i heart faces photography: week 26 - pet photo challenge

I've decided to enter one of my favourite photos of our younger Dobe, Milo, for the photo challenge at i heart faces this week... since the boys are my primary photo subjects, I have hundreds thousands plenty to choose from, but this one is a favourite:

Yes, he has slobber on his ear from his recent romp with his 'brother', and no, he's not looking at the camera, but this is Milo.  Milo is quite laid back & easy going, and he just likes to chill with his stick (as long as someone is watching him chill - he HAS to be with us!). He has beautiful brown eyes and is such a loving addition to our family... we are so lucky to have found him!

Don't forget to head on over to i heart faces to check out the gallery of submissions for this challenge - so much cuteness in one place!!

fix-it Friday #59...

I've been lurking over at the i heart faces blog for quite some time now and, every Friday they post a photograph that could be improved upon for fix-it Friday. Here's my take on the photo of a little sweetie they posted for fix-it Friday #59:

Here's the original photo:

Here's my take #1:

& take #2 (using PW B&WBeauty action):

Please keep in mind that I am just learning to feel my way around PSE 8, so these are both very minor edits, and the second photo uses PW B&WBeauty action.

more cutie pie pictures...

This is little Mr. M, and he was such a great sport modeling for me at City Park a couple of weeks ago... what a cutie!

And here is little Ms. C at 4 months old... look how cute she is:

On the 2 photos above I used PW's Black & White Beauty action for PSE8, and below I used PW's Lovely action.

there's a first time for everything...

and today was the first time I took photos for someone I didn't know (ie. not a friend or family member!)!!! GULP! I was sooooo nervous, but 10-day-old Ms.K was super patient with me, and her parents and big sis rocked the pictures! I hope they like them as much as I do! What a little angel:

I recently took a PSE class for beginners & am happily learning that I love actions, specifically free actions like the ones I just downloaded from Ree (aka. PDub / The Pioneer Woman)! Above is PW's Black & White and, below is a favourite, PW's Black & White Beauty (look at those gorgeous eyes!):

One more action that is quickly becoming a favourite is PW's Lovely... below is the original photo:

and then this next one is with PW's Lovely run on it:

Looking at it now, on the web, the difference may not be all that apparent; however, the colours are just a little bit more saturated and everything is softened just a little...

My eyes are boggled from staring at my computer for over 3 hours now, so will post a few more peeks when I'm done going through the photos!

nom nom nom...

NOM! 

*** please do not continue to read this post if you don't like ooey, gooey, chocolatey nommy goodness!***

Don't say I didn't warn you:

Black Russian Cake (courtesy of harleysmom's mom)

Cake:

1 box Devil's Food cake mix (called for Duncan Heinz but we used whatever was on sale)

1 box (4 ounces) instant chocolate pudding mix

4 eggs

3/4 cup brewed strong coffee - room temperature

3/4 cup coffee liqueur

3/4 cup creme de cacao

1/2 cup oil

Preheat oven to 350.  Grease and flour a 10 inch bundt pan.  Blend all the ingredients together (yes, I really did use ALL of the required eggs and liquid, even though it seems like it's too runny!).  Beat at medium speed until batter forms.  Pour into pan and bake about 45 minutes or until tester comes out clean.  (I had mine in the oven for about 55 minutes.)  Cool in the pan for 10 minutes - then invert onto a baking rack.

Glaze:

1 cup icing sugar

2 tblsp. coffee - room temperature

2 tblsp. coffee liqueur

2 tblsp. creme de cacao

Combine in a bowl.  Spoon or brush glaze over the inverted cake.  Pierce top and sides with a fork to help glaze soak in.  Cool completely.  Dust with icing sugar before serving if desired.  Enjoy!

I'm back...

Wow, eh?!? I know... I'm not a great a lazy blogger at the best of times, & I've totally been neglecting it for these past 2 months.  I'm smack in the middle of a couple of large custom card orders, as well as making both Moms their birthday presents (which just happen to be large sets of cards!)... oh, yeah, and I'm working... and trying to hold the occasional class & the occasional photo shoot, all while hoping to exercise dogs at least an hour or more each day and (hopefully) see my hubby!! HA! Yeah, so, as you can see, sometimes it's some time before I sit down and get to the ol' blog!

