Merry Christmas

Where oh where did this year go? The older I get the faster the year flies by.

I am posting a card for all my blogger friends that I have met this year. This has been an interesting year in that I have discovered Kim Klassen and all her wonderful textures and in doing so, I met all these marvelous women artists thru her linky parties. I wish I could meet all of you in person and just absorb all the magical artistic energy that would be found in that room. I can see how the "Shutter Sister's Camp" gave Kim and probably every woman there a super dose of art magic. When you are in the environment and the energy is in the air you can just feel it in your pores.

I am wishing you all a fabulous holiday season and most certainly a glorious New Year. What will the new yr. bring? Or better yet, what will we find to inspire us and what will we make the new year? I don't do resolutions but I do believe that if you write down your dreams  you may be surprised how many things you made happen just by putting them out into the universe. What will be on your list?

I used several of Kim's textures on this I think I used Cosmo, Inspired Magic and the day 8 texture "Storm". Thank you Kim for giving us the gift of "Twelve Days of Texture".


12 Days of Texture

Day 4

It seems that time has gotten the better of me. Christmas is moving closer and closer and I feel I have not gotten anything accomplished, of course that isn't quite true but I feel pressured.  So, it has been hard to find time to use all the fabulous textures that Kim has been giving us this week. I love them all and know that when the dead of winter hits and all the holiday hustle bustle is over I will find many uses for them.

This shot was taken on my last trip home for mom's 94th birthday. I should not admit this but it was taken on the I-84 out the window at 65 mph with my iPhone. I took photos all along the way. The trees were gloriously golden and the dusting of snow on the hills was so pretty. I don't like to travel the 250 miles by myself in the winter but had no choice on this trip. There was snow at the farm but was gone and replaced by 50 mile an hr. winds on my way home several days later.



I used today's texture "Edward" on this and had edited it earlier with one of the "Magic Scratches" textures.
Thank you Kim for giving us such wonderful gifts.


12 Days of Texture

12 Days of Christmas at The Cafe`

 

12 Days of Christmas

This is the start of Kim's 12 days of Christmas. She so generously is giving away a texture a day for us to use. How wonderful is that!! I used her texture for today called "Lilly" for this edit. This is an old christening gown that belongs to my sister in law, she let me bring it home so that I could photograph it. I love the little gown and the pretty pink bow on the hanger. I went in search of a teddy bear to use in the photos but found a cute white bunny instead, I think he works pretty well with the dress and the old chair. I used two layers of Lilly one on soft light and the other on multiply, then I added scratched magic in screen mode, I love how the scratched magic gives the work an old print look. Hope everyone is having the start of a wonderful week. Check out The Cafe` for more uses of the new texture called "Lilly". Thanks Kim.    

12 Days of Christmas.

Celebrate

This week Texture Tuesday is all about "Celebrate" since we are in the season of celebration. Last yr. we took a walk around the neighborhood to take photos of the lights. I decided to use my lens baby with the specialty filters that give spectral light shapes. This was in one of the yards near my home. I loved how the filter gave the light around the Nativity the look of bright stars in the night sky.

Let's all celebrate the reason for the season. Head on over to Texture Tuesday and celebrate with all the creative artists this week. Happy Holidays to all my friends.

Gratitude

This week at Texture Tuesday at Kim Klassen's Cafe` we are to celebrate our gratitude since it is the week after Thanksgiving for us. When I stop to think of ALL the things in my life that I have to be grateful for, the list always starts with my family. Last week my mother celebrated her 94th birthday, we celebrated her special day with an early Thanksgiving feast with my brothers and families all there. I had spent several days with mom but wanted to be home on Thanksgiving. My daughter knew I would be tired from traveling from mom's that week. She invited us to have dinner with all of them. I really was worn out and not looking forward to taking on another whole dinner. I am so grateful for such a kind and caring daughter. It was a wonderful dinner and a very nice day spent with them all.

