CoffeeShop CutOuts 3!

Here is another CoffeeShop CutOuts set, free for download.

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Sewing my own camera-strap slipcover and CyberMonday LR3 sale!

I love to sew but I haven't used my sewing machine much the last years. However, I saw this excellent

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CoffeeShop CutOuts 2: Decorative Digital Brads!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We had a great time celebrating with our family

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CoffeeShop Frames 3 {5x7 Card Templates} and Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is finally almost here! I have family in town and will be hosting Thanksgiving at my house this year. I won't be 100% finished with my living and dining room redo, but they look so much better than they did a few weeks ago with the green shag carpeting and off-white, not painted in almost 40 years, walls. I will post images of my "after", after the holidays.

I want to give everyone a little Thanksgiving present to thank you for being such great readers. These are four 5x7 card/frame templates for printing or the web.  I designed them using some digital paper from Sassy Designs (thanks for the link Morgan!) and a few other design elements designed by me (I will be posting them for free download next week).  Add your images using clipping masks and the drop-shadow  is adjustable. These files are .psd files, so open in Photoshop or Photoshop Elements.

I wish everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Download the free CoffeeShop Frames 3 Set.

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Creating my own wall art.

I am still working on my living and dining room, but I am almost finished with the painting.   I want those rooms to look finished (unlike most of my rooms in this house), so I need some art on the walls.

As I am a photographer, you would suppose I would have images all over my house, right? Well, you would be wrong. I always plan on making some, but life gets in the way and other than a few printouts on my fridge you wouldn't know I even had a camera. 

We went to Hobby Lobby over the weekend, coupon in hand, to pick out some wall art. Unfortunately it did not work out. I have this thing about hanging mass-produced art on my walls, but I can't afford original art.  Thus most of my walls are blank.

My husband put it best while looking at everything Hobby Lobby had to offer; "I see a lot of things that look nice, but they really don't mean anything to me". Well said. 

What to do? Get out my camera and take some photos and make my own original art.  Something that will make me happy to see hanging on my freshly painted walls.  And here is my first try.

Every photo in this frame means something to me.  The top coffeecup

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Free CoffeeShop CutOuts 1!

I love using decorative cutout shapes

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Coffee with Morgan: Adding Digital "Wallpaper" to your Studio Shots!

I am still painting the living and dining room (I am covered in paint as I type this), so thank goodness Morgan sent this tutorial my way. Thank you so much Morgan, this is great!  And please go check out Morgan's workshops, they are worth every penny and then some.




Sometimes you wish you had a fabulously wallpapered wall in your studio right? Well with Photoshop and digital papers you can make it look like you do :)  Note:  Be aware of the terms of use of any textures or digital paper that will be used in your commercial work.  I use Sassy Designs. :)  She is always having a fabulous sale.

Let's get started!

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Free Storyboard Template: CoffeeShop Storyboards 2!

Here is another new CoffeeShop Storyboard template for Photoshop and Photoshop Elements. This is big enough to print and can be resized for posting on the web.  It is a layered .psd files with clipping masks and you can easily change the background color by clicking on the Background Color layer color box and selecting a color (you can even use the eyedropper tool to select a color from one of your images). 

If you are new to clipping masks and/or want to save time, please check out my free CoffeeShop Group It action.

Download the free CoffeeShop Storyboard 2!  And if that link does not work, you can download the  CoffeeShop Storyboard 2 here.

So far my crazy renovations are going well.  The laminate floor is completely finished in both rooms (thanks to my amazing husband) and I am starting the trim painting.  I want to get the room painted before Thanksgiving, so it is going to be a busy weekend.  How are you getting prepared for Thanksgiving?

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{Friday Photo Bliss}

Inspired by the SouleMama blog's {this moment}, I am posting one image every Friday, taken that week, that really makes me happy. If you end up doing the same I would love to see your photo linked in my comments!

This morning.

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CoffeeShop Tutorial: Adding Drop Shadows to Storyboard Images

There are times I want to add a drop shadow effect to my images on my storyboards. It adds dimension as you can see in the image on the right. (click to see the large image).

