Sunny Day

SO, how cute is my kid!! This was from the fourth of July a while back. I just wanted to do some croping and exposure adjustments. I love it! Now I have to brag about it by posting it on THE BLOG. Hooooray!


P.S. Vanilla Joy is still running her craft givaway spectacular. With pictures like this I am REALLY needing to get scrapbooking. This stuff is great. We had the Cricut on Monday. A really neat cutting tool yesterday and TODAY- hooray for Sizzix! Check it out at http://www.vanillajoy.com/

Cricut

I have this dream world, a fantasy really. And in this place I am the perfect mom. I cook gourmet meals in my spotless home. I sew darling clothes for myself and my perfectly behaved son, and I create beautiful scrapbook pages to be passed on from generation.

Sadly, this is not the real world. My house is cluttered. Our meals must be able to be cooked in under 30 minutes. My son... well... I guess you just need to see the pictures under "Zach learns to feed himself..." below to understand. One thing is still in my power... the beautiful scrapbook pages. OK, maybe they won't be perfect but they will serve as my journal for future generations. A bit like this blog is my journal to share with family and friends who are so far away. What I "need" in order to make that happen is The Cricut. Oh how I would love a cricut. I've been eyeing it for a while. Then I discovered this blog:

http://www.vanillajoy.com/

She just happens to be having a contest to win just such a device. OK, OK, I realize I may not win but it's sure fun to dream right? I sure have fun hanging out in this little dream world of mine. And I just might have accidentally come accross a pretty neat blog. I'm really excited to dig into it a bit more and see what else she has to offer that could bring me that much closer to my perfect little dream world. Crafts? Parenting tips?

Before&After

OK- so I'm getting a bit carried away with this. I've decided I'm going to need to start an entirely new website devoted to my photography projects. Check this one out! Here's the Before and After of a table at Shaila's Luncheon:

The Bride!

I know, I keep teasing. I thow out a picture of the temple. I throw out a picture of some of the guests. I even had a lovely picture of the happy couple. STILL! What about the bride?? Isn't she supposed to be the center of all of the photographs? The muse of the entire experience? The groom may look sharp, maybe even shnazzy... but he can never measure up to the BRIDE! And what a bride she was. I played around with photoshop a little bit on this picture too but really the only thing I needed it for was to adjust for my imperfect photography skills- She, on the other hand, looked flawless

The Guests

Here's me, my mom and Zach. I have gotten totally adicted to this photoshop stuff. I liked this picture more for the sentimental side than the picture itself. Some of the colors were washed out and Zack had a good amount of drool running down his chin. I thought it might need some work. I started with fixing the devilish red-eye that we all had. Then I cropped it to get rid of some disttractions off to the side. Then I used the "heal" tool from photoshop to get rid of the drool on Zach's chin. Magic right? It still didn't have much in the way of drama though, not to mention I had gone a little overboard on the sunnless tan so the skin tone difference made me look like I wasn't even related to my mom or Zach even. So, I used the "boost" action from Pioneer Woman to bring out some contrast and then the "soft and faded" action. That's what left this looking like an old photo. I think it just added something different and exciting. (plus- it faded my fake baking) Aren't we cute?

INTRODUCING...

I know you've all been waiting at the edge of your seats... drumroll please. In all thier dreamy, luvvy duvvy, splendiforousness....presenting.... Mr and Mrs Scott Pew!!!!!!

Aren't they just glowing! I love how he's gazing at her, like she is the most beautiful thing he's ever seen and she is just obliviously happy. OK, maybe some of that glow is photoshop but they really are glowing. I just helped out a little bit so the rest of you could see it.

Underbite

Did you know that Jason has an under bite? You probably wouldn't notice it because of his beard but if he was clean shaved and really focusing on something, it might look something like this:



It seems like everyday I see just a little bit more of Jason in my sweet little boy. I love it! The blond hair with the cowlick in just the wrong spot so no amount of styling can tame it. The bright blue eyes and the look of total concentration. And that under bite... I just love that under bite.

Before:

Watercolor a la Photoshop

So, I know- I keep talking about this wedding and whatnot but I have yet to actually show any "Wedding" pictures. Be Patient. I am just getting into this photoshop stuff and I'm working my way up to the beautiful blushing bride shots. This one I just couldn't wait to show though. THIS is a "watercolor a la photoshop". I am really liking this! I played around with colors to bring out the blue sky and the warm tones of the sun on the side of the temple and I'm really quite pleased with it. Again, I'm sure there are still things I could improve on but I am a beginner and I'm excited to share... Ta Da!!!! The Arizona Temple

"The Daves"

August 8th, 2008- Shaila married her very own McDreamy- Scott Pew. My only question is, Who in their RIGHT MIND gets married IN ARIZONA in AUGUST!!!!! This shot was actually taken by good old Uncle Creed just outside the temple. It was hot, and there was no escaping the sun so most of our pictures consisted of squinty faces and teary eyes. THIS however, may actually be my favorite picture of the whole collection. Zach and Grandpa Dave- I call it: "The Daves"- but it must be said in a very low, dramatic, movie theatre style voice. Try it again.... "The Daves" See, much better. (for those of you who don't know, Zach's middle name is Dave-after his grandpa)

This picture also just happens to be my first Photoshop project. A little added saturation to counter the BLARING sun, and some burnt edges and WALA! I dunno, I'm new to photoshop and to be honest, I am completely intimidated by it. So, I'm just starting small. There's still a lot I would like to do with this picture but for now- I kinda like it. :)

Dang that kid is cute- You've got to love the slightly crooked grin.

Mom put this strange orange thing on my head. At first I could just see the tip of it at the top edge of my peripheral vision so I decided to go after it.

Ah Ha! I got it!

Zach learns to feed himself...

Doesn't this GQ pose just make you want to run out and buy whatever baby food I'm selling? I mean... really! How many kids can look THIS suave with oatmeal and squash from head to toe.
So, here's the story. I recently decided that I was way too cool for bottles. They are for babies after all. Why would I need one? In an effort to help me get more to drink, mom has taken on the challenge of teaching me to use a sippy cup. Attempt number one resulted in me finding great joy in gnawing on the tip. Yet, I still refused to suck any of the juice out of it.

This time Mom decided to take out the flow control valve in the cup so that I didn't have to really suck, in hopes that I'd figure out what to use the sippy cup for. She knew that this was going to be a pretty messy situation so she put my in my blow up baby pool and got ready to offer the cup. Then she thought she may as well take advantage of this messy opportunity and add to the mix by giving me some control of the spoon and food intake. I'm not sure if anyone has done research on this, but I'm pretty sure that food tastes better if you smear it all over yourself in the process of eating it.