I've relocated...

I have moved to lottelinedesign.com. I will slowly be moving all of the content of this site to my new one. Won't you come visit me in my new home? Please?

Radio Silence

I've been a bad blogger for about the last month. This I know. However, there are new and exciting things on the horizon, including a new website. Be patient with me and stay tuned!

I hope all of you are having a wonderful Spring!

Freebie Kit - French Kiss

Here is my Week 2 entry for the NDIDDS (Next Designs in Digital Design Star) competition over at DesignsinDigital.com, free for your personal use!

Included are: 8 papers, 16 unique elements (including 1 page starter), and 1 full coordinating alpha

Freebie Link: http://www.designsindigital.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=2812

A Freebie for You - Sweetness

I am competing the NDIDDS (Next Designs in Digital Design Star) competition over at DesignsinDigital.com. Not only is it a lot of fun, but I am rapidly accumulating a nice little stash of freebies to give away.

Included are: 6 papers, 3 frames, 1 date strip, 1 journal mat, 1 flower, 1 piece of rick-rack, 1 brushed metal tag, 2 epoxy hearts, 2 buttons, 1 set of epoxy brackets, 1 piece of word art, and 1 full coordinating alpha

Come on over and grab my Week 1 entry titled Sweetness (and leave me a little love if you feel so inclined). Enjoy!

(EDIT: Download expired. Thank you for looking.)

Project 365, Sort of

For those who haven't been paying attention, I've missed a few days. Four or five at last count. I tried, really I did, but life got in the way, and none of it was camera-worthy. Laundry, cold snaps, rainy days, and vacuuming... there are some parts of life I am just not that eager to document.

I considered giving up on the whole project, but that seemed like a juvenile response and was purely driven by frustration. So I am just going to revamp my own personal definition of Project 365. I am going to take 365 pictures. I am going to take a picture a day on every day that I can remember to do so until I have 365 pictures. At the rate I am currently remembering/forgetting, that should put me at the project's end sometime in February of next year. That's not so bad.

In the meantime, I have LOTS of other things keeping me busy. I am assembling a collection of digital scrapbooking supplies that I hope to have available for sale soon. I'll let you know more when I am closer to a reveal.

Thanks for listening/reading. I hope you all are doing better with your Project 365 than I am!

28 February 2010 - Sunday School by Pixar

My daughter wanted to show off her Sunday School project to you all. Apparently, King David is related to Shrek.

27 February 2010 - Baby Bear

My oldest likes to pretend she is a different animal every day of the week. She was pretending to be a small bear here.

26 February 2010 - Disney Darling

We took my oldest to Disney for her 3rd birthday. This is her sitting on Mickey's patio.

25 February 2010 - Sleeping Dogs

This is my baby Atticus, She slept through me taking at least 20 photos of her, flash and all. Her black coat is so shiny; it is really difficult to get a good picture of her.

23 February 2010 - Puppy Presley

Some other moms and I got together today for a playdate. I took some pictures of the kids playing, but my friend's puppy had that irresistibly cute thing going on. If only she would sit still...

22 February 2010 - The sweetest thing...

My daughter and I had a mini-shoot with some balloons from her birthday party. She was exceedingly happy to play with them in the backyard.

♫"The sweetest thing that you'll ever see in the whole wide world is a happy girl."♫ -- Martina McBride

20 February 2010 - Birthday Girl

Today my oldest turned 3. This is her telling me to put the camera down and stop taking her picture.

18 February 2010 - Thursday Night

Thursday nights are my favorite night of the week. Good company, really good TV (Thank you, Joel McHale), and a glass of wine.

17 February 2010 - Happy Birthday, Daryn

My brother-in-law's 27th birthday cake.

