New Challenge

So, you all know that I have a student teacher and she has taken over my classes, so I have been working on cleaning up things in my room etc.  This week was the week of letters of recommendation, fun fun!  Also, I ran across a new Challenge on Flickr, the Marcus Ranum Challenge.  You use an image picked from stock photos from Marcus Ranum and create something great.  So of course I decided to do this, I had to create a deviantart account to download photos which is fine, I like the website, I get tons of brushes and ideas from it.   Here is my link http://artteach13.deviantart.com/#.   I have posted the challenge photos in my classroom.  I think it is important for your students to know that you are still doing art, that you aren't just an art teacher!  I also think it is important to have the students see that you are also trying to grow as an artist!

So for my first challenge I decided to use my Urban Color in my MCP Details Actions.  Than, I used textures from Shadowhouse Creations and a variety of brushes on layer masks to create my image.  I didn't want to do a photo montage so I decided to go this route.  Enjoy and thank to Marcus Ranum for allowing people to use his stock photos.

My new watermark

So I worked on a new watermark today.  Well not a new, because I didn't have one.  Logo design is one of my favorite things to do!  So whipped up this one to put on my photos, it was pretty easy to do.  I think it would be a good assignment for Digital Camera, to create their own watermarks to put on each of their photos.  They could be very simple or really elaborate. I think this one falls right in the middle.  I also did one in black and black and blue, but I like the gray one the most.

As Promised!

Here is a before and after of the NEW action, mini fusion make sure to download it here:
http://www.mcpactions.com/mini-fusion.html

MCP New Free Action!!!

Hello all, MCP has a new FREE action!  You have to take advantage of any of their free actions because they rock!  Go to their website/blog to check it out and enter to win the entire set!!!  Here is a link to the website to get it!

http://www.mcpactions.com/blog/2011/02/14/free-photoshop-action/

Stay tuned for a photo edited with the new action!

Bronchitis, Conferences and Ear Infection oh MY! Where is the wizard when I need him!

So its Tuesday of our 2 day parent teacher conferences and I am on no sleep because I have bronchitis and my daughter has double ear infection.  Stayed home yesterday, but I couldn't miss two days of parent teacher conferences!  The whole 4 that I had.  So I worked on my MCP Project 52.  Let me tell you it was a hard one, Open your Heart.  Fitting for V day, that I spent sick!  It didn't really inspire me, just made me think of Madonna!  So it hit me while I was sitting wondering what I could do to pass my time....I have a cool heart shaped bottle in my still life cupboard!  The teacher before me had taught forever and he must have love wine so I have TONS of wine bottles and they are mostly packed into one shelf.  So I played hide and seek with the heart shaped wine bottle!  I add some actions, love MCP and a texture!!!!!

Burrrrr.......its cold outside

So, I don't know if it's the frigid cold or the fact that I have been busy, but it has been almost a week since I have posted anything.  I got some great actions from MCP Actions... the Essential Package.  I have only monkeyed with them a little.  I finished my week 6 MCP Project 52 photo with them.  I am really going vintage with those photos.  I posted it on Tuesday and the "judge" (not really a judge but I don't know what else to call her) commented on my photo!  How exciting!!! f

I really LOVE doing the Project 52, its helping me as a photographer and as a teacher.  It gives me something to look forward too each week besides the weather!  When snow and -20 degree weather is all you have to look forward too your winter drags by!

Anyway, I did get my valentines day card done to send to the family.  Nothing too special, but cute.

More Textures

Original

Texture From Shadowhouse Creations

Finished

Another late start!  Wow, do we have alot of snow on the ground!!!  It is amazing how a little wind can make a school crazy!  I was working on a few things today while my lovely student teacher taught my classes; collages for my daughter's 1 year pictures and some more texture things!  I really like what I did.  Here I added some textures to my week 3 MCP Project 52 photo, Shades of grey.  I really like it with the texture!  I is a completely different photo.  I got the the textures from the creator of Shadowhouse Creations flickr stream.

Back to the Classroom!

After a two hour late start today we are back in the classroom!  I am so glad that I am out of my house!  I actually did my hair and put on makeup!  Anyway, lots of grading getting done because midterm and parent teacher conferences will be here before I know it! 

While my daughter took a 3 hour nap yesterday I mess around some more with my raw photos and some textures.  Shadowhouse Creations is one of the blogs that I follow, he has WONDERFUL textures on his flikr stream that you can use!  So I did some experimenting, not alot of experimenting, but some!  Here is my layered photo, the graininess of the photo made it very easy to add a layer mask to it.

Snow Day!

Well we got a bunch of snow and there is still more on the way!  Of course this makes my husband jump for snowmobiler joy!  However, the love/hate relationship I have with snow days continues on.....  Love being able to have a little break, but I know I have to make them up at the end of the year when the weather is nice and I can take Hadley outside!  Oh well now we are in a Winter Storm Warning!  5-12 inches coming our way, we may never have school! 

I did get my Muse photos done yesterday, my daughter decided to really have fun in the spare bedroom so I took pictures there, although I ended up using one of the photos I took on Sunday.  I has a nice graininess to it that I achieve with my high ISO and no flash.  Hope you enjoy them and don't forget to check out MCP's Project 52 on their blog!!!