Three Muses - Up, Up and Away

Looks like the Muses are off for a bit! I've always wanted to ride in a hot air balloon....almost made it a couple of years ago in Albuquerque, but the prevailing winds cancelled the rides! This ride will have to do! Credit to Kubivet for some bits and pieces. The balloon was a freebie from I can't remember where (mea culpa).

Two For Tuesday #2

These ladies are digital stamps provided by the Two For Tuesday site. I've colorized them and used a Flickr free image of a village for background.

Artarazzi - Sunflower

Faye's beautiful watercolor is certainly stampworthy!! Background is Flickr by Christi, boy is by Tangie Baxter.

Mixed Media Monday - Doll

Eldora was president of the Garden Club. She fancied herself a fashion plate, and she adhered strictly to Roberts Rules of Order. Other than her garden, it was well known that Eldora had a shoe fetish. Thanks for looking at my silly flight of fantasy!

Sunday Postcard - Fourth of July

Thanks to SuzieQue at Flickr for the images, myself for the sky, and the (sort of) starburst is me experimenting with my new Ulead software. Thanks for looking!

TGIF - Alphabet

Beautiful penmanship is a thing of the past. ... so is my alphabet entry. The alphabet is from Flickr Silverfish, the image is from an old McCall cover, and the frame is from Flickr Frames to Use. Thanks for the challenge!

Art Creations - 6-26

Such a beautiful image we're given this week at Art Creations. I've used a background from Flickr Playing with Brushes, and some elements from Tangie Baxter. This beauty didn't need much help!!

Theme Thursday - Time

TIME is a challenge that offers such freedom of expression. This one is a bit different for me, but I had a good time doing it. Thanks for looking! Thanks to SuzieQue at Flickr for the background (with some alterations).

OH, LUCKY ME !

I've only been a part of the art blogging community for a bit over a year, but I've met the most extraordinary women. This week I received accolades from a couple of them.

On the left above, is a piece of art created by the very talented Alberta of Amusing Muses. I have followed Alberta's art experience for the past year, and been amazed at her talent, her wit and wisdom, and her generosity of spirit. I treasure this acknowledgement of friendship from her. Thanks, Alberta!

On the right, is a blog award from the very talented Luisa Migon. I "met" Luisa at the Digital Art Quirks site, and first had an opportunity to enjoy her talent there. I'm honored she's considered me for this award. Thanks, Luisa!

And thanks to all the other artists out there who have been so generous in their support and encouragement this year. Oh (sigh) lucky me!

Three Muses - Wild Things

This week is my turn to issue the challenge at Three Muses, and this is my entry. Everything just might not be as it seems ...... This was great fun!

Two for Tuesday #1

Cora at Two for Tuesday has started a digital stamp challenge. I thought I'd "avvago", as my Oz friend says. My frame is from Flickr by Bansiche. Tinting was done in Digital Image Pro with posterization in PSE5.

Mixed Media Monday - Story

....and I'll let you each write your own story, as I have written mine. I'm a romantic soul. I can see an image like any of those above and always pause to wonder about the stories they might tell of a time gone by, of people who've passed into the pages of time, of laughter shared ... and pain...., of hopes and dreams, struggles and victories. Thank you for looking .... and writing your story!

Sunday Postcard - Dad

My father was a huge influence in my life. He was my mentor, my cheerleader, and my role model. He loved me unconditionally. When I saw the quote that accompanies this entry, it seemed so fitting. My father has been gone for many years, but I miss him still. Near the end of his life, I took my Dad for a country drive. It was that drive that occasioned me to write the following poem:

A MAN OF COURAGE

As we rode through summer breezes
The man of courage and I
He taught me still another lesson,
As he had since I was just so high.
For the years had left their burden
And now he walked with a cane
And the body once strong and strapping
Now faltered and gave much pain.
I heard him not once complaining,
As we passed fields of grain on our drive
But commenting on God’s bounty and sunshine,
Saying “It’s a good day to be alive”.
When I find I’m feeling sorry
For the problems and troubles I’ve had
I look to my model of courage
With humble gratitude....I love you, Dad!

Thank you for taking the time to read Hat's off to Fathers everywhere!

Artarazzi - 6-19

Kelly has provided a background image at Artarazzi. It was truly a "dark and stormy night" here in my world. My power was off for an hour and I sat in the dark listening to my battery radio plotting what I would do with this background. Somehow, it went here!! Thanks, Kelly and Vron!

Art Creations - Purple

Purple is one of my favorite colors, so this was fun to work with. I duplicated the background and flipped one half, so as to have the stripes at top and bottom, used a Flickr collage image and made it opaque so the purple would show through. I was trying to achieve an evening in the garden effect. Thanks, good ladies of Art Creations, for giving us yet another beautiful background!

TGIF = Secrets

I'm afraid I went all "funky" on this one. I've been experimenting with adding sketches to digital, and I obviously have a long way to go!! Perhaps a different background would have brought this all together....mumble .... mumble....

Theme Thursday - Beauty

This is my second try at the Beauty theme. The first was an autumn one that was quite beautiful (ahem), but looked so decidedly out of season I took it out. This is one of my favorite beautiful ladies, from the cover of a very old McCall's magazine. Thank you for looking!

