Going to the Dark (Light?) Side! I Heart my new iMac.

My friends and family will be shocked when they read this post.  Yes, this die-hard PC computer user has joined forces with the other side and now owns an Apple iMac!

Yes, after years of using PC's (and getting annoyed by Apple ads like that annoying cocky Mac guy who was so mean to that sweet nerdy PC guy and Apple product placement in my favorite movies and television shows), I now am a proud owner of my own Mac.  Thank you

CoffeeShop Cropping Tip

As you probably know, there are usually multiple ways to do most everything in Photoshop and Elements.  I wanted to show you one of the methods I use to crop away extra white space around a design element in PSE as seen above.  If you have the full version of Photoshop you can simply use Image, Trim,

CoffeeShop Frames 10

Thank you so much for entering the Chasing Dreams texture giveaway!  The winner is 156,  Arminda Dozier (picked by Random.org), and I have emailed you.  Congratulations!  And those of you who didn't win this time, don't forget the 25% off coupon code good until the end of this month. 

Now for a new freebie!  This is a layered adjustable frame you can print or post on the web.  It would look great on cards or blog headers.  The layered psd file has 4 layers (seen below).  You can change the colors of the background and/or frame and remove or adjust the drop shadow.  This would be a great label if you flatten and add text.

If you want to add an image simply drag it over the clipping mask layer (delete the color fill layer) and group it, following this tutorial.   Then click on the Frame Color layer and use the eye dropper to  pick a color from your image for the frame.  You can turn off the drop shadows or adjust them to taste.  If you are posting this on a white background flatten and save as a jpg.  If you want to post it on a colored background, just "merge visible" and save as a .png to keep the background transparent or add a color fill layer on the bottom layer.

You can also add your favorite digital paper or texture (I used a beautiful texture from Flora Bella on the sample below).  Just drag the texture above all of the Frame Layers (I deleted the Frame Color layer) and free transform it to fit.

Download the free CoffeeShop Frames 10 HERE.

Do you want to download my favorite CoffeeShop PSE/Photoshop Actions and Lightroom Presets 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.

VBS = Exhausted

Sorry, I don't have the energy to do a real post today.  My kids are in VBS (vacation bible school) in my grandmother's tiny church and I am helping out some.  It is horribly hot and some of the kids are crazy wild and by the time we get home I am completely exhausted.

And having to get the kids up and dressed and fed to get them to school by 9 is a whole new thing to me.  How do you mothers out there do this every day?  I didn't realize how easy I had it homeschooling. Who knew you can waste an hour or two each day just rushing around getting the kids ready and left off/picked up?

But I have to confess the boys love VBS and they are going to another one next month.   I am not working at that one, so I plan on sneaking out and actually getting a few things done.  Honestly, grocery shopping alone sounds thrilling right now.  Sending them off to school each day wouldn't be all bad.  ;-) 

I hope you are having a great week!

CoffeeShop No Cream or Sugar B&W Action!!!

I personally love B&W images, and I wanted to post my newest action, CoffeeShop No Cream or Sugar B&W, which is a classic B&W action with an optional light mocha tint.  This is not a "fancy" action, but perfect for those times you want a simple, clean B&W image.

When you start the action, a levels adjustment layer pane will pop up (see below).  This allows you to adjust the B&W contrast on the fly so that each conversion will be perfect.

Once the action is finished, you will have five layers.  The top layer is an optional Mocha Tint, simply turn it on and adjust the opacity if you want a subtle brown tint.

Download the free  CoffeeShop No Cream or Sugar B&W action.


Want all of my favorite CoffeeShop Actions in one simple download AND help support this blog? Just click here for more information! For complete info on installing all of my actions, click here.

Tiny kid-sized egg and this and that.

