I Heart Macro

Hello dear readers,

Sorry I have been MIA for so long.
Life has been VERY busy for me recently. Thank your to all my followers who have still been dropping by even though I have not been posting regularly. Thank you for your comments. I have appreciated them all so much.

My darling Dad, who recently turned 90 has just recently moved in to permanent residential care.
After months of ongoing illness, my sister and I felt this was the best solution for him, needed for his  health and ongoing care.
Needless to say we spent many hours looking for a place that we felt would be a match for Dad.
I found it very emotionally exhausting even though I knew logically it was a necessary and  the right thing to do.
Combined with a house renovation... and you may see why I have been MIA!

Anyway,  I am starting to get back in to the swing of blogging again... by joining in to I Heart Macro, hosted by Lori at Studio Waterstone. Here is my entry... a delicate pink camellia.

This plant was given to me a few years back by a dear elderly friend. I nearly lost it last year due to dry weather and water restrictions... I cut it back brutally.. and this year, this lovely plant is now laden with buds and flowers.

Please click on the  photo below to take you to all the fun at studio Waterstone.

Cheers,
Jenni

Renovating!

Hello dear readers,

Sorry I have been slacking off in the  blog-posting department. I have been very busy packing up some of my home prior to home improvements.

We have just recently commenced the renovation; a  new kitchen / dining area, and freshening up the family room and outside deck area will be (hopefully) completed over a 2-3 month time frame.

I can't believe I packed 71 boxes from this (relatively) small area! 62 went to storage along with furniture etc.

We are using the laundry as a make-shift kitchen. The new outdoor (bar-b-que) fridge is in the laundry and we are using that for the moment. The electric frypan is our main cooking appliance as well as the microwave oven and a toaster. So, all in all, it works pretty efficiently.

Old kitchen - now 23 years' old. The wall on the left has now gone - making way for an updated open plan kitchen and dining area.

The empty family space. Carpet will be replaced with beautiful floorboards. New curtains/shutters will be installed and a new paint job will be carried out, too!

The wall is down! Most of the kitchen has gone. Windows will become doors opening to the outside deck which will be extended a little.

New kitchen will be placed in this area, previously the dining area.

Still so much to do....it has only just begun!

I will keep you posted and try and not bore you to death with TOO many house photos! 

Bead making has come to a standstill...although I did spend some time during the recent cold and rainy weekend tidying and labelling glass rods.....feeling quite virtuous really!!

Until next time,

Jenni.

I Heart macro - pre decimal coins.

Hello friends,

I came across these old coins whilst clearing out my kitchen cupboards in preparation for a kitchen renovation.

They have quite a history really.....
They are pre-decimal currency, old silver coins from pre-1966. (Australian conversion from Pounds, Shillings and Pence to decimal currency - Dollars and Cents - occurred on the 14th February 1966 - I remember that day so well)

I kept them because, when I was a child, my mother used to put them in the Christmas pudding...yes the whole  lot!

I remember the sound when she cut the pudding and you could hear the knife against the coins...
We used to 'bag' a piece we liked (the ones that made the most noise)...."I want that one, Mum!"
Often we would chose a piece only to find that it really did not have that many coins inside...how disappointing! My older siblings would often give me theirs if I failed to get any or very little.

When decimal currency was introduced in 1966, the new coins could not be added to the Christmas pudding, as they had different metal composition deemed to be unsafe for adding to food.
So, we kept the old silver coins and my parents would exchange the equivalent value amount in the new money for the return of the old threepences, sixpences and shillings and florins (two shillings). These are her original pudding coins.

The Threepence (equivalent to 2 cents today) has the wheat on one side and the King on the reverse -this coin is dated 1943)
The sixpence (equivalent to 5 cents now) has the Australian coat of arms on one side and the Queen on the other.
The shilling (equivalent to 10 cents) also has the  coat of arms and
the Florin (or "two  bob" as it was commonly known as then) is the current day equivalent of 20 cents.

My husband tells me that the old coins are now worth much more than the conversion equivalents, partly because of rarity value and mainly because of the silver content valued at the high current price of silver.

They look pretty grungy, but this Christmas with my new oven in place, I will give them a clean-up and put them in that pudding!

It will be good to hear that familiar noise again.

To check out all the other great macro photos  and join in the fun, please click on the photo below to take you to our host, Lori's site.

Texture Tuesday - A pink bike in Florence.

Hello dear friends,

Well I am trying to get back in to the swing of blogging after not posting for a little while.
So, I am making up for it today, and this is my second post in a day...a rarity for me!

As you all know by now...Tuesday is "Texture Tuesday" for me so without further ado here is my textured photo.....a pink bike in Florence.

I love old bikes and this pretty pink one just caught my eye. It was such a pretty girly color, especially after seeing all the black ones that were far more common. The only thing missing was an old cane basket to make 'her' perfect. Actually, the more I look at 'her', the more I think she is perfect unadorned.

To achieve this look with photoshop elements 9, I....

1. Duplicated the background.
2. Levels adjustment - adjusted the mid tones a fraction.
3. Hue saturation adjustment....I wanted the little red bits to "pop" a little more.
4. KK Golden texture layer on soft light blend mode at 100%
5. Another layer of KK Golden texture on multiply blend mode at 82%
6. I added a layer mask and removed some texture on the bike, especially seat and frame.
7. KK Love in layer texture on multiply blend mode at 50%
8. Layer mask and removal of some texture on the bike.
9. Text layer "superba' which is the brand of the bike.

