RadLab Giveaway!!

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**This giveaway is now closed. I used Random.org to select a number, and the winner is comment #55, Erin Woolwine! Congrats, Erin! You'll get an email from me shortly. Thanks to everyone who entered!**

Now through May 16, there is another coupon code available. It's $50 off your purchase in the TR store using code MOMSDAY. The 15% off code is at the bottom of this post -  that one has no expiration.

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Get excited, y'all!

Totally Rad has offered to give away a copy of RadLab ($149 value) to one lucky reader!
RadLab is a fun editing tool that works with Photoshop CS3 or later and Photoshop Elements 7 or later. (ETA: RadLab now works with Lightroom also!!) I bought my copy 8 months ago when I still knew very little about editing in Photoshop, and it was super easy to use, even then.
Here's a picture of the panel. It opens in PS or PSE through the filters menu. You create your recipe by mixing and matching stylets and adjusting the strength of each using the sliders. What's great is that you get an immediate preview of what your picture will look like when you hover over that adjustment with your cursor. It's not like when you use actions and you have to run it to see how the results suit your image.
Here are some sample before and afters of photos I edited with RadLab. I'm also sharing the RadLab recipes I created for each.Daddy's girl. Download this recipe.

Sweet family. Download this recipe.

My girls. Download this recipe.

To Enter:
Simply leave a comment below!
(Be sure to leave your email address in the comment so I can get in touch with you!)
Bonus Entries:
Spread the word! Share a link to this post on Twitter and/or Facebook.
Leave separate comments letting me know you did each.
 
Good luck!
Giveaway closes Sunday, May 6th at 8pm CST.
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One more thing...
Totally Rad is offering 15% off anything in their store (including other actions and presets for PS and Lightroom) using coupon code 1338SARAH.

sharing a recipe for RadLab

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Remember this session I did with Hadley? I used Totally Rad's RadLab to process the images from her session (with the exception of the black and whites). While I don't use RadLab very often (I usually just stay in Lightroom), it's a fun editing tool to use from time to time.

Left: with Lightroom white balance adjustment and crop only; Right: after RadLab

I started with a slight white balance tweak in Lightroom to warm up the images a bit and remove some of the green tint and then cropped/straightened in Lightroom, too (left image). I did this for all the images before pulling them into Photoshop.

While RadLab works well with Photoshop Elements, one nice thing about using RadLab in full Photoshop is that you can create an action with your recipe so that you can batch edit. My action recording was just two simple steps - 1. go to filters > convert for smart filters (so that I'd be able to go back and tweak each image if necessary) and 2. in the RadLab panel, run my "hadley" recipe I created for Hadley's photos. Recording and running the action helped me get through a large number of images more quickly. Info on how to create an action using RadLab can be found here.

I opened my images in groups of 5-10 to keep my system from running too slowly and ran my action on them. I then looked at each image, and for the ones that needed tweaking, I could open up the RadLab layer (which opens the RadLab panel), tweak my sliders to taste, close the panel, and save the image.

Here's the recipe if you're interested! Download the "Hadley" recipe 

Use coupon code 1338SARAH for 15% off your purchase at the Totally Rad store!

Caroline is 11 months old

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I have no idea how I got this shot. You just kept trying to dive over the front of the chair the whole time.
Just another note... Kate's 11 month sticker for your shirt wasn't salvageable. Oh well!


Dear Caroline,

How is it possible that you're just one month away from your first birthday? You're growing and changing so fast and showing us daily that you understand so much of what's going on around you. Here's what you've been up to in April...

- You watch what Kate's doing and do the same. The other day Kate was making a game of running to me, and I'd toss her in the air. You figured it out and started crawling to me at hyper-speed for your turn, laughing all the while. You also have learned how to put necklaces on, just like big sister does. You're already playing dress-up!

- You have started throwing fits from time to time when things don't go your way or we have to take something from you.

- I'm surprised you're not walking yet. You cruise on everything and spend a lot of time on your feet, but you haven't tried any steps yet. Your crawling speed can be pretty incredible, though; we take our eyes off you for a second, and you're gone! We definitely think you have the ability to walk if you wanted to, but you're just so intent on getting places fast that you don't care to try yet.

- You say "Mama!" And you're doing a lot more babbling in general than you were. I think you attempt "hi" and "bye bye" and "yay" as well. There have been a couple of times when you've copied the intonation of words I say.

- You like to play with whatever Kate has at that moment. It drives her insane.

