Photoshop Home School: Clipping Mask & Ombre Effect

It's been a while since I've done one of these posts, so for all you newbies out there, let me preface that I am trying to get better at using photoshop simply by doing online tutorials.  So far I can do the basics.  I can erase backgrounds, I can create new layers, I can add a gradient fade and I am a big fan of finding and using all the brilliant Actions out there.  

However, in the last few weeks my confidence has been building.  I've gotten so much more comfortable with using photoshop that I figured it was time to learn another technique.  

Enter the brilliance of Katrina from Pugly Pixel.  I find that I just keep going back to her tutorials.  Not only are they very thorough and easy to follow, she also posts tutorials that just appeal to me (to everyone actually.)  She demonstrates how to do the things I see online and in print that I've always wanted to do, but had no idea where to begin.  Case in point, these two tutorials:

The Ombre Effect   &   The Clipping Mask

They go together quite nicely as the ombre tutorial shows.  But both are extremely fun and have so many possibilities!  As you can see I used both techniques on the image above, but I'm itching to experiment some more with each.  Do you ever use these effects with your images and design?  I'd love to see links!  

Let's Run Away to Neverland!

I've always been a fan of Peter Pan. And who isn't?  It's one of those stories that resonates with people of all ages.  It has so many layers and themes.  It is filled with magic and charm, excitement, fantasy, and youthful love. 

One time when I went to visit the boy in England, I insisted we visit Kensington Gardens (where JM Barrie would often go to write and where Peter Pan first met Tinkerbell. )  There's a Peter Pan statue in the park (you can see it at the end of the film Hook) and I insisted the boy take me to see it in person.  I was secretly hoping that somehow, just by being there, I could find my way to Neverland...No such luck.  Even so, I still feel young at heart!  Here are some of my favorite Peter Pan inspired images and finds:

source

The perfect "Wendy Darling" dress...It totally looks like her nightgown!

I think I originally saw this on Modcloth

source

source

This necklace is included mainly because of the thimble - or should I say "kiss!"

source

Love this cute tinkerbell-ish dress and I adore the model's pixie haircut!

source

From the 2003 movie version...

source

Inked...Temporarily!

Ok, so I'd be lying if I said the thought of getting a tattoo never crossed my mind.  But the pain and the permanancy has always been a disuading factor.  I know I'd have a hell of a time picking something that I truly and completely love now...and in 20 years.  So I've never gotten any tattoos and I'm not likely to get any, I think.  

But that's why temporary tatts are so fun!  Over the New Year's weekend I sported this temporary tattoo designed by Kate of Flapper Doodle and I must say, I loved the reaction it received.  It was so much fun to be inked if only for just a week.  I still don't think a real tattoo is in the cards for me, but if it were, it would certainly be something like this.  I simply adore Kate's designs.  

She just updated her shops so be sure to check them out!

Oh to Live in a Victorian Doll House!

There is a section of Angelino Heights, near Echo Park that hosts some of the oldest, most adorable Victorian Houses in Los Angeles. 

We tend to get a lot of really ugly architechture out here in LA, and too often, interesting, older buildings are knocked down without a second thought.  But high above downtown, a few of Los Angeles' oldest homes have been preserved. 

I love Victorian homes.  I adore all the details, the quaint pointed roofs and the bright color combinations.  Walking down this Angelino Heights road, all I could think was, "I want my future home to look like this!"  Maybe someday...

This last house was definitely my favorite!  There were dogs sleeping on the porch and it looked like they were setting up for a dinner party on the porch, so cute!

design block

You know how it is when you want to change the look of your blog but you don't know what to do?  I hate this feeling.  But when the layout isn't working for me, it's really hard for me to enjoy working on the blog as well...isn't that interesting?  Anyway, I feel like I need a new look, but there are elements from this current look, that I like and maybe want to keep.  

Maybe I should hand this over to some pros...But then I miss out on the process of designing something, which I usually do enjoy.  I'm just kinda out of ideas.  So if you see some strange changes and halfway alterations, you'll know that's it's just because I am indecisive.  

But if you have any suggestions, please throw them out there!  I'm all ears!   

Thursday

Right now I am going through some big changes at work and among them I'm moving from the front desk to my very own glamorous cubicle!  Hooray!  I feel a bit nerdy, but I kinda want to decorate it like Elle Woods does in Legally Blonde 2.  Have you seen that scene?  

This is what it looks like now...

Not all that fancy.  But seriously, I'd love to get your input.  Do any of you decorate your workspace in any way?  Link me pictures if you do!  

Have a wonderful Thursday!

Right On Target

When I was in college, I spent my summers working as a camp counselor for a family camp called Bruin Woods.  It was an upscale woodsy resort for UCLA alumni and their families.  All the staff were current UCLA students you see, and it was a bit like Dirty Dancing....I was part of the entertainment team, teaching morning fitness classes and dance classes and performing in the weekly shows.  But I also taught Archery.  

While it was never my goal to get my archery certification and teach 7 year old how to use a weapon, somehow I got placed in this position two years in a row.  I kinda hated it, but I made the best of it and actually had a lot of fun with it in the end.  So I'm loving this current arrow trend that's happening right now on Etsy.  In a funny way, arrows and archery hold a very special place in m y heart.  Here are a  few of my current loves....

source

thinking of getting this to hang at work ;) source

source

source

source

Apartment Therapy

We live in a teeny tiny apartment.  And, while I love it, I also kinda hate it lately.  There is just so little room and next to no storage space.  After living here for nearly two years I am starting to feel impatient and tired by our general lack of space, but moving to a larger apartment is not in the cards at the moment.  So instead, I am doing a little apartment make-over.  

