Milo Art Ditto

Milo wanted to be in the spotlight again so here is another art rendition. He loves to pose.

The original photo was shot after he had been in the pool.

He loves to swim. Go Dog Go.

Milo Art

My sister found a really cute framed dog at a store recently and when she went back to get it, it was already sold. I thought how frequent that happens. And feeling sad that she wasn't able to get it, I thought that maybe, just maybe, I could reproduce something similar. Here is her dog, Milo. I took a photo of him and then in photoshop, changed it into more of a painting. I framed it with a thick white mat and white frame. I hope she likes it.

Ears to You!

"My, what big eyes you have."

"The better to see you with my dear."

My neighbor has a new border in his home and as it turns out, it is one of the puppies from my daughter's boyfriend's dog's litter. See my blog on the birth here. This dog is one BIG dog. He is very strong and very much a puppy. Not the brightest bulb but he means well. I check in on him daily as he has become an indoor dog. The plants in the backyard were becoming play toys and let me just say, there are a lot of plants to get into. So inside he stays. However, the inside plants, one by one, have been trashed. The first group to go were a vase of silk flowers. Next, the live plants. The really big kind. I walked in one afternoon and the entire living room was covered in dirt and plant life. This has become a regular occurrence and I informed my neighbor that he was no longer allowed to have any plants at all. ((smirk))

I feel sorry for Bubba (yes, Bubba). He wants to be with someone at all times. He's lonely and is bored to death sitting around by himself all day with nothing to do. Funny thing though, one afternoon I took him out and ran him for a good 45 minutes, put him back in the house and low and behold, a few hours later, he had ripped up a chair.

"My, what big ears you have."

"The better to hear you with my dear."

"My what BIG TEETH you have."

"The better to EAT you with my dear!"

Here Kitty Kitty

Our kitty loves to sit in our basket on our coffee table.

He is so nosey. Has always has to be the center of attention. Love this kitty.

Tinted Fashionista Baby

Colorful Fashionistas

Yesterday was our yearly fundraiser/fashion show. I wanted to catch a few snaps to document the day. There were two families that I would give the Fashionista Award to. Here is the first one. She was so cute but hated my camera. I scared her with the flash.

And her reaction..

Why that makes me smile is beyond me. Cute as a button though.

This family oozes creativity. I think she must be related to Betsey Johnson. I love that she is her own woman. I love her stockings and I love the feather additions to her walker.

The little girl wouldn't let me get near her with my camera. She ran away every time. This photo had to be snapped on the fly.

Dawg Gone It.

Today is a day of dog watching for me. Two neighbors going out of town and my own. Fun had by all!! Here are photos of my sister's dog. Love him. He is the sweetest dog. Loves to play and is so affectionate. He is a swimmer, diver, and rope climber.

Have a playful day.

Strive - Run

H.B. gone back in time.

Usage: Photoshop, layers of tinting, and text.

Happy March 1st. I continue.... left, right, left, right.....

Costa Rica

We have had several friends ask us about our trip to Costa Rica. Looks like this year is the year many will be traveling there! Wish we were going back too. It was really beautiful, however, my darling husband loves to get as much in as possible so our day drives were fast and furious. My photos don't reflect just how beautiful it is as I didn't have as much time as I would have liked to photograph the area. Here are just two from where we were in the rain forest. Check out the wild Toucan! I'm feeling hungry for cereal.

Black & White & Pink & Yellow

Tonight I was working on a project and took one of my flower photos and painted it in photoshop. I think I recall most of what I did, but I tweaked it so many ways that I'm not sure. Anyhow, I like how it turned out.

What do you think?

Wetlands Watery Wednesday

We walked into the wetlands for a brief time on Monday. We didn't have much time and the sun was going down quickly. I hate to admit, I have never walked all the way in and around for any great length of time.

Love the green moss!

Visit Watery Wednesday for more water photos

@ http://waterywednesday.blogspot.com/

Valentine's Day

Bloomin' Flowers, It's Valentine's Day!

