6 words

Another challenge in the KK Beyond Layers class was to pick our 6 words  something inspired by an Smith Magazine    we need to pick 6 that describes us

Now I have a hard time with this as I have said before but I came up with this:



live life for today not tomorrow

what does that mean well it means I try not to let my past rule my present and my future    sure our past shapes our future but its what builds us as a person  life has ups and downs, good and bad, happy and sad, if it didn't well we might as well be a rock because there would be no emotion in our lives  no sparks to keep us going to the next day

so I try to think of today as just a stepping stone for tomorrow and a new adventure awaits just on the other side of that rainbow

what is your 6 words???


side note:
picture taken in 2007 in Hoonah Alaska in the icy straight,  we were on a cruise and suppose to go to Skagway well rough seas prevented it so we changed to Hoonah at first we were sad because we had a fun train ride planned but oh were we so glad we ended up here.  to this day we talk about some of the unexpected ventures we had that day.  it was fitting to have this rainbow show up on one of those adventures some of my favorite pictures came from that little town

Just enough

struggled with this theme from kim klassens beyond the layers class  finally came up with this




used just 2 layers of texture on this one called awaken and the other called chamomile  tried to make it uncluttered but couldn't resist putting some words in it

my story

  

my story

that's me in all my glory at work  Not to bad for a cell phone picture  First off I will have you note the pants they are green and the rest is brown   That is what I get for getting dressed in the dark and hubby never noticed as I walked out the door that way.  what does that show you well, I suppose I could have gone home and changed, at least at lunch, but NO stayed and worked even told others what I did  just how I am if you can't laugh at yourself then life is just no fun  It shows I make mistakes, lots of them at times, and sometimes I don't learn from them, yes this has happened before 

Any how a little about me  I am a 46 year old working mom of a 21 year old  Not sure how time crept up so fast but it did  I think sometimes my head doesn't realize I am suppose to be an adult  I work full time in a legal office with the title of accounting clerk but really its more like jack of all trades but I pay the bills and maintain a database most of the time  

In my spare time I have fallen back in love with pictures  I don't always take a good picture but I keep trying  I have improved over the last few years and each year my scrapbooks get bigger  or that could be that I have a digital camera and don't know when to stop taking pictures when I do take pictures   Because I am at work all day it is usually  the weekend when I catch up taking pictures especially in the winter when I leave in the dark and get home in the dark  I don't ever plan to get rich with taking pictures just want to improve on what I take mostly  

I also like to make cards and use rubber stamps for that  I have another blog for that and just recently started it back up again  I recently started walking 1/2 marathons I know crazy right but once you start it gets a little addictive  I love to try new things, yoga is on the list for this year  love my dog and frequent model for my pictures a westie named Duncan   and if I had more time and money my favorite thing is to travel  ANYWHERE

so that is a little tid bit on me looking forward to meeting everyone in the beyond the layers class 

Hello 2012

so here we are 2012 another new start.  a couple of days ago I asked you what your word for the year was and told you mine was challenge.

I am going to personally challenge myself this year to a few things and here are my top 10, or at least the 10 I can think of at the moment not in any order.

1. more exercise and do at least 2 1/2 marathons
2. be a better person (take that however you like)
3. finish more projects - to many ufo's in my life.
4. work more at learning more about photography
5. have a better attitude (goes along with #2)
6. read more - i miss reading and over the years have not done much.
7. be a better friend (more of #2)
8. learn yoga
9. take better care of me
10. be more thankful to the people around me and god.

to help me accomplish some of these things I have signed up to do 2 different photo challenges for the year:

kim klassens's beyond the layers  - 52 weeks of encouragement, motivation and inspiration centered around, but so much more than phtoshop.

my life with 3 boybarians p52 challenge -  1 photo once a week for a year challenge.

other challenge update:
still looking into a yoga class that fits my schedule but its coming,
working on my list of projects to complete at retreat in january
need to get back into walking (i so hate the cold need to get over that)
 



http://stampmousephoto.blogspot.com/2011/12/what-is-your-word-for-2012.html
And don't forget to link up to your word for 2012.

hint of autumn

I added a new tab:  photography challenges and looking for more entries anyone know of any please let me know.

autumn is hitting the trees finally here.  although with it comes colder weather which I am not fond of.

