Texturize Me

(Kim Klassen Create Edges Texture)

This past weekend, when I should have been vacuuming and dusting, I was busy doing fun things instead.  We took little Misty Belle out to a local boardwalk and her favorite pet store to get some treats.  We wanted to make sure she is getting continued socialization, which isn't easy to do during the cold winter months!  There were a few other brave souls roaming the boardwalk who ooh'd and ahh'd over her and we even saw another darling puppy, a boxer and I thought of Di, The Blue Ridge Gal and her sweet boy Rowdy.

(Kim Klassen Coffee Tea or Me Texture)

On Saturday I opened an email from Kim Klassen that had links to 2 free textures.  Mr. Tide had taken the dogs out very early on Saturday morning, so when I showed him the new textures he said he had taken some pictures at sunrise if I wanted to try and add a texture to them.  Of course, when given the choice between cleaning or playing around in Photoshop, y'all know which one will win every time!!!

(Florabella Worn Linen Texture Warm)

Here's another one of Mr. Tide's sunrise photos overlooking our icy creek.  I applied a Florabella action called Worn Linen, which gives the photo a nice canvas texture. 

It seems that everyone has been in a bit of a texture mode these days in blogland.  If you pop over to the beautiful blog Dear Lillie, you'll see some gorgeous shots using textures, not to mention a slipcovered ottoman that I covet!!!

 (Old Paper Lizzie_Anne)

Kate was also feeling the texture love this weekend and created some beautiful photos of her own, using free textures she found on Flickr.  I did a bit of hunting around on Flickr too, and found this gorgeous Old Paper Texture for free and applied it to my pear photo.

 (Postcard 3 Sophie G*)

I love the beautiful french script from Sophie G*'s Postcard 3 texture which I found thanks to Kate.  And the best part is most of these lovely textures are available for free and with limited restrictions on personal or commercial use.  You should always check the terms of use when creating things using someone else's textures though, as there can be restrictions on how you can use them or if you can use them on things you intend to sell, such as prints or note cards.

(Kat W. Vintage Lace)

Some of you have asked what a texture is, and in actuality the answer is really quite simple, they are jpeg photos.  These jpeg photos can then be applied as a layer to your existing photo giving it a whole new look and feel.  They can be created through the use of photo editing programs from scratch or you can simply create one by taking a photograph or scanning something like a piece of fabric or an old postcard and turning it into a jpeg.  The possibilities are really limitless when it comes to creating textures, the sky's the limit!

I decided to play around with creating some of my own, because once you create the jpeg you can then apply it to your photos and play around with the lighting, color burn, etc. to make it just the way you want it.  In the photo above I scanned an old lace handkerchief that belonged to my grandmother and created two different textures using the same photo, one with a very cool color cast, and one with warmer tones.  You can download them both for free and use them however you want by clicking HERE.

 (Kat W. Vintage Lace Cool and Kim Klassen Random Inspiration)

You can also apply more than one texture to a photo in order to create something really special if you want.  Above I used my Vintage Lace Cool Texture with Kim Klassen's Random Inspiration's Texture, in order to create an almost watercolor like effect.  I love this one!

(Kat W. Vintage Lace and Sophie G* Postcard 2)

On this last photo I again used the Vintage Lace Texture I created along with the same beautiful Postcard 2 texture that Kate had used on her photo, which you can see by clicking here.

I love that people create and share their textures, whether they are free or for a small fee, because they really do change the whole look and feel of any photograph.  I also hope that some of you will try downloading  these various textures and play around with this yourself to create whatever your heart desires!

One last thing.  Over the weekend I received  Stylish Blogger Award from the very talented Cathy at Stitchfork Designs.  If you've never popped by her blog, be sure to stop by because Cathy does beautiful monogram and embroidery work!!!

With this award I'm supposed to tell you 7 things about myself and then pass it along to 10 other bloggers I admire, but you all know there are WAY more than 10 bloggers I admire.  So if you want to play along, please consider this an open invitation to do so...I'm sending this award out to all of you talented bloggers out there in blogland!  All you have to do is create a post telling us 7 things about yourself.  Of course if you're one of those organized people who can narrow it down to 10 other bloggers, be sure to create links to their blogs and then let them know you've sent them the award.

So here are 7 Things you may, or may not know about me.

1.  I often blog or write stories while in my PJs or sweats...it helps get the creative juices flowing!

2.  I was voted class clown by my high school's graduating class.

3.  I was a political science major in college and planned to go to law school after graduation.  During my summers I worked for lawyers and realized that the really successful attorneys had nice homes, boats, and cars, but were rarely ever home to enjoy those things or their families.

4.  Even though I studied politics in college, I hate discussing politics with anyone other than my immediate family.

5.  Throughout my life I've had more male friends than female.  I could talk cars, I played sports, and I hung out mostly with guys...and still do.

6.  If I could have a superhero talent it would be the ability to fly...wouldn't that be so cool?

7.  If I won the lottery I would give to various charities, I would pay off my house, put some in a trust for my children, and use the rest to travel all over the world.   I would not use it to build a big huge house or buy an expensive car.

Happy Monday my friends!