More Blends

Today's picture was inspired by:
ottilie-simpson

I am having so much fun with these blends - I just wanted to keep playing.
The original picture:


the play



Original

the play

What else can I come up with . . .

270/365 Summer Flower

I'm having so much fun with these Blends from Designs by Christina.
Here is today's picture after using one of the blends.


This is what the original looks like


and this is a picture of my daughter I took last year but I added one of Christina's blends. Cool effect!

269/365 Story Board story . . .

Tonight was our evening with Miss Isabella.

We pulled out her pretty red dress and she insisted on having the tumers, which is what she has been calling her Easter gloves. I'm assuming because of the thumb that her mom was trying to teach her that each finger has a compartment in the glove - especially the thumb-kin.
So she gave me "one" shot at getting a good picture of her. The rest was just plain ol' silly.

She really was done with the first picture so she hid her eyes. Oh o.k. one more time.




This was the first time I've ever seen her do that. She threw her head back and put her hands in prayer position and closed her eyes. She was probably praying: "Oh Lord, Please make her stop!"

. . . and then, she was really done. She laid down and told me she was tired. Well, that was not much of a photo shoot, but she wasn't having it. Oh how fun. I thought she would have out grown this by now.


at the end of it all she comes towards me and says "My turn" and tries to grab my camera. She wanted to take my pictures. Seeing as my camera weighs more than she does, I don't think so. Maybe next time I'll get the point-n-shoot out.

268/365 Summer Reading

My summer reading so far.
I finished all 4 Twilight Series in 2 weeks - when I need a break from life I pick up a book. My daughters have both inherited my love of reading. As a matter of fact, they have surpassed me. They passed on and recommended some of these books to me, so now I ask them, "what are you reading? Any suggestions what I should read next?" They tell me. Unfortunately, my boys don't share my love of reading. Maybe they'll grow into it.

Let me know if you've read any good books lately, I might need some more suggestions.



I took this picture with the OCF and then played with some "Blends" by Designs by Christina
I bought some of these blends but this lady is super generous and she's always giving away free stuff. Check out her website.

267/365 A memorial run and . . .

Dave and his motorcycle club of Police Officers did a memorial run today in Chicago.
Ed Lopez (Pam's husband) is part of the Illinois chapter of that club, that's how Dave found out about it, well they met up and I think this is a nice picture of the two of them.


This one is for Pam, it's her husband riding in front of Dave - Dave took these with his Point & Shoot Camera.

He had to out do me. Since I took pictures from the back of the bike, he took a few shots while driving/riding the bike. There you have it, the skyline of Chicago from the motorcycle driver! Show off. LOL I think he did awesome and I'm glad his mom wasn't there to see him doing that.


and while the guys were out on their bikes I made a few pieces of jewelry.
They look pretty nice but I wasn't able to take really good pictures of them. The bottle gave off to much of a glare and the fabric made it look too dull.
Any suggestions?

266/365 My project today

Pam and I went shopping for this Damascus printed fabric early this summer and then we hit the goodwill and she found the most amazing chair which she painted and reupholstered. I loved the final outcome and I've been trying to find a similar chair - to no avail. However, my MIL, who is always taking care of me :), found out that I was looking for an "older" looking chair for the studio, so she gave me this one. Today, I started working on it. I took the cushion apart and realized I would need new foam. So off to Joann's I went. While I was gone David decided he would help and he sanded the chair down. By the time I got back he had already given the chair it's first coat of paint. Thanks baby! I appreciate it. I finished it and added the cushion back.

Here is the final result. I'm pretty happy with it.

265/365 Drive by shootings

It's funny I just saw that Sandy Puc posted on her face books images she took from the back of a motorcycle. It reminded me of the images I took last week in Ohio from the back of the Harley. These images called for a lot of drama so Topaz Adjust in Photoshop Elements was put into action.

You can see Dave and me in the rearview mirror. I tried to capture lots of sun flares.




There were very scenic roads with lots of sharp turns.



and this is Dave and his friends from the Gun Fighters Motorcycle club.

262 - 264

Tuesday
Playing around with studio lights
The bench is in the process of being re-done. I bought this fabric when I hung out with Pam Lopez so I reupholstered the fabric part. The wood will be painted soon.


Wednesday
More playing in the studio BUT...
LOOK AT THIS CHAIR.



my new cousin, Andie, gave me this awesome looking chair! I've been looking for one for the studio for a long time and there it was in Andie's little shop. OMG she has been so generous! THANK YOU ANDIE!!!
Now convincing my father in law that it did indeed fit in his Tahoe was another story. Thanks Jan & Alex for transporting it for me. Love ya both.


Thursday
Well my little "models" are getting tired of modeling for me but no one else will . . .
maybe to much Depth of field or Bokeh?

I've grown a pepper plant like this for the last couple of years but I don't know if they are edible or not. They grow Red, Orange and purple. I'm assuming they are just ornamental and not meant to be eaten.

256 plus 261 (vacations over) Long post.

Hello!
I've missed catching up on every one's blogs and lives. We had the most amazing time on our trip with Dave's family in Ohio. It took me a little longer to recover from 12 hours on the Harley than I had expected. We need a bigger bike - LOL. Well I have lots of catching up to do so lets start with

256 Wednesday, July 15
This was taken from Dave's parents vehicle. Dave's mom worried about traffic the whole time. She couldn't stop looking back. That's a mom for you.



257 Thursday, July 16
We went to visit a family cemetery and I was fascinated by this statue. Her face is so haunting.



Dave & I met up with the president of his motorcycle club. Gun Fighters, Nomad. He lives in Florida and happened to be crossing Ohio the same time we were there. So they decided to meet up. (This is a law enforcement club)




258 Friday, July 17

Andie (my cousin by Marriage) has created several programs to help people in matters of health and diet. It's really more complicated than that, but as part of her program she created this "market." She's is such an awesome person. I absolutely love her personality. I'd like her personality to rub off on me. She's family to me!

Andie's the one in the middle.



We also met a lot of the family but I'm only sharing 2 of the kids here




259 Saturday, July 18
The rock where Jan (my MIL) sat on as a child.

See Jan, you're not sitting alone any more.

The hills and valleys that Jan grew up on. What a beautiful place!

A night in the town - fun posing



260 Sunday, July 19







261 Monday, July 20
Back Home

255/365

Isabella and I had another play date. This time we went to my mother in laws house and played with Aunts and uncles, grand parents and great grand parents. We blew bubbles, tried silly string (which was only funny when we sprayed uncle Izzy) ate, stamped. Whew, I'm tired.




The "other" ladies of the house got a nice hair cut for the summer. Well, it's more like they got shaved. They look 100% different. I love the new look. They look all tiny and slim and trim again.


Dave & I are taking the motorcycle to Ohio, we will be following Dave's parents and Alex will be there too. So I won't be back on line for about a week.

254/365 Another Iowa Wedding

I second shot for Shawn on Saturday in Iowa. This bride and groom looked like models.