Three Muses - Doors

I've always been fascinated by abandoned structures that nature is taking back for Her own. They leave me wondering who passed that way, what their life was all about, and where they went. So, when I saw Marie's challenge, I knew what I wanted to do. I've added an original poem. Thank you for looking!

Crazy Amigos - Fairy Tale

Gee, I used to think Red Riding Hood was a fairy tale; but, if you live long enough, you discover there are STILL wolves in the forest who are after your cookies (so to speak). This one is dedicated to all the Red Riding Hoods making their way through the forest. Credit to Christina Renee Designs for the image. Thanks for lookin' !

Mixed Media Monday - Numbers

I'll let you write the scenario for this collage. I'm sure there's a story here somewhere. When I happened across the photo in the Flickr Collage images, I knew I had to use it somewhere! Don't get too racy now! The border was harvested from a photo of the lid of an old game, and the ticket is courtesy of Tangie Baxter.

Sunday Postcard - Rainbow

Every bride and groom feels they've found the end of the rainbow. These two are no exception. Let's hope their dream came true! Thanks for the challenge!

SoArtful - Time

June at SoArtful gave us a lovely background to work with this week. I gave mine an overlay by Jenn U Designs, and added a flying alarm clock, and a vintage gentleman from Flickr collage images. Thanks, June!

TGIF - Stamp People

What fun it was to find this stamp of B.J. Palmer of the Chiropractic profession, find a body for him, and put together a page for him! Thanks so much for the challenge, ladies of TGIF!

Art Creations - 6-12

The background offered this week at Art Creations became the door of this antique shop (from Taco at Flickr via Elizabeth Golden Thanks, Elizabeth). The ladies are also from the Flickr Collage Images. Aren't the ladies elegant? Imagine what they'd think of our sweats and flip-flops!!

Theme Thursday - Flourishes

Flourish is the theme this week at Theme Thursday. The background on this one is a stock photo by ba1969. The "bling" is from Irene Alexeeva. Sorry, I can't identify the source of the image at the moment. ( If someone can help me, let me know.) Thanks for looking, blog friends!

EXPERIMENT

I'm always looking for something new and different. This piece is inspired by this week's artist in the Frameworthy challenge at Scrapbook Graphics. While Donato Giancolo (the artist) is more into SciFi type art, his "Construct of Time" started my wheels turning, and this is the end result. The mask is by Kubivet, filled with the cover of Tangie Baxter's Opera Theater kit, lightly outlined in white. Thanks for looking, and your comments are most welcome!

Crazy Amigos - Transportation

The Crazy Amigos have chosen Transportation for their challenge. Why my "lady" needs to wear jodphurs to drive her car I'm sure I don't know. She's from the Museum of Found Photographs. The flowers are courtesy of Peggy Gatto. Thanks, Peggy. They were just what I needed for this piece to contrast with the black and white photo!

Three Muses - Mona

Mona is really showing her true colors at The Three Muses and I'm not sure, but I think she had multiple personality disorder! At any rate we're seeing a lot of different sides of Mona. What fun! This, needless to say, is her theatrical side.

THE SECRET'S OUT !!

There's a BRAND NEW BLOG CHALLENGE SITE, it's The Three Muses, where each Wednesday Taluula, Ozstuff or Indybev will be challenging you to create something inspired and interesting. We know that each of you will have a preferred artistic medium, so whether you like to work with paper or paint, fabric or digital, we'd love you to join in. After all, part of the fun is to see the diverse interpretations on a theme. You can find us HERE at the Three Muses. Stop by to see this week's challenge, and a sneak peek at next week's. We're starting a bit early, 'cause we couldn't keep the secret!!

PSST... HAVE YOU HEARD THE NEWS ??

SoArtful - Astrology

June's SoArtful challenge this week is our astological sign. Here's my tribute to my astrological sign,---Aquarius.

Artspiration

This was done for a challenge to alter a bingo card at Scrapbook Graphics. I recently saw the idea of adding bright-colored overlays to vintage snapshots, and thought it interesting and effective. This is my first try at the concept. The snapshot is from Flickr Collage Images, and the flowers are from Christina Renee Designs. Tangie Baxter (of SBG) provided the bingo card freebie. I've posted it here to share the idea with any blog friends who might be interested. Thanks for looking.

Artarazzi - Girl

Vron has given us a wonderful image to work with this week. I extracted the moon and the girl, and superimposed them on a painting by Atkinson Grimshaw. The moon was colorized and resized. The girl was colorized and resized, posterizing effect was applied, and some tweaking with light and contrast. Thanks, Vron. Great challenge!

TGIF - Dream

"Dreams are free, so free your dreams!", someone said, and I think that's a great idea. I rescued this little character from my sketch book, the cats from Kubivet, and the flowers I don't remember where (sorry). Thanks for looking.

Art Creations 29

We were given the portrait image of this adorable little girl for this week's project. I put her in a vintage childhood setting (compliments of Flickr Playing with Brushes and collage images) and added the anonymous quote. Thanks for the challenge!

Theme Thursday - Hats

Victorian ladies and elegant hats came to mind when I saw the challenge at Theme Thursday. The image is a Flickr free image, with a bit of lace and a bit of script blended over it. Thanks for the challenge!!