On a break!

Hi Everyone, I am going to take a bit of time away from the computer.

I hope to see you in the not too distant future. 

In the meantime here are a few photos I took this week of Llansteffan Beach and Llansteffan Castle, the castle is overlooking the River Tywi as it enters Carmarthen Bay near the village of Llansteffan in Carmarthenshire.
It was 10C with a stiff breeze, but as you can see beautifully sunny.

Click on each picture to enlarge to see the beauty of the area.

Looking out to sea 

The Castle and it's placement on the coast

The Castle framed

The Castle in silhouette 

Looking across the Estuary to Ferryside

Looking further inland across the Estuary

Looking out to see from the car park

Looking inland from the beach

The coastal train

Closeup of the train 

Rolled seaweed left by the tide

I believe this is a sedum, below tide level

DSC # 113 Sparkle N Sprinkle

Firstly today I want to welcome back to Digitally Sweet Challenges Denise Pustelniak, she was such a great help in my very first DT post with DSC, thank you again Denise.

It's time for a new challenge at

 Digitally Sweet Challenges

the Theme is 

Cosy Winter Moments

sponsored by  Sparkle N Sprinkle

I chose this image as my cosy moments, as it reminds me of a cheese and wine party we had with friends. that really was cosy winter moments! Especially towards the end of the evening LOL.

I coloured the image "Wine Tableau" from Sparkle N Sprinkle in PS, I am so happy with my colouring, as I am understanding more about the way to use brushes and layers.  

Tips on colouring in PS as I did, with trepidation, originally.  (Especially for a great blog friend Mary H)

1. right click and duplicate the main image twice, hide the original layer by clicking on the "eye" to the left of the image in the layer column. 
2. right click choose blending options, change the top layer to "multiply"
3. start painting with a basic brush on the 1st copy layer. I would magnify the image for this to make it easier.

You will be able to colour without having to worry about painting over the lines as the "multiply layer" is on top with the lines intact. You'll see this if you hide the painting layer. I hope that will help you start your colouring.

It is possible to just use the 2 layers to colour the complete image, professionals use different layers for different colours and blending options. I am not a professional so have found a way to do it without making it very complicated. I'm not saying it is the correct way, but it gives a bit of confidence and if you go really wrong, you still have your original image and you multiple layers to start again, (just remember to make another duplicate layer from your original to start again.) You can progress to more layers as you feel more confident with this way.

I've used a few techniques in this, i.e. dodge & burn to add shadows, brushes for the snow in the window, blur for the wine in the bottle, stainless steel style for the knife, embossing for the holly swirl overlay.  It did take me a few hours to complete, but I am very happy with it.

I laid out the images I wanted on the page in PS, printed and added them to the card. I decided to add a tag and lots and lots of sparkle and it does too, shame it can't be picked up in the photo, hopefully you will see I added it to all the frosty part of the card in the closeup. 

Wine Tableau Sparkle N Sprinkle

Holly overlay by Brooke Gazarek at Pixel Scrappers

Frost overlay, sorry no file name.

Green and red papers are shapes in PS.

http://sparklensprinklecreativechallenges.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/november-2014-challenge.html Anything Goes