Drawing #25 - Open Road

I think my new drawing is just right to wish us all a Happy New Year! It is called "Open Road" and I hope we can all find an open road to our hopes and dreams.

I continue to think of these multimedia pieces as mental landscapes. In collage journaling I tried, unsuccessfully, to incorporate written thoughts and feelings with images. In my drawings I think the images are my voice. The pen shapes in lieu of words create what I now think of as "letters to the cosmos." I create from my own mental space, but the results are open to everyone to explore their own inner landscape. Here's to your exploration of an open road.

This is a return to my 7x10 inch sketchbook and even the smaller size took time to complete. Don't forget to click on the image for a larger view.

Forgotten Recipe Surprise

When asked about my oyster stew recipe I thought surely it couldn't have been mine. Still, I thought perhaps I did have one in my recipe box. Sure enough I not only have it, but it looked pretty well used. Containing butter and whole milk, we wouldn't have had it in a very long time. Memory sure is a funny thing!

This week's lift featured the use of a list. I couldn't think of a thing until I reread the directions and saw the mention of a possible list of ingredients in a recipe. Having the forgotten recipe in mind I knew I had to use it as my story. I think it looks a bit like the stained recipe card or perhaps the stew itself.

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Designer Credits:
all Anna Aspnes
-papers, brushes, button: ArtPlay Palette Sophistica
-flower, brush: ArtPlay Palette Ablaze
-gold overlay: GoldPaint Overlays No. 1
-gold leaf: GoldLeaves No. 1
-branch: Twiggy No. 1 BrushSet
-spiral brush: DifferentStrokes No. 7 BrushSet

fonts: Enchanted Prairie Dog, baby dont worry bout it!, Ellianarelle's Path, DomCasual BT, Koala

Drawing #24 - fifteen maple

The latest drawing takes its name from a word list from my mother's elementary school reader that shows in the piece. The paper size is 12x16 and this time I worked the whole sheet. It is multimedia or mixed media being a combination of collage, paint and inks on watercolor paper. One of the inks is an iridescent gold that changes with the angle of the viewer. A detail in the light shows a bit of its character. I'm still amazed at how large this paper becomes when I'm working on it. The style creates a lot of motion and that combined with the lively colors makes this a treat to look at on these gray days. Remember to click on the image for a larger view and right-click for options to see it at full size.

and a detail from the upper right to show the gold ink:

October Shore, the lake looked good

A challenge this month used an effect in Photoshop or PSE to outline an object. Paint Shop Pro doesn't seem to have that tool, so I used another method. I had this lovely photo of a boat basin on Lake Erie from October. It has been blended for more drama and I really like the effect and the way it goes with the lovely patterned paper. The cloudy sky reminds me of our very wet year. They don't predict much more precipitation the remainder of the year, but our average annual rainfall is around 39 inches and we passed the previous record in the fifties on October 19th. Currently we've had sixty-some inches for 2012! The ground is simply soggy.

Anyway...I'm very happy to have completed another larger size drawing, but I'm waiting for daylight to photograph it as I did with the last one. It is a bit different, but still the same idea.

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Designer Credits:
-patterned paper, gray paper: All Hallow's Night by Leora Sanford
-elements, brushes, transfers: ArtPlay Palette Encapsulate by Anna Aspnes
fonts: Kaster, France

The Sun Snuck In One Afternoon

This month's camera challenge has us focus on light. Two weeks ago we were returning home on a very gray day (as most of them have been!) but it was nearing sunset and the sun was coming though from the west under the cloud cover. As Dick was driving, I could get him to stop every spot it looked like a good shot. One of the last I took was really wonderful.

