HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Digital elements from Irene Alexeeva at Scraporchard and Lori Davison at Scrapbook Graphics. 
Lady image courtesy of Terri Pringle.
Have a happy and safe Halloween.
BOO...

DIGITAL WEEK

More playing with layers, blending modes and textures!  I took the rose photo this summer in my garden.
Check out Kim Klassen's skinny mini of image editing FREE workshop. You will find the info here. 

DIGITAL WEEK

Another day, another digital!  I started out with a photograph of hydrangeas from my garden.  I extracted the hydrangeas from the original background and added a lovely watercolour background available from  Shadowhouse Creations.  Again, played with layers, blending modes and added some text.  Simple!  Might make a nice card.

Check out Kim Klassen's skinny mini of image editing FREE workshop. You will find the info here. 

DIGITAL WEEK

Kim Klassen is offering the skinny mini of image editing FREE workshop. It is an excellent introductory mini workshop for beginner's using Photoshop Elements.  You will find the info here.  My playing continues.

The above is a photo of an old tree I took several winters ago.  I've played with adjustment layers, colour fills, opacity, blending modes and added some textures that Kim kindly provided in class.

More tomorrow.....

DIGITAL WEEK

Several weeks ago I saw an article about an upcoming FREE digital workshop on Lynn's blog - thank you Lynn! 

Kim Klassen is offering this skinny mini of image editing. It is an excellent introductory mini workshop for beginner's using Photoshop Elements.  You will find the info here.  I thought I would have some fun this week and play along.     

The above image is a photograph of daisies taken in my garden this summer.  Our assignment was to play with blending modes, opacities and colour adjustment layers.  Interesting the different appearance that can be achieved with the same base photo.

More digital tomorrow.... 

TAKE TIME

 I've been working on some new ATC's to add to my collection. These are slightly different than my previous batch. A collection of fabric, lace, brads etc. with that vintage feel. This one is "Take Time" so hope all of you take time to do something you enjoy this weekend. Chat Monday.

THE LAST SKINNY!!!

This is the last skinny of my skinny swap from Marion! Marion does such lovely work - thank you girlfriend!

I have received 10 wonderful skinnies so must now figure out how I want to display them - in a book, on the wall or? Will need to ponder....

Prior to this swap I had not worked in a 4x8 format and must admit, I've really enjoyed it and want to do more. So, expect to see some more skinnies in the future.

The weather has been fantastic the last several days so plan to spend a bit of time in the garden as well as finishing up some painting I've been working on.

RETAIL THERAPY.....

What would some time in the city be without retail therapy! Picked up the above goodies related to what else, embroidery!!!!

I spent the last couple of days with an enthusiastic group of women learning "The Art of Embroidery" - beginner's stitching. Some of what I learned was review and some was new. I now know how to stitch a shisha so am pleased to be able to add these lovely little mirrors into my work. I find attending workshops so inspirational - always lots to learn from both the instructor as well as fellow participants.

I need to get caught up on some blog visits and am off to take some photos of my samples. Enjoy your day.

SKINNY AUTUMN MOOD....

This is the front of the skinny I made for Trudi for the month of September. My thoughts were to create a forest floor interspersed with flowers. The background is created using rovings needle felted on a felt background. I've added bits of glisten and cheesecloth to this. Flowers are french knots and fabric bits. They were created using Gilda Baron's techniques from her DVD, a very talented UK textile artist.

This is the back of the skinny created digitally. I was in an Autumn Mood.
I will not be updating my blog until the middle of next week as I'm off to an embroidery course in the city. I'll have photos to share on my return.
Enjoy your weekend......

EVERGREENS

I've been playing around digitally of late. This is a very west coast photo taken a short distance drive from our home.

Typical evergreens.......

Am off for some retail therapy in the city today. Never know what I might find.

SKINNY....

This is the skinny that arrived from Germany last week. Viola made it for me! Isn't it fantastic! I LOVE IT! Viola does the most beautiful textile collages so drop by her blog for a visit. She has a second blog Shabby Chic Inspired which is most definitely worth a visit.

