Birthdays Galore

January 27th, 2012

It’s been a busy week or so, with Monkeyboy Jr. turning 8 (!) and Monkeyboy Junior Jr. turning 3 (!!). A week of laser tag and pizza and balloons and Rice Krispie cake and new toys and sushi and birthday cards and parties and… well, you get the idea. In between all of that, I’ve been trying to get some costumes and props made for the upcoming Loose Moose Theatre for Kids show that my husband is directing. And doing battle with a serious sinus infection. Oy. I’ll be glad when January is over.

Anyhow. We didn’t want to go overboard with toys and such this year – the eldest would get plenty from his friends at his party, and the youngest has already inherited a ton of them from his big brother – not to mention that Christmas wasn’t even a month ago… So. The eldest got a Lego set and a Wii game, and the youngest got a Fisher Price Batman set and clothes. But not just regular clothes. I decided to make Monkeyboy Junior Jr. a couple of shirts that I knew he’d absolutely adore. He’s a fan of both “Angry Birds” and “Max & Ruby” right now, so I did a Google image search for both of these things.

I found this image for an American Apparel t-shirt…

… which, after some editing and printing onto a decal, became this…

He was so excited that he had to change shirts immediately! Until he opened the next one, that is. ;)

I had also found this image for Angry Birds cupcake toppers at…

… which again, got edited and turned into this…

… which in turn, got turned into this…

He was so excited by *this* shirt that he didn’t even bother to take the dragon shirt off before he put the Angry Birds one on! His older brother was also so enamoured by the shirt that I had to make him one too. Then, of course, I had a hard time getting them both to take the shirts off at bedtime! Silly boys. ;)

There was a little bit of plain white decal left over from these shirts and I used it to modify a tee that I found at Wal-Mart? Target? (something like that) over the Christmas holidays when we were in California-Arizona.

It’s a VERY subtle Scott Pilgrim reference, and should have read “BOB-OMB”, but “BO-BOMB” just didn’t look or sound right…

Anyhow. I’ve got an ocean to sew (quite literally), and some goats to construct, so I’d best be off. Hope y’all have a great weekend!

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Posted in Crafty, Family

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Blurry Endings

January 20th, 2012

So. Today’s was the last lesson in the Photoshop “Skinny-mini” course I was taking at the Kim Klassen Cafe. Wow. There was some cool stuff in there! I really enjoyed the course, learned some new tricks, and look forward to playing around with more of my own photos. I did, however, also discover that two weeks is about my maximum commitment these days – about day 7 (of 10) life started creeping in, and I was no longer diligent about getting the homework done. A 365 project just wouldn’t get done. Ah, well. What can you do when you have a sick toddler? Anyhow, I snuck in a little bit of playing this morning and thought I would leave it on this note. So, yeah. If you’re looking for a simple introduction to Photoshop, I highly recommend visiting Kim’s site and checking out her offerings. =)

Today’s lesson included selective blurring (in addition to textures, etc.), which transformed this…

Into this…

A little “heavy-handed”, I know, but I really liked how stylized it becomes. Have a great weekend, y’all!

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Layers and B/W

January 17th, 2012

Okay. The last couple of days of Skinny-mini have involved adding texture layers, and altering images from color to black-and-white (and gradients thereof).

Changing this…

To this…

And this…

To this…

(Oh, thank heavens for the spot-healing brush!!!)

Anyhow. Just thought I’d share. =)

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Posted in PSE

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PSE9 Homework

January 12th, 2012

Alrighty. Two lessons down and two days of homework in brings us to today. I just thought I’d share the results – some photographic art journaling, if you will, altering images I took for August Break. ;)

Day 1 & 2 – Working With Text

Day 3 & 4 – Using Layers and Adjustments

Before

After

Before

After

Not terribly dramatic, I know (at least not when they’re small like this), but the changes are there. I can’t help but hear my favourite photography professor’s voice saying that they’re “calendar images”… and I’m not sure whether or not I should be offended by that. ;) Anyhow. It’s been fun and I’m looking forward to tomorrows lesson. Wheee!

(Note: the framing was done afterward, in Pixlr-o-matic. I’m really hoping that we get around to covering how to do that sort of thing in PSE9 too…)

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Posted in PSE

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The Skinny-Mini

January 10th, 2012

Remember way back in September when I finally got around to purchasing PSE9? Well, since then I’ve been trying to register for Kim Klassen’s FREE “Skinny-Mini” e-course – without success. It just never seemed to be offered when I was looking. Until today. As I was editing my Creative Inspirations list, I happened to click on her site to see if it was available… and, well, long story short, I’m on Lesson 2. Wheee! So, yeah. If you want to learn your way around Photoshop Elements, now’s the time to sign up! 10 lessons over 2 weeks, go at your own pace, and did I mention that it’s completely FREE??? Yes, she uses a lot of layers and textures – things you may not necessarily be “into”, but she’s also showing me some very useful basics and even some shortcuts – in a quick and dirty way. Yay! Join me if you dare. Maybe now I’ll be able to do some photo editing without all those lovely presets at Pixlr-o-matic. ;)

From Day 1 – a little tour of PSE9 plus working with text!

