lil Pitty Tuesday

While changing over to the Squarespace format I notice my blog was missing something very important - more about our little loving pitbull, August.​

​August has been a part of my life for 5 years now and has been a loyal and loving companion.  Dogs are truly, mans (or woman's…) best friend.  I never knew just how unconditional she was until we had Soren.  Poor thing was the center of mine and Rick's world b.c. (before child) and now she has to share our attention with the wee man.  It's been tough for her, but she is managing.  Now that Soren is old enough to play with her - the two get along better than ever.  

She's never been aggressive or outwardly mean to him, but you can see the abandonment and sadness on her face when our attention waivers or he steals her ball.  I feel awful about every time we may have overlooked our sweet girl.  Cheers to you pup, for being so patient and kind through it all.  I dedicate my Tuesday blog posts to our loving pit bull.  You are the best anyone could ask for.  Love, love!​

sweet pup.jpg

feeling crafty.... (it's just my type)

(I know… bad Beastie Boys reference, but it was necessary)

This long weekend was much needed.  We spent most of it together as a family - which was absolutely priceless.  I always love watching the dudes together - they are quite the adorable team.  We also spent some time with Rick's family.  Seeing Soren run around with his cousins was a treat.  The three of them were a blast.  Zoë, Rick's niece closest to Soren's age was an absolute doll.  Precious moment exhibit A : 

Soren was looking disgruntled, but not quite tantrum quality frown.  She walks up to him, crooks her head down to face him eye to eye, and asks him, 'Soren? you ok Soren?'.  He proceeded to say something in toddler gab, she looked a bit confused but kind of understood.  They then proceeded to jump up and down on this HUGE play pad Papaw brought up from the basement - laughing and screaming.  So cute!  

And, personally - I set out the task of working a bit on the 'me'.  I haven't sewed or knitted since, well - Soren was born and it was about time to get back to it!  I dusted off the sewing machine (literally…), started a knitting project, made a couple stuffed turtles to work on my sewing chops (much needed work indeed…) and even put a HUGE dent in a wonderful book.  All in a weekend.  Felt good to dig back into the crafty nook in my noggin.​

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…and of course - Soren and I took PLENTY of photos...​

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picmonkey

My new favorite trick.  I have been using PIcasa (a wonderfully free program) for my collages - which has been great.  BUT, the way Picasa stores photos and collages in the library and directory can be messy.  Thanks to Pugly Pixel - I have discovered picmonkey.  I highly​  recommend this website!  It is a blast to play with, super easy to use with some great effects.  You can do everything from simple edits on a photo ➺

added color definition in Soren's skin​ - added text and symbol​ - rounded corners​

​...adding frames ➺

fixed focus on Soren's face​ - skin softening​ - white burn-out frame and added text​

last of all - collages​ ➺

rounded corners within collage settings​

Have fun!​

PSE 10 Actions

When I decided to roll with Photoshop Elements, I was certain I would loose the availability for actions.  I was wrong!  ​Even MORE of a reason for the novice photoshop-er to roll with Elements.  

They aren't 'actions', they are 'effects' - with about a thousand different tutorials online (this one is my favorite) to help you install them (I might be hyperbolizing...slightly...).  Not only that, but there are some sweet free ones up for grabs all over the net.  The example below are from Coffee Shop Photography.  This is a great site with tutorials, actions/effects, and simply - fun ideas for all levels of photographers.  There are also actions/effects packages that you can pay for - and should​ to support the photographer enthusiasts willing to share precious effects that sometimes take hours to create.

Have fun! and get creative!​

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