Playing With Photos

Today was a fun day with my little camera  phone....I really should give him a name because I take a zillion pictures with him and he never complains! He just keeps snapping away at my command! So nice....Anyway, I have been experimenting with a Phone App my friend Deb (@papertutle.blogspot.com) told me about. It is the PicFx App and it is loads of fun to immerse one's self in.

I have always (since way, way, way back to my early college days-pre digital) been primarily into manipulating photos. I have high regard for those who keep their photos pure and true, and I like to do that too, (occasionally) but most of the time, especially using my phone, my pictures are not the best quality to begin with, so it's fun to play with them a little and take them to another level. I usually like to reach a kind of  "dreamy" or fantasy look, but once in a while I stay realistic...just not very often. Today's play resulted in these........

                                          

I started with this photo from Balboa Peninsula in Newport Beach, Califonia. I used "Enhance" from the Urban selection. Then  for the next version I went to the Light selection and applied just about every filter in the "Bokeh" series before going to Texture and applying "Canvas", resulting in......the second photo, below....

I actually like the top photo better, but I am just learning, so it is interesting to see just
how far I can take a photo before I loose all resemblence to the original. The second photo is
something I would use in one of my "books", on a tag, or any of the various other things I make.

Then I tried my (heavy) filter hand at a picture of Cali-girl and her former roommate.

        Above is where I started and below is where I said, "Ok, enough, already!"

I see a pattern developing here....I don't seem to be one of the "Less is More" people! This one, I really, really, like though! I had changed the background color, used a ton of the bokeh filters, and then applied a "vintage" followed by a "cracked" frame. Way too much fun.....I had to pry myself away from the filters, haha!

Finally, in honor of my sweet little Daughter-Mama who is 32 weeks pregnant,  and celebrating (as much as she can, anyway) her birthday tomorrow, I decided to play with the photo she sent of her brand new haircut!

Original was sent via phone message and a little hazy to begin with. First I cropped it in instagram, then backed it out of instagram and went to the PicFx app....

I used a Bokeh filter and then used one of the "Flame" filters, (but I can't remember
which one, then I added "Hearts" and Sepia toned the whole thing. I also added a couple of frames. I love this one because it looks so aged!

Then I did pretty much the same thing and added the "Cardboard" texture. I am not sure she will appreciate the texture on her face, but in my "Paper Crafting" projects, I tend to distress the heck out of everything, so this texture was just begging me to use it!

Oh, and obviously I didn't sepia tone this one but,  I added a "Cracked" frame. I love this one!  And all the hearts, which normally might be a bit too "cute" for what I do, fit right in here because I love her, Oh So Very Much!

So, the early part of my day was all fun and games with my photos and filters, and then I tackled the laundry and all that other stuff that isn't nearly as entertaining!

All in all though, it was a very good day, and I hope, if you found my little blog post, your day was as pleasant as mine and I hope your tomorrow is even better! Thanks for visiting Sweet Serendipity!                                                 AND....

                             HAPPY BIRTHDAY EVE, MY SWEET DAUGHTER!

Playing Catch Up

Hey Little Blog! The last week has gone by so very quickly. I didn't even get a chance to sit down and fill you in on all the different events that took place! So here is just a limited recap in photos.......

I put away the Fourth of July Decorations......

It always makes me a little sad to take a "holiday" down and box it up...

But yes, there is always something new to look forward to,

and the next couple of weeks will be busy, busy, busy!

Cali-girl came home for her sissy's first baby shower.....

It had been far too long since we had seen her.

We missed having her for Mother's Day, Father's Day, her birthday,

my birthday, Fourth of July, and just plain old anyday type of days.

But we had spaced her visit  to allow her to be here for her big sissy's first

"Baby Shower" so it was worth the wait. (Sort of)

The good news is that she will be back in less than three weeks!

Here is a photo of mama-to-be, her sis, sis-in-law

and soon to be sis-in-law, just before we left for the shower.

This little guy is going to be blessed with some really loving

 and lovely Aunties!

