I've been playing again!

I've been having fun playing with a mixture of images - I just can't resist blending images together to see what happens! 

Killing Time!

Whenever I've been sitting around in the car waiting for the children, I always end up with a wealth of images and doodles to process! I took these photos on my phone camera last week. The rain was torrential but shooting through the window created some interesting pictures!

I made this angel doodle a while ago but I wanted to see what she looked like with some added colour. I think she looks much better

When I scanned in this bunch of flowers, I thought it looked a bit lost on its own so I added a digital frame.

I've got a heap of other doodles which I'm busy turning into digital brushes at the moment!! I'll post some more images when I get them finished. I keep meaning to go out with my camera, but it's just sooo cold at the moment - hopefully I'll manage to get out again soon!

Playing with Monsters!

I've been playing with monsters!
I'm not quite sure why the first one has a hanging handle on the top of his head!!!
The second one is my favourite .... he's just so much fun!!

And I had to try inverting him and adding some colour

.... What do you think?

Doesn't Time Fly!

Doesn't time fly when your having fun! I've been so busy this last month that I haven't got round to posting anything at all.

I finally got around to joining the SSP Guild and it was definitely money well spent! You get a fabulous welcome gift, a bimonthly online craft magazine and unmounted stamp plate, plus loads of free downloads and 10% off everything you buy at The Stamp Bug. But don't take my word for it ... check it out here.

Here are a couple of the things I have been inspired to make since joining -

This is a really messy process involving acetate, glossy accents, ink, paint and glitter ..... but so much fun, and so effective! The photos really don't do justice to the lovely glossy shimmers you achieve :)

I used one to alter a common baked bean tin .... after we'd eaten the beans of course!!

And this one to alter an old CD to make an attractive wall hanging thing :)

By the way ... do you like my new clock? You can have one too .... just click on the link on my clock and follow the instructions!

I've just finished scanning and playing with my latest collection of zentangle/doodles.

Pebbles and Pussy Willow

On monday I went to visit my brother and we went for a walk on the beach. I'm a sucker for collecting rocks, pebbles and shells. This was my haul!

Today I was out in the garden and couldn't help but notice the pussy willow tree in bud ... a sure sign that spring is on the way.

I finished some more designs last night, but I haven't had time to scan them in yet! Hopefully tomorrow :)

Photo Catch Up!

Playing catch up with my photos ... Friday I spent most of the day at my desk.

Today's image was taken while waiting for the children outside the Chinese takeaway shop.

I have decided to take on the photojojo project-365-take-a-photo-a-day. But being me ... I have to add my own twist! I have no idea what each day will bring, but my first image is a composite of three or four shots taken while sitting in the car last night waiting for the children to finish their music lesson. It was pouring with rain and dark, and I had been watching the patterns made by the reflections of the rain on the windscreen on the book I was reading. This is the result.It's just another form of playing really ... but I did spend the day working on a logo for some friends new business! 

Been Playing When I Should've Been Working!

I've been playing when I should've been working! ... much more fun though!

This was drawn using a plastic ruler/stencil which I got in my Christmas cracker! Then I scanned it into the computer and played with colour, gradients and blending modes.

This was a really scrappy doodle of my word for the year - growth. But after I scanned it and played with some colour and embossing settings I quite like the result!

This was another really quick doodle which I added digital colour and stuff to!

I really am going to have to stop playing and get down to some work now .... it's starting to pile up!!

Inspired by the quotations on Donna's "Campaign for Creativity" page, I pasted the words into the box on the Wordle website and pushed the button a few times. Then I took the results and blended them together. This is the result!

Then ... in the true spirit of creativity ... I created a few more hybrid images [hand drawn, digitally altered].

What a week!

What a week! First we had a burst pipe which flooded the outhouse, then the car started overheating, and last night the gale force winds blew out the boiler's pilot light and wouldn't let us re-light it :(  Add to that my busiest ever work week ..... and you have one very frazzled being!!