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Designer Credits:
With a View by Kathryn Wilson Designs
font: Boopee

Whining About the Snow on Saturday

Saturday was our Christmas Bird Count. Three of us met in Lake View about sunrise, hard to tell that though as it was very gray with some moisture in the air. The birds were pretty quiet, but they tend to be in small groups at this time of year. That way it can be feast or famine in counting. Before long it started to snow. That isn't necessarily so bad, but it kept it up and started to spit and sting. We moved on to other areas and sometimes the snow was heavier than others, but we kept getting coated in it. We had to try keeping it out of our binoculars so we could see too. Finally, driving back to the second car we were grateful the cemetery has stakes along the drives so we could tell we were on the road! At that point we usually move on to other sections for maybe an hour, but decided to break early for lunch. Out on the roads we saw cars skidding on the slick surfaces. At home for lunch we watched the snow keep coming down and wimped out and stayed home for the afternoon. That night I photographed the small dogwood tree next door in all its snowy glory. Thus ended the first real snow of the season for us. Today we had rain and a lot of the white stuff is gone. Sigh, couldn't it have come on any other day?

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Designer Credits:
-background: Oscraps Collab TrOpical
-frame: Old Stuff by Jodie McNally Designs
-snowflakes: Flakes Dew by Kitty Designs
-reindeer: Santangles by Maya de Groot
-snow, doodle: Oscraps Collab Winter Wonderland
-tree embossed overlay (with multiply blend): Emboss It Christmas by Merkeley Designs
fonts: Kings of Pacifica, Chicago House, Jellyka, End_less Voyage, Erie

A Decoration of Butterflies

This week's lift challenge featured a tree of bokeh lights. I had to see tutorials to even know what they were talking about. The challenge though was to "decorate" a tree more or less in our layout. Somehow that led to use photos Dick and I took last fall of butterflies. We both like the look achieved. The text comes from some quotes or poems I found through Google.

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Designer Credits:
ArtPlay Palette Sophistica by Anna Aspnes
font: James Fajardo

Butterfly and Angel: two views of a Christmas kit

We were challenged to use a Christmas-themed kit for a subject unrelated to the holiday. I chose a beautiful kit and a butterfly photo from last September. The butterfly is called a wood nymph. It always surprises me when I see it farther west like this as there it has large pale areas on the wing that the ones where I live don't have. I used the same kit for one of the regular monthly challenges too. This was the web inspiration one based on a holiday photo. I like the (unintentional) pairing of winged beings!

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Designer Credits:
kit is Santangles by Maya de Groot
the poinsettias have a photo mask from ArtPlay Palette No. 10 by Anna Aspnes
butterfly fonts: Kredit, Liberation Sans Narrow; angel fonts: Cardinal, Huxtable

Chock Full of Christmas

For the first 12 days of December we've had a daily topic to photograph for Christmas. That is paired with a template for a 12 photo collage for our 12 Days of Christmas. The topics are: 1.family, 2.food, 3.sweets, 4.color(red/green/gold/or silver), 5.stockings, 6.Santa, 7.decoration, 8.Christmas trees, 9.snow, 10.holiday lights, 11.holiday foliage, 12.candles. For food I have a photo of bags of oranges taken while grocery shopping with my sister. They reminded us of the oranges or tangerines and assorted nuts that came in our stockings as children. The snow I'm happy to report had to come from a source other than outdoors, in this case wrapping paper. The tree is at the shopping mall as are a number of others. The lights are on a house down the street.

I'm really glad to have been prompted to do this challenge. I would never have taken many of the pictures nor would I have this very happy holiday collage. I do think it is chock full of Christmas and holiday spirit. I hope it will bring a smile to each of you too.

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Designer Credits:
-template: 12 photos of Christmas by Timounette
-background: Magical Christmas by Lydia Designs
-overlay (also used as separator bar): GoldPaint Overlays No. 1 by Anna Aspnes
-red paper: ArtPlay Palette Ablaze by Anna Aspnes
-green papers: MonoBlendz Sage No. 1 by Anna Aspnes
-bow: With a View by Kathryn Wilson Designs
-twig: Twiggy No. 1 BrushSet by Anna Aspnes
-gold leaf: GoldLeaves No. 1 by Anna Aspnes
-25 token, snowflake: Santangles by Maya de Groot
-white button: ArtPlay Palette Sphistica by Anna Aspnes
-frame: Oscraps Collab A Hopping Halloween
-family word art: Oscraps Collab Family

My Kind of Santa

We have a challenge for a "Letter to Santa" layout. We were in a store with lots of incredibly lovely trees decorated with items for sale. They were happy to let me photograph their store displays and especially those trees. One had various Santas and what they called forest elves. I fell in love with the latter and bought one of the smaller ones. His nest contains tiny eggs while the larger one has an actual bird. He became the focus of my page. He currently is on the bookshelf above my laptop.