Pretty in pink 'Superba' pushbike.

The original photo...oh yes, I also cropped a little on the right hand side.

Please remember to go to the Texture Tuesday logo on my blog side bar to join in on the fun....it will take you straight to Kim's site.

Well this IS really it for me tonight..

Goodnight,

Anastasia glass bead-making workshop in Tasmania.

Hello dear friends,

You may wonder why I have not posted for a while. Here is one of the things that has kept me busy and away from the computer...

I was away a few weeks ago in beautiful Tasmania where I went with a few friends, Georgie and Belinda to attend a glass bead making, 3 day course, with Anastasia.

We stayed in a sweet  little cabin at the quaintly named place of Snug, about 30 minutes south of Hobart, Tasmanias' capital city, and drove from there each day to the community centre in Woodbridge another 15 minutes away where the classes were held.

Anastasia is a world renowned bead maker who came all the way from Germany to teach in Australia.
She visited and taught at studios in Sydney, Canberra and Tasmania.  Please  take a look at her website as her beads will just amaze you!

Thank you to Gail at Go glass studio who organised Anastasias'  visit and her Australian teaching schedule.
I learnt a HEAP of techniques and can't wait to get that fine stringer under control!

Here are a few of the demonstration beads Anastasia showed us how to make. (These are her beads)

Beginning with simple fine stringer work. These stringer were as fine as the hair on your head!.

Learning how to use enamels as a background and more fine stringer work.

Base bead using different transparent colors, enamel and stringers.

Using raking techniques and beautiful murrini building.

'Vertebrae technique' with enamels.

Gorgeous fish, decorated with enamel and yes, more fine stringer.

And a few other photos....well, I have missed out on a few posts..so now am making up.. by adding in a few pictures here!

Taken on the road driving from Snug to Woodbridge. Tasmania is really beautiful and the country really only a short distance from any of the main cities.

Little pomegranates in the garden of the community centre.

Miniature daffodils  also in the Woodbridge Community centre garden.

Hope you are all having a brilliant day....!

cheers for now,

Texture Tuesday - Burano, Italy.

Hello dear friends,

Today my Texture Tuesday post is a photo taken on the little island of Burano, Italy.  I visited Burano in March this year and enjoyed the brief time I had there looking at these pretty colored houses. Somehow, the colors appeared to sit so well there, however I am not too sure if I could ever be this adventurous with choice of color on the outside of my own home. ( although I could easily go with  palette selection of the first group of houses!)

Burano is a small island located about 45 minutes by ferry from Venice. It is a pretty fishing village with a populace of about 3,000 inhabitants.
Its little streets and canals are lined with bright pastel-colored houses. It has been said that these bon-bon colored houses have their origins in the fisherman's desire to be able to see their own house when heading home from a day at sea.

The  group of houses I chose for my Texture Tuesday photo, are certainly some of the more subdued color choices on the island.

On this photo, using Photoshop Elements, I .....

1.  Cropped the left side
2.  Applied hue-saturation adjustment
3.  Removed a pole and wiring using the clone tool
4.  Added KK Mayzee texture, soft light 100%
5.  Doubled up KK Mayzee, soft light 79%
6.  Removed some texture on the hanging clothes.
7.  Added KK Mayzee again, overlay 36%
8.  Added a hue-saturation adjustment again
9.  Added KK Warm Sun texture, with soft Light 100%
10. Added Soft Focus "effect".

Overall, the adjusted photo has a far softer, aged look compared to the original below.

The original photo.

These houses are more colorful!  Totally gorgeous!

Pretty lilac colored house in a cobblestone square.

If you want to have a look at more texturing fun, please click on the Texture Tuesday logo on my blog side bar to take you to the website of our host, Kim Klassen.

Cheers for now,

I Heart Macro - Beach Glass

Hello dear friends,

I love beach glass...I always look for it when walking along any beach.(that doesn't happen that often!)
It is pretty hard to find and I always feel like a little kid when I do find even one small piece.
I love it's smoothness and the worn, faded colors.

One day I will make a bead set and etch/tumble it so that it looks like that soft beachy look...
.
I did actually make and etch some discs which you can see here if you wish.


If you Heart Macro too, please visit Lori at Studio Waterstone to see other macro photos - click on the photo below to take you there and join in the fun.

First glass head pins

Hello dear friends,

I wanted to post this yesterday for btw, but somehow got a little behind...you know how it can be?!

These are my first glass head pins.
I used two different sorts of wire, a high temp wire, called nichrome, I think this wire is usually used in toasters! It was the stiffer of the two, hard to straighten from the original coil it came in, and consequently a little crooked when the glass was applied to it.
This made it difficult to centre the glass, so some of those  little 'beads' look a little skewiff.
The other wire was copper, 0.6mm, so very fine and delicate.

I had to work way up in the flame for both.

I really wanted to make rose - hips, however apart from adding a little enamel, it was very difficult to add additional glass in the form of stringer, dots etc to the 'bead' as the wire would bend with even the smallest amount of pressure.
 I will have to work a lot more on this and try and be more delicate with my touch!

Leaves,berries, rose-hips and flowers.

Rose-hips and berries.

Leaves

Hope you all have a lovely day,