{Friday Photo Bliss}

On Friday I like to post one image I took that week that makes me happy.  Today I wanted to post this image of the boys reading while eating their lunch (we eat and do school at the same table). Well, Imp is looking at the pictures, he doesn't read yet.  I think he is going to be like his brother and avoid reading like the plaque until sometime in first grade.

I am an avid reader, but I have heard horror stories that boys are not as likely to read for pleasure.  I make sure that my husband and I read around the kids, but it didn't seem to make a difference.   Both boys would listen to me read to them for hours, but no way were they going to read to themselves.

Then a friend mentioned that she got her kids to read by leaving interesting books all over the place, and when they got bored they would pick them up.  She suggested books that boys would like, such as neat science books with photos and comic books (Calvin and Hobbes, Peanuts, and Garfield work in our house).

Well, I am lazy and clutter is often an issue in this house and we have a lot of books, so I decided to give this a go.  And it worked!

Yesterday Duke was feeling under the weather and I was trying to avoid turning on the idiot-box.  He said he was bored and I told him to go and read. I didn't hear a peep from him almost all afternoon (he was in his bed in his room), and when I checked on him he was reading Roald Dahl's The BFG and had read 125 pages!!!  I had a happy mommy moment.  I love Roald Dahl and it is so exciting sharing him with my son.

Do you want to download my favorite CoffeeShop Actions or Design Elements in one convenient zipped file AND help support this blog? Just click here for my action pack or here for a download of some of my most popular design elements, storyboards, and textures.

♥ Read more!

CoffeeShop Free Social Web Icons!

I was designing a blog for JJM Photography today (her photography is stunning, I want her to give me photography lessons) and I needed some new custom social icons.  I designed my own set where I could quickly adjust the colors/background and wanted to share them with you.    Yes, this website is possible because I don't like to bother with terms of use on any design elements in my commercial work so I try to create things that you don't have to bother with them either.  ;-)

I have included an Etsy, Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram (isn't my little camera precious?) button with both a circle and square background.  You can change the colors to anything you like and you may use these anywhere in your personal or commercial websites/blogs without worrying about giving me any credit.

This is a layered psd file for Photoshop/PSE.  When you open the icon file, resize it to your final button size and then simply turn on the background circle or square on the bottom and click on its color fill layer  to adjust the final color of your icon.  Then turn on the eyeball to the right by the icon you want to create, such as Instagram.

Save as a jpg if you are loading them on a white background or as a png if you are loading them on a colored background.  Then Edit, step backwards, and turn on the next icon.  As Imp would say, it is "easy as pie!".

If you want additional icons to go with this set, comment below and I will add them on a future post.  Yes, I am that nerdy...  And I am also going to post the adjustable dots vintage paper psd file and a new action in the next few days.  Thank you for your kind comments!

Download the free commercial/personal use CoffeeShop Social Icons.  You can also download them here.

Do you want to download my favorite CoffeeShop Actions or Design Elements in one convenient zipped file AND help support this blog? Just click here for my action pack or here for a download of some of my most popular design elements, storyboards, and textures.

♥ Read more!

CoffeeShop Vintage 4 Digital Paper Pack!

I love designing vintage digital papers and I made these yesterday and wanted to share them with you.  This is a set of ten high resolution papers and I hope you like them!

On some of the papers I used design elements from The Graphics Fairy (and used my Graphic Art action to remove the white background) and Shadowhouse Creations.

I designed the psd layered template for the dots digital paper. If anyone is interested I could post it for download later.  Then you can customize the colors yourself.  Comment if you are interested!

Download the free CoffeeShop Vintage Papers 4. You can also download them here.

Do you want to download my favorite CoffeeShop Actions or Design Elements in one convenient zipped file AND help support this blog? Just click here for my action pack or here for a download of some of my most popular design elements, storyboards, and textures. 

♥ Read more!

Paint Candy Sale and Giveaway!

April from Paint Candy sent this post over to me and I couldn't wait to share it with you!  Her textures look amazing and she has a wonderful sale and giveaway opportunity for you, my reader.

I also wanted to remind you about the Pretty Presets Canon 60d Giveaway and Sale on her newest Fine Art Presets for LR4.  Please check it out before it is too late!

Thank you for checking out my sponsors, they help make this blog possible.

