Day 119 – 2 More Mother’s Day Quick Pages

I made 2 more Quick Pages for Mother’s Day.  Just pop in your own picture and print or email!  You can download this one here free:  http://www.4shared.com/photo/6KGrxCx9/MothersDayQP2.html   Although I titled this Mother’s Day Quick Page….it could be used for Valentine’s Day or other occasions.

CLICK TO ENLARGE PHOTO

And here is a second Quick Page.   I haven’t got this one uploaded to my 4 shared account….for some reason, it seems the file size is too large for my free account.  I’ll try to figure that out and upload it later. 

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Day 118 – Quick Page Freebie

I have a freebie to give away for Mother’s Day.  It’s a Photoshop Quick Page.   Just pop in a picture.  This is my son and grandson. 

The size is 4×6 inches.  You can download it here.  http://www.4shared.com/photo/QHSgDU1E/MothersDayQP.html 

 CLICK TO ENLARGE PHOTO

Day 116 – Indoor Lighting

In my portraiture class…we are on lesson 2 which is on indoor lighting.  Chrissie came over today to be my model this afternoon…and she posed by the sliding glass door for me.  I did edit the photo a bit to increase the saturation and brighten up the yellow color on the wall and the green tree outside.

I really liked the photo below too.  Seems reflective to me. 

Day 115 – A New Lens

I bought a new lens for my camera today at Horn Photo.  It’s a 50mm 1.8.  I’ve discovered I love pictures with a lot of blur and a small focus.  This lens has a 1.8 aperture which will allow for a LOT of blur!  It will also do GREAT Bokeh photos.  Bokeh is a japanese term for blur.  I was playing around with my camera and new lens today and I was trying to recreate this photo. I love how the light shadow makes a heart on the cup too.

The link to this photo is here.  http://junkarlo.deviantart.com/art/A-cup-of-Love-2-148638307  This is done making a kind of cuff for the lens where you have a cutout in the very center of the cuff with the shape you want the lights to take on.  Here is a link to the cuff that this photographer used.  http://junkarlo.deviantart.com/art/Making-of-hearted-boke-148916714  And here is a pic of his cuff.

I made my heart only 3/4 inch in size….so I got a little bit of a different look.  I think I will try to make the heart bigger on the next cuff I make and see how it changes my pictures.  Anyway….I used a set of colored Christmas lights…propped up behind my coffee cup.  I needed to have a black table-cloth underneath….the patterned one is a bit distracting to me.  Here is my first attempt at this Bokeh thing!

I also made a cuff with a star opening in it.  So here is what that looks like.

Here is a link to a GREAT tutorial on how to make your lens cuff.  http://www.kevinandamanda.com/whatsnew/tutorials/photography-tutorials/must-get-christmas-pictures-before-the-tree-comes-down.html

Day 110 – Busy Last Few Days

I have been so busy trying to get ready for Amy’s baby shower this weekend, I haven’t really felt like posting.  Sorry for the 5 day break!  Chrissie and I have been running errands…and between her pregnant condition and my walking with a cane to keep from wobbling after my hip replacement….we’re not too fast….and I’ve been exhausted when bedtime comes.   Anyway….I feel like I am ready for this shower on Saturday.  The cake and balloon bouquets have been ordered….we also went to the restaurant where the shower is to set the menu for the party.  We will have a choice of 5 different lunch plates…..two different salads, a scoop of ice cream to go with the cake I am bringing….and then a choice of soft drinks, tea or lemonade.  Can’t wait for the party!  Can’t wait for it to be over too…..so I can relax a bit more.  I know the walking is probably good for my exercise, but a few days….my muscles and knees were really sore.  Oh well.  I’ll survive.

Day 105 – Pretty Flowers

Tony had a doctor’s appointment this morning at Kaiser and I tagged along for the ride.  While he went in for his appointment…I stayed outside and drove around the grounds taking pictures of the beautiful flowers.  I took this picture for my Lesson 6 assignment.  I used the technique called Worms Eye View….where you get down low and look up.  The opposite of Birds Eye View.  Kinda hard to tell on this photo….but I am looking up from the ground…see the blue sky and the tall tree in the background of the photo?  CLICK TO ENLARGE PHOTO

Day 104 – Diaper Cake!

This took about 4 hours to make today….I covered 3 different sizes of cardboard cake plates….with some Martha Stewart paper in green.  Then I assembled the base with a plastic tube through a hole I cut in the middle of the base.  I pushed the plastic hollow tube through the bottom of the base about 1 inch and made about  8 or 9 cuts around the end of the tube so that I could bend those in a 90 degree angle and tape them to the bottom of the base to really secure the plastic tube to the base.  Then I rolled and taped 1 1/2 inch strips of white paper to 101 diapers in newborn size.  These get placed around the tube and taped….row by row for better sturdiness.  The bottom row starts with about 5 diapers taped to the tube in a circle.  Then the next row probably has about 9 or 10 diapers again taped once they are placed all the way around the original 5.  Then the next row get the same treatment.  I think the base probably has about 5 or 6 individual rows….sorry I didn’t count them.  Once the base is full I placed the next smaller cardboard base(which was also covered in Martha Stewart paper).  Place more diapers, row by row.  Hint….I find it easier to place these rows if you are by yourself….if you use a ribbon or something ran around the edge and stuff the diapers behind the ribbon…loosen as needed as you go around the cake.  I actually have a roll of twist tie in red…that is yards long.  I just cut a piece long enough to go around the outside edge….twisting the twist tie or loosing as needed…..to hold the diapers in place. Once I have the row filled in….I run a piece or two of clear tape all the way around the diapers making sure my tape stays on the 1 1/2 inch strip of white paper on each diaper and not taping to the diapers themselves.  This way the tape and 1 1/2 inch strips of paper can be removed after the party and the diapers are still useable.  After you get all your layers on….decorate with baby items.  I used the hole in the base to run a long piece of twist tie folded in half through the center plastic tube to secure the top stuffed animal.  Place the two cut ends of the twist tie through the tube under the base first….I used a large popsicle stick placed flat on the bottom of the base to put through the loop so it wouldn’t pull all the way through the tube.  Then tie your stuffed animal real good with the two cuts ends of your ribbon or whatever you use…in my case it was the twist tie.  Then I covered the twist tie with a ribbon once I cut the twist tie short. 

