Found Memories Art

Ida’s Dream

2009-11-11T16:23:00.001-05:00

Ida had lived very quietly all her 24 years. Her mother and father did not like disruption and noise. They only had Ida because she came along. They frowned highly on her crying when she was a baby and quickly let her know as she grew older that they would not tolerate any undue commotion in their lives.

So Ida’s life turned into a routine of oatmeal for breakfast, then off to her all girls school, then home in the evening to study quietly in her room. Supper was a very quiet affair as Ida’s father believed conversation and digestion were not a good mix.

As soon as Ida graduated from high school her father put her to work in his office. She spent her days sorting papers and putting them in large filing cabinets in a small room in the basement of her father’s building. It was a very quiet job.

Ida may have been quiet all day for those 24 years. But. At night as she lay in her bed waiting to drift off to sleep, Ida had dreams before her dreams.

Ida dreamed she would travel to Paris and become a Can Can dancer. Ida would dance to the loud beautiful music every night and hear the men and women laughing and applauding and cheering.

The music would be loud. The people would be loud. The color would be loud. And she, Ida would be loud.

Ida’s Dream a photo collage created in PSE7 and Photoshop CS4. The 2 vintage images are freebies from Gaby Braun.

Ever onward my dreaming friends.

Technorati Tags: Ida's Dream,photo collage,PSE7,PhotoshopCS4,vintage images

Lion In Winter

2009-11-10T15:34:00.001-05:00

Samhai was a king of lions many seasons ago when the animals and humans were still on talking terms. As king, he was of course, friends with the kings of all the communities around his. This included the king of the humans in the small, nearby village. As friends, the kings were committed to helping each other out in times of need.

It became necessary one day for King Samhai to so with the King of the humans. The humans’ village was struck by hording pillagers from the east. The King was mortally wounded and called for Samhai. When the human king lay dying, King Samhai promised, that he would guard the village from further marauders until they could care for themselves once again.

So King Samhai left his own pride of lions and came to the village of humans. He sat with his shield for weeks and months and years keeping watch over the humans so they could be safe. King Samhai sat for so long on his corner keeping watch that he finally turned to stone. And now, even in the winter, he guards the large city that has arisen around him.

Lion in Winter photomontage.

Many layers including a picture of a lion from Savannah, a fence, 2 different flowers, toy truck, and cloth. Made in PSE7.

Technorati Tags: Lion in Winter,photomontage,PS,King Samhai,layers

News of the Day

2009-11-09T19:13:00.001-05:00

Well that’s what it says in the paper that I’ve put in this digital photo montage. I don’t have any news other than I’ve made this for you to enjoy!

I started this with a lovely lady freebie from the internet. She was hearing something far away and I had just the shell she needed to use to catch the words flowing towards her from somewhere out there.

I masked her onto a shell I took a picture of this past summer. I also gave her some color and a spotlight. She deserves one, don’t you think?

The very back background is a portion of an art journal page which I duplicated and added a color burn to as well as a mask.

The next thing I added was some weird lit squares I had a picture of. I masked that and added a soft light to it.

Then came the newspaper clipping which is another from our cabin walls. I stretched it out to where I liked the placement. I used multiply at 92 percent on it. Hey,no mask on that layer, amazing!!

I next put a black color fill layer in and used a couple of different brushes with white to get the border.

I decided I still needed something in the background, it didn’t look layered enough or textured enough for me. So I added a layer of crushed oyster shells with a screen style and yes, masked it. Then it was done!

Getting easier to use the PSE7: not thinking so hard about where things are anymore. The mouse is easier to use now too, altho I still miss my pen tool!

Ever onward my listening friends!

Technorati Tags: digital photomontage,PSE7,masks,vintage photo,log cabin,art journal,layers,texture

So I Only Made One Photomontage Today!

2009-11-08T18:18:00.001-05:00

This is called: “Here Spot, Can I keep him?”

I imagine the little girl having dragged him away from his porch just down the street.. You know how little girls and puppies can be. And Spot’s Mom just realized he is gone and is calling him.

