celebrate monday {1.3}

celebrate monday hosted by simple scrapper



nothing says chaos quite like the holidays. the last few years, i've gotten a similar shot of the aftermath on christmas morning. this year's struck me because amongst all the insane wrapping paper and huge mess, were two brothers, quietly enjoying each other on this special day. if anyone knows how to embrace chaos, it is children. i could learn a thing or two from them.

photos {coleman's fall portraits}

this past week, coleman was supposed to have some fall portraits taken at daycare. aj had gone "above and beyond" to set up a photographer to come and do all of the children right there at her home. i was excited to have new professional pictures of him! unfortunately, the photographer cancelled. but, as is normal for aj, she was bound and determined to find a way to make it up to us, the disappointed parents. so, she had someone help her take the kids pictures with cute fall decor. it really was not necessary, but much appreciated. i spent some time in PSE7 and was able to jazz up a few of my favorites. as you can tell, i used totally different effects on each one. some were done with actions, while others i just fiddled with (some were a combination of both). i believe all of the actions i used were freebies from coffeeshop.

i also realized that i never did a *19 month old post* about coleman. he turned 19 months just four days before these photos were taken, so i figured i'd just add the tidbits here...

~ he is doing lots of head nodding and head shaking. he doesn't really *say* "yes" and "no" ~

~ he likes to throw things. maybe a little too much. ~

~ he figured out how to open the baby gate at the bottom of the stairs ~

~ he's obsessed with the toilet...flushing it and putting toilet paper in it ~

~ you can tell him to throw something away and he will do it ~

~ he likes to help clean his high chair tray after eating ~

~ he thinks one of the progressive insurance commercials is hilarious ~

~ he can occupy himself for a long while with a baby wipe or two ~

~ we added a 1/2 teaspoon of benadryl to his daily regime (at night) ~

~ he was put into time-out at daycare for the first time ~

~ he used the potty at daycare for the first time (a fluke, not the start of potty training!) ~

~ he nods his head to music he likes ~

celebrate monday {8.30}

*celebrate monday* at simple scrapper

The idea is simple. Strip away the extras for a small moment to center yourself on what is most important in your process. Find the photo, tell the story... 

monday afternoon...only the 4th day of his middle school career....
matt is sitting in the carpool lane and sees "a mummy" walking towards him (his words, not mine)...
come to find out, spencer took a little tumble on the black top after lunch...
there were scrapes and cuts and some blood...
a trip to the nurse (who is reportedly nicer than the elementary school one)...
and an afternoon full of sympathy and good stories...
ultimately...the injuries were quite minor, but the story was a highlight!

photoshop friday {8.27}

i recently shared with you my excitement over the ps mobile app on my iphone. here is an example of my fiddling around with it...

original iPhone photo (of my favorite wine glass):

super cool edit:

fun, dontcha think???

celebrate monday {8.23}

*celebrate monday* at simple scrapper

The idea is simple. Strip away the extras for a small moment to center yourself on what is most important in your process. Find the photo, tell the story...

i know i've already addressed the first day of school here but i wanted to capture the memory with some journaling on the real photo (as opposed to the funky edit that we actually e-mailed spencer).

milestone {middle school}

today was quite a milestone. spencer entered middle school. 6th grade. almost 12 years old. he's an amazing kid, overcoming obstacles and we are so proud of him. this morning, i was a nervous wreck. not having him home with us last night and this morning makes it harder on us. this morning i just stalked my e-mail, waiting to get word from his mother as to how he did.

so here is our star middle schooler...who did AWESOME today!!

and this is the picture we e-mailed to him tonight to let him know how proud we are.

my heart is swollen with pride tonight. i pray tomorrow goes as well...and the next day...and the next day.

we love you big bubba!

app {ps mobile}

i thought i'd share my favorite new app... it's photoshop mobile!! it lets you do all sorts of cool stuff to photos on your phone. i haven't had it long, but here are a few recent shots that i've edited using this totally free app!! i know there are other options available for photo editing on your phone, but this one is very easy to use (and did i mention it's free???).

you can crop, change exposure, saturation, tint, and contrast.

you can convert to black and white with one touch.

there is a cool sketch feature, and soft focus, and sharpen. plus lots of very nifty effects.

and then you can finish it off with border options.

finally, you can save it, and even post it to twitter or facebook.

