Free Webinars Rock!

I've had a Wacom pen tablet for nearly two years now.  It's just a cheap Bamboo one, but a tablet nonetheless.  I absolutely love it and going back to a mouse would be difficult.  I use the tablet for everything.  I also have Photoshop on my computer, but after two years, I'm still quite a novice at using the program.  In a recent email newsletter from Wacom, they had links to three free webinars, which I signed up for all of them.

The first webinar was this week.  I missed the original, live one, but they sent a link to the recorded one.  I watched it earlier today.  It was about using Wacom with Photoshop.  Of course, I knew the basics of what was discussed such as how pen pressure works and how to change the settings for it.  There were a few things that were new to me however and I immediately went to try them out afterward.  I'm still learning and fiddling with them, but I'd figured I would post some of the pictures I've played with today.

I don't have a 'real' monitor with 'true' colors since I use a laptop so hopefully they still look good on other monitors.  Hehe.

This is a picture I took of Madisen at my parents house about a year ago.  I've tried playing with it in the past and didn't like what I came out with.  In the first place, the photo isn't perfect, especially the blurriness, which is a shame; she looks so adorable.  I thought I would try again with the new techniques I learned on the Webinar and see how it went.  Result:


Link to original

This picture is one I took about two years ago.  I've played with it several times, trying to get a result that I liked.  There are still a few things I am not happy with, but for the most part, I think I'm pretty happy with this time around.


Link to original

The last two I took with my new camera when I got it.  I was just messing around in the front yard taking random pictures of things.  These are not good pictures in the first place.  Originally, they are way to bright and blurry in places I don't want them to be blurry.  There is even a big blurry smudge on both pictures due to me not noticing that I had small fingerprint on the lens.  Whoops.  ^^;   I decided to play with these anyway because it's not like I could make them all that much worse than they already are (lol) and even with their flaws, there is something that I like about them.  I'm actually tempted to go back out and get good pictures that are similar to these.  Anyway, I put the sorta finished pictures below.  I like the darker look on them; to me it makes them a bit artsy looking. 


Link to original


Link to original

If you have a tablet and are a novice at Photoshop or photo editing in general, I highly suggest checking out the Wacom website calendar in about a week or two when they update it with the schedule for the new webinars.  They are a bit boring, but you never know if you might learn something you didn't know before.  All knowledge is worth having.

Injury, Vacation, & Hope

Been a little busy lately so haven't made a new post in awhile.  We've had an injury in the family (the dog ;) ), vacation, and the possibility of moving and all the excitement that comes with that.

Our dog, Tsuba, broke one her nails and had to have it removed with surgery about two weeks ago.  I feel so bad for her.  I have to admit she looked adorable with her pink badges and her cone though.  Hehe.  She's a licking fiend normally, but she cannot lick her wound or it will get infected.  It's been difficult.  Especially on vacation.  On the trip home, Tsuba managed to get a good bite in on it and broke it open and bleed all over my pants.  Nasty.  The vet had to re-bandage it again for a few days.  We just took it off again per vet orders; she's under tight surveillance now to make sure she isn't licking it.  Also had to add some extra length to her cone of shame since she could still reach her front paw a little to easily.  It looks ghetto now, but so far it's working.

Tsuba sleeping on the pillows in the backseat on the way down


Sprawled like a seal on the downstairs bed


Vacation was fun.  My mom invited us to go to the Oregon coast with her and Madisen.  We were able to stay at my Aunt's house while we were there.  It was great seeing my aunt again; I haven't seen her in years.  We had a lot of fun!  We went to the beach and looked for pretty rocks, agates, and shells.  I brought back enough to fill glass jar.  Hehe.  We also went walking through some of the second hand and antique stores, which is always fun.  You never know what you are going to find in those places.  The times we just hung out and watched movies was fun as well.  The Oregon coast is one of my favorite places.  I hope we will be able to go vacation down there again in the next few years. 

My jar o' rocks


Everyone walking down the beach (well, except me ;p )


Spending time with Madisen is always great!  We had a ton of fun together.  She's getting so big!  She turned 9 years old yesterday.  We are planning to have her come stay with us for 2-3 weeks this summer.  It was a lot of fun when she stayed last summer.  I can't wait!  :)

Nothing like teaching your kid bad habits, hehe. Here's Madisen copying me by standing on the picnic table to take pictures.  Hehe


Her hopping around on the rocks and trying to not get wet


And for fun, a couple random pictures that I took while in the car on the way down to the coast.  It was all rainy, but the sun was still out in spots.  I like how these turned out.





When I get through all the pictures I took, I'll probably post them to my Facebook. Hopefully will get through them and post them by the end of tomorrow...again, hopefully. ;)

There is also a chance that we might have our own place by then.  Yay!!  The upstairs apartment is available and while it has it's flaws, it's super adorable and just big enough for the two of us.  I don't like getting my hopes up because it can lead to serious letdown, but I can't help it.  It would be amazingly awesome to get the place.  Hopefully we will find out relatively soon if we got it or not.  *fingers crossed*