Sunday musings

So right now you are either groaning with disgust or drooling.  This was our breakfast this morning, a wet, cold, long weekend Sunday morning.  Bacon, asparagus fresh of course and blanched perfectly, sauteed mushrooms, fresh from our own chickens eggs, (nothing better believe me) and hollandaise sauce.  Coffee, juice and the crunchiest, yummiest rolls topped with pumpkin seeds delish.  Does it get any better than this, really?  I think not.

So this weekend is the Queen's Birthday weekend, why we celebrate in June is beyond me since the Queen's birthday is in April, but we do and let's face it Aussies love a long weekend.  So to get into the British spirit of the occassion, we had a somewhat British fry up Aussie style of course and this afternoon we will be sipping on some mulled wine.  Hmm now I have never had mulled wine but I have wanted to for a long time now.  I've found the recipe and tonight is the night.  I hope it lives up to my expectations.

Now for something completely different, a cemetery walk.  After our drive to the Bunya's last weekend, we stopped at the cemetery where my husband's grand parents and uncle are buried.  It took us a long time to find their graves and while we looked I discovered some interesting headstones.  Some quite elaborate like this one and some quite forlorn.

It made us think about what we wanted when our time comes.  Burial or cremation?  My dad was cremated, his wishes and my sister spread his ashes over the waters of his favourite fishing spot, Morton Bay.  Adrian's parents are both buried in town at the lawn cemetery.  Lucas is buried at the same cemetery in the children's section.  We decided we both would probably prefer to be cremated.  I don't want my children to feel tied to a town because we are buried there.  I don't want to be one of the graves that in years to come is broken and grown over and forgotten.

While I love the history and stories that cemetery's tell, I don't think I want to be laid to rest in one.  I think I would prefer to be buried under a rose bush or a Jacaranda tree.  

This particular cemetery has the graves of many soldiers, too young to have died in a war, too young to have lost their lives fighting for our freedoms.  Anzac day was in April and the poppies still remain to remind us of the lives lost in battle.

So today I am reminded that life is short and I need to love well those around me, be caring and be someone that brings happiness and joy  and love into people's lives.  It's not always easy but I think it's worth the effort.

Oh and you know how I have been teaching myself to do some digital scrapping and art stuff, well here is a little thing I have been playing with.  A gorgeous digital pack from Lorie Davison she has the most amazing digital packs available and her stuff is pure fantasy and beauty, so whimsical.  Go over and check her out really amazing.

So off now to make some beef and mushroom pies hmm gotta love a long weekend.

Texture Tuesday

Once again I am contributing to Kim Klassen's Texture Tuesday postings, I really enjoy doing this, it keeps me fiddling, not that I need anything more to fiddle with at the moment.  As I said yesterday, I am teaching myself to do digital scrapbooking, and digiart.  A mean feat I must say.  There is so much to learn and I am not the most patient person, if I can't find out how to do something fairly quickly I can get a little frustrated, to say the least.  I don't lose my cool though, I just become totally obsessive, spending hours scouring web sites, tutorials and what ever I can dig up, to help solve the problem. Hmm maybe I'm not impatient just obsessive?  Arghh,.....  there it's out my total frustration at not being able to do some of the things I want to do right now, oh and at buying a book that says you can get online web pictures to play with, and they aren't there.  And of course when you email the author they don't answer, phooie to you blah!!!!

Okay calming down and above is my SOOC (straight out of the camera) shot of the bug on the agapanthus, to fit the theme this week of "In the Garden".

Now textured here he is again.  I didn't want to lose the brilliance of the purples, I just wanted to edge it up a bit, you know add a little grunge to it.

So firstly I DUPLICATED the photo, as always I will say duplicate, duplicate, always duplicate.

Then I did a levels adjustment, followed by a brightness/contrast adjustment, then I layered Kim's October texture over the top on colour burn at 58%.  I also added a vignette around the edges. Voila my bug on the agapanthus in the garden, ta da......

Also I have started making some pages for a book I want to make for Elle, either for her birthday or Christmas or maybe just because.

The background is a paper from Kim's textures too, it's Warm Sun, layered with one of my photos of autumn leaves and then with the embellishments added and shadows applied.  Rather sweet I think.  See you can use the textures under and over photographs, isn't it wonderful!

Teaching myself

I am teaching myself to digitally manipulate my photos.  I want to be able to take a photograph and then bring it home and completely change the look of it, by adding or changing or adjusting, everything about it.  So I took this shot of a magpie taking off in the park the other day, it was blurred and I really liked the look of it, so I have been playing with it for a couple of days.  Above I have really played with the colour of the background and adjusted the levels quite a bit.  I like the look of it too.

Here it is SOOC and I like it a lot just as it is.  I'm not too fussy about a lot of the rules of photography, you know the thirds rule, the symmetry of photos, light, exposure, blurriness blah blah.  I just like taking photos and seeing if I like them when I am done.  This one is probably technically all wrong, I really don't mind too much I love the movement and the colour in it.

