Free Photography Pics For You!

Hi There Blogging Friends! Did I tell you that I do a little bit of photography work?? Probably not, but yes I do, and I thought I would share some of my favourite floral pictures with you.

I have taken all of these photo's in the garden of my previous home or in the gardens of some of my friends.

You can use them if you like.....maybe as a nice background for something or; if you are real clever and can use Photoshop you could come up with anything amazing! Let me know if you do....I would love to see your creativity.

Pink Roses

Hydranger

Wisteria

Morning Glory

Pansies

Daisies

Frangipani Hope they warm the heart of all of my International friends who are still experiencing a cold snowy winter.

February Journal Journey

Hi there blogging friends! I have just completed my second page with the Journal Journey Group on Roses On My Table and I just love the soft colours I used for this one.

The prompt for February is; "you are different, you are unique". I used some vintage music sheets from the Opera 'Madam Butterfly' for the base papers.

Acrylic paints were white washed over the base papers. Then; I used stencils, stamps and found objects like sequin waste to create the textures. I am loving this type of mixed media background.

Here is a close up of the gorgeous vintage images that were free on the net. I can never remember where I get them, but you will see my favourite bloggers who generously upload free vintage photo's on my side bar. So pop over and visit them.

Swapping Fun Again!

Hi There Blogging Friends. My latest ATC challenge with my friends at 'Roses On My Table' is "Famous Artists". I have to say that I pondered quite a bit, about how to alter some famous art but; as soon as I got "Mona" in focus, there was no holding me back.

I'm sure Leonardo Da Vinci would not be impressed, but sorry Leonardo; Mona's gone mad about hats!

Here is a closer look at the six I am sending off to USA tomorrow...

I fell in love with the the sweet little boy below "James" on Tee's blog 'The Altered Paper' and do you know what; that sweet Tee sent him to me.....wasn't that soooooo nice!

Now; I don't know if you know it or not but there is an unwritten courtesy rule; that if someone gifts you with a special Artist Trading Card (ATC) which represents their work.....the polite thing to do is to send one of your's back. Apparently, this goes way back to the early Masters of Art.

So; below is my ATC which will be winging it's way over to Tee tomorrow.

She is called 'Gentle Woman'....

I also received my February Valentine Tag from Denise, my partner in Tee's swap at The Altered Paper. Denise reminds us to spread a little February love around out precious garden ornaments....so cute!

Have you given your gnome a little bit of love lately??

Happy Valentine's Day

In a couple of hours we will celebrate the arrival of 'Valentine's Day' here in Australia. It isn't something I've paid much attention to in years gone by (mmmm...at my age quite a few have gone by), but I now feel that in to-days world, we need as much "lov'in" as we can get.

So; I like to think of February as the month of love.

With this in mind I've joined in on the February Tag Swap on Tee's 'Altered Paper blog and the first pic is what I have created for my partner.

and....I created this ATC for my friend Jenny; who popped in to see me to-day.Have you made something sweet for someone yet, a friend, a family member, someone who is on the sick list ,someone a long way away? Don't worry there's plenty of time....spreading love for all of February will be nice don't you think!

Free Vintage Images From ME!

Hi There Blogging Friends! I never thought that I would be in a position to share Vintage photo's with you, but as they say "you should never say never".....because......opportunities can arise for you.

An opportunity did arise for me to purchase some of these fabulous 'Cabinet Cards' from a USA Etsy seller awhile back and; I also gathered up a couple more on my recent trip around Australia. So; crafty friends if you would like to copy them to your computer; just left click to enlarge the photo then; right click to save to your computer files. I hope you enjoy creating something with them.

A Sweet Lady With A Cross Necklace

A Handsome Man With a Moustache

They have to be; 'Three Lovely Sisters' don't they?
Three Precious Children

and my favourite......'Two Boys'

Oh So Happy Mail!

Are you finding any treats in your mailbox lately?? Oh my goodness I am and it is so much fun!

I received this lovely tag to-day in Australia; where it is hot and humid and; it was a joy to see all this shimmering of ice and snow in the coolness of a blue background.

This lovely tag was sent to me by Mercedes of 'All Things Pretty' for our January swap with The Altered Paper.

Then; I received a huge parcel from my Tag Art friends at Roses On My Table which is co-ordinated by the lovely 'Chel'. Included in my parcel were three tags from my swapping friends for our November subject; 'Statues'.

