Vintage Linen Springtime Nursery

I went on a rampage today at the good ole Goodwill. I came home with scores of vintage linens and pillowcases. It's time to add a burst of spring around here and what a better way, then to add a touch of freshly washed pillowcases and sheets in bright and sentimental feeling designs to crisp white bedding?

The sheets I purchased are currently in the wash and I can't wait to get started on this new little project, and can't wait to show you how it turns out. Easy, simple, fairly cheap and whatever I end up not using, will be going promptly to my etsy shop's vintage section. Oh, I got a lot of goodies to add in there, and desperately need to retake the pics of what I have in stock!

In search of bedroom ideas, I found chik austin's lovely blog. I toured her home sweet home posts, and wow, what fun finds!

I love the "You are My Sunshine" print she has by the amazing, The Wheatfield.

I have three of these fiesta dresses, you can see one here. But altering them pillowcase style for children? Adorable! Her vintage Raggedy Ann, Mickey Mouse and other books and toys from her childhood are a wonderful addition to her children's room.

her boy and girl shared room works wonderfully

gotta love the dress up and frame walls!

From her amazing nursery, to the shared kids room and everything else, this busy (fellow Texan) mom has an eye for design and a creative spirit. She is also involved in a project called Craft Hope, which helps children around the world in need. The blog is here and there is even a book you can preorder here full of tutorials of other crafters and bloggers with links to charities. Here, you can see how one of her projects, was overflowing with handcrafted donations to orphanges in India.

 I will have to go and tour the rest of the blog soon.  *ps, spacing and picture placement issues are my arch nemesis today!

Childhood Dreams

"Today, find a photo of yourself as a child, put it in a pretty frame, place it on your desk or night stand and remember. That child had dreams, remember? Have you accomplished any? Write them down and choose one to make a reality."  ~crazyland

This is me at dance, betwen the ages of my two children's right now. They created a special class for my age group just for me, called the Baby Dolls, because I wanted to dance so badly. My teacher's names were Miss Rose (Virgina Kickbush who had a small part in Parent Trap) and another whom I loved. I need to find those photos, in storage somewhere :(

Green Eyed Beauties

Maybe it is the make-up artist in me, or the general artist in me, but I really love these ink and water color portraits. Something so exoctic and fairy tale-ish about them. A grungy ethereal feeling, you know? Artworks in the illusive contemporary illustration part 3 book by we were damsels.  (Unsure if this her work or not, it's been a long time since I've seen this post and can no longer find it, so if you know, link below!)

Creating Heart Bokeh Using Picnik

In this post, I talked about bokeh, and it's beauty. There are many ways of acheiving the look, you can either create a mask for your lens to create it physically or use photoshop brushes. Well, regular point and shoot cameras like mine won't accept a lens nor work in that capacity, and I dont have photoshop, so I decided to create my own... for free.

I used Urban Pink's Palm tree bokeh style, in that it focused on a stream of light around the trees for the inspiration of this photo.

My husband took this beautiful picture on a lovely October day in 2009 from our 3rd floor balcony. We joked with our toddler how we lived in the trees because all of our windows were surrounded by leaves.

First, I uploaded this photo to Picnik. I cropped it, brightened the exposure a bit and that was it for prepping the photo.

Second, I went to "create", then "stickers". I choose the heart sticker under "basic shapes" for this photo. (Click on photos to zoom)

I made one heart in the desired opacity, size and color, then simply duplicated it about 25 times. You duplicate by right clicking on the image and chosing "duplicate".  After that, I duplicated another heart in a different color and kept going. I have a pink, orange, yellow, teal and white. I would probably go with less colors next time, but I wanted full impact since this is a tutorial. With a few hearts, I went back and made the opacity a little less and some a little stronger.

I now continued to spread my hearts around. Remember, they need to clump and overlap in places. I started with a central point and went out from their in thinning tangents for a natural distribution feel.

There isn't much more you can do to the bokeh hearts at this point, because they are only stickers. So any effects you do on the photo won't apply to them. So, save your photo under a working name and close this one out.

Now, you are going to reupload your photo. Notice now, the hearts are flattened and are officially part of the photo.

We now are going to work on making those hearts glow and softening their edges. I first went to "create", then "effects" and used a bit of "ortonish" to enhance the overall color of the picture and the hearts.

Then, I went to "soft focus" and put it on it's strongest setting. When you do this, it softens the whole photo, which is not what I want. So, I go to the tool box that appears and choose my brush size and strength. I take me tool (the circle) and simply erase where I don't want the softening. I erase it from the trees and on some of the hearts so that not all hearts are totally softened.

After that is complete. I save it and go on to "boost". This is what is going to add that glow! I adjust it and save.

After the glow, the softening and color is perfect! BUT, some of the defintion in those lovely clouds on the right is lost. So, I go over to "touch up" and choose my trusty "mascara" wand. I use this tool all the time to bring back definition. I just go over the clouds, the tree line and a few select hearts.

While still under the "touch up" tab, even though some hearts are softer, I would like to blur  some of the edges a tad more.  So I go to "air brush" make a small wand and air brush some of the heart lines.

Now, I go back to the "effects" tab, then to "vingette", and add a soft layer of black. It really adds more depth to the photo and brings the focus where I want it to go.

So, maybe I went a little overkill with the hearts, but this was just an excersize and my first time as I documented my process as I went.  I decided to play with sizes and lessen the cloud of hearts, remove the orange ones and make more clumpings.... and I love it!

