Embracing the new…

Due to the fact that I have started to concentrate more on digital and photo art more than traditional mediums, I won’t be posting to this blog as much anymore. I have started another wordpress blog calledEmbracing Life Digitally to showcase all my things photographic, digital and haiku – a far cry from where I started out as a blogger in 2006!

I hope you’ll visit me there, but here is where journal pages, rubber stamping and mixed media belong, along with all the altered art that I am best known for! ♥

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Leftover leftovers…!

I made spicy potato cakes for brunch today and now I have leftovers from my leftovers… 😉

All I did was cook a sliced leek and add that to the leftover potatoes, along with seasoning, a knob of butter and some cold stuffing. I heated up the pan, coated the base with a little oil and fried them on both sides. Yummy!

Served with cold chicken, pickles and beets – and now we have some left over… 😉

Photo taken with my new camera – a Finepix T200

Edited with Kim Klassen’s “Lilly” texture!!

Gratitude…

I am feeling content today – there’s the wonderful aroma of good food cooking, family gathered, DD’s napping and DH is playing on the Wii. Life is good and I am so grateful for the abundance we have.

Merry Christmas to you all and a very Happy New Year… ♥

 

Stormy weather…

I was thinking about what a week of pretty foul weather we’ve had here in the West Country this past week… Admittedly, we haven’t had snow per se, although there was a light snow shower on Tuesday night in Milton Damerel, just enough to coat the cars’ windscreens, but it has been epically windy – even for here – and a constant battering on the psyche wears you down eventually.

We have two old-ish dogs – a Yorkie and a German Shepherd – both of which have appeared on my blog in photos and layouts, and on Wednesday night at around 11pm, there was the most horrendous thunderclap, which literally shook the house. It felt like an explosion had happened nearby. I have no objection to a Yorkie landing in my lap, quivering with terror, but fighting off a 40- kg. (85lbs. approx.) male dog, in a similar condition, is no joke! (It’s a funny visual though…)

Luckily, there were only 4 more thunderclaps and then just the persistent howling of the wind down the chimney, plus rain and the occasional hail shower, for the rest of that night…

Ergo, my haiku this week is dedicated to the tenacity of weather fronts in general!

The mighty wind roars –

thunderclaps, Nature’s applause – 

power clearly shown…

I got the lovely image HERE.

For more haiku, go to Recuerda mi corazon, hosted by the lovely Rebecca.

 

12 Days of textures and more…

I seem to have a lot going on this week (again!)… Firstly here’s a photo of our Christmas tree, edited with layers and a new texture called lilly, from the wonderful Kim Klassen. Kim is sharing 12 days of [free] textures from today until Christmas day, lilly being the first!

The font I have used is called Curlz MT and it’s appropriately frivolous for the festive season, I think!

I have here a “free to use” Blog Christmas Card… If you like this digital painting of mine and would like to use it, please click HERE, and download it.

Happy Days!

I created this a while ago, and revisited it today so that I can have it ready for the Three Muses (‘Tis the Season) on Wednesday. You just never know how busy it’s going to get at this time of the year, do you?! I have discreetly embedded my name into the file so if you see someone claiming it as their own, do let me know, won’t you? If you download it for your own personal use, that’s great – you don’t even have to give me credit,  though it’d be nice!! 😉

Joyfully, I can post!

It’s been ages since I have taken part in regular art blog challenges – all my reasons were self-inflicted so I am happy to be able to just blog and post a photo with no agenda other than following a theme.

For Take a Word this week – “JOY”!

Thanks to Nancy Donaldson for the great texture! These 3 are sitting on top of a DVD unit next to the Christmas tree. Frosty is one of those annoying battery-operated xmas toys that sings the song and I love it!! The other 2 are part of my reindeer collection…

I’ve been writing a lot lately and working more regularly away from home, so I get tired more easily these days. It’s lovely to have a couple of major projects out of the way now, so I feel I shall be able to relax and thoroughly enjoy the Holidays when they arrive. 🙂

‘Tis the season…

Another Photo Art Friday entry, this time featuring my favourite big reindeer! He’s really soft and cuddly and is one of a number of reindeer that I have collected over the years. I really adore toy reindeer – no idea why! I used to get  a new reindeer every year till I realised that we’d soon run out of space for them, so I haven’t bought a new one this year (yet!!).

He’s sitting on my printer at the moment, smiling benevolently at me as I type… Well, I like to think so anyway! I used intensify, vintage wine label and holey grunge, adjusting blending modes to keep him soft and fluffy-looking. The font is Ace Crikey and I wish all the PAF participants a very Happy Holiday Season, whatever their beliefs.

See you all again in January 2012!  🙂

Shine…

Today I am so grateful for the love that abounds here in our home. I see so much transformation appearing before my eyes and such joy as we approach the silly season, that I am almost tempted to believe!! However, I have noticed these changes over the past couple of weeks and I think I have an inkling as to why…

This is for Bonnie’s PAF – my first time there! She’s so generous with her textures, advice and tips, take a look. And, thanks to my co-conspirator Johanna for leading me into her orbit (again!)…

Textures – Linen Blind & Artist (definition), varying blend modes, mostly at 100%, and I erased degrees of the textures from her lovely face and “sleeve” (that’s the tattoo for those who don’t know!) ♥

NB: I wonder if anyone remembers the movie “Shine”, where Geoffrey Rush plays a gifted pianist who cracks under pressure? I adore that film and never tire of the bittersweet inspirational tale.

 

Haiku my Heart

My daughter, about to turn 17, spent an impromptu 5 days in London this past week, for the first time, with a friend who’s 19 and knowledgeable! She called home every night, her tweets were enthusiastic and I think she found her inner “City-chick”! My girl can’t wait to go back – all she needs is work…

London’s lights beckon

The times they are a-changin’

As you seek new life

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You had a brief taste

Excitement, temptations, fun…

Spread your wings and fly!

For Haiku my Heart Friday, hosted by Rebecca of Recuerda mi Corazon – where we meet and share our love of haiku and images. ♥

The tenacity of Ivy…

For this week’s Texture Tuesday, hosted by Kim Klassen , we are to use at least one layer of any of Kim’s textures. I have used music_lovin’:

Method: Copy + soft light; Music_lovin’ in colour burn mode; then copied with linear burn mode, copied again and erased the texture from the top leaf.

I took the photo with my Samsung Monte mobile phone. It’s the dead ivy on our old rotting garden shed! It’s still tenaciously clinging to the wood, even though it’s been dead for nearly a year…