The little girl, I got from the internet a couple of years ago a freebie. I did extract her from her background and messed with her color and contrast and all that good stuff plus wiggled her around till she fit in the chairs better. (I think with CS4 I could have done a much better job of this ‘cause it has the warp feature. But I hafta work with what I have at hand:PSE7.)

The chairs are from the World’s Longest Yard Sale,I think last year. I thought they were cool looking between the color and the rust.

The dog is my daughter’s, Oscar. I’ve added some of my paper with a layer style.

The main background is actually an art journal page of mine before I added the words.

I then blended in a picture of a building in Chicago(turned sideways) and a log, for their textures.

I just painted in the edges after adding a gradient layer.

That’s it for today. I’m hoping my back is better. Thanks for all the words of support! At least I’ve been able to keep up with my email the last few days!!

Ever onward my spotty friends!

Technorati Tags: photomontage,PSE7,texture,dog,vintage photo,chairs

Last post of the day!

2009-11-07T18:01:00.001-05:00

Really!!

I just had to show you the final photomontage I did today in PSE7 sitting here at my laptop. This was with no Wacom pad either! Just my mouse and my little laptop, sitting here with my stupid back, trying not to twist the wrong way!

I call this Flower Girls. I made this with an old cabinet card I found as a freebie on the internet a long time ago.Then I masked and blended like crazy and used five pics from my garden to decorate the dresses.

The yellow is just a solid color fill layer that I masked to just get the areas I wanted. This included painting in a belt! There is a layer in there of marble for texture from a photo I took in a bathroom somewhere!

I used a photo of the underside of an old lawnmower I took a couple of years ago for the background.Again used blending and a mask to make it work. Blending is what I call using the layer styles in case you haven’t figured that out yet.

The final thought for the day: will I do more tomorrow, or have I now burnt out for now?

Technorati Tags: Photoshop Elements 7,PSE7,photomontage,flower girls,flowers,texture,vintage

Two posts in One Day!

2009-11-07T12:15:00.001-05:00

So you can tell I have nothing better to do than sit at my laptop and work at PSE7! I can’t go tripping up and down the steps to the studio, and I can’t really figure out what to do art wise that I can get himself to corral in just a few minutes down there. So this seems the best thing to do with my time.

I have been using that mask action like crazy! Here it is used on just about every layer of this photomontage.

That’s a picture of our driveway and a great blue heron from the nearby lake. Also I used a headlight from an old fire truck. The plaid on the heron is a pattern I made. The door is a picture my sister Chrystal sent me last year.

Fun stuff, fun times…oh except for the little back thing. That’s ok. As long as I’m having fun,eh?!

Technorati Tags: Photoshop Elements 7,PSE7,photomontage,masks,heron,bird,door,fire truck,headlight,pattern

I AM ZORRO!!

2009-11-07T08:23:00.001-05:00

Why you ask?

Because I have a mask now!!

Yes I went poking around the old internet this am as my back is still yelling at me. And I found an action for using a layer mask on Photoshop Elements 7, or PSE 7 or Elements 7 or whatever you want to call it.

I found it at at a wonderful site called Coffeeshop. She has a plethora of info on PSE and lots of free actions that I’ve not started to explore yet as I wanted to quickly pass on the info to anyone passing this way!

So now back to our regularly scheduled day.

Ever onward my masked friends!

Technorati Tags: Photoshop Elements 7,masks,Coffeeshop,free actions

My Stupid Back!

2009-11-06T18:22:00.001-05:00

Is totally acting up again. So no trip to SC for us this weekend. Drat it all anyway! I was really looking forward to this as both a getaway, and a photo op. Not to mention, it would be a chance to see folks I haven’t in about ten years! And I would be with Brian and Lori, our son and his wife all weekend. That’s always so nice. They are a joy to be with.

So I should have been on the road all day today, enjoying the lovely fall scenery between TN and SC. I have instead been carefully moving around so as not to blow my back completely to the screaming point.

