Gardening tips in the Guardian

This is an old one that I have re-worked. Looking back over my older stuff, I cringe at the terrible lighting, shading etc. I really dislike the Guardian newspaper and have no idea if it has a gardening section. My son-in-law reads the Guardian and I tease him endlessly about it. Luckily he takes it all with the good humour with which it is intended. Most of the elements used are from one of my favourite designers - Finecrafted designs. This kit is Meet the Mandrakes: http://www.deviantscrap.com/shop/manufacturers.php?manufacturerid=15&page=1

New Year

Hi Again. Well I just checked out a YouGov survey about what people thought the New Year would bring, and they are all as full of doom and gloom as I am. Seriously, not one positive prediction to be found. I haven't made a resolutiom for years, but I have made one in advance of midnight tonight. I am going to stop seperating my life from my art and am going to post a lot more about me and what I am up to. I'm venturing into jewellery making along with a thousand other things.It did not really dawn on me that others might find what I do to be particularly interesting, but having spent a lot of time on a lot of blogs lately, I really appreciate what people post. I've been really captured by stories of heartbreak, pictures of experiments that have gone wrong, and just the sharing and generosity of spirit of bloggers out there. This year I am going to share more of my failures, things I like and what I am up to. I just coloured some beads that were a flat turqoiuse colour, with alcohol inks. I now have delightful speckled beads which have a depth they did not have before. I will post photos of these and tips, in the hope that I will get some back too. There must be a better way of sealing beads than painting them with clear nail varnish! Anyways, enough of my ramblings. Here is a challenge I have just completed for 2012 I was not allowed to use real people, so had to use symbolism. Could feel my anger rising as I was working on this image. I'm so unhappy about the state of the UK and Europe. Not at all happy with this picture but am posting it anyway and am always open to feedback. ...and to all of you whose images I used and was too lazy to credit for, I shall make it up to you next year :-) xxx Happy New Year!

Updates, opinions, news etc

Hi and Happy New Year everyone. Hope you had a good Christmas. I did not even get around to posting my Christmas card. Thinking back to last Christmas when my partner and I were really ill, I was relieved that I escaped that lurgy this year. My partner was struck again with another lurgy on Boxing Day. Well I don't like Christmas and seem to like it less with each passing year. Can't believe that people actually spent their Christmas day hunting down sale bargains and camping out at shops as early as 5am for boxing day sales. Relentless adverts on TV. Can't they give us just one day off? I've had De Quervains (damage to wrist and thumb tendons) which has been ongoing since before Christmas. My GP said to rest, but the NHS does not provide house maids, and photoshop does not do voice control. Thinking it was not very clever of me to use the Wacom tablet for everything though and considering going back to using a mouse again. I have cut back on computer use and am doing more hands on crafts again. I'm really interested in jewellery which fulfills my passion for recycling. Bought lots of vintage and broken jewellery on Ebay and made a few necklaces which I should have posted here. My New Year resolution is to post more on my blog about all sorts of things and not to keep my art seperate from political issues. Here is the Christmas card I should have posted earlier: Here are the credits and some images I used: Managed to fit in another art challenge at Images by Kim - Pocket Packet Friday's Challenge. This one was on favourite flowers. I'm fussy about roses, and could not find a red one I really liked in my collection. Very pleased with how this one turned out: Lots of layers and fiddling with this, but this is what I started with:

RIP Christopher Hitchins

So saddened over the death of Christopher Hitchins today. Britain has lost a wonderful intellect and a man of substance. May his love of free speech live on. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2nyBOucJcc

Halloween witch freebie CU OK

A long overdue freebie for you. I need a witch for a project and decided to create one. Hope you like it. It is a .png file. Background is not included. You can download the file here: http://dc426.4shared.com/download/gjcrnEEw/my_witch_cat.zip If some kind fairy could tell me where I am going wrong with 4shared, I'd be grateful. Meanwhile, just right click on the png file to download

I'm back

It's nice to be back.I've had to deal with two parents who have dementia. Not easy to move people from their home to residential care, but needs must. So many 1000mile trips to deal with dilemmas, house clearance etc. At least they are in a nearby residential home now and I can begin to get my life back. I haven't taken part in many challenges, just snatching the odd hour or so to scrapbook my grandchildren. Apologies in advance for not giving full credits to the designers whose designs I use in my creations. I really must find a system to record everything I use. Would be easier if I stuck to just one kit instead of using bits and pieces from different kits and freebies. I used a freebie kit from PSJ designs - www.pstogether.blogspot.com Isn't my little grandson as cute as a button? I used one of my favourite kits from the Inner Voice kit by Finecrafted designs for this one of my grandson. He is into building huge towers with his building bricks. Here he is dressing up. He could not decide whether he wants to be a chef or a pirate. I've used Lorie Davison's kit for the background. Even pirates need a tea break :-) For this one, I used StarLightDesigns Crazy Backyard kit. I used a background paper from Downunder Studios - Touch of Fantasy Kit and blended it with an original photo, using an easel from another kit. Matrioshkidesigns.com Old Town Kit by Anna was used for this one. It was a very poor photograph and a real challenge. Messed around so much with various processes that I could not begin to describe how I arrived at the final copy.

Inspired by Hindu Holi Festival

I'm currently writing a book for my grandchildren, with made up poems about elephants. This was inspired by a photo and Indian friend of mine took of the Hindu Holi festival. It was a wonderful riot of colour, caused by people throwing coloured powder at each other. Sounds like great fun. I don't know if elephants are part of the festival, but I found an image of two painted elephants on Flickr. Sorry I can't remember who to give credits to. I love the way Indians paint everything that stands still (I can definitely relate):-) I've used lots of overlays with this and different blending modes. I'm no expert on Hinduism. Lord Ganesh who is sitting on the elephants was an afterthought. I chose it because it fitted in so well with the elephants. I completed another iris image for the challenge I completed yesterday The door was part of a kit by Magical Reality Designs.

Digital Whispers Iris Challenge

The Digital Whispers Challenge this week was to create something with the image of an iris Kimmie provided. It had bloomed in her garden. We also had to describe how we created the image. First I created a fake HDR image of the iris. Played around with different layer effects for the other photos and coloured in the fairies with a dual brush, using the colours from the iris flower for the dress. I used a background image from Magical Reality Designs, which I forgot to include here. The sky is a gradient, again using the colours from the iris flower. I texturized the background paper with a texture I created myself. Colour burned the edges and added torn paper for interest.

Burgers

What a fun challenge at Digital Whispers this week. We had to fill a burger bun. Here's how I filled mine. Yellow Background paper by Stephanie@Digital Whispers, Sea,diver and vintage beach tag by Tangled Fish Studio@DeviantArt.com - At the Beach Kit. Legs from a vintage Christmas Card.

Bingo Challenge

I'm not a bingo fan and found this a tough challenge to do. Will have to come back later with the credits. Some elements are from Tangie Baxter's steampunk kit. The challenge was hosted by Kimmie at DigitalArt+Images by Kim. I was messing around with different textures trying to create a convincing skin tone for an underwater scene. Layers upon layers upon layers in this one. There's probably a fast route to achieving the same effects. I used the High Pass filter on my grandson's image. I'm not really sure what it does but it produced some interesting effects lol