Texture Tuesday 2/7/2012 ~ The Free & Easy eDition

This week's challenge in Kim Klassen's Texture Tuesday group is to use at least one of any of her digital textures on one of our images. I took this photo at the Town Square in downtown Anchorage, Alaska on June 8, 2008. See my processing formula following the photos --

SooC

Formula

* Cropped original photo to 12 x 6, 300 dpi

* Made a levels adjustment


* Duplicated original layer; set @ Soft Light blend mode, 65%


* Added kk_Revolution texture by Kim Klassen - Color blend mode, 35%


* Merged all layers and clipped to photo mask I created using brushes from "Grungy Lines by Meth" and "Grunge Edge pack" (creator unknown), both found at http://www.brusheezy.com/


* Added text using CK_Alis_Hand_Official and Arial fonts


* Added watermark (Beyond Wonderland font)
 
Be sure to check out all of this week's creative entries at The Cafe

Texture Tuesday 1/31 ~ the Simplicity eDition

This week's challenge was to use at least one layer of Kim Klassen's "Simplicity" texture on an image of our choice. I shot these sweet love birds on the beach in Waikiki, Feb 2010.

SooC

Formula -

* Cropped to 8 x 10

* Adjustment layer (levels, curves)

* Duplicate original layer; Soft Light @ 25%

* kk_Simplicity; Vivid Light @ 30%

* Removed texture from the birds' faces and upper bodies

* kk_Stained Linen; Soft Light @ 82%

* Merged all layers and added to...

* Clipping mask made with a brush from "Grungey Lines by Meth" (brusheezy.com)

* Added Text - CK-Ali's_Hand_Official font (80% opacity)

* Added personal watermark (Soft Light @ 40%)

Please be sure to check out all the lovely and creative entries this week at Kim Klassen Cafe!

~ klb

My Heart...

Just a simple edit of my youngest and his two children. Taken at Walmart 12/23/11.

Matthew - 26 yrs
Amelia - 27.5 months
Adrian - 3 months exactly

~ klb

Texture Tuesday 1/24/2012 ~ The Story eDition

This week's challenge @ Kim Klassen Cafe is to use at least one of her textures on an image that evokes the word, "story." I actually used 1 texture/2 layers on this photo I took in December 2008. I chose this image because the raven appears to be animatedly relating a story to his neighbor. In reality, the black bird was fussing at the raptor and trying to scare it off! The bald eagle never moved, however, and the raven eventually flew away.

SooC

I cropped the image to 8 x 10, 300 ppi; added an adjustment layer for color balance; made a levels adjustment and added two layers of Kim's Waterstained Frame texture; one layer in Multiply @ 25% and one in Overlay @ 65%

Please check out the other creative challenge entries HERE

~ klb



Photo Color Cards

Thanks to my growing interest in Pinterest, I have begun making what I call "Photo Color Cards" - actually 8 x 8 pages featuring one of my own photos and six color tabs taken from the colors in the photo. Each of the tabs includes the hex code for that color, in case I or anyone else would like to use a specific color in a digital project.

Here are the seven cards I've done so far --

Taken in the Centenial Rose Garden, Anchorage AK - Aug 2007

Taken at the Alaska State Fair in Palmer AK - Aug 2007

Taken at the Alaska State Fair in Palmer AK - Aug 2007

Taken at the Alaska State Fair in Palmer AK - Aug 2007

Taken at the Alaska State Fair in Palmer AK - Aug 2007

Taken in Waikiki HI - Feb 2010

Taken in Maui HI - Feb 2010

I've also been making "Subway Art Prints" -- check them out at my crafty blog Divine Inspirations

~ klb

Texture Tuesday ~ Celebrate eDition

Because we (here in the US) are in the middle of our Holiday Season (Thanksgiving/Christmas/New Year's), the theme for this week's challange is "Celebrate!" The most important reason to celebrate is the birth and life of Jesus Christ, Who was given to us as a Gift from GOD the Father. If we choose to accept this Gift, we will spend eternity with Him and with all those who have died in Christ before us, living forever in a state of joy, satisfaction and love; with no pain, no stress and no sorrow. Truly, a reason to celebrate!


My photo doesn't really reflect that type of celebration, however -- instead, I am sharing this fireworks photo that I took nearly three years ago (January 3, 2009). Alaska was celebrating her 50th year of statehood that day and there were state- and city-wide events happening all that weekend, one of which was this fabulous fireworks show held in downtown Anchorage. Normal low temps for that time of year are in the upper teens Farenheit - you can see in the last photo what the temp was while we were downtown experiencing the festivities!

Straight out of Camera

FORMULA --

* Cropped original image to 8 x 10 300dpi
* Ctrl J to Duplicate layer - Soft Light 55%
* Added Kim Klassen's "Look Upon" texture - Multiply 85%
* Merged layers and clipped to border mask
* Added text: CAC Shishoni Brush (Alaska); Gloucester MT Extra Condensed (50 years of statehood); Bernard MT Condensed (1959-2009)
* Using white type, applied Overlay blending mode @ 100%
* Added my own watermark (Beyond Wonderland & Tekton Pro); applied Soft Light and lowered opacity to 55%

Yes, that's 24 degrees BELOW zero! Just a bit nippy...