I made a card for all of you. Hope you had a sweet day.

Valentine Flowers

Yesterday the hub took the kids (girls) to the flower mart in LA. He came home with bunches of beautiful flowers. Here are photos of the Gerber daisies. Aren't they wonderful?

And this years color ~ Pink!

What Makes one a Professional?

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, a professional is one that engages in a pursuit or activity professionally, participating for gain or livelihood; receiving financial return, permanent career, etc.

Kind of leaves it open in my book. Pay someone and they can be considered a professional. I used to always correct my kids when they would refer to me as a professional. I never wanted to over state myself (or is it that I am just over critical of myself!) with the fear of letting someone down. I guess my theory is that people will be pleasantly surprised instead of seriously disappointed. I want to please people not disappoint them. And I will scrutinize my work to the point of spending so much time that it is never.. uh, what was that, "gain or livelihood"? Now don't get me wrong, I never mind fixing or working a photo. However, if I got it right the first time I wouldn't have to, right? lol

So this first photo is one that a 'real' professional took. I looked at it and saw things that I wanted different. (or things I think should have been corrected prior to printing and charging a large sum for) Now this is where the blessing of having photoshop really comes in. Yes, sometimes things don't look out of whack when one shoots and it only is apparent when you look at the print in large scale. But this photographer did one thing that really set one person out in the photo. The girl in the front with the shorter length dress shouldn't be there. The dress was actually to the floor and should have had the girl adjust it. However, while I was in photoshop, I made sure I corrected everything else too. This will be a game for you on how many changes there are between the two photos. Similar to the magazine game in either Us or People, can't remember which. One of my main challenges with this photo was the paper it was printed on, so you will see some lumps and clumps - that is from the original paper.

Oh, and was I supposed to reprint the photo? No. Can I scan it? I don't know. But I do know that I didn't like that the photographers flash made the center girls look whiter, the one in the center stuck out like a sore... foot, the podium on the right, the girl next to it was too far to the right and one of the girls in the back was dwarfed too much. OK, so I'm helping you on the game. And yes, there are still things that could be changed to make a photo perfect.

One of the things I do is give the client ALL the photos on a disk. I don't want to be the one holding onto them for reprints. I do however fix and print some of my favorites or change things for them as they request. Again, I want them to be happy. Not just me.

Heart of the Ocean

This photo is from my shoot on Sunday. I took it and in layers, made a black and white overlay, added a vintage soft layer, and place in a layer of texture. Just played for a while.

My soul is full of longing

For the secret of the sea,

And the heart of the great ocean

Sends a thrilling pulse through me.

- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Angels

I was helping my sister catalog her wedding decor and she pulled out these angel bookends. They are so beautiful! I really think they are spectacular and if it wasn't for other people living in this house, I would use them as door stops!

I also did a photo shoot yesterday down at the pier. Senior photos for a young lady that we've known for most of her life. She is very beautiful but not comfortable in front of the camera. Mag came with me and shot some photos at the same time. The first two are mine and the last three are Mag's. I think Maggie has a great knack for photography. She loves to take photos and she has a nice whimsical way about it. I love it when she comes with me because she can get shots from a different perspective.

I think this is my favorite....

Huntington Beach Pier

When Water Hits Resistance.

I am seriously trying to learn everything about photo shop before it's obsolete. Here I have taken a photo of the Huntington Beach pier. I added sun flair and then polar coordinates in filter. I like the effects. Wouldn't want to be surfing in it though.

Tag, You're It!

If you've been reading my posts, you will know that I have two extremely talented sisters. One, an interior decorator/organizer extraordinaire, and the other an illustrator/mega-talented artist. I am very excited to say that I have been, and am able, to work with them.