One of our new cochin bantams started laying and the kids (and I) get so excited about her tiny eggs. We eat our own fresh eggs just about every day (our chickens are free range so their eggs are incredibly healthy and delicious) and the other day the boys each wanted a bantam and "regular chicken" fried egg. I had to take a photo, it was just too cute. And by the way, that is delicious nitrate-free bacon. Most days we have oatmeal and an egg, so bacon days are special. ♥

And don't you love our fancy dinner plates? I inherited them from my mother-in-law and they are the best. They take so much abuse and are still in perfect shape.  I am always tempted to get something a bit more classy/modern/simple, but I just love these plates.  They remind me of my childhood.

I haven't had time to write a review about Lightroom 3 yet, so I wanted to tell you that I LOVE this program! It is worth the upgrade from Lightroom 2 just for the noise reduction ability. This version is faster and I love editing both RAWs and jpgs with it.  I personally would not want to edit without LightRoom.

I am going to homeschool Duke (he is six) this summer.  He would be in 1st grade in Fall, so I decided to work on his reading, writing and math.   I think a three month break is too much (he will forget everything just like I did), so I decided to do year-round school (with just the basics during the summer) and take breaks whenever we want. 

But we have to have fun too, so I am also teaching the boys to cook (Williams-Sonoma The Cookbook for Kids: Great Recipes for Kids Who Love to Cook-don't know why the bad review, it is a great cookbook).  We try to make one or two recipes a week, and next week we are going to challenge ourselves with Nutella crepes.  We are also learning about music and using Story of the Orchestra : Listen While You Learn About the Instruments, the Music and the Composers Who Wrote the Music!.


I hope everyone had a great weekend!  I have plenty more freebies coming your way.  Thank you so much for visiting my blog and also your generous support.  Because of you I can stay at home with my boys, play on the computer, and keep posting here.  ♥

{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!

CoffeeShop Frames 9!

I loved reading your comments on my post about RAWs versus jpgs.  It sounds like many of you are also getting frustrated trying to fit in with the "cool" crowd.  ;-)   I do think there is a time and place for RAWs (and  when necessary I will set my camera to take both the RAW and jpg), but for those of us that just want to capture a special moment in our lives jpgs might be the way to go!

I wanted to post a new high resolution adjustable layered frame you can use on your blog, print or scrapbooking.  This one has drop shadows and a neat little circle border around the edge.

As seen in the image below, just drag your photo above the clipping mask and group it (clipping mask tutorial here), then click on the color adjustment layer on top and use the eyedropper to select a color from your image to adjust the color of the decorative circles around the edge.

You can turn off the circles and/or drop shadows by clicking the eyeball on the left side of the layer.  If you are posting on a white background flatten and save.  You can also make the background color match your blog or save the  frame as a .png, thus keeping the background transparent.

Download the free CoffeeShop Frames 9 HERE!  Note:  This download is an image file, not an action!  Please open the frame like any other image in Photoshop or Photoshop Elements.

Do you want to download my favorite CoffeeShop PSE/Photoshop Actions and Lightroom Presets 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.

RAW vs JPGs: My Take

I want to preface this post with the fact that I am not a professional photographer, nor do I intend to become a professional photographer.  If you have been following my blog and looking at my posted images you already know this.  ;-)   I love photography, but I do it for my pleasure only, and most of my photos are snapshots of our life.  So this post is directed to hobby photographers like me.

Now, confession time.  After years of taking only RAWs (and feeling special because of this), I now shoot jpgs 99% of the time.

I wanted to list a few reasons

{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!

CoffeeShop Mocha Velvet B&W Action!

Today I wanted to post my newest free action, CoffeeShop Mocha Velvet B&W.  I have already posted the CoffeeShop Mocha Velvet B&W Action UnWrapped Tutorial, so please go check it out if you want to edit without the action.  But I can assure you it is so much faster to run the action and then adjust the layers to taste.  :-)  BTW, if the mocha tint is too much, just dial down that layer.  :-)

Download the free  CoffeeShop Mocha Velvet B&W action!

I hope you enjoy my newest action!  I have plenty more freebies coming.  And thank you so much for visiting my blog!

Want all of my favorite CoffeeShop Actions in one simple download AND help support this blog? Just click here for more information! For complete info on installing all of my actions, click here.