Bees in the Flowers

While at the GRIP class I took some photos of bees in the flowers. They were great for a lift and a challenge for soft colors. I'm pleased with the results.

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Designer Credits:
AnnaLift of ‘tranquility,’ by ‘taxed4ever’ (Trudy) 
ArtPlay Palette Tapestry by Anna Aspnes
-photo mask: ArtPlay Viaggio BrushSet by Anna Aspnes

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Designer Credits:
by Anna Aspnes
ArtPlay Palette Lush
-word art: Roots Sampler

Another Beautiful Iris

Yesterday's dedication of the Willott Iris Garden was extremely nice. It was a bit overcast but bright and never got as hot as expected. A large number of people, not just relatives, attended. My sister looked lovely and everyone was gratified. The iris society exhibit was then opened in the green house building. Though many iris were through blooming, there were still lots of gorgeous iris present as specimens and in the flower arrangements. One flower intrigued me in particular. I've used its photo in this week's AnnaLift.

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Designer Credits:
all by Anna Aspnes
-background, border, loopdaloop: ArtPlay Palette Family
-overlay: SkinnyLined Overlays No. 2
-glow: Warm Glows No. 1
-small brush: ArtPlay Palette Ablaze
fonts: baby dont worry bout it, Boopee

More February Designs in Nature

I've been creating scrapbook pages for the February challenges, but haven't gotten any but the deer posted. I'm also working on more drawings, but haven't gotten far. Here are a few of the new pages starting with one of my favorites so far done for last week's AnnaLift. I think it makes a nice Valentine for Dick.

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Designer Credits:
all Anna Aspnes
-ArtPlay Palette Autumn Haze plus
-right angle brush: ArtPlay Palette No. 10
-heart-shaped brush: ArtPlay Palette Ablaze
fonts: baby dont worry bout it, BakerSignet BT
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Then two with flowers in my sister's garden last summer (tree peony) and last fall (colchicum)

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Designer Credits (left):

template: February Copycat Challenge by Elisa (EHStudios) based on "full of promise" by gavinsmum 

-green paper: Let Love Be Your Energy by ZuzannaH Designs

-purple and gold papers: Royal Blending Paper, Creations by TinaMarie

-bracket (recolored): Free to Fly by Vera Lim

-butterfly, butterfly spray (blended): Shimmer by Kitty Designs

fonts: Baveuse, James Fajardo

Credits (right)

Fun but strange flowers.

-background, tag, newspaper brush: Oscraps Collab Homespun

-green flower: Oscraps Collab TrOpical

-green and orange papers: Free to Fly by Vera Lim

-red paint: Prego by Maya de Groot

-photo mask: Fallen Sun by TaylorMade Designs

font: Boopee

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

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

RED: the joy of red flowers

On our visit to Oklahoma well-watered gardens were doing fairly well and I was especially drawn to all the beautiful flowers in red. Some of them were also drawing hummingbirds and most flowers of any color were drawing bees, moths and butterflies. I do love to photograph all those things and decided to combine some red flowers for the copycat challenge this month.

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Designer Credits:
-template by Clara (clarabear) based on "Miss You" by Phylis (whatnext) 
-background paper: Family is forever by Maya de Groot
-Hummingbird shapes: Like Home by Fei-fei's Stuff
-stitching: Sunrise Sunset by Fei-fei's Stuff
-dark paper: Free to Fly by Vera Lim Design
-white paper: Shimmer by Kitty Designs
-glitter: The Silver Flakes by Kitty Designs
-brad, button: ArtPlay Palette Barren Sunrise by Anna Aspnes
-torn paper shape (blended): ArtPlay Palette Autumn Haze by Anna Aspnes
fonts: Enchanted Prairie Dog, Dali, Mufferaw, EwieD, Ligurno, HansHand

Oklahoma Prairie

I love spending a day in the prairies in northern Oklahoma in Osage County and the Osage Nation. This fall we didn't see as many birds as some times and the vegetation was showing signs of the overly hot and dry summer just past. There was some rain though and there was some bloom of wildflowers. Time spent there is always special and we had a lovely day. I used photos and thoughts from that day for two scrapbooking challenges. One was to use at least seven of ten items, the word "Thankful" required. I finished with eight of them and a layout on the American bison or buffalo. The October camera challenge asks for a collage and page with a collection of photos that could be one day, week, year, or other reason for a series. I have lots of other photos from Oklahoma, but for now I've only used those from our one day in the Osage.