The plan is to rearrange, de-clutter and slough off all the unecessary "stuff" to create a new, cleaner and more spacious home.  Sounds simple enough, right?  The tricky part is that the boy and I both sort of adore clutter.  We both have several collections, we both have a LOT of books and a lot of dvds too.  But I am determined to re-do out apartment without sacrificing any of our personal cluttery charm...It's going to be a challenge to say the least.  Here are some of the new items on my wish list to help me in my re-organization. 

Wish me luck!

Let me see you Peacock...

My good friend Brittany, who is as talented as the day is long, painted this lovely Peacock portrait during her last visit home to Georgia.  

She painted it at a Sips n' Strokes, which sounds to me like a much better alternative to Color Me Mine, and I mean, look at the results!  They teach you how to paint a specific design and you can bring your favorite cocktail along for the night! Fun!  I'd like to go and take a stab at painting under the influence.  Alas, they are only in the South...and Wisconsin, random! 

Anyway, Brittany left the Peacock in Georgia, but her mom sent it to her here in LA. She tried to give it away several times to no avail until I laid eyes on the bird and now she's mine.  She's hanging in our kitchen and I think she's perfect.  I shall nickname her Midge.  Midge the Peacock. 

Thanks Britt! 

Simple Wedding Gift DIY~

It's a marriage "tip jar."  Hee hee, get it?  One of my bosses got married last week and as our offices' official party planner (no that's not in my job description, but it just kinda happened) I wanted to do something nice for him on behalf of the whole company.  But buying something off his registry wasn't really an option, nor was a mid-day champagne toast (didn't they do that on Mad Men?) So I came up with this simple crafty gift to make for him and it functioned as a good way to get everyone in the company involved.  And all at a very minimal cost!  

All you need is a large jar ( I used a tall mason jar) some ribbon, some basic brown-paper labels and a few wedding stickers/flair of your liking.  I used green paper (to resemble dollar bills) on which I typed up the tips (in a fun font of course)  and folded them up and placed them in the jar.

I had everyone in our company contribute little tips to help my boss in his new marriage.  There were some fabulous ones in the bunch including "Remember SHE's always right," and "Always put the toilet seat down!"  But in all seriousness, I think it turned out to be a very nice, easy-to-make and thoughtful gift.  The idea, of course, is that the newly weds can add their own tips to the jar and pass it on to someone else.  I hope they enjoy it, and it gives them a laugh!  

 

Pointe Shoe DIY

Hi Lovelies!  So first things first, I have to share my joy at the sight of reaching 100 followers on Google.  Thank you so much for your support and for clicking the follow button.  Couldn't have done it without you, quite literally...Now for 200!  ;)

So that brings me to the blog party...Anyone want to contribute?  Bueller?  Bueller?  Let me know.  Festivities take place on May 25th.  Basically I am looking for guest posts, DIY's, recipes--anything that's fun and festive!  Email me if your interested.

And finally, be sure to check out my Pointe Shoe DIY on DIY Dancer.

If you haven't perused the DIY dancer site, be sure to check it out.  Dancers of all disciplines from all over contribute and it's a fabulous blog with lots of interesting articles-- both dance and non-dance related!

Office Design

Let me take a moment to share with you all just what a nerd I can be sometimes.  Well, I suppose it's not nerdy, it's a good thing actually but something I am not accustomed to experiencing.....I like one of my projects that I am currently handling at work.  In fact, I like it so much I actually kind of wanted to work on it over the weekend.  But I resisted.  That was the nerdy part.

The project is coming up with a design scheme and color components for our new office.  We're moving in about two months and I have been given the task of liaising with the construction crew and picking out all the carpets, paints and furniture for my boss' approval.  It's like getting to live out an old fantasy of mine of being an interior designer.  I've been drawing up samples, putting together mood boards and color schemes.  It's just plain fun!  I only hope that all my designing ideas go over well with the big bosses, but even if they don't like all my ideas, I sure have had fun coming up with them! 

 Hope you're having a fun day at work too!  (Well you must be if you're reading this! ;)

remember me to heritage square

It's quite easy to think of Los Angeles as completely void of any history or culture.  This may be because the city doesn't seem to want to keep up or restore buildings older than the ones built in the 1980's.  Or it may be because the city has managed to tear down a great deal of our historical buildings and landmarks in lieu of sleek office buildings and parking lots.  However, a few jewels of history do still remain and I have the pics to prove it!

from the museum's facebook page

This past weekend, the boy and I visited Heritage Square-- a collection of old Los Angeles Victorian homes restored and preserved as a historical glimpse into L.A.'s past.   It was so much fun to wander around the museum, made to look like a street straight out of Meet Me in St Louie.  (Which is sort of surreal considering it's in the middle of the downtown outskirts, not the nicest of areas.)  They even had free-range chickens roaming around!  It was so much fun!  I also feel like I learned a little something about our fair city's past.  And I was so taken with the museum and all the events it organizes, I am considering becoming a member and volunteering!  What can I say, I like my Victorian architecture!     

 

Don't you wish you could  live here?  I certainly do!  ;)