Inside-Outside, 2 New Textures & a Few Updates

Hello, 

How are you? Happy Easter my friends. 

I picked up the sweetest pink tulips the other day at the grocery. I haven't had the best luck with tulips lately.... but these are keepers.... really perky.... they seem to have a lovely helter scelter way about them. 

This is a triptych of my world inside.... hopeful...spring like...and light filled....

I went for a walk with Ben... the sun was shining bright yesterday......snow was melting...it really was a treat. So I decided to take my camera on our evening walk... the light the previous few evenings along the river had been amazing..... But gosh darn it...the sun took a hike....and here's what we found. 

Quite the contrast.... from up top..... don't you think? :)

Ben's okay with it though... The deer our thick... coming out to find food... he never catches up to them (wonder what he'd do if he did)... But he loves chasing after them..... 

Here he is...looking out on 'his world'. 

So tell me... what's your world looking like these days? I know we aren't the only ones waiting for green grass. :)

On another note.... I put together the BEST of my 2012 textures...ones I shared here at the Café, in Beyond Layers and a few of my other classes.... 90 textures in all.

If you are interested in filling your texture stash...check it out .... TK members get them free... along with lots of other textures and tutorials...

Also, my crash class, Texturize starts soon.... a Test Kitchen member exclusive.... details HERE.

And last, but not least.... Picture Pro-cess starts on Tuesday. There's still time to dive in.... 2 separate classes...one for Elements 11 and one for CS6. 

Oh and if you are an earlier version elements or cs users.... The Essentials eCourse is now self-paced, on sale.... and access is available for one full year.

Finally... how 'bout a few textures to play with?

Click HERE to download the 3003 set.

Let's end with a give away.... Shall we? 2 offerings.

One - 8 week spot in Picture Pro-cess.

One - 4 month membership at the Test Kitchen.

To enter.... share your favourite  thing about spring....  it's always good to celebrate our blessings.

For me... Spring is a miracle..... It amazes me...the green grass, trees coming to life... tulips, daffodils....always such a gift after our winters.

I will announce the winners here on Tuesday.

I'm off for now.... John's in the kitchen making gluten-free pumpkin pancakes..... I can smell the spice up here...

Have a wonderful weekend.... 

xo, 

The Lake Walk

Hello my friends.

How are you?  How's your week?

I just wanted to pop in and say hi.... 

 and share a little walk along the lakeside with you all.

Check out Mr. Ben.  He's getting a little freedom...and my does it make that tail go swish.... Actually we are both soaking up the freedom.... 

As you can see it's still very much winter here.  In fact I've been told winter is planning on sticking around..... possibly right through April.  Yikes....  :)

 

There's just something about white...so beautiful.....  Even weeds look pretty...against it. :)

I ♥ white..... 'sigh'

I was telling my friend PG I would paint my whole house white if John was willing! But there's no way he will ever agree to paint over the antique oak.... No way!!

How bout you? What 'color' are you digging these days?  

Happiest Thursday!!  Have a most inspired day!

xxo, 

Learn Textures in Ten Minutes - a Free eCourse Offering and More

Hello, sweet friends....

I'm sitting here...bout ready to burst...with a secret. :)

I can't tell you quite yet....'sigh'...

But, I do have some good stuff for you today...

2 new Textures...

and....  are you ready for it?

a new and FREE instant access eCourse!

Yeppers....

My new mini photoshop eCourse

'Learn Textures in Ten' is ready and waiting for all the texture newbies out there!

I'm pretty proud of this announcement...seeing as I just came up with the idea last night, in bed, while I should have been fast asleep....

Check out all the details HERE. 

.....

Okay on to my new texture offering...  Today we are getting grungy...and warming things up.

Two lovelies for you today my friends.... 

Check out my sweet fence...taken this past Sunday....it was snowing very lightly...super hazy...and really quite fab!

mouse over to see the before image.

I simply added a layer of 'paper love' at soft light...lowered the opacity a little...

and wowzer...great tones. :)

0h, i used both of today's textures on the red shed image above....  play with them....they work great together.

Today's Textures are $4.00 until Friday....Click below to grab 'em up....

I can't sign off without sharing a little Julia Cameron inspiration....

Love this excerpt from Artist's Way - Every Day for January 8th.

It is never too late to start over. It is never past the point of no return for our artist to recover. We can heap years, decades, a lifetime of insult upon our artist and it is so resilient, so powerful and so stubborn that it will come back to life when we give it the smallest opportunity.  