Day 102 – My Other Baby!

Got a neat shot of my other baby Two Socks this afternoon.  I was sitting in the chair on the patio…with a very small window or opening between the table and the back of the patio chair…where I could see Two Socks laying on the other side of the table.  So when I zoomed in with the camera….on the right upper side of the photo….the table is blurred(the gray color)  I didn’t feel like getting up out of my chair plus Two Socks would have moved, thinking I was going to get him food(he’s always hungry)….so I took the shot between the chair and table.  CLICK TO ENLARGE PHOTO.

Day 101 – My Pretty Kitty

I was practicing the rule of thirds in photography when I took this photo of my kitty Bob.  I got down on my tummy in the grass and Bob ran to the side of the house and sat under the Japanese Maple tree.  I had my 55-250mm lens on and had it set at full zoom if I remember correctly.  I think this is one of the best photos I have taken of Bob. CLICK TO ENLARGE PHOTO

Day 100 – Baby Onesies

I have two grandson’s due to arrive this summer…my daughter-in-law is due in June and my daughter is due in July.  I made 8 of these, but some of them are duplicates so I didn’t put them in this photo.  I used Fat Quarters in Primary colors and bought the Heat and Bond Ultrahold, NO-SEW iron-on adhesive to attach to the baby onesies.  First you iron on the adhesive to the wrong side of the material….then I used the Cricut personal electronic cutter to cut the shapes that I wanted.  It cut out really clean too…if you try this just make sure you have a good sticky mat and a sharp blade.  Then I ironed the shapes onto the onesies….and lastly I sewed on buttons for some of them.  I think I’m ok in posting this online….I don’t think the girls check my blog regularly….if they do….OOOPs!  lol     CLICK ON PHOTO TO ENLARGE

Day 99 – Putting the Nursery Together

Today we went to breakfast a IHOP.  John, Natasha, Ana, Linda, Chrissie, Me, Jenny and Austin.  Then we headed over to Chrissie’s house to start cleaning all the baby items John had for Chrissie and Zach.  We took the Lysol wipes and cleaned off all the toys, walkers, swings, books, etc. that John and Natasha saved from when Ana was younger….then if they weren’t going to be used right after the baby is born, we wrapped the items with big lawn bags and marked what they were on the outside of the bag so they would be able to be quickly identified.  Then we hung the wall words that I made yesterday for the nursery.  They looked SO cute on the walls.  CLICK TO ENLARGE THE PHOTOS.

Day 98 – Wall Words

I have been cutting vinyl wall words for Chrissie’s nursery today.  They are going up on the walls tomorrow…so I’ll take pictures then and post them tomorrow.  She asked me to cut a verse out of the Bible and then several other single words or short phrases.  Can’t wait to see how they look on the walls.

Day 97 – Baby Shower Thank You Bags

Okay, I know I haven’t posted for 5 days!  Yes, I’m still alive! lol  I just haven’t felt like posting!  I also have been working on the baby shower thank you gift bags for Amy’s baby shower in a couple of weeks.  I finished 31 of them…hopefully that will be enough!  I will fill them with candy closer to the party date.  The all have one side with a dump truck that says, “it’s a boy” and the other side is a monster truck that says, “thank you”.  The invitations have been mailed too.

Day 92 – Happy Birthday John Sr.

Today is John’s birthday. I’m going to the ranch this afternoon for a bbq to celebrate his birthday.  I made guacamole, onion dip and vegetable dip and I’m taking chips to dip.   I made this card….the inside says, “Hope your birthday is out of this world!”

Today I also bought myself a couple presents.  I may send one of these back. I’m really looking for a more convenient camera bag for my DSLR camera and lenses.  I LOVE Vera Bradley bags….and ordered these 3 bags today online.

This first one is more like a medium sized purse and I think I will probably keep this one as a purse.  I LOVE the adjustable strap on this one….so it can be adjusted to fit over the shoulder.  This bag is called “On the Go”.

The second bag is called “All Squared Up”.  I like the shape and size…this one is 15 inches long…and 10 inches tall if I am remembering correctly.  It has 2 open pockets on the outside….a zippered pocket on the outside and several slip pockets inside.  I like the fabric pattern too.  It’s called Folkloric.  I think this one is plenty big for my DSLR and all the lenses, battery charger, etc.

This third bag is called a large Hobo.  I couldn’t decide between this one and the one above for the DSLR…so I thought I’d buy them both and maybe send one back after I see them in person and check how my equipment  fits in them.  Love the pattern of this fabric too…I do love red…and I think with this one I could take the dividers from my camera bag and put them in the purse to keep things organized.  We’ll see.  Who knows…maybe I’ll keep them all!  I deserve them right?!!! lol  CLICK ON PHOTOS TO ENLARGE FOR BETTER VIEWING