Photoshop for Dummies #1 - Blurring Your Background and Enlarging your photo on Blogger

Hi Everyone!! Okay. . .I'm trying to learn a few "basic" Photoshop features. One of them was to blur my background and keeping my foreground sharp. When I took the picture with my Canon Rebel XTi. . .my intention was to have the background blurred but it didn't turn out that way.

I found a website that gave a good tutorial. . .well, what I mean by good is "easy". I tried 4 different tutorials and this one was the EASIEST!! Gawd, the others were like . . .so complicated, being a newbie with Photoshop, I was sooooo confused.

This tutorial is easy to follow and it actually works. It's perfect for a newbie with Photoshop. Click Here for the Tutorial

Anyway, this isn't the best photo but I chose this photo of my daughter randomly to "play" with.

As you can see. . .the background of the picture above is sharp.


Here is the same photo with the background slightly blurred. I didn't want to over blur the background because the picture of my daughter will look like she was pasted on to the picture.

I also found a way to SUPER enlarge your photo on Blogger without distorting the photo and compromising the quality of your photo.

If you drag the corners to enlarge your photo, well, the pixel on your photo will start to show and the quality become distorted.

Here is the link to the tutorial on how to enlarge your photo without compromising the photo: Click Here

With this tutorial, you can have an enlarged photo on your blog that is larger than the max size that Blogger provides.

I wanted to show the background so you can see it but when I originally uploaded on to my blog, the largest size allowed was too small and it didn't show the background as well as I wanted it to. I dragged corners to enlarge it but the quality became distorted and the tutorial I provided allowed me to enlarge the photo and still maintain it's quality.

Anyway, try it out!!

Using Up Scraps and a Few Pictures

Hi Everyone! Howz your Sunday going? Hope y'all are having fun! We went to one of the Temecula winery today to eat lunch. Yummy! I took a lot of pictures but I didn't want to post them here on my card blog site. I'm thinking of creating another blog site for my photos. I know that many of you who visit my blog site want card ideas and don't care to see my photos. Nonetheless, I've been having a blast using my Canon Rebel. I'm a serious amateur when it comes to photography and I wish I could take all the spectacular photos that I see using this awesome camera.

Anyway. . .another thing I'm an amateur with is using Photoshop. I mean, seriously clueless. I just don't have the time to read and learn how to use it but that doesn't mean I can't play around with it.

I created this collage of my daughter using photos that I took today at the winery. Okay, I really didn't know what I was doing but I managed to create the collage above by just clicking on buttons not knowing what they were. LOL!! Considering I was clueless, I like how it came out. What do you think?

Do you see the bee inside the flower? My daughter took this picture using my Canon Rebel XTi.

This photo is totally unedited. It was taken on auto focus/macro. Isn't it pretty. I took more photos of the bees in other flowers which I'll post on another day. I'll also post a few photos of the winery . . .maybe tomorrow.

Just a card I made using scraps again. I made the purse that I posted yesterday using the designer paper on this card and I just wanted to waste it.

I'm getting tired of looking at all my scraps. It annoys me to look at them and sometimes to even use them because I have so many of them that it's overwhelming.

The DP is by K&Co, the daisy ribbon is by Making Memories, the large prima flower is by Target, the smaller prima by I believe Darice. . .not sure, the sentiment tags are by K&Co.

Another card using up scrap pieces. Arggghhh! The scrap pieces are never ending. What do you folks do with your scrap pieces? Do you folks use them or do you just continue to accumulate them?

I don't like wasting them so I try to use them on a regular basis but it also means I can't move on to use any new papers and embellishments because I'm sort of stuck trying to reduce my scrap pile.

They are all pretty scraps but I like my new stuff too and I would love to use them.

Anyway. . .I know. . .I'm complaining again. Whaa, whaa, whaa! LOL!

Well, hope y'all have a wonderful Memorial Day tomorrow!! We don't have major plans. . .just BBQing in our backyard.

Whoohoo! Canon Rebel XTi and Scrappy Cards

Hey Everyone! I'm back! Wow, I spent the past few days cleaning out my computer. I had sooooooo many photos on my computer that they were slowing down my computer. I transferred a couple hundred of them on to disks. My computer now loads my photos from my camera really fast. Yay!

I want to show off my photos from my new camera. My husband bought me a Canon Rebel Xti. OMG!!!!! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my camera. Okay, I found a new hobby!

The picture above is the very first photo I took with the camera. It's a picture of my buddy Dori! I love her like she was one of my kids. Doesn't she look adorable?

Okay, I'm a complete amateur photographer. I mean, I'm an "auto focus" shooter. . .you know what I mean. The Rebel is a digital SLR and I would love to use the camera the way it should be used. I think I have to take a photography class to learn how to use an SLR.

BUT. . .wow, check out the photos of flowers I took. All on auto and absolutely no editing. I mean on auto, it looks like I took the picture like a pro. I am sooooooo impressed by the photos. I mean it's so nice and clear and the colors are so accurate.

I can't believe I took these photos. Aren't they beautiful? The flowers are from my yard. Scroll down and check out the other photos of flowers that I took. Click on the picture and you can see an enlarged version of the photos and you'll see how sharp they turned out.



I took this photo at the auto focus - macro setting. AWESOME!! I love how the center looks so sharp and the rest of the photo is slightly blurred.

Here is another photo of a flower from my yard! Again, I took the photo on "auto focus" and "macro".

I took so many AWESOME photos and would love to post them all but I don't want to bore you with all my photos. I think I'm going to start a new blog just for my photos. What do you think?

Anyway, scroll down to view two cards I made last night.

I made this card using scrap pieces, again. Just getting rid of my scraps.

Card Details:

Stamp: Fiskar
Paper: MME designer paper, SU Bashful Blue, Real Red
Accessories: K&Co Chipboard Alpha, SU Scallop Punch, Marvy Circle Punch, Scallop ruler (unknown), Satin Ribbon, Tim Holtz Distressing ink

Just another using the same designer paper. Again, I used scrap pieces from my scrap pile.

Card Details:

Stamp: Heidi Grace
Paper: MME desginer paper, SU Real Red, Bashful Blue
Accessories: Dejaview brads, organdy ribbon, Sizzix tag die (tag), Cuttlebug flower die (flowers), Tim Holtz distressing ink, Lace ribbon (unknown)