The shower was hosted by my dear friend Laura and it was beautifully done as is everything she does! The decor was adorable, the food was great, and the company was perfect.

 A little "Love"  through the hands!

Daughter-mama and me!

 She looks so tiny from the front.....

but I think everyone is surprised when they catch her from the side view!

More of the wonderful shower fare!

In the midst of all the weekend festivities, Hubby and I even had time to have

 a little "date night" while Cali-girl had dinner with friends. It was an unusually decent

evening as far as Summer Arizona temperatures go. It was actually nice enough

to sit outside for dinner and or drinks, and that's when I snapped this little photo

in downtown Tempe.

And then, just like that, the weekend was over and it was time to start this last week.

Cali-girl returned to her beach and business life which always makes me

a little sad. I just have to keep reminding myself how much I like the life she

has in California. It helps to think about her happiness there, but sometimes

it doesn't help enough.

This last week was filled with all kinds of little house repairs and

organization. We are getting ready for a 2nd baby shower hosted by

the soon-to-be aunts and uncles. This is why Cali-girl will be coming

home again for the second time in a month! The siblings have planned  a co-ed

shower since many of Daughter-mama and Mr. C's friends are single, newly engaged,

or newly married. This shower will be at our house and hopefully we will

be able to fit everyone in! I am just a wee bit nervous about the dynamics

of it all, but I am sure it will end up being lots of fun!

And no, I didn't think to photo anything we were doing in

preparation because I was pretty focused...and not used to documenting

what I do. Just be sure that the week was busy and this next one will be as well!

There is lots to be done, and not just because the shower is at our house. I think after our

initial move in and all the things that had to be attended to the first six months, we

tended to taper off a bit  in the "let's fix THIS and get THAT done" area.

It's all "stuff" that needs to be handled and of course it isn't possible for everything to be

exactly as I would like, but, it can be better! (Can you tell I am giving myself a pep-talk?)

So, that is it, Little Blog, you are pretty much caught up, for right now.

I will leave you with one happy little picture of my big "score" for

the week. I had wanted to get this scarf and this set of bangle bracelets

at Loft earlier in the summer. I had actually purchased them at one

point, but then felt guilty and returned them. On my birthday, Loft sent

their "$15.00 Off " a purchase of any purchase over that amount card.

I thought I would go have a peek at what I could do with that and

those two items were now on sale and the total came to $15.52!

My part of the payment was just 52 cents. Not bad when you

consider the original cost would have been close to $50.00!

Sometimes waiting DOES pay off!

(Sorry about the pun!)

Oh, and just in case you noticed, the bracelets and the

scarf do NOT go together, so, "No" I will not be wearing them

at the same time! Haha!

Bright, Sunny, and Yellow Saturday

Today started out bright and sunny! I wanted to do the instagram photo of the day which was titled "9:00". At that time this morning, however, I was driving to pick up a friend to head to Sweet Salvage in the Melrose District of downtown Phoenix, and wasn't able to get a photo! (I actually got one of the clock in the car with the time and the temp showing that it was already 93 degrees, but it was totally blah and there was no way to doctor it up no matter how many filters I used!) So, no photo, but on to Sweet Salvage!

Sweet Salvage is held once a month for four days and is a hodge-podge of cast -offs, remnants, furniture, and artifacts, brought together and skillfully displayed by a group of women. There are fun things, artful things, useful things, and just plain junky things that this talented group manages to display in just such a way that you want to pay big bucks for everything you DO NOT need.  It's fun though and always inspires me to look at objects in a different way.  Browsing through the chaos makes me contemplate how I might repurpose what I already have and am currently not using! I SHOULD have snapped some nifty photos there....what was I thinking??? (or in this case not thinking). Again, I missed a great photo opportunity! That is two failed photo opportunities and it wasn't even 11:00!

After Sweet Salvage my friend Jackie and I went on to Biltmore Fashion Square and had brunch at True Foods. I love the way they put their entrees together and my Greek Frittata didn't disappoint! My real perk today though, was an iced beverage in a tall frosty glass. It was a combination of fresh ginger, agave, and soda! So refreshing on a hot and humid day!