I have a new beautiful action and set of vintage digital papers coming out this week, so please keep The CoffeeShop Blog bookmarked.  :-)

--------------

HI again from PaintCandy.org! We offer many different unique overlays that you will surely love. Our Overlays were created to enhance your photography. Our goal at PaintCandy is make your job as a photographer FUN! You will love the variety collections that we have to offer:

Lens Flares

Sunbursts 

Rainbows

Bubbles

Textures 

 

  PAINTCANDY GIFTS

 PaintCandy is proud is say we wil offer beautiful Photographer Gifts! We have a variety selection for different style photographers. Stay Tuned for more to be added to the collection.

   RELEASING MAY 22!

RELEASE MAY 22!

 We are excited about our New Collection SummaJars.This Collection is filled with Summer Fun! Turn your child into a Firefly with these easy Templates. For a Bonus PaintCandy is offering free Fairywing Brushes with a Tutorial! 

Package Includes:

Magic Bottle Template
Rose Bottle Template
Beach Jar Template
Disney Brave Template
FireFlies Jar Templates

Coffeeshop $150.00 Gift Certificate Giveaway!

ENTER BY DOWNLOADING TRAPPED JAR TEMPLATE FROM FREEBIE SECTION OF WEBSITE  AND POST YOURS RENDITIONS TO OUR FACEBOOK FANPAGE!!

           MEET PAINTCANDY CREATOR

    Hello COFFEESHOP FANS! My name is April and I am happily married with a beautiful daughter! I started photography 1 year ago this month and I have to say "I love Photoshop!".

    I developed and opened PaintCandy in Sept hoping to help photographers enhance there portraits. My passion that I love dearly is now my business! I enjoy teaching others and learning more along the way.  Feel free to stop by Facebook and say Hello!

♥ Read more!

CoffeeShop Designs Business Package (Logo/Website/Watermarking Action Kit) Special!!!

Are you starting a new business and need an internet presence but are overwhelmed where to start?  Let  us help you!

As you probably know, I am passionate about this blog and dedicate most of my free time designing freebies to share with you.  But my sister Heather and I also run a little design business on the side to bring in some extra income.  CoffeeShop Designs is one of the reasons I can keep everything free on this blog.  :-)

We have decided that we would pair up and offer an amazing package deal that will make it easy on you to get up and running on the internet whether you are a photographer, artist, graphic designer, interior designer, crafter, charity, etc.

For a limited time we are offering a special CoffeeShop Business Pack to readers of The CoffeeShop Blog.    You will get a custom logo design, customized Blogger blog/website design, and the watermarking action kit for $250 (restrictions do apply, this package normally starts at $324, additional fees might apply).  This should be everything you will need for your business to look professional and have an internet presence,

All you need to do is register for a free Blogger blog to get started if you don't already have one.  You can also buy your domain name through Blogger for $10/year, no hosting fees.  We personally love using Blogger because it is very user-friendly, stable, professional, mobile-viewing friendly, affordable (free!), and owned by Goggle.

Heather and I have years of experience designing logos/websites (please check my gallery of blog work, Heather's gallery of logo work) and we will do our best to make the entire design process as quick and simple as possible.

This will be on a first come/first serve basis and we only have limited spots available.  NOTE:  You must have a Blogger blog registered in order to purchase this package deal!

If you notify me you want this deal or place your order by this week (deadline Saturday, May 25th) I will include the design of 3 simple photoslides/top header (using your logo) for your blog for free (normally an additional $30 design fee, this package normally $354 but still only $250 with this deal).  You don't have to make payment until we start working on your design.

For more information or to place an order please email me (Rita) at coffeeshopphotography@yahoo.com.  Thank you!

New action coming out this week!!!  Today we hope to get out to the lake and go swimming.  We have a great swimming lake around an hour or so from our house.  Right now as I am working on the computer my poor husband is filling nail holes on our new rebuilt porch.  We have decided to paint it ourselves to save some money and right now I am not doing my fair share.  ;-)

♥ Read more!

Pretty Presets Canon 60D Giveaway and Fine Art Film Collection Preset Sale!

Laura from Pretty Presets just sent me this incredibly giveaway and new release/special price information.  These newest Lightroom presets are amazing, and if you have LR4 you have to check them out.  The only presets I use are Pretty Presets, and because they are so good I don't even bother writing my own.