My decorator sister posted on her blog about tags that she made as her thank you notes. http://sherricassaradesigns.blogspot.com/2011/01/thank-you-cards-done.html (See, she follows through on the things I want and should do.) I have a difficult time in keeping myself on track.. The artist sister created the painting that I posted here. The squirrels are happily carting off a tree for the holidays. Now I know you're probably very done with the holidays, but this year we will be launching her line of art on etsy. This tag is a rustic version. I took her work, added the wording, printed it, backed it in several pieces of decorative paper and card stock, then antique inked the sides and partial top. After it dried, I took sandpaper to the paper - roughing it up and taking off some of the color. I then painted a matte finish on the entire tag and stapled ribbons on, lastly added a huge brad. This is a one-of-a-kind tag.

Now let her know if you want it on etsy!! http://blogdebsart.blogspot.com/

Senior Ads for Yearbook

I have never purchased an ad in the school's yearbooks for my kids so I thought for Mag's senior year, I would put in a 1/2 page tribute to her. After spending a day working on several types and designs, I put one together that I really liked. However, she didn't like the photo that I chose. I really should have known that it wasn't going to make her happy but I thought I could pull it off without too much resistance. She said it doesn't look like her and that everyone would be able to see it forever. So-- here is the new version.

I used photo shop to change the color of her dress from a baby blue to a more muted teal, desaturated the photo a bit, added sun spots and wording. The last photo had quite a few people in the background walking around on the sand. I love that it doesn't really matter what happens with the surroundings, photo shop can wipe them clean. I also fixed a portion of her dress and part of her hair that I thought needed to be cleaned up a bit. Then added highlights, color boost, center fill lighting and vignette.

Clutters Last Stand

Here is a piece of art to show my clutter-on statement.

I really like good graffiti. I only wish it was on canvas instead of block walls.

This has ten different layers to give it the final effect. Clutter on~

Keep Calm and Clutter On

"Clutter is a grand parade that follows us all our days from a playpen of toys...to the places we call home." A quote from the book; "A perfectly kept house is the sign of a misspent life" by Mary Randolph Carter.

I have admitted to being polar opposites from my one sister, the interior designer. She is unbelievably talented in design, color and organization. My other sister and I have the great quality of being able to function in mess, hence not feeling the need to have a home for everything. But what it does do to us when it gets really bad is that we freeze up and can't function at all. That forces us to put things away and begin the creative process all over again. I found this book over the weekend and thought it was very enlightening. I have just begun to read it. I wanted to share a few things I've read so far.

"Though there seems to be no research on the tidy gene, there is an interesting study about what offices and bedrooms reveal about our personalities. Undertaken at the University of Texas, Austin, by psychologist Samuel Gosling, PhD, and his colleagues, and published in the March 2002 issue of APA's Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, the study looked for physical cues in the environment, such as tidiness, organization, and decorating style. People with distinctive decorating styles got high marks for openness; those who were neat for conscientiousness."

Now, clutter is life lived out in the open, things not hidden, shared. However, even in this book, the clutter is not a dirty mess. It's clutter with intention. It's organized mess. Creative clutter. And as I read or skim through this book, I'm still seeing tips on how to keep it within limits, i.e., don't let the overflow from one project run into another: Finish one, clean it up and put away. Try to clean up at the end of the day, take one step at a time, create a schedule, start with what you hate most.... all these are tips that my sister lives by. Me? I only apply when necessary.

T.G.I.M. thank goodness it's monday~

I have been combing through old photographs that I have taken in the past years looking for some that I can post on my blog. Since my camera lenses are still in the shop for repairs, I wanted to at least post something. Funny though, I can't find any that I think are worthy. I've come to the conclusion that when we're on vacation, my husband's always in a hurry to get to the next place. We don't sit for long. I call him the Tasmanian Devil. He rushes in and rushes out... leaving behind the wind whipped debris.

Glad it's Monday. He's at off at work. ;>)

Let me introduce Romeo-Zorro-Carlos

A few months ago a friend of mine told me that there was a stray cat that had been saved but was in need of a home. She said he was about to be placed in a shelter if someone didn't take him soon. I couldn't imagine that and so I offered to keep him until he found a permanent residence. I won't get into the details, but the permanent residence turned out to be with us.

