Project Log - Hanging it up

Slowly, but surely we're getting the house decorated. I'm taking my time, choosing what I like and really thinking things through before just hanging things willy-nilly. I've been happy with the results so far. Here are a few projects.

I knew I wanted photos of the kids in water-themed shots for the bathroom.



These are three of my favorite photos of the kids and I love seeing them in frames everyday. The turquoise and white frames were on sale at Target for less than $4 each. I got the wooden flower frame there too but that one was a $9 splurge. I couldn't resist it, I love the worn, rustic edge and unique design.



The photo of The Boy makes me laugh every time I see it! It was taken about three years ago. My (future) husband was tossing the kids into the air and I adore this shot of him, gulping in a big breath of air before he hits the water.

The photo of The Girl was taken last summer on a beach excursion.

This one of the baby was taken last August at the Disneyland Hotel on a weekend trip.



I like the colors, a great mix of blue in each photo to coordinate with the frames. And I kept them in a theme, water, for the bathroom.

My other decoration project was our front door entrance, a tiny hallway. I'm standing in the kitchen when I took this shot. You can see a little bit of the front door that is open (an orangey-red on the outside). We have repurposed our dining room buffet to use in this space because 1). We don't have room in the dining room and 2). We need a place to set things by the front door. Inside the cabinets we have our oversized kitchen appliances, like the rice cooker and also cloth napkins, placemats and table cloths. That lamp is just there because I don't have any other place to put it...I don't even have an electrical outlet on that wall!



Left to right on the table top: A wedding photo, gray mail slot (from HomeGoods), glass dish for keys, real butterflies in frame (that I've had for 20+ years), basket to hold my purse, frame of the kids from our wedding day and a repurposed cupcake stand that holds little things that my husband uses every morning, like foot powder and cough drops (I'm thinking we could find a better landing place for those items besides this spot...perhaps the bathroom, honey?).



Left to right on the wall: A newborn photo of Baby D, a wooden plaque that says, "The Best Things in Life Aren't Things" (a motto I try to live by in a 1007 square foot home as a reminder to minimize and pare down to the necessities). Lastly, photos of the kids in my parent's tree that I took 4 years ago. I'm thinking we need to get a shot of Baby D sitting in the tree soon!

Next project, something over the living room sofa. I'm thinking about one of these wooden letters along with some photos, what do you think?

Happy Independence Day!

Hope you all had a wonderful Independence Day!

We had a simple day, but not quite "celebratory" enough for me, frankly. We weren't invited to any parties, our backyard isn't worthy enough for hosting any parties yet and we just didn't really have it together...maybe because the holiday was on a Thursday (that just seemed like an odd break in the week). Thank goodness the grocery store was open so Danny was able to pick up the fixings for our dinner!



I knew I at least wanted to get a few shots of the kids, so that was a success. I pulled out the kid's red/white/blue clothes and set them up in the patio. The Girl is the only one with a true patriotic outfit (a stars and stripes dress from Walmart last year that now is a top worn over jean shorts). The Boy's blue shirt has a dinosaur and Baby D's shirt has Mickey Mouse...oh well! Maybe next year I'll have it in me to make them something for the Fourth.

Very happy to note that the patio is an awesome place for photos. This is really the first time I was able to take advantage of the covered shade and the nice natural light. I just need to work on a backdrop or something more attractive behind them than the neighbor's house!

My mother-in-law picked up the big kids in the morning and they spent the day at the county fair eating turkey legs and foot-long curly fries, jumping in sack races and digging dump trucks in vats of dry beans (really!).



Danny & I just had the baby so we hit Ikea early to find a few necessaries for the house. What a madhouse! Lines a mile long for 99 cent towels (we got two nice dark gray ones!) and another mile long line for the check out. And then we got our purchases home and one of the items didn't fit quite right in the space we'd bought it for, so that was a disappointment.

While Baby D napped, Danny went to Home Depot and bought our first barbeque. Dinner was delicious...carne asada, blue corn tortilla chips, avocado and a pasta salad I whipped up last minute.



We sat around waiting for fireworks, prepared to watch them from our back yard. Of course we've only lived here a few months, so we've yet to watch fireworks from this new location. We only live a few blocks away from where the city was setting them off and we thought we'd see them fine. Unfortunately the neighbor's tree blocked them and we had to troop down to the lower dirt lot of our yard and stand along the fence line to see them properly...booo!!!



Oh well, I have my sights set on July 4th, 2014. Hopefully by then we'll be in full party-hosting mode! And we'll know we walk down the block to see the firecrackers!

Instant Images

So I broke down and ordered a new camera charger. I still cannot find mine. They are nearly $50 new - YIKES! - but I found a nice, used one on Ebay for $15. I am anxious to get the Canon charged and ready to go because seven days from today we are headed to the Happiest Place on Earth!!!


Disneyland, 2011

I wasn't able to convince Danny that we could go to Walt Disney World early next year like I was scheming , err hoping for. In his words, "We can't go spending $3000 on a family vacation!"

