Christmas Card Fail, Photoshop Win

It’s Christmas card season. They’ve already started taking over my parent’s mantle and fridge (they’re way more popular than I am…)! My good friend Dacia from Lemon Drop Life did a review of CardStore.com so I decided to give it a shot. Love, love, love it. And although it’s too late to get Christmas cards delivered by Christmas Eve, they have Holiday themes and New Years as well! Plus they mail it for you. 🙂

But let’s get to the good stuff…me failing. Recently I purchased a new camera. You’ve probably heard me whining about my broken camera and I’m certain I’ve posted about it, too. But all is well in the Hunter household! I finally get to try out my brand new 50mm lenses and a couple lenses I found on SLR film cameras. Glorious.

One thing I love taking pictures of is my baby, Trigger. He is just so handsome! I mean look at that face.

But it’s like he has a sixth sense and knows when I am trying to take his picture. With a phone, with a camera, secretly in his sleep, by surprise when he’s playing…he just stops. Turns away from the camera, looks terrified or makes mean faces. But he is so, so cute when he is smiley and happy! I had someone snap a few “Christmas card worthy” pictures. Straightened my hair, put on a cute shirt and scarf and sat outside with pup. He literally hated it. This is what I got:

Not a great first try at the whole, Christmas card thing. He literally hated every second of it so I didn’t try to push for other outfits/locations.

BUT LOOK AT THOSE FILTERS. That’s where the Photoshop win comes in! I have a sample pack from Greater Than Gatsby Photoshop actions and really liked experimenting with them. Cannot wait to get more, or even learn to make my own 😀

Are you sending out any holiday cards this season? Are you a frequent holiday card sender? I would love to see them!

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DIY State Canvas with Lyrics

I’m not the type to plan out a project. I usually get an idea and a few hours later there it is! But I’ve had this idea for quite some time now and took the time to do a couple rough drafts O.O woah.

My inspiration came from Parmalee’s song Carolina. I just adore the lyrics, “home is where my heart is still beating.” It’s definitely fitting of how I feel about Indiana. Ellettsville is a small speck on the map right outside of Bloomington, home to IU. It’s here I fell in love with basketball, played a plethora of sports and involved myself heavily in school functions and clubs, started friendships that have now lasted over a decade. After high school I moved to Lafayette and lived there for five years for school. I love the crazy weather patterns, miles of corn and incredibly gracious people. My life may take me anywhere, who knows?! I mean I’m pretty young. I want something that will always remind me Indiana is my home. 🙂

I decided to go with a canvas project. A glittery Indiana and the lyrics nice and bold. Here’s how I made it!

What you’ll need:
Canvas
Glitter
Brushes
Scissors
Print out of your home state
Pencil
Acrylic paint; Navy Blue, Country Red and Mulberry are what I chose!
Cup of water

1. Make your state outline. To do this I used Photoshop.

Pick out an outline and open in PS.

Crop in as much as possible. SAVE SAVE SAVE.

Crop the top half of your state (or left/right half) and save. Open the entire image again and crop the opposite half, save.

When printing either half expand it as much as possible. It will yell at you and say it will be “cutting some of the image” but that’s okay.

2. Cut out your state. My top ended up being larger than the bottom so I cut it down to match.

3. Outline in pencil and start edging.

4. Fill in small sections at a time and dust glitter as you go. Give 30 minutes to dry.

5. Apply a thin coat of Mod Podge to seal in the glitter. Give 20 minutes to dry.

6. Draw out your words in pencil. I couldn’t see much when it was on the state, so some improve needed. {My handwriting is really bad…oh well!}

7. Use your other colors to fill in. Erase any areas you may not have gone over. Voila!

My painting skills aren’t to die for but I’m really happy with it 🙂 Do you have any home state pride around in your house? I would love to hear/see!!

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