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Designer Credits:
        8 of 10 elements:
1. word Thankful (required), 2. something red (heart), 3. at least 3 flowers, 4. a frame, 5. three squares of paper, 6. a sepia colored picture, 7 - , 8. a photo mask, 9 - , 10. the letter "S"


-background, horizontal striped paper: Blessing by Lydia Designs
-frame: I remember you by Biograffiti
-greenish paper: 52 Inspirations (Week 33) by Sue Cummings
-vertical striped paper, green flower, flower doodle: Free to Fly by Vera Lim
-photo mask: ArtPlay Palette Autumn Haze by Anna Aspnes
-brown flower: Composition by One Little Bird
-red heart: Home Sweet Home by Maya de Groot
fonts: Circus, French Script MT, EnviroD, Emboss, Bangkok

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Designer Credits:
-background paper: I Remember You by Biograffiti
-bow, stitching, grid: Composition by One Little Bird
buffalo photo by my DH
fonts: harrison, Hurry Up, HansHand, Amapola, Souvenir Lt BT

Plants Familiar and Exotic

For a weekly scraplift challenge I had to use a photo of a plant called hyacinth bean that is very attractive, but is special for its bright purple seedpods. Next I featured our standby crabapple that didn't do well this year, most of its fruit missing. That was for the monthly color challenge in the category of fall colors.

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Designer Credits:
lift of "The Autumn Came" by Geraldine (Dady)
ArtPlay Palette No. 10 by Anna Aspnes
ArtPlay Palette Autumn Haze by Anna Aspnes
fonts: Snell Bold BT, Minya Nouvelle

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Designer Credits:
-background, stitching border: Whispering Trees by TinaMarie
-frame, other papers, glitter: Blessing by Lydia Designs
-leaf stamp: Fallen Sun by TaylorMade Designs
fonts: Angel Tears, Huxtable

Flowers Saying Goodbye to Summer

It is always sad when the rain knocks down the trumpet creeper flowers, but even more so now when not many more will bloom till next summer. This page is for a copycat or template challenge.

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Designer Credits:
-template from Sept. 2011 Copycat Challenge by clarabear based on "you are my hope" by Topsi
-background, gold & patterned white papers, circle word art from 52 Inspirations {2011} Week 33 by Sue Cummings
-gray patterned paper from Stuck On You by Maya de Groot
-stitching with pennants from All Stitched by Kitty Designs
-bee from Stamp My Heart by Kitty Designs
-lower white flower from Shimmer by Kitty Designs
-white and yellowish flowers, staples from Sunrise Sunset by Fei-fei's Stuff
-ribbon from Winter Escape by tinamarie
fonts: Zinjaro LET, Chalk, Blue Highway Condensed

Purple Fantasy: more flower "painting"

My daylily page was quite brightly colored, the dark iris (Night Ruler) was darkly intense though fanciful. Each was done with photos of flowers of one plant. Since I have so many iris photos from my sister's garden I decided to see what I could create with pictures of different flowers together. The result is very similar to the other iris one, but lighter and to me, more fanciful, even lacy. This is again done with erasure and blending. Goals include texture, depth, and especially, feelings of fantasy. My biggest fear is that I might fall off into something akin to cabbage rose wallpaper. Any comments more that welcome!

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Designer Credits:
-blue and patterned background papers from Creative Motives, July 2011 Artisan Guild Kit 
-green background paper from Twitterpated by Dee Bee Designs
-overlay paper from Black & White by Sue Cummings
-string, butterfly from I'm Like a Bird, Part 1 by Mel Designs and Thaliris
-yellow flower from I'm Still Loving You by chouk77
-blue brush from Dream a Little Dream by Digital Scrapper
-glitter from October Festivities, Part 6 by Melcrea

Mother When Young

I was itching to use the gorgeous red flowers in Helen's freebie. I wanted them with a black and white photo but didn't expect I would choose a winter scene. Somehow it makes it seem even more that we are looking back in time. I also had it in mind to make use of my doodle. The photo is of my mother and my father's car before they were married. It was early 1930 and she was nineteen.

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Designer Credits:
-papers, frame, pail, bird from Time Began in a Garden by Retro Designs
-flowers, ladybug from Nouveau Summer Floral Freebie by Retro Designs
-overlay is an enlargement of my own drawing
font: Minya Novelle

Night Ruler Dreaming: more flower "painting"

I wanted to continue from the daylily page of "painting" with flower photos. Instead of starting with a photo mask I used this month's creative techniques challenge method of erasure and blending and a little more. I used six different photos. I'm now thinking about the comments I made about originality when I did the page of the red giant hibiscus. Perhaps this is my way to finding a unique way with flowers. It'll be interesting to learn what you see in it!

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Designer Credits:
-blue paper from Royal Blending Papers by Tinamarie
-black(ish) paper, B&W paper used as overlay on top, butterfly, flower from Black & White by Sue Cummings 
-light green pattern paper from Oscraps Collab TrOpical
-swirl from Sa-weet Sa-whirls by Jodie McNally
-silver glitters from The Silver Flakes by Kitty Designs

Painting with Daylilies

I decided to try "painting" with my photos. I really think of this less as collage and more as painting. I used my photo mask, blending and erasure to create it. The daylilies were photographed June 20th.

