I’m addicted to photo editing this week. I’m all over Pixelmator, a Mac-only software that is great for me because it can do pretty much anything I (and all n00bs) would ever want to do with photo and image design à la Photoshop, and also because it only costs $30 (instead of a pound of flesh). Sweet deal!

Maybe you’re like me and have a ton of photos from trips and vacations, and even wedding photos, stored on your computer but you don’t know what to do with them so none of them see the light of day. Once I tried to take charge and get “creative” by having a wedding photo of us printed on a big gallery-wrapped canvas (I had an online deal) and when it came I realized, hm, it’s kind of awkward to have a giant photo of myself on display in my living room. I didn’t quite think that one through. But being able to “play” with all of my photos using Pixelmator has shown me that there is so much more to do with photos than simply printing and framing. You can make real works of art! And there are a lot of tutorials out there to help you get started.

Here are a few of the photos I messed around with:

Before Pixelmator

After Pixelmator

Gondolier Before

Gondolier After

Rattlesnake Lake Before

Rattlesnake Lake After

Beat that, Instagram! I’ve learned a lot in the past week and that got me thinking – what should my first big project be?

My husband and I wrote our own wedding vows and once they were said, we never read them again. But I remember how emotional we were hearing our own words and I’ve wanted to feature them in our home, above our bed, to remind us of our dedication to each other. (Also, the big wall above our bed is completely empty and sad.) Before I got started, I googled “wedding vow art.” There are a lot of great ideas out there but the crazy thing is, there are Etsy shops dedicated to creating customized prints of wedding vows that charge $50 and up! And sometimes that is only for the digital file.

Using the internet for inspiration, our wedding photos as a backdrop, and Pixelmator for the design work, I think I created a couple of prints of our vows that I’m proud to say I made myself. Although I’m not sure how I want them printed (on canvas or simply printed and framed), I’m 100% committed to getting these off my laptop and into the bright light of day.