12/23/11

zentangle: alphabet tangles

I finally finished up my tiles using one tangle for each letter of the alphabet.  A week or so ago I posted the first couple - A-H; here are all of them....  Thanks to Sue Jacobs for the idea!

Tangles:  arabel, boomerang, cariv, drap, echoism, fricle, golven, huggins

Tangles: in-a-pod, krli-q, jonqual, lotus pods, mooka, nzeppel


Tangles: opus, parch, queens crown, rain, shard, toeter, urchin, vink

Tangles:  warped egg, xulu, yale, zuan shi and in the bottom tile a version of flux and crescent moon

Just like many of the rest of you, I don't know how much time I'll have to be creative over the next few days or if I do manage to make something, don't know when it will get posted.  So will reconnect with everyone after the company is gone, the house cleaned up (OMG!), and recovery is complete! :)  Happy Holidays.

12/21/11

peace

Mortal Muses prompt for today is "peace" and while I embrace the need and desire for global peace, it's sometimes too .... um, too vague or out of reach.  More directly and immediate is "peace and quiet" which is a highly prized state!  I find peace in quiet and can spend all day without music or TV and be perfectly happy, content and peaceful!

Texture by Skeletal Mess (or Shadowhouse)

Imagining peace, I staged this shot - a warm, comfy throw, a good book (absolutely necessary), a cuppa, a big fluffy pillow for my back, and silence!  Join me?

Each day Mortal Muses posts a prompt as well as the opportunity to win a range of very cool prizes (presents :)) so be sure to join in!  Tomorrow is "joy".

woyww #3

This is my third participation in showing what I've been working on for What's on Your Worktable Wednesday (though it's the 133 edition of the prompt). Not much happened up here this week but then I woke up this morning with a last minute gift idea so I've been in a flurry of activity.  I'm making photo bookmarks and wanted to get them printed and cut so I could take them to work and laminate them.  Tonight I'll add yarn/charms/whatever.  Simple but a fun tie on for the readers of the family.

You can see the cut pieces for the bookmarks and the stack of Christmas cards that are either in process or didn't make the cut and will be recycled into other art.....

Happy Wednesday before Christmas.  I hope you're not frantically working on gifts or cards, but can take time to have a cuppa and enjoy the day!

my birthday

Today is my birthday and I have plans with hubby to go to dinner and a movie (think we're seeing Mission Impossible).  I've seen several types of birthday posts - a retrospective of the art of the year, personal photos, a thoughtful, reflectively written post, etc.  Since I want to keep it simple and I'm not feeling particularly reflective, I opted for the photos - from a few landmark years.....

This seems a little self-indulgent, but it was fun for me and hopefully not too boring for you to get a glimpse into someone else's history.  If so, you can just skip this one.....  

2 years (my Natalie Woods phase)


13 years, 1965 with my younger sister


18 years, graduation

27 years, wedding day (still married to this great guy!)

40 years, family at Christmas

50 years, with my sister at my birthday party. (still coloring my hair here)

If you're a regular, you've seen lots of me recently (remember the GPP 'get out from behind the camera' post?) but here's one more at 59 years today.  (quit coloring my hair about a year ago - still surprised when I pass a mirror :))
What a fun trip down memory lane for me!  A little mini album of my life (ha!).

12/19/11

christmas tree

I didn't create or do anything particularly productive yesterday but I found this in my blog wanderings and thought it so unusual and clever, I had to share.  You can read more about sustainable/green ideas here.


I know this isn't art or my photography, but it IS my blog and so there you have it :)  Doesn't it make you smile?

Happy Holidays.

12/18/11

scavenger hunt sunday #5

Participating once again with Ashley over at Ramblings and Photos, I submit for your enjoyment my scavenger hunt photos:

WHAT IS IT?

A wall at the Music Experience bldg in Seattle.

Do Not Disturb! SLEEPING CAT

She was snoozing (and baking) in front of the fire til I disturbed her - but she was so adorable in her "sphynx" position, I couldn't resist. As soon as I moved away, she went right back to sleep.

JOY


Unbridled joy is a room full of adults behaving like children with silly string on Christmas morning!

WINDOW
My first attempt of capturing lights in the window after reading Kat's tutorial at KatEyeView.  Love her tips!

HALF




This was actually the most challenging prompt - I had a couple of ideas but ultimately was too lazy to set them up.  This is my "stretch" - I'm half of this couple, this marriage, this loving relationship.  And my better half (eh hemmmm) is such a great guy.  I'm a lucky woman!

I know it might be a time challenge because there's so much to do before the holidays, but take a minute and visit a few other scavenger hunts over the week - you'll be surprised at the great shots!  Happy Holidays.

12/17/11

christmas surprise!

