Coffee and Spring Flowers

It's Saturday, and the sun is peeking behind the clouds ...

Another week has gone by - one day after another:

Seizing the moments - being present at work ... From 'Good Morning' til 'See you tomorrow!'

Feeling the wind and the air and the fresh scents of the spring on my way home.

Since January I have skipped, after the work, these obligatory "I should's" - and have given space to "Right now I feel like's" ... That is, resting [procrastinating] with a good conscience. We'll eat dinner together and share chores alright, but anything besides that would be a lot. The need of not "doing" anything else, not having things in schedule after 5 pm., is worth taking notice of. 

At the moment I enjoy listening e-books - from the library services like e-reolen, via the Audible -App, or the Kindle audible. The latest audible books have listened / am listening at the moment are: Brené Brown: The Gifts of Imperfection, Alli Worthington: Breaking Busy, Lisa Unger: Die for you and Tami Hoag: The Bitter Season (I need a good crime novel every now and then.) You Version - Bible app has also an audible version, together with many different daily devotions.

Spring flowers - daffodils, tulips and tiny hyacinths - bring about the feeling of spring inside. I look forward of finding the first pussy willows by the lake - that is a clear sign that we're getting close to Easter.

The other weekend I crafted a very simple pot decoration, with linen cloth and simple package thread. The green linen cloth is at least 14 years old - I did sew trousers and anoraks to our boys using this fabric, when they were toddlers ... And I haven't thrown it away - linen is just a wonderful fabric, and I do like the color.

Editing photos and playing with textures and stamps is also something I find inspiring and relaxing. The pretty Spring branch-stamp below is a March present from Leslie Nicole at French Kiss-textures - I receive their news letter, and there by get a lovely present each month.

I made the poster below this morning using texture overlays from both French Kiss and Kim Klassen - who both share from their experience and are of great inspiration to me.

Well, just a little update from my corner of the world. Our sons are setting things up for a LAN-game evening, and my hope for a date night with my hubby later today is high :)

How do you notice your need to unwind, and in what ways do you regain energy, social surplus and mental presence?

Life is available only in the present. 

That is why we should walk in such a way

 that every step can bring us to 

the here and the now.

Thich Nhat Hahn

... Wishing you a peaceful weekend,

Nina

 Friendship Friday Friday Photo Journal
Image-in-ing Weekly photo linkup 

Saturday's share Fest by The Sits Girls

Wordless Wednesday by NC Sue

Roses - Rosé, Dark and Dysty [Wordless Wednesday]

... Roses with mood,

Nina

sharing with 

Wordless Wednesday by NC Sue
Wordless Wednesday by Create with Joy 

Photo: iPhone 5S

Summer memories - Texture & preset play

My original photo and my edited photo with textures by French Kiss Studio and 2 Lil Owls

I found some this photo of a daisy from last summer from my memory card - and it inspired my to play with textures and Lightroom presets. 

I started with adding the text to the upper left corner - it is a stamp from French Kiss textures. Thereafter the one texture took the other ... I wanted to create a sort of an old photo, with worn and vintage like feeling. Adding some texture layers with blending modes Saturation and Lumination, created the washed, desaturated look. 

Then I took the texturized photo into the Lightroom, where I created virtuel copies of the photo, and tried out different Lightroom presets on it. The most presets are by 2 Lil Olws, one is from Contrastly and one is mine.

LR Preset At the Vineyard 25 by 2 Lil Owls

Once Upon A Day

Daisies
small perfections,
white lips of nature
each one a star from God,

LR Preset Infrared by Contrastly

Breeze dusts their golden faces
as they search for the sky,
mute as the breath of angels
their voices still travel in beauty
calling to the birds singing to the bees

LR Preset Matte Glam 14 by 2 Lil Owls

they dance with the wind 

till chubby fingers lift their hearts 

entwining them into tiny circles 

each one a study of love 

created to lie in drapes on cherubic arms

 

LR preset At the Vineyard B/W 5 by 2 Lil Owls

Transformed they become much more,
haloes of nature
a childs wish, a parent's hope,
small pockets of sunshine,
so much beauty in such tiny amounts 
on a green day,

My own LR preset TheBirkes


Small links between the grass and play,
visible moments
of golden childhood,
intangible almost
they live on in the heart and memories
of once upon a day.

- Moondamp Roses-

LR Preset Matte Glam 1 by 2 Lil Owls

Yes.. I am looking forward to summer ... 
As well as I am enjoying right now the signs of spring and the days, 
that are getting longer,

Nina

Embracing

So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: 

Take your everyday, ordinary life

— your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—  

and place it before God as an offering.  

Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him.   

 Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking.  

Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. 

  Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it.   

Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity,   

God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you. 

Romans 12:1-2 The Message 


Our God (Live) by Chris Tomlin


:  :  :

 Blessings to your Sunday,

Nina

Here's a printable

of Romans 12:1

for you   

 Sharing with

Scripture & Snapshot


Photo: iPhone 5S, Snapseed, VSCO, Enlight photo applications
Textures by 2 Lil' Owls Studio

Signs of Spring [Wordless Wednesday]

:   :   :

... Happy Wordless Wednesday,

Nina

sharing with

Wordless Wednesday by NC Sue
Wordless Wednesday by Create with Joy

Photo: Nikon D3200, texture Bliss 7 by 2 Lil Owls

 [Blogging every day in February - Day 24]

Random Acts of Kindness

During the months of February, with focus on Random Acts of Kindness, I may have become a bit more conscious of my Language of Love. It might be giving or being encouraging (Words of Affirmation or Acts of Service). That is, when based on my actions and ways of showing kindness in general.

Marriage counselor Gary Chapman has defined 5 languages of love being Words of Affirmation, Quality Time, Receiving Gifts, Acts of Service, and Physical Touch. His theses is that when spouses became aware of one another languages of love, they can be more conscious in expressing love and affirmation in a way that speaks to his or hers spouse. These ways of affirmation can be applied to other relations as well - being therefore one way and one perspective (though not all inclusive) in ways to express affirmation.

If you're wondering, what your language of love might be, there is a fun little quiz on the subject, that comes up with a suggestion.

Above the editing process: Photo edited in Glace, Tangled FX, Clever Painter and the final layered photo with textures.

Well, what were my Random Acts of Kindness this week?

• Baking sandwich rolls and giving them to my friend (a mother with the sweetest baby girl), so she could freeze the rolls and use them later making an easy lunch to herself.
• After visiting the Art Exhibition, I did send a Thank you- e-mail to the artist with a photo I took of her (showing her beside her paintings) - It was lovely to have her tell us about her art and the process of painting.

Sometimes it can be hard to notice the opportunities for Random Acts of Kindness - at at these times it takes a conscious effort from one self to take action. 

But take heart - Julissa Arangue from Community Outreach, Shari's Berries, has a very practical solution: She has developed a Random Acts of Kindness Generator! The Random Acts of Kindness Generator gives you suggestions on how to make your family's friend's coworker's and even stranger's day better.
Click on the link above and be inspired by the kind acts, the generator will randomly suggest you!

Happiness is something that multiplies when it is divided.

Paulo Coelho 

Have a peaceful weekend,

Nina

sharing with

Random Acts of Kindness by Manu

 [Blogging every day in February - Day 20]

Photo: iPhone 5S - Glaze, Tangled FX, Clever  Painter & Image Blender iPhone photo applications
Textures: Simple 2 by Kim Klassen & Tableaux_CremeFaiche by FrenchKiss

Create Rustic Background to Your Still Life [Photo Recipe]

January calls for cozy moments inside, both gathering with family and friends inside with tea and coffee, and moments alone in a peaceful corner, getting in deep with a book or knitting. I wanted to create a Still Life photo, that has a warm feeling of indoors coziness.

White flower with the coffee colored tiny petals in the middle, inspired me to use an old, iron coffee table as a table top and a light brown panel backdrop. I chose a simple composition with a black espresso cup, to give contrast to the ivory colored flower.

Photo recipe:

1. I opened the photo in Lightroom, checking the cropping of the image, to secure that my motive is horizontally in the middle of the frame.
2. With the brush tool, I sharpened the flower and increased slightly the contrast and the exposure of the flower.
3. Thereafter I opened the image in Photoshop, and added the Calais texture from the Olde World Collection by Love that Shot, with blending mode soft light 35 %. 
4. I removed the texture from the flower with the brush function with 100 % opacity, and from the cup using 50 % opacity.

Simple as that! I like the natural warmth, the textures from Olde World Collection add to the images. I like to use them especially in Still Life photography to create rustic background effects.

What brings you inspiration in photography in January - February?

... Until next time,

Nina

[This post contains affiliate links.]

Create a Painterly Canvas Effect with Textures and Photo Veil [Photo Recipe]

Easter Tulips and the first episodes of the 4th season in Downton Abbey, inspired me to create this still life photo with a painterly canvas effect. 

At times I wish it would be possible to live one day in the early 19th-century ... Either in an aristocratic British family or on a Souther cotton farm in America. I would love to experience the interior design and the style of the dresses, and the etiquette in general, trying to perceive the difference in classes those days - that may be a bit hard to imagine in our modern society. 