My "package" was FULL of surprises - I was giddy! I was stitching the other day and thought I needed to get some mother of pearl style buttons and low and behold, some arrived. There are lace motifs, a lovely collaged tag and some printed images. I haven't seen lace motifs like these ones so they are quite special. You've inspired me Viola - thank you my friend for your generosity!

MAIL

I had a very busy mail week last week - love it! Gill and I did a postcard swap and this arrived from France last week. Gill makes lots of lovely little things so pop over for a visit.

Spent some time in the studio this weekend with various projects underway. Also spent some time visiting various blogs. Amazing amount of creativity out there!

I was researching how to organize my growing collection of beads - if any of you have any suggestions please let me know. While doing so, I came across a flickr group that posts about craft rooms. Some lovely crafting spaces are shown. Might want to check them out.

PLAYING AROUND CONTINUES....

Well, I couldn't show you everything in one day - where would the fun be in that! I applied MORE paint then splattered. At this point, I wasn't sure what I was going to do so had to leave it for a couple of days to ponder.

I decided to add more stenciling then played around practicing some calligraphy and a very small amount of graffiti! I was going to add more graffiti, colour and other layers but got stuck at that point (again) and felt the background was so colourful and light that it would suit flowers more than graffiti so changed directions and added flowers and leaves!
This is the final result! Originally I had planned to rip it in pieces for mail art. BUT, I have decided to keep it as is and am going to hang it in the yard next summer! Another piece, completely different is underway as I write.....

It is Canadian Thanksgiving this weekend so will be back on Tuesday. Happy Thanksgiving to all my fellow Canadians.

PLAYING AROUND....

I signed up for Alisa Burke's online class, Graffiti Chic several weeks back. I've always admired Alisa's free style of working and would like to apply this to my own work. During one of my thrift store ventures several months ago, I came across a box of white sheets (yes, for your bed!) and picked up several for a whopping 50 cents each! So, I had this brainwave or brain..art depending on your point of view to use it as my substrate. Wasn't sure how it would paint up but why not give it a try and see SO

I have one of those 5' plastic pop up tables in the garage so set that up with a spare piece of plywood hanging about. I covered this with some plastic (could use an old shower curtain), ripped the sheet in half horizontally and attached with bulldog clips. Worked like a charm.....

Then I started to PLAY layering! I applied acrylic paint in various colours that I had kicking around (the cheap stuff) and even some old household paint.
This is after several layers...... THEN????

TEXTILE COLLAGE

I've been playing around making some more ATC's of late and decided I would experiment with making some textile collages in a slightly larger format for postcards. I plan to make more but this is a start.
A fabulous way to use up little bits and scraps....

SKINNY SWAP - QUEEN DEAR....

I actually received this some time ago. This is my skinny from Marsha! I'm sure many of you know her but Marsha does the most incredible work. This is all cut and pasted and the COLOUR is fabulous, far better than what it appears here on the computer monitor.

Love it girlfriend!
I'm expecting another one any day now from Germany......

WEEKEND ACTIVITIES

It was a busy kitchen weekend! Shopped several weeks ago for supplies and since the weather was cooler Sunday, spent some time cooking.

I used to do a lot of baking but since I tend to "eat" what I bake and my waistline shows it, I now tend to make very little. Since I'm thinking about doing some gift baskets for the holidays, decided to do some baking. First on the list, christmas cake!

I have a reputation for my mincemeat tarts and make my own mincemeat!

and then since I was in the kitchen and we had some peaches, I decided to make a couple of small pies for some of the neighbours.
So that's what kept me busy. How about you?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TERRI

Mid summer I was contacted by Lynn who was organizing a surprise birthday gift for my talented blog friend Terri at Pringle Hill Studio. Terri celebrated her 60th and the plan was to send her 60 ATC's from various art and blog friends. What a great idea! Here is my ATC that now has a new home with Terri. Naturally I had to add some colour because Terri likes COLOUR!

She liked it!

Thanks Lynn for organizing this special gift.

Can you believe it is October 1st!!! Back Monday