Cabin 2011

We're back! I've been silent for two weeks for two main reasons:

Reason No. 1: Last week, we were up at Clamshell Beach Resort for our annual summer get away.

Reason No. 2: The week before, I thoroughly, completely, and absolutely botched part of my painting/staining-the-railing project. I'll give you a hint. It wasn't the painting part. Think big, like "EPIC FAIL."

So I've got some fun cabin pics, but no fun railing pics. There will hopefully be some fun "plan B" railing pics eventually.

To be honest, I didn't take many- I was too busy reading/sleeping/beaching/eating to get many good shots. But there are a few!

Here's Mr. Miles. Isn't he a cutie?

There were some beautiful sunsets:

And a couple breezy boat rides. Except not on this boat. But we do vacation with it's owner, so there is SOME connection:)

I got to spent some time with this guy (he's my favorite):

He's the one who basically took the rest of the 300 photos. Enjoy these last few weeks of summer!



Cookies? Meatballs?

Yesterday, my grandma and I made a recipe of Laura Bush's Texas Governor's Mansion Cowboy Cookies. Isn't that a mouthful? So are the cookies! My wonderful chef of a friend made them a few weeks ago, and I just had to give them a try as well.

The the recipe calls for 1/4 of a cup of dough for each cookie. Yum! The dough balls are so huge, that they look more like chunky meatballs.

Isn't that crazy?

Inspiration: Pops of Yellow

Do you ever go through color trends? I'm currently in a yellow one. If it's yellow, I like it. Or of it's not yellow, can it be spray painted? :)

Here are some inspirational pops of yellow, all via pinterest.com. Enjoy!

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See the sign? "Yellow is the new black." Love it!

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And my personal favorite? :

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New Look

Pardon me while I state the obvious.

I've freshened up the 'ol blog. And I'm rather excited. Why? Because I used CODE to do it. Is this even the right word? Please correct me, nerdy programmers, if I'm incorrect.

This is an entirely new world to me, and it's rather fabulous. I wasn't able to achieve the look I wanted on some details, and did numerous google searches to figure out how to proceed. It's amazing how much you can customize things by delving into the complicated world of html coding. I feel a little giddy at the moment.

My dad would be happy- He used to be a software developer :)

Cha-cha-cha Changes...

I get a slap on the wrist for how often I've managed to post this summer. Yikes!

We just celebrated our two year wedding anniversary a week ago Sunday, and made a decision: year three will include far less house projects than the previous two.

{{GASP}}

I know. Can you believe it? :) We're a bit burned out. Actually, my husband is a bit burned out, but he's the one who does 90% of the hard labor. We decided there is, and should, be more to free time than improving out living quarters. And that I should spend less of my day dreams on paint swatches, woven baskets, and grout colors.

And I'm actually really okay with this. This isn't to say that everything will come to a screeching halt (I actually started the huge task of painting our railing on Monday- more later). We're just aiming to spend more of our free time together focusing on other things. And maybe more of our finances on making memories rather than a new patio. I'm also trying to take a step back from my desire/hobby/(obsession?:) to constantly improve things.

I think it'll be great, and I think it'll be hard. And I pray that God will use this decision to bless our marriage AND our relationship with Him.

So if I start posting much to frequently about house updates, hold me accountable! There are other, more important, things to focus on.

I've Joined Pinterest

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Have you?

It's such a fun way to easily document ideas and inspiration that I find online (as well as sharing it with others!)

Here's some eye candy I've found so far:

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A Little Mishap

Leo likes to be a part of everything that I do. He was feeling bad that he hadn't contributed to my trim painting project last week, and decided to help out. Here's his contribution:

Treat puck (formally known as treat ball; he chewed off and ingested two of the sides) went PLUNK into my bucket. What a little helper.

Photoshop Actions

Oh me oh my.... I've made a discovery: ACTIONS! Has anyone else? Am I the last one in the digital photography world to be let in on this little secret?