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Designer Credits:
-background, swirl brush: ArtPlay Palette Santa Nicholas Add-On No. 1 by Anna Aspnes
-transfer used as photo mask: ArtPlay Palette Sophistica by Anna Aspnes
-snowflake overlay: 12 x 12 Snowy Overlays No. 1 by Anna Aspnes
-bird: Photographed in Black and White by Sue Cummings
-reindeer: Santangles by Maya de Groot
fonts: HansHand, Celtic Hand

Drawing #23 - Path to the Pyramids

The path leads through both space and time. It can take you back not to the pyramids at Giza, but older ones in Egypt. Sun, sand, bright colors and older times are suggested to me. This is another small format drawing with the most color to date. They just keep evolving.

Another Year's Holiday Concert

Dick is still playing with the guitar and ukulele group at the senior center. They are called the Hum and Strum Group and have their own opening song. Last week was their annual holiday concert. Like last year it was done following (well before dessert actually) the monthly potluck lunch. Each year I've done a page for this delightful event, so here is year three. I used the monthly copycat challenge template for it.

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Designer Credits:
-template: Dec. Copycat Challenge by Elisa (EHStudios) based on "Crush" by Kym 
-background: Oscraps Collab Family
-paper for frame: Photographed in Black & White by Sue Cummings
-overlay (blended): Snowy Overlays No. 1 by Anna Aspnes
-brad: ArtPlay Palette Santa Nicholas Add-On No. 1 by Anna Aspnes
fonts: Hurry Up, Pea Anderson, Corbel

Drawing #21 - River Rapids

The second drawing on 12x16 watercolor paper early on became rocks in the whitewater of the river rapids. There is a lot of detail that I think looks good for that whitewater. I've used collage, acrylic paint and black, white and gold inks. It was amazing to put it next to the first large one to see how different they were even though rather similar. A lot of water themes have arisen in these drawings. Remember you can see this larger if you click on it. A right click might give you other options and the ability to see it even larger.

Remembering Butterflies

This week's lift design appears to Dick like balloons floating up. I looked for a set of photos to use and found I not gotten to some I took of an American Snout Butterfly in his brother's yard in Tulsa. I like them with this brown background and really like looking at butterfly pictures and remembering warmer weather. I like this particular one with its long "nose." They are more brightly colored above but can fold the wings and resemble a dead leaf.

I have finally finished my second larger drawing but I'm waiting for daylight to photograph it tomorrow.

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Designer Credits:
all Anna Aspnes
-ArtPlay Palette Ablaze
-swirl brush: ArtPlay Palette Autumn Haze
-black and white designs: MultiMedia Leaves No. 2
fonts: Boopee, Artistamp Medium

Decorations on Display

Color challenge this month is four colors only plus black and white. I wasn't too excited by them, but think I found a way to use them to accent a photo I got from a store's pretty display of lots of Christmas decorations. They were so glittery and bright.

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Designer Credits:
-green papers: Oscraps Collab Family
-gray paper: Subdue by Creations by TinaMarie
-frame, green flower: Free to Fly by Vera Lim
-large leaf: MultiMedia Leaves No. 2 by Anna Aspnes
-pink flower: Happy to be Me by Lydia Designs
-red branch:  Oscraps Collab Life
fonts: Pea Aimee, James Fajardo

Drawing #22 - On Guitar

It looks like I skipped two numbers, but #20 is for my Christmas cards and #21 is a second larger format drawing that is still in progress. Back in my 7x10 inch sketchbook you'll see more color, collage with scraps from a page of an old book and a bird photo from a birding tour company brochure. A new addition is iridescent gold ink. It takes on different looks from different angles. The photo is on glossy paper that can't be easily drawn on so I gave it a light coat of clear gesso. It is almost clear but gritty. Somehow the photo can look very 3-dimensional receding well behind the drawing.