I caught up on my Google reader and cleared a lot of junk out of my email!

And now I’ve loaded Live Writer on here so I can add this to my Blog. Busy gal, I’ve been!

I then decided to load Adobe Elements 7 on here (I’m on my PC laptop upstairs, not my Mac, down in the studio). I never had figured out how to really use this, so thought I’d give it another try. Boy is it weird (when compared to Photoshop CS4. So here is what I did with it this afternoon.

All of that is my doing. In another words, I didn’t use any of the gadgets from Elements. Oh, unless you count a drop shadow, and I don’t, ‘cause CS4 has that!

But I sure miss masks in Elements! Did I just not see it? I looked around. That is a major drawback for me, as I use masks all the time.

Oh, I just remembered. An interesting tidbit about the piece that is corrugated with the cowboy comic on it. It actually came off one of the logs that make up our cabin walls! We had to strip the logs when we got them, of all the nails and various bits of papers before they could get built back up again. I’ve got the bits and pieces saved. Fun, eh?!

Ever onward my strong as oxen friends!

Technorati Tags: Photoshop elements 7,flamingo,photo collage,log cabin

On art journals and other things

2009-11-05T17:35:00.001-05:00

So I said last time I would share a few more of my art journal pages from the class I took. Here are the last few I made to go with the various lessons/videos Julie shared with us.

This was done with layers of monotone. Then I just pulled the lady out of the paint using a dip pen and India ink. The white is also done with a dip pen and ink.

This is many layers of several colors built up over some collage pieces. Again a dip pen with ink is used for the writing.

Just 2 colors here followed up with some oil pastel on the edges and dip pen and ink for the sketching and writing. The figure at the top of the bird house is just what I saw when the color blocks were finished. The bird is made from a photo I took. I used deli paper that I stamped and watercolored to make the individual segments.

This had a couple of blocks of color laid down first then I spray painted through a couple of stencils. Reversed the flower one on the bottom to make the flower at the top look so faded and cool!

I’ll end today with a photomontage I quickly did this morning for my sister Chrystal. Her husband took the initial picture of her out working with him.

They and some other guys have to pull and count all these thousands of small fish out of this net. Hours they spent doing this! It was an unusual situation. Usually they have bigger fish that they are tagging and counting and releasing.

Ever onward my drier art friends!

Technorati Tags: art journal pages,dip pen,india ink,stencil,oil pastel,collage,photomontage,fish

So it is just so nice outside

2009-11-02T16:09:00.001-05:00

that I don’t even want to be in the studio at all!

I want to be out with Tommy and whichever of the 5 cats are awake!

I feel like soaking up any little bit of the sun ‘cause I know soon there won’t be any…just cold dreary days. And then I’ll be hunkered down under lots of layers of warm winter clothing.

I’m a summer gal now! Give me a glowing sun, warm days, green grass or even better sand and ocean, and I’m a happy camper. The winter chill that is coming cuts right through to my bones, and leaves me unable to think clearly.

So, I’ve been gathering the wonderful rays of warm yellow to keep safe for as long as I can during the coming winter siege. But that means art takes a back seat.

I did make this digital montage this morning. (be sure to click on it to get the full effect) I had been thinking of Van Gogh lately, and this is a tribute to his Starry Nights, called Starry Hollyhocks.

I would like to thank Renate over at Put a Little Magic in Your Life for letting me use a picture of her freshwater pearls as a background texture in this.

There is more texture in this,including a fabric piece and the log cabin itself that is behind where the hollyhocks grew.

So now back to the sun, with the dog and cats before that gorgeous moon comes up and steals it away!

Ever onward my sunlit friends.

Technorati Tags: digital montage,digital collage,flowers,texture,sunshine,Van Gogh

Happy Halloween!!

2009-10-31T11:46:00.001-04:00

Still busy doing lots of different things around here. Not taking many pics though, it seems. And Nothing much worth blogging about.

