My pick on monday: Guess who’s crawling?

{Ruari crawling at 9 months.}

Ruari is! And, we’re in trouble! Every little piece of dirt… fuzz… hair… dog (poor Angus can’t hide now)… goes in her mouth! She is a little trouble maker.

{Ruari crawling at 9 months.}

We tried to baby proof as much as we could for now… I guess it will probably have to be a trial and error situation. We’ll see what she really gets into. I guess it’s good that it’s a VERY slow crawl right now. I’m sure it will speed up fast!

{Ruari crawling at 9 months.}

My pick for this Monday:

Hand knit baby leg warmers. So, I know you guys know I’m ALL about BabyLegs (which you can still get a 20% discount with this code: PAPERMAMA through Oct. 31st.), but these knit leggings are adorable. I love hand knit items. I have MANY partially finished/started knit projects. I usually get them started… then get frustrated… and move on to something else. 😀 So, instead of knitting my own leggings, I think I’d just buy them from this shop: Morava

{Morava}

You can really find a ton of sweet hand knit creations in this little Etsy shop. Give them a visit! Support handmade this holiday!

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Categories: Uncategorized


Sunday challenges

Ashley Sisk scavenger hunt: 
1. Miniature
I found a little miniature fox. There’s not much focus in this photo, but I still like it.
2. Water Droplet
I can ALWAYS count on Ruari for a wonderful water droplet photo. 😀
3. Bedhead
Ruari after naptime.
4. Colorful 
This is a closeup detail of one of my mom’s paintings.
5. Eyes 

My baby has the prettiest eyes.

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Categories: Uncategorized


The Paper Mama Photo Challenge: A hint of color.

This weeks guest judge: 
Mandy from: A Sorta Fairytale.
This weeks challenge A hint of color.
The challenge:
Take or find a photo of your baby (or kid… or puppy… or kitty) with just a hint of color. This week I’m encouraging you to work with photo editing programs. Don’t let it stress you out! Just play with it and have fun. I’ll include some links to some free editing programs (If you don’t already have one).

Mandy’s example of: “A hint of color”:

My example of: “A hint of color.”

This is Ruari’s new hat! We won it it over at a Little King and I! See how the photo looks like she might like it… well… I couldn’t keep it on her!!!!! I’ll be sharing some more photos later this week. This is like the only photo she wasn’t trying to pull it off her head. We’re going to have to practice wearing this hat everyday. 😀

Don’t be intimidated by this challenge. It will be fun! You have till next Thursday… So, start now and take your time. Here are a couple links to some free photo editing software if you don’t already have something:
Picasa
Gimp
Pixlr

……………………..
There always has to be rules… I know, boring right? But, it’s to help me and you. 🙂 Click on the link for more details… Each entry does need to link back to my blog… Click here to see last weeks winner… All photo entries need to be in by 11:59 PM Pacific Time on September 30th…
……………………..

Guess what…. after 4 challenges there will be a week long vote off of the winners from the 4 previous challenges… The winner of the vote off will get a small prize! 3 more challenges to go…

Winners so far:

  • Fingerprint: … Captivus Living …
  • A hint of color: … no one yet …
  • Confusion: … no one yet …
  • Me and Mama: … no one yet …

♥♥♥♥♥♥
If you have an Etsy shop and would like to give away an item as a prize… please drop me a line! I ♥ sponsors and will show your shop some love for your contribution. 🙂
♥♥♥♥♥♥

The Paper Mama

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Categories: photoshop


The winner of the "Fingerprint" challenge…

This weeks guest judge: 

Jess from: irocksowhat
This weeks challenge: Fingerprint.
The challenge: The challenge will be based around your children. We’ve done this challenge before… And, I really loved it. Lets do it again! Take or find a photo of your baby (or kid… or puppy… or kitty) fingers or toes. Or both!

Why Jess chose this photo: “I LOVE THIS PICTURE! It’s so sweet. I love how the shot is taken at the child’s level, her curious face, and the beautiful countryside. I love how the father is teaching her how to pinky swear (because this is a serious and important lesson that all children must learn).

