"Pop"

This week's photo challenge was "Pop" over on the Texture Tuesday site, so I decided to focus on that all important pop of colour that we see this time of year with the arrival of the first Robins of the Spring.  This photo was taken a few weeks ago, before our final snow storm, but it just seemed to provide that hope and promise of things to come. That bright orange breast and belly are a sure sign that winter is finally over!

I did a bit of an adjustment layer before adding Kim's new texture, kk_may, I also had to add a layer of some subtle grey behind the text so it didn't get lost in the cedar.




You can see a screen shot of the processing at the bottom of the post.



When thinking about pops of colour, flowers always 'pop' to mind too, so I've added these other two images, both treated with a layer of kk_may at soft light, with a mask on which the texture was removed from the focal blossom.

Linking up with Our World Tuesday, Texture Tuesday, Sweet Shot Tuesday and Orange You Glad It's Friday.

I Can't Believe It's May!

Here it is May 1st, and finally we're seeing some beautiful Spring weather!  In spite of having journalled every day in my art journal calendar, May seems to have snuck up on me.  I guess I must be having fun 'cause the time sure is flying!

I've been enjoying cycling outside again (as compared to using my trainer inside and literally going no where fast) and I even got out in shorts a couple of days ago. I've done several 50 km rides and a few 40 km when I felt like slacking off.  

Yesterday I wore sandals for the first time this season, so now it is truly official...once those socks come off they stay off until the fall.

April was true to the saying and we had lots of rain, but I'm trusting that we're in for beautiful May flowers.  Here's my May art journal calendar, which holds the promise of pretty blossoms to brighten up the gardens!

Celebrate Spring..

Every the optimist,  in spite of ice storms and resulting power outages because of all of the trees and branches that came down, I am celebrating Spring... because I know that one day it will come!



Linking up with Our World Tuesday, Texture Tuesday, and Sweet Shot Tuesday.

Crocus are Blooming!

A few days ago I took this shot of some of my crocus, while just a few steps away my dog, Casey lay in the snow.  She's in a bit of a panic because she loves the snow and knows it's going fast so any chance she gets she lays on it or walks through it.

Kim's challenge this week for Texture Tuesday is 'flower power' so these little guys came up just in time.  I used a bit of a comic sketch filter on the image, added a layer of Kim's kk-2203 texture at a soft light blend mode of 60% opacity and then I added the text on an eliptical shape as Kim demonstrated this week in Beyond Beyond.

Spring Is In the Air!

 Last night, while listening to TV I was doodling in one of my art journals, and clearly Spring was on my mind.  I'll probably add some watercolour to this to give it some colour, but today's goal is to keep working on the quilting of my rust dyed piece.  I started working on it briefly last night, as you can see in this photo.

My goal is to finish it this week, but we'll see what other distractions pull me away from it.  Some days I feel like the crow, attracted and/or distracted by anything shiny, but in my case it's anything at all...shiny or not.  Look, there's a distraction now...