Inspiration for the drawing was a guitar recital earlier this week at the senior center. One piece of music reminded me of my drawings as I listened to the intricate but differing details that went into the whole. The last person to play was very engrossed in his music and gave me the idea for the basic shapes here. It is rather symbolic not realistic. It might be called "Transported On Guitar," music taking flight with the bird.

Lovely Kit Called "Serendipity"

I won a new kit by random selection just by commenting on the sneak peek of the preview. I liked what I could see and have enjoyed showing off the kit with another photo from the Philbrook gardens and an old tintype from the 1870s. The different photos called for very different looks. The colors are quite luscious.

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Designer Credits:
kit Serendipity by Jennifer Labre
fonts: Boopee (jar), Minya Nouvelle (Maggie)

Seeing the Little Things

This week's scraplift featured a beautiful page with a very dramatic photo. My visit to the Philbrook Museum gardens October 1st gave me opportunities for some strong images. I especially love ones of the shadows of wrought iron railings on the stone stairs. It's the kind of thing I think we see that can easily be overlooked by others. I know many of us scrap these sorts of things; I've called them "unexpected richness."

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Designer Credits:
-lift of "Thanksgiving..." by zalaine
-ArtPlay Palette Autumn Haze by Anna Aspnes
-overlay: GoldPaint Overlays No. 1 by Anna Aspnes
fonts: Jazz LET, Enchanted Prairie Dog

Desert Dreams

The weekly scraplift is not just of a page, but also a concept. It is the term crush and "could be related to a person, or maybe it’s a place or even a thing in your life. " 'Crush' would mean a short lived love; something that doesn't last. Beside a puppy-love or infatuation for another person, it could be a new hobby, a food, an activity/game. Something you're very attracted to at least initially and then the spark burns out. Or you do something so much and then get tired of it."


I had no idea what to scrap. I'm never going to admit to a singer I liked as a preteen and those sorts of things are so long ago I can barely remember anyway. Eventually I thought about a place I love but that I don't go much anymore. That became my theme. I used a favored photo from years ago taken in southwestern New Mexico.

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Designer Credits:
all Anna Aspnes
-background: ArtPlay Palette Autumn Haze
-photo mask: ArtPlay Palette No. 10
-brushes, brad, transfers: ArtPlay Palette Encapsulate
fonts: Enchanted Prairie Dog, GrutchShaded, BlacklightD

Painting the Living Room

Dick has gradually been working on and painting the living room. An interesting quote and photo resulted one day last week. I sure have to smile every time I look at it!

In addition, one of his nicknames for ages has been "the old goat." His father was a painting contractor who had to retire at age 65. He started painting for his church and at home then. We even learned of his having been up on his roof at an advanced age. We took a pretty dim view of all that, but here is his son climbing around at 71.

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Designer Credits:
-background: Subdue by Creations by TinaMarie
-gray paper: Photographed in Black and White by Sue Cummings
-leaves: Gold Leaves No. 1 by Anna Aspnes
-journal strips: Composition by One Little Bird
-doodle: Corinthia by Kitty Designs
-brush: ArtPlay Autumn Haze by Anna Aspnes
-ribbon: Whispering Trees by Creations by TinaMarie
-frame: Dorma by Lydia Designs
fonts: Enchanted Prairie Dog, Dali, Boopee

Drawing #19 - Dance

Moving to a larger size has been quite a challenge. I brought out an old watercolor block with a relatively smooth surface, but the texture is much greater than my sketchbook and took color from acrylic paints more intensely. I've worked the details at the same scale as before so the result has distant and close views that differ significantly. The paper is 12x16 inches which sounds modest but seemed huge at times. This is more mixed media with collage, paint and ink. The result is exciting to me and feels like a real accomplishment. I know the origin of the drawing, but the result is creatures dancing as far as I can see. Please click to get the larger size for a better idea of the original.

