Pear Challenge

My Blue Eyed Girlfriend Linda Vincent set us a digital challenge after we were talking about pears one day.

The above photograph was taken of one of many pears Linda had ripening in her conservatory. She's British, I think only they have conservatories , which is like a sun room :)

I used textures from Kim Klassen on this one, I just LOVE her magic textures and so many more, if you have not been buy her site, you are in for treat when you do.

On my own pear photo (below) I did a really grungy look using textures from Jerry at
Shadow House Creations, one of which is his old newspaper texture, then I topped it off with one of Kim's scratch textures.

If you are into Photo Shop and textures like Linda and I are at the moment, you do not want to miss a visit to Jerry's blog. He is the most generous man, all of his textures, masks and brushes are free for you to use, and there are lots of them. You can however make a donation and buy him a coffee or something while you are there :)

So Linda, what do you think?

I bet your's are way better. To see what Linda came up with check out her big beautiful and inspiring blog at Blue Eyed Girl. This woman has so much talent, everything she does is superb, I mean really superb!

While I am here today I would like to wish all of my Canadian friends and followers a very Happy Thanksgiving Weekend.

The last holiday weekend before Christmas, and the weather here in S.Ontario is supposed to be beautiful :)

I can't get back until after Monday so I will leave you with this little card I made.....


Oh yes, I almost forgot. I have a little shop on Zazzle now. I have been having cards printed there with my digital work on for a while now and am really happy with the quality. So I thought I would offer my work to everyone else who shops on Zazzle.

You can now purchase greeting cards with my pumpkins, and other digital. You can add your own text to them which is fun, and they ship the next day, they are great!

This weekend only all cards are 40% off at the Canadian site HERE using the code THANKSCANADA at check out. You can mix and match cards from any other Zazzle shop, you don't have to choose mine :)

I will be adding more as I create them, I am hooked....

I have always been one to keep a stock of pretty cards for friends, and thank you notes etc, I think it makes people feel good inside to receive a nice card, especially if it is something different, so if you get a chance please check out what I have and add me as a "fan", because I don't have any yet.

There is also a sale on at Zazzle.com this weekend for Columbus Day.
Everything is 14.92% off using the code 1492COLUMBUS , my oh my, where did that percentage come from?

I am not sure about other international sites, but if you sign up at Zazzle you will be notified when there are special promotions, and you can use any of your own images or photos to create cards, and so much more.

Thank you for all the great advice on my last post, and I will see you all soon.
Lynn

Playing with PSE again

This is a snail flower, isn't it beautiful ?

The original photograph is copyright to Patty Szymkowicz at "Magpie's Nest", and she kindly let me use the original to play with in PSE. You can see the original, and read more about this deliciously fragrant vine on Patty's blog post here. Thank you so much sweetie, hope you like this one.

So how did I get this effect? I followed a really easy tutorial at Rita's "Coffee Shop" called Vintage Blush, only I used a different texture than she did in her tutorial. I am really pleased with the results. Rita has a super blog with lot's of free tutorials, textures etc and "actions". You can download her "action" for the Vintage Blush or make your own like I did. Be careful, you may get lost over there and never come back. That is if you are into PSE.

Using the same steps and colors with the pink blush, I took this photo of mine and made it look like this. Not bad huh?

Then I went on to do the same steps over again, different textures every time with this lovely photo from Flickr's Creative Commons. I really should go back and look at my layers on things to remember the textures used.

On this one I used a clipping mask and a brush from "Designer Digitals", great stuff there too.



Here is the original photograph.

I hope to inspire you to not be afraid of trying Photo shop or Elements, there are many workshops out there that can help you and many free tutorials too. You can do it!
I was stuck forever in my old version of Paint Shop Pro 7 and I still use it for resizing photos for the web, things like that, but I am just loving Elements now that I got over the fear of trying something new :)

Digital work for today

I used my very own clipping mask, my first, although not the greatest, you have to start somewhere.

I used a free vintage image from The Graphic's Fairy, and I used a texture from Linda, with of course a lot of masking and brushing. (You have to use PSE to know what I mean)

Here is another version of it.....



I tried printing this on TAP but my bee's went smudgy so I must be doing something wrong. Will try again and let you know what I did wrong so you don't waste a sheet of it like me.

Where the purple thistles grow

This is where I live , by lake Ontario, where the purple thistles grow.

