Crazy Colors Bookmarks !!

I couldn't resist playing with some of my flower photos yesterday, creating crazy color bookmarks!  The above bookmark is the Rocky Mountain Townsend Daisy, which I shot back in June during the Sandia Mountain wildflower walk.  Amazing the fun stuff one can do with PhotoShop!

And, this bookmark is a crazy colored gladiola bookmark, from a photo of the gladiolas that are growing in my pots both in front and back of the house!  Now, I just need to print these out on some good cardstock and get them protected.  Haven't decided yet whether to use gel medium and varnish or laminate them.  Oh, well, I'll figure it out!

Enjoy!

Bizarre June Holidays

Here are the latest ATCs created for the June Bizarre Holiday swap on www.atcsforall.com. The above ATC is based on one of my photos, taken last year when we were off-roading near Moab, UT. This road was definitely rocky! In fact, when we first made the turn & saw this, I thought the road just sort of ended at a rock wall! Of course, Rocky Road could also be ice cream......

This vintage photo in the above ATC is one of my favorites. I have no idea who this woman is (or was), and I apologize to her for using her to illustrate Old Maid's Day! The technique I used for this ATC was a text page as background, the peeling paint technique (amazing what Vaseline can do!), then I pasted torn handmade paper with a handwriting stamp, placed my little lady in the place of honor and added the info about the holiday! I think she's kind fun looking, so I'm imaging she was an old maid who had fun!!!

This last ATC was a fun type of ATC. I used a bright, striped napkin as the background. Then, I added the two photos of happy, smiling kids. The small baby was just such a happy looking child, and the little boy with the joyous smile, just reached out and touched me. Doesn't he just make you smile? You can't help yourself!!

Enjoy!!

Photo ATCs - Patterns and Textures

Here are some photo ATCs from a swap I just participated in. the photo above was supposed to be an up-close portrait of my sweet little girl kitty, Tatoosh. But...she moved just as the shutter released. So, I was left with this very cool sort of spooky shot that created a pattern of her eye moving in the shot!

This shot is a close up of a knot in a tree. I used PhotoShop to accentuate the grainy pattern and texture of the wood. I really like this shot, including the subtle color changes of the wood.

This creamy looking image is a close-up of some wood grain on the inside of a tree. Again, I did some playing with PhotoShop and just liked the semi-swirly effect effect I was able to achieve.

Enjoy!

One-Word Series

Here's a new series that I worked on a week or so ago. I wanted to do something very simple, and sort of hit on this approach. I'm not certain that I really like it, altho it does kind of have a good "feel" to it.

The photos are mine. I altered them a bit, and I do like the look of them. The one word aspect of it feeds into the simplicity that I was looking for and speaks to the photo image on the piece.

The foundation of all the pieces are wood plaques that Jeff cut for me. I think I may do another series like this, but try something a bit different. Of course, there's always the chance that this will grow on me!!

Enjoy!

Jeff & His Flying Machine

What a beautiful day for flying! Jeff thought so, too! He had been working on his plane, and got it put together, so he took it out on a test flight, just to make sure things were all working the way they should. He did a series of "touch and go's" where he lands and then immediately rev's the engine and takes off again. I didn't have my camera for the first take-off, but ran into the house and got it in time for the second!

I liked the above shot because it looks exactly like what it was out today - the wild blue yonder! What great clouds and sky we had today!

This was the third take-off. He actually turned a bit so that he took off directly over me. I was pretty close to the runway, but not directly on it, which I'd have to be to get this shot otherwise! I like the silhouette look of the plane against that wonderful sky.

I really like the above shot. It just speaks to me of freedom. No wonder Jeff loves to fly.

And, here he is - safe and sound on the ground! What a great morning to fly.....and to photograph it!

Tropical Flowers

Aren't these flowers beautiful? I took them yesterday in between morning showers. The drops on their petals are "real", not me misting them with a water bottle or anything! For the most part, they are different colors of hibiscus, I believe.

I thought this pink one was just wonderful. I love the way the rain drops just seem to glisten on the petals!

These two look like twins, don't they? I did get another shot of one of them in a super close up, but I do like this one of the two of them.

These last flowers aren't hibiscus - they are called sky flowers and are really very delicate, little flowers. When we walked by all these flowers later in the day, when the rain drops had dried, I didn't think they looked nearly as photogenic, altho still quite beautiful. Rain is a good thing, I guess! Enjoy!

Weather's Improving in Jamaica!

It's beautiful here in Jamaica - even when it rains! The photo above and below were taken in the morning showers here today. I think the rain really highlighted their fabulous colors!

This image was taken from the restaurant where we had breakfast this morning. It was drizzling out, and folks were waiting to see what the day brought us, so there weren't any people on the beach yet. However, the rain passed, and we ended up at the pool later in the morning. I'm sure all the beach spots are taken, but we might walk around to check out the other pool after lunch. For right now, tho, we are enjoying ourselves on our balcony!

Blue Moon Rising!

