Eclipsed by Glory

The Wonderful World of Photoshop

2012-02-29T20:29:00.000-08:00

I love Photoshop. Photoshop does not feel the same way toward me...but, we manage ;)

Here are some of the pictures I've edited through trial & error on Photoshop. With these amazing holidays and vacations coming up, hopefully I'll be able to convince my nieces to sit still one more time for me :)

a piece of my personal mission statement on this wonderful pic!

here's hoping my sister doesn't see her mother's day gift!

my funny valentine <3

isn't she just too cute! She's only 3!

I used some wonderful
(& FREE) actions from Paint the Moon and Pioneer Woman...I just can't remember which ones I used. Again, I'm just starting to dabble in Photoshop, so I won't even bother writing tutorials for these- I'm probably doing it the longest way LOL :D

Blogging Bloopers

2012-02-25T21:21:00.001-08:00

My blogging slip up is a perfect depiction of how my life has been lately!

a quick hello from me and my older sister

I've been a little out of it since I came back from Christmas break. Even though it was an amazing break that was much needed, I came back to work and had to jump right into work as though we didn't miss a day while trying to finish up grad school applications and dealing with a handful of surprise medical issues. This is the first time in my professional work experience that I have something else in my world vying for my attention and it's been challenging. Trying to keep my personal life separate from my work life, not trying to take any anxiety/stress from either situation and misplace it into the other has been...aaah! I guess this is what it will be like when I'm a School Psychologist...

Luckily, I've crafted along the way, so hopefully giving up Facebook for Lent will give me some time to blog about it- after my grad school interview, that is haha!

I won't set my blogging expectations too high, so for now, its back to the trenches, *wish me luck*

...to be continued.

New Year, New Crafts

2012-02-25T21:04:00.002-08:00

Napkin Loving

**just realized I didn't hit "publish"...sorry!!**

Ok ok, this is not technically the first craft of the year...I took this craft slow and spread it out over 2 days. But let's just pretend I did it all today, shall we? :)

Host-mommy in white, aunt in blue, Gma in flowers, & little Joaquin :)

While on vacation, I had the best flashback to my time studying in Lima, Peru...mostly of my awesome and ever so crafty host-family. I remembered how my host-grandmom tried to teach me how to knit socks, and my host-aunt taught me some basic interior design, and most importantly, my host-mom taught me to create amazing pieces of art from napkins. Today, I think they'd be very proud of me!
So, in honor of my host-family, I set out to make a little napkin art of my own. After spending almost $25 in AC Moore, I got home to realize I could use things I already had in the house.

You'll need:

1. Modge Podge
2. Plaster of Paris [POP*]
3. Cute napkins ($1 at Dollar Tree!)
4. Paint brush
5. Sponges
6. Embossing tool (I suggest you use a wooden tool for the back.)
7. Aluminum Foil (yes, the kind in the kitchen!)
8. Wooden box (AC Moore)
9. Paint
10. Scissors

Step 1: Modge Podge your napkin to the foil. Make sure you use only a thin coat so you don't have a lot of bubbles and wrinkles. Let the napkin dry completely.

Step 2 & 3: Trace the outline of any design on the FRONT of the napkin. Trace a small section first and turn it over to see what it looks like. Now fill in the lines you traced on the foil side. (The harder you press, the better it turns out!).

Don't be afraid to press forcefully, you need to see the lines on the other side!

Step 4: Mix your POP*, pour it into the indents you created and let it dry completely (should take about 20 minutes). Use a thin coat if possible.
[You can do this 2 ways: 1- spread POP over entire foil section, 2- spread POP only in indented section]

Step 5: option 1- modge podge right onto your box. option 2- carve excess POP off, and modge podgeg directly onto box :)

early Valentine's Day gifts :)

I did option 2, but I think I'll do option 1 next time