16 February 2010 - Sunshiney Smile

My younger daughter enjoying some fresh air and the feeling of grass on her toes.
__________
Lens: EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM
Exposure: 1/320 at ƒ/10
Focal Length: 53mm
ISO 200
Flash: No

Post-processing:
LR Preset – TRA Smack My Pix Up
LR Preset – TRA Golden Age Medium

15 February 2010 - Self-Portrait

I attempted another self-portrait. The lighting was off on this one, but I really like that all you can see is the camera and my hand.
__________
Lens: EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM
Exposure: 1/60 at ƒ/5.6
Focal Length: 135mm
ISO 400
Flash: Yes

Post-processing:
Cropped and color-corrected in Lightroom
LR Preset – TRA Smack My Pix Up

14 February 2010 - Aunt KaMoo

My older daughter snuggling with my baby sister, two of the prettiest girls I know.
__________
Lens: EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM
Exposure: 1/60 at ƒ/5.6
Focal Length: 105mm
ISO 400
Flash: Yes

Post-processing:
TRA – Awesome B&W at 100%
TRA – Bitchin’ B&W at 100%

13 February 2010 - My Valentine

My Hubby got me flowers... so like all normal girls I screwed on my extension tubes and started taking pictures.
__________
Lens: EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS
Exposure: 1/200 at ƒ/4.5
Focal Length: 33mm
ISO 400
Flash: Yes

Post-processing:
Cropped and sharpened in Lightroom
LR Preset – TRA Crystal Ship Lite

12 February 2010 - A.P.B.

When asked about the mess in her room, my older daughter told me that her baby sister did it. This is our suspect.
__________
Lens: EF28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM
Exposure: 1/60 at ƒ/4.5
Focal Length: 53mm
ISO 400
Flash: Yes

Post-processing:
Ran Dfine 2.0 to reduce noise
Four Hens – Sweet Cheeks at 75%
Four Hens – Creamsicle at 75%

11 February 2010 - Baby Feet

I love my baby’s feet. It makes me sad to know that she is almost a year old, because I love her being a baby so much. She is the sweetest baby I have ever met, from her head down to these cute little toes.
__________
Lens: EF50mm f/1.8
Exposure: 1/60 at ƒ/4.0
Focal Length: 50mm
ISO 400
Flash: Yes

Post-processing:
LR Preset – Nichole Van, Vintage Fresh
TRA – Claire-ify at 50%
TRA – Grandma’s Tap Shoes at 15%
TRA – Flare Up Golden at 20%
TRA – Get Faded Autumn at 20%

10 February 2010 - A Blur

Today was a blur. At 11:30 I remembered I needed to take a picture; I set my shutter speed to 1 second, faced the clock, hit the button, and spun.
__________
Lens: EF50mm f/1.8
Exposure: 1 sec at ƒ/5.0
Focal Length: 50mm
ISO 200
Flash: No

Post-processing:
Cropped, adjusted white balance, and sharpened in Lightroom

9 February 2010 - Devil's Food

Cupcakes: It's what's for dinner!
__________
Lens: EF50mm f/1.8
Exposure: 1/200 at ƒ/2.0
Focal Length: 50mm
ISO 400
Flash: Yes

Post-processing:
LR Preset – Shabby Pickle Designs, Laura’s Night Light

8 February 2010 - Kisses for You

Today I decided to play with my extension tubes. It was snack time so I started with Cheerios, moved on to M&Ms, eventually settled on the Hershey kisses; it seemed appropriate being so close to Valentine’s Day.
__________
Lens: EF50mm f/1.8
Exposure: 1/160 at ƒ/1.8
Focal Length: 50mm
ISO 200
Flash: Yes

Post-processing:
Cropped, adjusted white balance, and sharpened in Lightroom

7 February 2010 - Superbowl Sunday

Before we watched the game, my oldest and her daddy played golf, which is actually more like field hockey when she plays it, out in the back yard while the baby and I watched.
__________
Lens: EF28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM
Exposure: 1/250 at ƒ/9.0
Focal Length: 80mm
ISO 200
Flash: No

Post-processing:
LR Preset – Smack My Pix Up*
TRA – Burn Out at 75%
TRA – Flare Up Golden at 20%

*Could there be a better name for an action/preset?