This is very easy to do in Photoshop and Photoshop Elements. 

Photoshop:  Click to select the clipping mask layer and go to Layer, Layer Style, Drop Shadow.

Play around with the settings.  Keep the Blend Mode on Multiply (you can adjust the opacity) and then adjust the angle, distance, spread and size to taste.  If you want to copy these settings to another clipping mask layer, right-click on the clipping mask layer (after you add the drop shadow) and select Copy Layer Style, right-click on another clipping mask and select Paste Layer Style.

Photoshop Elements:  Click to select the clipping mask layer and then click on the Layer Styles button on your Effects Pane, and Drop Shadow on the drop-down menubar and then click on the drop shadow of choice.

If you want to adjust the drop shadow, click on the fx button by the clipping mask layer (see above) and then adjust the lighting angle, size, distance and opacity to taste.

Very easy! You can use drop shadows on any of my storyboards or frames with clipping masks to have that extra pop.  I will be posting the storyboard used in the tutorial for free download on my next post.

If you want to add a drop-shadow to one image to make it web-ready (or add a drop-shadow to your finished storyboard), you can download my free Web Drop Show action.

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Retro 70's Rescue, Part 1

I am a proud product of the free-range 70's. But I am realistic and I realize that many ugly things were created in that decade. For example:

Yes, we still have authentic green shag carpeting in our house. It is a fascinating story ;-) and I will share it with you right now.

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Check out Morgan's Amazing HUGE Giveaway!!!

Please head over to Morgan's blog and enter her huge giveaway!  She has posing guides, adorable hats and bows, free classes from Amanda, and gift certificates to all kinds of amazing places.  Seriously, there are so many goodies my head started to spin.  If only she were also giving away a new camera...  ;-)

I also wanted to thank Shana from Flora Bella for becoming a sponsor of this blog. I have used her textures and they are simply beautiful and I have heard wonderful things about her actions.  Please check her website out if you haven't already.



Talking about textures (I LOVE textures), check out this freebie from Sarah Gardner. Her work is simply gorgeous!

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Free Storyboard Templates: CoffeeShop Storyboards 1!

I had someone request a six photo storyboard on my facebook page

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Could you answer my poll to the right of this post?

I am writing some new web-ready actions and I would love to know what size images you usually post on your blog/website/facebook/etc. so I can make the most common size pop up when the action runs. Of course,

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{Friday Photo Bliss}

Inspired by the SouleMama blog's {this moment}, I am posting one image every Friday, taken that week, that really makes me happy. If you end up doing the same I would love to see your photo linked in my comments!

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Took a tiny break!

I just wanted to step in and let you know that I had some family visiting and I took a few days off from the computer. We took a mini holiday and  I will be blogging all about it!

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Bird in the Haystack And Nifty White Balance Trick!

This is a photo of Imp holding his little birdy. He found this tiny little glass bird (smaller than a dime) in a crack between the carpet and the wall. We don't know where it came from, but he carries it around everywhere. And constantly loses it.

You can't imagine how many times a week

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{Friday Photo Bliss}

Inspired by the SouleMama blog's {this moment}, I am posting one image every Friday, taken that week, that really makes me happy. If you end up doing the same I would love to see your photo linked in my comments!

This seemed like an unfortunate focusing accident at first, but once I saw it on the screen I loved it.

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Pamela Topping $50 GiftCard Giveaway Winner!

Drum roll please!

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CoffeeShop Frame 2!

I was playing around making some frames for blogging and here is my newest! It is 1200 x 1200 pixel layered .psd and

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Pamela Topping $50 GiftCard Giveaway! - CLOSED!

Pamela Topping of PamelaTopping.com recently asked me if I would like to host a $50 giftcard giveaway that can be applied to the purchase of any of her actions sets. I have seen her website before and admired her before/afters, and her newest sets (Blonde II, Secret Treasures, Sweet Sprinkles and Color Castle) look really amazing. So of course I said I would love to offer my readers this amazing chance to win. 

In full disclosure,

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