---------------------

 

We are so excited to introduce our next Pretty Presets Collection!  It has been in the works since our last release of the Pretty Pastels Collection in February. Introducing our Fine Art Film Collection for Lightroom 4 and 5! Enjoy a special 30% discount through May the 24th. Normally $42, for only $29.40 through Friday the 24th. Plus, every purchase of the Fine Art Film Collection through the 24th will be automatically entered to win a Canon 60D body ($699 Value).

• Every purchase of the "Fine Art Film Collection" between May 16th-24th will be entered to win a Canon 60D ($699 Value).  
• Plus, when you purchase before midnight on the 24th you also receive a 30% discount. 
• Enjoy all 25 Pretty Presets for $29.40, instead of $42.
• Start enjoying them right after payment.  Instant Downloads!

The Pretty Presets Fine Art Film Collection brings a classic film inspired look to your images.  This unique collection includes presets ranging from beautiful vintage film inspired B&W conversions to rich split tones with a velvety matte finish.  The set also includes six amazing color presets that range from soft faded film styles to deep matte jewel tones.  

This set contains a total of 25 Presets, including 19 Original Presets, 2 Bonus Versions and 4 Grain Presets.  These presets are perfect for any style of natural light portrait photography.  These presets will work beautifully on children, family, boudoir, engagement and wedding sessions. This collection is optimized for Lightroom 4 and Lightroom 5 and can be used on both JPEG and RAW images

The Fine Art Film Collection Includes: Azure Mist, Bejeweled V1, Bejeweled V2, Blue Onyx, Faded Film, Fine Art Film, Licorice, Luxe Cocoa, Luxe Noir, Matte Color, Midnight, Nostalgic Film, Rustic, Silver Dream, Sterling, Summer Sky, Truffle, Velvetine, Vintage Treasure V1, Vintage Treasure V2, Wisteria and Add Grain 1, Add Grain 2, Add Grain 3 and Add Grain 4.

Special thanks to Brooke Logue Photography for the use of her beautiful images in this collection!

Don't forget!  

• Every purchase of the "Fine Art Film Collection" between May 16th-24th will be entered to win a Canon 60D ($699 Value).  
• Plus, when you purchase before midnight on the 24th you also receive a 30% discount. 
• Enjoy all 25 Pretty Presets for $29.40, instead of $42.
• Start enjoying them right after payment.  Instant Downloads!

♥ Read more!

Remodeling Stinks and the Wisdom of Young Children

I haven't been around blogging much the last week or two and I have missed it.  We have unfortunately had to do some unexpected remodeling on our house.

We noticed recently that one side of our front porch/balcony was sagging quite a bit.  The former owners had apparently added some new trim and repainted the front porch to hide the fact that the porch was rotting off the house.  And our inspector, once again, missed a very obvious major issue that involved costly repairs that should have been negotiated during the purchase of the house.

Luckily he did catch that the water heater needed to be raised a few inches...   What a champ.

What we initially thought would be a minor repair of replacing a few boards on the deck turned out to a complete ripping out and replacing of the entire bottom deck/supports.  The supports and bottom of the posts were completely wet and rotten and everything had to go.

After replacing the entire bottom deck we noticed that some trim on the top balcony was falling off too, and that involved tearing out the entire support on the sides and front of the top balcony to make it safe. We wanted to delay a full balcony replacement at this time (and I hope we made the right decision).

All of these unexpected but needed repairs stressed me out quite a bit (sticker shock), so I took a computer break and I hung out with the boys and their visiting cousin Mattie.

Here is my sweet husband with the boys and my niece Mattie at my mother's house.   (I used the Pretty Preset Matte B&W on this edit.)

Here I found all three of them cuddled together a few mornings ago.  I needed to see this to remind myself that though there will always be unexpected expenses and stresses in life; life is good.

I keep on reminding myself I need to live life more like a six or eight year old; appreciate and enjoy each day and not stress too much about the future.  Children are born wise.

Hope everyone is having a great week!

Do you want to download my favorite CoffeeShop Actions or Design Elements in one convenient zipped file AND help support this blog? Just click here for my action pack or here for a download of some of my most popular design elements, storyboards, and textures.

For complete info on installing all of my actions, click here.

♥ Read more!

CoffeeShop Graphic Art Photoshop/PSE Action!

I love using vintage design elements in my designs, and one of my favorite sources of free ones are from The Graphics Fairy.  Her downloads have a white background which I usually want to remove.

She has this great tutorial posted, but I decided to write my own version in an action so I could save time and also have the option to instantly change the color of the design element.

The design elements used in this tutorial are from her site.

