Texture Tuesday - Gardening

For Kim Klassen's Texture Tuesday challenge today, we are supposed to edit our gardening photos using any of her textures.


Here is my textured photo using cinnamon:






Here are my layers:



And here are a couple more gardening shots (non-textured):


I'm considering putting these photos up
in my etsy shop.
What are your thoughts?

Menu Plan Monday - 5.30.11

Happy Memorial Day to all of my American friends! Enjoy your day off today, just try not to forget why we all have the day off.

Here is my menu for this week:

Monday - BBQ at a friend's house

Tuesday - chicken
Never made it last week; I'll be soaking it in leftover honey teriyaki sauce.

Wednesday - grilled cheese
I had a random craving the other day, so I decided to add this to our menu.

Thursday - burgers
With corn on the cob.

Friday - broccoli & beef pasta in the crockpot
I am really excited about this meal! If it tastes good, I'll add it to the list of recipes that I plan on posting.... eventually.


If you want to join in with the weekly menu planning, head over to Org Junkie every Monday!

Color Splash Sunday - Rubber Ducky

<center><a href="http://purple-hippie.blogspot.com/p/color-splash-sunday.html"><img src="http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y293/prin367cess/colorsplashsunday.jpg"></a></center>
Welcome to Color Splash Sunday!

Color splash photos are those that have been converted to black and white, but one object has been left colored. Sometimes, it's easy to just isolate your colored object and you're done. Other times, more editing is required, such as adjusting color levels/light/shadow/etc.

This is an open themed link-up, so there won't be any specific themes for your photos. Any photo is fine, as long it was taken or setup by you, has selective color, and you haven't posted it before. You can read more about CSS guidelines by clicking here.


Here are my 3 favorites from last week:


(These photos are all copyright of their original photographers.)

Congrats to these talented photographers!
Feel free to snag this button
and display it on your blog!

<center><a href="http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y293/prin367cess/csstop3.jpg"><img src="http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y293/prin367cess/csstop3.jpg"></a></center>

And here is my photo for this week:



I went to a baby shower for my best friend yesterday. Honestly, it was the first baby shower I've ever been to! Now that all of my friends and I are done with college and have been "in the real world" for a few years, we are all starting to move on with our adult lives. I foresee many bridal and baby showers in the next few years.

Your turn to link up!

Edit Me - 5.27.11

Disclaimer: This is not my photo. I did not take it.
Copyright belongs to the original photographer.

SOOC:


Edited:


My steps:
-crop
-levels
-Nice & Easy action (from Ashley Sisk), tweaked
-PW Heartland, tweaked
-Raggedy Paper 4 texture (from Shadowhouse Creations), multiply @ 95%
-sharpen wagon
-watermark

Who am I?

The girl who puts a flower in her car.
Something bright and happy to cheer her up after a long day at the office.

Texture Tuesday - Old Brick Wall

For KK's challenge today, we were supposed to use her new texture, yesteryear, which is just gorgeous.... I know, I say that about all of her textures. But it's really true! If you enjoy using textures and are not on her Texture Lovin' list, you need to be. Beautiful textures, for free, in your email each week! Plus recipes, tips, and tricks. CLICK HERE to sign up.



Here are my layers:

Quotography - Photography

Menu Plan Monday - 5.23.11

I am so excited to be back to planning real meals this week, now that Jon is home again.

Tonight - Pasta fagioli in the crockpot

Tuesday - Leftovers
We need to clean out the fridge from this past weekend.

Wednesday - Burgers
With a random veggie.

Thursday - Chicken
I had leftover honey teriyaki sauce from when I made it in the crockpot a few weeks ago. I think I just going to soak the chicken in the sauce all day, and grill it when we are ready to eat.

Friday - Sloppy joe's
Usually over rice instead of buns, and with a random veggie.


Remember the simple coq au vin in the crockpot that I had mentioned a few weeks ago? Well, it didn't taste as good as it smelled. The sauce was DELiSH, but the chicken (to me) was dry. Jon thought it didn't have enough flavor. I'm not sure if it's because of the adaptations I made, or if I overcooked it. Regardless, I probably won't be making it again. I'm cooking my way through some cookbooks my mom lent me when she lent me her crockpot. I've been keeping copies of the recipes for the meals we like, and I added a crockpot to our wedding registry.


