Playing with Textures

Jerry of  Shadowhouse Creations provided 2 raised effect textures on his blog and I could not resist playing with them. I love adding texture to photos! This is the result. The photo was taken many years ago when travelling in the Northern Areas of Pakistan. I remember stopping late afternoon for a meal in a local inn. This is the first time that a foreigner had ever stopped to eat there. We had a plate of mutton and rice. It was good! The tea was served, as is typical in this area,  green with cardomon and cinnamon. This area is the most beautiful on earth. Three mountain ranges collide to provide scenery that takes your breath away.

Click on photo for texture detail and credits.
To achieve this effect I used the first texture with following layers:

1. Lightened texture and placed as Overlay 100%.
2. Original texture Colour Burn 31%
3. Original Photo

Jerry has a great collection of free textures available. They are definitely worth checking out.

Years at the Spring..

Well it was until this week as we now have a foretaste of the heat of Summer. The girls and I took avantage of the earlier milder spring weather to really put some effort into our long neglected garden. Nothing like garden therapy to lift your spirits. We now have 3/4 of the back yard gardens complete and even Harry is enjoying exploring now that the jungle of weeds has been cleared. My vegetable garden for Summer is starting. Coriander which had been flowering for weeks, has been cleared and I have planted cucumber, egg plant, beans, squash, chillies, tomatoes, kale and herbs. I'll see how they go before adding some more.

There are no distinct seasons here and you have to look very closely to find the presence of Spring. It is there just hidden....


Mulberries are the first fruit to ripen. There is always enough on the tree for the birds and ourselves. The Koel birds are late this year in their migration. At this time of the year we usually have a pair take up residence in this tree.

 I love the soft green of new leaves. We have pruned trees heavily for the first time in years so watching new leaves emerge from hard old wood is wonderful.

Our garden is full of the perfume of citrus. Intoxicating!

This is the first year I have tried growing sweet peas. They have thrived growing with the coriander.

 Here are a couple of layouts from the photos:

Have a wonderful weekend.

Ztampf! 6th Birthday

10 things you may not know about me

Thanks Esther for tagging me. I've been sitting on this for a few days not knowing what to write so here is what I have come up with:

1. I was born in Malaysia to Australian parents and have always loved being able to write this as my place of birth on forms etc. It always seemed so exotic to me as a child.

2. I have been reading continuously since around the age of 5. I usually have 2 books on the go and although we try to live as "green" as possible, this is one area I cannot compromise. A kindle? Never! I just love everything about a printed book from the artwork, typeface and even the smell. I collect antique books.

3. My heritage is basically Scottish with a little English and one Norwegian sailor who jumped ship just after the Crimean war. Looking into our family history has been interesting.

4. I love spicy food and especially Thai.

5. I graduated with degrees in Chinese and Economics but majoring in Maths and Computer Science (as it was called at that time).

6. Growing up, I always wanted to be a Geologist but when finishing high school, changed my mind at the last minute and ended up after University in Banking then China trade. No regrets or not too many....

7. I am a qualified Gemmologist and love studying gemstone inclusions under the microscope. So easy to immerse onself in the magic of 80x.

8. I love mountains and especially the Karakorums. They are new, rugged and totally untamed.

9. Camels are my favourite animals. They are independent and have a mind of their own.

10. I lived in Asia (China, Taiwan and Hongkong)  for many years.

Now my turn to tag and I am selecting Carin and Tracy fellow team members of Studio Ztampf!

Thanks and have a great week.


Here are some of my camels:

 

Credits here.