muse university: everyday textures

creating your own textures

a repost by

tammy lee bradley of bliss and folly

textured with burlap

In our last muse university post, Ashley discussed how to apply textures to your photographs using Photoshop Elements.  This week, I am creating textures from everyday objects and a scanner.  

To start this project, I wandered around the house and garage looking for items that would create interesting textures.  With a stack of diverse items at my disposal, I scanned each one.  Using Photoshop Elements 8, I made minor adjustments to color, sharpness, and brightness. The completed scans were used to texturized the photos shown below. I used Photoshop Elements 8 with a blending mode of Soft Light and minor adjustments to the Opacity. 

my husband's denim jeans

a sheet of my harp music - I erased the portion over the fiddle.

piece of burlap fabric - I erased some of the texture on the cup

marble slab

a generic paper towel

crumpled tissue paper

leather pillow

velour pillow

a few tips:

1. Be careful with coarse objects so you do not scratch your scanning surface. 

2. Cover your scanner with a dark sheet if you are scanning big items to avoid light leaks.

3. Keep it subtle.  I tried using crumpled tinfoil and brushed stainless but the final results were overworked.

I have provided more examples and a linky tool at bliss and folly.  Share with me your photos with homemade textures.  Get creative. Think outside the box and make sure to tell me what you used for your texture...  that's the fun part.

♥  tammy lee

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Join us every weekend for a new muse university post! 

If you would like to provide a post for this series, please contact kat [at] kateyeview.com

where i live - florida, usa

mission: MUSE: "where i live"

by muse tammy lee

If you were to send me a letter, I would give you an address in Port Saint Lucie, Florida... a bedroom community located on the "Treasure Coast" between Vero Beach and West Palm.  It is where we work, go to school, and lay our heads at night. This is where we reside.  But if you were to ask me where we live, you would get a completely different answer.  It is in Central Florida, about an hour north, that we truly LIVE.  It is where we play, relax and dream. 

At the ranch in Lake Wales, we dream of a simpler life and building a farmhouse on our seven acres.  In the meantime, we play in the fields with our dogs, spend time at the rodeo, pet the farm animals, and climb the gorgeous oak trees. 

It is on the Kissimmee River, Blue Cypress Lake and the surrounding marshes that we take to the water.  We enjoy being able to explore these areas on our boat. Very few people get to see the amazing scenery and wildlife that is accessible only by an airboat.  We feel blessed to be able to share our love of Old Florida with our three boys. It is so much fun to watch our eleven year son captain the boat like a pro.  For those planning a trip to Florida, he makes a wonderful tour guide.  If you are looking for a diversion from Mickey Mouse and the Florida beaches, make sure to look us up.

Thank you for visiting where I live. Please feel free to visit my blog to learn more about my life in Florida.

Until the next time. Tammy Lee of Bliss and Folly.

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We would love to see where you live. 
If you would like to join in, send an email to mortalmuses [at] yahoo.com.

* muse flash *

Join Muse Tammy and friends for a Holiday Muse gathering and photowalk in our nation's Oldest City, St. Augustine, Florida.

Wander the historic streets with decorated shoppes, ride the Holly Jolly Holiday Trolley, or visit Winter Wonderland for ice skating and sledding.  In the evening, NIGHTS OF LIGHTS will keep you clicking as the city comes alive with two million tiny white lights.

We will be meeting at 11am, Saturday December 4th at the St. Augustine Visitor Information Center located on Castillo Drive just off U.S. 1. 

Come rain or shine, bring your families, and make some connections with fellow photographers from Florida and Georgia.  Please email Tammy at blissandfolly[at]aol.com to get on the email list for additional details and scheduled chats.