I ♥ Faces - Fix it Friday!

It's been a while since I've participated in Fix-It Friday but I couldn't pass it up this week!  I just recently won a set of textures and edges from the Kaleidoscope collection of Patti Brown and I was excited to use them.

I did a few slight adjustments (temp, exposure, clarity on eyes) in Lightroom.  I think went to Photoshop and used a few of my nifty actions from Kubota and the applied one of the beach glass textures from The Gallery Collection. 

My second one is the same photo but it has the Lightroom Preset - Aged Photo added.  It's one of my faves!
I think the finished product looks pretty nice!

Head over to I ♥ Faces and check out some of the other fantastic fixes!
Before:

After:

The Photographer in Me

I've been an avid picture taker for more than half of my life.  I LOVE taking pictures.  I've never ever considered myself an artist before.  I liked working with numbers.  I liked things that were definite and 'correctable'.  I've discovered that I AM an artist and I'm loving EVERY minute of it.  I did a photo shoot today with one of my best friends and not only did I have fun doing it but I learned that I'm actually quite good!  It was only the second ever shoot that I've directed and I think I actually DO have an eye for what makes a great shot.  YAY for me!  School is really helping me.  It's giving me confidence and allowing me to think outside the box.  It's encouraging me to KNOW that I can take a good picture and that I don't need to photoshop the hell out of it for it to be great.  I LOVE that!

I ♥ Faces - Excited!

There is nothing in the world that Hope loves to do more than go to the water park. I knew almost immediately which recent photo I would be posting for this week's I ♥ Faces edition. So, without further ado, here it is!

Please checkout the many more great entries for this weeks challenge at iheartfaces.com!

My silly little princess

5 minutes for mom and Hasbro are having a silly child photo contest. I took some photos of Hope for her 3rd birthday invitation and the silly little thing started talking to herself in the mirror. This photo makes ME giggle every time, I hope it has the same effect on the judges.

Cleaning....

It's something I feel so good doing WHILE I'm doing it but getting motivated to DO it seems to be a big problem for me. Anyone else??

Random Thought Tuesday!

So, this will be my first week participating in Tuesdays day of random thoughts.

I am so grateful that 99% of the time I have a child that wakes up in a great mood. We have such fun mornings.
I hate when my dog craps on my floor because it's raining outside and he dislikes the rain. Seriously.
I have realized recently that *I* am the one addicted to Hello Kitty, not Hope. That's ok with me, though.
I am loving my photography classes. I was nervous about taking photography classes online but those worries are slipping away.
I have some AMAZING friends.
I wish Hawaii was right next door to Massachusetts. If it was, I would live here forever.
I have a lot of crap to throw away.
I should be cleaning right now, but I'm not :P
I miss my husband. A lot.
Barbara Walters is really very irritating.

That's it for this week folks. I'll try and share again next Tuesday!

I ♥ Faces - "At The Beach"

Well, I'm back to I ♥ Faces this week. It's been a bit because I've been pretty busy. I'm rejoining this week because well I have a LOT of beach pictures and wanted to share one. Here is one of a tender moment between this brother and sister. Devin and Avry don't always get along but I was lucky enough to catch a moment where they did. Enjoy!

There's going to be a LOT of great entries this week so be sure and check them out at www.iheartfaces.com! Thanks for checking out mine!