My Weblog

I wish... {and some free images}

 
{applied textures from Kim Klassen}

I wish {and maybe you do too!} that I weren't so WISHY-WASHY! Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. But after realizing that moving my blog was going to cause a host of yicky problems, I changed my mind, AGAIN.

So with my little tail between my legs, and peeling egg off of my face, it's official. I'm going to stick with Typepad. But if anyone wants to know how to export their blog, ask me, I know how to do it!

All was not lost though as making the temporary move resulted in me learning a little more about the inner workings of a blog that will come in handy in the future. Did you know that by exporting your blog to a file on your computer that you have effectively made a copy of your blog complete with photos and links? Nothing was physically moved per se...my blog remained intact. I just ended up with a copy of it in a downloaded file on my computer.

ALSO!!!! I learned how to comment on blogs using my Typepad Open ID credentials...thanks to Wordpress. Long boring story. But for any other Typepad users who want to know how, holler. I'll share my limited wisdom.

 

Here's a beautiful print I snagged from the Graphics Fairy. The frame is one I made by taping some punched papers together. Feel free to use the image if you would like...

And heres a few more I made from the same template using Elements. You will need to use a photo-editing program that allows you to work in layers in order to slide a photo behind the frame. Enjoy! I only ask that you not sell the images themselves in a collage sheet or CD or anything of that nature.

 

 
 
And last, but certainly not least, as I am so looking forward to it...

 ...Christy Tomlinson's newest online class begins on Monday, May 23rd. You can still sign up through Sunday, the 22nd. Click on this picture over in my sidebar if you want more details!

I adore her style and this one looks packed with lots more yummy journaling goodness.

 

 

Xo, Sue

Texture Tuesday at Kim Klassen Cafe

 
Oh YIPPEEE SKIPPEEEE!

Been so busy catching up on real life [meaning less computer time] that I almost missed the news about Kim's newest inspiring adventure, TEXTURE TUESDAY!

I'm also known to spend way too much time out of doors once Spring hits my hometown. Like it's done! The above photo is one of my favorite of favorite trees...The Red Bud tree.

After applying a couple of Florabella actions, I added five layers of Kim's textures:

~scratches, 2 brushed linens, just golden, and an all time favorite, grey day!  

 
Thought I'd show the original pic before I applied the textures. It wasn't that long ago that I knew "zero" about Photoshop, and even less about adding textures to a photo. But both of those changed when I happened across Kim's blog! I took a couple of her online classes and a whole new world of fun was discovered.

If you've ever wanted to learn Photoshop {any of the versions}, I have, and will continue to highly recommend Kim's classes. There's even a free one to get you started. Just click on this link and you'll find the listing of classes on her sidebar.

 
Dragged home from the greenhouse a few pots of these adorable flowers to add to my flower beds last week. They are called Scabiosa, or more commonly known as the Pincushion flower.

Kim Klassen textures that I used: just blush, mona, sepia scratched, and 3 layers of softly. {also used a texture from flickr from boccacino}.

Head over to this post and check out all the other players in Texture Tueday and be inspired!

Happy Day of Love

 
...thirty-seven years sharing this special day with my sweetie...

...six of them while dating {{{high school sweethearts}}}

However, Valentine's Day isn't just for sweethearts. It's a day to remember all those special people in our lives.

 Blessed are the we who have friends and family in our lives.  

And for those who've had their hearts crushed because they've loved {and that would be most of us} love is always worth the risk. High risk, high reward. But I would rather look like my old Teddy Bear...with a few love-rubbed spots on my heart, than to have a heart that was never taken out of the box. 

You too, I hope...

May your day be beautiful, however you plan to spend it...

 
 Speaking of love stories, I noticed Karen at My Desert Cottage is hosting a Share Your Love Story event today! I always think the stories of how couples met are so fun to hear. As for my beloved and me, we met at the ripe old age of 16 at a bowling alley.

He loves to quote the line from the 1981 Dudley Moore movie "Arthur"...

"Usually one must go to a bowling alley to meet a woman of your stature."

YYYYYYYYYYY

credits: textures used on photos from Kim Klassen and Designerdigitals

Even though... and a free texture!

 
Even though it's freezing outside

{i am not a fan of freezing}

I will give thanks

because I have a warm home to live in.

 
Even though my old computer

with lots of photos i never backed up,

and the only computer where i can gain full access

to all the contents of my email

is frozen,

and displays a screen that the computer

 geeks in my google searches refer to as

"the blue screen from hell"...

I will give thanks...

 

...because my little Sophie dog cares.

