Crop Circles

Remember this post?

I wanted to edit that first photo.

I felt the need to play with it a bit.

See what I could make of it.

Although I might not be great at photoshop
or post processing
I like to think I can crop photos well.

I don't toot my horn to often,
but I like to think that I can see an interesting way
to crop a photo

and turn the straight out of camera shot
into something --

more.

Suddenly,

This photo has a whole different attitude.

There's a new air about it.

This peacock's not so quaint.

In fact, he's a little fiesty.
Mean.
Full of attitude.

And you know what?
I think it's hot.

Cheers!
A

Paper Pieced String Quilt: FAIL

I heard about paper pieced string quilts through a couple of my crafty friends.

Lucinda.

Rebecca.

They did it.

I figured so, too, could I.

Although I can sew

fairly well

I cannot read tutorial instructions.

The paper I used was too thick.

The stitch length too long.

And my squares got all wonky.

The quilt top that I had hoped would become a duvet cover someday

the one I carefully planned

and designed

and even blogged about (here)

was just toooooo time consuming.

Just tooooo imperfect.

So, I made a snap decision.

The string quilt duvet cover

became

A crib sized quilt.

The backing is brown.
I have yet to find binding fabric.
I have to save what's left of the fabric I used
as I am still needing it to make a queen sized quilt for DRL and I.

I am still working on the pattern for this new undertaking.

But this one...
this FAILsterpiece
will go to Stella.

The good that has come of this--
the light at the end of the tunnel--
is that I found a stitch pattern on my machine
that makes little stars.

I used it to quilt the top.
I absolutely love how it turned out.

I guess it's not all bad.
I guess it never is.

Cheers!
A

A Dozen.

There are four cherries in this photo.

There were twelve comments on the "Rock The Vote" entry.
Which means, I have at least twelve readers.
One dozen.

I've always been horribly popular.
It's a curse, really.

*tap, tap*
Hello?
World?

Are you there?

It's me, Athena?
You know, lover of coffee? Hater of the Yankees?

*is this thing on???*

Anyway...
As a token of my appreciation to you, oh loyal readers,
I will no longer refer to you as 2.5.

Or 3.8.

Thank you for making yourselves known.

Cheers,

A

Rock the Vote

My Aunt Kristy sent me an email today.

The subject line was "contest."

She told me that Better Homes & Gardens is holding a photo contest.

The grand prize is five thousand dollars.

And then she said I should submit a photo.

But...

I can't choose a photo.

So I thought I'd let you choose one for me.

Below are my favorites that meet the criteria.

I know..

I know.

MOST of them are of Elena.

I can't help it if she's my muse.

Scroll through 'em.

Cast your vote in the comments following the post.

Cheers!

A

PS> Thank you!

PPS: If I didn't include your favorite photo, please let me know, and I'll add it to the list.

The official details (via Better Homes & Gardens official site)nare here.

Old Dog, Meet New Trick.

Once upon a time I knew nothing about Photoshop.
Then I found out it is really expensive.
And I was grateful to the co-worker who installed his licensed copy on my MacBook.
Free.

So I vowed to learn to use it.

That was over a year ago.

Up until yesterday, all I knew how to do was apply a PW Action.

Then I learned how to make a diptych.

And now,
the piece de resistance.
I know how to apply selective color.

This is Kaia Jensen. I am certain you remember her.

I didn't want to leave it at just one photo, though.
So I practiced a bit more tonight.

Again.

And again.
Until I knew I could remember how to do it without referencing the tutorial
where I found the trick.

Cheers!
A

Visitors

My mom and step-dad were in town for a week.
They headed back north on Friday morning.
We had some fun while they were in town.
Or, as Gramma says,
a little slice of heaven.

Elena had her first ride on a pony.

In the parking lot of the HEB store just up the road from our townhouse.

She checked to make sure she was actually off the ground.
And then she showed us just how much fun she was having..
how truly excited she was to be on horseback
for the very
first
time...

My mom says the sun was in her face.
But look at the horse

(same photo, different crop)
He's equally as excited.

We went to Lake Travis.
To the park at Lake Travis.
We found a great little picnic area near the boat launch
that was completely
I mean utterly
uninhabited by others.

So Elena and I flew a kite.

Gramma and Elena sat by the water's edge and found feathers.
While Gramma was telling Elena all about feathers
and rocks
and bees
and things

Elena picked her nose.

She's two.
It's what happens.

Stella and Daddy hung out in the shade.
Stella drooled.
A lot.

Papa drank a beer.

We also went to Zilker Park
to check out Barton Pool.

Turns out Barton Pool is closed on Thursdays.

So we had no choice but to find something
anything
to occupy our time.

The Pigeons were happy to oblige.

Very
Very
Happy.

This caterpillar on the other hand....

I'm pretty sure he felt a bit like Nemo
when the dentist's niece came to claim him.
But the caterpillar,
like Nemo,
got away unscathed.

This cricket wasn't so lucky.
Although he received a kiss,
he hopped away missing three of his six legs.

Maybe "hopped" is the wrong word...

Cheers,
A

P.S. A very happy Father's Day to all you dads out there.