Fix-it-Friday #143

Time for another Fix-it-Friday over at I Heart Faces!  This week's image is by Nicole Begley Photography.

My editing steps: created an adjustment layer in which I removed the green tint on his white fur, as well as some of the bluish tint on his nose/mouth.  Lighted the remaining areas of the photo slightly.  There really wasn't much editing needed with this adorable image.  I also converted it to a sepia/bronze shade, which I liked very well!

Here are my edits!

Auggie's Spring Concert

I was recently invited to my nephew's spring concert at his preschool.  I couldn't wait for the day to arrive because I don't get to do as much with Auggie as I'd like to, so this was exciting!  Yesterday was the day, and boy was it entertaining.  Not only did I get to see Auggie, but one of my good friends daughter also goes to the same preschool, so I got to see Brogan too.  

Auggie looked so handsome, wearing a white dress shirt with a cute little tie.  He loves to dress preppy, and he looks so adorable!  Almost the entire time he was up on stage singing he was flirting with the little girl next to him, and she was doing her share of flirting back!  More than once I chuckled during the performance!  After the concert, we were invited to share lunch with Auggie, it was a lot of fun!

Here are a few photos from the event.

Fix-it-Friday #142

Another Fix-it-Friday over at I Heart Faces.  Today's beautiful image is courtesy of Paige Ewing Photography. I had fun editing this one!  I darkened the background slightly, sharpened a bit, and made her eyes pop a little more.  I then ran the PPA Summer Days action, which I adjusted to my liking.  I also converted it to black and white, which I loved as well.  Hard to choose between the color or black & white version on this one!!

I Heart Faces | Fix-it-Friday #140

Another Friday, another Fix-it-Friday over at I Heart Faces!  Fix-it-Friday is a great way to practice your photo editing skills.  The staff at I Heart Faces posts one photo each Friday that you are able to download a full resolution image copy of, then you can have fun trying out your editing skills...and then you can post your edited version in the topic thread where others can comment/critique your skills and you can see how others have edited as well.  You will have to join the I Heart Faces community in order to participate, because the Fix-it-Friday links and discussions are held in the forums, but it's completely free to join.

This week's beautiful photo is by Karey Miller Photography.  And here is the original along with my cropped  and edited version.

  

Auggie's 4th birthday

I can't believe my sweet nephew is turning four!  Oh how the time flies!!  A couple months ago, I "pinned" the cutest construction cake on Pinterest.  My sister-in-law saw it and thought it would be cute for my nephews birthday, so I made it!  The party was yesterday at the restaurant & bowling alley inside The Bass Pro Shop, what fun!!

For the cake, I made my families favorite "Black Midnight" cake and the traditional icing that goes with that recipe.  I added milk chocolate rocks as the border, with a few added to the top.  I then decorated with a few Caterpillar brand toys, digging a chunk out of the cake to make it look like the backhoe was digging up a project!  I also added a few street signs, caution cone and a barrel from a fun package of add-ons that my sister-in-law picked up.  I think it came out cute, and my nephew seemed to LOVE it (which is the most important part!).  Please excuse the awful cell phone photos of the cake!

And here are a few photos from the party!

I used to love participating in the I Heart Faces Fix-it-Friday sessions, I haven't participated in a long time, so today I thought I'd jump back in the fun!  It's fun to see how other photographers edit photos, so many different perspectives and ideas!  I'm posting my edit here, but if you'd like to see what all the buzz is about, head over to I Heart Faces.


Fix-it-Friday #139: Photo copyright Angie Arthur Photography

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter, friends!!  My niece, Shelby, stayed overnight last night so this morning we made "nest" cookies for Easter.  I bought Cadbury Mini Eggs to use as the eggs in the nests, I thought they looked so cute.  Shelby loved it!!

Please excuse the poor quality cellphone pictures!

I got the recipe off of Allrecipes.com, but I'll share it here because I made a slight variation (adding peanut butter) to give it a little more flavor.  I hardly ever make a recipe "as printed" - lol!

Nest Cookies

2 cups mini marshmallows

1/4 cup butter

2 Tbsp. peanut butter

4 cups Chow Mein noodles

Cadbury mini eggs 

In a saucepan over medium heat, melt together the marshmallows and butter; stirring constantly.  Once melted, add peanut butter (may want to use slightly less than 2 Tbsp); stir until thoroughly melted. Remove from heat and add the chow mein noodles, stirring quickly to coat.

I used my hands to take out balls of the mixture and quickly form into nests, placing them on wax paper that has been lightly sprayed with non-stick spray.  While still warm and gooey, add the Cadbury mini eggs so that they will stick (and stay) well in the nests.  Once cooled, we put them into cupcake liners that we stretched open so the nests would fit.