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The California-Arizona Christmas – Part III

January 9th, 2012

With Christmas temporarily done with (we had decided to give the majority of our gifts at a post-trip celebration back home), we got back to the serious business of vacationing.

The remainder of our trip is a haze of swimming…

… playing (as here, with the cousins)…

… and hanging out.

Followed by more swimming…

… more playing (at Crackerjax)…

… and more hanging out. ;)

In the midst of all that, there were a couple of dinners with my husband’s family – including one at this quirky little place called Organ Stop Pizza. Yes, that entire back wall IS for the giant Wurlitzer theatre organ. Yes, those are dancing cat marionettes above it. And yes, I apparently do know all the words to several show tunes and “old time” classics. <ahem> Q.U.I.R.K.Y.

This was followed, of course, by more swimming…

… more playing (also at Crackerjax)…

… and yes, more hanging out. ;)

Oh, and some window shopping…

… and lots of yummy eating…

… and random picture taking. =)

Then the time came for us to pack up and head home once more. Home to our own beds, Santa stockings and gifts, and everyday living. Thanks, California & Arizona & family & friends – you were a blast!

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Posted in Trip Photos

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The California-Arizona Christmas – Part II

January 6th, 2012

So. After spending Christmas eve day doing a little “elfing”, we got cleaned up and headed north to see my sister and her family in Scottsdale. Long story short, “Wiki” (as Monkeyboy Junior Jr. has decided to dub her) is my half-sister, and this was the first time we were meeting her mom…

The house was absolutely dreamy, and we felt so warmly welcomed.

We enjoyed pre-dinner appies, colouring, and Amaretto Sours…

… and the “kids” did a little cookie decorating in the kitchen. Monkeyboy Jr. is seen here with Wiki’s other half-sister, who we’ve decided to nickname “Niki”.

We then sat down for the most delicious, sisters-made, organic turkey dinner ever! (I still dream about it. ;) )

After dinner (and some more scrumptious Amaretto Sours), we exchanged and played with a few gifts…

… like these silly little moustaches, a dragon pillow, a voice-altering megaphone, a pirate towel, a super-sticky frog…

… and punchy balloons (go, Wiki, go!) =)

Then, after a quick reading of ” ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas”…

… there was just time for a few last photos before heading back…

… to get some sleep so that Santa could come.

Did someone say SANTA!?!?!

<insert several blurry photos of the boys tearing into gifts here>

Like this one…

… and this one. ;)

Though, I did convince them to stand still for a moment or two…

… to model their new clothes…

… before they dove into the LEGO.

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The California-Arizona Christmas – Part I

January 5th, 2012

Just got finished editing some of my photos from our trip over the holidays for my gratitude journal. You know, it’s hard enough sticking to one shot a day for the journal most of the time, but it’s impossible to do so when there is a trip involved! Luckily, I left the “Periodic Table”, “Map of Canada”, and “Contact Information” sheets at the back of the journal, so I now have a few pages for special photos. Here are a few of my faves from the trip. ;)

This is what I woke up to on our first day. 70F and sun at La Quinta Resort in Palm Springs.

The resort is divided into several segments, each with a pool and hot tub surrounded by various gorgeous accommodations.

It was all blue doors, whitewashed walls, Mexican ceramic tiles, terracotta roofs, cactus and palm trees, and pink begonias. Ahh…

The resort was also quite beautifully decorated for the holidays, with tons of twinkle lights, ribbons…

… and several ornamented Christmas trees.

Yes. It was most magical. =)

While we were staying in Palm Springs, we ventured out to various “sights” nearby…

Like the Living Desert (for me, mostly)…

Like Boomers (for the Monkeyboys, mostly)…

And of course, like Legoland (for my husband, mostly I think, though he swears it was for our eldest) ;) …

We also did a little bit of shopping, and found Monkeyboy Junior Jr. the cutest little dragon hoodie ever!

(Now he is even more ridiculously cute when he wears it with his dragon boots – double “rawr!”)

And even though it wasn’t a “white Christmas” per se, everything was still so festively decorated that it wasn’t hard to get caught up in the holiday spirit.

Aww…

After a few days in Palm Springs, it was time to head toward family visits in Arizona.

With only a few minor hiccups (or episodes of acid reflux, rather), the boys did amazingly well with the long desert drives.

Thanks to various hand-held video games (whatever did *we* do as kids when we went on roadtrips?!)

I especially loved driving at night – with either the sunset creating the most magnificent silhouettes, or the stars shining ever so brightly away from all of the city lights.

We spent the night mid-way in a quaint little place called Blythe…

… and then were on the road again!

