Stitching Finally Resumes on My Shadows Piece...

I've got a couple of pieces that I had been working on prior to my cycling accident in May, which had to be set aside because I couldn't do any hand stitching.  Then, even though I could have started to work on them again, I just couldn't seem to get back to them.

However, these days, thanks to our new little foster puppy, (see Monday's post), the only fibre art I seem to be fitting in to my day is a little hand stitching while he's napping.  It's a good thing that young puppies need several naps a day!

This piece began as an iPhone photo of my elongated shadow, taken one summer evening while I was out walking our dog, Casey.  I played around with it in Photoshop, transferred it to fabric, and now I'm adding stitch to complete the piece.

I'm almost finished with the text, and then I'll move on to my shadows.  I have a couple of ideas for what I might do to add some stitch to the shadows.  Hopefully I'll be able to share the results soon.

The Charm of Old Rust...

I don't know what it is about old, rusty things that attracts my attention, but I think there is something about their mysterious history and the stories that lie within that call me to them.  Fortunately I've always got my iPhone with me when I'm cycling because I tend to see a variety of old vehicles, barns and outbuildings, in various states of disarray on the back country routes I travel.

Thanks to Jerry Jones at Shadowhouse Creations I have some wonderful 'grunge' textures that further add to the fun of these images.  The other source of today's fun photo embellishments is Fuzzimo, where I found the great old polaroid frames.

I've included the original images (click to enlarge) I took so you can see the difference after my processing in Photoshop Elements 9.

Bonnie, thank you for the wonderful prompt this week.

These photos are being linked to Our World Tuesday, Sweet Shot Tuesday, Photo Show Off,  This or That Thursdays, Photo Art Friday, Shoot, Edit, Submit, Fabulous Friday, and Photo Friday Link Party.

Photography: My Other Passion

In addition to my fibre art, my other passion is photography.  I have taken Kim Klassen's wonderful (and free) online course called Skinny Mini which taught me the basics of Photoshop Elements 9, allowing me to digitally alter my photos.  That led me to want to learn more, so I signed up for her Photoshop Essentials course (which was fabulous).  Now, I have decided to participate in Beyond Layers - a Year of art~FULL Inspiration.  This promises to be "52 weeks of encouragement, motivation and inspiration.......centred around, but so much more than photoshop...." 

This photo is my first week's assignment.  The photo was taken while walking on the Bruce Trail with my dog Casey.  

About the photo:

f/5.6, 1/250, ISO 100, Lens: AF-S DX VR Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f3.5-5.6G

Processing:

-added Kim Klassen's texture 'awaken' at soft light 100% opacity

-used a layer mask and removed the above texture from the focus plant feature 

-added 'awaken' texture again, this time at screen 41% opacity, again using a layer mask and removing the texture from the focus plant feature. 

-text layers were added 

-added Kim's texture 'february magic edges' at screen 100% opacity

Sketchbook Challenge Journal

As you may know, I've been participating in this year's Sketchbook Challenge, but with my own fibre twist.  Although I have recently started playing a bit with a pen and paper sort of journal, when the year started and I decided to participate in the Sketchbook Challenge, I decided to make a fabric journal using my interpretation of the monthly themes.  In addition to the Sketchbook Challenge pages, I decided to include some of the wonderful art quotes that I had collected.

You may have seen some previous blog entries as I finished pages, but the last 6 months were sort of neglected.  Well, I finally got back into it (art everyday!) and the journal is finished.  All of the images were altered/enhanced using Photoshop before being printed onto fabric and then incorporated in the journal page.

January's theme was Highly Prized.  Casey, my dog, represents the unconditional love and natural mothering instincts (even to a kitten) that I prize.  She knows how to relax, loves to go for walks and even at 11 years old, she romps like a puppy in new fallen snow.

February's theme was Opposites.  For this one, I played with light and dark and experimented with the effects that changing the background colour would have on the colours I was using.

March brought the theme Spilling Over.  It also had me struggling through some real frustrations with my health and the image literally represents what was going on with me.  Enough said.

Branching Out/Out on a Limb was the April theme.  I decided it was time to take a risk and try journalling on paper.  I drew a silly character, did some writing then photographed it.  I added the title text in Photoshop and it was ready for printing.

May's theme was Resists so I went back to using paper and paint for this page.  As always, I added the title text in Photoshop.

The theme Pathways for June had me playing with photo collage.  Yes, that's me as a little girl, but since our road trips involved 9 people when I was a kid, we travelled in a big station wagon and not a VW bug.  However, later my oldest brother did have a bug and it's just so much more fun than a Galaxy station wagon!

 July's theme was Elements. Since I procrastinated on this page, it wasn't done until recently, thus allowing me to use a photo I took of my Chinese lantern's late this fall.  I love the intricate lace and the bright orange seed exposed inside as the orange skin erodes away.

 For August's theme, Everyday Objects, I cheated a little by taking a photo of a piece of fibre art I had recently finished on which I had thread sketched a pair of scissors.  I guess it's not really cheating since the original art is mine too!

September brought the birth of another great niece.  The theme was Unfurled, and I couldn't help noticing that the first photos of Abigail had her fits tightly clenched but as time passed her little hands seemed to unfurl.  

October's theme was Views.  This theme had me going back into my photo archives for this photo which I took in a church in PEI in 2007.  I love the reflections and shadows that the design in the window created.

Imaginary Animals was the November theme.  Last week I went to see the Marc Chagall exhibit at the AGO (Art Gallery of Ontario).  Chagall seems to incorporate a chicken in many of his pieces and he had other interesting animals, some certainly imaginary.  When I got home I was inspired to draw this imaginary creature using the bright colours Chagall used in some of his works. I also loved the quote, also by Chagall.

December's theme is Trashed, Ruined and Decay.  This summer, the town of Magnetawan suffered a tragic fire that ruined the old historic general store as well as June's Restaurant.  For the town folks and all the cottagers in the area, it is a tragic loss.

And the final quote.

Thanks for visiting!  Please leave a comment~I love to hear from you.

Sketchbook Challenge- June Theme: Pathways

This month's theme took me back to the road trips of my childhood.  We used to all pile in the Ford Galaxy station wagon and go on camping trips around Ontario.  Some of my best family memories are from those trips!  I was also brought back to the wonderful VW bug that my oldest brother used to have when he was in university.

This page started out as a paper collage that I then photographed and digitally altered before printing it on fabric and stitching it together.

Sketchbook Challenge - April Theme: Branching Out/Out on a Limb

Here's my finished journal page for my version of the Sketchbook challenge.  It really was fun to push myself to sketch with pen and ink.  I used the Inktense pencils that I won a while back.  They're fantastic!  I highly recommend them.  You colour with them as you would with a pencil crayon, and then use a damp brush to go over them and get the intense colour.  It's like watercolour, but it's actually an ink.  Great product!

Intriguing Signs

I recently took this photo of road signs because ever since the first time I noticed them they just sort of tickled me.  They're at the intersection of a tiny lane and a back alley in "downtown" Georgetown.  I used Photoshop Elements to digitally alter the original photo.

Sketchbook Challenge - April Theme: Out on a Limb

As per Jane's description of the April theme, I am definitely going out of my comfort zone with this sketch.  I'm not one to work on paper but I had to push myself to 'go out on a limb' and try it.  The 'big mouthed Nkondi was inspired by some of Lisa Li Hertzi's work.  .  The next step will be to do the fibre journal page.