Once you remove the white background you can drag the design elements on your work or save it as a png for later use.

Note:  There are two actions, one that only works in Photoshop and one that works in both Photoshop and PSE.  They are both labeled (PS-Photoshop, PSE-Photoshop Elements).

CoffeeShop Graphic Art Action Tutorial:

Step 1:

Photoshop action only (PSE users read below)!  Open the image and start the action.  Click on the white area of the design element when prompted (see above) and click OK.  This selects all of the white in the image.

PSE action only!  Open your image and make sure it is flat.  Then use the magic wand tool to select the white area (see image with bee above).  Adjust the tolerance and uncheck Contiguous.  Once the white is selected start the action.

Step 2:

PSE and Photoshop Action:  The action will run making a new document with your design element isolated without the white background on the bottom layer.  Please ignore the fact I called that layer Black Design.  I was supposed to update this part of the action and did not realize I hadn't until I uploaded everything.  So needless to say it is staying for now.

Turn on the middle layer if you want your image to be white or colored.

Step 3:

If you want a color other than white, simply click on the Color Fill 1 layer to pick a color.

Merge Visible and save as a png to keep the background transparent.

Your original image will also have a new layer with the original design element "cut-out" on the top.  You can save this one also as a png if you change the new version's color and want the original version.

Download the CoffeeShop Graphic Art action. You can also download it here.

Do you want to download my favorite CoffeeShop Actions or Design Elements in one convenient zipped file AND help support this blog? Just click here for my action pack or here for a download of some of my most popular design elements, storyboards, and textures.

For complete info on installing all of my actions, click here.

♥ Read more!

CoffeeShop Photo Brad Digital Freebie!

I designed little "metal" photo brads for this Facebook cover and wanted to share the brad with you today. It is a simple png file on a transparent background, so simply drag it on your digital designs and Ctrl-T (free transform) it to fit.  I love little scrapbooking creations, they can really add quite a bit to digital designs.

NOTE:  The frame does not come in this download, you can find it here.

Download the free CoffeeShop Photo Brad.  You can also download it here.  This is not an action!

Do you want to download my favorite CoffeeShop Actions or Design Elements in one convenient zipped file AND help support this blog? Just click here for my action pack or here for a download of some of my most popular design elements, storyboards, and textures.

♥ Read more!

40% Mother's Day Sale at Hazy Skies Designs!!!

Roxanne at Hazy Skies Designs sent me this post on their amazing Mother's Day Sale.  She has some really beautiful templates on her site, so please check it out.

------------------------

Missed out on our magazine template intro price? You're in luck! Our 40% OFF Mother's Day Sale starts now! It's one of our largest sales of the year!

Enjoy 40% off our Etsy store and website now until Sunday! Prices already reduced at hazyskiesdesigns.com Please use coupon code MDAY2013 at our Etsy store.

♥ Read more!

CoffeeShop Facebook Cover 8!

I made this little simple Facebook cover/header today and wanted to share it with you.  I created the little photo brads in photoshop and will post them tomorrow for download.  This is a simple png file which you should be able to open in any photo editing program.  Simply slip your images behind the frame and flatten.

Download the free CoffeeShop Facebook Cover 8.  You can also download it here.

Do you want to download my favorite CoffeeShop Actions or Design Elements in one convenient zipped file AND help support this blog? Just click here for my action pack or here for a download of some of my most popular design elements, storyboards, and textures.

For complete info on installing all of my actions, click here.

♥ Read more!

CoffeeShop Aphrodite B&W PSE/Photoshop Action!

I am going to release at least one new action every week this month, and today I wanted to post CoffeeShop  Aphrodite B&W.  This action is a B&W twist on one of my favorite actions, Aphrodite, and is fully adjustable.

The beautiful image I used in this tutorial is not my own, but sent to me by Jenny Lynn Photography (Facebook).  Thank you Jenny!

Run this action on a flattened image.  I usually play around with the Color Tint layer's opacity, but you can adjust any of the layers to taste.  

Download the free CoffeeShop Aphrodite B&W PSE/Photoshop action. You can also download it here.  This is a instant direct download, so be sure to download it to your desktop and then unzip the file.

Do you want to download my favorite CoffeeShop Actions or Design Elements in one convenient zipped file AND help support this blog? Just click here for my action pack or here for a download of some of my most popular design elements, storyboards, and textures.

For complete info on installing all of my actions, click here.

♥ Read more!