scrapologie

Bunnies by the Bay & A Few Fave PS Actions

Sigh. I *seriously* need a beach vacation. I love little illustrations like this one to remind me of the vacations I've had that have been seaside. When you have seen the crystal, blue green waters of the Caribbean, you hold those colors in your mind's eye for the rest of your life. Thanks for letting me dream for a split second there!

So today, I thought I'd share with you a bit about some of the Photoshop Actions I love to use on my photos. I don't blog enough about how much I love using PS actions on my photos. It really helps to take your photos up a notch and can make an amateur photo look as though it was taken by a professional. When you start with a decent photo, the options and possibilities are endless. This is a photo I took of a hydrangea cutting from my backyard that I placed in a cream colored pitcher. The first photo is the original. The ones that follow all have different Photoshop actions applied on them.

Here is the original.  Occasionally you'll want to tweak the color and light before you apply an action. In some cases I don't do that as some actions lighten or brighten an image as part of the action. Most of the time, I use an action to boost the color and light in the photo, but you can also do this in Photoshop itself for free with the image adjustment features.

Now for a couple of my favorite actions! I love to use Aly's Vintage Photo action. You can download the action for free from this site, which is one of my favorite free sites for photoshop actions. You can spend hours exploring the actions. (Aly's Vintage is number 8 on the list). This next photo below is the original photo, with Aly's Vintage Action applied once. The third photo below shows the action applied twice (gives it the look of a photo in Country Living Magazine):

For the last photo, I took the original photo and applied this free Lomo PS action. (The first one on this site that says Lomo). I love its artsy feel.

There are tons more sites where you can download actions for free. Just google free Photoshop Actions and you'll be on your way to exploring the world of Photoshop Actions!

Marie Antoinette Masque

Here is a project I created awhile ago actually, when I picked up the Brenda Walton Madeline Line (K & Co.) from Michael's. It was fairly easy to do. Using a paper mask shape (also puchased at Michael's), I covered the mask front and back with the patterned paper, then added the gold trim and the embellishment at the top of the mask. I adhered a wooden dowel to the edge of the mask, after I wrapped it in a shimmery ribbon. If you want it to be really over the top you could dangle seam binding ribbon from the top of the dowel. These are great for a bal masque, for Mardi Gras or even for a Halloween Party. You could do a bunch of them and group them in a glass container as a festive centerpiece.I've also got a couple of Marie-ish images at the end of the post for you.

 

 

 

 

A Summer's Eve Concert

This summer, I want to take Alekha to a Picnic with the Pops concert here in Columbus. Actually, I will probably take her to one of the Popcorn Pops performances which is geared more towards children. These are musical evenings with the Columbus Symphony Orchestra, that take place on the lawn of a local business and you can bring your own food and spread a blanket out under the stars while you enjoy the music. My kind of summer entertainment!  Hope you get a chance to enjoy outdoor music, food and a summery evening before the summer is over. What could be more magical?

At The Beach

  

 

 

 

 

Seaside Memories

 

 

Checking in...

Hope you had a happy fourth! We were in Detroit with family and had a restful, enjoyable weekend. We didn't catch fireworks but kept the celebrations low key with a cookout and sparklers. Hope your weekend was fabulous.

I will be popping in later this week for a JBS add-on kit giveaway - so check back to toss your name in the hat for it.

In the meantime, I have to share my newest guilty pleasure. I can't seem to tear away from Merlin every Sunday night. And this guy is just swoon-worthy. Gotta go wipe the drool off the keyboard and head to bed, lol!