Thursday, August 6, 2009

For the Love of Photos...


So I've played for months with Photoshop - being able to do the basics and attempting to keep up with the (what seems like) hourly updates ... Not so easy, but given a chance to "play" with photos of my little 2yr old and get crafty - I'm THERE.
Yes, I have an entire, wonderful, crafts studio which my husband put together for me a few years ago. However, now, with the addition of our little one, times in the studio are fewer and further between - sadly. At the same time, I'm on this computer more and more - eating up the "techy-crafty stuff" everywhere. I love the fact that I can now decorate and never have a glue dot sticking to me. No more glitter all over my face and ciao ciao scissors and punches - hello online craft world!
Recently, I returned to Photobucket ... and wow! They've made somem changes. I just spent 15 minutes "playing" with some photos I uploaded - SO fun! I made this one with a swirly thing on it - my daughter loves this toy and here I am "distorting" it - but it looked fun, and the coloring - bronzing as they call it at Photobucket - loved it!
Of course, after that, I had to do more... so, now, Photoshop has some competition! It's just so quick and easy with some of Photobuckets newest tools. And sometimes, quick and easy isn't a bad thing :)

There's also my favorite fall-back, Smilebox - love them! Smilebox has a zillion creations - you name it - they have it. Need a card? a vegitarian BBQ invite? a slideshow of your 400 photos from the zoo? they have it! You can insert your photos in any of their fun-filled creations - and viola', you're a photo wiz!
I also discovered scrapblog - for those of us who like to get creative with our photos and write lots... well, that's exactly what it does .... a little of both worlds, and some very pretty layouts. You can also design your own work - but Photoshop can do quite a bit more, of course, if you have the time.
Yes, like all good things - there's a fee. Some are minimal, and some are even free - depends on what you want. But they're well worth it!
I recently ordered some of my photos from Snapfish - I just didn't feel like putting my poor printer through ink hell... I had 240 photos to print (just from the past month - yes, I like my photos!). Well, after I got done ordering my photos I realized just why we own 3 printers and why it's worth doing them at home - SH for 240 photos is quite costly!
Of course, when it comes down to having photos of my perfect little (non-tantrum throwing) 2 yr old - ok, she does have a wee fit here and there - but nothing SO bad... It's all worth it. Me being online for hours after she's in bed, typing away... Hours of pixels on Photoshop on 2 whole pictures; hours of writing in her journal. Days of sorting and embellishing pictures... It's all worth it. Hugs.