I mean do you want to hear about my wonderful puppy anymore and the fact that he only does tricks for treats? Ooh that’s great on Halloween, isn't it?!

Or that I have still been working on art journal pages? But wait, I will post some of those I think.

Or that I’ve started working on my Color Block series again?

Or that I am STILL working on cleaning up the studio. I said it would be a long process. I do it bin by bin. And I don’t do it every day. I can only stand it that way. But I’ve made a lot of progress. I’ve gotten rid of lots of things I thought I needed. But now I know I’ll not use them in the future. Just not geared that way now.

You probably do want to hear that the class with Julie Pritchard was fantastic. She says she has another class coming soon. And the 3 classes she already has, stay open, so you can sign up for them any time.

I found online classes a refreshing way to learn. I do believe I will investigate these types further. If anyone has experience with some. let me know.

I leave you with a pic of Tommy from last month!

So I’m Still Here!

2009-10-15T16:22:00.001-04:00

I’ve been here, there, and nowhere in particular.

I’ve done this and that, and a whole lotta nothing in particular.

I’ve seen Him and Her, and no one in particular.

BUT.

I’ve been doing a whole lotta art journaling ala Super Nova’s Julie Prichard.

Here are a few examples:

Fun stuff! I love this class! I’m learning ton’s and bunches.

I’ll be back!!

Technorati Tags: art journal pages,acrylics,breast cancer month,Super Nova class

Having A great time,Wish you were there!

2009-09-22T17:46:00.001-04:00

I have started an online workshop with Julie Prichard at the Land of Lost Luggage. It’s called Super Nova Art Journaling. How cool is that for a workshop?

So any way, I’m having a wonderful learning experience over there. And that's after only two, yes 2, videos!! I still have many more to come.

Julie is terrific in that she is always there answering questions and providing feedback. And there are lots of others in the class to do the same. This will be a fun few weeks, I can see that from these first couple of lessons.

So here are the first few backgrounds I did. I haven’t added the words yet as I’m awaiting further instructions ala some super spy, ya know! But I have what I want to say for them written on Post It notes, so I won’t forget! (I’ll eat them if the bad guys get too close!)

I’ll write in the pink blocks, later.

This smaller journal page, I’ll add a picture to.

Again, the writing will be in the light bocks.

Now I’m off to work on the second lesson. What fun. This is really helping me loosen up. I sure needed this.

Ever onward my studious cohorts!

Technorati Tags: julie prichard,land of lost luggage,art journals,workshop,acrylics

Who Knew?

2009-09-18T15:51:00.001-04:00

Not me that’s for sure! I’ve never had my eyebrows “done” so I always thought it hurt. But no. It didn’t. Just a slight tug, a little sting for a millisecond. Then pretty eyes!

And thus a quick art journal page is born.

The lady is from an old 60’s mag that I gessoed over. Black and white of course. She originally had curly hair wearing a hat. I more heavily gessoed the hair and put a bit of texture in it with the knife. That was fun! Then I just had at it with the acrylics.

I’ve been busy working on several things.

And puppy training. Lots of puppy training!

Weather here has been wet wet wet. We have mushrooms growing on top of mushrooms out there now! And the dehumidifier is running nonstop down in these lower rooms. I think the word for this is: Soggy!

Ever onward, artful folks

Technorati Tags: art journal,acrylics,gesso texture,weather

Playing Art

2009-09-08T15:07:00.001-04:00

I had a nice comment from Sharon on my previous post and it resulted in this art journal page!

The funny thing is that the bits and pieces are from cleaning up my studio. I was putting them away and knew they would work on this page.

The paper behind the girl is a torn map we used on a trip a few years ago. I put layers of acrylic glazes on both sides and crumpled the edges as it dried so that it would stay in that shape.

The corrugated piece is cardboard from which I had torn the top part ‘cause I like the writing. Then I found I liked the corrugation left behind! That’s it layered with acrylics, glazes, watercolor crayons and here comes the surprise…fingernail polish! The polish was sort of finely glittery and green. I just put it on sparingly here and there in strategic locations!