6 February 2010 - Snuggle Buddy

My oldest likes to snuggle in my bed on Friday and Saturday nights and watch old cartoons with me. Right now we're watching a lot of Looney Tunes.
__________
Lens: EF50mm f/1.8
Exposure: 1/60 at ƒ/4.0
Focal Length: 50mm
ISO 400
Flash: Yes

Post-processing:
Cropped and sharpened in Lightroom
LR Preset – TRA Brightside (Lite)

5 February 2010 - Internet Addiction

I love that little green light and cry when it is not on.
__________
Lens: EF50mm f/1.8
Exposure: 1/60 at ƒ/4.0
Focal Length: 50mm
ISO 400
Flash: Yes

Post-processing:
Cropped and sharpened in Lightroom

4 February 2010 - Make a Joyful Noise

I went to worship practice to take pictures of the band. Three hundred and fifty pictures later, this one was my favorite. I love that you can see the reflection of his hand in the guitar.
__________
Lens: EF70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM Exposure: 1/60 at ƒ/5.6
Focal Length: 300mm
ISO 400
Flash: Yes

Post-processing:
Cropped and sharpened in Lightroom

3 February 2010 - Sew Cute

At some point during the day, both girls were being way too quiet. I went looking for them and found my youngest sitting in my scrap fabric basket. How could I not take a picture of her?
__________
Lens: EF28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM
Exposure: 1/60 at ƒ/4.5
Focal Length: 60mm
ISO 200
Flash: Yes

Post-processing:
Cropped and sharpened in Lightroom
LR Preset - Pink Ink Studios’ Pennsylvania Avenue (added a vignette)

2 February 2010 - Paper Heart

So I had this brilliant idea for a Valentine’s Day card. Unfortunately, my model was not in the mood and was only interested in having a snack.
__________
Lens: EF28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM
Exposure: 1/50 at ƒ/5.0
Focal Length: 70mm
ISO 800
Flash: No

Post-processing:
TRA – Oh Snap at 75%
TRA – Prettyizer at 75%
TRA – Wish You Were Here at 75%

1 February 2010 - Say Cheese

My oldest likes to play with my cameras and has been doing so even more since I started taking pictures every day. Today we decided to play a little game where I would take a picture of her and she would take a picture of me at the same time. Unfortunately, I didn’t have any film for the Polaroid, so the game was pretty one-sided.
__________
Lens: EF50mm f/1.8
Exposure: 1/60 at ƒ/4.0
Focal Length: 50mm
ISO 400
Flash: Yes

Post-processing:
Cropped in Lightroom
Pioneer Woman – Warmer at 100%
Pioneer Woman – Colorized at 75%

An Update - 3 February 2010

I have been a bad blogger. No updates for 3 days. Shame on me.

In my defense, I have been working on this for a contest.

I will be editing photos (which I am still faithfully taking) and posting some tomorrow.

31 January 2010 - Sing Unto the Lord

My brother is one of the worship leaders at my church. During service, I took the flash off of my camera, turned off the focus beep, and attempted to take pictures without anyone noticing.

__________
Lens: EF50mm f/1.8
Exposure: 1/50 at ƒ/1.8
Focal Length: 50mm
ISO 500
Flash: No

Post-processing:
Ran Dfine 2.0 to reduce noise
TRA – Oh Snap at 75%
Pioneer Woman – Seventies at 50%
Applied 2 textures from Emily Powers’ Phototology

30 January 2010 - Tickle Time

I was tickling my youngest and decided I wanted a photo of her laughing. So I tickled her with one hand and took pictures (without looking) with the other. I got lucky.