{the picture}

so, you know how sometimes you get *that picture*? the one that makes the other 200 that week totally worth it? ok, maybe you don't. i honestly have no clue whether the average person feels these things in relation to photographs (like how i cried when i saw our family portraits last year), but for the sake of this blog post, i'm just going to pretend i'm normal.

so, i take a ton of pictures - sometimes of expected events, sometimes of totally random things, sometimes of just hanging and doing what we do. this was one of those. it was after work, just hanging out in the yard. i took some pictures of coleman playing with his big orange ball, sliding on his slide, and playing with the neighbors' rocks.

i think it can *hit* you when you get one of these at different times. it's possible (though rare, i believe) that you realize it as you take it. it's quite likely that you might see it when you first load them to your computer and see them on the bigger screen. and sometimes it takes time. when i saw this photo, i liked it. a lot. but it took going through my photo process (meaning, i probably "touched" the photo several times), before the intensity of it stuck with me.

and the crazy thing about getting "the" picture is that it probably only means that much to you. maybe your family or some friends or something. but i guarantee that most of you will look at the picture below and just see a photo of the top of a kid's head that is sitting on some rocks. but when i look at it, i see everything that my 16-month-old baby toddler boy is right now.

so, this is it. the picture. i plan on printing this large (probably 8x10 or 8.5x11) and letting it serves as it's own layout. cuz it rocks (pun fully intended).

creative boot camp {day 9}

creative boot camp

day 9

random word prompt: drizzle

this was a strange one... i thought of drizzling rain, but my mind definitely kept coming back to the drizzling of some type of icing on something super sweet and yummy. yesterday, we had cinnamon rolls for breakfast, so i took a few snapshots while i was drizzling the tasty glaze over the hot rolls!

editing notes: used a pre-set PSE7 effect called *old photo* which i think is super cool! font name is *cocaine sans*

creative boot camp {day 11}

creativity boot camp

day 11

random word prompt: hush

when i read this word prompt, i immediately thought of a sleeping baby. it took me a while to get this shot, because it's pretty much impossible to get one in the nursery (ok, it's possible, but i'm not risking waking up the baby!). so, i was able to capture this sweet, precious face in the car.

editing notes: i used a *quick fix* action and then an action called *soulful everyday vintage*. i love how it looks on this photo and i definitely think i'll be using it a lot. a whole lot! font is *2peas masterpiece*.

creative boot camp {day 13}

creativity boot camp

day 13 {the end}

random word prompt: smile

recently i decided that i was going to start collecting dishes that i liked, as opposed to buying an official "set" to replace the ones we've had forever. i wanted solid colors (think *fiestaware*) but was pretty excited about the journey of finding things individually. so far, i picked up 4 plates (in 4 colors) and one solid bowl. i've been wanting to transition to these deeper cereal bowls as well. needless to say, i had a big ole smile on my face when i saw an aisle of these bright and happy bowls!!

editing notes: i used a 'quick fix' action and just fiddled with it. i wanted the colors to be the big statement here, so i didn't do much editing. font is *you are loved*.

disclaimer: i wanted to post all of these in order as they were given in the boot camp. however, i haven't done them in order (obviously) and i still have a handful to do. so, i am trying to push aside my type-a tendencies and just go with it.

creative boot camp {day 7}

creativity boot camp

day 7

random word prompt: FLY

i considered a lot of ideas, thinking of obvious things like birds and planes. but, i was sitting on a blanket in the yard with coleman and this little guy was hanging around. the lightbulb in my head immediately went off. surprisingly, he was patient enough to pose for several snapshots.

editing notes: i used a neon glow effect...love it...for some reason, the neon green totally *makes sense* to me. font is *cbx fingerpaint*.

creative boot camp {day 6}

the day six random word prompt for creativity boot camp was fluid. i have been wanting to try cucumber water recently - not sure why...just seems refreshing. and goodness knows, it's been hot lately and refreshing is much desired. so, anyway, i finally remembered to actually purchase some cucumbers and then added them to some seltzer water. as i was making my refreshing refreshment, i realized it was a good "fluid" photo op.

editing notes: after basic level adjustments, i used a green tint special effect, with soft light at 78%. font is *al savannah*.