This one has a real stormy, eerie feel about it don't you think?  I used some brushes for the trees and created a vignette around the edges using brushes too.  I like it a lot too.  I'm enjoying fiddling but I get very frustrated when I am trying to do something and can't work out to get it to happen.  Like at the moment I am wanting to make a clipping mask using the pencil tool and I cannot get it to happen.  If you know how to do this using PSE8 PLEASE let me know you would be saving my sanity and my RSI in my right arm ha ha!!

So until later I'm off to have a glass of bubbles and some dinner, cheers all.  Happy Sunday.

Odds & Bods

Babies dreaming of the world around them, of far away places yet to be seen.

Angels, sitting waiting to be called to service.

Listening for the cry.

Moelleux au chocolat

(Chocolate Lava Cake)

Ingredients:

180 gr (6oz) light brown sugar

180gr (60z) butter

180gr (60z) good dark chocolates (70%)

6 eggs

90gr (3oz) flour

30gr soft butter (for the mold)

flour (for the mold)

Method

1.  Melt slowly the chocolate with butter on the stove (use a casserole with water) or in the microwave

2. Mix flour and sugar in a bowl

3. Beat the eggs

4. Add the eggs (not on the stove) to the chocolate, mix well, add the mix of sugar and flour

5. Butter and flour the molds (use aluminium cups)

6. Add the preparation and let reest in the fridge for 1 to 2 hours.  (it is good for 3 days in the fridge)

7. Cook in a hot oven (350F) (180 Celsius), for 10 min.  Let rest for 3 mins the serve upside down on your plate

8. Serve with fresh berries, ice cream, cream fruit sauce what ever takes your fancy.

We made this delicious rich, easy peasy desert at our cooking school in Monte Marte in May last year.  It is so easy really and absolutely delicious. Give it a try and impress your friends, it was just as easy at home today and just as scrummy!!!

Beautiful autumn coloured pots for the garden.

Beautiful naked trees in the park.

That was my weekend, what did you do?

I start my SheArt workshop this week cannot wait.

Waiting for books to come in the mail, I so love parcels.

Are you doing anything exciting?

Digital Scrapping

Hey do you remember I posted a little while back about learning to do some digital scrapping well here is my second attempt.  Now I think that the really great works I've seen in Somerset Digital Studio  probably take hours to complete and this took me maybe an hour tops, so it is still really primitive compared to the really great ones.  I used a kit I got from the last magazine from DeviantScrap what an amazing set of elements and backgrounds they have and the whole site is just filled with the most brilliant designers goods.  I was trying to link a couple of the layers on this one, like Elle and her hat and the wings and do you think I could get my PSE 8 to do what it should do.  I searched the help section on linking layers, and it said hit control and each of the layers I want to link and then hit the link button, but every time I did that I got a pop up that said merge layers, flatten image, argh.....so I go ticked off and just flattened the image and I wasn't really finished.  I'll have to try and work out what to do, cause it gets annoying trying to move the horse and having to move all the bits separately. I am using a Mac, I LOVE my MAC, so I tried hitting the command, option some together on and on argh.... still couldn't link.  Do any of you know how to link layers in PSE using a Mac?????

It's a lot of fun like making a fairy tale sort of.  Off to do a bread run now, it's a lovely cloudy drizzly day I love rainy days.  Good to fiddle in, shop in, drink coffee in.  Ciao!!!

Now for Something Completely Different

Yes I know what the heck that's what your thinking right!!??  Well I must be bored or addicted to sitting for hours in front of my wonderful Mac, both is correct.  I have a totally addictive personality and when I find something new I just get so caught up it is ridiculous.  So anyway I am having a go at some digital scrapping or collage work.  I subscribe to some of the wonderful Somerset magazines and I discovered Somerset Digital Studio a while back.  Since then I have been totally in love with the incredible work some of the featured artists have created.  So worth a look if you can get hold of a magazine.
Do not think that in any way is my wacky creation above like some of the beautiful images you'll find in the latest edition of Digital Studio.  It surely isn't but you have to start somewhere hey!
I have an idea for creating a hardcover book for Elle.  I want to do one of her Friday's with Elle postings, I think she will love them when she is a little older.  And I can remember years ago ordering some fairy tale books for each of the girls that had their names in them.  They thought they were wonderful.  So my thoughts are, I will come up with some weird tale and write a book for Elle.  But not just her name will be included but photographs of all of us.  We may be wearing flower hats, or be riding on dinosaurs who knows, I am quite excited actually.  Now the only thing I have to do is actually do it.  That is one of the things I wrote on my Art journal page.  Things that I really want to do this year........ Do It!!!!  Is there something you are trying this year?  Tell me please!