{Friday Finds} - a New Link-Up Party

Hello friends....

Happy Friday. How are you? I hope well.

I just got off a lovely facetime connect....  my third this week.... Wow, connection with people who 'get it'....totally awesome.

I wanted to pop in and tell you about a new link-up idea... hoping you might want to join in...... I'm calling it Friday Finds.... It officially begins Friday, but I did add a link-up below if you care to share this week. 

Here's how it will work.....

Every Friday I will share a recent 'find' photo or 2........

I don't think a week goes by that I don't find a treasure or two.... The finds can be bought or found..... from antiques, to pretty posies... heart shaped stones, maybe a rusted old tin, a beautiful new book ..... anything goes....So many possiblities... and no... you don't have to find it on Friday... 'smile'.

Let's celebrate our finds.

One of the best things about a new find. is often the story behind the discovery. Don't you think?

Anyhow, I would love to see your finds ... The link up will remain open all week, so feel free to link up throughout the week. To play along, simply post a Friday Find photo on your site, instagram or flickr then pop over here and link up.... (just like our TT link ups)..... No special processing or textures required... simply share a pretty photo of a fab find.....

I will have the official link up details and a Friday Find button ready for next week.... 

My Friday Finds

A bit about this weeks finds......

I gotta begin with this lovely pottery .... isn't it extraordinary?

I went to the Trestle Greenhouse to check out the bedding plants....and came home with this beautiful piece of art... The owner is an amazing potter..... this is her work. I had no idea Eleanor has been making such beauitful pottery. (I need to get out more).... This is just one of the many alternative fired pieces I fell in love with.

Oh my... I wish you all could hold it in your hands..... the depth, texture...shape.... beyond beautiful!

Before I hit the greenhouse, I popped by a local shop, Carol's Time Again Treasures.....a treasure lover's dream..... I was on the hunt for unique linens.... jackpot... the sweet doily in my photos was just one of several lovelies I found...  so pretty, don't you think?

Imagine the stories it could tell. 'smile'.

And so that's my Friday Finds.....Let's see yours.....

::

Before I go.... I haven't posted a lot about my upcoming course, Start to Finish... But, I can not wait to dive in..... It's going to be everything I love about my work....all wrapped into one class. 

I will walk you through my creative process .... from conception to completion....... with all the details in between... inspiration, styling, photos or video of the shoot space.... camera details, lighting, props and last by never least...the processing.... 

It's exactly what I dream of sharing in a LIVE class. Anyhow, there's still spots left if you are interested. You can find all the details HERE.

Also Round Trip (my Lightroom class) and Picture Pro-cess are open for Summer Sessions.... This means instant access to all the class content ..... Check out the details on my class page.

Finally, way back when... I talked about offering mentoring sessions.... I think the time is almost here. I will have more details soon.. but they will involve one hour 'connects' via facetime, skype or virtual conferencing.... I will be open to talk creativity, goals, website/blog ideas, one on one processing assistance etc.... More soon....

I better run... I'm off to town for groceries...and some shopping at Lady of the Lake.... It doesn't get much better than that....

Have a beautiful weekend my friends....

xo,

Vintage Floral Color StoryBoard

Happiest Thursday....

And can I just say... what the heck? How did Thursday happen already?

'sigh'

The thing is... John has been on holidays..... and it makes for many interruptions!

It's been nice... but it's also been difficult...  I'm sure you know what I mean.  

The above storyboard is made from one of the templates I shared in the Test Kitchen....

I thought I'd share the actual photo recipe here, with you all....

Here's a screenshot of the layers panel. It's pretty self-explanatory....  

If you have questions, be sure to post them in the comments.

Take a closer look at the 2 textures I used on the Photo itself....Loretta & Vintage Overlay...both are part of the Studio Collection.

Loretta started with a piece of chip board....  But you probably guessed that. :)

This is a perfect example of why it never hurts to think a little outside the box when playing with textures..... I bet you wouldn't have guessed I used such a heavy texture on this soft photo....

The power of layers....and blend modes.... is a beautiful thing!! Don't you think? 

If you would like to check out this template...and get in on all kinds of premium goodness... check out the Test Kitchen......

xxo,

p.s. I will be back later with that brush tutorial I promised... :) 

p.s.s. I'm falling in love with Grey.... It's the strangest thing... I've never cared for it... now I LOVE it... It's funny how are tastes change...and evolve with time....

Love At First Sight & a Fab Freebie Texture

Let me introduce you to my new 'love'!

Is she not beautiful?  

'sigh'

It was love at first sight.......  

Do you have time for a little story? 

Thursday evening.....

We were out for dinner at a fabulous Café the other night.It was a last minute idea.... and a good one I must say.

Dinner was yummy...café was lovely.....