To write on, I used an old bit of my own wheat paste paper mounted on some thick colored vellum I got from I don’t know where. The vellum was just one of those small bits and pieces of which I have so many different kinds. I’ve collected these over the last bazillion years and I’m trying to figure out how to organize so I can actually use them!

The face was a strange learning thing: It’s done on regular weight light purple paper with watercolor crayons. The whole time I was working on it, It was much darker than it is here. When it dried, it turned I’d say about 50% lighter than how it was as I worked on it. I was shocked! But I wasn’t gonna throw it away. Just lesson learned…Regular weight paper holds the water and makes it look darker than the end result. So I either won’t use that kind of paper again, or I’ll go even darker as I’m painting.

So, when I'm “playing ART”, my mind is in a much sweeter, happier place. And that is the first step to getting the stink out! First steps lead to second and so on…

Ever onward my sweet smelling friends!

Technorati Tags: art journal,watercolor crayons,acrylics,acrylic glazes,cardboard,playing art

So you know how it is…

2009-09-05T15:14:00.001-04:00

You’re moving along through your life.

Everything is going swell, seemingly wonderful.

Then, Wham.

Stupid, stinky, yucky thoughts just come and hit you upside your unsuspecting head.

They crawl inside.

And they take up residence in there.

You don’t even realize they are living there until they have amassed enough garbage to really stink up the joint.

Then it takes loads of work to get rid of the nasty creatures.

Just putting up an eviction notice doesn’t work.

Minute by minute, day by day, you have to really work to undo the strangle hold these bad things have wrought on you.

So you persevere cause you know the place will smell much better without them.

The sky will be so many more shades of blue when they are gone.

The water will taste fresher, the cats will purr softer.

There is a message underneath the writing that says:”her old life back”

The picture started as an old grey tones pic of a man! I gessoed the background. Used Portfolio water soluble oil pastels for most of it plus Derwent Inktense watercolor pencils for the details.The hair is a cut out from a modern mag, that I have raised for a 3d effect.

You can’t tell here , but the thread is sparkly and variegated.

This is that art journal where I have all the backgrounds already painted.

Anyway…Life is a puzzle.

We keep working it out, one piece at a time. And sometimes we have to pick up and try the same piece over and over again til it fits.

I’m working on the yucky,stupid thoughts piece. I wish I could be done with that one!

Ever onward my puzzled friends

Technorati Tags: art journal,Portfolio oil pastels,Derwent Inktense pencils,life

One Moment, Please

2009-08-28T11:23:00.001-04:00

Studio organizing is NOT fun.

I will now wave a magic wand and it will be done.

Oh wait, I don't have a magic wand.

Make a note: must acquire magic wand.

Back to your regularly scheduled day.

Technorati Tags: studio organizing

I knew it looked familiar!

2009-08-27T14:59:00.001-04:00

I was reading Sharon’s blog yesterday and looked at her table all nicely covered in a light red paper. I think the technical term is red rosin paper. She talks about being able to use the paper after she slops paint on it (well that’s my term for it) in other art projects.

You know how you do…you're painting a background, and the brush just keeps going off the edge and then you have blue on your table…whoops!

Well, what I’d been using was a huge piece of plastic, maybe a drop cloth. It looked really bad, because it didn’t fit. I didn’t want to cut it. Just would move it around as the main spot would get too full of paint.

But as I’m back to organizing & cleaning & throwing away stuff yesterday, what do I find? A partial roll of the red paper!! Of coarse it looked familiar…we had used it last year when we put down a new floor in the guest room!

So, while I don’t have a before, ( and I won’t have any in the days to come, it disturbs me to take befores, I think!)…Here is the after of my painting table:

Yeah, I know the rest looks very messy behind there. But you should have seen it before! It really is better! And I still have more to do.

And I have been spending more time on the main work table. Himself built me another small shelf today for the second shelf of the table. That’s a big help for putting layers of things on. We mixed media folks sure love our layers, don’t we?!