Lovely Day with Black Walnuts

I'm working on another of my drawings, but this one is larger and taking more time. I did a pair of pages (a before and after) for a challenge to use the High Pass Sharpen tool. I had not used it before and am finding it very helpful after reducing the size of a page for the web. I think I should have tried a different photo than this sunny back-lit black walnut in Oklahoma. I'm going to put the "before" here as I like it better. Why? Because the sharpening reduced the color in the picture. (After HERE.) This is a very pleasant memory of the light under these trees.

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Designer Credits:
-background, brads, confetti: The Gift by Fei-fei's Stuff
-pale paper, photo mask, tree stamp (recolored): Family Ties by Fei-fei's Stuff
-journaling block, word art: Sketchbook Artistry No. 1 by Sue Cummings
font: Catriel

Lucky Number 13

The weekly lift has a different twist. There isn't a page to scraplift but there are examples of what others have done on using numbers in a page. Lots of ideas were given but as soon as I saw "your favorite number" I knew I had to do a new page on the number 13. It may be a little startling to see a photo mask used as a design element with no photo, just the black shape. This was also a good excuse to use one of my newly purchased bright green papers. (And the number or word 13 appears thirteen times.)

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Designer Credits:
all Anna Aspnes
-background: MonoBlendz Lima Paperie
-border (blended), brush: ArtPlay Palette Barren Sunrise
-photo mask (without photo): ArtPlay Palette Encapsulate
-line brush: ArtPlay Palette No. 10
-leaf: MultiMedia Leaves No. 2
-white line transfer: ArtPlay Palette Autumn Haze
fonts: Chiller, Dali, Minya Nouvelle, iNked God, Girls are Weird, HansHand

Drawing #18 - Troubled Water

My new drawing could as easily be called "Rocky Surf" as it was inspired by our sighting of Surf and Black Scoters on Saturday. The water was relatively calm when we saw them, but we've seen them in rough surf along rock jetties on the New Jersey coast in other Novembers when things were quite different. I've again used a bit of collage and acrylic paints. The gray color is a paint called iridescent pewter. It imparted a sheen even where nearly transparent. The scan did a fair job of reproduction, but the sheen is a bit elusive.

Neighbor's Alien Halloween

The next door neighbors always have nice Halloween decorations but the house beyond always has something more extreme. This year it wasn't a large display. Perhaps the aliens took them over. Too bad I didn't get any night photos of the lights on the spaceship! They are gone now, but it was fun while it lasted.

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Designer Credits:
-background, accent mark, button, journaling card, paint: Terra Toni by Maya de Groot
-splats: Split Splat 2 by Creations by TinaMarie
-stitching: A Hopping Halloween Collab Kit
fonts: Harlow Solid Italic, Jazz LET, Catriel 

Last Lovely Day?

Yesterday was such a beautiful day, sunny with a high just about 60! We each had things to do in the morning, but in the afternoon we went out to enjoy what might be the last warm day of the year. We saw some good birds and found there was still some fall color to enjoy despite snow the day before.

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Designer Credits:
-papers: Italian Coffee Blends by Creations by TinaMarie
-stitching: All Stitched by Kitty Designs
-word art: Wordart-Sweet+Simple by Sue Cummings
fonts: Staccato222 BT, Boopee

A Philbrook Moment

I participated in a chat and associated scraplift the other day. Hadn't done that in about a year I think. It was fun and the design we were using seemed perfect for one of my photos from the Philbrook Museum in Tulsa. I always take lots of photos when we visit the gardens there. Four of us went  this time and I like the resulting page with the other three. It isn't a design I would ever have dreamed up on my own, but it is excellent.

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Designer Credits:
(chat) lift of "Wanderlust" by kalesmom4ever
-Whispering Trees by Creations by TinaMarie
-butterfly: Bits & Pieces 2 by Sue Cummings
-zigzag paper: Terra Toni by Maya de Groot
-light green circle: Sweater Weather by One Little Bird
fonts: Girls are Weird, Casablanca, Kastler

Drawing #17 - Velvet Pathway

More multi-media with paint and paper. The paper came from an elementary school reader that was my mother's. The title appeared without planning in the scrap of paper. It seemed to influence the drawing too. All the media are pretty spontaneous as I'm using them, so coordinate with the zen aspect with which I began.