I added a few faded white circles to the corners in the larger hearts for some depth. I also removed the "vingette" and the "boost" was bright and beautiful, but I added some "gritty" to the photo to add some character, lessen the brightness and make it more like a dream.

This is merely an example of how playing around with an image and pushing your imagination takes you places you never thought you could go. So, save your work and enjoy! Next time, try hexagons, circles, stars, different colors or all white or a lovely mix :) I would love to see what you do!!

BIG GIANT PS!!! If that above was too complicated, Picnik has a built in Bokeh stamp! It's hearts and they sit at an angle, You just apply it to your photo, adjust the size, hardness and strength and you can edit the hearts on your page. To find them, just upload your photo, go to "create", then "seasonal" and then "valentines". You can either erase them where you want them gone, or hit the "reverse" check box and paint them on where you like. Easy!

*Picnik is a free photo editing tool that you just upload your photos to their website, no need to download the program. I have the ugraded membership which allows me to use the premium features (like mascara), but most of what I did here can be used on the free membership.

Waking Up

sing outloud every day bird print by please be still

I feel kind of like a zombie, every single day. Minus the craving of brains and rotting skin, of course, but the slow, jerky movements, the dragging of one leg as the other gimps forward. Eyes puffy and purple and twitching. Arms stretched outwards to catch me in case I black out for a minute and fall because I have not put my contacts in, or because my blood sugar is low. I feel like laying on the couch, barking barely legible commands to my children while swaddled in my down comforter until about 3:00 pm. My to do list keeps getting longer and longer as the majority of my day is lost in this haze of shrouded fatigue.

After about 3:00pm, I magically wake-up, like Dorothy in the "Wizard of Oz" when she opens the door of her black and white world into this magical kingdom full of vibrance and color. I finally have the much needed energy to do the things I have been wanting to do... but the day is getting late.

yellow brick road print by madd hatters lab

What is going on? I decided, I have become a victim of self-fulfilling prophecy. I know this is how I am every.single.day. so I have come to terms with it, I've hung up my punching gloves and said, "I am defeated by my body". Even though I feel like the witch that got a house dropped on her,  I've decided, "Well, not any more". I am going to wake up singing some "Meet Me in St. Louis" songs and dance and twirl my way through the morning. If I happen to pass out on the way to the living room and my warm and cozy blanket softens my fall, don't hate me. I can only try. Perhaps I'lll repost this again in a few months when I need a subtle reminder poke in the ribs... But for now, I am not going to be a "surrender Dorothy".

*this post was oddly appropriate, since I played a munchin in elementary school play, and a talking, semi-acrobatic toto in high school. I'll update with pics if I ever find them!

Herb Crusted Salmon and Asparagus Recipe

This is our dinner. I'm not a big fish person, and when I do make it, dill and lemon juice are usually involved... and I was just not in the mood for that.

So, using this recipe as inspiration, I came up with my own ingredients list since I didn't have half of what was called for. I found this site on substituting for teriyaki sauce and the A1, oj and Worcestershire turned out even better than teriyaki. And, even though we have gourmet Parmesan cheese given to us by a cheese scientist, I forgot to add it!

♥ Herb Crusted Salmon Steak ♥

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

1 egg
1 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs

1 teaspoon basil

1/4 c water

1/2 cup pulp free orange juice

1/2 cup A-1 steak sauce

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon butter

1/4 cup chopped red onion

1 tablespoon minced garlic

2 pounds salmon steaks

1. In a shallow, medium bowl mix Parmesan cheese, Italian seasoned bread crumbs, spices.

2. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, blend A1, orange juice, butter, red onion and garlic. Cook and stir until onions are tender.

3. Press one side of each salmon steak egg and dredge into the Parmesan cheese mixture. Place steaks crust side up in saucepan with sauce mixture. Cook over medium high heat until most of the liquid is reduced, 10 to 15 minutes, then flip with a spatula. Continue cooking until crust is golden brown and fish is easily flaked with a fork.

♥ Asparagus ♥

 

I usually blanch* asparagus first, to maintain the nutrients and green color, and to stop it from turning mushy during cooking, but I didn't this time, though I would usually suggest it.

 

1 lb fresh asparagus spears

1 tb oilve oil

1-2 cloves crushed garlic

1tb butter (we use smart balance)

salt/pepper to taste

1 tb seseame seeds

 

1. Cut off woody ends

2. Cut asparagus into 1 1/2 inch pieces

3. Heat oil in saucepan over medium heat. Add asparagus, garlic, salt and pepper. Cook on med heat, stirring frequently about 5 mins. Add butter and seseame seeds, cook until done.

 

*to blanch first:

Have a large bowl of ice water ready to go.

Boil a large pot of water. Now, place your asparagus into the boiling water. Cook until the asparagus turns a bright green. The time this will take will depend on how thick your asparagus stalks are. Usually takes about 2-5 minutes.

Remove asparagus from the pot with a slotted spoon or tongs and place into ice-water bath to stop the cooking process. This will tenderize the stalks a bit more, but they'll remain deliciously crunchy.

We served it with steamed rice with a touch of salt and pepper and butter and naan bread (we love our starches around here) and it was delicious... even for people who don't like fish, like me, I even ate more than 1 serving!

Heart to Heart

bokeh brush kit by tc-wiz-ane

Pretty, isn't it? I'm going to figure out a way to achieve this bokeh effect on my own. If you have a fancy schamncy camera, then go here to do it on your lens (and read the comments, they are awesome), or here, photoshop has bokeh brushes, but I have neither, nor do I have the ability to understand opening zipfiles. Stay tuned to see what I come up with, using my trusty ole picnik!