If you want to join in with the weekly menu planning, head over to Org Junkie every Monday!

Color Splash Sunday - Dry Brushed Flower

<center><a href="http://purple-hippie.blogspot.com/p/color-splash-sunday.html"><img src="http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y293/prin367cess/colorsplashsunday.jpg"></a></center>
Welcome to Color Splash Sunday!

Color splash photos are those that have been converted to black and white, but one object has been left colored. Sometimes, it's easy to just isolate your colored object and you're done. Other times, more editing is required, such as adjusting color levels/light/shadow/etc.

This is an open themed link-up, so there won't be any specific themes for your photos. Any photo is fine, as long it was taken or setup by you, has selective color, and you haven't posted it before. You can read more about CSS guidelines by clicking here.


Here are my 3 favorites from last week:


(These photos are all copyright of their original photographers.)

Congrats to these talented photographers!
Feel free to snag this button
and display it on your blog!

<center><a href="http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y293/prin367cess/csstop3.jpg"><img src="http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y293/prin367cess/csstop3.jpg"></a></center>

And here is my photo for this week:



I did some experimenting with the artistic filters in pse. As much as I love playing around with them, I don't usually leave them on a photo that I am editing. This time, I applied and tweaked dry brush strokes, and decided that it actually looked better than before. I know there are several bloggers out there who use these filters often, and use them well. I'll stick with my experiments for now and see how it goes.

Okay, your turn to link up! Remember to use the permalink for your CSS post, not the main address for your blog. Feel free to ask in a comment or email me if you are unsure of how to do this.

Edit Me - 5.20.11

Remember when Ashley plus 3 was running the Edit Me challenge? Well, it's been taken over by Branson from My Reflection of Something.


Our first photo to edit is a landscape shot from Hawaii that Ashley took. Click HERE to join in!

SOOC:


My edit:


My steps:
- straighten
- crop
- levels
- blue sky
- slight sharpen
- Orton 2009 from Coffeeshop, tweaked
- tilt-shift
- edge burn
- watermark

Things I Love on Thursday - 5.19.11

I always want to share things with my fellow bloggers, so I try to mix them in with my regular posts. But I get so disorganized, and I can never remember what I have (or haven't) posted. So I am going to do what some other bloggers do and post it once a week. It'll be
Things I Love on Thursday.



First up is music. This is a new song by Andy Grammar. I had never heard of him until I heard this song, but now I love him!



I am really loving the fact that Jon comes home tomorrow! If you recall, he's been gone for 2 weeks for training for his new job. He had to go to a city that is a 5-hour drive away, so I couldn't even go visit him last weekend.

I love that he will be home with me every night, we will be eating dinner together, we can watch more episodes of NCIS on dvd, and it won't be so quiet around the condo anymore.

Remember a few weeks ago, I told you all how much I love netflix? Well, I have to say it again.

I. Love. netflix.

Jon and I use it to watch tv on dvd, and my new favorite is Bones. I love it. And I love having netflix on 5 different devices: Jon's pc, my laptop, the Wii, my iPhone, and Jon's iPod (which BTW, was free through our cable/phone/internet provider. I'm all about free stuff.). So I can watch Bones in the living room, or the computer room, or our bedroom, or the kitchen.

Yes, I also love wireless internet. In the kitchen. I can look up recipes (or watch Bones) while I am making dinner. It's fun.


One last thing before I click Publish...

I love my new signature! I made it myself. It's so PERFECT.

Red Berries

Have you ever heard of The Shabby Photographer? Her name is Natalie and she takes some beautifully whimsical photos.

Natalie is teaming up with Kristy from Life N Reflection for a sweet giveaway! Kristy makes these gorgeous textures, and Natalie is giving away 3 prizes featuring her textures. I've always been a big fan of Kristy's art, so I am really excited about this giveaway.

I've made 2 photos for this giveaway. For the first one, I used a texture from Shadowhouse Creations. For the second one, I used one of Kristy's free textures, tall tale.

Both of these photos are available for purchase
in my etsy shop!

