snow

winter

sisters are doin' it for themselves

bamboo garden

dreams of the forest
swaying with the wind as does
the ancient bamboo

in the rain

soft drops in the trees
the damp air is golden
walking hand in hand

bicycle

It doesn't seem quite finished. Not sure what to do next.

medieval knight

When my son Barry was 12 years old he joined an organization called the Arthurian Order of Avalon. The AOA was a wonderful experience -- lots of choreographed swordfights, performing a human chessboard play every year at the local Medieval Fair, feasts, parties, armor-making, jousting, costumes, singing, dancing, even cooking and sewing. Part of this image is a small beaded quilt that I made with a photo of him in costume.

the bird is the word

Another PS CS4 creation using layer masks. My formula (or rut) is to open a new image using a template that I created for my journal. I duplicate the background layer (Cmd J on mac, Ctrl J on pc), then select a font and start typing. This is a personal journal where I say whatever comes to mind. I fill up the page, and if I am not through writing, I have a file on my computer where I can continue, so that I don't have to stop if I am on a roll. I lock the text layer, then start Placing images on layers. I choose a central photo, like the bird, and add texture with pictures that I have taken, brushes, and acquired texture files. Then I play with positioning the layers, changing colors, and so on. I add layer masks to expose or conceal parts of the images. This is starting to feel very comfortable, so I need to find some new techniques to explore in photoshop.

My journal template is 5X7 and I am using high resolution images so I should be able get good quality prints. I am imagining a crazy quilt using some of my favorite images. Or maybe I could wait until the end of the year when presumably I will have 365 images and make a quilt that would cover the roof of my house. Sort of a Christos installation. I wrote those last few sentences to see if anyone is actually reading my blog. Surely someone will comment!

come into the woods

Created in PhotoShop CS4. The flowers and woods are a picture that I took, and the girl is an image that I got from Divas D'Este on one of their great cd's. The purple lace pattern is a photoshop brush that I downloaded from a website -- and now I don't remember which one, sorry.

I decided that I liked the lace over the other images, although I did remove it from around the face using a layer mask.

These collages are great fun to do, and I am getting much faster.

My studio has been a wreck for at least 6 weeks, and I going to spend this week cleaning it up so I can get crackin' on all the projects running around my brain, including printing some of the journal pages on fabric.

my music album

This is the album cover for my band's newest release. Actually, this was a little facebook game. To make your own album cover, follow these directions, as quoted from facebook.

1 - Go to wikipedia and hit random. The first random wikipedia article you get is the name of your band. 2 - Go to quotationspage.com and hit random. The last four or five words of the very last quote of the page is the title of your first album. 3 - Go to flickr and click on “explore the last seven days”. Third picture no matter what it is, will be your album cover. 4 - Use photoshop or similar (picnik.com is a free online photo editor) to put it all together. 5 - Post it with this text in the "caption" and TAG the friends you want to join in.

It makes as much sense as lots of album covers that I have seen.

disconnect

bff

more gratitude

If all the mother love in the world could be concentrated in a beam and shot at all the hate-filled people in the world, they would be transformed, and so would life as we know it. Imagine a world where peace is normal and war is regarded as pure insanity. Imagine a world where no one goes to bed hungry. Imagine a world where sick people -- all sick people, even the mentally ill ones -- are treated with kindness and provided with the help they need. Imagine a world without violence of any kind. Imagine a world without fear. Imagine a world filled with love.

Hemingway's Garden

Wanderlust

January 16 Journal Page

Scrumptious Scraps with Christen Brown

Scrumptious Scraps with Christen Brown

What a wonderful idea. Christen Brown has found a new way to make beautiful things with scraps of lace and silk ribbon embroidery.

Girls and Swan

Since I plan to print my pages on paper or fabric I've decided to leave open space for hand embellishing.

Dreams of Paris

This would be a good day to go to Paris.

The Loveliness of Snow

We have not had a beautiful snow this winter. As much as I do not like the inconvenience of snow and ice, I do love looking at the blanket of snow outside. I have used an image from a storm that occurred about a year ago. Our woods were covered and we even had icicles hanging from the roof. We were snowed in for several days and spent lots of time reading by the fireplace, venturing out only for more firewood. We may not get a snow like this in 2011, but I have my snowstorm picture to remind me.

gratitude unlocks the fullness of life

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.

~Melody Beattie

It's a Boundary Thing

I am journaling more than I ever have. I love to write whatever is on my mind, then cover it up with images. It's still there, it's a design element, and it becomes something I can share with others.

My word for 2011 is "learn". While making these journal pages I am learning about myself (writing), and learning about design and photoshop while creating the collages. As Ina would say, "What could be better than that?"

Vantage Point

Hoop Love Vintage Transfers

Just found this website, Hoop Love Vintage Transfers, and I can't wait to download and stitch some of their designs.

Can't you just see these on a crazy quilt? All the images are uploaded by members, these two are from cntryquilter. Any flickr member can upload their own images, provided that the images they are not copyrighted.

As of this date, there are 6,232 images for download. Oh, did I mention that they are free?

Milliande Art Community for Women

One of my favorite online communities is Milliande's. Take a look if you like to make friends, share your art, be inspired by others' art, ask questions, answer questions, and get birthday cards, among other things.


Visit Milliande Art Community for Women

Armadillo Tracks in the Sand, January 10

Hidden Feelings, January 9

Frida Says to Persevere, January 8

Alcoholism Sucks, January 7

Post Wreck Stress, January 6

Depression Hurts, January 5

Never Too Late, January 4

Self-Portrait in Taos, January 3

Mother's Birthday, January 2

Learn, January 1

No more failed new year's resolutions for me. I decided that this year I would focus on learning: about myself, art, life, whatever comes along. The idea of choosing one word, rather than a list of resolutions came from Linda Matthews, a designer whose blog I follow. She is a talented designer and a great teacher. I have taken online classes from her and I own her Titivations dvd. Her website includes links to over 270 free handbag patterns and tutorials! (See linked image below.)

Since I want to learn more about PhotoShop I have started making a digital journal page a day, which I will post here. My first effort is this page with my word at the top.

I will probably print out some of the pages on paper or fabric and embellish them with foil, stitching, beads, embroidery, and so on. Each page is 5x7" and could be a journal cover, a featured element in a pillow, or part of a quilt. Right now I am having fun working with textures, brushes, fonts, and colors in PhotoShop so embellishing will come later.

Want to try this yourself with PhotoShop or PhotoShop Elements? Linda's website has lots of tutorials. Just scroll down until you see "PhotoShop Elements". You might also try Kim Classen's free Skinny-Mini eCourse. Registration closes January 17, 2011.

I'll post the pages I've made to date, and one a day after that, as long as I can keep it up -- life sometimes happens so fast that there's not time to write about it!