Shelby Stidham

In Class

March 27, 2008 – 3:21 pm
The room was uncomfortably cold, so much so that all the hairs on my arms stood up. The carpet was a dingy blue color and reminded me of the jeans my dad wore when he did yard work on the weekends when I was young. Those jeans were dark with stains in some places and light with wear and tear in others. The walls were covered in a cheap, plastic wallpaper that had an 80's design on it. The color was one you'd find in a nursing home; a pale, sickly blue with streaks of khaki and cream. I was sitting right next to the wall, on the left hand side of the main aisle of stadium seats. The classroom was divided by three sections: the far right stadium-seats, the middle stadium-seats, and the left side where I sat. All the seats rose up about ten feet over the course ...

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Little Earthquakes by Jennifer Weiner

February 9, 2008 – 11:26 am
I'm getting married this August, but because I already feel like I'm married, I'm kind of past reading those novels about getting married. (I'm having a low-key small destination wedding and all of those types of novels feature big weddings and lots of dram--not like me at all.) So now I'm onto novels I've never read before--just one, actually. It's about friendship, relationships (married ones) and motherhood. I don't plan on having kids anytime soon. In fact, we probably won't start trying for 2 1/2 more years. But I still like reading about motherhood. The book I'm reading--Little Earthquakes--is a novel with lots of useful information snuck in. It's great, actually. I'm more than halfway through I just haven't finished. But if you liked In Her Shoes (the movie OR the book) then you'll like Little Earthquakes. It's by the same author and it's the same type of read. Check ...

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Photoshop Tutorial for Dummies 1: “Airbrush” Your Face

February 4, 2008 – 11:02 pm
This is my first photoshop tutorial. I'm not a photoshop pro by any means, but I'm learning and I thought I'd make a photoshop tutorial for people like me who like to do simple photo tricks. So in this photoshop tutorial I will be giving myself the "airbrushed" effect. It's easy to follow with lots of step-by-step pictures. So enjoy! First, open your photograph of choice. Pictures that are high resolution are easiest and best to work with because it allows a lot of room to edit small details. I've selected this close-up picture, taken specially for photoshop purposes. Once you've opened it, get ready for step 2! In this step, we will remove any blemishes and dark spots from our face that we don't like. For this, I use the healing brush tool, which has a bandaid icon on the tools menu. Alt + Click on an area free of blemishes ...

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Resolutions for the New Year

December 26, 2007 – 10:46 pm
When I really stop and think about it, I don't think I've ever made resolutions for the new year in a serious way and kept them. I mean, I've always casually said things I wanted to do and told myself if I did them it would be great but if I didn't then no big deal.. but that's not really a resolution. One of my biggest problems is breaking promises to myself--be in diet, fitness, school, or otherwise--and that's what I need to change. So this year, one of my resolutions will be keeping my resolutions. I will promise myself that I will do what I say. So here's a detailed list of my resolutions for the New Year in 2008: Keeping Inner Promises: from now on, when I tell myself that I really want to do something or that I am going to do something, I'm going to do it. ...

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Merry Christmas… Eve

December 24, 2007 – 4:51 pm
Today is Christmas Eve and I've done close to nothing all day. It's been boring. There are only a couple days that I've actually enjoyed doing nothing and today, surprisingly, wasn't one of them. It's the time of year where taking drives, getting yummy coffees, walking neighborhoods, and hanging out with you family is far better than down time and relaxing. Isn't it? This evening my fiance Matt and I are going to mosey on over to my grandparent's house (just to visit) then head 20 minutes north to cook and serve dinner at a gospel mission. It's a church where, above the chapel and kitchen, there are bunks for homeless people to sleep. We've done this before and it was kind of sad but tonight I hope it makes up happy to know these people are getting good meals and a place to sleep. I'd take pictures tonight to ...

