You made me a shadowboxer, baby

{Fiona Apple, anyone?}

Shadowboxes: I love them. They are the perfect little containers to hold memories, a collage of sorts, that bind up an event into a neat and tidy box. You know I'm all for scrapbooking but sometimes only a shadowbox will do.

For instance, I am acquiring quite the collection of 'race day shadowboxes.' First there was our first half marathon way back in 2005. Such babies we were, proven by the ages listed in our stats: 23 and 24 years old. Wow. I remember that day so vividly and making this shadowbox was fun, with all of my little added text and stats cut from the marathon program. Fun times:

Then comes my first full marathon shadowbox, only one medal this time [boo!] but with a few added running quotes/prayers. I needed those prayers on this day. I also kept the map of the course which included our notes about where my family could meet up with me along the way. I didn't add a picture to this one but that's fine by me...pretty sure I have a few in my 2008 album to view whenever I please:

And then there is our half marathon shadowbox from this year, in St. Louis. I found cute little 'official' clocks with our times online and printed those suckers out, just to add them into the box. I also kept a course map in there and added a little family pic just for fun. Can't go wrong with a little Henry in a shadowbox:

Breaking from my running theme, we have our wedding shadowbox. It's probably my fave, you guys. I kept one copy of each paper item from the wedding: our Save-the-Date, our invitation, our program, and our menu. Then I added my hair flowers my mom made for me out of her wedding veil and my great-grandmother's jewelry. Overall, this is one sentimental box full of happy memories and it hangs right above my dresser with prominence:

I've always wanted to make a wedding shadowbox for my friends who are getting married. It would be so easy: just keep their Save-the-Date, keep their invitation, grab an extra ceremony program, maybe try to snatch a menu or a place card or something from the dinner table, and then after their big day you could easily put one of these together for a friend. I've never actually done it because I wasn't sure if any of my bride-friends were doing something similar on their own. But I think it would make a fabulously personal gift, don't you?

And really, why stop with weddings? You could easily make a shadowbox for a new baby, too. Just keep the birth announcement, a shower invite or two, maybe print off some parts of their online registries, and DEFINITELY add a scan of an ultrasound to this guy. Once the baby is born I'd even add a picture of the newborn with his/her parents in the hospital.....maybe the official 'hospital' picture with the stats would be fun. I can see myself getting really into this one in the future...

Or even for graduation: how easy would it be to put the graduate's tassel, part of the ceremony program, a scan of the diploma, the high school/college symbol, and a few pictures into a shadowbox? Pretty easy. And quite personal.

I'm all about containing major life events into a perfect little box. Something about that just makes me feel content and happy, like those memories can be preserved in their own physical space in the world. Each box symbolizes so much more than pieces of paper and random objects. Tangible memories behind glass....that's what they are.

Maybe someday we'll have an entire room devoted to our shadowbox decor. A few more races, a baby or two, and Nate's graduation......I can see it now. And I cannot wait. :)

welcome, creep shows!

It's long overdue my friends. Keyword search terms, that lead some lovely readers to my blog. Let's all wave hello to the crazies! Especially the ones who use 10+ words as search terms:


1. Creepy, but good looking makeup {I can only assume we are referring to one Edward Cullen on this one? Very creepy yet good looking, indeed}

2. Comparison my life before and after i came to usa {I can't help you there, buddy, but you're still working on your English a bit, huh?}

3. Find the pale Wisconsinite pictures {LOVE this one. LOVE. Could be my new blog title all together}

4. How to loosen up and love life {really? You came here to read about this? Pretty sure I'm fairly uptight myself. Hmmm.}

5. I chopped off my hair may 2009 {Good for you? I didn't.}

6. Is a cockapoo asexual {He's a little metrosexual, actually, but definitely a male. A wussy male, but none the less}

7. Julia who is transitioning into female {again, with the sexuality. Am I undergoing a sex change now? I wasn't aware}

8. Slutty tinkerbell costume {Never have I talked about sluts, Tinkerbells, or many costumes for that matter. No clue but I think I love it.}

9. What's the name of the song that goes...shes sold three thousand and eight, you sold {are you serious with the 17 word search phrase? Really? And I can tell you right now, Fergie does not say "You sold 3008" it's "You so 3008". Duh. Even I know that}

10. I never have a dog in my life {okay. And your grammar is awful. }

And I also have a few Nate quotes for you, just for added entertainment:

1. "You need to start using your fork more like a shovel, like I do. You are such a pansy when you eat all slow and stuff." {yes, he called me a pansy and told me to use my silverware like an outdoor tool. Do you see why it's hard to control my portion sizes around here?}

2. "How is it possible that there are four Twilight books? What can they even write about for that many books? Are they still glistening?" {why, yes, they are. And when I told him that Bella and Edward might finally get to do it in the last book, he was not as excited as I'd hoped. His loss, right? Sigh.}

3. "Symbolism is for stoners. That's why I always hated English." {referring to the fact that deep, thought-provoking movies/books were made for stoners. I personally love symbolism but he thinks it's for people sitting around in a circle and contemplating imaginary undertones to complicated plots. I could not disagree more, but I love that he attributes symbolism to stoners.}

4. "Our marriage is basically like one big bachelor party, you know." {I wasn't aware of this fact.}

yawn

It's been awhile, huh? We're all a bit pooped around here, please forgive us:



Same old, same old up here. It's cold [in the 40s-50s] and raining non-stop. I'm having a hard time believing it's actually JUNE, Mother Nature, but the promise of warmer weather is near. You see, the peonies are finally blooming! Little round buds are appearing and I couldn't be happier:

I realize that you southerners have probably seen your peonies bloom and die already, maybe even weeks ago. But up here in this alternate universe we are just acclimating ourselves to signs of life. And with the rain I will admit it makes for some pretty pictures. Here is one of the pale pink buds:


And one of the red raspberry buds:


And lookie! One bud has opened into an actual flower already! Sigh, so pretty. Have I mentioned my love for pink peonies before? They remind me of my wedding bouquet of course:)


So I thought I'd take this opportunity to show a couple editing tricks, since I rarely mention the process. I use Photoshop CS on all of my images and usually I'll just tweak the contrast, sharpness, or definition. For instance, here is the image straight out of the camera:

Not bad, but a little fuzzy and boring for my tastes.

So here it is again after using the 'Define and Sharpen' action from PW, then 'Boost' afterward. I'll mess with the opacity on each function so it's not TOO corrected.


Or here's my version after manually correcting the color and sharpening the image just a touch. I've gotten better with PS lately, and don't have to rely on actions all the time. I like how the raindrops are crystal clear here, and how the pink pops a bit more:


After a little cropping to fit the 'rule of 1/3', here's what you get:

Just a subtle difference from the original, but enough editing to make it a little better.

Sometimes I like to edit the images for more drama, a little extra artsy flair, depending on the picture. For instance, here is an image after playing with the color balance and the contrast:


And here it is after "boosting" a bit more:


And if you want to get really crazy, you could use PW's Colorized to make it seem more dreamy:


But really, isn't editing all about personal preference anyway? I know I'm not a big fan of heavily Photoshopped images but there are plenty of people out there who appreciate that kind of 'perfection' in an image. The thing about PS is that just when I think I master a technique, I realize that there is even more to learn. It's such an intimidating program with endless possibilities. The more you use it, the more you learn. But sometimes I like the original just as much as the finished product---go figure.

Now if only I could convince myself to splurge on a macro lens....then my raindrop images would be even better. See? It's a never-ending, addicting process.

Hope everyone is staying dry and enjoying the weekend! What's the weather like where YOU live? June is such a weird month...