Maybe it was the ginger-agave mix, I don't really know, but suddenly I opened my eyes and saw all these amazing yellow, as in really, really bright yellow, chairs and umbrellas right outside the window by our table. I came out of my photo stupor and said, "I have to go take some pictures", to my friend, who looked just a little unsure, but said, "Oh, okay......" and off I went.

Happy (LUCKY) Friday the 13th!

Normally I wait until the end of the day to post something, (haha---like all four of my posts---does that qualify for the word "normally"????) but today, I just can't wait. IT IS RAINING at my house! This is such an amazingly good and happy thing. Having grown up in the midwest, I never would have believed I could get almost as excited about waking up to rain as a child gets about waking up to Christmas morning.

I wanted to get pictures...again, I remembered Indiana....I wondered if anyone there runs for their camera when the rain comes. I think Hoosiers are more likely to feel that way about the sunshine....

Possibly (actually, most definetly) not the greatest photos, but I am still anxious to share them on my little blog.

The first photo is really dark because the sun hadn't yet come up. But as I sat watching the clouds and waiting for my coffee to brew, I loved how the table top reflected the morning sky and almost made it look as if the water was coming into the kitchen. But I was disappointed that it didn't look like it was going to rain afterall.

Seeing that it wasn't as overcast as I thought it was going to be, I had to shut all the shades to keep the Eastern exposure from cooking us. I HATE to have the shades drawn, but it is necessary, very necessary, to ward off electric bills that send you into heart failure! (The bills are still horrible, but not AS bad as they could be.)

Because the shades were shut, I didn't realize that the sky turned very cloudy until
I heard a clap of thunder.....

Opened the shades to find RAINDROPS and ran outside to try to get a picture that I liked for instagram.

Only snapped this one when the thunder and lightening scared me and I retreated back indoors. (Sad face)

Inside I stood at the window a minute and decided that maybe the raindrops on the window were actually photo-worthy and that's when the miraculous happened.......

Just as I snapped the shutter, the Blue Heron that I have been trying to capture in flight swooped into the frame!!!!

I hadn't even known he was there.

Granted it is not the best photo, (none of them are, today) but I feel so lucky!

He is so very, very sneaky and fast, and I always stalk him and try to photograph him in flight but I have never managed. So even if this is poor quality, it feels pretty lucky and serendipitous to me!

So Happy Friday the 13th to any visitors to my little blog today!

Have a safe and happy weekend!

Hugs!

One last note...since I didn't know the Heron was there....is it possible that HE is stalking ME instead of the other way around? Hmmmmmm.

Thank goodness HE doesn't have a camera!

Thursdays Child Has Far to Go

Remember that nursery rhyme that starts out, "Monday's child is fair of face"....and then goes on to say, "Thursday's child has far to go"? Well, today I was definetly a Thursday's child. I had a zillion projects I thought I would complete today and although I got a lot done, there is still much to do and not one of them is actually completed.

All in all it was a fun day even though nothing got crossed off my list.....

Here is a little peek at one of the things I was working on. It is for a very important (to me) baby shower on Sunday!

I can't show any more of it for now in case a certain someone visits my little blog!

It seems like it is coming together quite nicely...I hope I like it when I am finished!

Part of the reason I wasn't able to cross much off my list today is that I got just a wee bit sidetracked with the instagram photo of the day challenge.

Today was "texture" and I took way too many photos and then played with them far to long. There were three that I really liked. One was a picture of some sand dollars that I found in San Diego on Hub's and my 25th wedding anniversary. Another texture photo I liked was of a linen table skirt I made a few months ago and the third photo was of a pillow that was sitting on a little bench in the sunlight. The pillow is a very deep brown irridescent fabric and in the light it picked up a lot of other colors.

When I looked at the three photos together, it reminded me of walking along the beach at night in the moonlight. Have you done that, when the light of the moon allows you to see the tops of the waves when they crest and the chards of sand catch enough light to sparkle?  I love the beach at night because it looks like an entirely different place than it does during the day. Anyway, I got the idea to put all three pictures together collage style and make my "impression" of the moonlit beach.

