Wednesday, February 15, 2012

The Happiness Edition

A day after Valentine's Day... I wasn't super duper busy for VDay in the sense that I didn't go out on a date with Mr. Pipoy, but I did have quite a full day - working on some assignments, picking up the cake at the pastry shop, and attend to our pastry party here at home after dinner. I got quite a lot of pictures to edit (plus I had to share the netbook to my siblings), so my post for Texture Tuesdays, Touch Up Tuesdays, and Tones on Tuesdays was a bit late.

* please mouse over to see the SOOC shot *

This week is about "happiness." There are so many things that brings me happiness, but Valentine's Day this year is very special because for the first time in 31 years, I am "celebrating" it with boyfriend. I have had past relationships, but for some reason I am "single" during VDay! Anyway, with so many love in my heart - for my boyfriend, family, friends, and myself, I decided to share this image - Strawberry French Macarons, given to me by Bizu Patisserie... one of the most upscale and posh pastry shops in the Metro. This sweet treat also brings me happiness, because "eating French Macarons" is listed on my Bucket List.

Editing the image:
  • Created a selection around the heart shaped macarons, feathered it, inverted selection, applied Gaussian Blur, and ran "Mute Colors" script - choosing "Desaturated Overlay" to make the slight pink tone pop a bit.
  • Scaled image to 480x640.
  • Added a layer of Kim Klassen's "Sweettart" layer, set to Overlay at 40%.
  • Added a layer of Kim Klassen's "Waterstained Frame" layer, set to Multiply at 70%.
  • Ran the National Geographic script, using the default settings.
  • Ran the Manny Librodo Sharpening script, using my own preferred settings.
  • Added watermark, flattened, and saved the image.
Hope your Valentine's Day celebration is filled with love and happiness!