i love a man in uniform....

my former sister-in-law has five boys.

the oldest, nick, is in the military...the army.  

he has been deployed and was home on leave about a month ago when his mom called me and asked if i would take some pictures

of him and their family.  he was only going to be home for a couple of weeks so we made

arrangements for me to do the pictures.  

she called me about a week before we were scheduled and told me that 

nick had surprised her with...

a new bride!!!!

he got married back in april but waited until he got home to break the news to his family.

:-0.... :D

so the family photo shoot turned into a sort of mini wedding reception that bridget threw together in just a week....

we took the boys to a little park in town

where we met up with the boys grandparents

(and my former in-laws, whom i didn't realize how much i missed until i saw them again)

and took pictures with them

and some pictures with mom and her boys....dad is working out of the country and won't be home until christmas time....

i took some more of the bride and groom who were so sweet....

and just adorable....

the boys were fantastic and good natured and wonderful....

yes, he was in the tree on his cell phone...if that isn't a sign of the times, i don't know what is....

we left the park

and went back to their house for a mini-reception with the rest of the family....

the godparents with the bride and groom...

where i got to see my ex-brothers and sisters-in-law and their kids
it was wonderful to see everyone again,  you guys are all great and i can't believe how grown up all of your kids are....wow~!!

bridget and alex..you have both done a fantastic job raising your boys...i love them!!!

nick has been deployed and is in iraq again...please keep him in your prayers....i will be!!


nick and casey....i wish you both every happiness in life.  

and i will pray for your safe return to your family!

before and after....

remember this chair???

i bought it at a thrift store for 10 dollars.....
it was disgusting, dirty and smelly.
but it had nice lines and detail

 after lots of deconstruction

eeewwww...spider condo...

and i mean lots....dang staples

i ended up with this frame

which i painted a nice soft cream color.

the seat presented a problem because i wanted to use it for photography and maybe have kids stand on it.
and not really that comfortable to sit on anyway.

not near strong or sturdy enough so i removed the wire springs and don cut out a piece of scrap plywood we had laying around to fit the seat shape.

i bought some foam (man, that stuff is expensive), cut it with my electric carving knife...cuts like buttah..

and covered and stapled the inner fabric to the plywood.

i tried several fabrics....

and this was the final choice.

which i stapled the seat to the base

 and

there she is.

for 10 dollars and some paint and fabric i had laying around the house.

not bad.  

linking up to more great redo's here:
http://commonground-debrasvintagedesigns.blogspot.com/

i don't know....

i don't have many pictures of me with austen because i am the one behind the camera 98% of the time

so when i ask for a couple of pictures with him i usually don't have a problem...

but, i don't know.....

the kid is just. plain. weird...

i did it!!!......

fixed my blog problem and


learned how to upload actions to my computer...
finally.

i have been trying to learn how to download actions to my computer for ages.....and ages. 

photoshop actions are a series of steps built into one computer "click" that
improve your photos that are straight out of the camera.
every photo needs a little bit of help and these "actions" make the job a lot easier.
you can buy actions for your particular edition of photoshop or photoshop elements.  or you can get some free on the internet and download them to your computer.  easy enough, or so i thought....
for the life of me, i could not figure out how to download them to my computer.

well, i figured it out last night after a couple of weeks of internet searches, tutorials and crying, begging and pleading for help on message boards.  this is what i did....

sooc (straight out of the camera) picture of us blueberry picking a couple of weeks back...

not horrible but could really use some spiffing up.  it's a little blah and washed out.
here is the same photo after running an action on it....

not too bad....a little boost of color and some more definition.
or you can really have some fun and play around with some of the steps and bump it up a bit

by changing the color tone and giving it a retro vibe....

portraits are a little trickier....
this is tessa sooc

not too bad but could sure use some brightening up.

and this is after playing with the actions....

my first try so i think it's a little heavy on the softness, a little too plastic-ey
and a little too much color

so i tried this...still a little heavy.  it was my first try, after all!!

after a little more practice i tried it on
this one
sooc

and after running an action.

much better.  it takes practice but i think i'll get it in no time...

i love the fact that with just a click of a button and a few minor adjustments, i can take
this sooc image.....

and do this with it.

a nice soft vintage feel to the picture.....

this is gonna be fun!!!!!

ps....it's good to be back........