot and Edit: Pink

Being that I'm not the most girly girl and I share my home with my husband & son, there isn't a lot of pink around.  My son, Dylan, actually inspired this photo.  He's so good at putting on his own hat before we head outside and now likes to stick this one on me.  I had planned to photograph some pink sidewalk chalk when he literally knocked me in the head with this idea!  ;)  I do love my pink NC State hat. ISO 100,...

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Shoot and Edit: Love/Romance edit

I went round and round on my edit this week.  I think I set myself up for a challenge when I chose to use a photo with so little color.  Thank goodness for the snapshots option in Photoshop's History window.  Every change or two, I made a snapshot.  Then I went back and forth between them seeing what I liked and didn't.  I meant to take notes of the steps - part of my reason for doing the snapshots was to make that easier. ...

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Coffee Filter Painting

Dylan and his buddies love to get crafty.  And definitely love painting but that can get a bit messy.  It worked out well a few months ago when warmer and we could strip the boys to nothing but diapers in the garage and let them go crazy with paint and canvases.  A bit too chilly for that now which is why I was excited when I found the idea for coffee filter painting in this post at Strings to Things blog. For our adventure, we taped...

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Shoot and Edit: Love/Romance

I struggled with this theme.  I had a few ideas.  Then wasn't pleased with the photos I took.  Finally, after seeing Koreen's post at Winn's Window, I was inspired.  The idea in her first photo of rings on a small Eiffel Tower sculpture hit me.  I immediately grabbed my rings & ring holder and began shooting.  My favorite photos, truth be told, were those first shots I took.  I had placed the holder on the window...

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A Birthday Full of Cars

Our neighbor turned 3 over the weekend and loves cars so what better than a race car birthday card? Supplies: Stampin' Up cardstock, inks & Celebrate stamp; Provo Craft sticker. I had planned to give him a car to go along with it.  He loves the Hot Wheels/Matchbox type cars and has quite the collection.  That latter part is what stopped me ... he has so many so maybe another car isn't the best idea.  Then I remembered 2 things. ...

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puppy love: Cameron & Scout

A few weeks ago, Laura at Cameron Crazy and I swapped photos to create digital scrapbook pages for each other.  She sent me 3 photos of Cameron and I sent her 3 photos of Dylan.  We also included photo dates, the boys' ages, and journaling.  Today we're sharing our "big reveal" with you. Here's the layout I created of Cameron & Scout.  Hope Laura likes it!  :) Supplies: Simply Tiffany Studios Holiday Edition Template...

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Shoot and Edit: Hearts edit

I started my edit this week the same way as I seem to start them all - by adjusting the levels - setting my white and dark points then shifting the input and output levels until it visually looked good to me.  Then I used the clone stamp tool to remove a teeny, tiny piece of something (sugar crumb perhaps?) that was hanging out on the edge of the circle in the center of the bowl.  It was bugging me and needed to go immediately.  ;) From...

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Little Face

Oh how I do so love this little face ... Each photo represents a week in Dylan's first year of life from a few hours old (top left) to celebrating his first birthday (bottom right). I love seeing them all together and how much has changed and how much has stayed the same.  I've been working on this page off and on for months.  Picking the photos and arranging them in the template was the easy part.  I was slow piecing the rest...

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card: Welcome Baby

Sweet little card I made for a friend who had a little girl.  Trying to get a bit feminine without going full out pink. Supplies: Recollections white card; October Afternoon patterned paper; Making Memories edge scraper & flower; Mark Richards Enterprises Crystal Stickers; tag; Stampin' Up Fox & Friends stamp set and Daffodil Delight ink; Micron black pen; scrap pink cardstock; Fiskers scalloped edge pun...

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Shoot and Edit: Hearts

Yup, I went the way of the conversation hearts.  One of those weeks where I waited until the last minute.  I remembered a box stashed away in the junk drawer in our kitchen (seriously do not know how old these are!).  Poured them into my Pottery Barn swirl bowl just because I like it.  :)  And took a few shots.  Here's my favorite: ISO 1000, ss 1/60, f5.3 Join in the fun with Forever'n Ever'n Always Photography and...

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hat trick

I saw a challenge yesterday on Design House Digital requiring the use of a sports idiom for the title. One hit me right away - hat trick.  Perfect for noting Dylan's love of hats.  He very rarely walks out the front door without one on. Supplies: Sara Schmutz's Delight papers; Audrey Neal's Good Dog Elements; Karla Dudley's Digi Essentials 2; Robyn Meierotto's In Stitches Journaler Black; Another Typewriter & Marker SD fonts....

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Shoot and Edit: Red edit

I followed along with Ashley's tutorial as I edited my photo.  My first steps were to adjust the levels and add a duplicate layer with the high pass filter. I duplicated the background layer again and used the noise filter, but quickly got rid of it.  It softened the lines in the paint strokes and the little lines on Dylan's hands - both I liked a lot and make the photo so I wanted to leave them alone. My next step was to add a hue/saturation...

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Baby Ribbon Blanket

During my nesting phase two years ago, I made a pair of ribbon blankets.  One for Dylan and one for Laura's son Cameron. They were so well liked and easy to make, I decided they would be perfect gifts for two friends who are expecting and made these two a few weeks ago: Aren't they cute?  And so soft.  I confess, I almost want one for myself! :)  Want to make your own?  Here's how ... Supplies (will make 2 blankets) 1/2...

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Handprint Heart

I mentioned in Monday's Shoot and Edit post that we pulled out the paints over the weekend to create more handprint art.  I confess, I still had Dylan's Christmas Tree plaque hanging so it was definitely time for a change.  I found a wooden heart plaque at Michael's and painted it white.  Then with Trent's help holding whichever hand we were painting, I put red paint on Dylan's hand and then helped him place it on the plaque. ...

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