Congrats! Please feel free to grab a “fact: I’m awesome … #1 winner” button below. Because: you ARE awesome! And, thank you SO much for participating! (I know you already have one of these! You’re so good.)

The Paper Mama

Why Jess chose this photo: “So random and totally unconventional. Very much my style. I really appreciate how the cake and the hand is really the important focus here.”

Why Jess chose this photo: “To me this is beautiful. It really represents motherhood/sisterhood/womanhood. The legs and toes and feet and hands seem endless.”

4th: A Sorta Fairytale.

Why Jess chose this photo: “When I look at little Bennett’s hand it seriously reminds me of an actual KID. I mean, he’s growing up so fast. I love the colors and the fact that he is simply placing his hand in his mother’s palm. So very sweet.

Why Jess chose this photo: “Great shot! Again, nothing really needs to be in focus here except for the hand, and the photographer did just that. It’s really great to see how he’s controlling his hand, yet completely enthralled by the fish.”

Congrats to the top 5 winners! Great job, and please feel free to grab the top 5 button below! You’re all awesome!

The Paper Mama

The Paper Mama’s favorite photos (in no particular order):

Grow

Although I did not pick the winner this week, I did want to share my favorites. So hard to choose! ESPECIALLY this week. If you’re one of my favorites you are more than welcome to grab a “Paper mama hearts me” button below!

The Paper Mama

And, just for fun… we have a couple of honorable mentions:

DSC_0198

Alyssa's Hands RS

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ARNPHFvtXpQ/TJWoXzHtNQI/AAAAAAAAAM0/L9OODa-mXGQ/s1600/IMG_6283.JPG

Seriously so many great fingerprints!

Guess what…. after 4 challenges there will be a week long vote off of the #1 winners from the 4 previous challenges… The winner of the vote off will get a small prize! 3 more challenges to go after this next one…

Please check out this weeks photo challenge: “A hint of color.”

Winners so far:

  • Fingerprint: … Captivus Living …
  • A hint of color: … no one yet …
  • Confusion: … no one yet …
  • Me and Mama: … no one yet …

♥♥♥♥♥♥
If you have an Etsy shop and would like to give away an item as a prize… please drop me a line! I ♥ sponsors and will show your shop some love for your contribution. 🙂
♥♥♥♥♥♥

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Categories: Uncategorized


Get to Know a Mama: Mandy from Harper’s Happenings

Do you want to know more about Mandy from Harper’s Happenings?

Shoot, I DO! I will be conducting a little Mommy interview so we can all get to know each other a little better.  

Please post any questions you have for her below in the comments (before this Friday 10/1/2010. I hope to get the questions to her by then!) So, let’s see those questions!!!

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Categories: Uncategorized


Flashback Friday: Ultrasound

This is the ultrasound where I really realized I had a little baby in my belly.

I was just over 12 weeks pregnant. We could see her little hand. That’s what did it. She went from a little parasite making me VERY sick to a little human that made me VERY sick. ;D She was all twitchy and alien like. It’s so crazy how they go from that to this:

Happy Friday everyone!

Flashback Friday Button

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Categories: Uncategorized


Fix it Friday

Before:
Edit 1: For this edit I ran my new action, Brighten Me, and turned off the exposure and turned on the levels 2.

Edit 2: from there I added a solid color layer, b59841, set it to screen, lowered the opacity to 25% and lowered the fill to 25%.



Edit 3: Next I added a green Channel Mixer layer. Set that to lighten and lowered opacity to 47%. Then I made a copy of the background layer and put a Gaussian Blur on the copied layer. I erased the blur over baby and daddy. I then adjusted the curves to give a more yellow look.

Edit 4: I wanted to do a black and white photo. I added a maximum white black and white layer and adjusted the red to taste. I lowered the opacity to 78%. That’s it!

For me, my fave’s are the 2nd and 3rd edit.

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Categories: photoshop