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Tuesday, February 19, 2008

A little of this and a little of that....plus some photo tricks

Well that was a nice long weekend, I didn't do much but clean the house and well....clean the house. Now that I think about it, it really wasn't that much fun for me LOL

Saturday was wonderful though, I'm dying to go back to the Renaissance Festival and if you've never been to one, you really should go. If you're wondering if there's one in your area, I've got a list for you, so no excuses not to go mingle with the 16th century crowd.

We had lots of rain over the weekend and still have cloudy skies with supposedly more rain on the way, it's funny because I have this thing....I love the rain but only if it's at night and when the whole family is home, no need to go out and do anything. If it rains during the day then I get a little annoyed LOL

I've had a lot of questions on my templates and some of my photo tricks etc....so I thought I would share some of that with you today, but before I do so, I want you to go over to two blogs for me, they're by some friends of ours, he's a retired Air Force Veteran and we met back in Idaho when we were stationed at Mountain Home. We've stayed in touch throughout the years and consider them good friends....we also share a love for Idaho and often talk about returning and buying a house there in a few years. They're both really good writers too and often share their poems on their blogs.

The Corner of Insanity and Chaos - This is Sam's blog, she's married to Kelly and a good friend, so please go on over and say hi.

Musings of a Sand Dollar Philosopher - This is Kelly's blog, he is a really good writer and like I said above, a retired Air Force Veteran, so go on over and spread some love hahahah

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Often times I get asked how I did a certain photo, how I changed the color or made it so bright or black and white with just a pop of color, which is my favorite thing to do, but when I tell you how it's done you're going to smack yourself in the head because it's SO easy.

I use PaintShop Pro 9, I've had it for years and even though the new ones have come out, this is what I feel comfortable with and what I'm good at so why change???

So let's start.....we're going to take this photo


and turn it into this...See how it's black and white but only some things are color??? The trick to doing this is to open up your original photo in your graphics program. Then you're going to duplicate that layer....


Right click on the layer in your layer menu on the right and click duplicate. Now you have two layers. Make sure you have the duplicate selected and go to Adjust/Hue and Saturation/Colorize, then make sure your Saturation is set to "0" which will make the photo grey.


There are a lot of ways to do this, but I figured out that this is by far the easiest and quickest way.

Now that our photo is in black and white, we are going to start coloring it. All you need to do is make sure you have the duplicate layer selected and then grab your eraser tool and start erasing the areas you want to have color in. Like for mine I wanted the two knights and the king area, so I erased around there and the bottom color starts coming through.

What you'll be left with is this:

Here's some more examples of other photos I've used this trick on.





So go for it, and if you do try it out come back and let me know so that I can see your results :)

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I've been feeling kinda off since sunday, my nose is congested and I feel lightheaded, my stomach hurts and I'm also a little nauseous. I don't know what's going on, is it a cold? Is it a stomach bug? What the heck is it? Whatever it is though, I can't afford to have it right now, not when I'm so close to moving again, that would be awful.

Speaking of moving, we're waiting on Housing to calls us and let us know when the house is ready, then it's just a matter of Curt's work giving him time off and we can move into the new place. Right now we're counting on leaving this weekend but the way things are going, it may be not happen until the 1st.

As you may know from our relocation to Arizona, I'm not the most patient person in the world....I don't like being told I'm going somewhere and then having to wait around for weeks or months, I like getting things done right then and there. Boy have I had to learn patience though, I think God is constantly reminding me that things are not done on MY time but His, and you would have thought after all these years I would get the message.

I hope you all have remembered to watch the Jane Austen Masterpiece Theatre every sunday, this week was the first part of Pride and Prejudice, one of my FAVORITE Jane Austen works. I can't wait for next week.


I also started a new book yesterday, The Boleyn Inheritance by Phillipa Gregory. Loving it so far, if you want to read Chapter 1 of this book just click here. I guess I should also read The Other Boleyn Girl right? Trust me to read things out of order LOL

I think I've babbled enough for today, I have laundry to finish and then I'm making some English Scones. I'll have the recipe on my food blog later for you all.


Dinner tonight is my Fish Cakes and some Tomato and Spinach Rice. Believe it or not, it's one of my kids favorite meals.

9 comments:

  1. Hi Sandra :)Thanks for the photo tricks! I was wondering just how you do that and wonder no more!thanks for that.Sorry that you're waiting on housing that must be so hard.hugs

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  2. Thanks for the tips your photos are always gorgeous. My stomach has been bad for a while, I've got to go for blood tests soon ...I hate blood tests. I hope you feel better it's hard being a mother and being ill...if you worked you could take the day off and stay in bed as a mother we have to plod along even when we're ill...but I wouldn't do any other job for the world!!

