Photo Editing

This site is no longer in use. You can see all this information and new posts at my new blog Maggie Muggins Designs.

I love having fun in Photoshop. Today, in light of the season, I decided to play around with this picture of mini pumpkins that I took last year. I wanted to wash it out more to make the orange one really stand out. First I brightened the colors. Then I used a texture to give it a vintage look. Lastly I rounded the corners.

I love how the photo turned out. It feels a lot less like an actual photograph to me now. I think I'll print this for the dining room for some more seasonal decor.

Before:

After:

Actions: Fresh & Colorful from Pioneer Woman's Action Set 1

Texture: SubtleGrunge4 from Lost and Taken

Rounded Corners: Tutorial from Pioneer Woman

DIY Graphic Design

This site is no longer in use. You can see all this information and new posts at my new blog Maggie Muggins Designs.

I'm back with projects to share! I figure a nearly 4 week break was long enough. I've started so many things but I'll confess I'm a little overwhelmed with the idea of going out to purchase the few supplies needed to complete them. I blame it on the brand new baby! I can't wait to share some of my projects with you, here's some recent ones.

A couple of months ago my friend contacted me. (The proud recipient of this creation.) She wanted suggestions for wedding invitations. I replied with what may have been an overload. I explained the various styles, options, do it yourself versions, and wished her luck. Her reply was grateful, but she wanted to know more about the "Postcard" version of wedding invitations. I sat down and quickly threw together a sample for her in Photoshop to give her an idea. Ends up, that's what she decided she wanted. So after much tweaking on my part, a correction of wording and the addition of pictures the invitations (on my end were complete). The trick was finding a good price on printing.

They chose UPrinting.com as their printer. They were quick with getting the invitations to her, made one mistake (Not too serious: they made 600 invitations instead of 200 and sent her the whole bunch without charging her for the extras!) and the quality is great. I love that both sides of the invitation are glossy, unlike a true postcard, and the card stock is a nice weight. I was so excited to get a copy! Here's what it looks like:

That was so easy and so much fun to do! After I had completed the invitations I got on a role. I decided to design shower invitations for my friends shower. These were printed at OvernightPrints.com. This company was cheaper but the quality was great as well. The gloss is a much higher sheen, just too glossy for a wedding invitation, but great for these. I copied the design directly from a site, and added some wording for the theme.

Lastly I did my own baby announcements! Again these were a design I saw online and duplicated. I printed them at the same place as the shower invites. I love them!!!

I'm linking this up to Kimm's Trash to Treasure Tuesday at Reinvented and Kim's Get Your Craft on Party at Today's Creative Blog. I'm also linking up to Kimba's DIY Day on A Soft Place to Land. Head on over to these party's to see other creative projects.

Confession # 5: I am a Momarazzi

This site is no longer in use. You can see all this information and new posts at my new blog Maggie Muggins Designs.

Ever since our first son was born I've had this irresistible urge to document my child's life through photography. My habit of capturing cute moments in still grew significantly when my camera was upgraded. Last week our second son was born. All 8lbs 15.1oz of cuteness came out after 15 minutes of pushing. Of course, the fact that I was immobile and had just spent several hours in labor were not going to stop me. Within minutes the camera was back in my hands and I was taking photos of our beautiful little boy.

So to confess that I am addicted to taking pictures of my children might not be surprising for some of you. (Especially for my husband.) But recently I realized the depths of my addictions. I'm not sure if it was the moment I was taking pictures of my son in my hospital bed, or later when I was looking at the various lenses, flash, and other accessories on my Amazon wish list. But I realized I am full fledged member of the Momarazzi! My poor, poor children. I hope I'm not too embarrassing when they're older and I'm on the sidelines cheering and taking pictures.

I need to go take more pictures of my kids. I'll be back with more projects soon. Thankfully I'm recovering quickly!