Have you updated your ‘over’ app lately? I just updated mine and I have lots of cool new and free artwork to add to my pictures. While we are on the subject of apps, do you know of any app which allows you to draw on your own photos? I know Laminar Express lets you do this but the ‘pen’ line is super thick and I would like a thinner option. What cool photo apps do you use? Any new ones I need to know about?
On Friday I spotted a little tiny ‘Moving Sale’ sign for Saturday morning. I made a mental note which are frankly not to be relied on, I work better with a note written on my hand! I can’t remember anything, it all has to be written down somewhere… On Saturday, I left a bit earlier so that I could pop into the sale on the way to bootcamp class. I carry my weights in my backpack, so I grabbed my mat and off I went to class, via the moving sale. I saw some little glass and ceramic bowls which I like to use to sort beads into when I am choosing colours, the whole box was the deal, so I snagged that. Then I saw some massive, clear, crystal cut, acrylic beads in the bottom of a plant saucer, I asked if they were for sale and they were mine! Off I went with my box of bowls and beads, yoga mat and 16lbs of weights! Thankfully I only got a few awkward steps …
This week saw the very exciting launch of the A Beautiful Mess iPhone app. Emma and Elsie at ABM had been talking up the app for a few weeks, would it live up to the hype? Yes, yes it does. It is available internationally and costs 99c here in the US. There is a great base of doodles and frames, texts and filters. Not many filters, but there are so many filter apps available, I wasn’t too bothered about that. I loved the doodles and borders options. They have a ton of colour options too and if you layer them up, you can get some fab effects! My Sindy doll helped me experiment with the A Beautiful Mess app! In the top photo, she is sporting a vintage 1970’s original crocheted dress which I think my Mum made, the ukulele/guitar is also vintage (from way back when I was a little girl). I added various borders, adding layers and colours. I love the effect of lots of the same layers, just moved slightly. In the …
Today and yesterday have been hot ones here in St Louis, up into the 90’s – phew! So I decided to make some iced coffee and add in some flavour. I bought some cinnamon nibs from Penzey’s Spices in Maplewood and I mixed them into the ground coffee before brewing. I didn’t grind up the nibs, just left them whole. To make the orange coffee, I added fresh zest to the ground coffee. I brewed both coffees and left them to cool. To ensure coffee all the way to the bottom of the glass rather than watery ice cubes, I make coffee ice cubes. Add milk and sugar if you like. I do. If you like black coffee, I would pour over a splash of fresh coffee to get the ice cubes melted a little bit, so you at least have something to drink! Do you like iced coffee? Iced tea? Do you add any extras?
I went out early (ish) on Saturday to trawl yard sales. There was one at a local church and I had high hopes for treasure. I wasn’t disappointed! I got four scarves in all, but these two are the prettiest. I think the blue one is silk, the flowers on it are so delicate, they might even be hand painted. The pink one might be a head scarf and it was ‘Made in France’ for a St Louis department store of the olden days called ‘Stix, Baer and Fuller’. The department store was open from 1892 until 1984. This scarf looks very 1960’s, but I am not sure as I can’t find any images of it. Do you know any St Louis ‘Stix, Baer and Fuller’ history? Do share. You know where the comments are, get to it! I missed this pan when I did my initial sale walk through. I spotted it when I had already gathered what I thought was my final choices. I have been looking for a tube/bundt/angel cake tin for …
I am so happy it isn’t raining today for ten on the 10th photos. I was beginning to think it was going to be rainy on the 10th of every month! So in the monthly tradition of taking ten photos on the 10th day, here are ten photos. All taken on the iPhone 4. I literally stopped and turned around to get a photo of this dew soaked leaf. A flower spotted on the way into the Y this morning. Bags all ready for the Mother’s Day Plant sale at school. The kids all get a plant to give to their Mama and the opportunity to buy plants and hanging baskets. We pass this Lilac bush every day and it smells divine! Look at all those teeny tiny flowers. Beautiful. I was taking a photo for my daily prompt and accidently got my feet and quite liked it! The effects are provided by Hipstamatic. New Saltwater sandals! Love ’em, super comfy. ‘Stars’ was the ‘photo of the day’. These are some …
It has rained nearly all weekend with gaps of grey, so it is a joy to post these photos I took of the Missouri Botanical Gardens from a 6th grade field trip I went on last week. Wouldn’t you like a bee hive or three in your back garden? I like the metal deer in the Home Gardening Centre. At least he won’t eat all of your veggies! These wind chimes are very impressive, I think there should be a field full of them! The sun was out and it was a pretty hot day and the flowers were all blooming and looking gorgeous. We had a good explore and discovered herbs, Chinese inscriptions and lizards! I took all of the photos on my iPhone4 and added some filters and cropping using Camera+, Laminar Express and Afterlight apps. Let me know what apps you use in the comments department. Do you use the same ones or are you an experimenter? In the Climatron we found this very cool green lizard and of course some Chihuly …
I cannot believe it is May already! The weather is behaving in the usual Mid West spring way – bonkers! We have had torrential rain, tornado warnings, snow flurries, sunshine, hot and cold. A typical April then! Of course I have been taking a photo (or a few) every day following the prompts supplied by the lovely Fat Mum Slim. Here is April photo a day. I hope you like them. All photos have been taken on my iPhone 4 and some have filters and messing about and some are filter free. Day 1. Play. Seals at the St Louis Zoo. Day 2. Blue. A Blue Jay feather. Day 3. Something beginning with A. Thanks to Superman for lending his arm. Day 4. This happened today. I moved all of my sewing box into a new home, a vintage biscuit tin. Day 5. Something good. Blooming trees. Day 6. Air. Day 7. Dreamy. Marshmallows. Day 8. On your plate. Day 9. Tiny. Day 10. A place. A place for the Box Turtle to hide. …
I found some cool Dandelion clocks while out and about last week, so I snapped a couple of pictures. In fact I snapped loads and only got a few decent ones, they are tricky little monkeys to get to stay still. I popped on some different filters to see how they looked. I thought I would share my results. All of the filters and effects were added in Camera+ on the iPhone 4. These are the starting photos, no filter, no crops. I put this on into Camera+ and cropped it down and added clarity Crop, clarity, depth of field. Crop and Polarise Crop, Clarity and Ansel. As part of a course I am doing by the lovely Jessica Van Den called ‘Set up Shop‘ I have to ‘play’ as part of one of the lessons, and I intend to! I might pull out my pens and a pretty notebook and have a little draw. I recently was introduced to the work of Kate Bingaman-Burt this week by Gathered digital magazine and have …
Happy Earth Day! Remember to recycle and reuse. Walk or bike where you can. Plant some vegetables or some flowers or some herbs, or all of them! May your trash can be empty, your legs be strong and your garden green! Talking of recycling, look at this fab McCall’s Needlework and Crafts magazine from Spring 1977. In 1977 I was seven years old and into ‘Sindy’ dolls and ‘Spirograph’. These crochet flowers are gorgeous and check the fake soil and moss! Creepy or cute? Same question. I quite like the gangly rabbit, but his teeth look like they want to eat me, or those mice. Pick the mice Mr Rabbit. Of course I adore these macrame pieces. I think they are a little bit cool, even the tiles they are photographed on are cool. I love the statement on the opposite page ‘macrame jewelry is always right!’ Maybe I will steal that tag line for my catseatdogs jewelry! Now, here is something I want to make. Peas in a pod which unzips! That place mat …
Clare Davis Etheridge 