My hard drive crashed this morning.  Right now Michael is just trying to recover my files (praying!) then he’ll see if it can be fixed.  If it can’t it will be awhile until we’ll be able to replace it so I don’t know how long I’ll be offline.  Be good until I’m back and remember to back up those files!

I have the door cracked just a bit because it’s chilly, listening to the birds sing dawn’s arrival.

Yesterday I scrubbed down the back porch and furniture.  Today is our last homeschool co-op class until next year.  We’re learning about Harriet Tubman.  Should be another beautiful day.

Click to view and save full-size PNG.

Click on Image to View Full-Sized

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I want to thank everyone that takes the time to post a message…it’s very much appreciated!

I was busy yesterday…took the twins to have their annual ultra-sounds and blood drawn, started putting the boys’ schoolwork in order for our annual review, caught up on some lost sleep while Michael took everyone to Boy Scouts last night (thank you, sweetie!) because for the past few weeks Quinn has decided that sleep is optional.  I’ve been so tired and in lala land during the day…almost like you feel when your little ones are babies and you nurse and you never get any sleep.  *smile*

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love free things…giving them away myself or finding some other like-minded soul.  The Graphics Fairy, who posts a new image every day, has recently posted quite a few very lovely images.  Gail Schmidt ~ Artist posts a new image every Friday.  Dawn from The Feathered Nest has posted a beautiful baby girl image.  MeeGee Designs offers up some beautiful sheet music papers on her website and Always Plumpster posted two gorgeous matted wooden frames.

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Click on image to download the zipped file containing a layered PSD with all three images.

Click on Image to Download

The weather was perfect for (yet another–we did one last year too) our walking tour of Annapolis. After the hunt we headed down to the dock to have a bite to eat…a really nice day with all of our homeschooling friends.

Click on Image to Download 

This is how my “Birthday Fairy” looks after putting together the elements (doll, outfit, hair, textures and lighting), posing and then rendering the image in Poser.  (Click to see full-sized.)  Not bad and I’ve seen many images in 3D galleries that look just like this.  I’ve managed to pose her without any poke-through (when the body comes through the clothes) and though the lighting looks a bit too harsh, it’s adequate…doesn’t leave too many dark smudges on her skin.

This is what she looks like after several hours in Photoshop.  I soften every harsh line, paint over skin tones, enhance eyes and lips, clothes, add shadows and highlights, paint on hair, wings and create a background usually using Dave Nagel’s FREE dynamic brushes.  I duplicate layers, playing with layer blend modes and layer opacity.  Takes quite a bit of time but I find it very relaxing and get quite a bit of satisfaction out of making my Poser renders ’soft and purty.’  *smile*  However, after finishing, I usually find something that I wish I had done differently (with this fairy…I don’t like how I posed her eyes and the angle of her wings looks wrong to me).  Each one is a learning experience.  *smile*

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PioneerWoman (I love, love, love the new site!) has promised to post a set of cool Photoshop Actions (Old West and B&W).  Hopefully she’ll get them posted this week.

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ShareCG (where I post most but not all of my freebies…you’ll find lots of graphics and other downloads hiding here on my website that’s not offered at ShareCG) creates a Portfolio page which conveniently lists all of my downloads I have posted there.

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Happy Birthday, Jeanne!!!!

Just playing in Photoshop, again.

If you like the little birdies, you can download them HERE.

Spring Key Clipart - Click to Download