GSO for Ethel!

I just learned that my Memories of Ethel was selected as a Gallery Standout or GSO. I am so tickled and know Ethel would have LOVED it! (see the GSOs HERE)

Memories of Ethel

This month's color challenge isn't about the colors, but about what we're thankful for and whatever colors that entails. I've used a photo I scrapped before -- but not like this! I love the photo and how it captures some of Ethel's irrepressible spirit. She wasn't always easy, but she was special. I've always been glad I got to take her on a birding trip to New Mexico when her bad knee limited her ability to participate in a normal birding tour. We had a great time! The photo was taken in New England (I think) a while later. Next year will see the 100th anniversary of her birth. Amazing!

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Designer Credits:
by Anna Aspnes
-background: ArtsyBlendz Snow Paperie No. 2
-photo mask: ArtPaly Palette No. 10
-large brush, black flower: ArtPlay Palette Encapsulate
-small brush, red flower: ArtPlay Palette Barren Sunrise
-word art: ArtPlay Palette Encapsulate by Dido Designs
font: Pea Beth

Look out for winter?

We have a challenge based on a curious sort of Christmas card. I stayed with the basic theme of a tree image and the original colors of grays with a touch of red. I used a photo at my sister's from last Dec. 9th and did an edge effect (Find All in PSP). It really made me think of Ezra Pound's irreverent poem, "Winter Is Icumen In" and so it is titled. I am so NOT ready for this to happen and am really glad we missed the big storm on the east coast. Nevertheless, I like my result.

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Designer Credits:
-background: Photographed in Black and White by Sue Cummings
-border: Slightly Edged 1 by Merkeley Designs
-notepaper, postcard: Recollection by Joanne Brisebois
-overlay: Shimmer by Kitty Designs
-leaves: MultiMedia Leaves No. 2 by Anna Aspnes
-bird brush, bead: ArtPlay Palette Barren Sunrise by Anna Aspnes
-frame: ArtPlay Palette Encapsulate by Anna Aspnes
my photo altered with an Edge Effect
fonts: Cardinal, Catriel

Amazed by Hazelnuts

I had no idea how a hazelnut grew, but they are part of fantastic shapes. My brother-in-law has a small tree in his garden and there were nuts still in the husks that had turned brown and looked beautiful. They were beginning to fall off the tree. This husk was stiff but brittle. Always some fascinating new thing! I've used a photo in a Member Spotlight scraplift challenge.

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Designer Credits:
lift of "Innocent Beauty" by dlhoffer
http://ozone.oscraps.com/gallery/data/500/InnocentBeautyFnl.jpg
-kit: Terra Toni by Maya de Groot
-paper strip: BackPackers - set 5 by Maya de Groot
fonts: Kunstler Script, Ligurino
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Here's a photo of a cluster (of two) that had already fallen but not been eaten by the squirrels. Such a fabulous thing!

Drawing #16 - Irresistible

In this new drawing I used some color from acrylic paints. They were applied dry with a sponge or paper towel. Without added water, they dry flat. There is one small piece of paper added too. Guess that really makes it multi-media. I've called it Irresistible as I believe everything is rushing into the red center.

Fall Blooming Bushes

Last week we were delighted with bushes in Lake View that were in full bloom even though their leaves were turning color. The flowers looked much paler and prettier up close. We had frost Saturday morning, but not a freeze, so they're probably still fine. I used some photos of them for my first challenge for November, this one a copycat or template challenge.

