best photo of 2011

was taken when my husband came home for leave. Yep that is where I have been for a while...MIA. And I received the best Christmas present of all :). Enjoying time as a family.

I just wanted to share my favorite photo from 2011. It is not a perfect portrait with perfect hair, eyes all sparkling, the aperture just right, but it has more than all those perfect photos. It is an beautiful moment recorded that makes it extraordinary. It says so much so I will let the picture speak for itself...

catching up

I've been neglecting my blog as of lately... I know... sorry.

I have been so busy. First we, as a family, went on vacation to Georgia and to Florida. I have too many photos to share from our trips. We had a blast! So we went on a zip line tour for an awesome date. By the way you do not have to go to Mexico to go on zip lines. There are some amazing ones literally 15 minutes from my home town!
 Then went to Florida for a "traditional" vacation. Like the ones I remember growing up with all of my family.
A trip to the Georgia aquarium and family time and family photos in between.

Not only have we been on vacation but we are preparing for some life altering separation. That would be a deployment. I believe I am doing incredibly well for our first experience. I though I would be more upset about all of this by now, but really I am too busy thinking of all the things I need to get done. I know the crying until I fall asleep is coming and it's going to hurt, but there is nothing I can do about that right now at this moment.
I will be heading to Georgia to stay with my family during this time of separation. More to come on this new adventure. And more photos to come.

Using Textures Tutorial

Good Monday morning. I have a tutorial I want to share with you today. I will show you how to use photo textures.
Textures can be used through Photoshop with any digital texture. Like a image file of wood grain. Just be clear that there are so many textures to choose from. I will be using Jodie Lee's

Shabby Photo Textures II and Shabby Photo Textures Set. 

Please keep in mind that there is more than one way to add textures to your photos.


First you need to find a photo you would like to add textures to. I like photos that are more solid or from away. Then drag your texture into your photo.

2. Then apply the texture to the photo as you want it to look. Then duplicate your photo layer.
       In the layers palette it needs to be in this order photo copy, texture, photo.

3. Select the texture in the layers palette. Then select your erase tool. Use the erase tool to erase the parts of the texture you wish to hide. I only used it to erase the texture that interferes with the face.



4. Now it's time to "play" with the texture. Use the opacity and fill to change how much you see of the copy photo and the texture photo. Adjust to your liking. You can also use the drop down menu. I like linear burn and luminosity. You can add more textures too or even frames. Don't forget to save!


BEFORE Original Photo


AFTER Textured Photo


Textures with the addition of Jodie Lee's Frames


Try adding textures to your photos.

Photo Paper: Red River Paper

I have been looking for some awesome paper for photographs and hybrid projects to print from my home printer. I just have a dell series 9 printer. Honestly I have no complaints about my printer. I know the paper is important for a good print.
I was given the sample pack from Red River Paper that has a sample of their papers. I really liked all the paper. I was fond of the Utra Pro Gloss for printing photos. I print photos for my traditional paper scissors layouts and this paper was perfect for printing my custom size photos. I like the photos were crisp and clear with the right amount of gloss. It does not get that annoying glare that gloss photos usually have. These photos are hard to tell what the paper looks like. You might see these photos on a page sometime soon.

I also used one of the matte papers to print photos, while they turned out good, I prefer gloss for photos. Though I really want to try an 8.5x11 hybrid page with some of the matte paper.
Check out their scrapbook section on their website. It has good information about printers, paper, and software.

10 months

R at 10 month photos...

Elle's Studio
My Dear Papers
Christmas Scalloped Journaling Tags
Splendid Fiins
border line frame brushes
baker's twine
Cosmo Cricket
Garden Variety Candy Candy

All products available at JessicaSprague.com

Happy Valentine's Day

Made these photos for Ruger's first Valentine's day! They turned out so cute!! I made him the heart shirt. We had a lot of fun on the love day. J had off so we enjoyed the day together.

Wedding Photography | Villa Rica, GA

While in Georgia for Christmas & New Years! My mother & I did my cousin's wedding photos. They turned out better than I expected!! I love my cousin and was happy to do this for her as her wedding gift. Here are just a few previews of the photos I did...

Family Photography | El Paso Photography I haven't really...

done much photography of other people since moving to El Paso almost 1 1/2 years ago. Friday I took some photos of some friends. I think I captured them and their life! They are such a beautiful family!