Lisa Spangler has a great new line of challenges over on her blog HERE. She is giving tutorials on how to use your camera and photo editing software to take better images of your cards. What a great idea!
Below is a card I made for my niece’s 8th birthday. She just finished her first soccer season, so I thought I’d use that as the theme. The grass was hand-cut & the border hand-drawn.
Here’s my original image (taken by natural light at end of day):
And the image with adjusted levels in Photoshop CS3:
Here’s another view where you can see the Spica bling on the soccer ball…
Supplies: Blue & green notecards (Hero Arts); Soccer image (Stampabilities); Sentiment (Hero Arts): Sparkle Gemstones (Hero Arts); Chipboard Thickers (American Crafts); white gel pen (Ranger); black glitter pen (Spica) ; blue pigment ink (Versacolor)
I visited the Arboretum for a couple of hours this morning with a friend, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many pumpkins in my entire life! They were lining every main walkway of the gardens…just thousands of them. One section even had a hut built entirely of pumpkins, gourds, & maize:
What is even better is that the pumpkins were for sale. Imagine being 6 years old, walking into a place like that, and being able to choose one special jack-o-lantern pumpkin from thousands! Too cool.
I went to the Nasher Sculpture Center this past Saturday with my friend Rhonda. It is one of the few museums in Dallas I’ve never been to, and it is full of Patsy & Raymond Nasher’s amazing private collection they began accumulating in the 60s. Most of the work is modern art, though they did have a few pieces from Rodin…including one of my favs “The Age of Bronze”. This was Rodin’s first great masterpiece, and at the time, he was even accused of making a mold of his model because it was so lifelike!
I’ll never forget the first time I stepped into the Rodin museum in Paris at 17 & saw Le Baiser. It literally took my breath away. It amazes me that he could take a medium like marble & create something so lifelike.
And a few more of my fav pieces from the day…
I loved the shape & curves of this giant eraser by Claes Oldenburg. The brush was made from thick metal tubing.
Not only were there sculptures in the museum, but they also had some paintings from the Nasher collection, including this Picasso. I’m normally not a huge Picasso fan, but I loved the brilliant colors used in this piece…
Down in the basement, there was a white sculpture based on the shape of the atom.
What I found far more interesting, however, was the shadow pattern created from the negative space of the piece…
Matisse’s reclining woman
Constantin Brancusi’s “Le Baiser” which sat on the Nasher’s dining room table.
Alberto Giacometti’s sculpture of his brother Diego…
On the way to the back garden stands this huge bust that must be 10 feet tall and is made from welded metal…
And finally, I have no idea how this was constructed, but this towering pole must extend 100 feet into the air. It is nearly vertical and the people walking into the sky are life-size! What a feat it must have been to assemble…but very cool to see & enjoy.
I created a new photo album in my gallery for all of the Killiney Bay pics featured in my recent video. The resolution is a bit better than youtube for viewing. You can check out the pics here.
P.S. Another tune is on its way shortly that I recorded tonight!
As promised, I am posting the next installment of my trip to Europe…Killiney Bay, Ireland.
One late afternoon, I hiked several miles from Dalkey to Killiney & documented the journey with my camera. Once I reached the beach, I sat & listened to the song Almost Lover (by A Fine Frenzy) on repeat as I sat staring at the Irish sea. Words can’t describe Killiney’s beauty, and pictures don’t do it justice. I decided the best way to share my experience with you was to re-create it with a video taking you along on my hike. The background music is my interpretation of Almost Lover arranged on my Clavinova. Hope you enjoy it & get some small understanding of the beauty of the place.
Check out the new friend I met outside my front door today…
It will be so fun to watch the babies hatch & learn to fly for the first time! Sometimes I am just blown away by nature & all the beauty we so easily take for granted.
There is a large gardenia bush in full bloom behind my house. I plucked a blossom this evening to fill the house with its heavy aroma. Don’t you just love the smell of them?
I recently visited the Arboretum for the Dallas Bloom festival. I’m not sure if it’s just in my head, but I always feel healthier after I’ve spent a day outdoors breathing in the fresh air! This particular day was no exception. I captured a few shots I wanted to share with you here…
A purple daisy bursting with color…
A beautiful Japanese maple branch gently blowing in the wind…
Took a walk around the neighborhood this afternoon, and snapped a few photos I thought I’d share. I was surprised to see so many beautiful roses still in bloom!
I think the highlight of the State Fair for my mom was going to the “Birds of the World Show”. She was fascinated by how close we were able to get to some of the birds of prey as they swooped just over our heads. This white falcon was particularly beautiful. Watch out for those talons!
We also saw a number of exotic birds including a brightly colored singing parrot that knew the lyrics to four separate songs!
Now if you’ve seen this show at the State Fair before, you probably know that it usually runs like clockwork. Nobody misses a beat, and you’re amazed at the talent of the animals and their trainers. The day we attended the show, though, it truly was a comedy of errors. First, they announced a hawk was flying in from the ferris wheel when he apparently wasn’t loaded yet. Next, they introduced a bird who flew out from the stage & disappeared for about 10 minutes. He was later found & recovered from a nearby tree. And finally, it took about 12 different attempts to get one of the birds to obey a command to fly out to an audience member & collect a money donation. The emcee kept saying, “That’s just the way this show is gonna go today,” but I think we enjoyed it even more with all of its flaws.
The highlight of the Fair for me was visiting an enclosed butterfly garden that held hundreds of native Texas butterflies! I always jump at the chance to take photos of them. Here are a few of my favorite pics from the afternoon…
A few weeks ago, my mom & I spent an afternoon at the Texas State Fair. I was thrilled to see three of my crafts projects on display in the Creative Arts building including the below polymer clay caned bracelet & holiday card tin:
My friend Sherri Sneed also had several pieces on display. I was particularly taken with this gorgeous polymer clay box she made that won first place. The entire surface is blended clay that was cut out & pieced together (it is not painted).
Sherri also sculpted this adorable clay doll that she says remarkably ended up looking like her grandfather! I believe the clothes were also handmade on her sewing machine as well.
The grass was hand-cut & the border hand-drawn.