Check it out! We just walked in the house from an afternoon visiting with some neighbors, and this is what the view was out of our back patio windows! Isn't this beautiful? It's the Blue Moon rising! I was very lucky to be able to capture this! Enjoy!

I'm back!

Finally!! I'm settled in enough to begin to get back into my blog. It's been quite an eventful few months - we are now moved and settled in our new home in New Mexico. it was quite an adventure, but well worth it. I'm now sitting in my wonderful studio/office, looking out at South Mountain in the San Pedro Mountains - the smaller, narrow photo is what it looked like this morning as the sun came up and the clouds were still hanging around from a rainstorm we had last night. The top photo was of the sky this morning just as the sun was rising - at about 6am or so! Isn't it fabulous? I feel so grateful and happy to be here! Life is truly good!

This past weekend, we went exploring in the Jemez Mountains just to the northwest of us, and on Saturday, we took in the New Mexico Indian Art Market. The artwork was just beautiful, and it was very interesting to see the differences between the art created by the various Native American tribes. I found I repeatedly was drawn to the art created by the Navajo artists. Perhaps I'll find a piece in the future to have a place in our home!

More later! Enjoy the day! Nadine

Mountains of Boxes !

The move date is drawing closer and closer! A week from yesterday we will be heading out in our little caravan to our new home in New Mexico! And, when I look around almost anywhere in the house and garage right now, all I see are mountains of boxes and other things we've got loaded with our stuff! So, what could be a better photo to reflect our mini mountains than a picture of one of my favorite mountain areas, Mount St Helens in Washington state! This image was taken on a backroad sort of behind the mountain. We were attempting to find a back way to get to the crater, and sort of stumbled acrosss this wonderfully beautiful lovely scene! The backroad we were on quickly turned into a very rough dirt road and we weren't able to continue on it in our little RV, but it was worth the detour just to see this area and capture this image.

In terms of our moving, I think we're doing really well. I can hardly believe it, but we really seem to be under control, so that we're not having to make ourselves crazy with last minute packing! We were even able to stop and see a movie yesterday - Angels & Demons with Tom Hanks. Good movie - however, I'm glad I hadn't read the book first. I think it might have ruined the movie for me, knowing the ending!

Enjoy your day!

Sunflower

I'm having a tough time getting to sleep tonight, so I thought I'd play around with filters in PhotoShop. Here's a sunflower image that I took in the Southwest a couple of years ago. I applied a colored pencil filter. I think it looks rather abstract, but still like the sunflower that it is. I guess it sort of fits my mood at the moment. I think the reality of how quickly our move is coming up is sticking with me tonight. I'm excited and looking forward to it, but the "it" is rather abstract. I know what the basics of our life will be, but there's so much that's unknown, and abstract when I try to imagine some details. I know, I know, I get to make those up and create a future, but, right now, my imagination about it isn't clicking and I'm feeling a bit anxious about all the unknowns and uncertainties. This will pass, I know, and I'll embrace all the unknowns and just let the creativity flow. I just need to keep the faith, and embrace whatever is next! Enjoy!

Beascochea Bay, Antarctica

Good morning! What a fabulous day I feel like this will be! It's pretty humid and foggy this morning, and when I skimmed thru some photos, this one jumped out at me. Probaby because it's of water & clouds, which could be some sort of mind-connection to humidity and fog - who knows?!? This image was taken at Beascochea Bay in Antarctica. The bay is one that we were told was not routinely explored by expeditions to Antarctica. The icebergs there were just breath-taking and magnificent!

Well, we're in the final weeks before our move to our new life in New Mexico. Packing is underway, and I think I've finally gotten everything that's going to be packed at my old house packed up! Now, there will still be the decorative items and things on the walls that will need to be packed once the house is under contract, and we've got a few furniture pieces that we need to take now, but I'm feeling like we're pretty much complete with what we can do for now. We've got more packing to do at Jeff's house (which is where we now live), but that's coming along well. I think I'm going to start "wrapping up" the packing for various rooms starting this weekend or next week for sure. I know what's left can be done fairly quickly, so I'm not making myself too crazy over it!

Better get going with the fabulous day! Enjoy!

Napa Autumn Morning

I was playing around with PhotoShop the other day, and ended up with this very beautiful image of the early morning in Napa. We stayed at a B&B at Rust Ridge, which was also a winery. I just love this photo because it is very serene and restful. It sort of matches my mood this morning. I'm feeling very good and calm this morning because we got an offer on Jeff's house yesterday, which he accepted. So, here's hoping everything goes ok, and that the closing happens according to schedule. One of the other reasons I'm really happy is that this means Jeff will be moving with me when the house is ready in New Mexico. He was thinking he needed to remain here in the Midwest until it sold. I hated the thought of the beginning of our home together would be without him. Now, we just need for my place to sell, and the major checklist of things here in the Midwest to be settled will be done! I've got an open house scheduled for this weekend - hopefully, someone will see my place, love it, and make me an offer! This morning, anything's posssible! Enjoy!