Fused: Double Exposure Video and Photo Blender

Good morning!

The other day while fiddling around with some Microsoft apps, I downloaded another free one. It is "Fused: Double Exposure Video and Photo Blender". You use it to merge two photos, almost so it looks like overlays, and you can then use it to blend the images together. They have backgrounds to choose from, or you can upgrade for a fee and purchase even more. But I decided to use my own background and diddled around a little just for fun.

Since winter is on the horizon, I decided to use the following two images, both of which I have shared with you previously.

I used this one for the background...

...and this one for the foreground...

This is the blend.

The words and frame were added with the KVADPhoto+

app that I talked about the other day.

Kind of pretty and was fast to do!...

Enjoy the season,

whatever it is!

I'm back! Who can figure? And with a pretty Zygote cactus!

Hello dear friends! I know that it has been awhile, but lately things have been keeping me busy (please refer to my last post), and I simply have not had the time to post to this blog. I have missed you all.

Aside from other issues, one of the biggest hurdles to my posting has been that right before we were told that Mr. Perch would need surgery, I ordered a new computer. Since my last one was a Dell laptop that was probably almost 12 years old (it ran on Windows XP, if that tells you anything!), and served me quite well, I decided that I would buy another one. Though I have gotten used to Apple with my iPad and iPhone, I did not purchase a Mac mainly due to the cost factor. I probably would have kept my trusty old laptop till death, but Windows XP is no longer supported by many of the programs that I use, so I decided to quit while I was ahead and before my computer crashed altogether. So of course, the new laptop arrived about three days before Hubby went into the hospital and I have had about as much time to connect it, never mind get used to it, as I have had to each chocolate covered bon-bons while watching soap operas all day. So, I've been picking away at it slowly and now feel a little bit of a comfort level. Windows 10 is nice but it is so very much different than XP was. It was almost like having to learn how to work a computer all over again. Then, it wouldn't recognize the scanner on my printer, so I am now going to be using a scanning app. I'll see how it shakes out.

I got a little stressed out when it wouldn't accept my Canon Rebel camera's software either, but then realized that Microsoft 10 recognizes most cameras anyway, and the editing software, though basic, is nicer than what I had before. I don't get that involved with editing anyway on this simple little blog.

But the best part is that it appears that I can just hook up my iPhone to it and upload the photos just as I would my regular camera. I started to do this yesterday, but canceled out when I realized that I have over 3300 photos on my phone, and certainly didn't want them all on my new hard drive. I guess it's time to weed them out!

So here I am, finally able to take some photos, upload them to my sweet new computer and put them on my blog. What a joy this finally is!

Because the gardening season is well behind us, I needed some flower power and my first foray into this new endeavor had to be with a few photos of a new Zygote Cactus that I bought in our little grocery store the other day. You may recall photos in previous posts of the big coral-colored one that I have had for many years, but this is such a pretty little white one.

These were taken with my Rebel,

lazily taken in the auto-focus mode.

It was just beginning to bloom when I bought it.

I love the shocking pink center...

The nice thing (or difficult thing to get used to, depending on how you look at it) about Windows 10 is that there are many apps available that will help you with photo editing.

I edited the photo below by washing out the color a bit

 with the Windows 10

photo app built into the system,

but framed it with a free app that I downloaded

called KVADPhoto+.

I did quite a bit of research before I chose

this one as it seemed quite good.

Framing is only a small portion of

what this app is able to do.

Time will tell as I play around with it

a little more...

As to an update on the Mister, we are in the middle of his being fitted for his prosthesis. It is quite a process, but he should be "up on two legs" again just after Thanksgiving! It would be fair to say that we are both really looking forward to the day!!!

Neutral Odds and Ends

Good morning!

Yesterday I went to my favorite antique place, Vintage Village in Raleigh, NC, to pick up my order of Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint (Farmhouse White, which I wrote about in a recent post), and browsed around with phone in hand taking some photos. It is amazing how many neutral items you can find at these places. And the best part? They are set up in the most wonderful vignettes, so I don't have to do any staging! You have to love it.

Handles and knobs...

Curio cabinets...

Baskets and picket fence pieces...

Old painted frames...

A chippy paint door actually used on this shop...

And, of course, a close-up of its old

knob...

Not to mention,

the biggest bread bowl I have ever seen,

with a bowl of fruit...

And who could not take a photo of this sign,

with beautiful old stuff around it...

In my next post I'll provide the rest 

of the photos that I took there,

but for today, 

I am linking to 

Wen's Simply Neutrals Tuesday Party.

Why don't you pop over there and say hello

to some of my other friends!

You can find Wen's blog here.

Have a wonderful day!

Frozen

Today our world seemed as though 

all was frozen after a bad winter storm. 

There was not much snow,

but the the ice whispered upon the earth.

Welcome to our yard in winter.

But the cardinals braved the cold...

...and so did my husband!

Stay warm, my friends!

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Today I am linking to 

Wen's Simply Neutrals Tuesday Party

(even though today is Saturday!).

Why don't you pop over there and say hello

to some of my other friends!

You can find Wen's blog here.

*********************************

All of the photos in this post were taken with my 

oldie-but-goodie Canon Rebel T1i

practicing for the first time

 taking close-ups with a 

Canon EFS 55-250 mm zoom lens.

