note to self...

This post is really for no one else but me to remember the date... today is the first day since Charlotte was born she has eaten only formula... no more breast feeding. This day comes with mixed emotions... sad for losing that special intimacy of breastfeeding, happy for no more mastitis, freaked out about what "the girls" are gonna look like after 3 breastfed babies, looking forward to the freedom I am going to have... quite a day!

xoxo

nikki

Card Mania

...here is a sneaky peek at some of the cards we will be making Saturday, August 15th at K2 Scrapbook Studio in Sarasota, Florida. You absolutely can not beat the price of $20.00! We will be making 10 essential cards you need throughout the year ie: birthday, anniversay, thank you, congrats etc... We will be using CI cards, jilly bean journaling tags, tons of different ribbons, over 20 different stamps and more!!

xoxo

nikki

just cause...

i love you.

xoxo

nikki

charlotte's first dolly

Thanks to cousin Kayla, Charlotte received her first dolly when she was born. Kayla wanted Charlotte to have her own "dolly" just like she has. It is the cutest and softest doll... I just know that Charlotte will love it too. Thanks Kayla.

xoxo

aunt nikki

collAge take 2...

Love how this collage looks in black and white with the selective recoloring and the type added! Now, I just have to decide which one to print! :) TFL
xoxo
nikki

...any given morning

...Charlotte was chillin in her Bumbo, being totally entertained by her crazy big brothers

...Riley was making silly faces at the camera

...and Brody was licking his donut and then rubbing it on his face... which is what made me grab the camera in the first place. too funny. oh, and I had yet to snap some photos of his new summer haircut...i do miss the curls, but oh he looks so cute like this too!

xoxo

nikki

colLagE and bRusHes

The technique Jessica taught today was how to create a photo collage and then add some brushes to it... I already knew how to do the collage, but it was so much fun to add the brushes to it. It added the perfect touch. I think I will print this out and frame it for my friend Elena, so she will always remember her 40th birthday celebration out on AMI.
xoxo
nikki

cReatiNg a sTorY boArd

The actual size of this "story board" is 14x7. This was so easy to create...the possibilities are limitless... I am thinking of all the great gifts I could make. Print out the story board, personalize it with a saying or title, then frame it and give as a gift! Wow. Love it.
xoxo
nikki

seLectiVe recoLorinG

A couple of weeks ago, Sean and I celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary. We had dinner at Miguel's on Siesta Key (Sean and I go there every year on our anniversary because it is where we had our first dinner date). Then we headed over to the Crescent Club for a drink because that is where we first met... we had such a nice evening. This photo was perfect fot this photo editing project because the CC is known for its "red candlelit glow". What a fun memory!
xoxo
nikki

masKs, teXturEs, Edge bUrn....

Oh, my gosh...can I just say how much I loved the photo editing lesson I learned today....Jessica taught us how to create our own clipping mask, add textures to the photo, add 2 different types as well as finishing off the photo with an edge burn...so awesome! (It doesn't hurt to start with an amazing photo as well... thanks Kim!)
xoxo
nikki

edGe burN

This is a easy and subtle technique we learned this past week...called edge burn. It darkens the edge of your photos, keeping the center lof your photo lighter, drawing your eye to the focus of your photograph! Cool.

xoxo

nikki

tyPe

a couple of days ago our tutorial over at www.jessicasprague.com was all about type and fonts...this has got to be one of my favs...it just adds that "special touch" to your photograph.
xoxo
nikki

teXtuRes

Today I played around with textures in photoshop and I used the same three for these photos. I am having so much fun taking the photo editing refresher course over at www.jessicasprague.com TFL

xoxo

nikki

cliPpinG mAskS

Here is the photo I used for the clipping mask tutorial....this is my beautiful niece Kayla!!

xoxo

nikki

vinTaGe

Getting a refresher course over at www.jessicasprague.com for photo editing has been great! Here is an adorable photo of Charlee with a vintage feel to it. TFL
xoxo
nikki

PS If you wouldn't mind, please say a little prayer for me...I got another bout of mastitis! I woke up at 2am with pain so bad... All, I can say is ughhh. I am hurting, headache, fever, chills, body aches etc...and trying to magage the kiddos...thank God for Nanna.

celeBratE

Riley turned 5, and he and Nanna made this shark cake for his birthday party a couple weeks back. I will post more photos later as I am a bit behind on my blogging.
xoxo
nikki