I can see the lake from my bedroom window, kitchen window and the end of my driveway, it's only about 500meters away, but to get to the Marina is about an 8 min walk. I don't know why, but it just is a thrill each day to see the blue water, wonder what it will look like in winter, and what about the empty space in the back of us, maybe a new home there will block this view.



We live beside a natural conservation area, no cutting of grass or wildflowers , and you know I love wild flowers. The thistles grow every where there but I found some that were still nice and bright looking along the rock edge.

I think this is the one I used to create the digital piece at the beginning of this post.
I have been refreshing myself with PSE8 again after a long break, because we are still in yet another heat wave and I can't stand to be in my studio. Even with air conditioning it is the hottest room in the house.

I had fun snapping dried up dying off wild flowers , yet at the same time I was disappointed there were none left to pick for my flower press.
I am by no means a photographer but I am thinking more and more it may be something I would like to learn more about because I love taking photos of plants, flowers etc.

Below is what a lot of the conservation area looks like. You won't get me walking through there I tell you, I bet it is full of skunks.

There are two natural beaches that are not sand, but teeny tiny pebbles all broken up and the beaches are not really maintained like a beach you might find in Florida. They have a pet beach and then the larger one for people. I forgot to take photos of that.

My DH snapped this weird looking plant, I have no idea what it is but it reminds me of when cucumbers are starting to grow.

Cooper wasn't too happy there, and he could care less about the pet beach, he just wanted to go home. I think it was too hot, we didn't stay long anyway.

I think this is a large size Queen Anne's Lace drying up.


Another area on the walk back.

"At last" he thinks, "I am home" :)

Cooper wanted to let you know he is a big boy now, today is his 2nd birthday :)
Happy Birthday my precious little man,
Love, Mom xxx

I have some beef for you tonight.

Passion

I certainly have a passion for many forms of art, and as you may have noticed, digital manipulation is my latest. If you have known me for a while you will know how much I love texture and I can play with texture to my hearts content with PSE and not even get dirty :)

I used a photograph I took last summer of a passion flower and some texture from one of my mixed media paintings for this piece, along with some super grunge brushes which you gotta have if you use PS or Elements. The set, created by Mike Martinez , is free to use with a link back to his site. You can download them here at Psdtuts+ which is a great site for tutorials and some great linkware and freebies.
Click on the Passion Flower for a close up.

My next piece is using a photograph my hubby took in Rome five years ago. I used some brick texture from Open Source Hunter, which you can find here, a set of 25 textures for free. After playing around with it I then used a clipping mask, thank you to Wendy in DJ's class for the use of it and to my friend Linda for showing me how to use it.



Thanks for dropping by, and please read my last post if you havn't already, you might be one who has never heard of IBC and we all need to be aware of it.

Hope you take some time to enjoy one of your Passion's today :)

Lynn

Live with Joy in your heart

Joy is a heart full and a mind purified by gratitude.
Marietta McCarty


Joy is prayer - Joy is strength - Joy is love
Joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls.
Mother Teresa

Learning to live in the present moment

is part of the path to joy.

Sarah Ban Breathnach

Creating this digital art gave me a feeling of joy, I find that when I am in the moment, really in the present moment I feel an extreme sense of happiness and contentment. To me that is joy.

Look for the joy in your life today :)
Lynn

Peace, Tranquility, Silence

Peace, Tranquility, Silence... just what I need right now.

My post for the OWOH giveaway is below this one, I am still not caught up with visiting everyone who has commented, there are just so many of you and I will tell you why I am so behind in a minute.

This digital artwork is one of the latest projects that DJ posted for us in her workshop and I really like how it turned out. Again by following these tutorials I have learned so much about PSE8 that I never could have on my own.
(All photos are copyright DJ Pettitt)

Anyhoo, to make a long story short, we are moving June 26th to our dream home...yeahhhhh. We chose a home from a builder and they will be done by that date. I have been choosing everything from where to put electrical switches to kitchen cabinets. Sometimes fun, sometimes stressful, because at the same time I have had to get my current home ready for sale and we just signed the papers today to have it listed. This is why I have been so busy, and I have barely had time for any artwork.

I had to really organize and clean my studio, it has to be reasonable looking to potential buyers, and I decided to spring clean so everything is nice and fresh. The place is "pristine" LOL... and I have found muscles I never knew I had.
So we may be in the MLS system by Wednesday then I will not be able to relax until it's sold. I am a homebody and a private person and I hate the thought of people coming here and roaming around, and it seems you have to get out when they come with their agent. I just hope it sells quickly. I really miss my artwork, so I am so grateful that I started the digital workshop, at least I can do that on my lap top while I sit on the couch.

