Small World of Inchies Challenge - Words

"Believe"

I really couldn't decide which version I liked better so I've uploaded both. They are both twinchies because I found it very difficult to read the words as an inchie. I've enjoyed this challenge so much and believe I could keep creating continuously from this theme. After all, I'm never short on words! LOL I hope everyone is having a fantastic weekend!

If you have a little spare time you might want to take a look at more creations at:

http://smallworldofinchies.blogspot.com

Small World of Inchies Challenge - Words

"Four Seasons"
"Peace, Beauty, and Happiness"

Hi everyone! Here I am again for yet another challenge! Words! Sounds like a terrific theme to me so I created a few twinchies and I still have a couple in the works. I just love anything miniature so this challenge site is great for me.

Here's the link so you can view more: http://smallworldofinchies.blogspot.com

Art Creations Friday and The Three Muses Challenges

I've ran out of time again so I've combined two challenges into one. For Art Creations Friday we were given a fantastic background to work with and then there was the theme of Architecture from The Three Muses. I really wish I had more time this past week to do a better job. Each one feels slightly incomplete to me... like something is missing. In fact, my inner muse is telling me exactly that as well as those "ancient" muses! I guess it's time to learn some new tricks in photoshop so I can actually carry out what my complete creative thoughts are.

Now, without further ado, here are the links to the challenges:

http://artcreationsfriday.blogspot.com

http://thethreemuseschallenge.blogspot.com

Pink Saturday Challenge

Hi Everyone! These are my first entries to Pink Saturday's Challenge.
I decided to start out with a pet theme beginning with "Midnight and her pups".
We first saw Midnight in the neighborhood when she came looking for her pups that she seemed to have misplaced. Two by two, neighbors brought puppies to me until I had six in total. We decided to corral them outside behind a chicken wire fence so the mom could get to them for feedings. She came and went daily through the following weeks until the pups were old enough to have new homes after which, Midnight, we thought, went home. When she appeared again weeks later, she looked malnourished so we fed her...again...daily. We couldn't claim her as ours because we found out who owned her. One day a police officer knocked on our door asking if the dog was ours and when I had to say no, he took her away to the pound. It was a very upsetting day to say the least. The officer later called to tell me the owner now claimed that the dog was ours so off to the pound I went to retrieve a very frightened dog. I took her to the vet who told me it looked like she had been spayed. I thought "Great!" we wouldn't have to worry about that. Well, several months passed when I noticed that she looked swollen in the tummy. Apparently she wasn't spayed after all! More time went by and I decided to get a nursery ready for her in a very tiny extra bathroom. The pic below is of her and the second set of pups that at the appropriate time got new homes. AND we made sure she was spayed after that.
Although I absolutely loved this dog, we couldn't keep her as she was quite the "runner" and upset neighbors quite often when she would "escape" from the house.
"Oliver with Dora and Tutu"
Isn't this just the cutest little kitten you've ever seen? My niece gave this cutie-pie kitten to her daughter shortly after her first kitty disappeared. I just love the name Oliver (Ollie, for short). He seems to fit the name quite well. This is the first pic I received of the "new addition" to her family. I'm guessing he was only a couple of months old then. Well, he certainly is in the pink with that adorable Dora chair and the pink tutu bear. Really, how cute is this? Can I hear everyone say Awwwwwww?

I'm guessing that Oliver is several months old in the picture below. He is so gorgeous but I'm not sure I would trust that face! LOL This is definitely his serious face or could it be a "watch out" face? Whatever is he thinking? Possibly "enough already with that camera"? Whatever his looks and disposition is, I see him as an absolutely handsome cat!

Oliver is now around three and a half years old and is residing with us. I can honestly say I didn't see that coming! He is still one of the most handsome cats I've ever had the pleasure of knowing/owning and that face? I fully understand that face now! It IS his "Alpha" face and you better watch out when he gives that look! All in all, he seems to like it here now that he's adjusted to another cat and dog in the same home he resides in. And I have to add that he presented us with some challenges like I've never had before in a pet. But little by little, I think he is winning our hearts...finally! It's true...cuteness is a cheap trick!

