Color Me Weekly

For a long time I have wanted to try my hand at manipulating a photo and choosing key colors from it to form a palette. There are programs galore, various ways of doing this, but some are easier than others. 

So I gave it a try and came up with THREE photos. To my chagrin I can only find one!!!

Color Me Weekly is sponsored by Leaves 'n Bloom Photography.
She has great tutorials and does amazing photography.

We know a picture is worth a thousand words, so take a peek.  

 I wanted something a bit more unusual...like "pretending we are finding Easter Eggs just prior to an Easter Egg Hunt." Those palette circles look like Easter eggs to me!!!
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Another great website for photography tutorials is Kent Weakley.
On Sweet Shot Tuesday,  we all are invited to post a picture. I have taken a few of his classes and they are A+.


I  took this photo after a visit to Costco to purchase GORGEOUS sunflowers.

Tuesday is a busy day at my computer.  Last but not least Texture Tuesday provided by Kim Klassen.  

Today's textures combine Table Red, Vignette and Distress, all provided by Kim. The sunflower petals received a special dusting with the eraser to allow them to stand out a bit more.

Quote brush from Kim.

Well, that's it folks...quite a bit of photo manipulation.  I consider it my THINKING time.

Heart Thought: Enjoy your camera this week....phone, compact or "Big Mamas"....they all create memories to share.

Once Upon a Lily Pad

In an instant I fell in love with Claude Monet's ethereal, gentle paintings of floating lily pads with their lyrically rendered blossoms.
His brilliant paintings fed my imagination with his beautiful stroke work, saturated color and a strong "sense of place." His paintings created a desire to become a diminutive Thumbelina and live on a private Lily Pad.
There I could bake tiny vanilla cakes, frosted pink, and served on its satin smooth surface.
Every Thumbelina needs a crown; what could be finer than the Blossom with its gentle pointed petals and palette of pastel colors ? 

The Funny Bunnies and I, nearing sunset's magical hour, found ourselves walking around a lake with a floating necklace of Lily Pads. Surely there was a Thumbelina preparing for sleep or perhaps taking her tea.
We certainly looked for her.

 Thumbelina may be the Princess, but....
the Kings of the Pond are the many carmel, sepia colored ducks, with fine black etched feathers.
This was their Kingdom, too.

Little girls and boys (and grown ups, too) love fairy tales, and this walk around the enchanted pond gifted us with such an  adventure.

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Thank you to Kim Klassen for her textures: Robin's Egg, Celery, Mistletoe and Zen

( used on the first three photographs.)

Thank you to Kent Weakley for providing excellent instruction in all things digital.

 Be sure to visit Rebecca's Postcards from Paradise.  The best thing you can do for yourself today.  

Share the Joy

the once vibrant becomes a

bit musty and faded

like aging heirloom lace

its last chapters nearing completion

aging with dignity and grace

one need not be brilliant 

to show true beauty.

Heart Thought: these beautiful faded blooms are now resting, in a wooden bowl. Come spring their tiny seeds will edge our garden in masses of vibrant color.

Sharing the Joy

Dreamy, Lazy-Dazy Photos

I love love love to go blog visiting.  I seriously have to limit my time for soaking in all of the talent, spontaneity, color, wizardry and creativity presented by these fabulous blog genies.

Somedays I treat myself to "art" blogs

Other times to "photography" or "mixed media"

Then there are the "cooking/photography" blogs that I LOVE to read, but rarely give in to cooking their "delish" recipes.

Then I go all political...but those usually put me in a bad mood.

And so the circle goes and GROWS.

This week I have been once again pulled into photo processing: the kind that presents dreamy, sweet, fair-colored photographs that remind me of creamy grits and honey.  (remember I am in the South)

Susan Tuttle and Kim Klassen are masters of the pale, fragile, antique-like photographs. (There are many others who do this wonderful genre of photo processing.)

Kim offered a photoshop tutorial to transport our pictures into the land of gossamer and lemonade.

So I gave it a try. 

I came up sorely lacking...but I spent so much time on the pictures that I knew I had to salvage them by sharing.

At least I felt my time had a purpose.

In a past posting I shared some of these photos of passing pastures on our way to Raleigh, NC.  

But here they are in my humble first attempts at the

"understated."

Heart Thought:  it is humbling to want to do something well, but in the end you KNOW it will take much practice, patience, and more practice.  

Thank you  Kim Klassen for your textures and tutorials. 

Thank you  Susan Tuttle for your inspirational work.