The Colors of Autumn: Apple Trees, Fallen Leaves, and The Posted Sign

Good morning friends!

Here are some interesting weird photos that I took last week when we were in the mountains. Of course, I couldn't resist a little photo editing on them for some fun.

This area is known for its apple orchards.

Here are some apple trees 

that were past their harvest, 

and grew in a remote area 

almost at the end of a mountain road.

They were almost spooky.

If you look closely, you will see

a few red apples still hanging

on the branches...

I snapped this photo of fallen leaves at

Jump Off Rock,

which you can read about in my post here...

On the same road that the apple trees were,

I had to love this old posted sign and fence post.

Don't you think it has a unique vibe to it?

I had to trespass a little to get to it,

but Mr. Perch reminded me that it didn't look

like too many cops patrolled this remote area!...

Not all subjects have to be perfect and beautiful, do they?

Have you taken any photos of less-than-perfect-and-beautiful subjects lately?

Old Books, Hooks, and Baby Shoes

Hello dear friends!

We just got back from The Wren's Nest, our little place in the mountains, where we spent most of our time trying to finish the bathroom remodel before we have to close it down for the winter next month. Consequently, I haven't had much time for being creative in the way of any artwork.

So, I thought that I would take out a few of my pretties and post photos of them today.

I love Victorian baby shoes with their

tiny little buttons.

They look especially pretty when

sitting on top of a couple of vintage books...

Recently, I stumbled upon my newest collectors' item.

Did you ever wonder how the Victorians managed to

fasten all of those tiny buttons

while their little ones were squirming around?

Well, they used boot hooks, 

some of which you can see in the next two photos.

Boot hooks came in all different sizes,

some for children's shoes,

and some for those of the adults.

Some of them had celluloid handles.

And some, made of steel,

were given away at shoe stores as freebies and stated the name

and location of the manufacturer of the shoe.

The three below happen to have mother of pearl handles,

and not everyone likely afforded them.

They are so beautiful in their own right...

Here is a pretty little black shoe with lovely cutouts on the side,

and it has laces rather than buttons.

I also have the mate to this beauty.

Sometimes, though, I buy shoes 

that are missing their mate.

Not everyone and everything has to be

part of a pair to be beautiful!

And isn't the cover to this old poetry book gorgeous?

When buying old books,

I do indeed "judge the book by its cover"!

Even when falling apart I see such beauty in old books...

Of course,

you know that I also have a huge collection

of vintage photos, and couldn't resist

sneaking a couple into these vignettes!

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One of these days I will share photos of some of my other

old books, hooks and baby shoes.

Do you have any special collections?

I would love to hear about them. 

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Today I am joining Wen's Simply Neutrals Tuesday Party.

Why don't you pop over there and join the fun!

You can find Wen's blog here.

Thanks for coming by!

The Plum Tree Saga

Hello dear friends. 

A few days ago I was admiring the beauty of the blossoms on our plum tree and, knowing that they would soon be gone, I decided to have some fun with iPhone photo apps on one of the photos. Below is the result.

Here is the unedited photograph.

I loved the way the blossoms played against the

beautiful North Carolina sky. 

I framed it using VintaFrame...

For this one I used an app called DistressedFX.

I have had it for awhile, 

but since it is better used

on landscape photography,

I hadn't had a reason to use it.

Not only does it distress your photos with many 

different options,

but it also puts birds in the background

(and you know how much I love birds).

Can you see the birds flying "behind" the tree?

I then framed it with one of the options from 

the VintaFrame app...

For the version below,

I also used DistressedFX, 

but chose a different treatment,

and a different "flock" of birds.

It is a little hit and miss, because you can't 

put the birds where you want them

(unless you know something that I don't!).

I then used Snapseed for the frame. 

I've talked about some of these apps before.

Have you tried these or any others?

I'd love to know!

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Have a wonderful weekend.

Welcome Spring!

She turned to the sunlight

And shook her lovely head,

And whispered to her neighbor:

'Winter is dead'.

Good morning, and Happy Spring! 

Though the season is here, the weather is not. We did have one nice day on Tuesday where it actually got to 80 degrees out, so of course I took advantage of that by spending six hours planting some daylilies that I had ordered, along with some other plants that I had purchased locally. Most of my time out there, though, was spent cleaning out dead pine needles and leaves from the garden beds. Yesterday it was much cooler, but I did manage about four hours. And my aching muscles can attest to the workout!

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I did manage to shoot some pretties of the daffodils, though.

Hopefully spring is coming your way!

A Sweet Day

Good morning! I'm sorry I haven't been around lately, but last week I was blessed with a visit from my son and his family (they live in Florida), and getting ready for that left me little time for blogging. 

For Christmas, one of the things that I sent them were some cute clothes for our sweet grand children to wear for a nice photo shoot. Imagine how great it was for me when they decided to bring the photo shoot here! Needless to say, out came "real camera" and away we went, being thrilled that Mr. Weather cooperated by giving us one nice warm day. Avery will be one later this month, and Jason will be three in May.

Naturally, I couldn't resist a little photo play! Here you go.

Wishing you all your own sweet day!