Playing with Pic Monkey

If you haven't done any online photo editing, you have missed something. I used to use PicNic, which has recently closed down. However, some of the movers and shakers behind PicNic, have come up with a new product called PicMonkey. I had played around with it and decided I was ready to post an example of what you can do.
Here is the front of my old high school. Just your basic brick building right? The significance of this one being, if the next bond election goes like we hope it will, this building will be no more. So being the historian that I am, I decided it was time I better start memorializing it.

See...ordinary brick building on a sunny day. I especially like the flag blowing in the wind.
But, stay tuned for part two, my remake of my old high school, courtesy of PicMonkey.

Oh, and by the way...prepared to be dazzled. I know I was. Maybe because I've actually been there and still drive by there all the time. Maybe it's because I used to see this from one of my old backyards. We could walk down the alley from our last house to this place. So, yes, you take things like that for granted. You couldn't ask for a more ordinary street. I think I drove by there yesterday. Twice. Didn't give it any thought.

So, ta dah.

But, the longer I looked at this, I could see things I would change if I could do it again. I decided I needed to make my little quote at the top larger, so it stood out more. In fact, I could have probably made this picture look 45+ other ways. On my way to doing this, I made one I liked awfully well, that had some turquoise in the sky. But, when I made one of my edits, I lost it and I couldn't figure out what I needed to do to get it back because it was so new for me. However, as this one is heavy on the "Fort Cobb Blue" I thought I needed to keep it. As I kept looking at it, I decided I HAD to go back and change that quote size, so here it is, all better now. When I went back, it was my lucky day...the picture file was still open & it was a piece of cake.

But, you just have to keep practicing and ya'll need to try this too. Because it's just too much fun. And who doesn't want to have fun with their pictures? I know I do. You can find PicMonkey here, @ http://www.picmonkey.com/. So go on over there and have some fun. And because I just couldn't resist it, I went back another day and found my turquoise sky again...and here it is, my favorite: 

Update (end of 2012): and I'm so glad I took the time to take my pic's. Because the bond election passed, the deconstruction is in progress, and this building is no more. Because I took time out to take pictures, I have something to pass on to my kids. 

But, just to show you how versatile pic monkey is, I'm going to include some various collages I've made just this past year...

This started out life as a post card my grandmother mailed to my great grandmother in 1946. The dorm in the background was the dorm I moved into in 1968. Small world, huh? We found it in my grandparents' things after they died. I made this into a facebook birthday card to one of my old college friends that I met while living in that dorm. 

 This was some of our VBS advertising...

To the right:  This was a family reunion reminder.                                          All I can say, is it is fun, fun, fun. Go play.

 Best wishes, Elaine, aka, the Red Dirt Cowgirl

Planning My Next Big Road Trip

I had recently heard about the Red Barn Boutique junk shopping show near my Alma Mater in Stillwater, OK that only happens twice a year in April and Oct. It is finally almost time for the April show (April 12-15) and I had the brilliant idea to not just go by myself...which of course could have still be fun because I do have 2 sons going to college in the same town and I could have gotten together with them to eat out. But, it suddenly occurred to me, why not see if anyone I knew that had also gone to OSU and loves to go back to Stillwater for field trips would like to tag along. We could get a motel, eat out, go see the newly remodeled Student Union, go to the Red Barn thing, and have a lot of fun. So I messaged a couple of other OSU alums and asked them what they thought and they agreed it would be a great trip. So, plans are now in the works.

I had surgery Feb. 13th and the doctors think I'm doing great, so I'm planning on being really great by mid April. Of course, if I buy anything heavy, I will have to get someone else to lift it into the trunk, but other than that, I should be good to go. I've created my event and sent it out to Facebook friends with OSU- Stillwater connections and already have enough reservations that we will need 2 motel rooms. My only regret is that I couldn't plan it earlier, because I can't get a good motel for a Friday night, so we have to go on a Thursday, which cuts down on the participation a bit. However, I did need to wait till the doctors gave the word I could resume my life.

If you want to plan your own Red Barn Boutique Road Trip, here's a link so you can learn more about it:  http://www.redbarnboutique.org/.  They also have a page on Facebook, if you're a Facebooker.