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Designer Credits:
template by Elisa (EHStudios) for Nov. Copycat Challenge based on "Play Is The Exultation Of The Possible" by Lorileigh
-background, most papers: A Hopping Halloween Collab Kit by the Lilypod & Oscraps
-darker gray and brown papers: All Hallow's Night, Leora Sanford Designs
-glitter element: The Silver Flakes by Kitty Designs
-swirls (blended): ArtPlay Palette Encapsulate Dido Designs collab with Anna Aspnes 
-brush: ArtPlay Palette Barren Sunrise by Anna Aspnes
fonts: Enchanted Prairie Dog, Kings of Pacifica, Minya Nouvelle

Flowers for a Birthday

Today is my BIL's birthday and I created a digital "card" for him featuring the hibiscus that he gave Dick last year. You'll see the first bloom on Oct. 26 of the current phase of blooming. It has since had a second bloom and has lots of buds yet to come. We think it is gorgeous. It is still residing in our indoor porch upstairs, but that is an unheated space and at some point we have to close it off. Then the plant will spend the winter indoors getting what sun it can.

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Designer Credits:
Golden Memories by Retro Designs (I don't think I've used this rich red background before!)
-word art: ArtPlay Palette Encapsulate by Anna Aspnes
fonts: Pea Aimee, Pea Anderson

Drawing #15 - The Gogreloo (or Happy Halloween!)

I've become fascinated with the near-word letter strings we need to enter to leave comments. Also called "Captcha," they are meant to weed out non-personal attempts to post. Recently I got the letters "gogreloo" and was enchanted. I began a drawing for the word which is embedded within. It took on its own character and became THE Gogreloo. It even needed some color which came from my collage stash.

I am quite certain it will be out tonight observing, or creating, Halloween mischief. It and I wish you all a spooky, but safe and happy Halloween. The Gogreloo will also be visiting ofrendas and cemeteries for El Día de los Muertos, another culture's part of this seasonal observance, in the next two days. The color is approximately the color of flowers needed to decorate the family cemetery plot.

Tangle of Vine, Drawing Ideas?

Theta pointed out that my recent photo of bare branches (and a Blue Jay) resembled my current drawings. Friday while out birding I decided to really try for photos like that and found some grapevine views that satisfied the urge. I had to use one in the weekly scraplift. We'll see if drawing or real life influence each other further. I also listed species of birds we saw in a rather hidden list. I hide text in my drawings, why not here too?

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Designer Credits:
lift of layout "Time Flies" by liahra
all Anna Aspnes
-background paper (blended with another): ArtPlay Palette Barren Sunrise
-other paper, line brush: ArtPlay Palette Autumn Haze
-leaf (with edge effect, blended), pattern: MultiMedia Leaves No. 2
-photo mask: ArtPlay Palette Encapsulate
fonts: Jellyka, End_less Voyage, Tango BT, Huxtable, Loosie Script
-----------So pleased that this received a "Standing O" at Oscraps!

Blue Jay Makes a Touch of Blue

Yesterday late in the afternoon it was gray, threatening rain. The foliage on some of the tree nearly glowed in the low light but bare branches showed off the feathers of a blue jay. I was really intrigues with the patterns it made and got one shot even though it was a small image of the bird.

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Designer Credits:
Sweater Weather by One Little Bird
fonts: Loosie Script, More Enchanted Prairie Dog, Minya Nouvelle

Drawing #14 - Serpent Wisdom

I've just read the latest in the series of Ohio Amish mysteries by P. L. Gaus. Its title is Harmless as Doves and it begins with the following:

     Behold, I send you forth as
     sheep in the midst of wolves:
     be ye therefore wise as serpents
     and harmless as doves.
          Matthew 10:16
Which is important in the course of the book.

You may be well versed in this bit of scripture, but encountered at the beginning of a mystery story it was quite different in context. "Wise as serpents" seems rather mysterious in fact. I kept thinking about it and that became the thought behind my latest mental landscape. I've also done the first application of ink with a pen and a wonderful acrylic ink that helped me achieve better areas of dark than the Sharpie pen. Hidden in the design is my bit of text:

     sheep among wolves
     wise as serpents
     harmless as doves
     imagine

New Lift - Passion Flower Vine

Another week, another lift for designer Anna Aspnes. This week the theme is combining her arty approach with more traditional scrapbooking looks. An article with examples was our inspiration. (see HERE) I really liked "The Little Things" by Katherine B and did my lift of it. I chose one of my photos of a white passion flower from Oklahoma. Last year we saw Gulf Fritillary butterflies and their caterpillars on this plant. Normally this is too far north for them to reproduce.The layout has one photo but I also like a second one.