The photo I have used for Texture Tuesday is from an old 35mm slide taken by my mom. This is the farm where I grew up. Not sure which winter this was but by looking at the small trees in the lane maybe our second winter. I am so grateful for growing up here. Now mind you, that was not always the case, as a teenager I really didn't like it!! We lived 20 miles from town and all of us from the farms were the "country" kids. But I must tell you that as I have grown older this place has much more importance. This old lane holds so many memories. Getting off the school bus and rushing up to the house because we could smell the fresh baked bread mom had spent the day making, we knew there were probably be some yummy cinnamon rolls too. Meeting my girlfriend after all the chores were done. I'd always say "meet me in the lane". In the summer waiting anxiously for the bookmobile to get there so we could get more books to read. So many memories.

The lane is still there of course, but the old house is not. Mom and dad built a new house after I had left home, so I grew up in this one. Several yrs. ago my uncle died and my aunt decided to move near family on the farm. This old house was torn down and her manufactured home was put in it's spot. Even though I knew it was happening, the first time I drove up the lane and the house was gone and all that was there was an empty space I had a flood of emotion. I tear up even now thinking about it. It was such an empty space in my heart. I am grateful that we have all been there for my aunt and that she is close to us.

My daughter spent many happy hours at her grandma and grandpa's playing with her cousins, I am grateful that she had that opportunity and it fills my heart with joy when I hear her talk about the wonderful times she had there.

I used two different magic scratched textures on this and Kim's latest one "Poetic" Check out ALL the amazing work over at The Cafe`. So many talented people and such a wonderful group, I am also so very very grateful to Kim for all of her generous giving. She is a wonderful teacher and just one of the sweetest women I have met. (well, not exactly met, as face to face) but in the cyber world we are all so connected that all the friends I know through Texture Tuesday I feel I have "met".

Texture Tuesday

Two Plus Two

I had a hard time trying to decide between two photos so I posted them both. The ginko leaves are processed with February Magic Edges and Extreme Grunge. Since it is an interpretation of "Two" this week I have named this one Two plus Two and I posted two images. I love ginko leaves their shape is just so fascinating and different. I know they are an ancient tree but without looking it up I don't know the history. There are a couple of them in my neighborhood and I love to watch them change in the Fall,they turn a glorious shade of gold.

This one I titled "Pears A Duex". I uses several of Kim's textures as you can see in the screen shot.
Including her wonderful new texture "Phoebe". Sounds like Kim had a wonderful time at Camp Shutter Sisters. Loved her post today about dreams. Got me to thinking, I have lots of dreams but have never really given them life by writing them down. I think that is going to be a project for me this week. Visualize what my dreams are and write them down, look at them and find ways to make them come true. I do believe that if you can dream it you can achieve it. Winter always gets me in a gray mood, it can be so gloomy and wet here in the winter and the sun is absent for days and months. I need to use this time to make my dreams come true. How about all of you, are you ready to really make it happen? Next week I will try and post my list of dreams. Head over to the Cafe to see how we used the prompt "Two" this week.
Texture Tuesday

10/31/2011 Seasons Beauty

I have been loving all the Fall color this yr. We have been on several outings to capture the color. I belong to a group called Meetup, our group is Women Learning Photography Together. It is really nice to have a group of women who are enthusiastic about going out and improving their skill and helping one another. We had an outing to the Portland OR Japanese Gardens. It is always so beautiful but this yr it seems the color is especially vibrant.  Hmmm, you are saying to yourself, this doesn't look vibrant at all it looks very pastel. Well, yes it does, but only because I wanted a very soft and romantic look for this one. I love the bold and bright colors of the leaves but there was something about Kim's texture "And Then Some" that was to be used this week, that just lended itself to softness. If I had mastered the technique of the mouse over I could show you the original but since I haven't you will have to trust me that this had bold color before I added the texture. I don't have the formula but I think I used it twice and masked the leaves to bring out some of the color. More Fall posts to come or check out my facebook page for two albums of beautiful color from the Pacific Northwest. Happy Texture Tuesday, check out all of our post using the textures so lovingly created and shared with us by Kim Klassen. 

Texture Tuesday

Season's End

I LOVE summer, and it is hard to transition to the chillier, wetter weather here in the Fall. Although I think Fall color is beautiful, it does not compare, for me, to the abundance of color in the Spring and Summer. I picked the last of the blooming daisies awhile back and set them in the garage to dry. I have seen lots of shots of dried dying flowers that I admire so I thought I would try my hand at it for a TT project. My layers are listed on the screenshot, as you can see I used 3 instead of 2 of Kim's textures. I set the daisies on the seat of the old white kitchen chair that I found at a barn sale this summer. Love that old thing. It is going to be used often.

