Yep. It’s my birthday. No – I’m not telling you how old I am. 🙂
As promised though, I have few goodies to offer up to all you wonderful folk. I know, I know – I’m supposed to be the one receiving all the gifts, but in anticipation that I’m going to get lots (just joking, for all those out there who think I’ve suddenly gone and turned all materialistic…) I thought I’d also give lots.
Where do I start.
Well…. I know there are plenty of you out there that have been using and loving my templates. I’m guessing there are a few that don’t have them yet 😉 so I thought they might be a great thing to kick things off with.
If you dont know which templates I’m talking about here’s a little preview:
They come in sizes 10×20 (which can also be used for 5×10, 15×30 or even 20×40 if you wish), 16×20, and 20×20 (again, can be used for different sizes – eg 10×10 16×16 etc).There are three sets (obviously) and 31 templates in all.
Normally these sell for AUD$50 for the complete package, but because it’s my birthday (did I mention that already), and I’m in a giving mood, the first 5 people to email me at [email protected], with the subject line “templates” will receive them for free. That’s right – nada, complimentary, gratis, ‘bonus, mate’. Woohoo.
Wait. But that’s not all. 🙂
I’m a big lover (maybe a closet lover, but still a big one) of split-toning. Done right it looks absolutely divine. Naturally I’ve fiddled a bit over time, but have only very recently put some of my favourite presets together. There’s one or two amongst them that I really love, and use on a lot of my images, but I won’t tell you which ones they are – I want you to make up your own mind. Here’s a quick sneak at three of them:
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There are 13 presets all in all. 7 pure split-toning presets, which will do nothing else but add the split toning to your images. And 3 black and white presets, 1 of these being pure black and white, the other 2 with split-toning added. 3 all-encompassing presets which will alter the over-all look of your photograph. For a more detailed look at what they will do have a look at this slideshow (you’ll have to click through it manually – I thought I had the art of creating slideshows down pat, but apparently not. I blame CS4).
I’ve not offered any of my own presets for public use before so I’m kind of interested to see what the thoughts on them are. If you’d like to play guinea-pig for me simply be one of the first 10 to send me an email at [email protected], with the subject line “presets”. You can write whatever you like in the body. Just make sure it’s nice. 🙂
{I must add here that these presets are made in ACR and are not compatible with Lightroom, unless of course you’re a whizz at that stuff and know how to convert them}.
And as a side note, the gorgeous couple I’ve used for this example are from a recent shoot I did. I can’t wait to share a few more (maybe a lot more) photographs in an upcoming sneak peek for them. Keep your eye out for these – they certainly know how to rock a session! And I’m hoping if I beg hard enough they’ll let me share their whole gallery, once they’ve had a chance to check themselves out. But I’ll keep you up to date on that one.
But wait. ‘There couldn’t be more!” you say. Wrong. There’s more.
If you’ve been following my blog lately you’ll know that I’ve caught a big of a bug. A sewing bug. Mainly because I have an awesome, beautiful daughter (just like all your daughters) to play dress ups with. Much more fun that the dolls I had as a child. 🙂
The best thing about this bug so far has been an awesome pattern I came across through one of the online forums I lurk on occasionally. It’s a boutique pattern from the awesomely talented Sandi Henderson, of Portabellopixie. Seriously – not only is it unbelievably gorgeous, but incredibly easy to sew. And even I had no trouble following the instructions. Here is my take on the Petal Knot Apron Dress – one of 4 designs included in the pattern:
.jpg "giftdress")
I know there are going to be OODLES of you out there who will adore the dress, just like I do. Not because I made it – though I wish I could claim the credit. Sooooooo when I place an order for a couple more of her patterns very shortly I’m also going to put in an extra order for one lucky reader. Yes – I will buy the pattern for you and have it sent directly to you. That’s how much I love these. BUT – if you’re really not into sewing, I can also help you out. Call me crazy, but if you let me know your little girl’s size, and colour preference, I will sew the dress for you myself. With my own hands. And send it to you as a gift. How does that sound?
All you have to do is leave me a comment within the next 7 days, begging me to choose you as the lucky recipient. I have to confess that it will all come down to chance though, as the said lucky recipient will be chosen at random. Their name drawn out of a hat by Alicia-Rae. 🙂
Gosh – would you believe I still have one more thing to offer up to you. But perhaps my favourite. Especially on my birthday.
If you make any comment at all on my blog within the next 7 days (providing it says something awesome about me and my skills as a photographer) you’ll be in the running to receive a totally rad-delicious bag of Freckles. The chocolate kind. From Haighs. My favourite ever chocolate. Though, technically, they’re called Speckles, but they taste every bit as yummy, and then some. Why Freckles Speckles? Why not? I can do what I like today.
.jpg "giftspeckles")
Phew. I feel like I just ran a marathon. Or typed one anyway. If that’s possible.
So, come on, email me, drop lots of comments. Make the five hours it just took to write this worth it. 🙂 And bag yourself some great free stuff in the process.
I’ll be off now. I have some cake to eat. Chocolate of course.
Update: Thankyou to everyone that emailed requests for the templates, along with their kind words. There were more than 5 people respond but I’ve honoured all the emails that I found in my inbox up until this morning. I just couldn’t say no. 🙂
I also had a large number or requests for the presets as well, which is great! I have someone working on a lightroom conversion of them for me so if you missed out for that reason keep checking back in. I’ll leave the offer for the free presets open for the time being, so contact me ([email protected]) if you missed this post yesterday and would still love to try them.
And thanks so much for all the birthday wishes too – I had a great day, and was thoroughly spoiled.
Narrelle x