*Ahem* Let's not break it to him that it would actually cost twice that for our family! Someday I still hope to go.

But I was able to finagle a weekend trip to Anaheim and a two-night stay at the Disneyland Hotel. He's never stayed a resort hotel and I just know he'll love the cleanliness, closeness, and of course, that lovely Disney magic. He saw a commercial for the new Cars Land and got very excited and said "We have to go!" so I definitely held him to that statement.

So, yeah, I'll need the camera.


Disney's California Adventure, 2011. In front of what would be the new Cars Land.

In the meantime, I'm enjoying the fact that my new phone has a camera on it.

My last phone took pictures...it had the ability to store five images and the looked like they were taken underwater. Needless to say, I didn't take many pictures (five to be exact!).

With my new Galaxy, I dove headfirst into the world of INSTAGRAM. I didn't expect it to be free, that's a plus.







Fun, especially because you can immediately upload to Facebook, but not like my "nice" camera, you know?

Coming up...the Disneyland Countdown Begins!!

Half a year, triple the fun

My cousin brought over her triplets for a little photo session in my parent's front yard. I've said this before....They have the perfect yard for portraits. There is a huge tree that makes the greatest open shade for capturing light in the eyes. The babies were having a blast rolling around on their blanket.

Here are the babies at 6 months old. They are really pushing up from their stomachs well and rolling back and forth. Can't wait until our next photo session, I bet they'll be sitting up!

This is the "big" guy. He has always been eager to please with big smiles and eye contact.








3 months old


About a month old

This little lady is a tougher nut to crack, she really makes you work for any smile. Her mom says that smiles are only to be had from this one when Daddy is around!








3 months old


About a month old

This guy has really filled out and developed a lot in the last few months and was so happy to laugh and smile for me this time. And he was showing off that he's the first of the triplets to have two shiny white teeth!








3 months old


About a month old

If you give a kid a camera...

If you give a kid a camera...

You will get some very goofy expressions.



You will get a kid's perspective.








You will also get some very relaxed smiles from adults that generally don't like having their photo taken.



Did I mention that you will get some very goofy expressions?



And sometimes you get a great surprise and there are some beautiful shots!

Babies Babies Babies

BABY - times three!



My cousin invited me to visit her 5 week old triplets and of course, I had to bring my camera.

The babies were sleeping when we first got there but once one of them awoke, pretty soon they were all up. They were all so sweet, quite content just to be held and even happy to just lay down and look around.

Our first little guy was our happy photo tester, so easy to move around and furrowing his forehead with each pose.




Logan

Our second little guy even gave me a few smiles! He's the most filled-out one, which I expect the other two will start to resemble in a few more weeks.




Hunter

Baby girl was the last one to wake up and didn't even need a bottle, she got right to work with the photo shoot. Once she got her thumb in her mouth though, she was out for the count!




Hailey

I can't wait to capture these itty-bitties as they continue to grow and change!

Tutorial Tuesday - Free Photoshop Actions

I'm diligently not using my built-in camera flash but sometimes in my attempt to be completely in manual and still try to capture images in low light indoors, either it comes out too yellowish, dark, grainy and slighty blurry (or a nasty combination of all four!).


Before


After

I've found that by just doing a few preprogrammed Photoshop Actions, you can transform the image into something that looks like it was totally intended to be that way all along (instead of looking like you are trying to fix a mistake...which you are, but that's okay, nobody has to know!).

I'm just going to note today about how changing photos over to a simple Black & White can really make a huge difference in the feel of your image. I think that just by removing the color and transferring images over to black and white can really put the focus on what you want and slight blurriness and grain tends to fade away.


Before

I tend to hit "Slight Lighten" once or twice and then use "Black and White". Often times I also add on "Define & Sharpen".


After

Try a bunch of actions out and see what works for your particular image. Before you save the image, you can always hit F12 to erase every action and start over.

I "flatten" the image in between each action as I'm going along and layer actions on top of each other to capture just the right look.


Our Wedding Day

This original image was taken inside at our wedding. My brother took it in automatic but the lighting was low and it was an action shot...two strikes! By lightening and changing over to black and white, it really creates a lovely vintage mood. And it's one of my most cherished photos from the wedding because I love how Danny is looking directly at the camera with that bemused look on his face and I'm blissfully skipping down the aisle!

Same thing, lightened once or twice then changed to black & white and voila, a nice transformation.


Before


After

I found these actions through Pioneer Woman's site and then found MCP Actions, which also has some for free and many more gorgeous looking ones for purchase. Want to add a little sparkle to the eyes? You can do that with a few mouse clicks! Want to punch up the color, add a vintage wash, sepia-tones or even just lighten or darken an image? Read up a bit on Actions and how they can transform ordinary images into something really professional looking. Once you start researching Actions, you'll see how much "after the shot" work goes into those professional photos you see online!