You may have noticed that the blog has been looking a little more spiffy these days. I’m thrilled that I can finally create things the way I see them in my head thanks to blogshop! Blogshop is a photoshop class for bloggers that I was lucky enough to attend a few weekends ago. In fact, I’ve had my eye on blogshop for a while now, but the class always sold out before I snagged a spot. I was beating myself up a little bit when LA sold out, especially since I knew it was the last one here for the year. The Friday morning before blogshop LA, I saw on twitter that a spot had opened up for the weekend! As in…the following morning! I was all, “Should I do it??” And Dan was all, ” Yes!! Do it!!” So I signed up, downloaded a free 30-day photoshop trial, got a shift covered at work, picked out a cute top, and the next morning I was on my way!!!

The weekend was awesome. I was a complete photoshop novice, and was craving knowledge for my blog and for building my photography business. I’m a sucker for details, and on top of learning lotsa new skills, the example work we got to practice on was top notch. I especially loved learning how to retouch photos (which I’ve been doing non-stop ever since) and creating photo templates I can use over and over.

We also got some pretty cool goodies, including a copy of Joy Cho‘s Blog, Inc. (and she stopped by for a talkback). Bri and Angela were inspiring, not only creatively and as teachers, but as businesswomen who do what they love. This post is also my entry into the blogshop photoshop contest. The winner gets a copy of photoshop CS6–swoon!! And since I’ve used my 30 day trial every day since blogshop, I’m in it to win it!

blogshop goodies: 1.je t’aime print from Minted | 2. portrait of me by Angela Kohler for blogshop LA | 3. geometric notebook from Brown Paper Designs | 4. Reusable Shopping Bag from BAGGU