Practicing with Graphic Design

Hello! I thought I would share with you all something I do to practice graphic designs sometimes. It is always fun looking through pinterest and finding awesome graphics (and other things of course). So when I see a cool graphic that I like I sometimes try and copy it just to learn some new techniques. Here is a couple that I have done for just practice:

The link for the "&" sign is here. The source is here. 

Photos from a snowy afternoon..

Photoshop Tutorial: Color your text with an image

Hello! I thought I would share with you a simple but useful Photoshop tutorial on how to color your text or a photo you have drawn with an image. I have the steps written out and the step number corresponds to the number in the image below. If you have any questions at all feel free to ask either by commenting or by emailing me! Ps, if you are wondering how I drew those images (the flowes/ldc) above, check out this post.

Step one: Once you are in Photoshop open up a new blank file. Usually I just use the standard size of paper to start with.
Step Two: Create a layer mask over your background. This is where you will draw/type your picture.
Step Three: make your image. You can draw or type whatever you want, but keep it on that layer.
Step Four: Open up the image that you want to use as color for your image. (ex. for my buttons under my header I used a picture of fabric over my words)
Step Five: Put that picture however you want over the layer that you drew on.
Step Six: Make sure you have your colored layer (ie. the image you want the color from) selected and then go to Layer>Create clipping mask. This will make it so that everything you have under that layer comes up in that color.
Step Seven: Save it!

In this photo you can see that I have created two layer masks: one with text and one with a photo that I drew. This is the steps I used to create the image at the top of this post.  xo ldc

I LOVE actions

Hello! So I recently purchased photoshop actions from Paint the Moon Photography. For those of you who do not know what actions are, they are basically things that you download and put in your Photoshop and then you click on them and the automatically edit your photos using different techniques.
It took me a long time to figure out which ones to get because they sell so many awesome ones! I finally decided to get a bundle that included the Moxie and Blessings action sets. I am so so so happy with them! They are so fun to experiment with. You can mix and match them, or add them and change the opacity to get a different look. It seriously makes your photo editing experience so much more fun!
Before, when I was editing I knew how to do a few things and I would experiment to get the look that I wanted. With these actions you can get that perfect look and you can edit it to your liking. The other awesome thing about them is you can see all the different layers that are added to your picture so you can learn from them. Some of the payers are adding things that I either didn't know existed or I didn't know how to do. So if you are thinking about getting them, or not thinking about getting them I highly recommend that you get them!
 Here are a few photos I edited using my new actions. xo ldc

Rainy Day Photoshoot

Hello! I wanted to share with you some photos from a fun photoshoot my friend and I did yesterday, in the rain. It was a pretty fun experience, since I had never done a photoshoot in the rain before. All of the photos of me were taken by my friend (Simone). And all the photos of her were taken by me.

It was so fun to practice photography again since I have been so busy with school work! I wish I could do it more. ps. This first photo makes me look super tall, however I am super short (5,1) hehe.

This next few photos were taken and edited by Simone. ps. Do you like my new ombre hair?

That is all for now! Hope you have a lovely start to your week. Ps. Have you checked out any of my new sponsors yet? xo ldc

A Colddd Photoshoot

 I had a quick photoshoot this weekend. It was sooo cold and windy (can you tell by my hair?).

Megan took these photos and I edited them. I used them for my new header and links. Do you like my new hair colour? I went from purple to dark! A bit of a shock but I like it :) I had to go dark to cover all of the colours I had going on in my hair. I am slowly going back to my original colour, but I am loving this change.

I am really enjoying doing all of these photoshoots. I love taking photos and editing them! I wish I was able to take a class to learn more about photography. How did you learn about photography? Any tips? I am hoping to find some people this summer to have photoshoots with. I love taking pics of my little sis, but she if often not in the mood to have her photo taken haha. Do you have a fave from these photos?

have a lovely Tuesday!

xo ldc

Musical Photoshoot

This weekend I did a little photoshoot with my friend Kaila! We have been wanting to take a few photos of her playing her guitar but hadn't gotten around to it! It was really fun to go out into the woods to take a few shots. I edited them when I got home and thought I might share them with you!

I really played around with some techniques that I hadn't used before to edit these. I am really hoping I can take some classes or something to learn more about photoshop. I really enjoy just doing practice photoshoots to see what happens! Did you take any photos this weekend?

xo ldc

a Little Bit of Photography

My friend Simone and I took our cameras out into the woods with some friends to take some cute photos. I spent the day editing photos instead of studying (hmm... good decision?). It was such a nice day out, how could I spend it inside with my sociology textbook? I mean really....
Anyways I thought I would share some of my fave pics with you!

New Product Photos

You may have seen the post of winter photos my friend Megan and I did this weekend. Before we went outside to freeze, we did some indoor product photos of some of the things I have been making. I mostly sell these things at the Market we have here on campus as well as using facebook with the people I know. I want to put some things on Etsy, but I just can't seem to get the motivation. I keep finding excuses. Anyways, I though I would share some of the photos I have on my LDC designs Facebook page. Feel free to become a fan!

Any constructive criticism? Suggestions? Favorites?
xo ldc