Only to arrive at the in-laws trailer at the Mesa Regal RV park, which was also festively decorated – as we saw by golfcart later that night…

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Posted in Trip Photos

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Looking Back At 2011

January 1st, 2012

Well folks, it’s been a year. Let me start by wishing you all a Happy New Year!!! And, by thanking you for popping by my little corner of the interwebs when you did. As with every new year, I like to begin by taking a look back to see how far I’ve come. And let me just say, last year was quite a ride…

In January 2011, I took things quite easy on the blog as I was a) doing a lot of solo parenting (the hubby was directing a show), b) had visitors in town, and c) had two Monkeyboys to plan birthdays for. I started posting “Creative Inspirations” links (see also the list at right) to share with you some of the sites “out there” that inspire me. Of course, times and tastes change, so I think we may be due to overhaul the list… but I’ll have to see how busy January 2012 looks first. ;)

February 2011 saw the return of some more time to create, and as a result it seems, some of my most popular posts. People apparently want to know all about iCarly Penny Tees and birthday parties, and Angry Birds crocheting. But I think my favourite creation blogged about that month was the fat quarter hostess aprons, which I both gave instructions for and created for myself.

March 2011 saw me going on a trip to LA, which led to some fun suitcase personalization, and was followed by me crocheting the cutest little Poko hat for Monkeyboy Junior Jr.

In April 2011, I got busy in my garden and made only a few blog contributions – like the quilty critter cards I made as thank you cards, a few yummy recipes, and the IKEA dog revamp.

May 2011 involved even more gardening and lots of spring cleaning in preparation for the garage sale, which meant little time to create “stuff”. But there were a few nice photos as I recall… like this, of my favourite flowering plum tree.

In June 2011, I was a little lot too busy with life – the garden, the kids, the house, etc. – to blog about much. But I made up for it in July 2011 by posting about tons of stuff – like making the backyard cabana, the gorgeous summer blooms in my garden, putting up more art, my temporary rock cozy crocheting addiction, and my favourite of all, painting the Kelly Rae-inspired  “Love” girlie.

August 2011 saw me participating in Susannah Conway’s August Break once again, but with a new twist – the use of online editing programs like Pixlr-o-matic. Which <ahem> I have become quite happily addicted to. =) It also saw me starting on the Dancing Mermaid-inspired Words On Bodies project, taking some gorgeous photos of some gorgeous ladies (see Day 5, Day 9, Day 17, Day 25, and Day 31). I shall have to find some more “guinea pigs” for this project once the weather warms up again. ;) Yup. August was a great month for my photography…

In September 2011, I finally purchased PSE9 and started playing around with it on some baby photos for a friend, but I really didn’t have much time to explore all of it’s offerings. Instead, I continued to play with the quick-and-dirty online presets I had grown to love, and began using my photos to create more mosaics for the “These Moments” Flickr group, and to pepper my new gratitude journal.

In October 2011, I continued to take lots of fun photos and play around with them in editing. But I also tried my hand at some embroidery (for the first time in years), completing the Alicia Paulson-inspired alphabet sampler and creating some “Naughty Stitches” of my own.

I also learned a bit more about PSE9 and created a wacky composite self-portrait.

Thanks to the arrival of my replacement spy-cam (woohoo!), I spent November 2011 and December 2011 mostly blogging with photos. But I’m afraid I was too preoccupied with working on tidying up the house, preparing for Christmas, and various travels and whatnots, to do much else. Except maybe make a few gifts, but I haven’t posted about them yet…

So, yeah. Even with just the highlights, 2011 has been quite a year. Not to mention all the stuff that I never got around to blogging about! Whew. Talk about ebbs and flows… As for 2012, I am looking forward to carving out even more time to get the house in shape, and to create some more fun goodies to share with y’all. Peace and joy to you! =) K

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Posted in Musings

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I’m Still Here

December 12th, 2011

Busybusybusy. And MORE busy. But yes, I am still here. The Christmas season is always ridiculously full, even when I’m not participating in any craft fairs it seems. So, in lieu of a bunch of posts about all the hubbub, here are a few snaps from my gratitude journal – after all, I still have waaay too much to do to be hanging out here ;) .

There has been MUCH long-overdue basement, bedroom, and living space culling and organizing recently…

(I’m hoping to do a whole post about Monkeyboy Junior’s new bedroom when I get a bit more time… it’s pretty cool!)

Traditional Christmas preparations, like decorating, creating a family photo, and sending out cards…

[As an interesting side note, our family photo from a few years back appears to have gone viral and made it onto some "Awesome" and "Worst" Christmas Photos lists... Weird! I am also hoping to do a post about this year's versions when I get a few minutes...]

Festive treats like hot apple cider, gingerbread cookies, and advent calendars (which take the form of LEGO around here)…

Crafts with the kids (Shrinky Dinks!!!) …

Visits with Santa…

And getting together with dear friends…

And on top of all of that, there’s the whole shopping thing…

And the creation of various gifts for people, which of course, can’t yet be revealed. WHEW! So, yeah. Things around here have been busy…

At any rate, I hope that things are going well for y’all, and that the season is “merry and bright” for you. On the off chance that I don’t have time to get back here before the “big day”, Merry Christmas to you and yours! =)

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Posted in Christmas, Family

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