CLICK HERE for the vintage berries photo.

CLICK HERE for the wrinkled red berries photo.

Wandering the World...

Wandering the World with Zander is a project that is being run by Kayla over at Struttin' My Stuff. She is sending this little sock monkey named Zander all around the world to be photographed. At the end of his travels, all the photos of Zander will be compiled into a book. Proceeds from the sale of the book will go towards the FAITH project, which you can read more about here.

I am so excited to be a part of this project! I will be escorting Zander around my little corner of the world in mid-July.

There is still time to sign up, so if you are interested, or just want to make a donation, you can email Kayla.

Texture Tuesday - Vintage Amy!

For KK's Texture Tuesday challenge today, we are supposed to work around one theme: Vintage. I took a photo of a vintage photo, and added some vintage processing. Then I added KK's Celebrate January 21 texture on soft light at ~75%.



I loved Minnie Mouse when I was a kid, still do, in fact! I had stuffed Minnie's everywhere, toys, clothes, pj's, slippers, sunglasses, the whole she-bang. I have the cutest photo of me as a kid with my Minnie ensemble; I wish I could find it.

And yea, that photo is definitely vintage! I was about 3 years old, which makes it over 22 years old. I know it's kinda verging on retro, but I think the vintage processing makes it work.

Quotography and GTKY

The theme for Quotography this week is Friendship, so I thought I'd share a photo of me with my maid of honor. We've been best friends since high school, even though we attended different schools. This shot is from 3 years ago.




________________________________

And this week's questions for GTKY:

1. have you ever gone to see a movie by yourself? Several times! When I am traveling for work in the fall, I often find myself alone, with 4-5 hours to kill. Seeing movies are a great way to pass the time (when I have a few extra bucks to spare).

2. would you rather go through a tornado or a hurricane? All natural disasters terrify me - tornadoes, hurricanes, avalanches, tsunamis, etc.

3. have you made summer vacation plans? I'm spending the summer preparing for my wedding. My future husband and I will be going on a cruise for our honeymoon at the end of August.

4. what's your favorite accessory (can't be jewelry)? Purses are not my thing. Neither are shoes. I like accessorizing with sneakers, and sometimes headbands.

5. have you ever been thrown a surprise party? Sort of. Jon (my fiance) likes to plan surprise dinners for my birthday.

6. are you friends with your neighbors? Friendly? Yes. We have a little old lady underneath our condo, and a couple with an adorable dog right across from us.

7. what's the last movie you saw in the theater? It's been a long time... Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part I.

8 what's your favorite food network show? We only have basic cable, so we don't get the Food Network. But my mom and I watch Chopped together when I go to my parents' house. I also like Cupcake Wars and Last Cake Standing. Jon likes Iron Chef.


_____________________________________________

No MPM today. I have no plans for this week other than salad and cereal. I'm skipping grocery shopping this week since Jon is still away, training for his new job.


Just one other thing - I am participating in the Flip Flop Swap next month! There is still time to sign up. CLICK HERE for more info!

Color Splash Sunday - Grape Soda

<center><a href="http://purple-hippie.blogspot.com/p/color-splash-sunday.html"><img src="http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y293/prin367cess/colorsplashsunday.jpg"></a></center>
Welcome to Color Splash Sunday!

Color splash photos are those that have been converted to black and white, but one object has been left colored. Sometimes, it's easy to just isolate your colored object and you're done. Other times, more editing is required, such as adjusting color levels/light/shadow/etc.

This is an open themed link-up, so there won't be any specific themes for your photos. Any photo is fine, as long it was taken or setup by you, has selective color, and you haven't posted it before. You can read more about CSS guidelines by clicking here.


Here are my 3 favorites from last week:


(These photos are all copyright of their original photographers.)

Congrats to these talented photographers!
Feel free to snag this button
and display it on your blog!

<center><a href="http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y293/prin367cess/csstop3.jpg"><img src="http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y293/prin367cess/csstop3.jpg"></a></center>

And here is my photo for this week:



I try not to drink soda often because of all the sugar in it. When I do drink it, my favorite flavors are grape, orange, and cherry.

Your turn to link up!