Well, I hope you all enjoy Pink Saturday and that you will take a look at the other entries at:

http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/my_weblog/

Collage Obsession Challenge - Chinese

"Year of the Tiger"

I created this weeks Collage Obsession Challenge using several images from http://www.doverpublications.com/ along with a couple of Asian fonts that I found at http://www.dafont.com/. Color, filters, and enhancements were applied using Photoshop CS.
You can view more Chinese-themed images at: http://www.collageobsessionchallenge.blogspot.com/
Thanks for looking and I hope you're all having a great week!

So Artful Challenges - Out of this World

"Mystic"

Here's my entry for the So Artful Challenge - Out of this world.

Thank you Jeanette for such a wonderful theme this week!

It was definitely a challenge but I loved it!

To view more creations, you can go to:

http://jeanette-soartfulchallenges.blogspot.com

The Three Muses Challenge - Nature

Something new and a couple from the past

"Nature's Hummers"

"Winter Water"
"Solo"

Another great theme from The Three Muses!

From top to bottom:

NEW! Nature's Hummers - A color page from Dover Publications turned into stained glass with the help of Photoshop CS.

Winter Water - An acrylic on canvas I painted in 2004

Solo - Watercolor and acrylic on watercolor paper I painted in 2006

These are my entries for this weeks challenge at: http://thethreemuseschallenge.blogspot.com

Thanks for looking!

Two More Images For Current Challenges

One more painting for the Theme Thursday Challenge - Flowers

"Purple Passion"

One more image for two challenges:

So Artful Challenge - Mardi Gras

We Love Digital Art Group Challenge -Mardi Gras

Thanks for looking!

Theme Thursday Challenge - Flowers

Original Art by Joan Marie

These are my entries to the Flower Challenge at: http://themethursday.wordpress.com/

From left to right, top to bottom:

"Four O'clocks in watercolor on watercolor paper

"Wild Rose" in oil pastel on card stock

"Wild Pansies" in oil pastel on card stock

"Eternal Love" in acrylic on canvas
"Flowers for Mom" in acrylic on canvas

"Pastel Pansy" in oil pastel on card stock

As you can see from the dates on the art, these are not recent works of mine, although I updated five of them with new "frame" borders today.

Having flowers as the theme was great and I'm sure you'll enjoy viewing the other entries of flowers at Theme Thursday this week!

So Artful Challenge - Mardi Gras

"Celebrate Mardi Gras"

I have to say first that I'm not happy with the font results in this image. I spent an hour or so looking for what I thought would make the perfect font for this challenge only to struggle like heck to make it work. I will be changing it later but for now, here's what I've created for this Mardi Gras theme. I created this image using only Photoshop CS gradients, custom images, filters, effects, and a font from www.dafont.com.
You can view more Mardi Gras images at: http://jeanette-soartfulchallenges.blogspot.com
The site is still having problems loading for Explorer users but Firefox usually works...at least for most. I'm still having difficulty even with Firefox but perhaps it's just my computer acting up since it probably doesn't like me having both browsers open at the same time.
Also, for those of you who use a Photoshop program - you can find free fonts, brushes, textures, custom shapes, ect here: http://www.free4photoshop.com/
Hope you have a wonderfully creative week!

A Stamp for the Three Muses Challenge

Unfortunately, I ran out of time to be able to create a full image using stamps but I did create the above stamp and I hope this is ok for the challenge - stamps. I really do enjoy making stamps and hope to create more in the near future using my own drawings.
To view more stamp creations, check out: www.thethreemuseschallenge.blogspot.com/2010/02-three-muses-postage-stamps
Thank you, Bev, for the great challenge theme! I'm looking forward to the next challenge (Nature)!

Sunday Postcard Challenge - Cats

"Aulga"

Aulga is ready for cold weather and is wearing her warm Scandinavian scarf hat with the cutest matching boots and is posing quite nicely in front of a very rare collage painting...artist unknown. LOL How my mind can wander in imagination land, right?

Ok, so on with the details...

I just love happy accidents! Every so often I click a filter and get surprising results. In this example, I took a collage ATC I had made a while back and decided to play with it in photoshop. The original collage had a frog instead of a cat so, of course, I just made the cat from custom shapes which I then enhanced with other filters, etc. When I went to play with the background, I tried neon glow and the first try was not good but the second try...with the same neon glow filter...voila! And sometimes this is how new creations are born! Now I'm sure not everyone will love it and that is ok because when you love your own art, it loves you right back and you know that because it provides a smile just for you. This one made me smile!