Now if I could just figure out how to organize all my tons of papers. I seem to have different systems going and papers scattered everywhere and then I don’t know where everything is.

AH well,if anyone has any hints on that, let me know.

Ever onward, my arty friends.

Technorati Tags: red rosin paper,studio organizing,paper organizing

Stuff

2009-08-25T14:29:00.001-04:00

So I’ve been working bit by bit at getting rid of stuff in the studio. I figure with my ADD (really I officially have it, I’m not just saying that as an excuse!) I need to tackle this in small half hour to hour segments to keep me going with this thing. Also, while I’m on the treadmill, I watch those cleaning out shows! You know the ones: they come in to an extremely junk filled home and make them decide what they are going to keep and what they are going to get rid of. Then “Boom”! An hour later, they have a completely redecorated home, junk free!! Now that’s Motivation!

So far it’s working. I’ve made some headway. I’ve actually thrown stuff away that I realize I am NOT going to make art with any time in the next zillion years.

Also Himself has been a big help. Yesterday he took some mdf that my son had given me and put tops on two cabinets that needed them. Now I have storage and more counter space! the cabinets are a set of drawers and a lazy susan corner thingy from our old kitchen. They seemed too good to throw away. I’m not in the mood for painting them… that will have to be later. But I was thinking of using chalkboard paint on the round one…wouldn’t that be fun?

I did a mixed media yesterday of how I sorta feel about all this stuff lately.

It’s done in mostly pan pastels: red,blue,yellow,black and white. I also used some watercolor crayons,color pencils, and pencil. This was loads of fun to do.

And NO that is NOT supposed to look like me!

The paper is sitting curved on the easel, by the way, it isn’t cut that way.

Off to do STUFF!!

Ever onwards my less stuffy friends!

Technorati Tags: studio organizing,pan pastels,mixed media

The Never Ending Story

2009-08-21T16:10:00.001-04:00

Of straightening up the studio continues today. Guess I was inspired by this bit on Seth's blog! I started thinking of all the stuff that could be found in my studio alone…YIKES! I have been gradually purging upstairs in the other rooms already. That will continue.

So I guess that means no art today. Though I have scanned in those backgrounds I painted. And I did spray paint a tad for fun, when I came across some papers that sorta yelled out for it! Hey, cleaning shouldn’t be all work, should it?

Also I continue to fight the good fight on getting more things moved over to the PC portion of my Mac. Figured out how to get the Pazzle on there today. It doesn’t work on Macs.) Boy did that thing come in handy on Heather’s wedding flowers! We figured it paid for itself on that alone.

Ok.Enough chit chat. Back to work!

Ever onward my more organized arty friends!

Technorati Tags: studio organizing,Pazzle,wedding flowers

Wise Words

2009-08-20T11:47:00.001-04:00

A joke…that was a joke!

Wise…Y’s…get it?!

Still on the alphabet kick, but I don’t know how much longer I can go.

Yes, yes. I know there are 26 letters. That’s not what I mean. I just tend to do these things by feel. I see a picture as I’m going through my files, then Wham, I have a letter!

The background on this is from wrapping paper I painted for my mom. The butterfly is from several years ago. And the cat with the beautiful eyes is our Princess of the Realm, Johnnie. Not to be confused with her white booted younger sister, Charlie, Warrior Princess!

I also made this little landscape yesterday. I wanted to see if I could do something with just a brush and some patterns and textures and gradients. Very simple I wanted to keep it. (That was Yoda speak.) Here’s what I came up with after just a few minutes:

I call it Distant Cities. I can just imagine them off there in the distance. I wonder what is happening to the people down there as I stand under my very peaceful tree up here.

Ever Onward oh artful ones!

Technorati Tags: Photo collage,cats,butterfly,Photoshop CS3,painted baackground paper,alphabet

G, Gee

2009-08-19T11:27:00.001-04:00

Whiz, I have finally joined the rest of the universe and put my whole blog on the reader! I never could seem to find the right button that was the one that did it. Now magically Poof…it appeared before me and it is done, ready for your reader enjoyment!