creative boot camp {day 5}

the day five prompt at creativity boot camp was grow. my brainstorming session wasn't that creative: children, flowers and plants, maturity, changing/developing. nothing earth shattering there. my first instinct was to take a photo of my growing child, but it seemed predictable (as did shooting any type of flower or plant). then, i thought of this picture (which was actually taken on day four). this statue sits on a wall in the middle of a shopping center in the town where i work. i have been in this shopping center a million times, and it wasn't until i did the "photo walk" for day four (which was actually a photo drive for me), that i actually noticed this. it is absolutely adorable. obviously children always represent growth, but i kind of like that the statue freezes time for these children - something many parents often wish they could do for a little bit - so we don't miss so much, so time doesn't fly by quite so quickly. i can't help but wonder what this artist's inspiration was.

editing notes: on the photo, i bumped up the contrast a lot. i used the smudge tool to distort some tacky signs that were in the background (at the very top of the photo). i changed the hue, choosing something with a lot of green because i tend to associate green with growth. when fiddling with the hues, i loved that the dark coloring of the statues never changed, as the colors around it varied drastically. what fun. the font used for *grow* is called "ck elsie" and the flowers are from a font called "db floragraphy".

creative boot camp {day 4}

our prompt for day four in creativity boot camp was heavy metal. interesting. my brainstorming came up with things such as those big metal tool boxes in the back of pickup trucks, 80s hair bands, construction sites, chains and big 'ole trucks. at one point during the day, i was behind this kick butt Super Duty F-250. it was awesome. it was definitely some seriously heavy metal. i even considered following it to see if it parked anywhere nearby, but then i realized i was verging on looney and i just kept driving.

so, later that night, i went to a meeting and matt & i went out to dinner. at one point, i looked down at this necklace-turned-bracelet on my wrist and thought "cool...that kind of looks heavy metal-ish". i love the *heavy* gray look of it - even though i'm honestly not even sure if it's made of metal at all. it's been one of my favorite pieces of jewelry for a while now, even though it's pretty simple.

Editing notes: I flattened this image without saving it with layers before I made notes of what I did. I am pretty sure I lowered the saturation, but I did some other things that I just honestly don't remember. It was all done with layers in PSE 7 though, I didn't add any overlays, textures, etc.

P.S. Sorry for getting behind on posting photos--had some internet connection issues at home (nothing new there!).

creative boot camp {day 3}

the day three assignment for creative boot camp was multi-layered. even though this was an odd one, i still had some fun brainstorming ideas throughout the day. this can apply to so many different things. i thought of personalities, layering tank tops, and sandwiches. i even took pictures of several different things, including a striped bowl in my kitchen, a stack of multi-colored plates, and the three layers of shirts i had on. but ultimately, i took a photo of my hair. not the best photography, but i couldn't resist the perfect timing. yesterday, i had a much overdue hair appointment. so after getting highlights and lowlights...i snapped a shot of my multi-layered hair.

photo editing: i reduced the color saturation (a lot). then i applied a graphic overlay, used the "hard light" application and reduced the opacity (47%). i used the eraser to remove the overlay from the main portion of my hair. then i just added the frame, and two fonts. the bolder font is "Clingy" and i reduced the opacity to 31%. the top layer font is"Edwardian Script".

creative boot camp {day 2}

yesterday's creative boot camp prompt was the word "picnic". i was totally stumped at first because I was thinking "well, there's no way i can actually have a picnic today...". but then, at some point, i said "why not???". it was just coleman and i for supper, so why not throw a blanket in the backyard and eat out there? the weather was decent (just humid). so, i decided i'd stop at mcdonald's on the way home to simplify things. then, i chastised myself and said "seriously, how hard is it really to throw some food on a plate???". so, i nixed mcdonald's.

i did a brainstorming session, just to make sure i was on track. i came up with: wine + cheese, outdoors, grass, blanket, basket, sunshine, relax, reading, barefoot. after looking over this list, i realized that i kind of have two images of picnics in my mind. i think of a more *romantic* variety which includes adults and books and a bottle of wine and a pretty dress (yeah right). then there is the *family* variety (the only kind i've actually experienced) which includes children, quick and easy food, clothes that you will sweat less in...*real*.

