Fix-It Friday #72 • Photo Editing Fun!

Another Fix-It Friday at iheartfaces.  This week's photo is a beautiful portrait of a father leaving his child for deployment. This image really made me stop and think about how much these families give for the safety of our country. I send to the Rivera family my deepest gratitude.  Julia posted a beautiful posting about her husband's deployment.  Click here to read her article and see a glimpse of a beautiful and remarkable family.  But I've got to warn you...it is a tear jerker!

Here is how I edited the photo...

Check out the other edits at this weeks Fix-It Friday!

My deepest sentiments go out to Julia and her family.

Love and blessings!

Kathy
xoxo

Week 38 • Smirk Photo Challenge

So every week iheartfaces.com hosts a weekly photo challenge.  This weeks challenge is themed a 'smirk'.  How's this for a smirk!  Go check out all the other participants' photos -- they are always so amazing!  Enjoy!

iheartfaces Weekly Challenge Week #37

My first entry in the iheartfaces weekly challenge.  Not sure if a gondola meets the vroom, vroom, vroom requirement :) but technically it is a source of transportation (especially in Venice!).  Check out the other entries by clicking here!

How to make a Baby

Today I am going to walk you through the design process of creating a beautiful canvas.  I cannot begin to express in words how much I truly love, love, love doing what I do.  For me it's about creating something really special that someone can have for a very long time.  But it's not just about longevity, it's about the meaning of the subject of the canvas.  It's about capturing a special moment in time...capturing the essence of a moment or the spirit.  I really cannot explain it in words but I do know that we all experience moment by moment, a specialness and when that moment is with someone or something you truly love, it is our nature to want to hold on to that moment.

Recently, a friend contacted me because he wanted to give a special gift to a friend.  It was a gift to celebrate the birth of her first child. Here is the original photo I received...

It is such a sweet picture of newborn baby Gabriella.  Like all newborns, she had little bit of markings and redness on her face and hands.  The first thing I did was take it into Aperture (I am a converted MAC person after 20+ years using PCs with a degree in Computer Science) to clean up the photo which turned out like this...

Now she looks all sweet and peaceful...I bet that's exactly how she felt inside.  Now the fun part begins for the artist in me.  For this portrait, I really wanted to capture the sweet innocence of the moment.  So  I began playing with different colorings to enhance the image.  I was also excited because I had free reign to do whatever looks wonderful.  The client didn't have specific expectations.  He just wanted something wonderfully created for a gift.  When I work on a photo, I use a combination of actions and manual adjustments.  Lately, my favorite actions are Florabella Luxe and Pioneer Woman combinations. Really, I just play until I like what I see and I have a warm fuzzy feeling inside.

Florabella Luxe action - Pandora

Florabella Luxe action - Gypsy

Florabella Luxe action - Ruby

Pioneer Woman action - combination of Soft and Faded and Vintage

I liked the soft vintage feel of the final photo and decided to build upon it -- simply because of its nostalgic nature. I personally think heirlooms are the best gift of all... something that will never really look dated but is classic (time descending) and that was what I kept in mind while working on this canvas.  Meanwhile an image kept appearing in my mind.  I had been wanting to create a 1.5" gallery wrap canvas where the sides of the canvas would be a floral pattern.  The lettering on the baby blanket offered challenges in the design so it needed to go.  The client asked that the name and birthdate embellish the canvas...and tada!  Here is the file to be printed onto canvas...

Here is the final canvas...

Full front view

Name and birthdate embellishment

The floral print has a light whispy texture adding to the innocence of the canvas

Floral print on side of canvas

I always find it hard to take pictures that really capture the beauty of the canvas.  There is something very special about how the ink adheres to the canvas that makes a canvas so much more dimensional than a regular photo.

From this...

to this...

That's how you make a baby! hee hee! well, anyway --  a beautiful, special custom baby gift!

Love and blessings!

Kathy

SewTamz Designs Celebrating Year 2 with a Giveaway

My sister is Tammy from SewTamz Designs.  She makes the most beautiful, softest and most durable camera strap covers.  I am so proud of her beautiful products and what a wonderful business she has built.  She loves fabrics and talks about her inspiration on her blog.  Here is one of my faves...it is made from vintage kimono silk!  Love, love, love it!  Check out her blog for more beautiful designs!

Camera Strap Cover made from vintage kimono silk.

SewTamz Designs is starting off her second year on Etsy, and in celebration, my sister is giving away one of her fabulous camera strap covers.  Check out the The Savvy Mom's Guide for details!  Maybe you will be the lucky winner!  Good luck!

Me and my sister Tammy (from SewTamz)

Fix-it Friday

So I thought it would be fun to participate in my first Fix-it Friday as part of the fabulous I Heart Faces blog.  I edited this photo with the help of Florabella actions Pandora and Madamoiselle and Pioneer Women actions seventies and quick edge burn.  I was going for a romantic and intimate feel.

The original file looked like this...

Love and blessings,
Kathy