My photos now have new (and more interesting/colorful/tinted/creative) life breathed into them. And I've also developed a cure for too much blog reading: too much Photoshop Elements Actioning.

Actions are "pre-recoreded" and "packaged" tasks that you apply to an image. For example, you may do twenty different things to a photo in order to achieve a desired look. Instead of doing this every single time you want the same look for another photo, an action does it all in one step. It's like photo editing for dummies.

To be completely honest, I used to see beautiful photos on professional websites and wonder how the photographer got that look (tinted color, clear and bright eyes, faded with teals and yellows standing out, etc.). I figured it was a mix between having an awesome original photo, and some simple editing.

I'm sure this is true for some, but I'm finding you can do WONDERS with an average photograph, and you can truly create MAGIC with a great photograph.

The photo above is one I took of my hottie of a husband. To achieve this look, I used both pre-packaged actions as well as hand touching up. I'm finding a mix of the two look best. Click on the image in order to view it larger- you can see details better (like his eyes! :) The original photo is at the bottom.

There are tons of actions available for download. Most cost something, but many are free. Check out these links:

Free:

• The Coffee Shop Blog
• The Pioneer Woman Photography

To Purchase:

• Flora Bella
• MCP Actions
• Nicole V Flourish

Original photo:

Cool, 'eh?

Happy photo editing!

PS. I've decided to start my own photography website separate from this blog. When it's up and running, I'll let you all know!

Rebecca the Photographer

I'm working on busting into the photography business.

There, I said it. This has been something I've wanted to do for a while, and now I've got the time, resources, and support to make it a reality. I'm JUST starting out (which can also be translated as "I'm an amateur") but have some high aspirations!

I'm currently working on building my portfolio, and would love to have the opportunity to take some more shots. If you (or any of your friends!) and looking for someone to capture their candid memories, I'd love to help out.

I'm putting together a "Photography" tab up at the top of my web page. Check it out for more info.

Here are a couple of photos from the wonderful children that I spent this past school year with. They are truly some of the greatest kids that I've gotten to nanny. Aren't they cute and photogenic? Makes my job easy! :)



Magnetic Bulletin Board

Happy 4th of July!


I've been holding out on you. This project has been finished for at least a month, and I keep forgetting to snap some photos of it to share with you all. I saw this bulletin board made by the ever creative CentsationalGirl, and had to give it a try. It seemed to be the perfect thing to put in our new office.

I used CentsationalGirl's directions as a guideline, and made some changes. Here's what you need:

• A large artist's canvas (found mine at Michael's, 3' x 4')
• A 10 foot roll of aluminum flashing (I got mine at Lowes for about $10 dollars. I chose this because of the cost, and because the aluminum was flexible and could be bent)
• Decorative ribbon
• Hot glue gun
• Thin wooden boards, approximately 3 feet long (Optional. I used some left over "battens" from our board and batten project).

Here's my canvas. I had to do this on the kitchen table so my furry side kick didn't intervene.

Next, stretch your flashing out on the floor and measure off three 34" sections. Cut. (And if you're me, measure 3 times and cute once.) I just used a heavy duty scissors.

Shimmy (very carefully- the edges are SHARP!) each piece underneath the wooden slats of your canvas. Since that was a confusing sentence, here's a picture (worth a thousand words, anyway):

It took me quite a bit of maneuvering to get this right. Since I bought the flashing in a roll, it was kind of wavy even after stretching it out in the canvas. You can tell a little bit from the photo.

Here's what it should look like:

Since the metal was wavy, there were some parts that were farther away from the canvas and didn't hold a magnet (does that make sense?). I wedged some thin boards under the existing frame to push the metal closer to the canvas cover. Then I hot glued them into place. This step is optional.

Now comes the fun part! Flip your canvas over and glue on some pretty ribbon.

There you have it! A huge magnetic bulletin board in less than an hour.

I found these cute push-pin looking magnets at Walmart for really cheap. They're my favorite part!

You should definitely give this a shot- it was so easy! And I LOVE the outcome.