Still loving my iPhone and all the cool picture apps. You can create so many cool results and those possibilities only increase when you start layering filters and effects. The picture above is a result of me layering filters from Camera+ and Instagram. Going clockwise from the top: top picture is the final result of the Tailfins filter in Camera+ and the new Sierra filter in Instagram. The next picture is the original and then the last, how it was enhanced w Camera+ Tailfins filter.

Picture collage was made with Pic Collage app.

Stay creative

I got this recipe from, where else, Pinterest. I love that place for new and yummy recipes to try. This recipe is awesome because you can cook it (the chicken) in the slow cooker and it’s very easy to make. The recipe was pinned from the site: www.beehivequeen.com but the site seems to no longer be up so you can find almost the exact recipe (except they use chicken broth) over at Plain Chicken.

INGREDIENTS

• 5-6 Chicken tenderloins or 2-3 chicken breasts (frozen or thawed)
• Juice of 2 lemons (or a 1/4 cup of lemon juice)
• 1 packet of Italian dressing mix
• 2 Tbsp butter

Put everything in the slow cooker and cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 3-4 hours. Once chicken has fully cooked, shred and serve over rice, noodles or enjoy alone. Yields 2-3 servings. If you are cooking for more than 2 people, you will want to increase this recipe. Also note that this recipe doesn’t yield a lot of “juice” for the chicken so you can add some chicken broth if you want to.

I served mine over jasmine rice and paired the dish with a salad. It’s up to you how you want to enjoy it.

Eat well & stay creative.

I really dig the Honey Badger cat eye frame from Bon Look. So much so that I may have to get it! They have tons of other funky and chic frames all for around $99. All you need is your prescription and you are good to go.

Yeah, these frames are gonna be in my life real soon. Be on the lookout!

Our new EXUDE Magazine cards came in yesterday. I love how clean and simple the layout is and that we have barcodes for the site on the back.

If you’ve followed me for a while or have read the About Me page on here, then you know that I am the Senior Beauty Editor over there. Right now we’re having a blast covering NY Fashion Week (my schedule wouldn’t allow me to participate this season but I’ll be back in action in September). Visit the site to learn more about us and if you see me on the street or at an event you may be a recipient of one if these cards.

Stay creative

I don’t normally celebrate this “holiday” but I wish all that are big on it a Happy Valentine’s Day. Give love everyday.

Stay creative.

Just learned of the soulful singer, Xavier, recently when Time Warner Cable’s NY1 channel featured him last weekend. Xavier is a Brooklyn, NY bred singer and sang with the Harlem Boys Choir in his youth. His sinfully melodic voice is infectious. Get wrapped up in this.

Like what you hear? If you live in NYC, he’s singing tonight at Joe’s Pub at 9:30 for his Valentine’s Day Eve Ladies of Soul Tribute. If you’re not in the NYC area or can’t make it out because I’m just now posting this, you can visit his site at www.xaviermusic.com or follow him on Twitter and Facebook. Details are below.

Twitter: @lovexaviermusic

Facebook: lovexaviermusic

Paint.Net is an easy and free photo editing software that let’s you do quite a bit with your pictures. I edit my pictures on here with it and love it. I use Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop at work but as you know, it’s expensive. So Paint.Net is a great alternative if you are a novice photo editor or till you are ready to shell out the dough for the big boys.

You have many similar abilities like working on layers, adjusting saturation; light/darkness, hue, etc.. Because it is free, it’s not Photoshop but you can still do a lot with it and they have a forum community filled with tons of tutorials on how to create all different kinds of effects to your pictures.

Visit Paint.Net to learn more about the software. And while it’s free, please donate a little something something if you can so they can create more cool features.

Stay creative.

Doesn’t this look yummy? I’ve got to try this soon; it’s the perfect comfort food for the winter. I learned of Chef Huda from Curly Nikki. CLICK HERE for the recipe.

[Original Image from  Chef Huda.com and remixed by me]

My heart hurt when I heard that Whitney Houston’s soul left this earth and passed on to the other side. But I hope she will be clothed in peace now. Whitney, your contributions to music are immeasurable and you will NEVER be forgotten. In celebration of you gracing the world with your awesome voice, let’s listen to a favorite Whitney song of mine, I Wanna Dance With Somebody:

Spring 2012 Issue Image from Green Craft Magazine

Green Craft Magazine has to be one of my favorite crafting publications. Like the name suggests, the crafts included on its pages are “green” aka eco friendly. They encourage you to upcycle a menagerie of things into something cool or make crafts with natural materials like sticks, hemp, (reminds me that I want to do a craft with pine cones!), toilet paper rolls, cardboard, etc.. One of the crafts in their very first issue showed how to make cool containers out of french fry boxes [pictured below]. I let a friend borrow that issue and never got it back! So, be careful who you let borrow a copy or tell them to buy their own because it’s so good, you may not see it ever again! I’m going to ask her about it the next time I see her…. I want it back so i can make those.

Green Craft is publish two times a year: a spring issue and a fall issue and you can buy them online or find them in craft related shops and Barnes & Nobles.

www.greencraftmagazine.com

Stay creative.