the BLUE dot

I get asked about this all the time and I thought I would shed some light on it.  Starting at 20 weeks of this pregnancy I started documenting my belly growth by wearing a t-shirt with the numbers 1-40 (purchased from One Little Minute) signifying the number of weeks in pregnancy.  On this shirt, a little blue dot highlights the week that I am documenting.  For further background about this dot, I want to let you in on a little quark of mine.  I am a little bit of a perfectionist.  This is a problem in several areas in my life and one of the most noticeable and funny areas  is in my handwriting.  My family has made fun of me about this from time to time because whenever I write out handwritten notes I do first and second drafts of each note (just think of how long it took me to write thank you notes for a 150+ wedding guests).  First draft is written for content and then the second for the look of the writing.  It's utterly ridiculous and I try ever so hard not to get hung up over something as simple as my handwriting, but I guess I am self-conscious about it.



Anyways, after receiving the shirt in the mail, it was obvious that I was going to have trouble using it as intended because it was accompanied with a red paint pen to cross out each of the weeks.  Being the crazy person that I am, I could not handle the simple task of crossing out numbers due to the fact that they might not look the same or look pretty.  Yes... I am aware it sounds crazy and really who gives a crap about marking out numbers on a t-shirt, but I felt pretty anxious about it so I came up with another plan, thus came forth the BLUE dot.  My first plan was to use photoshop, but my computer with photoshop installed on it was having some troubles, so I started using the photo editing tool that is part of Google Picasa known as Picnik.

If you are ever in need of a floating overlay (that's what the blue dot is),  here are some simple instructions to follow.  They are quick and easy and the best part is that you don't even have to have photoshop!

Step 1: add a photo

  

Step 2: Open up the Picnik application

 Step 3: Select the tab labeled "stickers"

Step 4:  Select the Geometric option from the basic stickers

Step 5:  Drag a shape that suits your fancy

Step 6:  Change the size by using the arrows and the color by clicking somewhere in that color palate thingy

Step 7: Use the selection "Overlay" on the Advanced Blend Modes drop down menu

 

Step 8:  Use any other effects that might enhance your image and then make sure you save!

See... easy peasy, right?