Lime and Lemon and New

This entry is for two challenges: Rainbow Lady's Challenge (new) and Colour Create Challenge (the colors of lime and lemon).

The two origami cranes are new gifts from a Japanese friend. I set them on a black lacquered tray to take the picture. The tray has numerous gorgeous flowers on it, but I chose to use only this one.

Happy New Year, everyone!

Paper Minutes - many colors

Paper Minutes is bursting with colors this week as we celebrate the beginning of the new year of 2010. We are to use more than 3 colors. I have used several (at least 5 different colors) inks and glimmer mists to make this background. The stars were stamped onto yellow card stock and cut out. The purple stars are cut slightly larger.

MMM - least favorite color

I love most colors so this was hard for me. I finally chose to do a tag for Mixed Media Monday using this olive green that has a lot of red tone to it. I'm not sure that the screen can portray the color correctly. Another less favorite color would be what Beth chose, a vivid hot fuchsia.

Greetings to my Blog Friends...

This is early and probably not the last Happy New Year art I will do. In an effort to ease down out of Christmas mode, I decided to fiddle around with Photoshop Elements this afternoon.

Theme Thursday - Fun

Fun is the theme for this week's Theme Thursday. I used a darling skating couple image from Graphics Fairy and some digital brushes from Brusheezy over my shiny wintry looking background to make this postcard.. 

The background started as a piece of plain paper on which I crumpled waxed paper and ironed. Then I took various homemade Pearl Ex and reinkers mists. I left this background to dry naturally overnight. This is difficult for me because I always want to go right into the next step of creating. Anyway, the background looked like a winter scene so I decided to go with that and find an image of winter fun.

Wednesday Stamper

Today I used my 50% off coupon at Michaels to get this Sepia Archival ink pad. I'm not sure trees is the best use for sepia color, but here it is. Around the edges is pink-gold Lumiere. Bedecking the trees is Ranger Crystal Ice Stickles. The Crystal Ice looks so good in person that I am appalled to see how the scan came out. Everything that looks like gray is really sparkles. Wednesday Stamper has given us an open theme, meaning we can choose whatever we want as long as it has at least one rubber stamp.

Winter Snowflake Tag

Making snowflakes from a scratch is not easy. I see why every snowflake is an original. I had trouble just making each point look somewhat alike. Winter is the theme for Crazy Amigo Challenge; Snowflakes is the theme for Created by Hand Challenge; and Different Shaped Tag is the theme for Tag Tuesday. I used Stampin'Up Heat and Stick powder and Stampendous CrystalSnow.

TMTA - Christmas Figures

Think Monday Think ATCs'  theme this week is figures of Christmas. What could be more basic than the manger scene? Here is a creche I made a few years ago. My sister did the wood carving and I did the painting. (Some of you saw this picture on my other blog. I have used that to make this digital ATC.)

Sunday Postcard - Christmas

Sunday Postcard (4"x6") has the theme of Christmas. This paper collage is made from snips and pieces from some magazine pictures. The background is made on a card stock which had been sprayed with hair spray then misted with various homemade mica mists and reinkers, plus a tad of gesso.

Home for Christmas

Saturday's Surprise has as its theme: Home for the Holidays. This card was made using a picture from the past. It was a Christmas we had traveled from Texas to Alabama to spend with my in-laws. On the left is my son; on the right is his cousin Mary. It was so nice to be able to be with family during the holidays that year.

Girls and Deer - ACF

OK. Is it cheating if I used the same post as yesterday and just add the two girls? I put those darling little twins in my backyard with the deer. I think they look right at home. The image of the girls was given to us by Art Creations Friday to use today.

Deer Legs

My entry for Rainbow Lady's Challenge (deer or large animals) and for Theme Thursday (legs) is seen here. The picture was taken last winter in our back yard.

The Three Muses Challenge

The Three Muses' theme this week is mail art. I have made a couple of my ancestors, Ben Rhea and Mrs. Sallie Rhea (related, but not sure how), into postage stamps. The embossed background was done using a Cuttlebug embossing folder. The writing is a freebie from Rein.

Tag Tuesday - Punch it!

Here is my tag using a snowflake punch. The tree is a new stamp stamped onto white cardstock and cut out. This is for Tag Tuesday, where the theme is to use a punch.

TMTA - Children's Books

I grew up on Billy Whiskers books. My mother owned several in the series, which were published in the early 1900s, and she read them to me and my sister as bedtime stories. I believe the covers of hers weren't colorful like this picture. I remember there was a light blue book and a tan book. I think there may have been one or two more. The mother and daughter are Dover images. The theme for Think Monday Think ATCs this week is children's books.

We're still having computer problems.  But we should be back to normal soon.

One Stop - Christmas Love

One Stop Craft Challenge has as its theme this week: Christmas Love. I am using an altered picture of myself and a digital brush of one of my ancestors to produce this completely digital Christmas card.

We are having computer and television problems, so if I seem to drop off the face of the earth in the next few days, you'll know what's going on. We aren't sure why everything seems to be falling apart all at the same time. My DH has given up for the day, I think, after speaking to 5 different reps from our server, each one dropping the call. I really think they didn't know what to tell him to do, so they took the easy way out and disconnected.

Art Creations Friday

Here is how I used the image given to us this week by Art Creations Friday. I used Photoshop Elements to create this digital ATC.

Paper Minutes and Wednesday Stamper

This is my card for Paper Minutes. The theme is white, cream, and rose colors. My lace got mashed in the scanner and the color of the rose lace is a bit off.

EDIT: This is also my card for Wednesday Stamper, since I have stamped and embossed the Christmas tree. WS has as its theme this week: Winter.

Created by Hand - Hanukkah

This is my entry for Created by Hand (Hanukkah).

Regal Ladies - Gothic Arches

I've used a couple of Dover Publications freebie images for this along with some gradient filters and such. This is my entry for Sunday Gothic Arches.

One Stop Craft Challenge - Fancy Folds

Three views of my easel-style fold up card. One Stop Craft Challenge's theme is Fancy Folds. My card doesn't have folds on it; it just folds like an easel.

Crazy Amigos - Happy Birthday Card

Here is a digital birthday card I have made for Crazy Amigos. The background and lady in the foreground came from Dover. The tree is from Brusheezy Brushes.

Theme Thursday - Bookmarks

This bookmark was made in early summertime using petals from flowers and leaves from shrubs. The petals and leaves were pounded causing the "juice" to soak into the watercolor paper. I have digitally added the text. The theme for Theme Thursday this week is Bookmarks. (With all the bookmarks I own, I still usually use an old envelope!) The purple is Siberian iris; the red and the green are barberry leaves. I've found that Japanese maple leaves also do very well with pounding.

Wednesday Stamper - Santa

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This is a photo of my son's first visit to Santa. Can't you see happiness at meeting Santa? LOL!!! Poor kid was scared speechless. My stamp is my new tree stamp I got yesterday at Ben Franklin's for a dollar. I think it was made by Cee Dee industries. This is my entry for Wednesday Stamper. I am using the photo "as is" without Photoshopping.

Tag Tuesday - purple, green, and silver

Tag Tuesday has as its theme this week to use the colors purple, green and silver. My tag was daubed with some reinkers of purple and green. I also used a little of the Adirondack silver metallics and blending solution. I stamped with my newest stamp from the craft store, an unmounted rubber stamp I got for a dollar. The silver embossing didn't work too well over the Adirondack silver so I outlined in silver pen.

Paper Minutes - snowman

Here is a watercolor painting I made to use on Christmas cards. Not this year. I hope it's ok to use for Paper Minutes challenge.