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Designer Credits:
-background green paper from Twitterpated by Dee Bee Designs
-orange paper from Rachel by Lydia Designs
-mother-of-pearl tiles from Esprit poudré, Part 1 by Fanette
-photo mask created with a drawing of mine of trumpet creeper blooms

Simple Enjoyment of a Flower

Among my sister's flowers is this arresting, nearly white, lily(?) enclosed in a wire housing to protect it from browsing deer. I'm sure she's said what it is, but I don't remember, just enjoy seeing it.

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Designer Credits:
For the Birds by One Little Bird, plus
-photo mask, overlay wash, bird (recolored) from Twitterpated by Dee Bee Designs
-word art from Sweet & Simple by Sue Cummings
font: Bradley Hand ITC

Diving into the Giant Hibiscus

The red giant hibiscus is blooming at my sister's again and I got to photograph it yesterday. I always like to dive into the center for a close up of its glory. Afterward those photos always remind me of Georgia O'Keeffe and make them seem something less. This time I used the photo to explore the thought. I STILL love to look at the flowers this way.

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Designer Credits:
-Family is forever by Maya de Groot
-birds, white branch from Take me to the Old World by Lotta Designs
fonts: Dry Goods Antique JL, Pea Anderson, Boopee, Bradley Hand ITC

Celebrate Summer with Flowers

Remember the winter and eagerly awaiting those first spring flowers? The crocus and daffodils arrive like gifts and a promise fulfilled. Forsythia, tulips, then lilacs and dogwood flourish making my heart light. When I spent more time in the woods I saw the same thing with wildflowers. For my sister there is the glory of the iris blooming from very early miniature dwarf iris into summer with Japanese iris. But suddenly there is an abundance of all kinds of flowers. Summer is here!

For a creative techniques challenge I've taken two approaches, one with a chrome filter and the other with a typography filter. Both are also blended. My peony page is actually a photo from June 1st, but the hibiscus had those two blooms on new growth on July 6th. It was an interesting challenge.

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Designer Credits:
Free to Fly by Vera Lim Design
font: James Fajardo

We trimmed back our hibiscus when the weather warmed up. It has put out two vigorous shoots, but only at the top. Each bloomed today, its first multi-blossom day.

I changed the large photo to sepia tone then applied a chrome filter (PSP doesn't have quite the same functions as PSE, but I did see chrome in the tutorial). It has a burn blend mode to the pale paper. The small photo doesn't have a sketch filter, but has a hard light blend and erasure.

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Designer Credits:
-background paper from Home Sweet Home by Maya de Groot
-orange paper, stamp from Rachel by LydiaK Designs
-brown paper from Not So Basic Browns by Maya de Groot
-pale paper from Family Tree by Joanne Brisebois
-doodle from Trail It by Merkeley Designs
font: FreekTure

Wishing Us All a Glorious Summer

Summer has officially arrived and I think this view of daylilies captures the feeling of sun and warmth. I do hope we will all have wonderful summers so this is also my wish illustrated. I will certainly miss Helen while she's off to the shore, but look forward to her return fully relaxed with lots of new photos. Cheers to summer!

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Designer Credits:
-papers, word art, flower spray from Revive by TaylorMade Designs
-color block, paint circle from Sketchbook Artistry No. 1 by Sue Cummings
font: Bradley Hand ITC

Another Close Up

The same day I photographed the fly on the white blooms I recorded the tight buds on the trumpet creeper. Even at that stage the ants were there as they will be all during the bloom season. Keeping various "creative techniques" in mind I got an interest result with one of the ants. Meanwhile it is heating back up, very nice today, even sunny. We both seem to be in better shape as well.

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I've used three "creative techniques" as named in Paint Shop Pro (PSP)
1. Artistic Filter on the large picture: Black Pencil which created a B&W image
2. Blending (darken) which eliminated the white part of the photo
3. Filter: Color > reduced the green in the RGB filter
Designer Credits:
-blue-green papers from Home Sweet Home by Maya de Groot
-stitching from All Stitched by Kitty Designs
-light circle paper from Stamp My Heart by Kitty Designs
-color block from Sketchbook Artistry No. 1 by Sue Cummings
fonts: iNked God, Kayleigh

Macro Photos

I have always loved using a macro lens so a close up of a small fly was a happy occurrence. I also like the page created with it. As I note, the knees don't want to get down and close but if the insects will perch higher up my little camera's macro setting can get me what I want.

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Designer Credits:
Magical Moments Freebie by Kitty Designs and Vera Lim
fonts: Hurry Up and Hans Hand