And there it is. I think I like it. The waves, the sand, and the sand dollars.

Hope you had a fun and productive day!

Tomorrow's Friiiiiiiidayyyyy!

The Way They Were & The Way They Are

Yes, I know that the 4th of July was a week ago already! Should I have taken down my decorations by now? Time just seems to be moving by a little too quickly for my liking, so I think I am trying to stretch it out some by letting those banners, flags, and other red, white, and blue baubles hang around a little longer than they probably should. I thought about putting everything away today and then these little tags caught my eye.

                                 

The little pictures are from a sheet of scrapbook paper that I had gotten years ago. I bought it because the images so closely resembled my three children when they were young. Everything from the "flat top" hair cut and overalls on the little boy, to the hairstyles and dresses of the little girls was almost as if my children had posed for the sketches. My son and younger daughter both had red hair and my middle daugher's hair was brunette and usually this style! It was just such a crazy coincidence to find three images on one sheet that had such a striking resemblence. (And there were only three children on the sheet, the other images were flags, stars, the Liberty Bell, etc.)

Of course now, my children are all grown up. Middle child, whom I refer to as "Daughter-mama", and her husband celebrated their third wedding anniversary in February. They are now expecting their own little one in September. The little boy with the flat-top and overalls,whom I refer to as "Sonny Boy" has set a wedding date with his beautiful fiance "Fiona" for late February. And that sweet strawberry blonde baby girl of the family has been living and working in Califonia for over two years now. I miss them living at home. I miss prodding them to take a shower at night and hurry to bed.  I miss tucking them in, listening to prayers and falling in bed myself, exhausted from all their shenanigans during the day. I miss hearing them tip toeing into each others rooms with pillows and blankets in tow to camp out at the foot of one another's beds after they think I am asleep. I miss waking up in the morning and helping them drag everything back into their own rooms pretending to be just a little peeved about the inconvenience! I knew at the time, that we had something very special and I appreciated  those days as they happened.  I believe we made the most out of those days. Even so, I never could have imagined how much it would tug at my heart to "remember" and to miss them being under our roof.

Don't get me wrong, I have loved every age and every stage, (well, maybe not quite EVERY stage). 
We still have wonderful family times and I reallize that there is so much more to look forward to. So, I am not as sad in my reminiscing as these words might sound. I am just sentimental enough today, however, to keep myself from taking down these little picture tags. Tomorrow will be soon enough!

Here we are this last 4th of July. We are missing Cali-girl....but she will be visiting soon!

Thanks for visiting!

The Happy (Colorful) Birthday Girl



My "Badge of Honor" (or maybe at
my age "Horror")  from my Cali-girl
that serendipitiously went with the
nail color that I rarely if ever use!

 I love hearing people say, "Happy Birthday." I love it not just when it is directed at me, but I love hearing people say it to others also. Yesterday, was my birthday, however, and I was the recipient of many "Happy Birthday's".  Throughout
the day I got phone calls, texts, e-mails,
cards,
messages on FB and
in person wishes
and hugs.


AND if the friends who called, texted, facebooked, and maybe even had a chance to say it in person, thought they were over doing it, let me reassure them that I didn't mind one little bit!

                           All the wishes truly made my day.



From Daughter-mama and SIL, Mr. C.

 
My birthday is precious to me for many reasons. First, it signifies that I am indeed alive, which is a huge plus for any day! Second, to me it marks an ending of one year and the beginning of another, more so even than New Year's does. It is my "personal" new year. It makes it even better that my birthday falls mid year because it gives me a chance to rethink those actual New Year's resolutions a bit. It is like a semi-annual appointment for me to give myself a performace review. I get a chance to see how I am doing and then point out to myself where I need to dig in a little more or maybe even let go of something that I thought would work, but really isn't fitting in at all.

I will spare you the details, but this year's review grade wasn't quite what it should have been. That is where the "Happy Birthday's" come in.



So cute card, book and pen that help
motivate me from Son and Amost DIL!

