Obsession!

(remember "Tradition" from Fiddler on the Roof? Sing my new "obsession" song with me -- same tune, new words, louder and most definitely not on key!!!)

I have had two obsessions this week -- getting my dogs ready for our first agility trial, and messing around with textures in PSE8. The former leads to happy dogs (CHEESE! HOORAY!), while the latter leads to happy Kathy. They are both good things!

Someone on the Stitchin' Fingers Digital Designers group had a pointer to a tutorial on adding textures in Photoshop, and I've been going nuts finding free textures and adding them to photos ever since! One site that I like is Lost and Taken -- the textures are free for both personal and commercial use and don't require attribution. Be warned, the zip files are large...

I really like the way adding texture can transform an ordinary photo and particularly like creating a vintage look. I have always been a fan of the excess of Victorian era, especially crazy quilts, where enough is never enough! (I'm glad I didn't live then, life generally stunk unless you were wealthy, but for a hand-embroiderer and collector of fiddly bits, it was heaven!)

Anyway, I've decided to work in a faded vintage/sepia palette for my Pt. Pinos Lighthouse quilt. I grunged up the photo of the light tower (original shown earlier this month), and this is a companion photo. I layered an antique damask overlay with several other textures, and the fabric texture peeps through in some of the lighter areas (click on the photo to see the larger version and look at the bottom edge of the window frame). It was a cool, overcast day, and the textures warm up the final image, while adding a few scratches and age marks. Fun fun fun!