My week spent with my mom was very draining, emotionally, physically and mentally. It is so hard to watch someone you love and who was such a strong woman all her life, lose touch with her world. She is in good health but mentally she is not understanding all the changes in her life. She doesn't understand why she has to have someone there to care for her since all this time she has been alone. Makes my heart sad, but yet I am so blessed that she is still here with us. I must tell myself to treasure each day because one day she will be gone and it will be very difficult to lose her. She has been a rock to all of us all our lives and now we have to be her rock.

Texture Tuesday
Please stop by TT and see all the beautiful art, created by all the beautiful people there.

Red

The theme this week at Texture Tuesday is "RED". I actually took this for Valentines Day but since it is certainly in the red category I decided to work on it for TT. I collect hearts of all kinds and forms, from ceramic to finding heart shaped rocks. This is an older Avon piece of Ruby glass I believe.  Here is a screenshot of what I did and the textures I used. The layer one texture is Kim's new one "And then some".






Not sure how much I will be able to comment this week, I am headed to my mom's to spend the next week taking care of her. She is 93 and though she is not in ill health she is very frail and needs someone with her to make sure she is eating and taking care of herself properly. I am sure that the "RED" eDition will be fabulous, head on over to the Cafe` and check out all the art.

Texture Tuesday

 Yesterday I participated in the Scott Kelby World Wide Photo Walk. All over the world groups of photographers gathered to walk around their city and shoot photos for a few hours. It is amazing to be able to see and share all this with one another. Our walk was a late afternoon stroll around the part of our town near Union Station called The Pearl. Taking the time to actually walk the blocks in a part of town I rarely visit was eye opening. There is so much to see and experience. It was a rainy day for most of the day but the time we spent out on the walk wasn't too bad. Some sprinkles but I never did have to use the umbrella. These are just a few of the shots that I took.

Condos by the park. This park in more of a natural area in the city, it has a pond with goldfish, reeds and water lilies. There is a small deck walk along the very unusual fence made of metal pieces with some colored glass art interspersed. Very pretty.

The photo on the left is of what is left of an old old building. There was no history on it but it has been preserved and left in place as a reminder of what once was. Lots of character in these old bricks and metal shutters.

This of course is self explanatory. It is Union Station. A glorious old train station. The outside is being renovated so I did not do any photos other than the tower. Next time I will take more time and go in and also go around on the grounds. There were some great shots posted from our group of outside shots.

Gratitude: The quality or feeling of being grateful or thankful.

 Texture Tuesday's challenge is to show something that gives us gratitude and to use two of Kim Klassen's textures. I thought for some time on this to pick a subject for this week. There are many many things to be grateful for in my life so I thought of doing a collage of several different things. I love the sea, I love watching the birds at the feeder I love the quietness of the forest on a hike, but most of all I LOVE my family. They are what make me grateful and thankful for each and every day. Life is a very short journey and the people we share it with are what give us the reasons to get up and move everyday. When you lose someone from that circle you instantly learn how short life really is. I have learned to live each day as if it were my last because we just never know. I love that I can do for my family and bring them small gifts of joy, a trip to the beach or a day spent together. Cooking a special meal and sharing time laughing and being in the company of one another. This is what brings GRATITUDE into my life. 

I used three of Kim's textures on this one and several other layers and masking and brushes to get the effect I was after. Be sure and check out the Cafe` for all the talented people and see what we are all grateful for in our lives. 

Texture Tuesday

Love

This weeks challenge for Texture Tuesday is "LOVE". Ahhh, that is an easy one, there are so many things in this world to love, but seeing two young people in love and newly married is special. This is my niece Shelby and her husband Dillon. They were married in April but waited to have a reception in August at home with family and friends. Dillon is in the Army and was stationed in El Paso TX so they waited for a break in basic training to plan and come home on leave for the reception.
I told them that as a gift I would do photos for them for that day. Harry, my boyfriend, and Jacqui my good friend came with me to help out. We did lots of candid shots through out the day, since it was a very hot and sunny day, we waited till the evening light to get them back in their wedding finery for more formal photos of them and family members. I think they were pleased with the outcome and have lots of fun memories of the day. I know we all had fun doing this for them. God bless you both and prayers for Dillon who is now on active duty in the war zone.
The kiss was the last photo of the day. I processed it with three of Kim Klassen's textures, thank you Kim for your generosity.
Love at multiply @ 100%
Dreams at Divide @63%
Scripted Edges at Screen@53%

Check out the Cafe` for all the wonderful things related to "LOVE"

Texture Tuesday

Around Town.

