Today is the first ever Worldwide Autism Awareness Day, which was decided by the UN, which will be April second, every year.

What is autism?

Autism is a severe developmental disorder that begins at birth or within the first two-and-a-half years of life. Most autistic children are perfectly normal in appearance, but spend their time engaged in puzzling and disturbing behaviors which are markedly different from those of typical children. Less severe cases may be diagnosed with Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD) or with Asperger's Syndrome (these children typically have normal speech, but they have many "autistic" social and behavioral problems).

How Common is it?

For many years autism was rare - occurring in just five children per 10,000 live births. However, since the early 1990's, the rate of autism has increased exponentially around the world with figures as high as 60 per 10,000. Boys outnumber girls four to one. In 2007, the Centers for Disease Control reported that 1 in 150 children is diagnosed with autism.

Taken from autism.com

As many of you know, my little brother Adam is autistic. I am a full advocate for austism and my goal is when I become famous I will spread the word even more.

Almost everyone I've met anymore knows someone with autism. It is a very cruel world out there and believe me I know. When Adam throws occasional fits, hollars or does any motor ticing, it is not very well taken. In fact, I remember one year in Iowa, when a caregiver took him to McDonalds, some woman (a customer) said something to the likes of "Get that retard out of here". Of course, th caregiver wanted to slap her upside he head in 4 different ways (God knows I would've) and I think it's so stupid that people can be that stupid. I hope that everyone will at least try to educate themselves and see through their ignorance about mentally disabled people becaus even though my brohter is different from you and me, he can still be the best brother ever. He cheers me up when I am sad, he always had a smile on his face and as much as I rag and complain about him, I love him so dearly. And I know he loves me.

CNN is having an ALL DAY theme of Autism. If you wanna learn more here are a few sites:

CNN: Autism
Autism.com
Autism Speaks
Autism Society of America
Autism.org

... is not a trend. Neither is Doctor Who or Torchwood. I mean I know I got into it because my friends did, but I actually DO research on it. I mean c'mon I didn't help get all these David Tennant pictures without knowing the events blindly. Really close friends get into stuff with each other.

I'd rather be a fan and not a poser.

*returns to Torchwood in the Tardis*

Teasers:



( Warning! Many icons )

In case you're wondering for icons, graphics and shit here ya go :)

toybirds
ofthe_sky
ewanism
77words
dearest
teh_indy
magique_icons
haudvafra
latexandleather
houseforlife
glimmerless
cdg
xgraphicjunkie
100x100_brushes
icongradients
icon_tutorial
Stargazer Resources
Hybrid Genesis
In Obscuro
17 Wings
Atomic Brushes

Okay since PSP and Elements users can't use the Selective Colorung feature, with some research I have found a way to get the same results while using the Variations tool.

Go through steps 1 - 5 of the original tutorial and when you come to step 6, stop and follow these directions:

6a. When your image looks like this:



<-----Paint Shop Pro Users Here------>

COMING SOON

<------End Paint Shop Pro Users----->

<------Elements Users Here------->

Go to Enhance > Adjust Color > Color Variations. Make sure it's set on Midtones and that your Intensity is set to somewhere around here (It will look different than this)



And then click the Adjustments in the following order:

Less Red
Less Red
More Green
Darken
Darken

And then click OK. Your image should look like the following, or somewhat closer depending on where your Intensity is at (if it's off a bit it's ok)

<----End Elements Users---->



7. Just do the same thing as he original tutorial but increasing the Saturation to +50 and there you go!

Here's an icon tutorial I just created:

The Hitcher Coloring #1

I've done this in Photoshop CS2 and I'm sure it's interchangeable between other versions/PSP
Take your picture and crop it to a 100x100 base. The picture I chose is the following; the original can be found here



1. The take your base and duplicate it and set the blending mode to screen



2. Duplicate that new layer, which should already have it set to the screen mode



3. Take the top layer here



Go to Image > Adjustments > Brightness/Contrast and set the Brightness to 15 and Contrast to 25



4. Next, nake a new layer and take this color #0c437b and set the blending mode to Exlusion at 50%





5. Merge visible and duplicate the image. Set the blending mode to Soft Light



6. Now here's the fun part. Merge visible again and go to Image > Adjustments > Selective Color. Set your Reds to:

Cyan +15
Magenta +10
Yellow -10
Black +20

Then set your Yellows to:

Cyan +25
Magenta - 35
Yellow -10
Black 0

Go to Neutrals and set them to:

Cyan +35
Magenta 0
Yellow +10
Black -5

And press OK



7. Go once more to Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation And set the Saturation to +50

And there you go!



The finished product!

Here are all the awards I've won. Just for a little reference and shit hahaha :P

First Place









Second Place













Third Place





Others









Last updated December 16, 2006

Behold the loveliness that is Sean - animated icons!

( Whatcha waitin' for? )

Here the are, 9 Beanies X)

( I brought you into this world.... And I can take you out of it )

Subject: The Tribe
Batch: #1 (1-25)
Themes: 1. Alone, 3. Embrace, 16. Misery, 17. Secrets, 27. Red, 29. Snarky, 37. Kiss, 41. I've Been Bad, 44. From Now On, Artist's Choice
Additonal Notes: Credits
Please comment & credit if taking :D

Teasers:


( This is Our Destiny )

***Disclaimer: All images © Cloud 9. Everything was written and made by ME please do not reproduce without my permission!***

Okay! My first icon tutorial as I've had requests on making some on how I make my icons. I've just made this new icon we're going to make together so follow along as I go over this step-by-step. This tutorial was made i nPhotoshop CS2 but is compatible with other versions (just not too old).