Take note of that soulful look of empathy

I receive from her everytime I moan and groan

when my attempts to fix the computer fail. 

~~~~~~

Now, for all you texture lovers, here's

a copy of the texture I used on the two

photos above...please feel free to

make a copy for your own files!

 
This is actually a photo I took from the

underside of one of those old

enameled kitchen tables!

On the flower picture, I applied the texture

twice, once at 100% soft light, and the top layer

at 50% screen. On puppy, it was two layers

of the texture, both soft light,

the first at 100% and the second at 27%.

I think this would look really FUN on a snow scene...

we don't get snow in Atlanta.

Usually, anyhow.

So I will give thanks for that too!

{okay. maybe a little around Christmas would be nice.}

tee hee...

Textures: Free Images!

 
Me bad...really, really, really bad. Sitting in my computer are too many half-composed posts, ephemera I want to post and share, unanswered emails, you name it. And if it's missing, it's probably in my computer. Sitting.

Only so many hours in a day. Sigh.

What is it about chippy paint that so many of us love? For years I've been wanting to stop along a busy road up in the mountains of western North Carolina to photograph this little Post Office. I think it's just adorable. So unlike the huge complex that is my local post office here in suburbia Atlanta.

 
Well, during our last trip up to the mountains we finally pulled over and I snapped some shots...peeked in the windows...admired the chipy blue paint on the doors. That's where the first photo came from...from a section of one of these doors.

Then I got to thinking...and playing in PSE....

 
...and in addition to some awesome Kim Klassen textures, I also slapped on a layer of my blue chippy paint photo. Isn't that a fun new look? Please feel free to grab the blue paint texture for your own files if you'd like.

And I know I've mentioned it before, but it bears repeating, I adore Kim Klassen. She is responsible for opening up the world of PSE to me and I love her for that! She just finished round one of her FREE Skinny class and is opening up another section of this FREE beginners course to PSE. Click here for the details. The new class begins November 8th I believe, but she will also accept late registrations. Check it out!

As long as we're catching up, I realized that I forgot a couple of things in my last post. I meant to share a couple of shots of the matchbox I made to give to Patty.

 

 

 

 

 

 

As well as sharing this link to Patty's posting on our swap. I knew that Patty loved swans and I had the perfect picture of a swan. It's a lithograph from an old turn of the century children's book from my collection of old books.

Here's two copies of the swan I'm sharing with you for your own personal use. {{I don't mind at all if someone uses my free images in work they plan to sell. But please don't sell the image itself in a collage sheet or CD or any of that kind of stuff! Fair enough?}}

 
 

It's a cold, drizzly, rainy day here in my little patch on earth. But since I bought enough candy bars for 150 trick or treaters (we've had over a hundred some years) and only about 70 came to the door this year, I've had plenty of fuel to keep me warm! Waiting for college boy and college girl to swing home and grab the rest of these...oh please hurry home! 

Meanwhile...back to catching up...

Xo, Sue

 

 
 
playing, playing, playing....

 
...dragging vintage dresses, a vintage hat, a rusty chair, and what not into the backyard to snap some photos...and then playing some more using my newest textures from Kim Klassen...

...whoever invented digital cameras....i love you....i seriously love you...but i only wish this technology was available when my kiddies were wee ones...or i had been able to afford a better camera...

...but should i ever be so blessed to some day have little grand-babies, watch out!

... hopefully there will be a little granddaughter in the mix so i can dress her up in my stash of vintage dresses...or i guess a grandson with a good sense of humor {!} would work too....but come to think of it, way back when the little boys wore dresses all the time... 

 
...meanwhile, i'm absolutely enjoying {obsessed} with learning to use Photoshop Elements...

 
 
...but every now and then i wonder what the neighbors think as they see old dresses and rusty chairs set up in our backyard... oh well....

And as long as we're on the subject of photography, if you love beautiful photographs that inspire, you've got to visit ZuZu's {A Cottage in the Woods blog} newest Tumblr blog. I've been meaning to share this as it is that special... She did a post here, explaining the concept. Be prepared for some serious oohing, aahing, sighing, and inspiration...

Permission to play... {and free image, laptop repair...and...}

You gotta LOVE the bloggy world...I think....anyway....LOL!

Whining about my "must do" lists was met with.............go play...go play........only boring women live in immaculate houses..............ha ha ha! So with your royal permission[s] {or is it a co-dependency, enabler kind of permission?!!! Naw...couldn't be THAT...}  

I played some more...

If you're signed up to receive Kim Klassen's texture freebies, her latest, featured in my digital creation, are words from a song by Celine Dion. The birdie I snagged from a newly discovered freebie site called Vintage Printable. 

Here's a copy of the birdie if you'd like to save him in your files and use him some day when you too are trying to ditch some housework....

Not long ago, Terri shared one of her beautiful backgrounds that I placed in my files. And just for more fun, I added it as a layer and then bumped down the opacity...loved the effect! Thank you, Terri! You can grab your own copy here. She and her friend Roc have been putting together some fun videos on different artsy techniques as well....check 'em out!   

 
Didn't it add a fun dash of color-drama?

And speaking of color............and DRAMA...............and more excuses to ignore my must do lists....and more reasons to PLAY! Scream with delight......

 

