Che is HAPPY!

YAY!!!

My little random blog has been nominated for the 2010 South African Blog Awards! YAY! AND... the greatest part is that I didn't have to beg, threaten or bribe anyone! The categories I've been nominated in so far are for Best Personal Blog, Best New Blog and Best Design Blog. I can be nominated for as many categories as my blog fits but then I have to select two to compete in. Thanks for showing your love people! If you want to nominate me again (and make me even MORE happy!) or in a new category, Click the "Nominate Me" button on the right sidebar. I'm eternally grateful :)

Now I'm off to bed, because I'm EXHUASTED:

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I had an extremely sleepless night last night... but that's a cartoon post in the making...

GO TO BED EARLY!!!

Goodreads

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Here is another awesome website for the bookwormy types. The site is called Goodreads and it allows you to document all the books you have read, are currently reading and the books that you wish to read. 


You may also write a personal review on each book and give it a star rating. Similarly to facebook and other networking sites you can build up a friend database and check out books that other people with similar 'book-interests' are reading or have given high ratings to.
Here's what I'm reading right now:

Peacocks dancing by Sharon Maas.

The Creative License by Danny Gregory.

And sitting on my shelf waiting to be read very soon...

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls.

Craft inc by Meg Mateo Ilasco

Create a goodread profile and curl up with a good book.

Cuckoo for this...

"The way to know life"

From FolkArtbyKerry

Duotoning

Here's a very simple/basic version of working with Duotones in photoshop. Duotone works on grayscale (black and white) pictures but allows you to select colours so that instead of having back and grey shadows you are able to have pink or green or blues ones.


First open the image in photoshop and convert it to grayscale by clicking Image > Mode > Grayscale. This will convert your image to a black and white picture. 
Here is my original image:

Once you have created a grayscale image you can then click Image > Mode > Duotone. (Converting your image to grayscale allows the Duotone function to be unlocked.) Once you have selected Duotone you will see that under Duotone type, it is set to monotone - you can select this and change it to duotone. (There is also tritone and quadtone that you can experiment with.)

Once you select duotone - you will see two colour slots. You can change the colour slots to colours of your choice. Keeping the first colour black creates more realistic images whilst changing both colours can create cool effects. You can use this feature to create soft sepia colours or cooler sepia tones.

You can also play around with tritones and mixing the colours around. If you want to save it as a jpg or png file for web you will have to convert the image back to RGB mode by clicking Image > Mode > RGB Colour

Have fun in photoshop.

Let's work out!

Moral of the story: Don't check your email before you go to gym. Or even better, don't wake up early to go to gym.

Bittersweet Symphony

'Cause it's a bittersweet symphony this life

Trying to make ends meet, you're a slave to the money then you die

I'll take you down the only road I've ever been down

You know the one that takes you to the places where all the veins meet, yeah 

No change, I can't change, I can't change, I can't change, 

but I'm here in my mold , I am here in my mold 

But I'm a million different people from one day to the next

I can't change my mold, no, no, no, no, no

Well, I've never prayed, 

But tonight I'm on my knees, yeah

I need to hear some sounds that recognize the pain in me, yeah 

I let the melody shine, let it cleanse my mind , I feel free now 

But the airwaves are clean and there's nobody singing to me now

No change, I can't change, I can't change, I can't change, 

but I'm here in my mold , I am here with my mold 

And I'm a million different people from one day to the next 

I can't change my mold, no, no, no, no, no

(song shortened*)

(all images found via Beauty in Everything)

Listen HERE.

My 1st time

The 'My 1st time' writing project is the initiative of Jen Thorpe - a young South African feminist, activist and advocate for women's rights. 

(You can read more of her personal views here)

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The 'My 1st time' writing project is a collaboration of real women's stories on topics ranging from family, friendship, relationships and love to abuse, sexuality, self-image and stereotyping. 'My 1st time' is fast becoming a powerful platform for generating discussion and for opening the lines of communication between friends, sisters, mothers and daughters worldwide.

Share your story. Click Here.