Late night Photoshop fun

T had to work the rare overnight last night so I had the house to myself. I took advantage of the peace and quiet to play around on the computer without any interruptions. I'd been wanting to try out some of the free actions I downloaded a while back. Nothing crazy fancy, just some simple color adjustments to get a little closer to a pro look. I tried out quite a few, but most were too wacky for my taste. But there were a bunch that I think I will definitely hang onto. Just for kicks, I thought I'd share. All of these are available free. I think most of them are from ActionCentral. You can probably google for the ones that aren't.

Here is the original pic. It was a bit dark and also had a reddish cast to it.

I did a little tweaking to the curves to brighten it up, and I also did a defog, but nothing else major.

Here's the first set of afters (click on the image to see it larger). From left, Midnight Sepia, Black & Color, and Barely Vintage.


Set 2: Urban Acid, Bloom, and Lomo.

Gotta love trades

This is another brimmed beanie hat, crocheted in alternating stripes of hot pink and a pink/white variegated cotton yarn. I'm slowly but surely perfecting my pattern for this style of hat. This is my favorite so far in terms of the shape of the brim, although I made it a single layer instead of the usual double, so it's softer. This was part of a trade for a mini-session with one of my favorite photographers, the uber-talented Chera.

Judging by how our pictures turned out, I think I definitely got the better end of the deal! ;) Here's a peek at one of my favorite shots.

Shoutout for my crafty friends

I'm very lucky to have many friends who are also extremely talented in the crafty arena. I don't give them nearly enough credit for helping me come up with new project ideas, giving me tips when I'm stuck, or just generally motivating me to get some stuff done. Recently (and not-so-recently) a few of them have made stuff for me and/or E, and I thought I'd share.

This past summer, my best friend offered to make a tote bag for E for school. I was expecting your basic tote bag, maybe in a cute fabric instead of plain old canvas, but instead, I got this gorgeous bag that was lined with inside pockets and even a D-ring to clip my keys to! I was almost tempted to keep it for myself and buy E a generic tote bag. Hee. I think she's also making me a matching bag now because I liked it so much.



Oh, and this is in addition to the hats she made for me, T & E last year, when E was still a bitty baby.


I should mention, that the thing around my neck is a moebius strip that she knitted from the center out. It's super convenient because it's smaller and easier to manage than a scarf, and it's also very pretty and warm. I've been wearing it a lot lately and I get tons of compliments on it.

Most recently, my friend Jacki made some wool longies for E out of some sweaters I gave her as part of a swap we worked out. Here's the before of the sweaters: And the after:

How cute are they?!! I'll have to take another pic of her wearing them to post later. :)

Well ok, just one pic

Here's some of the fabric I got last week. (Try to ignore the clutter of my sewing table in the background.) I think the pink owls and the fire trucks are my favorites.

And on a positive note, I got some new clear storage bins, so my room is starting to look a little more organized.

I know it's been a while since I've posted any new projects, but I promise, I am working on stuff. Just slowly. Very slowly. Currently, I'm working on a few different crochet hats that I'm trading for goods and services. I should be done no later than the end of the weekend, so check back. :)