I used a burlap cloth as a back drop to my image. I made the setting beside a window, using natural side light coming from the left. I did set the books, the can with the tulips, the small plate with a single tulip and a dried leaf to the right side of the frame, leaving the negative space to the left - for the painterly canvas effect, that would create the warm, old mood to the image.

This is how I proceeded with the editing and adding layers:

1. I adjusted the cropping of the image, making use of the rule of thirds, so that the tulip on the silver plate is in line with one of the golden sections.

2. I sharpened the image a bit, and adjusted the contrast, highlight and shadows in Lightroom.

3. Thereafter I opened the image in Photoshop, and added the following layers with 3 textures and one photo veil:

• Camembert texture from Olde World Collection with blending mode Saturation, opacity 40%. Blending mode Saturation with the Camembert texture creates a vintage-like warm glow to the image - you will notice this effect when you look at the books in the before-after-image below. I brushed the texture effect away from the tulips, since I wanted to keep some of their blue-lilac color.
• Lavendel Glow Left - Vertical photo veil from the Illumination Collection with blending mode Soft light, opacity 15%, adds a soft lavendel light effect.
• Salerno texture from the Olde World Collection with blending mode Soft light 15% adds a mild and soft painterly effect. I brushed some of the effect away from the upper right corner, using a brush with 50% opacity.
• Riviera texture from Olde World Collection with blending mode Hard Light, opacity 39%, adds some more painterly effect to the image. Using a brush I removed the texture effect from the tulips and the books - leaving it on the negative space, to my "canvas" background

What I like about Still Life Photography is the process of creating the image - Both setting up the scene, and the post processing ... Thinking about the light, the shadows, the balance, and what I want to focus on, together with the style and the feeling, I wish to convey. 

Already as I was setting up the books and the tulips, I had the textures from Olde World Collection in my mind - I like the rustic touch and the warm colour effect they create.

...Wishing you creative moments with photography and editing,

Nina

Palm Sunday

This took place to fulfil what was spoken through the prophet:

‘Say to Daughter Zion,

“See, your king comes to you,

gentle and riding on a donkey,

and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”’

The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted,

‘Hosanna to the Son of David!’

‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’

‘Hosanna in the highest heaven!’

Matthew 21:4-7 

Hosanna by Paul Paloche

:   :   :

Christ, our all in all,

into your presence I come, Lord;

a few moments of quietness,

closeness

in a busy world

that demands my attention.

Breathe on me now,

that I might know your power

to see this day though

Faith and Worship 

:   :   :

Blessings to your week,

Nina 

Here's a printable 

of Matthew 21:5

for you 

Sharing with 

Give Me Grace 

Scripture & Snapshot

Photo iPhone 5S - Camera+, Snapseed, Brushstroke, Glaze & Stackables Apps
Textures - Tableaux Old Style by FrenchKiss, ArtCanvas2 by Coppercurls Designs, Simple1 by Kim Klassen

Air + Light [Texture Tuesday]

“What light is to the eyes – what air is to the lungs – what love is to the heart, liberty is to the soul of man.”

Robert G. Ingersoll

:   :   :

airlight

Word Origin

noun

1.

light scattered or diffused in the air by dust, haze, etc., especially as it limits the visibility of distant, dark objects by causing them to blend with the background sky.

[Dictionary.com @Random House, Inc. 2016] 

:   :   :


A warm and cozy scent of burning wood and bonfire tickled my nose on my evening walk in the neighbourhood ... The smoke keeps on lingering on my mind, hovering over the image play above. Hazy, warm, deep yet mild smoke ... by a friendly fire ... sending sparkles to the stars above...

The image is a playful layering of images with different blending modes, inspired by Kim Klassen's Week 39  - "A breath of fresh air" - in Be Still 52 course.

I have used on of my favourite textures, kk_simple2, together with a Lightroom preset Sidelight by Kim Klassen. 


... Sharing with Texture Tuesday by Kim Klassen,

Nina

Alpaca Silk Dreams

My mom is very creative, she is expert in knitting the most beautiful socks. I was inspired by her crafting magazines and books to crochet something, and I found a recipe for this pretty scarf. Blue being my favourite colour, I fell for this alpaca silk yarn - it is puffy and warm, soft and pleasant.

Crocheting a few hours in the car to the airport, I almost finished this scarf ... When it is done, I will write the recipe here on my blog, with the link to the site I found it from - If you would like to crochet a warm scarf, this is easy and fast to make.

The theme of Kim Klassen's Be Still-class is "A spark is simply inspiration ...". My inspiration was lightened up my mom's creativity and her pretty crafting magazines. 