- Meal times are a breeze with you, for the most part. You're great at using a sippy cup, and you're even better at throwing it. You LOVE to feed yourself pretty much anything. You eat a lot of deli turkey, cheese, avocado (your favorite!), crackers, fruit, or whatever we're having. I made a Mexican dish the other night that had some spice to it, and you gobbled it down without hesitation. You DO NOT like being spoon fed at all anymore. If we want to try and spoon something to you, we have to give you something really interesting to play with while we sneak it in. Typically, if you see us pull out a puree from the pantry, you start throwing a hissy in your highchair. You want to do it yourself!! I did discover that you'll take the squeezy puree packets most of the time, so those are nice to have on hand.

- Kate's favorite show is Little Einsteins and you participate with the show, too. To get the rocket flying, they pat their legs, so you do too! And when it says, "Raise your arms and say 'blast off!'" your little arms go up too! Another Little Einsteins junkie in the making!

- There's no snuggling with you. You're just a little monkey intent on getting out of whatever grip or hold we may have on you. We really need to try and video this. It makes me sad, though, as I just want to rock you and hold you, but you won't have any of that!

- The rest of those 6 teeth that were all popping through at the same time finally came all the way in at the beginning of the month, so you've been happier than you were there for a while. Those top teeth really changed your smile, and you look so different!

- You have an obsession with the TV remote control. It's so funny to see the lengths you'll go to to try and get your hands on it. We've given you an old one that's not functional anymore, but you know the difference, and that one doesn't cut it.

- Your favorite toys are the play kitchen and food, the dollhouse, and the doll stroller, which you use as a walker.

- You learned to give high fives, and you think it's the most hilarious thing ever. You're so proud of yourself!

We're proud of you too, sweet Caroline!
Love,
Mama and Daddy



UNofficial Stats:
weight: 23 or 24 pounds
length: 28 inches (This is also what I measured you as last month, but you look like you've gotten taller!)
clothes: 12-18 months, 18-24 months
diaper size: size 4
sleep: 7pm-7am
naps: 8:30am-10, 12pm-2
teeth: 8
feedings: 7am, 2pm (just starting to drop this), 6:30pm bottles; 3 solid food feedings plus snacks








Take a look at all those teeth!


caroline's first time at the splash pad

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We headed over to McKinney's Inspiration Park on Saturday to let Kate play at the playground and splash pad. Kate was having a blast, and even though I didn't bring a bathing suit for Caroline, we plopped her down in front of a spout to play too.


She LOVED it. Next time I'll know to bring a swim suit for her as well!
caroline-splash-pad-storyboard



And Kate had a blast!

kate-splash-pad-storyboard



We dried off, ran around on the playground some more, and headed home. It was a fun family afternoon!

splash-pad-final-storyboard


friday phone dump 4.27.12

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phone dump mosaic 4.27.12

sick | snuggles
feet | big girl 1 | big girl 2
you know she's sick when she does this | honeysuckle vine | moth
moth wing | caroline driving | an interesting way to honk the horn
shadows | source | impromptu picnic
water table | toy story | zonked 1
zonked 2 | chow time | had to wake her up to get kate from school = grouchy!
bottle | line-em-up | sacked out
swing | water table | happy outside
bubbles 1, 2, 3
dinner by myself | laughing | caroline & mommy
playing in the sink | waiting for scraps | matching hats

iPhone 4 | Instagram (sarcar04) | some w/ new VSCO cam app

lens baby: bubbles

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Our meetup theme was "bubbles" on Wednesday afternoon, but I didn't really get many shots of the girls with the bubbles! We had a fun time with friends on a beautiful afternoon at the park.

I LOVE this one of Caroline. I need to get this one printed large!



Here's Kate trying to pop the bubbles with a dandelion stem. :)



Some of our group... and my girls climbing all over someone else's stroller. 




And I know they're not both looking, but it's a feat to even get these two in the same shot! I'll take it! :)



shopping, fountains, & lunch

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The girls and I had a fun morning yesterday. First we hit Old Navy's 40% off sale, and by using some rewards money too, I paid under $3.50 for each item. Quite exciting! ;) And because the girls were still in a good mood, we walked over to the fountains. Kate donned her new "itsy bitsy, teeny weeny, yellow polka dot bikini"(a $2.79 purchase from Old Navy!) and ran around there for a bit. Then, the promise of French fries for Kate took us into The Purple Cow restaurant right there at the fountains. I was so proud of myself for being a little flexible with our normal nap time to have a fun morning out... just us girls!


village fairview storyboard