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Designer Credits:
all Anna Aspnes
-background papers, gray and white square, branch and word art brushes: ArtPlay Palette Barren Sunrise
-greenish circle, greenish square, brad, stitching: ArtPlay Palette No. 10
-frames. black and gray rectangle, staple: ArtPlay Palette Autumn Haze
-lacy brush: ArtPlay Palette Saffron Villa
fonts: FlamencoD, Dali, Garamond

Drawing #13 - Floodwaters

With the great over-abundance of rain we've been having there are sometimes flood warnings issued. Some days the rain fills the streets with water that has nowhere to go. Wednesday I was feeling the effects of that street water and told my sister to keep her rowboat handy. The lawns are squishy to walk on. When I turned to my drawing I kept feeling the need to show all that water.

"Our Song" and a photo of The Other One

For a recent Digi Dare I did another page on "our" song with a photo I took of Dick in Tulsa recently. I really like the photo a lot and tried to bring the feel of sunshine into it to go with the song (Sunshine of Your Love by Cream). If you look at his sunglasses carefully you might catch a glimpse of his brother, a friend and me.

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Designer Credits:
-background paper, leaf stamp, photo mask: Fallen Sun by TaylorMade Designs
-stitching, splat: I Remember You by Biograffiti
-heart: Primavera by Maya de Groot
fonts: Pea Anderson, Boopee, Blue Highway


The requirements of Digi Dare #247 were:

-use at least one photo – have it serve as the background for your layout
-include the lyrics for the song that is providing your inspiration (in full or part) – this is considered your   journaling…you can have just one line or twenty. If you want to add additional journaling that is your choice.
-have your title give us a glimpse as to why this song was chosen
-use a photo mask
-use stitching
-use at least one brush
-the use of selective coloring on your photo would be a fun option!

Drawing #12 - Vermilion Creek

Driving back across Indiana earlier this month I noticed a sign indicating Vermilion Creek. I never saw the creek, merely green countryside and trees in changing colors. Nevertheless the name stayed with me and conjured images and ideas that I felt belonged in a drawing. Thus the shapes are not based on anything seen, only imagined. You may find plants and creatures along its banks, rocks and eddys within its flow.

So excited...another GSO!

Yesterday I worked on the weekly scraplift for Anna Aspnes designs. It was a different challenge starting with a card design. The lift is primarily of the card format and not so much of the original design. I used some of my favorite parts of two of Anna's kits and finished with a "Missing You" card that I really liked. Then...I found in the comments that it had been selected for a Gallery Standout (GSO)! This is the second time one of my pages has been selected and I am just so happy about it. You can see the picks for Oct. 16 HERE. Hope you will enjoy the card too. We could think of it as a card to Deco-Pages almost one year gone.

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Designer Credits:
-paper, red and brown transfers, button, brads: ArtPlay Palette Barren Sunrise by Anna Aspnes
-black & gray transfer, white transfer: ArtPlay Palette Autumn Haze by Anna Aspnes
fonts: harrison, Kings of Pacifica

Pumpkins Galore

The Great Pumpkin Challenge came to Oscraps this weekend and I was inspired to dig out an array of my pumpkins photos, especially the green and white ones from (can you believe it was that long ago!) 2007. I remember using them in a challenge of Dana's. I went back to my "painting" with photos concept except this time it wasn't flowers, but pumpkins. We also had to include a freebie pumpkin drawing with its color unchanged. I had so much fun with them. And this one isn't scary.

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Designer Credits:
-papers, tag, bow, leaves: Whispering Trees by TinaMarie
-border: Strppies 2 by Merkeley Designs
-rings (blended): Scatter It - Rainbow by Merkeley Designs
-pumpkin drawing: The Great Pumpkin Challenge by Jaime Choi
fonts: Capture it, Dry Goods Antique SmC JL


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I went back and found the 2007 QP challenge of Dana Conditt that I did with some of these pumpkins. I don't remember all the requirements, but I know a scarecrow was one. We've been back to the apple farm a number of times since, but not this fall so far.