Our new home is about the same size as this one, quite large for two people and a little dog some people would say, but our daughter does come to visit often and we need the space, and we love the space. The kitchen has to be just right for my hubby, one of his passions is cooking and baking, he even makes bread :) It has a walk in pantry which he is thrilled about LOL, he has to have a home office for his real job, and I have to have a studio of course :) I did have a say in the kitchen cabinets and it is going to be beautiful, antique white in a kind of French country feel, something I always dreamed of, although I don't cook, I still clean and eat in there.

I am hoping to visit everyone who have left a comment for the OWOH giveaway, I do a bunch each day, but I just can't be online all day. Thank you all for dropping by, and have a great evening:)
Lynn

A Fairy song

A Fairy Song was created using 4 of my own photographs, and the cover of a vintage music sheet from Shabby Chic Papirskatter. I then added some brushes and different effects to it.

I can't believe it's Friday already, don't forget to watch tv tonight, the Telethon of the Stars will be on most channels and at 7pm on Canadian channels there is also a Telethon for Haiti. I am going to watch them both. If you have not donated yet, now is a good time, and even if you have donated already, let's all do it again, every little bit helps.

My heart goes out to the people of Haiti, you are in my thoughts and in my prayers. May you find the strength and the courage to go on in life, the people of the world are behind you.

Have a great day my blogging friends, I will see you Monday for the OHOW giveaway :)
Lynn

PS... I was going to mention the fairy I used, and changed my mind, then Laurie who has known me a while remembered it is my very special fairy, one given to me by my best friend in the world, who is also my youngest aunt. She was only 6 years old when I was born to her oldest brother, my dad. She still lives in England, but would come and stay with me almost every year, we were like soul mates and I think we still are. She had 2 brain aneurysms 2 years ago and then a stroke, she now has brain damage and mobility problems and she doesn't remember what she did 10 mins ago, but she always remembers Canada and being with me. She was very creative also, now she can't use her hands very well, even to eat. Whenever I call her she tells me she has been to sell at a craft show, (she used to do that a lot with her husband) but she really hasn't. Or she will talk about something she made today, but she hasn't. I somehow think her brain connects to how we used to talk so much about what we were creating when she hears my voice. It is so bittersweet when I talk to her, at least she remembers me, yet we can't have a real conversation anymore, and I still miss that. We would talk on the phone for hours.

I thought I would share this little tit bit of information about my life, I made this digital collage for Su actually and am going to make it into a card for her, let's see if she remembers the fairy she gave me :)

Here is a photo of us the last time she visited here. We were visiting my inlaws , goofing around as usual.


Love you Su :)

Digital work

I am really enjoying the class over at DJ's , and above is from our latest exercise. Feel free to click on the photo and see the original size, I just love all the effects we used.

Below is an experiment from one of my photos which I shared with you at the end of last summer.


This is the photo below. I am not sure if you would remember it, but it already looks really distressed doesn't it? I think that cone flowers are even more beautiful when they look like this one, they seem to have so much more character.
(feel free to borrow the original for playing around with)


Do you ever start a blog post and then not know what to say? I feel like that right now, so maybe I should just keep it simple. I can certainly talk enough at other times :)

Until next time........
Lynn

Collage and digital manipulation

Collage on water color paper.

Look what I rescued from the recycle bin, beautiful water color papers my daughter created in her High School art class 10 years ago.
She was clearing out some papers and I was shocked to see these among them, so I quickly snatched them up and will find many uses for them in my art work.

I didn't even touch the background on the little collage above, I couldn't even stamp on it because it just seemed perfect as it was to me.

What else have I been up to? Well, i have had my head in Photo Shop Elements 8 all last week. I recieved the program on Monday just in time for the class I am taking with DJ Pettitt in her Memories and Manipulations Workshop.
We are just going into the second week and at first I had a heck of a time understanding things, especially being new to this program, but now it is becoming a lot easier after fiddling around with everything.
Here is my first photo manipulation, using a photo of my beautiful snowball hydrangeas.


I am still not sure which one I prefer so I will post both. If you click on the photo you can see the effects much better.

I know I need a lot of practice, and there is still so much more to learn , but I am still quite pleased with these :)

I just love the start of a New Year , it holds so many possibilities, and I have so much to look forward to this year.
Until next time......