On the positive side, I have finally found the courage to get out the baritone and join a band :) The first week was pretty scary as they were playing quite tricky stuff .... but this week was much easier .... practising for a concert. Much to my amazement I was able to play nearly all the music!

Today I had to relax with a little word art - another version of my word for the year. Hand drawn this time, then digitally blended with some plant images to complete the effect.

Having Fun!

Everyone's idea of fun is different, but for me ... fun is playing with images, colours, shapes and textures. Here are a couple of my latest playtime results!

The original images were hand drawn with pen and ink, scanned into the computer, then digitally blended with altered photographic  images to produce a pleasing end result!

Playing with words!

Thanks to my friend Sue, I have just discovered a new fun website. You can find it at http://www.wordle.net/. You feed it some text of your choice push the create button, and it creates a random design from your text. As I was thinking about my new word for the year, growth, I fed the wordle with a dictionary definition of growth and this is what it came up with

..... well sort of ..... there are all these fun buttons for you to customise the colours, and then I couldn't resist adding a little photo editing of my own by blending in a christmas photo! (if you want to see a larger image, visit my flickr photostream here)

Why don't you take a trip over to the wordle site and have some fun!

Happy New Year - 2009!

Happy New Year to you all! I just can't believe that it's another new year already! 

So much has happened in the last year, and so much is still happening. I am at long last starting to get my business off the ground, which is partly why I haven't been posting to flickr or blogging for so long! I have been busy designing new logos and a brand new look for my website which I uploaded this morning!! Check it out here.

I've chosen my new word for the year - growth - but I haven't got round to illustrating it yet ... something to look forward to! [Last years word - transformation - soooo described my year!] Have you chosen a word yet?

I'll just leave you with a few of my favourite Christmas images.

Lazy Week

I'm having a really lazy time this week! The children are on holiday from school, so no need to get up early - which means I can work through the night without having to worry about getting up in the morning - my kind of life!

Since the wonderful sunshine last week we have had a full range of weather including snow! Thankfully it seems to be getting warmer again now, and the sun has been shining again.

I have been working on a new series of zentangles this week. The original zentangles are drawn by hand in pen and ink, then scanned into the computer and digitally altered. First I have cut the zentangle from it's background which then allows me to add a drop shadow to make it look 3D.

Then I have used the image to generate a pattern for the background to which I have added colour. The first zentangle has had it's colour inverted.

I have finally managed to finish my largest zentangle to date. I started it ages ago but was daunted by the sheer size of white space to cover and left it while I waited for inspiration. The original size is 5" x 6".

Yesterday was an even more amazing day - more like summer than spring! My good friend from uni, Aaron, came over for lunch after which we went out with our cameras to take photos. (He just likes to make me jealous with his new SLR!)

The hedgerows were alive with all kinds of insects: these are a few that I managed to capture!

These ladybirds definitely think it is spring

I wish I knew the names of some of these insects, but it is not something I know a lot about!

But they are definitely enjoying the sunshine!


I just managed to get a picture of this bee feasting on the pollen on the blossom, but unlike the bee of the other day, this one was definitely in a hurry and didn't want to stay in one place for too long!

I must get back to updating my art journal soon! I got as far as planning all the entries the other night, and sketching out rough plans for them, then I fell asleep! There has just been so much going on this week.

One last photo before I go - one of the beautiful flowers in my garden.

Where did March go?

Where on earth did March dissappear to? April already and now the clocks have gone forward the evenings are getting lighter - it really is beginning to feel like spring is here!

It was certainly a lovely day today. The sun was shining, so I took my camera and went out to see what I could find.

This bee definitely thought it was spring as he buzzed about getting his fill of the pollen! There were plenty of flowers for him to choose from.

Walking along the sea front just above the promenade, the paths weave over and across each other, making interesting patterns and in many places the cuttings are held back by stone walls. I really liked the textures and patterns that these two walls made.

I walked down to the promenade and discovered this dried seaweed hanging on the railings

- obviously left over from the last time we had stormy weather!