Love this bronze bucking bronco....yea hah!

This bronze statue of the chinese man is beautifully surrounded by gold and green...very classy!I adore this tag of the Statue of Liberty and the saying "Freedom Lies In Being Bold". Isn't that the truth friends.....and who helps the world more to remain free than that wonderful country USA!

The next tag was our December Christmas Tag Swap. I am so in love with these little birdies on the branch, can never get enough birdies in my life!

Below is a pic of how my tags arrived in the mail to-day. It is such a thrill to get envelopes that make you want to rip them open and read every inch of what is inside.......I must say the bill envelopes never give you that feeling!

But wait there's more.......inside my parcel from Chel was this delightful treat of home baked fudge...how wonderful is that...all the way from USA and as fresh as if it was baked to-day.

Then; as if some home baked treats were not enough; the lovely Chel also put in some little Christmas gifts. This gorgeous girl is going to get some serious loving go back over to her shortly.

If you're not getting 'happy mail' think about joining in on the many swaps that are on the Internet, especially with fellow bloggers. I promise you; it will be a wonderful experience!

Paper Dolls Again!

Hi There Blogging Friends. I've been dabbling in "Steampunk" for my January Swap of Paper Art Dolls and it has been a lot of fun. These two ladies were a free image gift on the net (sorry, I can't remember where), so I altered them to create the two dolls. I think the one on the left is saying to her friend;

"yes.....just another day running a machinery company!" .....lol.

And....my mail has brought some lovely gifts. This pretty ATC was sent by my partner, Donna from Red Apple Junction in the 'Vintage' Swap. It is soooo nice as it has been glued to a small photo frame backing, so I can stand it up....thankyou Donna.

This precious ATC was a gift that I won in a Giveaway with Laura over at Artfully Musing. What a joy it will be to bring it out each New Year....thankyou Laura, I love it!

What A Challenge!

My friends over at the 'Roses On My Table' site really tested me out with this months Tag Swap. You see; the subject was 'I See London, I See France' which; one would think as I did.....mmmm, travel; I can do that!

Well; the truth of the matter is travel wasn't in it at all. You see; way back in old school days, the girls over in the USA used to play on the monkey bars at recess times and....when someone tipped themselves upside down, the others used to chant "I see London, I see France, I can see Your Underpants!" Now isn't that a giggle...lol!

Well, with this not being a practice in Australia in my old school days, I found it quite hard to interpret this into my tags...but with some ummmming and arrrring; these are the tags I came up with....

Here's a closer look at a couple...

I had previously purchased the cute animal and house graphic images from Donna at 'Collage Anonymous' on Etsy. So it was a matter of shrinking them down and making up some "underpants" with the collage trim. I really enjoyed using my Artist Coloured Pencils to complete the scenes.

Working on my list!

Yes blogging friends; I am keeping up with all my papercraft swaps, the sweet lady below is on her way to the USA for a 'Vintage ATC' swap with my friends at 'The Altered Paper' blog.

and this cheeky little girl on my "believe" tag is already in the hands of some of my Papercraft Artist friends here in my home town. Don't you just love that pose!

January Tag and Journal Journey

Hi There blogging friends. Here's what I've been up to this week. Firstly; a pretty tag swap with the girls on the Altered Paper Blog. The subject is January, so I chose to send my partner a sweet angel to bring in the New Year.

Secondly; I joined in on the 2012 Journal Journey group at my favourite place; 'Roses On My Table'. This is my first time I've ever put anything in a journal. Our journal is a 'Mixed Media' one so; anything goes....here are the stages of my pages for the first prompt 'New Beginnings';

First layer of Papers.....
Second layer of acrylic painting....

Third layer of stamping.....

Fourth layer of adding texture with 'found' objects e.g. bubble wrap....

Final layer with cut outs, white washes, stencilling and anything else you want to finish with...

I'm pretty pleased with my first go...here are some close ups;

First ATC's for 2012

Have you got your crafting program up and running yet? I'm pleased to say that I'm on target for my swap commitments...wonder if I will be able to say that in June! Here are some pics of my first ATC's to go off to my friends at 'Roses On My Table'. Our January theme is 'The Cowboy's Sweetheart'...

Hope six of my USA friends like my interpretation.