A few weeks ago we spent a wonderful Sunday afternoon exploring not only around town but taking in the "Art in The Park" art show downtown. I am always impressed by the many different forms art takes and the ideas people come up with that are so interesting and different. I have found that by participating in Texture Tuesday too, so many talented and creative people. Just mind boggling.
After we spent several hrs. at the art show, we decided to visit one of our favorite streets in Portland, Alberta St. At one time this street was rundown and not a place that you would choose to go for any reason. But the last several yrs. have seen a boom in revitalizing these kinds of areas in the core areas of the city. Along with Alberta there is Mississippi Ave, Belmont St. and several others that have developed into meccas for artist of all kind, lots of neat restaurants and food carts. There are areas set aside for the food carts and they are nestled in one area together. Quite fun to explore.
We parked the car to begin our treasure hunt at the ReStore, a place that recycles all the parts of a house or building that can be reused, instead of having it go to the landfill. This old tree with the tire swing was in the empty lot by where we parked, In my mind I could see this as a perfect subject for Texture Tuesday. I think it proved me right. So after a few photos off to explore we went ........................
I have an affinity for old windows and doors and I was looking for a particular kind of window frame and a small cabinet door to make into a chalk board. Well, I didn't find the window but I did find the little cupboard. It is now turned into a shabby chic chalk board, if there is such a thing. I have plans for it to be used in photos of course.  It was a really warm day and we had started out early to avoid the heat, here we were in the middle of the day and the sun is beating down but we walked on to explore the rest of the street. My good friend Jacqui was with us and she had never been to Alberta so we had to give her a tour and check out some of the little quirky shops. One other place I wanted to visit was the Pistils Garden shop. They have some neat and different plants. I have been wanting a Palm tree for my yard and priced the taller ones but they were a bit out of my range for right now. Low and behold,they had a small one that would work perfectly and grow into the space. I grabbed it up and brought it home to it's new garden. A very enjoyable and lovely day.
I processed this with one of Kim's new textures Ugglove. I have to tell you I'm LOVIN IT. Check out all the others at the Cafe` this week.

Texture Tuesday

Wings

A few weeks ago my friends and I took a trip out into the country to an exhibit we had read about in the paper called "Wings of Wonder". The people have set up a walk thru exhibit with hundreds of butterflies. Many different varieties. It was so much fun to photograph but it was very warm and humid inside to simulate the environment of the butterflies. We did spend quite a bit of time in there and really enjoyed the day. This one is edited with textures from Kim Klassen.
http://www.kimklassencafe.com/

"Do Art"

http://www.kimklassencafe.com/thecafe/tag/texture-tuesday


I am trying to stay ahead of the game but doesn't seem to be working. Today was one of those days when there are multiple things to do. It seems fitting that that is the theme this week for Texture Tuedsay, well actually we had a choice, either use the verb "do" in your photo or you could instead use any photo and add a specific texture. I had been thinking about this all week and had made up my mind that my use of do was going to be "Do Art".  Granted there are many many ways to do art, my art of choice is photography but I also get the acrylics out and put paint on a canvas once in awhile. The thing with painting is I LOVE to start them, then I invariably get stuck and can't quite get the inspiration to finish. That is where I am on the one sitting on my easel now, but I think I have finally (after 8 mo. or so) found a solution to being stuck on this one. I hope so, it is for my good friend and I promised it for her birthday this yr. Hmmm, maybe Christmas??

I also want to do every thing I see related to arts and crafts. My goodness, since I have started following Kim Klassen and doing texture Tuesdays I have found so many amazing and wonderful artists of every kind. Humbles me, I really am in awe of these women. It makes me wonder how you find the time to do all the things you do. I seem to never have enough time to get all the things in that I want to do in a day. I make my list and check it off but at the end of the day I seem to have added more and more to it!!! I have projects that I want to do but then the house needs cleaned or the yard needs attention. I think I am not a good manager of time. Could be I'm on the computer too much................ya think................. LOL. But that is how I have met all you, so it can't be all bad huh?