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Ashley Tisdale Before and After Photoshop

December 21, 2007 – 1:12 pm
I haven't seen High School Musical, I don't listen to Ashley Tisdale's music, and I'm not sure I even care about her. But, on my other website where I write about Hollywood Celebrity Gossip, I get a lot of Ashley Tisdale pictures and stuff. Instead of posting them, however, I thought I'd photoshop her. I see her and I immediately think of all the ways she'd look better if I only got her in photoshop so... finally, I did it. So here's the scaled down picture of Ashley Tisdale before: And now, after lots of healing brush, clone stamp, hue/saturation alteration, new layers, paint, transformations, liquification and much more.. The new, post-photoshopped Ashley Tisdale, also scaled down: What do we think, did she look better before or after? I'd have to say after and not just because I did it. I'd say after because, ironically, I think she looks more like a ...

Posted in Celebrities, Photoshop | 9 Comments »

The College Breakfast Club Sandwich

November 21, 2007 – 1:54 pm
Welcome to the world of being a college student with two problems: you need a snack but you're out of groceries! Don't run out to the store just yet--there's a way to use the heel of your bread and that last piece of juicy lunch meat. It makes a great breakfast sandwich, or, as I'd like to call it, The College Breakfast Club.  Let's get started! Here's what you've probably got left in your refrigerator right about now, or, Your Ingredients: American cheese, ham or turkey lunch meat, eggs, and bread. You would'nt think this could make a delicious breakfast or snack, but it can so don't throw away that last bit of bread yet! Here's what you'll need, or, Your Supplies: a working stove, a frying pan, a flipper or fork, and some butter/margarine/Pam spray (optional, but I use it because I don't have non-stick cookware). Turn your burner to medium ...

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Pumpkin Cheesecake for Dessert

November 21, 2007 – 1:19 pm
If you like pumpkin pie and you like cheesecake then you'll absolutely love this yummy Pumpkin Cheesecake. It's not a complicated recipe at all and it's relatively quick to make. This dessert is actually my favorite for Thanksgiving because while everyone else is making pumpkin pie, you're spicing it up with a Pumpkin Cheesecake!  A lot of people are intimidated by cheesecake because the cooking, cooling, cracking.. whatever it is, don't worry! If I can do it, you can do it. So let's get started! Here's what you're going to need, or, Your Ingredients: Regular Cream Cheese, Vanilla flavoring, Cinnamon, Large Eggs, Pumpkin Puree,  Pure Cane Sugar, and a Graham Cracker Crust. You will also need, or, Your Supplies: a large mixing bowl, a mixing spoon, an electric mixer (optional but handy), a small second bowl, measuring cups, a spatula (optional) and measuring spoons. Plus a cup of coffee if you ...

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The Defining Moment

November 13, 2007 – 1:37 am
Cynicism is knowing the price of everything and the value of nothing.-Oscar Wilde What is it about life that makes things change so fast? One minute you're feeling fabulous, looking fabulous and then right after you wash your face you become this tired old twenty something with a sore face and an aching to go to bed. So what is it that makes everything change so quick? I know it can't just be washing my face, but I also think great change, inescapable change, happens in just the blink of one eye; in just a brief moment. Have you ever been doing something, maybe at work or at home, and been completely at peace with yourself and what you were doing and then, in a split second, your whole persona has flipped 180 degrees? It's like, no matter how good you felt organizing your iTunes or how happy you were wrapped ...

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Trying to Learn Photoshop

November 13, 2007 – 12:31 am
I am not good with Adobe Photoshop CS3 Extended yet, but I'm so definitely working on it. My fiance, on the other hand, is great with Photoshop and quite honestly can do anything. I'm so jealous! But he's had it since he was younger and has been working with Photoshop for years. I was just introduced to it a year or so ago, so I really can't say I've had much time. I want to eventually be able to do everything on Photoshop, but right now I've been trying to teach myself creative photo editing. I like to search Google for high resolution pictures of people, head shots mostly, and edit them. I slenderize faces, change eye color, get rid of wrinkles, whiten teeth, and smooth faces. You know, all cosmetic type of stuff. It's hard to teach yourself because you don't have someone to tell you how to do ...

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