Trick or Treat

Well we almost didn't make it out tonite...mr. man had quite the little melt down and I was about to call the whole night off when that sweet little face come out of his room and told me he was sorry...what started the whole thing you ask...well I was working away and he wanted me to find him his suckie so I told him I was busy and he would have to locate the blessed thing himself...you see R will not find anything for himself, he will not do anything for himself it is always..."YOU find it" as he goes and sits or throws himself into a whirl...I have even tried taking him by the hand and letting him help me look for things but to no avail he will not help...M on the other hand will just go and find what she needs, put away what you ask her to and even go get the Man what he needs...I feel as though I am going to loose my mind with him soon...anyhow enough whinning....

We did make it out this evening and the kids were wonderful and very well mannered...they both said Thank You when they got treats and except for trying to let themselves into a few homes...LOL! They had a great night Trick or Treating...what was the best thing they got...you would think it was all the great chocolate bars or chips...nope not my two...all they wanted was a SUCKER! LOL! Oh to be 2 and 3 again!

Digital Playing

So I have gotten PS3 and let me say it is amazing...so I thought I would dabble in some digital scrap booking - i am a blog reader and I have my faves that I ready daily and let me tell u I see some amazing layouts and than I find out they are digital and I am blown away.

Now don't get me wrong I am a paper and paint on the hand kinda girl but I thought I would play abit and it's not to bad...now if only I can find a place to print 12x12 I might start to dabble in some highbird scrapbooking where I can get the best of both worlds...

So this is what I have come up with and of course I had to play with everything free I could find to download...and let me tell you there are lots of great sites out there that offer some great digital freebies...

This first one is of 'baby girl', I first played with some action's in photoshop til I was happy and than I followed a tutorial on this site and this is what I come up with...not the best for my first one but believe me it really needs some work!

This next one is of my nephew...he was playing hockey while I was home visiting and when I got home and uploaded the pics to my PC I couldn't help but put a vintage kinda feel to it...This one was rather easy I used a template from this site that came with direction's in the download so it made the process rather simple...I really like this one, I love how clean and simple it is...

My sister-in-law had put up these great shots she took of my nephew's on vacation and even though I had already old school scrapped this I couldn't help but do it again...I think this one really needs to be printed out and framed to hang on my wall...I just love it! I used a pre-set template and for some extra UMFF...i added a texture under it and set it as an overlay...I just love what it did to the sand!

And last but not least my family far, far away...i just love these kids they are so much fun and just love to pose for pics... "A" took these and I just had to have them a play around...I think I am going to print the pic out and for sure do a page for my family album...so there you have it...my first attempt at digital...it has it pros and con's but it was fun to just give it a whirl and with all the free goodies out there I am sure I will be dabbling some more....

Fall

Can you believe it's fall already...this has to be my favorite time of year...I just love the crisp air, the colours, just look at the colours on the photo to the left. This was taken on our drive home from the farm...I live I think in the most beautiful place for Fall at it's best....

We took a little trip to the pumpkin patch a few weeks back...the kids had a blast and were really tired out...we did the corn maze and grabbed a few pumpkins for Halloween....

My First Tutorial - Selective Color

Here is my first photoshop tutorial...it you are new to photoshop as I am it will be a learning experience for us all...I am in LOVE with this program and it never ceases to amaze me just what PS will do to your photos...I have learned allot I mean allot about PS and Elements for this wonderful blog that I visit almost daily....BOBBI just never stops giving me inspiration she is a beautiful scrapper booker and her photography is just amazing....So here is one of the first and easiet things you can do in PS...

1. Open your photo in PS. Make sure your little black and white boxes towards the bottom of your screen are set to black on top...yeah I forgot to do that before I took the screen shot, so mine are currently set wrong and you can change them by clicking on the arrow and it will shift the black to the top....
   

2. To ensure I never overwrite the current pic I want to work on I always make a duplicate copy. To do this click on "Image" than "Duplicate". Close your original and we are good to go on to the next step.3. Now we are going to create a new layer...you achieve this by clicking on "Layer - New Adjustment Layer - Gradient Map". Now all you have to do is click on your Paintbrush and holding your mouse button down, carefully draw in the color you want back on your black and white photo...For Larger areas I use a larger brush and for areas that are small choose a small brush, it takes some practice to move your mouse without going into areas you don't want to but thank the Lord for the UNDO button!!

Now flatten your image by selecting Layer - Flatten Image ...save it and your done...

Hope you enjoyed this tutorial...I will get better with Time I swear....

Bye Bye Baby

Well it's official we have decided that two are enough for us and it is time to get rid of all the BABY stuff. Good thing cause we have allot and many a friend expecting right now so thank god I will get my baby fix in the coming months! So the storage closet is cleaned out, and boxes upon boxes of clothing is packed and ready to be shipped! I got alittle teary a few times remembering how little they once were and much they have grown....

It's Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada this weekend....can you say yummy...the family and I are heading to our hometown this weekend...me with the kiddies and hubby is off to hunt with a good friend for a few days....I will be visiting family and friends for the next few days and getting in all I can with them as I more than likely won't be back until Spring as the winters here I can never trust that I won't get stuck on the side of the highway...

A few new links to check out....Have you checked out Scrap Scene lately lots going on there...and a new site I have been visiting lots lately is The Beary Box...who happens to have a sale going on...

I am working on my first photoshop tutorial so I hope to have it posted soon....

Well Happy Gobble Gobble Day! EH!

Bad Bad Blogger!

I have been a bad blogger, I was really into this blogging thing than I kind of got busy...you know how it goes between work, the kids, preparing to teach and just gearing up for the fall I kind of let it get away from me.

I have done a few layouts...

Don't you just love Pink Paisley Paper (left)...oh I just can't get enough of it...I love the texture the feel and all the great lines in comes in...check out thier BLOG it is filled with all kinds of inspiration...I had to scrap our Day out with Thomas the Tank Engine, although Riley didn't have the day I had planned I did need to make sure that I jourled everything - and as the story was long I ended up having to write it completely on the back of the layout...as I didn't want to leave anything out...the layout on the right is one of my fun...we were challenged to print a picture that made us smile and it was printed on cream CS...of course this only made me REALLY, REALLY want a 12x12 printer...hint hint Hubby! :-)

A New Home for Jack

Well I have had to find a new home for Jack...packing the kids up and taking them outside every hour has proved to be to much for me...It's not that I don't love my puppy it is just at this time in my life I just don't have the time to give him the attention he needs. As we live in an apartment I just can't open the door and let him out. He is sooo sweet and loving and just as smart as a whip so I hope he brings his new family lots of love and fun.

As a word of caution, when trying to find Jack a new family I posted an ad on Kijiji and to my shock I was informed by someone inquiring about him that pics I had sent of him where being posted in a new ad and selling him for triple what I was asking...can u believe it...

I have a very nice family coming to meet him this morning and if all goes well they will take one look at him and know he will make a wonderful addition to their family...