Be sure to stop by Kim Klassen Cafe and check out this week's fabulous entries!

~ klb

MCP Actions

Just wanted to let all my blog followers and browsers know that MCP Actions is a fanTABulous place to visit for tutorials, tips, classes and ACTIONS - lots and lots of creative actions for Photoshop and Lightroom! They are currently giving away a new Canon G12 point & shoot camera - in the next few minutes!

Be sure to stop by their website MCP Actions and also to "Like" them on Facebook :)

Hurry! Hurry!

~ klb

Texture Tuesday ~ The Gratitude eDition Returns

There are many things I am grateful for this holiday season and one of them is my dear friend and Sister-in-Christ, Jess Jennings. Jess and I first met several years ago when we attnded the same church. We were both avid scrapbookers and our friendship grew from the twice-a-month crops held at the church. Quite often, Jess and I and the hostess of the crops (a mutual dear friend) would remain till the wee hours of the morning - not working on our layouts, but in deep discussion about life, families, the Lord...

Time passed and Jess and I kind of drifted apart for a few years - not due to anything negative, but our lives just took different paths for a season.  Just within the past year, Jess and I have reconnected and what a blessing! Though we no long attend the same church, nor do we gather at scrapbooking crops, we are still connected through our relationship with Jesus Christ -- and our love of photography! While I wasn't looking, Jess has really developed her skills and creative talents as a portrait photographer and she is in high demand.

This past Saturday, she invited me to come up to a church camp where she had scheduled several families to get their Christmas portraits done.  I have been to this location several times over the last 20 years or so and it's always a lovely place to visit. However, I'd not been there in winter and happily agreed to swing by to visit with my friend, as well as try to get some nice winter landscapes :) The following seven photos were taken that day and the first one shows Jess doing her thing - shooting a lovely family out on the lake at the Birchwood Camp in Chugiak Alaska. **Note - it was the parents' idea to be photographed without coats!




Straight out of Camera



Formula:

* Cropped photo to 8 x 10
* Added layer adjustment
* Duplicated photo and set to SOFT LIGHT
* Added Kim Klassen's MusicLovin - OVERLAY 35%
* Added Kim Klassen's SeriousMagic - LINEAR DODGE 65%
* Added clipping mask I made
* Added text - Hello Sark & Century Gothic fonts

Be sure to visit Texture Tuesday at  Kim Klassen Cafe to see the lovely and creative images submitted for this week's challenge!

~ klb

Texture Tuesday ~ the "And Then Some" eDition

It's been awhile since I've participated in Kim Klassen's Texture Tuesday *or* posted here in the blog. Life sometimes gets in the way of doing the things we long to do...  The challenge this week was to use at least one layer of Kim's "And Then Some" texture on our photo. I chose the image of a daisy field because winter has finally hit our area and after two days of snow and cold, I felt the need to work on a cheery photo!

Oct 30, 2011 @ 8:57 am

SooC

Formula

* Cropped original photo to 8 x 10, 300dpi

* Did hue/sat and birght/contrast adjustment layers

* Added Kim's "And Then Some" texture - Multiply @ 75%

* Added Kim's two layers of Kim's "Back In" texture - Soft Light @ 75%; Multiply @ 75%

* Added clipping mask using grunge brushes by Meth (brusheezy.com

* Added text using PetraScript and Arial fonts.

TFL and be sure to check out all the creative entries at Kim Klassen Cafe :)

~ klb

Texture Tuesday ~ the Gratitude eDition

This week's theme for TT is "Gratitude." I took this photo of my grandchildren with my iPhone on Oct 2, 2011. Changed the color photo to sepia, cropped it, added Kim Klassen's "Word" texture (Soft Light blend mode @ 100%) and "Stained Linen" texture (Pin Light blend mode @ 30%), created the word art ("Damned Hearts" brush; VT Portable Remington & Tekton Pro fonts); added a border using a corner brush by "Swirls by Kaffaleen" and added the babies' names and the date (Tekton Pro font).

The reason I chose this photo as my entry has two levels... On the surface, I am grateful for these beautiful babies; grateful to be their "gammie." They are sweet, adorable, precious gifts from GOD - my treasures. On a deeper level, due to some challenges in our family during the past 14 months, relations between me and my children have, at times, been strained and time spent together as a family has been few and far-between. On the night I took this photo, my three youngest kids - J, Jenni and Matthew, my son-in-law, Ivory and the grandbabies, Amelia and Adrian, all met together for dinner; for Jenni & Ivory to meet their new nephew, who was 9 days old at the time, and to hand out gifts they had picked up during their recent Caribbean cruise. Unexpectedly (though I firmly believe it was a "GOD thing"), I was in the neighborhood and able to stop in to say "Hi." I only expected to be able to stay for a few minutes, but actually spent an hour and a half with my beloved family -- a blessed gift that truly filled me with GRATITUDE...

Straight out of camera

Please stop by Kim Klassen's Cafe and check out all the lovely creativity to be found in this week's challenge entries!

~ klb