    Hugs and love

    Sarah x

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  3. Sandra the photo tricks are Great.
    the fish cakes look so yummy Icould just reach through the computer and grab one.LOL I truely hope you and Hubby are haveing a Blessed Day.

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  4. I read the Other Boleyn GIrl and really liked it. Is this book you are talking about the sequel or the prequel?

    I hope you find out about moving fast. I would be impatient too.

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  5. Air Force official policy: Hurry up and wait. :)

    Kids can have a surprising sophisticated taste in food. Two things ruin children's appreciation of food. One is lack of exposure. Having them try it just once or not having them try it because it doesn't 'look good'.
    The other is not home cooking. You definetly won't fail them there! My mom used to open a can of spinach and dump it on a plate. I hated spinach. We get raw spinach and make it into all kinds of yummy stuff and we all love spinach.

    Just about any food is the best in the world when it is made with loving care. That might sound mushy to someone who doesn't know what I mean, but anyone who has been there knows what I mean. Dinner is a great experience when it stops being a chore that has to be done and becomes a great way to express your love to your family.

    Thank you for mentioning Sam and I in your blog. You sent Mike our way and I think he is enjoying my blog and I am enjoying reading his blog too.

    Sam is very good at using Photoshop. I used to have a good deal of experience with Paint Shop Pro, but now I like GIMP. It is like Photoshop, but it's FREE!

    Speaking of free, even though I have Microsoft Office, deeply discounted either thru the Air Force or as a college student, I now use Open Office. Again, it is very similar but completely FREE!

    Thank you for the list of faires. Looks like we missed the local one in January, but we can look forward to one in March. :)

    It's Sam's birthday today. I haven't said Happy Birthday to her yet. I wish she had the day off work.

    Well, let me end this book now ;) I hope your family and everyone who reads your blog has a great day.

    ~Kelly

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  6. I'm sure I left a comment here earlier. It's not showing up though !! hmmm ...

    Anyway ... I was just stopping back by to let you know I DID IT !!

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  7. You are reading one of my very favorite authors! I read "The Other Boleyn Girl" and LOVED it. When the movie comes out, I promised myself that I will go BY MYSELF in the afternoon and enjoy! I have not read "The Boleyn Inheritance" yet, but it is on my wish list!

    Sherry

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  8. Good Afternoon Sandra,
    I checked the place here in Arkansas where the Festival will be at and it's clear across the state from me. LOL. So, I won't be going to it. It's about a 7 hour drive (if I'm driving could take longer LOL) and then we would have to get a hotel to stay in, so I'll guess we will have to pass on it. It sure did look fun tho. Maybe someday it will come to a closer location for us and we can go then. They are saying we are suppose to be getting some freezing rain sometime on Wednesday and possibly Thursday. Who knows what it will do around here. LOL. I'll have to go and check out those 2 blog sites you talked about. It's good that you have some very good friend and still keep in touch with them. I really love what you do with your photo's. You should think about going into Professional Photography. Might make you some extra cash. The pictures you shared with us a beautiful. "THANK YOU" for sharing them with us and letting everyone know how you do them. I still don't have a digital camera yet. I did, however, put a money order in the mail earlier to get me one and hopefully I'll be getting it in a couple of weeks. Now I don't have any photographic programs on my computer to work with. I am so wanting a new computer and hopefully I will be able to get one one of these days. So for now, I'll have to be content with what I do have. Mine is so outdated. It is a Windows ME. Yeap, it's that old. LOL. I felt bad earlier this morning. I finally went to sleep and when I woke up I was sneezing alot. My SIL called me yesterday and she has some kind of virus and she's contagious. She has had it at both ends since the weekend. I know it's so hard sometimes to remember that we have to wait on GOD'S time and not ours. Those Fish Cakes look yummy. The Tomato and Spinach Rice looks very yummy as well. Our girls don't like tomatoes or spinach, so I usually fix something they like when it's just the 3 of us here. Take care my friend and have a great afternoon. May God Bless You and Yours.

    Love & Hugs,
    Karen H.

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  9. Thanks for the photo tips! I'll have to get the book your reading. I read the first one and loved it! Have a great week.

    Renee'
    http://rmboys2.wordpress.com/

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Thank you for stopping by, hope you are having a blessed day!

♥Sandra♥