I edited these photos in Lightroom, and I saved my first own Lightroom preset, nj_Alpaca Silk, which you can download here . The Alpaca Silk preset makes subtle changes, elevating highlights and whites, and lowering the shadows a bit, creating a soft and dreamy look. I have also used a subtle texture layer Simple2 by Kim Klassen, with blending mode Screen 9%.

What is lighting a spark of inspiration to you at the moment?

...Until next time,

Nina

Sharing with 

Texture Tuesday Roses of Inspiration   

Saturday Share Fest 

Green Tea With Lemon, Ginger and Mint

Green Tea with Lemon, Ginger and Mint - and a spoonful of honey - has been

my favourite warm drink the past few weeks, like I wrote the other Friday. 

It is the season for all sorts of common cold now, and I have experienced that this mixture does not only taste good, but it seems to contain vitamins and other nourishing and strengthening qualities, that has kept me from getting the flu.

I boil a pot of water, and pour it in my teapot (for 8 cups tea), together with thinly sliced fresh ginger and fresh mint leaves. After about 6-9 minutes, when the water is about 75 C / 165 F degrees warm, I put about 3 tablespoons of green Sencha tea in an empty tea infusion bag, put it into the teapot and let it brew about 2 minutes, whereafter I remove the infusion bag. 

Sencha tea has an aromatic and mildly sweet flavor - when brewed only 2 minutes. With longer brewing time the taste gets easily bitter - or if used boiling water. I leave the ginger and mint into the pot, since I like the warm feeling the ginger leaves to my mouth and throat ... The stronger, the better.

After pouring the tea to a cup, I add some honey and squeeze some citron juice to go with ... Voila!

Green tea with lemon, Ginger and mint is a healthy and tasty way to build up your immune system against a common cold ... And a delicate warm drink, that surely will tickle your tastebuds.

... Let's savor every sip!

Nina

Sharing with 

Texture Tuesday Roses of Inspiration   

Saturday Share Fest 

Camera settings ISO 800  f/4,5   1/15 sec. 

On Air_Lemon LightRoom preset & Epic texture by Kim Klassen

PS. We're having Winter Break and I am away from the blog - this is posted with the help of Bloggers pre-post planner

Work at it heartily

Whatever may be your task, work at it heartily (from the soul), 

as [something done] for the Lord and not for men.

Colossians 3:23 Amplified Bible

Everyday Miracle by Sara Groves

:   :   :

Blessings to your week,

Nina 

Here's a printable

of Colossians 3:23
for you 

Sharing with: 

Give Me Grace, Scripture & Snapshot, 
Sunday Stillness

Photo: iPhone 5S, Camera+, Snapseed - Texture Austen by Mona's Pictoresque

Stray Thoughts and Snapshots

iPhone 5S: Camera+, VSCOcam, Mextures, Stackables, PicFx, DistressedFx

Joy does not simply happen to us.

We must choose joy and

keep choosing it every day.

Henri J.M. Nouwen

iPhone 5S: Camera+, Snapseed, VSCOcam, RhonnaDesigns - Textures by FrenchKiss & Coppercurls Designs

Goodwill is reciprocal.

The good thoughts you send out to others

will return to you multiplied.

Grenville Kleiser

A dear and inspiring friend, Amanda from the Wildly Simple -blog, wrote about her 10 Goals for 2015. One of her goals is to send a handwritten note so someone each week -  Ins't it right that one of the best surprises is to open your mailbox and see a handwritten card or an envelope from a friend! I was inspired by Amanda's goal and will also be sending a weekly card or a note ... In the good, old fashioned way: Handwritten and in an envelope. 

iPhone 5S: Camera+, Snapseed, ClassicVintagePhotoApp, ImageBlender

This sweet fellow above keeps me company at my office. I found this furry buddy in the bottom of a box in flee market - and I was sold that very moment!

iPhone 5S: Snapseed, Glaze, Stackables, DistressedFx - Textures by FrenchKiss & Coppercurls Designs

A dream, strayed into daylight.

C.S.Lewis

The weather has been sunny, cloudy, rainy ... It's been windy and still, and we've gotten a few snow flakes as well. 

It is lovely to notice that the days are getting longer - it is not completely dark anymore, when I'm biking to work in the mornings...

Waking up this morning, I smile. 

Twenty-four brand new hours are before me. 

I vow to live fully in each moment.

Thich Nhat Hanh

... Weekend greetings,

Nina

Sharing with

 Friday Finds Friendship Friday 
 Saturday Share Fest Friday Photo Journal