This icon is going to be of Mega from Season 5 of The Tribe. Our end product should look like this:



First after you have selected the picture you're using and cropped it, make sure to flatten the image so it's locked as background so basically it will look like this:



Now make a copy of the background layer:



And it's time to use a photo enhancer. I'm going to be using Optikvere Labs Virtual Photographer. Make it for the Default preset and check the Effect box and set it to Colorize. Your menu should look like the following for the effect:



After you push Process set that picture layer to Saturation at 100%. Next, make a new layer. We're going to start with the gradient portion. Using this gradient, select the circular gradient shape and make it so it's fairly centered, like so:



Set that layer to Pin Light at 65%.

Make another new layer and using this gradient, do the same thing as before, except the circle will be in the upper right hand corner:



The blending properties for this is Lighten at 90%.

Using your last gradient for the moment, make a new layer and and set the gradient so it's Linear. Going from top to bottom, we're going to use this gradient to look like this:



And set the blending to Darken at 75%.

Now for the texture. I've selected this texture to use. Drag or paste (depending on whether you've opened it or copy/pasted) and set the layer mode to Linear Dodge at 100% Your icon is now looking like as follows:



Since some or the sparks are on his face we're going to Add a raster mask and use our paint brush to blend some of them out. Your brush settings need to be a circular 24 sized and 10% opacity



I've removed what I've wanted and so it now looks like so:



Now make one last new layer; we're doing one more gradient fill. The gradient still on the setting as we last used, start from the right upper hand corner and drag down so it's diagonal.



Set the layer to Lighten at Full opacity.

I've decided to make this icon have rounded edges. I've made a template so it's much easier to do instead of having to use the shape tool (you can download the template) After I've merged the bottom layers together I can then use the template and erase the excess areas and my icon will now look like this:



Make another new layer and for the small text lines I've used a tiny text brush. You can find these anywhere or even make tiny text of your own. I've set the foreground color to #832627 and the layer blending to Color Burn at Full.

For the text I'm using Americana Std which you can get from DaFont and at 10pt Smooth Bold with the color of #861e1e wrote the word "sparked" and placed it above the tiny text. I've set the text blending to Color Dodge and duplicated the layer. I saved it using GIF transparency and I'm done.

We now have our icon :D

Just a half of the first batch :) It's public so my Eyeboards people can see them too! :D *waves*

( The icons! )

I love iTunes store. And ma mere bought me anoter iTunes card... yaaaay. I seemed to have misplaced my Amy Jo Johnson CD and it makes me sad... :( So iTunes... weeee.

It's like 11:23 and I'm awake and ready... didn't help I took a nap just a wee bit earlier lol. But I had a Benedryl and it made me tired. Because cramps suck. Yes I said it, get over it :P

So, after getting distracted by iTunes (got AJJ, Christina Aguilera [old stuff] and Mel C) I am back to updating!

I have a new layout and such on my Fleur Saville site WHICH btw has it's own place i nthe web Fleur-Savillet.Net :D

So yes.

Planned a longer update. Got distracted. Oh well. :P

Siiiigh, today's been a good day lol. I found out I WILL get early release time for a whole semester!!! Second sememester! And I'll have creative writing with Berge (the guy that kinda scared me lol) and Production Design (TECH!) with Billar and US Government with Rizer (he's hilarious) lol. Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Early release time = 3 classes a day = I get out at 12:05 = WOOHOO!

Bad thing is I have Mrs. Raleigh for geometry, but she's nice an all, but her default smile is the kind of smile where she smiles REALLY SUPER big and her eyes pop out... yeah it's freaky lol. Aaaaand I didn't get into computer science (i think it was) AP but oh well lol.

I HAVE 3 CLASSES SECOND SEMESTER HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

( You belong to me, I belong to you )

That's my entry. Expect it to be like this until school gets out LOL :P

Oh and PS... Bourland can flex his pecks LOL

Footloose owns me right now... I swear I CANNOT stop singing those fucking songs!!!! *whines* lol.

So yes i have a new icon of Vicky Rodewyk. She plays Gel in the Tribe. I don't know how old she is in that specific pic I used of her, but lemme tell you she's my age. She's 2 months younger than me and she does NOT look 14 in the Tribe. Seriously.

So anyway... errr Oscars was.. fun. Funny how the Hustle and Flow song won. That made me giggle lol. Reese Witherspoon won and had a long winded speech lol.

Aaaaaaand I could go on about Saturday but I am just too fucking tired right now....

First of all, let me say that I did a friends cut. As happy as I am with the number of 49 friends that I had, some of us just didn't communicate at all. And plus, almost 50 friends can be too big so I don't know. But I like having my small group of friends, like I always have had throughout my life, so I guess it's sort of my comfort zone.

So if you've been cut and want to protest, let me know your feelings and I'll most likely add you bck :D

Here's a public post showing all my awards and stuff :P I'm gonna archive it since I'm running out of room on my userinfo

Blend Challenge Awards

Icontest Awards

harrisons_still


macca_stills