The Mister of the house {who is sooooo organized, think: opposites attract} for no reason whatsoever, surprised me with a new IPAD! This is the coolest...........and I haven't even bought any of the zillions of apps you can add.............

And to make it even sweeter, he wrapped the gifts himself....with paper he purchased...in colors I adore...and even added bows!  Seriously sweet.

In my book, the thoughtfulness of his actions were as delightful as the gift itself. Took me completely by surprise...He does a lot of thoughtful things for me, but we don't usually get this extravagant...

So much for that TO DO list anytime soon...

But as I'm busy playing, I'll be doing this....

tee hee....{these are actually kitchen matches}

switching gears completely...

And to make this rambling post even longer, stay tuned if you have a laptop that got dropped or the screen got stepped on OR hit by a basketball. {All three have happened at our house!}

DID YOU KNOW that many times you can still access the info, or even work off the laptop still by plugging it into a computer monitor? Simply unplug the monitor's USB cable from your tower and plug it into your laptop's USB port. This is also a great way to enlarge your viewing size even on a functioning laptop. 

Here's looking forward to another week of creative fun {and a bit of housework perhaps!}

xo, sue

Online Photoshop Elements Course {& a free image!}

 

My latest little play time creation in Photoshop Elements {PSE}...

Long ago I purchased a very old children's picture book...a bit ratty, missing pages, but the lithographs that were left......just beautiful.

Cropped it down to just the little yellow bird...{please feel free to save it for your own personal use}...and employing some of the new "moves" I'm learning in Kim Klassen's online course for PSE...

 
...the ingredients that went into my creation shown in the first photo...1. my image 2. my image 3. flickr-free texture  4. flickr-free texture  5. flickr-free texture

Even though I've barely begun working my way through Kim's class, I am learning a lot about PSE. I am taking her "skinny" ecourse. Here's a quote from the class description:

if you do not understand photoshop, it's brand new to you, you are just getting started, or find it completely TOO MUCH...

 first.gear photoshop - the "skinny" eCourse is for you!

A perfect description of me and my competency level with PSE. If this sounds like you too, and you've been wanting to learn Photoshop Elements, I highly recommend her skinny course. It is self-paced and is basically taught using videos. Step by baby step she shows you where to click, how to adjust this, how to change that...what this tool is for, how to add layers, etc. etc. In other words, THE BASICS!

Click on the "skinny" ecourse link above for a complete description of the class and how to sign up! In my estimation, bargain-priced at $29!

Maybe I'll see you in e-class soon?

Xo, Sue

Never forget...

Weekends rock at our place. College kids, their friends, their friends' dog, high school boy and his friends often fill the house with constant motion on a Saturday. But I wanted to sneak away for a quick minute as I remembered I had made this digital collage earlier this week to commemorate the 9th anniversary of 9-11 here in the states.

Starting with my own photo of fresh baby's breath I added a texture from Kim Klassen's collection, a time piece that was a freebie from Cathe Holden, and a free image from Suzee Que off of Flickr. 

And sadly enough, today, 1200 miles from where I live funeral services were held for a childhood friend of mine. Would have really liked to have been there...

He flew for one of the major airlines and I had spoken with him by phone only a few days before 9-11 back in 2001. When the awful news of what was transpiring began to hit the airwaves, how well I remember being sick with worry that he was aboard one of those aircrafts...wracking my brain trying to remember if he mentioned where he was flying next. And now today, on another 9-11, he's gone.

These sad times always drive home for me how precious is our time with those we love and for whom we care so deeply. And my heart and prayers go out to all those who are still struggling with the aftermath and loss of 9-11.

Another digital image from this week {kim klassen texture used} ...

May we all find peace for those harder questions in life.

xo, sue

My dream job{{s}}...

Through the years I've worn a lot of different "work hats"...everything from retail to waitressing to elementary school teacher to corporate business woman to you name it...and I must say I've enjoyed all the varied experiences each had to offer. Some more than others...

But right now, on this given day, if I could pick my dream job{{s}}...

I would work at the altered book factory! There are no "bosses" and virtually no rules to speak of other than JUST HAVE FUN!  

Despite the fact that there's lots of sewing involved, no previous experience is necessary. In fact, the lady who teaches you the ropes for this job refers to her type of sewing as guerilla warfare sewing {or something close to that concept}...

But she ain't like one of these.....Sorry if that offends any blondes...I thought it was hysterical myself and I'm legally blonde. But I do pay a pretty penny to my hairdresser to perk it up a bit. Grin.

  If you enjoy whimsical...or the chance to join papers with fabric and any other type of material you can sew, glue, clip, staple, stamp, or nail down...

I think you would love Mary Ann's online class: REMAINS OF THE DAY!

Once you're finished with your journal and its all been binded together, your imagination is the only limit as to how you might use your new little book.

Personally speaking, I've already dreamed up in my head about 6 different books I want to make....One for garden notes, another for my favorite inspirational quotes, travel journals, for gifts, and on and on...

And as soon as I finished my shift at the altered journal factory, I would head to my next full-time job...

...that being, Kim Klassen's CAFE.................oh my. More on that tomorrow, or the next day, or the next....depends when I get my next day off! That is one of the down sides to these dream jobs, you never want to go home!!!!