__________
Lens: EF28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM
Exposure: 1/60 at ƒ/3.5
Focal Length: 28mm
ISO 400
Flash: Yes

Post-processing:
Four Hens – Creamsicle at 50%
Applied 2 textures from Photo Dress Up by JM Designs and masked them off of her face

29 January 2010 - Lions and Tigers and Dragons, Oh My!

I took my girls to the zoo today. I may or may not have told my oldest that the Komodo Dragon would eat her if she wasn't a good girl.

__________
Lens: EF70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM Exposure: 1/250 at ƒ/5.6
Focal Length: 300mm
ISO 800
Flash: No

Post-processing:
Cropped and sharpened in Lightroom
Pioneer Woman – Boost at 100%

28 January 2010 - New Toy

Somebody's playing with Daddy's new nook.
__________
Lens: EF28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM
Exposure: 1/60 at ƒ/3.5
Focal Length: 33mm
ISO 400
Flash: Yes

Post-processing:
TRA – Oh Snap at 100%
MCP – Eye Doctor at 50%
Pioneer Woman – Seventies at 75%

27 January 2010 - Dog Tired

I had no inspiration today. Luckily, Atticus did not seem to mind me sticking my camera in her face while she tried to rest. Of course, she knows better than to complain when she is taking up most of MY bed.
__________
Lens: EF28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM
Exposure: 1/60 at ƒ/5.6
Focal Length: 95 mm
ISO 400
Flash: Yes

Post-processing:
Boutwell Magic Glasses at 100%
TRA Dirty Pictures - Lola Lovespell on Overlay at 50%
TRA Dirty Pictures – Lex Drillington on Overlay at 50%

26 January 2010 - Mediocre Moon

I was experimenting taking pictures of the moon. I usually shoot in aperture priority, but for this experiment I played around with my shutter speed. I took 35 identical shots of the moon, making minor changes with each. This one had the most detail without being too dark.

__________
Lens: EF70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM
Exposure: 1/1000 at ƒ/5.6
Focal Length: 300mm
ISO 400
Flash: No

Post-processing:
Cropped and sharpened in Lightroom
TRA - Oh Snap at 100%

25 January 2010 - Paper Boats

It rained this morning, which meant a change of plans. I showed my oldest how to make paper boats out of construction paper. Then we ventured out into the rain and set a few of our little boats afloat in the puddle at the end of the driveway. She loved it.

__________

Lens: EF50mm f/1.8
Exposure: 1/4000 at ƒ/1.8
Focal Length: 50mm
ISO 100
Flash: No

Post-processing:
TRA – Oh Snap at 100%
TRA – Cool as a Cucumber at 100% (masked off of boats)
TRA – Pool Party at 50%

24 January 2010 - Dancing in the Dark

When I asked my daughter what I should take pictures of today, she asked me if we could go take pictures in the dark. I decided it would be fun to see how my flash could light her up. When we finished, she ran around the backyard pretending monsters were chasing her.

__________
Lens: EF50mm f/1.8
Exposure: 1/60 at ƒ/2.8
Focal Length: 50mm
ISO 400
Flash: Yes

Post-processing:
Ran Dfine 2.0 for noise reduction
TRA – Oh Snap at 50%
TRA – Boutwell Magic Glasses at 50%

Scrapbook Layout - Week 1

January 1 - January 7

My goal is to create one page for every week of the project so that I have a complete book at the end of the year. It turns out that I am already behind on this project.

Week 1 Layout Credits:

- A Little Griddy {Papers} by Elise’s Pieces Designs
- Font: Century Gothic

23 January 2010 - Gulf Fritillary

The family and I went on a nature walk today. This little guy asked me to take his picture. And then he flashed those bright orange wings at me. How could I say no?

__________
Lens: EF70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM
Exposure: 1/400 at ƒ/7.1
Focal Length: 300mm
ISO 640
Flash: No

Post-processing: Cropped and sharpened in Lightroom
TRA - Oh Snap at 100%
TRA - Boutwell Magic Glasses at 100%

22 January 2010 - Lack of Creativity

I have had a NyQuil hangover all day. I managed to take this picture without even getting out of bed.