Anyhow, here are some quick pictures to show a little of what I've been up to:

these brownies are soooooooo GOOD! Run, don't walk, to the store to get the few ingredients you need to make these & your inner chocoholic will thank you!

making a few cards with older papers from my stash... oh, how I love all my hoarded Wild Asparagus paper - so heavyweight, double-sided and textured!! But, I'm trying to get my stash pared down to a 'reasonable' amount (depends on who's judging 'reasonable', I'd say!), so I'm challenging myself to use up some of my old favourites!

and taking more pictures of sweet baby Charlotte - she's such a good model for me!!

Oh, and I also made this mushroom soup... all I can say is if you like mushrooms, MAKE this!  We doubled the batch - I figure if I'm cleaning that many mushrooms I'm gonna have leftovers - and then we pureed 1/3 of the final mixture. I've read PDub's blog for years & now I'm addicted to Tasty Kitchen... so many great recipes posted all the time, it's hard to keep up!

I'm cleaning up my picture folders, getting things ready for the data transfer to my new MacBook Pro (coming soon!!), and I'm getting ready to learn PSE, specifically so I can use these!  Yes, more from PW... she's made actions for PSE and, even better, they're free! Yay for PW!

a sunny day...

happened this weekend, so we took the boys out for a nice long walk along the waterfront. I think Kelowna is one of the most beautiful places in the world - I love living here!

As you may remember, I am taking The Photographer's Workshop with Karen Russell... it is only the end of Week 1 and I feel that I have already learned a ton, both from Karen's lessons as well as from interaction with other students on the message boards.  (Not that I think the KR will ever read my little ol' blog, but Thanks Karen - this class is $$ well spent!)  Anyhow, now, more than ever, I take my camera with me everywhere.  I bought a new-to-me 50mm f1.4 lens this past summer, and Karen said that would be the perfect lens to use for the class and then, after I better understand my wants / needs & how I will primarily be shooting, I can look at what other lens(es) I may wish to purchase.  This week was all about understanding, experimenting and playing with the rules of composition (Rule of Thirds, leading lines, framing etc).

I can't say that any of these are stellar examples of anything I've learned, but liked them, & I loved hanging out at the beach with my boys on a gorgeous mid-winter day! (I also love that Milo will actually come when called, unlike a certain older dog of mine!)

 

 

check it out...

I've started a new blog (you know, since I am soooo good at keeping this one updated! HA!)... it's a Project 365 type blog that I decided to start in conjunction with starting The Photographer's Workshop with Karen Russell. I have been a KR blog stalker for YEARS now, and I am so thrilled to finally be able to take this class and learn to take better (even good!) photos! Come check out my 365!!

I'm a Mrs...

Kelli got some good shots at our wedding & a few of them are up on her blog... one she didn't have up yet was our cake:

We got PJ's to do it - isn't it fabulous & funky!

Our photographer, Andrea has a sneak peek up on her blog... more to come soon!

a couple of cards...

from last night's stamper's group. We did watercolouring and masking...



and a cake for Father's day!


It's a devil's food pudding Kahlua cake, glazed with Kahlua and icing sugar... smells so yummy!

I love my dog...

I love my dog... I really LOVE my dog (& won't send him back!)... Ahh, the fun of puppyhood!

exploring the 'new' yard...

exploring the 'new yard' (grass & 'facilities')...


Milo in his chewing trance...




Harley enjoying a little back scratch... notice not much can break the chewing trance!




well, except maybe when you nearly get rolled over by an overly-enthusiastic back scratcher!

a walk in the park...

took the boys down to City Park for a little walk today... we forgot the camera (now that we have a 'pocket camera', we never remember to bring it!), but Shawn had his phone and was trying to get a picture of the 3 of us:


Harley was as cooperative as usual...

Milo was more interested in duck watching...

Harley's always leery of the possible hug...

Finally, one decent picture out of the whole bunch... I love snuggly Milo!