Beauty Before and After

I'm seriously obsessing with photos I took of Christina a few weeks ago!  She and my niece Brianna were awesome models for my photography practice session!  Had to share this one with y'all!  I wanted to share the SOOC (straight out of camera) version verses my Extreme Black and White Edit.  Thanks for stopping by!

BEFORE SOOC photo

If you look closely at Christina's eyes in the photo above you can see the reflection of my reflect disk that I had leaning against my legs.  I didn't mean to use it in this shot but made the mistake of not moving it away and so you can see the little circles of light that the disk produced. When I edited the photo below into a black and white they were distracting so I edited them out.  That was all the touch ups I did on her besides turning it into a black and white and adding a little swirl to it.  Love how it turned out!

AFTER Extreme Edit Photo

Prom...Was it really that long ago!

**Edited on 5.22.13 with additional photos*

It was!  My prom was back in 1986 and I can barely remember how long we were there and if we danced!?  I recently found out that the guy who I went to prom with passed away in 1997, so sad!
Here is a snapshot of a page from my Senior Scrapbook of us before our prom.
Oy! Look at my mullet and glasses. LOL

Why am I even thinking back to my prom you may ask?  Well, my friends son, Hunter asked me to take some photos for them before their prom.  I agreed and boy I had no idea what I was getting myself into!  It was crazy HOT, Hectic and so many other kids and parents at the same location we were at.  I got a few shots that I'm ok with but if I had it to do all over again.  I would have found a private location that was not visited by anyone else and cooler!  Ha!  The lovely girls were melting.  They were gorgeous!!  And the guys so handsome!  Here are a few shots from that evening, the photo resolution looks a bit off but you get the idea.  Thanks for looking!

Personalize a slideshow

Creative Team Tuesday - Custom Graduation Party Invite

Hello there!  Today I wanted to share with you an idea that I am playing around with for a party I hope to host in honor of my niece Brianna who is graduating this year.   I simply used Photoshop Elements and some Rhonna Designs.  Creating these three pieces truly was so easy!  And I simply created the invite to a size called out at one of my favorite print shops.  I will then print out the labels at home on full sheet sticker paper and the Thank You cards on matte card stock.  Or you could easily send those off to a print house too.  As long as you know what size to create the artwork, it is easy to upload to many sites.

  If you are in the process of planning a party and want to design them and need help please let me know.  I can post a few screen shots and or answer questions.  You can find my email address on the right side bar of my blog.

The items I used to create these are found by clicking on the following links:

Quatrefoil Tool Kit for pattern paper and Shape for Photo Frame

Insta Banner Kit for Ribbon on invite

Insta Chalk Kit for flourish

What I love about using these kits is that I can then create other custom pieces for the party!  I will share more ideas next week on how we can continue planning a custom designed party!  When you have digital art the possibilities are endless!  You basically always have a supply of party goods at your fingers *wink

*I replaced our address with a pretend one*

Still here?  Are you wondering how I got my niece's photo in that shaped frame?  Well, that frame is a png from the Quatrefoil Kit that I linked at the top of the post.  When creating the invite you end up with multiple layers.  The first is the background layer, then for me it was the square on the left that holds the text, then another couple of layers were for text, then the layer that held the cute banner, etc.  So, I decided that I wanted her photo in this shape to tie in with the background paper.  I simply added the shape to the file being sure the png layer was on the upper most layer.  Then I clicked on that layer over on the left side of my PSE layers window so that when I dragged my photo in that photo layer was over the shape png layer.  Then I chose "Layer" at the top of my tool bar, then chose create clipping mask.  Then the photo is magically popped into that shape!  I then simply move the photo around and resize as needed.  Easy peasy!!   And for an added pop I added another layer for that same shape and just made it a tad bigger and filled it in with a color.  Working with layers is fun and easier than most realize.  Really it is!

I found an old blog post Rhonna shared back in 2009 that shows using layers.  It is found HERE

See ya next week!

Everything is bigger in Texas

Is what many people say and this ring is proof of that! Ha!  I was asked if I could take some senior photos of a graduating Texas Aggie up in College Station.  It's only about 45 mins from my home so I was happy to do so!  More practice!    This ring is outside the George Bush Library and a popular spot for photographs.  I am still working on finding the best pixel size to share photos so the resolution on these isn't the best but hopefully you get the jist.

And I also wanted to share a couple of photos I took of my niece and her sister.  I know, you are wondering why I am not calling her my niece right?!  Well, I suppose I could, she is the daughter of my nieces step-mother.  Confusing? Giggle.  Any who, I asked them to spend a little time with me one day after work to take a few photos and they were totally in!  Such beautiful girls!  I only shoot in natural light so we had to meet up soon after work and the day was a little overcast but overall I think the photos look pretty good.  I like to use a reflective disc when possible.

The photo above is my niece Brianna. Love that girl!  She is her mama's mini me and I like to think she looks a little like me too. 

And this is Christina, she loves the camera!  I did a very light edit on their photos, no touch ups.  They are that gorgeous naturally!  A few of my friends have said that Christina resembles Madonna from her early years.

