By Blogger Heather Eigler. Heather lives, writes and parents from just west of Calgary. Her blog
hometoheather.com focuses on decor, food and family.
Ever feel like you run around in circles but never get anything accomplished? Feel like you have a lot on
your plate yet sit on Facebook for far too long? You’re not alone. Sometimes it takes a lot of effort to
get a project rolling and keep it rolling. Here are a few tips to ramp up your efforts.
Schmutzie can most commonly be found at Schmutzie.com, but she’s also the founder of Ninjamatics and the Grace in Small Things social network in her ongoing efforts to make and spread things on the internet.
She gets social on Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, and StumbleUpon.
If you’ve got an iPhone, and if you would like to learn how to take the photo on the left and make it look like the photo on the right, you’re in the right place.
When I got my first smart phone, an iPhone 3G, I had no idea that it would have such decent camera ability, but it didn’t take long for me to fall in love with it. Now, two years later and in a household that boasts about 10 to 15 cameras, my iPhone, now an iPhone 4, is just about the only piece of camera equipment I ever use.
I’m not the only one who’s fallen for its charms. iPhoneographers are everywhere these days, and it’s easy to see why once you realize just how much power a few easy camera apps can wield. I have three favourite, go-to camera apps right now that make it easy to create good-looking images: Camera+ ($0.99), Snapseed ($4.99), and Noise Master ($1.99).
Although the price might seem steeper, these apps are well worth the $7.97 I spent on them, and, once you’ve played with them a bit, you’ll look like a master iPhoneographer. I wouldn’t leave home without them, so download those three apps and let me show you how to take a washed out, blurry photo from boring to ooh la la.
Camera+
Open Camera+. Tap the camera icon at the bottom left to open the camera if it is not already open. Point your iPhone at your subject. Tap the screen on the image where you would like the lens to focus, and then tap the camera button to take a picture.
As you can see, I took a pretty terrible picture. It’s always better to be able to start with a properly blocked, focused, and lit image, but I want to show you that even images shot on the fly can be turned into decent photos. So, if your image isn’t stellar right away, don’t sweat it.
After you’ve taken your photo, go to your Camera+ image gallery by tapping on the tiny thumbnail at the bottom left, and choose your photo from the gallery for editing.
My goal at this point is only to brighten the photo before further editing in Snapseed. You can see what setting I chose in the image below.
Feel free to play around with the different settings to see what they can do, but remember that we will be doing the majority of our editing in Snapseed, so, for this tutorial, keep it simple.
Voilà!
When you are done editing your photo, tap Done in the top right corner, and then tap Save near the bottom right. Close Camera+.
Snapseed
Open Snapseed. Tap Open at the top left, choose Photo Library, and then choose the last edited version of your photo from the photo gallery.
There are a number of options along the bottom of the screen. I opted to alter this particular photo using Tune Image (pictured below), which generally adjust elements of colour and brightness, Crop, which allows you to crop your photo, and Details, which sharpens the edges and image details.
Swipe your finger up and down to use the menu, as pictured at left, and swipe your finger left to right to adjust the value of any menu item, as pictured at right.
Don’t hesitate to sharpen your image quite a bit at this point — I used the full 100% — because we are going to cut down on image noise with the Noise Master, and the image will lose some detail if it is not already quite sharp.
Here is the photo so far after our Camera+ and Snapseed treatments:
When you are done editing your photo, tap the icon in the top right corner, and then tap Save to Photo Library. Close Snapseed.
Noise Master
Open Noise Master. Tap Load from ‘Photos’. Pick the last edited image from your photo gallery.
Put your thumb and forefinger on the screen, and, instead of pinching them together, pull them apart from each other to enlarge your photo. You won’t be able to see your whole photo when it is enlarged, but you will be able to see how much blur you are actually creating to keep you from overdoing it.
Use the slider at the bottom to create more and less noise reduction until you figure out which level you like the best.
I used 25% noise reduction for my photo:
When you are done editing your photo, tap Save in the top right corner. Close Noise Master.
It’s not too shabby for a photo that started out with a whole lot of problems, but I still didn’t feel done with this photo, though, so I opened up Snapseed again to adjust it for structure, focus, and saturation using the Details and Tilt-Shift options to give it a little more pop, and behold!
If I haven’t convinced you of the value of these three apps yet, just take a look at the first and last images side by side:
Camera+, Snapseed, and Noise Master are truly a trifecta of awesome when it comes to iPhoneography. They allow you to shoot photos under less desirable conditions and still create images you love, which is fantastic for those moments when you don’t have the time or opportunity to choose the best lighting or have everyone hold still for that perfect shot.
I’d love to see what you create, so, if you edit any photos using this tutorial, please link to them in the comments! And have fun!
Nenette Alejandria Mayor writes about her sweet life with her 2 adorable, silly kids at Life Candy and has been known to send risque yet festive devices to unsuspecting relatives.
You know the saying: “It isn’t all about the presents.” The 6-year-old in me would call that a big fat lie and demand that Santa have my Barbie Camper toy under the tree as previously agreed upon.
My mini-me has a rather extreme opinion, but I must admit that the Holidays just wouldn’t be the same without a box to open on Christmas morning. Especially if that box is international in origin. I have family scattered all over the globe, and getting a box of chocolates from my aunt in Seattle or a carved wooden trinket from my godfather in The Philippines is always such a treat.