I went up to the counter to pay the bill.... (so glad it was me and not John buying).....

and there she was....  

My heart skipped a few beats.

This lovely antique scale....sitting on the counter, holding some fresh lemons... just waiting for me.

I instantly fell in love with the lines, the crackled yellow paint, and the beautiful 'hughes family scale' text on the front.... 

The Café is attached to an amazing shop, called Lady of the Lake. I shared a little tour of the shop here. 

What that meant to me.... was..... the scale had a price tag on it! It was FOR SALE!

At first I was like, 'no, Kim... you do not need it!' I paid the bill and told the waiter I really wanted that scale, but couldn't!  

I walked about 10 ft....John came up beside me and I said to him.... 'I'm sorry! I have to buy that scale! I just have to!'

He was like...'you have 3 or 4 scales already, Kimmy!'.... (have I told you he calls me Kimmy? lol.....)

and I was like....'yes, but I don't have one like this! And I can use it for photo shoots. It can be a business expense! I'm buying it!'  

I turned in my tracks! The waiter laughed... 'You are back' he said...

'Yep, (sigh) I must have this!'

mouse over to see the before

mouse over to see the before

Moral of the story....

Go with your gut! Sometimes you just gotta have it! It may take a little sacrifice, it may take a little creativity.... but sometimes you gotta make it happen!  

This was one of those things!

'sigh'

As I sprinkled the fallen peony petals on the scale today, I felt completely pleased with my decision. 

Not one regret!

.....

Texture Talk

After I processed the photos, I envisioned a scripted texture on the images. So I set to making this sweet little one. I call her, 'aurora'.....

Whatchya think? Can you imagine the possibilities?

Texture Lovin' Listers, your download link is coming your way! 

Not on the list, click HERE to sign up and start receiving Freebies right away.

Test Kitchen members, I'm working on some new videos....sharing today's textured scale recipe. Stay tune for that tomorrow.

Here's to an inspired week, my friends....

Oh, before I go... The FREE Skinny-Mini eCourse begins tomorrow. If you are interested in a little photoshop learning, click HERE to sign up.

xxo, 

p.s. I mentioned sacrifice.... well this antique lovin' mama stayed home all weekend.....  the only place I went was to the trail with Ben.... which I say, paid for the scale. :) 

still life photography assignment ~ part 2

i'm back.....

and i agree with carolyn, this sweet old typewriter

needed a little more time in the spotlight. :)

anyhow, before i start popping around to all the assignments,

i wanted to share some up close and personals of mr. underwood.

love, lovee the gears...and amazing detail.

they just don't make things like they used to.

and check out the fab vintage keys....

"sigh"....

thanks so much to my father-in-law for collecting vintage typewriters for so many years.

such amazing treasures.

and again to carolyn and camilla.

if you'd like to see what everyone else in the class has been up to...

check out the community list on the c and c's photo blog.

and thanks for popping by, for your sweet comments... and just all around goodness.

xxo, kim

vintage loveliness... :)

mouse over to see the before.
happy weekend,

whatchya have planned for the weekend?  anything exciting?

hmmmm, let me see...what's going on around here? 
ummmm, not a lot.  but that's okay.  i like when things are quiet. :)

tomorrow i plan on some time with john and possibly the boys.

and then i'm going to sneak into the studio.  i am putting together a texture collection and i hope to have it available no later than monday. :) 

yay.....

on the above before and after i used 2 textures and a textured overlayfrom the collection. 

once the textures are available i will be sharing a simple video on applying textures to your images. 

and i will also share the steps i have taken to create the transformed images. :)

i'm still painting, not to worry. 

and i do have another speed painting video to share soon.
but i'm guessing you can tell my passion for photography seems to have EXPLODED.  :)

if you have a minute, please pop over to 2bbb. 

we have a whole new look going on and lots of fun stuff coming soon.  :)

so my friends, may your weekend be peaceful and filled with moments that you love. 

until next time....xxo, kim♥

my very first photo shoot...

today was such a fabulous day... a true gift. 

my hair stylist, sarah,  asked me to take some pics of this lovely model. 

she did her hair and makeup...  and put together some fabulous vintage outfits.....then we braved the cold.  it was a BLAST...

i don't have a photography blog space...  i hope you don't mind if i share these here...  it was such a gift to be able to do this.  i loved it!  and i'm dying to do it again... :)  

hope you had a most fabulous weekend... back with some art fun this week.... xxo, kim

day 20… christmas spirit

 

i started this deSign with a red basecoat and no idea where i was going from there.  but it came together really nicely in the end.  check out the cool rusty stars dotting the “i’s” and the jingle bells in each corner.  it has a vintage feel to it.  this would be fabulous hanging on the door with a big old wreath behind it.

here’s to the spirit of christmas…  until tomorrow….. xoxo kim