Winter Day

The closer I come to the New Year, the happier I am. Somehow, for me, the holiday season gets me down. So with each garland and Christmas ornament that I put away, I feel more unburdened.
Our routines are returning; washing dishes and clothes, running errands, paying bills, cooking and reading. I am so thankful that all will return to normal. Friends are back in town and all is well.
I do have to say that I didn't see any of my old Christmas movie favorites like "It's a wonderful life", "A Christmas Carol", "Scrooge" , "Miracle on 42nd Street". I looked for them but no luck. Oh well, there is always next year.
God bless us all.

A Loss of a Special Friend

How do you handle a breakup of a relationship when you have come to love that person?
Actually, the dissolution of my daughter's relationship with her boyfriend involves my husband and I, as well. We had become close to D, as he spent quite a bit of time here at our home. Since he lives a distance away, there were many nights when he "camped out" on the sofa in our sun room. He was like a son to us in so many ways.
He was the one who would hear that Jim needed to clean out the ashes from the fireplace, so he would do it without asking. He would be the one who would make breakfast for Katie on the mornings that he was here.
He volunteered to help clean up the branches in the back yard when we had a particularly heavy storm and to help Jim split wood, on his day off from work. When I complained about getting junk mail, he promised to send some mail that would make me smile.
For D, it was all about helping others and making their lives better.
The actual descision to break up, came about a week before Christmas. I shook my head when Katie told me, because it wasn't the first time that she had broken it off. But she said that D had a gift for us, so would be coming over on Christmas Eve.
True to his word, he came, and not only came, but attended the Vigil Mass on Christmas Eve with us.
When it was over, we all went home to White Pizza, a family tradition, and a fire. We gave D his presents, and Katie opened hers from D.

Then D handed us a red envelope. I dreaded opening it in a way, as I felt that it would be our last time together. Inside was a specially chosen card, that contained some sweet words together with a picture drawn of a log carrier that was late in delivery. Tears sprang to my eyes and I couldn't speak for a moment. We told him how much we cared for him and just how special he is to us. I am still grieving as I write this. Time will heal, I know. But how do you just forget a person who has become a son?

Word Paralysis

In the wee hours of the night, I mull over different thoughts that i have. I am very prolific in my own mind. LOL I do wish that I had the ability to express what i feel or am thinking about but that isn't the case. God made me a clay pot in that regard and I accept that. But it doesn't stop me from wishing that I had that gift. My Flickr friend, Hootnonny, is so expressive in her words and photography. I so enjoy reading her posts as well as others. Maybe I should set an alarm and record what is in my dreams. They are quite vivid sometimes.
So, borrowing the psychobabble of the day, I will call my malady: Word Paralysis. And that is all I have to say today.

Blessings to all who read my words,

Editing a picture

Open up a photo (this is SOOC, straight out of camera) in PSE. Make a duplicate (short cut: Ctrl J). I usually go to "Enhance">auto smart fix, then flatten. Next, duplicate. (you know, Ctrl J) and "Enhance">Adjust Lighting> Levels, hit "auto">flatten.

Now, we are going to choose an action. In this picture I am choosing Pioneer Woman's "Boost".
Here is how the photo looks so far:

Next, let's try a texture. I am using one from the Supernatural collection by Patty Brown, called Gothic Glow. My method is to use a free action to do this: called "Texture Applicator" by MCP.
I chose the Vivid Light" layer set at 24%, then with a soft black brush @100%, 170 pixels, I removed some of the texure from the wreath. Then flatten the layers.

We are not finished yet. Here we will add another texture from Patty Brown, called "Paranormal Glow", with Multiply @ 24%. Flatten the layers.

Now let's get a little bit edgy. Let find a really good texture with some TEXTURE! I think I will go to one of Jerry Jones' ShadowHouse Creations.

                           

Of course, you know the drill by now: flatten your layers.

Here is the before, SOOC:

And our finished photo:

Thanks for looking. This is my first tutorial and hope it won't be my last!

Advent

In this hustle and bustle of what is referred to as the Holiday Season, are we not missing the opportunity to really prepare for the coming of the Lord. I mean, in our hearts. The four weeks preceeding Christmas, our church has a litergy that focuses on scripture that announces over and over that a Saviour will be born. Instead of being stressed out at not being able to cross all of our errands from our list, stop and meditate on what His coming to earth means to us. He came as a helpless infant, not a mighty King, as the Jews were looking for. Since he became like one of us, He knew what it was to be human. And we can relate to Him as a man, not some cold, distant force. Thank you, my Lord. I don't need any Christmas presents. You are all that I need.

Snowy Day

Beautiful fine flakes of snow are falling here in Kennesaw. Although it is not appearing to stick to the ground, it is still lovely. Especially since I am inside and warm by the fire. My Jimmy is busy as ever, never seeming to be able to stay still, putting up new blinds in the bathroom and seeing to the fire in the fire place. Here is my photo from last years' snow. 

December Day

Here is my friend, Hootnonny's blog. She is an excellent photographer, expecially of flowers. She has an excellent tutorial on making greeting cards with your photos using Microsoft Publisher 7.

artisticexpressionsphotographync.blogspot.com





Here is my latest attempt to make a Christmas card:

This is tough!

Did you ever spend a lot of time on something, only to find out that it was in vain? I have been playing around with this blog (and I mean playing) for a good while. Now it is time to get serious. After attempting to design one myself, I decided to let a professional do it for me. Rita did a wonderful job designing a respectable site for me. But i feel like I have been dropped off on another planet where I definitely don't know the language. Soooo, I downloaded the instructions that she sent me a few weeks ago. And I am just now getting down to business. After struggling between a help site that she recommended and the settings on my blog, for about an hour, I am reeling in confusion. I thought I had followed all of the instructions, there was no change in the appearance of my home page. Actually, I was trying to add  a new font, that's all. But apparently if you get one dot of of place, it won't work. Well, tomorrow is another day. LOL