By Helen Jane from HJ Entertains
So your Mother-In-Law (or Mom) calls and says she’ll be there in 30. You’re expected to be company ready, but you’re most certainly not. What’s the bare minimum you can you do to make your guests feel welcome (and maintain your sanity)?
1. Set a timer for 5 minutes and straighten the bathroom that guests will be using. Make sure the towels are straight, the tub toys are safely hidden behind the shower curtain and the mirror and counter tops are free from toothpaste splatters. This takes far less time than you think it will.
2. Get the drinks ready. Either heat up the kettle for tea, get the coffee pot ready for brewing or simply put some water in a pitcher and tuck in the fridge so it is chilled for your guests. Having a beverage ready for your guests can help your guests feel warmer and fuzzier.
Laura is a wife and mother to three great kids, lives in Alberta, Canada and is an addict of all things organizing, especially containers. She is addicted to the high that comes with living a life of order and simplicity and is always looking for her next “fix”. You can find her blogging regularly and sharing her passion over at I’m an Organizing Junkie, and her organizing book, Clutter Rehab: 101 Organizing Tips & Tricks to Become an Organization Junkie and Love It!, will hit bookstore shelves in December 2010.
This post isn’t so much about how to organize and contain your kid’s toys before Christmas but rather how to get your kids to part with their toys before new ones invade their space. Think it’s impossible? Are you ready to just grab a garbage bag and head on in to their rooms while their at school to get it done yourself. Not quite so fast. My experience has taught me that the only thing that teaches your children is not to trust you. Let me assure you that the more you involve your children in the process of organizing (and purging!) the more they’ll acquire the necessary skills to make it an ongoing habit that will benefit them for the rest of their lives.
By Gwen from Left Coast Mama
This year my eldest son started kindergarten, and along with everything else this has created an enormous amount of paper coming home crumpled in his backpack. Even though I am a teacher by trade, I have been away long enough that I had forgotten how much paper comes home almost every day. How do you deal with the amount of paper that comes home from school?
I have a place near the front door where my son is to put his backpack everyday. I admit this is a work in progress, though he is getting better. Once we have everyone in the house, I take a look in the bag and take out his snack dishes for him to bring upstairs while I take out the paper. I need to have a place where I put the things that need to be signed, gone over, and sent back to school. I also need a place to put the worksheets that my son brings home to show us, so that his dad actually gets a chance to see them before they are recycled.
I have toyed with many ideas including file folders, a couple of baskets and I have come to the conclusion that a couple of binders with pockets is the best solution for our family. I like this system for a few reasons.
Once you have these two places carving out a few minutes each night or every couple of nights to go through the paper, put dates in your calendar, and fill out what you need is in order.
One other thing that I really suggest, and made my life much easier as a teacher, is to put important paperwork and any form that also requires money in a small ziplock bag with your child’s name. Even when your child is older and more responsible, the ziplock helps to keep things together and out of the mess of their backpacks.
Are there any ideas that you find work for you?
By Linda from All & Sundry
I never in a million years thought I’d have anything to do with homeschooling, but, well, you know what they say: never say never again. (Bond. James Bond.)
We decided our oldest son wasn’t quite ready for kindergarten this year (he turned five on the cutoff date), and he’s been in daycare/preschool since he was an infant. When I started working from home this September and no longer needed to rely on daily childcare, I decided-after a LOT of hemming and hawing-that we’d try doing school at home for a year.
By Britt Reints of Miss Britt
When I was asked to write a post about remembering birthdays and other important dates, I have to admit that I laughed. Hard. You see, I am kind of notorious among my loved ones for forgetting birthdays. Thank God my husband’s birthday is on the 4th of July or I’d likely be doing “please forgive me for forgetting your birthday again” favors for the rest of my life.
Of course, the problem, I realize, is not that I forget birthdays. I know when my best friend’s birthday is; it’s December 17th, exactly one month before mine. The real problem that needs to be solved is remembering to recognize these important dates on the actual day they occur. Realizing, for example, that it is December 17th ON December 17th. Even better? Remembering that these dates are coming and being prepared when they arrive.
By Shauna Glenn, author of Relative Insanity
You know how these days we’re all busy…Too busy to shower…Too busy to shave…Too busy to eat sitting down…Too busy to pee…
Really, I could be here all day. You get the point.
Truth be told though, we do it to ourselves. We extend our reach until there’s nothing more to give; we say “yes” when we should say “no;” and we’re always first to sign up for whatever some overachieving volunteer leader needs us to do. And then we wonder why we’re exhausted and drunk by four in the afternoon every day.
OK maybe you’re not drunk, but I am.
By Kerrianne of Kerrianne.org
So, you’re going to a party! You’ve received an invitation, happily accepted, and are choosing just the right shoes to wear with just the right dress. Maybe it’s the type of party wherein you’re arriving with a gift for a little one, an expectant mother, or a bride-to-be.
What you might not remember in all the hustle and bustle of pre-party planning is that there is someone else to potentially gift in this equation.
Parties take planning, provisions, invitations. In short, they cost money, and time, and while your presence and shining personality is no doubt a great gift in and of itself, remembering your hostess (or host) with a thoughtful and material “thank you” is beyond classy, and lets your hostess (or host) know that you appreciate everything they’ve done to make the party a great one. (This is especially true if said party is being thrown for you.)
OK, OK, so now that we know hostess gifts are grand, what sorts of things should you be giving?