 No matter where I have fallen short of my hopes, dreams, and goals for this year, hearing all the birthday wishes and being showered with all the love reminds me that it's ok. I am ok. Goals are good. Striving for personal growth in order to become the best "Me" I can possibly be is also a good thing. But, the biggest goal of all should be "people". Creating and maintaining relationships, I think, is  the key to keeping any person well and at their personal best. I know my relationships with God, my family, and my friends mean everything to me, so when I get the "Happy Birthday", or a smile, or a hug, from any of the above, I am good to go!!! So bring on the next months and let me see what I can do with the rest of that goal list.....I love, and I am loved, and really, that is all that I need to recharge and be ready to tackle what comes my way.



Necklace from Hubs
that tied in my green
dress with my hot pink nails!
Another happy accident!

Sooo, that got a little more involved than I intended. I think I am procrastinating about trying to upload photos.

Oh my goodness, I DID IT!!!!
I added photos!
You have no idea what an achievement
this is for me! I am the most tech-clumsy and
impaired blog person I know!
                          ****

Anyway, summing up the birthday events...
I had a great "simple" but beautiful day.
I got my "Happy Hour" celebration with my family (minus Cali-girl)
and everything that was seemingly at loose ends fell
into place such as the fact that on a whim
I painted my nails (both toes and fingers) the brightest pink I have ever used and then decided to wear bright lime green. The necklace from Hubs as well as Cali-girl's sweet (and very inappropriately funny) birthday badge (that arrived in the mail on the actual day) made the nail color and outfit work. Daughter-mama and my SIL (Mr. C.) gave me a gorgeous Tea Towel (that I think will become an apron) and had the exact color of teal on it that I am thinking of painting my kitchen cabinets. (They also gave me that amazing coffee mug and cute little jar in the photo.) Looking at their gift kind of makes me think the teal color for the cabinets is a "go".

The card my sweet mom sent made me cry. (Which means it made me very happy.) And finally, I opened a marvelous scented candle and candle holder from Son and Soon-to-be DIL that was the exact one I had wanted to get just a while back, but passed up because it was a "worse-than-usual" budget month. How serendipitious is that? That is how my life works though! And I love that it works that way! And I am ever so grateful for the loves of my life and all the "Happy Birthdays"

Thanks for stopping by, reading through this (if you did). I promise to keep it shorter (I really do), now that I know how to upload photos! Hurray!
Love to all!





Happy Birthday

I am new (again) to the blogging world. I say again, because a few years ago I tried my hand at creating and maintaining a blog and just couldn't make a go of it. I was determined to make that blog be about paper crafting and all things related and found that I just couldn't keep up. Now, inspired by a blog one of my daughters did starting on her birthday and ending again on her birthday the following year, I am ready to give the world of blogging another shot. My daughter's blog started out to simply capture something special each day with a photo or two and a brief text explaining what made that particular thing or event something to be remembered. I would like to do the same thing. Each day is so precious and I know that in every twenty four hour period there are dozens (if not humdreds or maybe even thousands) of little miraculous events that occur in my life. Too often, I take them for granted and let one day slip into the next. A week goes by and then a month and pretty soon I am not completely sure of what happened when. Today I want to begin to change that.

In mid June my daughter that lives in California "invited" me to do the Instagram Photoaday Challange that she intented to take part in. I found that I really liked having that little assignment each day. It was fun to think throughout the day how I might find something to photograph that at least loosely fit the "caption of the day". I had been in a creative slump and I felt myself lightening up a little and  being almost silly with my approach to this daily challange. I started to feel a bit more creative and it gave me the idea to try that "photoaday" approach in blog form.

Here's the catch, I thought it would be as easy to upload the pictures to this blog as it is to instagram them. Hmmm. So far, I think I may have been wrong about that. So, it may take me just a little longer to actually get the photo part going, but I vowed that I would start on my birthday and that means that I start today. So Happy Birthday, Little Blog! You may be photoless today, but I hope to remedy that tomorrow and I hope you grow much, much better throughout the year!

And if you have stumbled onto this first attempt, please check back later to see if I am actually progressing.....and have a wonderful little day!