__________
Lens: EF28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM
Exposure: 1/60 at ƒ/5.6
Focal Length: 105mm
ISO 400
Flash: Yes

Post-processing: Cropped and sharpened in Lightroom
TRA - Oh Snap at 100%
TRA - Boutwell Magic Glasses at 100%

21 January 2010 - Splish Splash

"Splish, splash, I was taking a bath..." The bubbles on her head are my favorite part.
__________
Lens: EF28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM
Exposure: 1/60 at ƒ/5.6
Focal Length: 95mm
ISO 400
Flash: Yes

Post-processing: White balance adjustments and sharpening in Lightroom

20 January 2010 - Test Shot

Yesterday my baby girl pulled my camera off of a table. My heart stopped as it came crashing to the floor. I spent part of today taking random test shots to make sure everything still works.

__________

Lens: EF50mm f/1.8
Exposure: 1/5 sec at ƒ/1.8
Focal Length: 50mm
ISO 400
Flash: Yes

Post-processing: Cropped and sharpened in Lightroom

19 January 2010 - Monkey See, Monkey Do

This one has been mimicking me a lot lately. It's kind of fun.

__________
Lens: EF50mm f/1.8
Exposure: 1/1000 sec at ƒ/3.2
Focal Length: 50mm
ISO 200
Flash: No

Post-processing:
Cropped and sharpened in Lightroom
Two textures from Texturelicious, Volume 1 by Kasia Designs applied in Photoshop (masked and blended on Soft Light)

18 January 2010 - Baby Mine

The lighting was wrong. My camera settings were wrong. The lens was wrong. But when she looked at me through the lace curtains, all I could think was that I must capture this moment. I love this picture.

__________
Lens: EF70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM
Exposure: 1/60 at ƒ/4.0
Focal Length: 70mm
ISO 640
Flash: No

Post-processing:
Sharpened for portraits in Lightroom
Small vignette added in Lightroom

17 January 2010 - Plexiglass Slipper

I live with a princess. She has the glass slipper to prove it.

__________
Lens: EF50mm f/1.8
Exposure: 1/60 at ƒ/4.0
Focal Length: 50mm
ISO 400
Flash: Yes

Post-processing:
Lightroom Present - Shabby Pickle Designs, Laura's Hazy (reversed the vignetting)

16 January 2010 - Vila Schmila

My Dad, a man of MANY talents, is building a custom bookcase that takes up one whole wall of my house. I took a picture of the master craftsman in action.

__________
Lens: EF28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM
Exposure: 1/200 at ƒ/7.1
Focal Length: 125mm
ISO 200
Flash: No

Post-processing:
Lightroom Preset - Shabby Pickle Designs, Laura's Pop-Up Book (minus vignetting)

15 January 2010 - Towering Beauty

I chased this one around all day trying to get a decent picture. This was the only time she looked at me and smiled. She was in her playhouse and I thought she looked like a princess in a tower.

__________
Lens: EF28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM
Exposure: 1/200 at ƒ/5.6
Focal Length: 135mm
ISO 320
Flash: Yes

Post-processing:
TRA - Oh Snap at 65%
TRA - Boutwell Magic Glasses at 50%
Texturized with 2 textures from my own collection, both set to Hard Light at 60%

** I've decided to keep track of how I took and what I did to each photograph. (Now I have to go back and add the info to the last 14 photos.)**

14 January 2010 - Double Take

Today was a good day for pictures. I couldn't decide on just one; so I posted two.

13 January 2010

I found this little guy hiding in one of my flower pots today. He turned out to be a very willing subject. I just couldn't get the camera down into the flower pot and in front of his face.

12 January 2010

Both of my girls were sick today. It killed me to pick up the camera. All I wanted to do was hold them.