My photo is very simply done this time.

Posterize at 51%
Kim's "Just Stitched" at 100%

and that's it. Check out all the amazing work at the Cafe` this week.

Flea Market Finds

    http://www.kimklassencafe.com/thecafe


I am a day behind because of the holiday weekend. Not even thinking that this is Tuesday!! Spent the weekend working in the yard and trying to stay cool. We are having a very warm September, but I for one, am not complaining. Beautiful blue sunny skies make me happy.............So this morning as I am looking at email, I realize that it is Tuesday, Texture Tuesday and I have nothing prepared. I had taken photos of the new little bench I found and quickly started to work on it. Thursday, I helped a new friend set up and rotate artwork for a new organization I joined, Three Rivers Art Guild. She asked me to be one of the artists to put up work. After we had finished moving the art work she wanted me to see the gallery where members can sign up and have there work up for three months. Next to the gallery is a new antique mall, we explored there and I found two things right off the bat that had to come home with me. This little blue bench for the garden was one of them. As luck would have it I had to go back there to get a mistake on my credit card taken care of and the minute I walked in I spotted something that I have been looking for...................A pink flamingo, not just any pink flamingo, this one is paper mache`(sp). Story with her photos later but my sister in law came up with a great name, Matilda, I call her Tilly for short. But I am not sure Tilly is a pure bred flamingo, she had the beak of a crane but she is pink!! So to me she is a flamingo. Back to the little blue bench, it looks so pretty sitting under the dogwood tree in the yard, completes a corner that was lacking something. I love flea mkts and antique malls, but I like finding bargains even more.
The theme this week for TT was to use at least one layer of Kim's fabulous new texture called "Cracker Jack" the formula for this one is:

One layer of "Peeling Paint"@100% overly with it masked off the flower.

One layer of "Cracker Jack" 100% divide

One layer of "Serious Magic" 100%  Screen

Check out all the great art on Texture Tuesday, follow the link below the photo. Thanks Kim for all the inspiration.

Orange

Texture Tuesday is all about "Orange" this week. Originally I had a photo of an orange dahlia in mind, so the petals looked like flames. Well I bought one at the farmers market yesterday and this morning it looked like a sorry mess. Luckily I had also picked some Zinnia on Friday for flowers on the table for a dinner party. One of the ones that was still fresh was orange so it all worked out in the end.
I enjoyed playing with the storyboard that Kim gave us last week. I used several textures on this to get the look I was after "canvasback", "KK2" and "luminious". The tutorial for putting the colors in the swatches was very easy to follow. Fun project. I am sure we will see more than one storyboard used this week. Texture Tuesday keeps me creative, thank you Kim. Join us over at the Cafe`.http://www.kimklassencafe.com/

Weddings, Senior Pics and Camping.

Which brings me to camping. It has been a couple of years since we have been able to get out camping and this summer we made plans to go in mid August. It seemed summer had finally arrived and we were having sunny days and lucky for us the sunny weather held out and we had 4 beautiful day camping and hiking in the gorge. I have to admit I have not even edited the photos from that trip so this post will be continued later. I will say that Brandon, my youngest grandson, Jacqui, my good friend and Harry, my boyfriend and I had a wonderful time camping. More to come later with photos of the gorgeous waterfalls we saw on our hike and a few stories from camp. Although, it might be that what happens in camp stays in camp. LOL.

Weddings, Senior Pics, Camping

                                                                     
The next thing on the list was my promise to do Senior photos for my grandson Tyler. The post above this one explains the story but to summarize, he asked me to help out a friend too so one afternoon we all had time and set out to photograph.
The boys were troopers, and seemed to really get into the spirit, that made it easy for me. I had been afraid they might be a bit shy and not want to try poses but that was not the case, they even came up with a few of their own. It was not the best time of day for shooting and the sun was very bright so we will be going out again this week later in the afternoon to try again. I cannot believe that Tyler is going into his last year of high school. I am very proud of him, he is on the honor roll and works very hard at his studies. He is also an awesome football player and I am looking forward to seeing more of his games this year. As a senior he will get to play more.