I used 2 of kim klassens textures pumpkin and paper staiined then a frame by shadowhouse



check out the other entries in the texture tuesday by kim klassen





also linking up with the creative exchange always a great place to see some amazing picutures:

autumn weeds

bought a new point and shoot to take with me to San Francisco in a couple of weeks for the marathon. can't really take my big girl camera because traveling light and can't run with it. I bought a nikon coolpix s9100 so did a few test shots over the weekend while on a short hike. it was right at noon so very bright out (not complaining summer can stay as long as possible)

these weeds needed help though the original picture is below so I added kim klassens autumn texture  in color burn mode then some pumpkin grunge to it and they really popped.




the theme for this texture Tuesday is gratitude I am so gratefully for a wonderful day in the sun with my hubby and dog.

ocean dreams

one of the best things about stolling along the beach, a quiet deserted beach, is that you can reflect, think and dream.  I added some pumpkin grunge and dream textures by kim klassen to this picture to spice it up a bit.



where do you go to reflect and dream??

linked up to tuesdays textures by kim klassen

textured light

well last week I was gone and kind of screwed up the order of my posts so my texture Tuesday didn't post on Tuesday but Wednesday.  ugh.  here is this weeks post.  I used the ceiling of one of the casinos in Vegas that I loved and added a couple different textures from kim klassen and a frame from shadowhouse. 

below is the original.

Montana state flower

I used kim klassen's texture pourous a different way.  the photo itself has no texture on it.  the very edges are dark only becuase the layer has texture layer has been multiplied and altered.  I used pourous for the background resizing so it would be a 4 x 6 then added teh photo and text.  then went back and added it again and as you can see used the multiply mode and took away some so it had some dark edges.

here is the original picture:

so see another use for textures.  

check out all the other texture uses at the cafe:

check out the creative exchange for some gorgeous photos:

http://www.lgordonphotography.com/2011/07/creative-exchange-july-11th-july-15th.html?showComment=1310616462896#c6751073931891146804

nature is the art of god

for texture tuesday this week we are to do somethign with 3's.  I came up with this submission it actually has very little work done to it but you can see the pumpkin grunge by kim klassen really made it pop. 



here is my receipe:

everything is at 100 %.

here is the orignal:

using texture on faces

something I have wondered if it would work and over at kim klassen's last week she talked about.  I used her golden texture on our picture here and it worked wonders for the darkness.  originally my husband took this of me and my son but it lacked brightness so I added the color and then used a coffee shop frame and background paper to do the rest. still not happy with the picture but I will take what I can get since I don't get to see my son much



this is what the orignal looked like

Enlighten the soul

I have always loved this picture of the flower but thought I would spice it up a bit.

bluebird

a few hours left to vote for your favorite french kiss image mine is number 22 looks like the thumbnail dropped off my words that are on the picture though darn; http://frenchkisstextures.com/brushes/images-using-the-free-french-script-photoshop-brushes/







saw this bird flying through a field at antitium and was able to get this shot I added a bit of texture and words to spice it up a bit


added this to the texture tuesday by kim klassen the queen of textures

the door

I took this picture when I was in frederick, md and loved the way it looked but thought it needed just a little something so I added a texture by kim klassen to add just a little boost

this was the original shot

part of texture tueseday

lilac in waiting

Spokane is the lilac city and the month of may is our celbration with lots of parades and activities.  Normally by the first few days in May they are all in bloom.  Not this year here it is the end of the first week and may and this is all my lilac's are still not near full bloom.

I finally figured out, thanks to gail of digital photo walk taught me how to do a screen print yeah..  I have also placed a link to her page where she describes this in my tips page.

so anyhow here is the recipe for the ablove picture.   As you can see I have Kim Klassen's warm sun texture and shadowhouse's oil painting with some masking done and lastly another shadowhouse mask on top.  All done if photoshop elements 9

and for refrence here is the original picture


as you can see the original is a bit blurry and blah.  seems we can't have a bit of sun without wind these days. ugh.


and for my sweeet shot of the week for my 3 boybarions: 

one touch of nature

did this for Kim klassen's texture Tuesday.  Added her warm sun texture and a little lens flare to accentuate the bit of flare already present on the tulip.

bask

another class project from kim klassen's skinny minny course using adjustment layers, textures and masks.  I so learned something new 'screen" wow cool now my textures work

this daffodil was actually taken on a light box in the dark around midnight a couple of nights ago added a couple of different masks including a bight bokeh I found but can't remember where i found it on the web.  Normally i rename my masks and textures with where I got them like the rim is by shadowhouse but darn it this was one of the first in my collection and I don't remember where i found it.  This daffodil was part of a test I was trying but haven't done the rest the rest of the test yet need to figure that part out in photoshop too.

hope you are enjoying my words and quotes this month.  along with my experimenting.  Next month is music month.

springtime

i am taking a class from kim klassen called the skinny mini and this is the first assignment. The first lesson was getting around in pse9 , resizing and adding text.   It fits in perfectly with my month long quotes and words theme.  learning more and more every day. this flower was NOT taken recently it is still gray and blah here.


hmmm springtime guess that means I am going to need to change my banner real soon. if only it felt and looked more like spring here