Good stuff .... right? Whatchya think?  Pretty powerful?  Share your thoughts... I'd love to hear....  

Okie doke...  I'm out...  must get back to my Essentials eCourse lessons.  Wow... it's an awesome group!! I'm totally loving it!!

Please tell you friends about my Learn Textures in Ten' eCourse.....and if you are new to textures...come check it out!

The more the merrier....

Back soon...to spill my fabulous secret...... until then...

Love & Gratitude..... 

xxo, Kim

I'm Still Here - Honest I

My dear friends

Thank you so much for all the sweet emails asking if everything is okay.

I have fallen off the map this past week!  

I wanted to share why..... My very sweet Aunt passed away on Saturday.  She had been fighting cancer for some time....But, she is resting now, thankfully.  

She was such a strong and courageous woman...  Auntie Marg never had children of her own.......but she loved and cared for all of her nieces and nephews.... We live in the same town, so my boys were blessed to spend a lot of time with their Auntie Marg.  She was so good to all of us.  

I am so sad to see her gone...but so thankful to have had all these years with her....and very thankful we could be with her in her final days.  

So, that's where i have been.  I've missed you all!

.....

I missed the Friday texture...first time since I started sharing textures on Fridays.  I will be back this coming Friday with at least one fab texture for you all!  I promise!!

I took Ben and Sophie on the trail today.... it was nice to be alone with my thoughts, my camera and the puppies....

I wanted to share a few of the pics with you today....and also let you know that the Everyday Ben page will be up asap... I promise.  I can't wait to have it up and get the flickr group going....  So stay tune.

I'm so in love with Mr. Ben.... and I am so happy we found each other.  He's so darn sweet!

There is one little problem..... when we adopted him, my cousin said he was starting to be destructive when he was home alone.  Anyhow, Ben is pretty much with me 24/7 so he didn't have a chance to get into trouble. So, this past week, he has been home alone a little bit while we have been at the hospital etc.  And he has been really naughty......  He does things like empty the bathroom garbage, drags my clothes out of the bedroom closet....  he tore apart a pizza box, ripped open a bag of  his puppy treats..... and ate them all.......yikes!!  So, what should we do?  Kennel?  I hate the thoughts of that....  But honestly, I can't stay home for the rest of my life either....  The other night when he tore up the pizza box....and I was standing there looking at the mess... I said quite firmly.... 'Ben'... he picked up a piece of the box to show me with his tail wagging..  He's so cute and angelic looking....and I'm putty in his paws.....  'sigh'.....  Anyhow, if you have suggestions I am open!!  Do tell!

Okay, my friends.... I must sign off.  I have lots of catching up to do.  

Although this next week is going to be a little hit and miss... I will definitely pop back in a few days!

Happy Week ahead....  talk soon....xxo, kim 

oh my, just had to share

happy saturday my friends.

so, we may not have spring yet.

and it's going to be a long while before we do.

sigh....

but wow, what a gift this week has been.  such beautiful frostiness. 
and today was extra special.

john is away for 10 days on vacation....
it'll be so nice when we can both vacation together.
but right now, i wouldn't dare leave my boys at home alone.
and andy would be completely against the idea too. :)

so i'm afraid we won't be out scouting abandoned buildings for a few weeks. 

and, i'm way too chicken to go on my own.

but that's okay.
because this frosty goodness is everywhere.
and it seemed to be extra special on the trail today.

andy and i spent about an hour and a half, just out walking thru the trail.

taking pic after pic...

i was actually over heating with just a hoodie on. 

Yay....

such a wonderful feeling...

so happy i was able to steal some time just to soak up the warmth and let go of the worries...

even for just a little while.

john, i miss you already.  as i type this you are probably landing in chicago.

hope it's going well.

.......

no one has washed the dishes yet.  who's going to empty the recycling?

who's going to get the boys to take their laundry up?

wow, you do so much...

......

have a fabulous weekend my friends.... xxo, kim ♥

......

p.s. good news though... bryce is cooking dinner... woo hoo.. :)

HBM....

happy bench monday.....  yeppers...  my fabulous flickr friends have such awesome celebrations!!  and bench monday is a wonderful weekly event.  irene just loves to get in on the fun....  today she thought we should have a little sit on the front porch swing... ummmm, BRRRRRR. :)

pop over and check out all the HBM fun!! 

happy day....xxo, kim