I was so excited to open up a big box from Magnolia Market on Christmas morning! I have been a Fixer Upper fan for years and this was just as good as finding my Rainbow Care Bear under the Christmas tree when I was a little girl. The great big box was filled these beautiful cotton stems, a subscription to their new magazine The Magnolia Journal, and few other surprises I'll be creating with too! 

As any Midwestern knows winter light is quite sparing and quite blue. Hmm... I wonder if that's why is called "The Winter Blues"? Anyhow, I loved these cotton stems in my cream and white ceramic pitchers, so I simply had to save these still life shots. Check out my Before and After below to see what a difference a light texture on a brightening blending mode can do! Then share your texture natural or enhanced in this week's Texture Twist.

Before and After Photoshop Tutorial

Dust Cloud Texture / Soft Light Blending Mode / 35% Opacity

Add a Layer Mask and brush texture away from subject with a soft brush at 70% opacity

THE SEASONS

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Fall Farmers Market: Photoshop Before and After

Farmers markets in the Fall bewitch me! I could stare into a buckets of crisp apples or curvy squash long enough to make any farmer nervous. Piles of pumpkins and dried sunflower heads call out to me. Luckily I always bring at least two cameras along, so I can savor their enchanted. 

 

Reduce harsh sunlight and apply a vintage photo finish with texture.

Before and After Photoshop Tutorial:

Apply an Exposure layer adjustment to reduce the exposure
Antique Warm Texture / Multiply Blending Mode / 20%

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The Texture Twist Photo Challenge

Scroll down to link up your photos with a Texture Twist

- natural or enhanced

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Texture Twist: September Wildflowers

I love to wander on the weekends. You never what you may discover when you've put your smart phone and agenda away. I found these lavender blooms growing along a buffalo pasture. I'm not quite sure what they are, but their color and spiky texture are intriguing. Where have you wander to lately?

Before and After Photoshop Tutorial:

Hazel Overlay #2 / Soft Light Blending Mode / 55%
Optional: Apply a layer adjustment to boost contrast

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The Texture Twist Photo Challenge

Scroll down to link up your photos with a Texture Twist

- natural or enhanced

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The Journey: Migratory Sunshine

As the days spread into weeks and weeks into months; the days of sunshine migrate across the calendar. 

Here we are half way into the year. Reflecting on the year thus far,  I think of happy days as sunshine in our lives. Although, some days we have to make our sunshine it's still certainly been a sunny year.

 

"Keep your face to the sun and you will never see the shadows." 
- Helen Keller

Photo Before and After: 

Enhanced with Hazel #3 Overlay and Seventeen Cool Texture from Texture Masters Collection Vol 1

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The Texture Twist Photo Challenge

Scroll down to link up your photos with a Texture Twist

- natural or enhanced

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Seasons: Chantilly Lace

Stepping outside into a foggy Spring morning just as the sun rising and I see the golden Chanitilly Lace of the black walnut trees dangling from the branches. They remind of the Walnut Grove Farm I was born and the memories they lay deep in the roots there. You can read more about stories from farm in our Bittersweet Walnut Grove Series. 

Enhanced with the Heirloom Textures Vol 1

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The Texture Twist Photo Challenge

Scroll down to link up your photos with a Texture Twist

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The Texture Touch: Fireworks

Fireworks

I love living with woodlands just at the door. When I saw these buds in the spring I immediately thought of fireworks. So, I saved them to share with you today!

Photoshop Texture Touch:

1. Layer the Champagne Overlay #1 onto your photograph
2. Apply the hard light blending mode to this overlay
3. Add the Gardenia Overlay #4 as the top layer
4. Apply the overlay blending mode
5. Reduce the opacity of this top layer to between 80 to 90 percent

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Texture Touch: Summer Sepia

Summer Sepia

This week my husband and I celebrate our 9th Wedding Anniversary. These blooms remind me of the Botanical Gardens we were married in. Add texture to create a yesteryear appeal.

Photoshop Texture Touch:

1. Layer the heirloom vol 3 d texture over your photograph
2. From the layers palette select the darken blending mode
3. Add the wander warm texture from the master collection to the top
4. Apply the soft light blending mode and reduce the opacity to 75%

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The Texture Touch: Blue Canvas

Blue Canvas

Blank skies always call for texture!

Texture Touch:

1. Drop and drag the antique cool texture of your photo
2. In the layers palette select the soft light blending mode
3. Add the cool waters texture and apply the overlay blending mode
4. Lower the opacity of this top texture to 50%

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The Texture Touch: Blossom

Blossom ...

... BLOSSOM a little more each day

Texture Touch with Adobe Photoshop:
1. Add the legacy texture #1 over your image
2. Apply the colorburn blending mode
3. Add the Georgian peach texture over the first texture
4. Apply the softlight blending moe

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The Texture Touch: Country Doors

Country Door

I look at these barn doors and think of the farmers who built this barn with every board. The structure may seem plain and ordinary to others. All I see is beauty in the slowly aged patina of color and texture.

Texture Touch with Adobe Photoshop:

1. Drop and pull the legacy texture #3 over your image
2. From the layers palette select the linear burn blending mode
3. Add the tall tale texture next and apply the overlay blending mode
4. Reduce the opacity of this second layer of texture to 85%
5. Last add the gardenia overlay #3 to the top 

What do you see?

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The Texture Touch: Spring Sky

Spring Sky

The soft puffy clouds, baby blues, and budding branches make the Spring Sky simply enchanting. 

Texture Touch with Adobe Photoshop:

1. Drop and pull the gardenia overlay #4 over your image
2. Add the driftwood overlay #4 to the top
3. From the layers palette, select the darker color blending mode

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Have you seen any white puffy clouds floating by?


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The Texture Touch: Spring Wind

Spring Wind

Spring is in the wind! I can feel the changes blowing as the air becomes filled with whispers of freshly tilled earth, budding trees, and burst of annuals breaking through the ground.

Texture Touch with Adobe Photoshop:

1. Drop and pull the windsong texture over your image
2. From the layers palette select the color burn blending mode
3. Reduce the opacity of this texture to 80%
4. Add the georigan peach texture next and apply the darker color blending mode
5. Add a top layer with the Strawberry Kiss Overlay #1 
6. Apply the screen blending mode

 

P.S. The Windsong Texture is a Life-n-Reflection Goodie!

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