Creating with pink hibiscus

A creative techniques challenge called for creating our own mask with brushes. I chose a photo of my sister's large pink hibiscus. They are lovely even though pink (not my favorite color). I used brushes of my own and am very pleased with the result.

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Designer Credits:
-ArtPlay Palette Vintage Rose by Anna Aspnes
mask created with 3 of my own brushes (house, appleseed, grass)

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

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

More blooms on our hibiscus

Our hibiscus didn't bloom over the winter indoors though it grew a good bit. The first of April it went back onto our enclosed upstairs porch where it gets lots of light. It promptly showed two buds which opened on May 2 and May 9. It is such a delight. Hope it will make more buds and bloom over the summer. The photo effect incorporates reduced saturation, pencil effect and blending.

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Designer Credits:
-template 110510: freebie by Dumpty
-darkest paper, hearts: Home Sweet Home by Maya de Groot
-all other papers, word art: Rachel by Lydia Designs
fonts: EngravrsRoman BT, First Order Shadow

Still Watching Our Hibiscus

The hibiscus has been indoors for almost two months now and seems to be getting plenty of light even though its view is always of a snowy landscape. It has nice new growth, but it was a disappointment when a bud fell off today. And if you look closely at the photos I took this morning you'll see the new leaves have a good crop of some little white mites that were also on the older growth. Wonder what you do about them? And I am really starting to feel better now. The cough and stuffy nose are still around, but much reduced and I feel more like doing things and can concentrate for a little bit at least. Realized these were the first photos taken since the 11th! Maybe the end is in sight!

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Designer Credits: Blossom Secret by Celine Designs
fonts: Kayleigh, iNked God