Mortal Muses prompt for today is "surprise".  Tomorrow is "wonder" (in case you have time to play along).  For me, I love giving the surprises on Christmas morning. Even now, with the kids all grown up, I love the anticipation more than they do to see them open my gifts.



As I looked through my photos of past Christmases (LOVE doing that!) I realized how tough it is to actually capture that genuine moment of surprise, of pleasure, of excitement.  Instead I have lots of odd expressions or talking mouths, etc. I have many more that show anticipation or impatience..... Hope you have lots of pleasant surprises this holiday season.



12/16/11

zentangle alphabetically

Sue Jacobs challenged us to create tiles using tangles alphabetically, once per tile.  A fun idea and thank goodness I have a master list on my computer to help me think of tangles to use.  I further challenged myself to not resort to my comfortable ones but to try something new - thus more mistakes, but that's okay, next time I'll be more comfortable with these tangles.


Top tile:  arabel, boomerang, cariv, drap   Bottom tile:  echoism, fricle, golven, huggins

After all the festive and holiday photographs I've shared lately, I found I was really missing the time spent tangling so this was really fun - I'll be working on the rest of the alphabet when I get back from my last shopping excursion (thought I was done, but one more delicious gift idea came to me, so out I go...).

Happy Holidays!

inspiration ave: festive

This one is easy - anything holiday or celebration or festive and I've been a snapping fool but I'll show restraint here and just share a couple that are my favorites without repeating ones I've used in earlier prompts.



A little texture action (from Shadowhouse) and some PSE filters enhance the texture of this poinsettia flower.


I love a good holiday party and we started the season with a fun night of friends, family and games!  Let's celebrate!!

Today I'm linking to Inspiration Avenue and also to Kat Eye View for "holiday lights".

12/15/11

storytelling

I think this is the second time I've participated with Butterfly Effect whose theme this week is storytelling.  While I'm not a particularly creative story teller myself, I really appreciate the skill in others.  So, what came to mind is a few of my favorite family photos showing how important books and stories are to our family.  Here's my storytelling journey:

My sis reads to two-year old cousins who want to hear all about Lassie....


Reading with Grandpa always a treat!



(Not great quality but I love the feeling of this - reading with Grandpa was always a favorite pass time)


That's our cat sleeping on the back of the sofa - did you ever see a more engrossed face? Must have been a good book!


Even as adults the boys are never without a book in hand (or backpack) and I love that they are widely read. They appear to have prodigious memories and can relate stories and passages from memory that just blow me away (I'm lucky to be able to tell you the name of the book I'm currently reading :)).


Yes, I too love to read a good story and then have a hard time giving up the book so have bookcases full of great stories.  Want a recommendation?

Be sure to visit The Butterfly Effect this week to perhaps read a good short story......

I found an interesting thing on Tara Leaver's site that I think would be a good exercise in grounding, in keeping aware of the present.  She got the idea from Monica at Bohemian Twilight and that's as much as I know of the thread....  anyway, it's to use each of the senses as a simple prompt to reflect on THAT moment in time.  I think Tara ends each of her posts with it and while I don't know if I'll be THAT in touch, I think it's a great way to slow down and be aware.
read:  Tara's art/photography blog
hear:  Christmas music on my computer - currently loving Michael Buble's new CD
see:   the red and white lights on my neighbor's house out my office window
smell:  hand lotion (my hands are SO dry this winter)
taste:  toothpaste
touch:  stamp ink on my fingertips
think:  fretting about working on my Christmas cards instead of blogging
feel:  content that all my Christmas chores are done (except those darn cards!)

magic

Today's Mortal Muses prompt is "magic".  I was feeling the urge to get away from photography, which has certainly been my focus the last couple weeks, and use a different medium.  I got out my watercolors to try to depict a little holiday magic.

9x6" on watercolor paper

I used masking tape to create the "star" and filled it with some of the things I find magical about Christmas.

9x6 on watercolor paper
 You might recognize the composition here as one I tried for my handmade cards and filled with zentangles (template from lineweaving.com though this is hand drawn) - similar to these, though here I added some watercolor.  As I made these, I realized that I'm woefully out of practice and need to refresh myself on some control techniques.  And, I remembered how much I like working with watercolor and the surprise of where and how it moves!

Happy Holidays.




12/14/11

glow


Mortal Muses (I participated yesterday with my 'greetings') wants to see some festive "glow" today.  To me nothing glows prettier than a candle and I haven't tried a candle shot since the beginning of the year.  I've had this crystal star votive holder for years and years - and today it's the shining star of my photographic efforts. :)

Would you like to see more glowing?  Be sure to click through to Mortal Muses - they're having a wonderful giveaway today too - an inspirational photo e-book.