WW: San Francisco, Birthday Trip, Part I

Happy WW!

hugs,
tish

All Signs Point to Spring

The flowers are trying their best to make an appearance here in the Northeast and we finally made it to the first day of Spring earlier this week.

Mother Nature needs to take a hint ... it's not winter any more. The average temperature here is suppose to be around 50. We've struggled to make it to 40. Here's hoping the days will warm soon.

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If your new here, you can subscribe to my RSS or find me on Instagram, Google+, Twitter and Pinterest. You can also follow my photography on Facebook. 

In case you missed my Raspberry Sour Cream Tart recipe, you can find it here. And if you're in the mood for a homemade Shamrock Shake you can check out the quick, easy-to-make recipe here.   

Thanks for stopping by. Make it a great weekend!

hugs, 
tish

White Tulips

After the threat of another snow tonight, I think Spring may decide to show herself to the Northeast later this week. I'm looking forward to this weekend where our temperatures are projected to hit the 50-degree range!! I can hardly wait! :) Couple that with the fact that we turn the clocks ahead an hour, giving us an extra hour of daylight in the evening, and I am one happy girl!! :)

Enjoy these beautiful tulips! I certainly am!

hugs,
tish

Waiting on Spring & FREE Photo Collage Template

As most of you know, I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of Spring. I'm having a difficult time waiting, especially when Mother Nature keeps sending us temperatures in the teens. This weekend it was windy and bitter cold and once again, as I write, it's snowing outside...

So, in an attempt to brighten my outlook, I put away all my winter decor last week and filled my vases with spring flowers. My silk flowers include forsythia, lilies and dogwood blooms. In addition, on my weekly trip to the grocery store, I picked up two bunches of daffodils. I just love those cheery yellow flowers. They seem so happy and bright. They were just buds the day I bought them and I've been enjoying watching them open and blossom through the week. If you, too, are struggling to get through winter, try picking up some fresh flowers for your home. Place them on a windowsill or on a table you see often throughout the day. I do this about the same time every year and I really do think it helps. 

I created this storyboard (my very first one!) and I'm excited to share it! I want to thank all of you who encourage me, support me, have written kind words, answered my questions or just stopped by my blog to see what's new. Just click on the image below to download this FREE template.





If you haven't used a PSD file before, it's easy to use. 
1. After you've downloaded the template, open it in Photoshop. You will see all the squares to insert photos in your layers panel, there are seven. 
2. In your main menu, under file, click open and select the images you want to insert into the template. 
3. Using the move tool, slide the photo you want over top of the Photo 1 spot in the template. Then, in the layers palatte, make sure it is located directly above the layer that says Photo 1. If its not, you can click on the layer, grabbing it, and slide it down until its directly above the layer that says Photo 1. 
4. Right click on layer 1 in the palatte and from the options that appear, click on Create Clipping Mask. This fits the photo right into the spot. 




5. You can then resize it to fit better into the square by holding down the shift key and sliding the corners. 





6. Continue this process to fill each opening in the template. You could also choose, as I did, to use the paint bucket tool and color in a few of the squares.
7. Once all squares are filled, right click on the background layer and choose Flatten Image.
8. You can then resize for the web or save to print.  

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me. It took me a few tries to get the hang of it too, but once I did, I realized how easy it really was. MCP actions offers another great tutorial with a few more photos. You can find it here.

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If you missed my post last week on Engineer Print Artwork, check it out. It's a rather inexpensive way to fill empty wall space in your home. I'm also happy to share that Gina at Kleinworth & Co featured it on her site last week from her linkup, Your Best Weekly. 

Its Wordless Wednesday, but in my case Word{y} Wednesday. Link up with these gals below or just stop by to check out the many talented bloggers. 

hugs,
tish

Our First Ski Trip of the Season

(Collage template compliments of Project Alicia. You can find this freebie here.) 

A few years back, we decided to take the girls skiing. My husband and I both dislike winter very much and would be content to stay indoors until spring. We used to ski - I actually grew up skiing with my family and, my husband, he went skiing a lot through high school and college. We actually went a few times before we got married, but hadn't hit the slopes since that time. We decided it was time to introduce the girls to the sport, plus it would give us a little fun to get us through the winter.

The girls took to it quickly. We had a great time and have been skiing a few times since. Until this point, we only managed to ski once a season due to the craziness of the girls' gymnastics schedule. Since the girls changed sports this year, we are hoping to get out there more.

Sunday, we packed up our gear and drove a couple hours to a slope. We enjoyed ourselves so much! The girls even conquered their first intermediate slope! We're hoping to make it out a few more times before the season comes to an end.

More snow is on the way today. (blek.) We seem to average a couple of dry sunny days in between snow storms. The weather has been frigid here this week, we've been seeing a lot of single-digit temperatures. We are looking forward to mid-week next week where the temperatures are supposed to hit the mid 40s-50s! It will be a welcome relief.

Enjoy your weekend!

Hugs,
tish