so...i had a *real* picnic. upon arriving home, i made coleman and i some sandwiches, pulled out some crackers, poured our drinks, laid out a blanket. we went ouside (with the camera). coleman ate some crackers and then spent most of the picnic running from the patio to the blanket and nose diving onto it. i had to feed him again later when we went inside because his sandwich ended up in pieces in the yard (the birds were happy this morning). but ya know what? it's all good. it's *real*. and it was fun, and relatively spontaneous. the awesome part is that i would've never done this picnic without this prompt! i am thankful that this creative boot camp, actually helped me do something a bit more creative with my baby boy :)

creative boot camp {day 1}

yesterday, i got caught up on the creative boot camp, since i started a day late. the first day's prompt was the word ivory. when i first heard this, i immediately thought of the song "ebony & ivory". i pondered the word throughout the day, without much inspiration. i sort of cheated and looked at other submissions in the flickr group. a couple of folks took pictures of their baby's white skin...i definitely have one of those so i thought of stealing that idea. but, i really wanted to come up with something on my own.

i brainstormed some things that came to my mind when i thought of *ivory* and came up with: ebony & ivory, elephants, soap, pale skin, clean/pure. ultimately, most of these came to mind because of photos i'd seen in the flickr group...all of them except ebony & ivory. so i went with that (the first thing i'd thought of, anyway).

so, thinking of black and white, the very first thing that popped into my brain was a pretty cool coat that i had recently purchased. i have a coat fetish, but most of my collection is solid-colored, so i really like that this one is a fun pattern.

in regards to my "medium" for the two-week project...
i decided that i would use photography, since it would be more feasible that i may actually do it daily. but, i want to use the prompts/challenges to work on my photo editing skills. so the actual photo is the first step, then the processing of it is the second. this would be a cool time to learn how to use actions, but i'm not sure if i'm *there* yet.

here is the result of day 1 - ivory

a few comments in regards to the boot camp, in general:

-- i am doing the daily journal prompts, but didn't feel they were exciting enough to share here

-- after "cheating" yesterday by looking at the flickr group, from now on, i will NOT look at the flickr group until i have either taken my photo for the day or have a very good idea of what i plan to do.

-- i don't do a very good job of keeping track of designers of digital supplies. EVERYTHING i use digitally (frames, textures, overlays, masks, etc) were designed by someone else. i take no credit for any of it. my only creative endeavor is to apply it to my photo to make it look cool.

-- i plan to use this black "film" style frame each day, with the day's word in a different font

-- i'm also not very good at keeping track of what i actually do to a photo when i edit it. i apologize for that, but it's basically a series of me fiddling until i like what i have. it's much more of an "artistic" approach for me, rather than a "technical" approach (as i'd imagine it is for people that actually understand this stuff).

{creativity boot camp}

i just learned this morning of a two-week online (free) project called creativity boot camp. i won't go into too many details because you can click over to the link to read more, if you are interested. but in summary - this lady is doing daily posts to help you stretch your creativity. you can do this in ANY art form you choose (photography, painting, mixed media, collage, sketching, writing, anything). every day she writes a little something inspirational, provides a journaling prompt, and then a ONE WORD creativity prompt. pretty cool.

you know me...i'm a sucker for a project like this. it just started yesterday, so i'm figuring ... go for it :) i have plenty of free time, right???? my only problem...no clue on what medium i will use. photography would be the easiest. she recommended that you choose ONE and stick with it for the 2week duration, but i don't think that's going to happen! obviously, if i can actually do this...i will share my stuff here!

 

photos {neighborhood easter event}

the weekend before easter, our neighborhood had it's first easter event. as the chair of the social committee, i was also involved in the planning and execution of the event. for it being the first one, and our incredibly limited budget, i thought it turned out pretty decent.

we started with an egg hunt, with different areas for various age groups. coleman didn't care about finding the eggs, but he had a blast playing with them.

i had fun doing some selective coloring on this one.

the easter bunny made a special appearance at our event. coleman wasn't sure about him at first...

but he eventually realized he wasn't so bad. (hmmm...is the easter bunny a boy or girl???)

we also had a clown that was doing balloon creations for the kids

this is the awesome monkey on a tree that he made for us.

there were some (semi-)organized games (here spencer is bossing the other kids around).

we had a small bouncy house for the little kids

and a hand-painted board for photo ops!

spencer had a good time just hanging out and playing with the other kids