Learning Lightroom 5

I received Lightroom 5 from my Mom and Stepdad for my birthday last year and although I have played around with it a little bit, it is still like a foreign language to me. I don't have time to take a class on it (even an online one) and there's no way I could learn from a book. There is too much lingo that I don't understand.

So..... I found some tutorials on Youtube that I'm going to follow and I already did the first 2 and I transformed a really sad excuse of a photo to something AMAZING that I have to print and hang on my wall.

Check out my Before and After pics....

BEFORE

AFTER

 

 

So the tutorials that I'm watching are here:

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLllFqBuTM0WI0fC_PujkGoLMyXWXd3yF7

 

And they are by Anthony Morganti. I'm hoping to do at least one tutorial per week and document my progress as well! The tutorials are really informative. What I did is watched the tutorial on my Ipad and used my own photo to follow along with the video.

 

 

Toddler girl's hooded cowl.

HOODED COWL

 

 

Kadence is super cute and ready for fall in her hooded cowl. I followed the free pattern from "The Hat & I" on Ravelry.com

 

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/harlequin-hoodie

 

It was pretty easy to whip up and with all the different color combo you can choose from it'll go with plenty of different outfits.

 

 

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GRANNY SQUARE HAT FOR EVERY OUTFIT!

Personalize your child's outfits this fall/winter with crocheted granny square hats. They are so fast and easy to whip up if you are an experienced "hooker" (he he) and very easy to learn how to make if you are a beginner. I have always wanted to make one but could never understand any of the written patterns. So, luckily, recently a YouTube channel I am subscribed to posted a video on how to make these. I added the ribbon and bow which I found for $.99 at Michael's. And it matched her cheetah print pants and flower on her shirt.

 

Here is the link for the granny square hat tutorial:

http://youtu.be/sQG_MBnXtY4

 

Have a great week!

 

What I'm Reading...

I have been on the waiting list for this book for weeks now and I finally get to read it. It is wonderfully written by Pastor Francis Chan and its a book that makes you want to live for God because you want to, not because you have to. So far he talks about being a "Lukewarm Christian" which admittedly I AM. I don't want to be. This is the first book I have read of the genre. Christian Non Fiction. I have to say that it is definitely a wake up call. In chapter 4 the author tells you to put the book down, pick up your Bible and read the Gospels for yourself. So, that's what I'm doing. I have read through Matthew and I realize that even Jesus' disciples were subject to worldly distractions and doubt. They didn't doubt that he was the Son of God, but they tended to lose faith when an obstacle occurred instead of looking to Jesus and be unafraid. He reprimands them, of course, and seems to be pretty harsh at times. Imagine if Jesus yelled at you "You with such little faith!" Man, I'd be scared.

Link up this week.

Very Hungry Caterpillar Party DIY Decor

My friend recently had a party for her son's first birthday. The theme was "Very Hungry Caterpillar". It is such a cute idea and yet you cannot find decorations at party stores or dollar stores for this theme. So I offered to help make some decorations to spice up the atmosphere.

 

 

 

This Happy Birthday sign is really easy to make. I used a cricut to cut the circles and letters but you can easily cut them out by hand. I used regular scrapbooking cardstock that I bought at Michaels. I needed 6 sheets of green and 1 sheet of red. Each sheet made 4 circles.

I bought a pack of brads at Michaels for $1.99 to hold each of the circles together.

Next you can stencil and cut by hand the letters, or if you have a Cricut you can use that to cut out letters. I liked having the white behind the black on the letters because it stands out more. The caterpillar face you use:

brown paper for long ovals for the ears and a small circle for the nose

yellow paper for ovals for the eyes

green paper for the pupil of the eye.

I loved using brads for this because you can easily put the banner up where you want and give it that little wave like a caterpillar moving.

 

This cake was made by someone else. It was one tier of chocolate and the other banana. All of the cutouts, minus the candle, are made out of fondant.

 

Instead of making one cake for the birthday boy Mom made a series of cupcakes. Great for this theme!

 

Birthday boy eating his cake. The banner around the highchair was made with glitter paper from the scrapbook section. I used the Cricut to cut them out but of course you can hand cut these. I didn't want there to be too much red  and I was tired of circles so the stars were just a little different. I used left over brads from the banner to put the brads on ribbon which is easily taped onto the highchair. Mini spools of ribbon that only cost .99 at Michaels are perfect for this. 

 

 

 

I made this crochet hat for James (which of course he didn't want to keep on, most 1 year olds don't). But I did get some good pictures of him. If you would like this pattern I will gladly write it down and post it for free. 

1.