Gardening With a Twist

Hi everyone, I hope you all had a terrific holiday weekend. I certainly did! I love it when we get a Monday holiday, it makes the rest of the week seem nice and short.

The sun was actually shining all day Saturday and for part of Sunday and Monday. That's the most sun we've had all year so far and no..I'm not joking. So, it seemed the ideal time to start to tame our garden again. I mowed grass, trimmed paths, planted some things and in general cleared away the last evidence of the garden's winter sleep.

My camera was out and each new flower, bee or butterfly set the shutter clicking. I had a great time and added lots of photos to my stash. I remarked to my DH that I was always behind the camera and I really needed to start getting someone to take the odd photograph of me. I am fast becoming the missing link in our family albums. In a few generations they'll start to believe that I was a myth or mystery due to my absence from the pages.

I instantly regretted it! "No time like the present" DH said and then it was like having a stalker around the garden. Me in my gardening clothes, trying to look natural..not posed. It wasn't a great success and after a while I sarcastically asked him if he wanted me to pose in Lilly's bird Bath...we have so many of Lilly there.

He thought it was a brilliant idea...he would!! So, anything to get the photos over with and I could return to my gardening in earnest....you know me....I  obliged. Now here comes the BUT folks.......I forgot the bird bath had been moved for the mowing and I hadn't put it back properly. I had thought I would fix it later (that'll teach me to do it there and then). The result was, I sat...the bird bath didn't!! It was a bit like Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall, except there were no kings men to the rescue!! Needless to say my DH couldn't stop laughing, he really howled...after he had got his "action shots" that it is. My dignity was a little bruised but after the initial bang no harm was done...and after all it's just about on par with the chaos I normally cause. So nothing new there either!

Have look for yourself...it's not one of my finest moments!!

Going, going

Gone!

My photographs just seem to pile up, so I set to work adding to Lilly's album. I wanted to use some other designers stuff that I have collected instead of making everything myself. I trawled through my stash and decided to use a photo mask by Carjazi Designs as the base of the page. In fact I enjoyed playing with the masks so much that I made a few of my own too. The picture is one of a sleepy Lilly, she was really tired and just about to have her bath and go to bed....note the soother in her mouth.  

Credits: Background Paper from Get Doggy by Irene Alexeeva, Photomask by Carjazi Designs, Sheep, Sheep Paper and word art by me, Font Mistral.

 

Before I go, today's little gift is a mask to cut your photo's into shape. It's easy to use as a clipping mask to "cut the photo to the shape of the mask. I use Photoshop CS2 and this is how I do it:

1. In photo shop open the mask and the photograph you want to use.

2. Move them into a new file (or the file you are working with). Make sure the mask is on the layer below the photograph.

3. Make the photograph layer the active one by clicking on it and then press Alt+Ctrl+G for the clipping mask.

And there you have it!! You can move the photograph layer around until you have it just how you want. Have fun!! You can use the mask for personal/S4H and CU.

 

 

You can download the mask here on 4shared

or here on Media Fire

Take care and have a great week!!!

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