He had been named Romeo because he loved to snuggle and was so affectionate. We soon found out that he had another side to him, hence the name Zorro.

He spent the first few weeks in my son's room. See, Abbey, our dog, scared the fur off of Romeo-Zorro and Romeo would hiss and hide under the bed whenever Abbey came near. Sam loves the movie "The Hangover" so he nicknamed the cat Carlos. Carlos stuck. Romeo wasn't quite the name we thought he should have and since he really didn't answer to anything for us anyhow, we figured we'd call him Carlos. He's only missing his sunglasses.

He is truly a sweet cat. He sleeps within a few feet of Abbey now. They can easily be in close quarters together without too much hair raising and Abbey loves Carlos' food.

PS: My main two camera lenses are in the shop as they never focused very well this year. They are being fixed and while they are, if I want to take photos, I have to borrow my daughter's or use my old basic lens. I probably won't be taking pictures for a while. :-(

Idea for Documenting Life

My son went on a snowboarding trip to the local mountains yesterday and filmed his runs with a new camcorder that sits on his helmet. We watched it today and it was really interesting to see the perspective and the interactions he had with other skiers. I had an epiphany. For all the stay-home moms out there that have their husbands come home and speak those five daunting words; "What did you do today", here's the answer. Wear a helmet with this contraption. As you go through your day of diapers, driving kids here and there, making breakfast, lunch, dinner, doing dishes, making beds, laundry, etc., he can see first hand just what you did all day! I kind of wish I had this thing-a-ma-gig a long time ago. Now, I don't do all those things anymore. And if I do them, I usually only can get one of them done per day. And today's not the day. My husband always made the "joke" that all I did was sit on the couch eating Bon-bonswatching Oprah all day. So one afternoon at 3PM I actually was sitting down watching Oprah and just as it would happen, up the walkway- here he came. Sheesh. Busted. I quickly grabbed a handful of flour and tossed it on my face, turned to greet him, implying that I was hard at work making dinner.

For the new year, I decided to get organized. As I was sorting through things, I found this old photo that had been taken 30 years ago. The condition of it hadn't changed much. At the time it was as bad as you see here, but I chose to keep it anyway.

As technology would have it, I was able to scan it and restore it to an almost good condition. I then took a current photo of myself and made it look old. (older) Yes, like me. I changed the coloring, added noise, and added some vintage textures. So-- here is me. 1978 and 2010.

Here's to a new year. Make it intentional.

Tail End of the Year

Maggie took a great shot of a Pompous Pelican down by the Pier.

I thought I'd place it in my Plog.

Count down to the end of the Year...

"Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right." ~Oprah Winfrey

Goodbye Two Thousand and Ten

I wanted to share a few families that are very dear to me. I was given the opportunity to take their family photos for their holiday cards. This first one was only a mock up of a Christmas card for them to see as an example. I didn't use the photo of them, but simply wanted to show them what one could end up looking like. The photo is 'two in one' like the example in the previous post. I faded the shot on the right to highlight the writing.

The mom is one of the most active volunteers I know. She is hard working and always giving of herself.

These two kids have been in my view finder more than once or twice. I've known them since they were in elementary school and have been lucky to photograph them throughout the years.

Their dad was especially humorous this day. He had a couple of hand signals to me during the shoot. All in fun. ((of course)) And their mom, she is my biggest fan. When I feel down, she'll lift me up in a heart beat. She thinks I'm so much more than I am. When do I break it to her?? lol

And our family photo. I must say it is very difficult for us to get one photo of all of us. Therefore, I have had to combine two photos into one. We are either never all together, or we aren't ready to be documented. Don't want to scare the world with how we normally look!

So as the year winds down with a bang

And the sun sets in the west,

May you have a happy new year

--make it one of the best.