Thanks for stopping in!  For those of you wondering if I have given up my crafting, I have not just a little obsessed with photography at the moment.  giggle

Bluebonnet's and Mr. Tough Guy

I had to share this photo I took of Hunter a couple of weekends ago.  I absolutely love how tough he looks yet is standing in a field of pretty Texas Bluebonnets!  He is a total sweetheart so don't let the serious face fool ya!  You can see the photo a little larger if you click on it.

And let me let you in on a little secret......the sky.  Although that is a true sky it is not the sky that was out for our photo session.  That day was overcast and the sky was a very pale almost white sky and so I couldn't resist trying out a sky overly from The CoffeeShop Blog found HERE.

Not sure if it's too much but for now I am digging it, I did another version that isn't as stunning and so maybe that one will look a bit more natural.  For now I'm sharing this edit, what say you? Did it look fake when you first glanced at the photo?

Gray Living...I LOVE you!

Hi there!  I know, it's been a while since my last post huh!  Not sure why but it's just life going on ya know.  I have been busy photographing friends and family, having so much fun!  This past weekend I went to McKinney, Texas to co-host a baby shower for my niece Kayla.  While there we also had a mini maternity session, fun!

After the shower on Saturday I decided to take some time to browse the awesome shops located in the square of downtown McKinney.  I mean, I had no hubby in tow this trip so it was the perfect time! Right?! 

Here are some photos from one of the shops that I fell in absolute passionate love with!  So much eye candy!

Hope you enjoy a peek into Gray Living......

This digital slideshow customized with Smilebox

I truly hope you make the time to drop in if you are ever in the area, it's just north of Dallas Texas.

Seniors

Not the old kind, giggle.  High School Seniors.  I have a long time friend whom I've know for about fifteen years.  He has two gorgeous daughters who are graduating this year.  So, they asked me if I would take some photos of them for their sorority applications and I jumped at the chance for more practice time!  We had so much fun, aside from the fact that it was really cold and windy.  Not our usual spring weather here in south Texas.

I plan to share some of the photos at a later date but tonight I wanted to share one with you.  This one isn't perfect but it is adorable!  As you can see the ruffle on Alexandra's dress blew up but otherwise this shot is perfect!  It shows their beautiful personalities.  As I was editing I thought how fun would it be to throw some fabulous Rhonna Designs on that photo and pretend it's one of their graduation announcements.

I used a frame from the Insta Lovin' Frame kit found HERE and then I added the Insta Quote brush found HERE and then used a small banner brush for their names from Insta Banners found HERE.  It was a quick project via photoshop elements but you can also create this in word using the png files.

I think that creating a custom announcement is fun and would win over any High School senior!

And if you are looking for a place to print out your custom announcements may I suggest Persnicketyprints.com found HERE They have some awesome papers to choose from!  I think this one would be great with their Metallic or Pearl paper!  That shimmer would be awesome!

Puppy Love

Hello friends!  Hope you are having a great Spring Break if it's that time of the school year for you and your family!  We don't have kiddos and so for us it is just another week of work, home, sleep, work, home, sleep. Ha!

I just wanted to share a few sweet photos of baby Jake that I took a couple of weekends ago.  His mama is a dear friend of mine and has been so sweet about asking me to take his photos.  This is the same friend whose maternity photos I took last year.  She is an awesome mama to baby Jake!  

I am really enjoying learning photography and love to practice as often as I can.  As you can see I am still trying to find my niche in my creative world, the blog design has fallen to the way side.  Sigh.  Some things sound good but just don't end up being what you thought was going to be a fit.  

So, onward I go in search of my passion.  For now it's photography.  *wink*

Thanks for stopping by!

TGIF

Just popping in to say TGIF!  I don't know about you but my work weeks have been kicking my butt big time!  I am so ready for the weekend and I'm hoping to spend some time in my studio making something! What I am not sure but something!  

And because it's no fun blogging without a photo I'm leaving you with this shot I took of sweet little Zoe a few Friday's ago on a picnic lunch.  I have to say that grabbing a sandwich from the deli then heading to a nearby park for lunch with a friend and her kiddos was a great way to break up my day!

Hope you have a great weekend!

Last Minute Valentine Goody Bags

Just popping in to share a quick post on how I created these cute and oh so easy Valentine Goody bags.  If you are a regular visitor to my blog then you know that my hubby and I don't have kiddos, the people kind nor the animal kind.  So, I do my best to do things for my nieces and nephews when the fun holidays come around, aside from the things I create for my hubby.

So, I had these cute little white and kraft sacks that I picked up at my local Hobby Lobby some time ago.  And I had been picking up some cute stuff from the $1 bins at Target so that I have items available for times like this or the unexpected gift that might be needed.  I simply printed out this printable found HERE or HERE and by choosing to print it 6up on my 8.5x11 paper they were sized perfectly for these bags. A little tip from me to you, I use Matte Photo paper and I tell you, these look like real chalkboards!!! And I love that I can use larger files and simply tell my printer to print them smaller! 

I also printed out a sheet of background paper from this kit HERE on 3M Matte Sticker paper from Office Depot to create my own washi tape.  Then I cut them like little banners and stuck them on the bags too.  I scrunched up a little crepe paper and filled the bags with candy and goodies and presto chango the plain bag became this adorable Valentine Goody bag!  This would be a great project for kids to do too!

The photos shown here are from my Instagram feed.  If you are on IG do let me know and I can be found @nct621 would love to follow you back.

Thanks for dropping by!