A Month of Craft Photos: Completed!

Happy Leap Day, folks! I’m happy to announce that I have completed the Month of Craft Photos. I’m super proud I was able to stick to it and more or less follow all the daily prompts. You can see my blog posts using this link or you can browse my Flickr set here.

Thank you all so much for your motivation and enthusiasm with my photo posts!

Enjoy 20% off in the shop using coupon code LEAPDAY. I already marked down some of the remaining Dory shawlettes, so they’ll be at a super price! Offer ends tonight at midnight (unless I forget to take down the code;).

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Summertime: build a tent inside!

the tent face

I’m completely in love with the idea of putting up a little tent in the grass for my kiddos to sit under and read or play cars. However, with the weather as hot as it has been, there’s just no way. SO, what to do? Build one on your bed! I hung a string across the room and draped a sheet over it. Bam! Done. Nathan thought it was awesome.

Have any stay-cool ideas that don’t involve the pool? I’ve had ear problems for a whole week because of the blasted pool! I’m a bit jaded, so daddy gets put on pool duty when he gets home work.

Photo Challenge: black & white

the brothers

I present to you my new favorite photo of the boys. Bored. Hanging out on my bed. Harmonica in hand. Bubbles in mouth.

I used my hazy b&w action in post-processing. I realize it doesn’t look great on EVERY photo, but I’ve been having some luck with it, recently. If you try it out (it’s free), let me see! :)


The Paper Mama

My favorite June photo (+Summer Haze tip)

175.365: the dreamboat

This might actually be my favorite photo of Andrew. I’ve been waiting for it to happen–to capture a photo of him that makes me swoon and declare it my favorite. I already have one of Nathan and we’ve already committed that one to canvas. Now, when the time is right (money!) we can do the same for this one.

Did you try out my Photoshop action, Summer Haze? I edited this photo with that and I have a little tip. If your photos come out slightly too cool, you can add a “Photo Filter” adjustment layer to slightly warm it back up.

In the layers palette, just click on the little black and white circle, select “Photo Filter,” and a little dialog box will pop up. I select a color filter set to #ec6f00 and 25% density (preserve luminosity). I set that layer to 50% opacity. I find that it makes my whites warm up a bit. The purpose of the action was to make my yellows more soft, so it sometimes cools down the whole photo. This brings some of it back.

If you’ve used the action, can you let me know what you think? I saw a beautiful set of images on Flickr that used it and was happy to see it utilized well!

This week’s photo challenge at The Paper Mama is your favorite June shot! Go link up!

The Paper Mama

Paper Mama Photo Challenge: GREEN!

[aka BRING IT ON, SUMMER]

summer longing

Yesterday, I had this little revelation about summer. I usually kind of secretly loathe it. It’s so hot. It’s so humid. It’s so sweaty. It’s so bright. It’s so blah blah blah. I decided I needed to embrace it. EVERYONE is hot, sweaty, and stinky, so WHO CARES if I feel gross? Not me, anymore. I’m just going to coat myself and the kids in sun tan lotion and bake.

This photo was taken two years ago, in my mother-in-law’s amazing backyard. We were living in an apartment then, so we spent every Sunday at her house–swinging and swimming. I edited it in Photoshop to get the til-shift effect. I think it makes it more fun! :)

Check out the Green photo challenge on The Paper Mama.

The Paper Mama