Earth laughs in flowers!

So a few weeks back, I met the sweetest gal, Emily from Family and Life in Las Vegas.  We met through our blogs during a blog hop I participated in.  From time to time, I love spending some time seeing what others are doing... and thinking... and sharing!  It's really good for the soul and the creativity process.  Anyway, Emily stopped by my blog because I had stopped by hers.  She had made a comment on my "tutus and trunks post"(still one of my favorite canvases I've created -- beautiful Baby Kendall captured by talented photographer, Vikki from Vikki Dinh Photography).  Emily made a comment that the picture was beautiful and that she always wanted to have a picture done on canvas..."maybe one day!" she said.  I thought, "There's no time like the present!" when I remembered a posting I saw on Songberries blog about a free 8x10 canvas offer by CanvasPeople.  So I told her about this offer I noticed on Songberries blog.  I was happy to offer her my services to make this happen.  A few weeks later, she sent me the following picture... It was the sweetest picture of flowers!  This is my first "nature" project for a client.  I was expecting a family picture or the kiddo picture...but instead I got a picture of flowers! How fun!

Original SOOC

Emily's vision was to create a "subway art"-styled canvas with this photo.  She wanted words like rejoice, celebrate, love, joy, etc.  She also wanted to incorporate a special quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Earth laughs in flowers." I LOVED that quote!  So I began working on this really fun project. I always create a few different versions in an effort to match the various personal tastes that varies from person to person. Here are some of the samples I created for this project.

First, I enhanced the color of the photo because I wanted it to have a really full-of-color feel to match the power of the words she requested.  Then I selected a color scheme by pulling colors from the photo and began selecting fonts that expressed the words visually to me. Then I added some pretty little sun spots and a soft milky frame to give it a little mystical feel and added some little daisy embellishments in the top corners.  I liked the results...

Color-enhanced photo

Then, I wanted to play a little more with the photo.  I just started using a trial version of a product called Topaz which has some really cool features to enhance photos.  I'd been dying to try it out so I played with their product called Clean Adjust.  It allowed me to stylize the photo...

Stylized Photo

Here is a close up of the difference between the color enhanced photo compared to the stylized photo...

Close up of the color-enhanced photo

Closeup of stylized photo

The stylized just added a little more texture and line to the photo.  I personally really love this effect for this particular photo.

Then I did another version, a little more of a crisp clean look (knowing that not everyone likes the embellished artsy look.)

Crisp clean version

I sent these versions to Emily to get her feedback.  It's a good time in the process to get a better idea of what the client likes (and don't like) and fine tune to the finish product.  Emily asked if I could create a lace-like frame. I wanted to see how a closer-in crop of the picture would look like so I created this...

Lace frame with a closer view of the flowers

In the end, Emily chose this version of the photo for the final printing of the canvas... The stylized photo including the really cool quote with the milky frame, sunspots and sweet daisy embellishments.  The gallery wrap sides of the canvas will be a dark sky blue that matches to the darker portion of the sky.  She sounded thrilled and I gotta tell you that is the best part of what I do!

Emily's pick

 Here's my favorite version...pretty much same as Emily's pick but with a closer-in view of the flower!

My pick

Emily promised me a picture of the final canvas when she receives it back from CanvasPeople.  I will post it here...I'm hoping it turns out great!!!

What's your favorite version?

Love and blessings!

Kathy

Fix-It Friday #73 | Photo Editing Fun!

Once again, it is Fix-It Friday over at iheartfaces.  This weeks photo is an adorable photo of Keli Hoskins' daughter, Emma.  Here is my attempt of creating a sweet vintage style of her portrait.

Take a look at all the other edits at iheartfaces! Congratulations and best wishes to Keli and her new baby girl, Lucy Jane!

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)