PrettyWaterlogueApril Archives

art, arts and craft, PrettyWaterlogueApril, Uncategorized

Best of #PrettyWaterlogueApril Week 4

I have to send everyone who participated in #PrettyWaterlogueApril a big thank you! Thanks for participating because you blew up my Instagram feed with gorgeous images everyday! I truly couldn’t wait to check the hashtag feed to see all the beautiful creations. I hope you will consider continuing the challenge in May and beyond. I won’t be able to officially showcase my favorites, but please know that I’ll be following along. In order to create a more “lasting” hashtag, I’ve decided to change the hashtag to #PrettyWaterlogueGallery. Feel free to post your favorite Waterlogue creations using that hashtag to share and continue to gain new followers! I can’t wait to see your newest artistic creations!

Once again, this week was truly a challenge. I had over 100 favorites and had to narrow it down to 20.

Here is my week four showcase: Read more

April 27, 2014/5 Comments/by Brittany Bailey

art, arts and craft, Giveaway, PrettyWaterlogueApril

Best of #PrettyWaterlogueApril Week 3

Happy Easter!

Once again, you amazing Waterlogue artists have amazed me. And again, I was tasked with narrowing down my 100+ favorites this week to 20. Perhaps it is from Spring in the air or Easter, but I was definitely drawn to some seasonal beauties.

*Like these colored eggs by BarbaraCarollaz

Before we get to the showcase this week, I wanted to give you the details on the giveaway I have for you at the end of this month. Anyone who has participated in the challenge (whether you’ve been featured or not) will be eligible. I will chose one winner at random who will get to take home this fabulous prize pack:

PictureFrames.com – $300 Gift Certificate

Picture frames galore! This one stop online framing shop has it all. Preview your image in their Personal Frame Shop so you can test drive the mat and frame of your choice. Or create your own framed chalkboard, bulletin board or mirror from their wall décor option. PictureFrames.com was generous enough to donate a $300 gift certificate so you can have your PrettyWaterlogueApril masterpiece(s) showcased in your home. Don’t feel obligated to choose one of your Waterlogue images, you could use the gift certificate however you want. Why not frame that painting that you’ve wanted to frame but for whatever reason you never got around to it. I’ve used PictureFrames.com for many years and know you’re going to love their styles, service and products!

PersnicketyPrints – $50 Gift Certifcate

Persnickety Prints is your destination for printing your masterpieces! You can select your own digital paintings or photos to be printed for scrapbook prints, calendars, cards, photo books, gifts and much more. The print selections are amazing. From photographic prints, cardstock printing on up to artist quality giclée prints! Plus, you can import your entire Instagram gallery with the click of a button! Founded by Chari Pack, this small business encompasses the customer friendly and attention to detail that you want when you upload your favorite images. Persnickety Prints has graciously offered a $50 gift certificate to use at their online store. You’ll have so much fun browsing the options. Be sure to check out their easy Instagram printing for starters and then discover all the other ways you can bring your online Waterlogue masterpieces to life!

+ Continue to bring color into your life with a new Canon PIXMA MG3520 color printer and photo paper. This printer is perfect for your home and is easy to connect with wifi.

And now, the paintings I’ve chosen this week: Read more

April 20, 2014/3 Comments/by Brittany Bailey

art, arts and craft, PrettyWaterlogueApril

Tips for Better Waterlogue Pictures + Best of #PrettyWaterlogueApril Week 2

Tips for Better Waterlogue Images | Pretty Handy Girl

Everyone participating in the #PrettyWaterlogueApril challenge are amazing artists! I had chosen 80 favorite Waterlogue images this week, but force myself to narrow it down to just twenty images. This has been torturous! If you don’t see your image below, please know that it’s not because I didn’t absolutely love your painting. I just had to limit my weekly showcase. Lets check them out – Tips for Better Waterlogue Pictures.

Before we get to this week’s 20 favorites, I wanted to share a few tips for getting better Waterlogue pictures. Besides good composition, I use the photo editing app, SnapSeed to clean up and edit my images.

This is the photo right out of my phone after I snapped the picture:

I used SnapSeed to adjust brightness, contrast, saturation and a few more settings. I find using SnapSeed really helps my phone images look a lot better.

Once I bring that edited image into Waterlogue, I play with several of the settings in the Waterlogue app. I’ve found that if you are using an image of animals or people, it really helps to increase the amount of detail shown by choosing Large or Giant (only available for newer iPhones) image size. The larger the size, the more detail Waterlogue retains. You can see in the example below, that Buddy’s eyes are lost in the medium setting. It isn’t until the Giant setting that you see the highlight in his eye, which makes his face more recognizable.

I used the giant setting for my final image because it helped retain the definition in Buddy’s face.

However, there are times that I like a looser painting. For example, landscapes look great when broken down to blocks of color with less definition.

Now, onto my Top 20 #PrettyWaterlogueApril images for Week #2! Read more

April 13, 2014/12 Comments/by Brittany Bailey

art, arts and craft, Destinations, Pretty Handsome Guy, PrettyWaterlogueApril

Best of #PrettyWaterlogueApril Week 1

I am absolutely blown away by all the Waterlogue artists that are partipating in #PrettyWaterlogueApril on Instagram. There are so many beautiful images. Some would make beautiful greeting cards or garden flags. Others need to be framed and hung up to enjoy immediately! Scroll down to see my top picks this week!

I’m still working on that amazing giveaway prize, but I can tell you so far I have some great sponsors! Check back soon to learn more. In the meantime, I thought you might get a kick out of some photos from our Spring Break trip to Beaver Creek, Co.

Pretty Handsome Guy, myself and the two Handy Boys enjoyed some fresh powder and beautiful vistas.

PrettyHandyBoy #1 and I taking a rest at the top of the mountain:

This is my favorite picture that was taken of me. I don’t think anyone could miss me in that bright coat. LOL.

The boys truly wowed me as they carved turns down some intermediate trails at the end of the week. Considering this was their first time skiing beyond the North Carolina mountains, that’s saying a lot!

You know this chocoholic chick was on the slopes everyday at 3pm when the Cookie Ambassadors passed out fresh chocolate chip cookies!

Beaver Creek also had loads of fun things for the kids to do. Pretty Handy Boy #2 was thrilled to do backflips on the bungee trampolines:

Somehow I was talked into trying it out. At first I was enjoying it…

…but after I was pressured into doing a backflip…I began to regret eating the cookie right before jumping.

I had a chance to see my Aunt Bonnie who lives in Denver. We had fun shopping, eating and catching up.

I also enjoyed snapping a few pictures of the landscape and turning them into beautiful Waterlogue paintings for the #PrettyWaterlogueApril challenge (you can see the rest of my pictures on Instagram):

It was extremely tough choosing my favorite paintings this week. In no particular order, these were the chosen images. If you are on Instagram, be sure to click on the links to follow these talented artists: Read more

April 7, 2014/14 Comments/by Brittany Bailey