I just hope this doesn’t mean you will all stop visiting my blog. You must come by occasionally to leave a comment!

G is for guess I did another alphabet photo collage!

I have the Graphics Fairy to thank for the two children’s images. The Flower and background are mine. All done in Photoshop of course.

I did actually get real paint on my hands yesterday! Painted a bunch of backgrounds.

Technorati Tags: photo collage,Photoshop cs3,Graphics Fairy,flower,children

O is for…

2009-08-18T12:13:00.001-04:00

Oh my gosh how I hate the smell of skunk!! We’ve been having our friendly neighborhood visitor come every couple of nights to our BBQ area where we hang out during the heat of the day. This is the garden area and where the dog & cats get their water. Why oh why does this creature have to leave his (or her) scent behind? The only thing that makes it (the stink)go away is a good rain!

I just made this to show you how I felt about the situation! Peeeuuuu.

I had pics of the actual skunk, but can NOT find them in my new external HD. Must not have made the long trip over from the old one!

I’ve been making these small 8 by 8 pieces in Photoshop the last few weeks. Some of them are going to be printed out as finished and some are going to have photos added or other bits and whatever added after printing.

This is the one I made yesterday.

Ooooh no!

Does that “O” up there mean I’ve started on random letters again?

I just do not know.

I’ll have to wait and see what the next few pieces bring out of me!

The background is something I made in Photoshop.

The photos are all mine from the last few years.

The font is one of the built in ones.

I felt this called for a little less is more.

Ever Onward!

Technorati Tags: photo collage,crow,bird,photoshop

Technorati Tags: skunk

It’s My Daughter’s B-Day!

2009-08-15T09:18:00.001-04:00

Here’s a quick card I did for her yesterday ( don’t worry,Heather’s already seen it!) in Photoshop CS3. The pic was from her rehearsal dinner. The orange flowers are the paper ones we made in amongst real yellow lantana.

The background I made with textures and patterns on a plain blue, with a gradient over it and some embossing thrown in for good measure! The flowers behind Heather are really a stroke with a pattern and then a blending mode added. The border is her new(!) initials in the same color as the paper flowers.

Our son Brian came to visit yesterday. It’s always good to see him, though this time it was on a sad note. His wife’s uncle had passed away, and she had gone with her father on the long trip out to the funeral. He was feeling bad for her and his father in law. He was not upset in any way that their vacation plan was ruined. What a fine young man he has become to think of others before himself.

It’s really amazing to watch our children become these wonderful adults. At the same time we can still visualize them as sweet little babes in arms. What a gift we are given as mothers.

So now…Everybody …CLAP!!!

Technorati Tags: birthday,photoshop cs3

Photos are Back!!

2009-08-13T11:20:00.001-04:00

Well, I installed those new programs on my Mac…including Live Writer(so pics are back). So that means I can run PC stuff on a Mac computer. How weird is that? Pretty weird if you ask me! I’m sitting here typing on a Mac keyboard, staring at a Mac screen, looking at a PC Windows background,running a PC Windows program! My head is spinning, how ‘bout yours?

Now I have a bunch more programs I have to put on the PC side. But I need to breathe first. When I installed these the first thing that happened was updates. Yikes…even for the ones straight out of the box.

SO…at the top is a photo collage of a butterfly on one of our hibiscus flowers the other day. I had a little fun with it.

This is the drawing I told you about the other day.

My first pencil sketch in quite a while, really. I “watercolored” it in Photoshop. Actually looks a bit like the (copyright free) photograph I took it from!

But it looks very comic book/childish to me. Oh well, I can only do what I can do!

It’s fun no matter what.

I’ll be back again soon with more pics. I hafta load programs and play with The Cutest Puppy in the World and eat and do some art and and and…

Technorati Tags: Live Writer,Photoshop,sketch,photo collage,Mac,PC