Tidbits and Snapshots

I have figured out a smart way of "simplifying" my gluten-free diet - I bake to loaves of gluten-free bread (the image above), I slice them and then freeze the slices. And each morning I set one frozen slice in the toaster ... and Voila - Out pops a slice of warm and crispy bread! 

Glaze-app

The theme in art lessons for the 2-3 graders at my work is Surrealism. They formed the other day Surreal Watches, inspired by Salvador Dali. These lovely watches are now hanging on branches, decorating their Arts Class ... I snapped the photo above as I peeked in.

Brushstroke App

I spotted a squirrel on my way home from church last Sunday. It froze and was completely still, as it spotted me - almost as posing :) ... As soon as I had taken the picture, it quickly climbed up to the nearest tree.

I have beed sewing Easter Eggs - combining colourful cloth, adding some sheet wadding in between - and finishing with a ribbon. They ended up being rather sweet! 

It was planned that I would visit my friend yesterday after work - and I hung 9 of these eggs on a bunch of cherry tree branches - she was happy and surprised to receive them! I will sew some more this weekend, to decorate our home for Easter.

Afternoon light created a nice shadow-light-play in the old chair - that inspired me to create "an old photo".

The photo above is inspired by the Creative Self Portrait Photography course. I took two photos with the Koloid Photo app, layered them with the Image Blender App, and added the text with the Over App ... On an evening this week, when the light lamp casted contrasting light on my face.

Now it is Saturday ... The men in the house are planning a jogging tour in the forest - I will pop by a book store and swim some lanes in the swimming hall thereafter - That will be good for my neck and shoulders. And thereafter no hurries, no plans ...

... Wishing you a peaceful weekend,

Nina 

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Photos with Iphone 5S 

Spoonful of moods [Texture Tuesday]

Lightroom preset Moodswing by Kim Klassen

Last weeks theme in Kim Klassen's Be Still 52-class was Spoons. Kim inspired us to create moody photos using a spoon - including shadows, different points of views and depth of fields. Kim used two of her Lightroom presets, Darkmood and Melancholy, in her beautiful captures of dried lavendel on a spoon, lying on pretty, old note pages.

I drink a lot of tea - so does my husband and our oldest son as well - so I thought of making a photo series of green tea. I used an old silver spoon, my husband has gotten from his grandparents, together with a silver coloured tea container. The textured surface of the container made me want to keep it, even when we have a bunch of tea containers - now I'm glad I didn't give it to flee market. 

Using a cover of sushi stick box as a table top, I wanted to convey the feeling of preparing Japanese green tea. The textured blue paper of the box looks a bit like an old handmade parer. I chose it since it creates a vintage type of mood together with the silverware. 

Lightroom preset Melancholy by Kim Klassen

I took the photos in our kitchen, close by the window. I blocked the direct sunlight with a curtain and a low masonite board, to create shadows and accentuate the contrast and highlights. 

By the way, this spoon is my favourite... I use it for serving sugar to coffee and tea - I like the round form and the decorations, both on the top and also down just before the spoonful-part. Adding just a bit more contrast and highlights made the round forms of the spoon pop out. 

I fell for Kim's Moodswing and Melancholy -Lightroom presets. I tweaked the Moodswing photos a bit in Photoshop (I couldn't remember how to do it in Lightroom) - I desaturated the yellows a bit. 

Lightroom preset Moodswing

The Moodswing preset creates an old, worn, Eastern type of mood to the photos - a feeling I like a lot. These two images are my favourites - making them as good candidates for my Still Life-card project.

Lightroom preset Moodswing

The images with Melancholy preset, I diminished the shadows almost all the way to the left in the tone curve - to create more contrast and to lessen the haze.

The Melancholy preset brings along an old, vintage-type of mood, which I may prefer even more ... I play with a thought of printing these two images, the one above and the one below, on a canvas, and hanging them on our kitchen. 

Thank you Kim, for enlightening the inspiration through your courses. Watching your videos and tutorials I feel safe (I was gasping for air when I first time opened the trial version of Photoshop!) - You are taking us by the hand and showing how to use these photo editing programs like Photoshop and Lightroom. Just one step at a time. Patiently. Repeating the tips a few times, to assure, that we've got it.

Well, which prints would you prefer - the rustic ones with the Moodswing or the hazy images with Melancholy?

... All the best to your week,

Nina

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Simplify [One Word]

Instead of making New year's resolutions, I have chosen one word, that will be my point of focus throughout 2015. My earlier post shows glimpses of the impact of my word for 2014 - Unhurried - had on my life.

The word SIMPLIFY has been growing in my mind the past few weeks. Simplify was the theme in our church in November - since then, it has echoed in my mind and called for my attention. I look forward of having Simplify as my companion in 2015 - being curious of what kinds of fruit it will bring along the way.

Why Simplify?
I hope it will help me to focus to the essential - cutting the unnecessary away.
Less is more - practically as well as mentally. 
Not alone to achieve a simpler life - but also a process, in me.
It is sometimes the little things, that end up making a big difference - so let's see...

Quoting E. F. Schumacher, Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex ... It takes a touch of genius - and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction.  Well, since I am no genius, I must posses a whole lot of courage :-)

What are you hopes and wishes for 2015?

Until next time...
Nina

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Photo: iPhone5S, Olloclip-lens, Camera+ & VSCOcam Texture: Kim Klassen