"Froida"

I learned of zentangles from a group I was in and fell in love with the concept and process. Although most of my zentangles are not colorized, I wanted to go wild with this one and I certainly think I did just that! I'm sure you can find out more about zentangles if you just type it into your favorite search engine. This is most definitely an "In the Zen" art therapy... from the initial doodling to the cleaning, coloring, and tweaking in photoshop. This allowed me to totally zone out which in turn provides me with complete relaxation.

These are two images I created for the Sunflower Festival held in New Mexico. The cats were not part of the images to begin with. The first image was from a sketch then scanned to photoshop for coloring and enhancements. I added the cats to make it a bit more whimsical. The second image is from an original ATC acrylic painting on watercolor paper. I added the cats, birds, and bubble today for fun.

So, there you have it. These are my entries for the Sunday Postcard Challenge If you would like to take a look at other cat postcards, you can go to: www.sundaypostcardart.wordpress.com

Theme Thursday Challenge - Pink and Black

I'm back again with another challenge image. : ) This one is for the Pink and Black theme I found at: www.themethursday.wordpress.com
I created this image in Photoshop CS using custom shapes, brushes, filters, and effects. The lattice screening was something I created in Art Rage to add a little busy-ness to the image.
This is an example of what I would consider as one of my play day experiments. You never know what's going to happen when you just have some fun and indeed, this was fun!
Thank you Theme Thursday!

So Artful Challenge - Background

Forgive Us

It's obvious I was in need of an extra dose of art therapy so this evening I created an image for the So Artful Challenge. I used the background provided for the challenge as well as an image from Art Freebies. My thanks to Jeanette and June for the great inspiration!

To view more challenge images, please go to:

http://jeanette-soartfulchallenges.blogspot.com

*Take a moment to breathe, find your passion, and smile*

(Live, Love, and be Happy)

Fun with ATC's Challenge #2

Tribal Abstract

Happy Easter

Hello Everyone! Hope you all are having a wonderfully creative week!

Today I have been working on two challenge images with the theme of purple and brown. I know it's a bit early for an Easter image but since I'm better at Easter than Valentine's Day, I decided what the heck. I usually don't go for a vintage type image but I just love the bunnies and the small violet to purple flowers. This was a fun piece to create.

The Tribal abstract is an intuitive piece...which means I don't "think" of what I'm doing and just go with the flow (so to speak). I'm actually enjoying this process more than I ever thought possible. I began intuitive art as an art therapy several years ago and I have to say it was quite difficult for me in the beginning. It seemed impossible for me to just let go of my own thoughts but with perseverance and practice, I am finally in a comfort zone with this method. I would recommend this for anyone who is trying to reduce stress in their life.

If you would like to view more ATC's from this challenge using purple and brown, please check out: www.funwithatcs.blogspot.com

Two spring butterfly images - the same but different - for the "We Love Digital Art Group" Spring challenge.

Don't you think the first image gives the look of painted tin? I thought it did and love the effect that surprised me in Photoshop CS. The second image was actually the first one I worked on and I wanted to give it a framed stained glass look. Since the butterfly and frame were on the same layer, it wasn't easy to achieve. If I were to do this again, I would work on the frame in a separate layer.

Hope you all had a fantastic weekend!

A New Species 2010

As you can see, I finally had some time to play! I started out with a sketch of a butterfly and then colored it with watercolor pencils. Once that was finished, I scanned it into my Photoshop program where I could play with filters, effects, and enhancements. I am showing the three images so you can see the progression to the final creation. I really had fun with this one! Hope you all have a fantastic weekend!

Making Smiles On Faces - Part 2

I was having difficulty with the last blog entry so I didn't get to finish the second part of receiving the award which is to tell you five things about myself that you might not know.

1} I'm actually a very private person who loves to stay home
2} I'm currently down-sizing but I can't seem to part with my small teddy bear collection
3} I love lefse and use it for making scandanavian tacos occasionally
4} I enjoy making up my own recipes
5} I'm a Reiki practitioner

Uffda! Most people don't understand that word but I was raised with it and whenever I find myself at a loss for words or finish a task that is out of my comfort zone, that usually comes out! Ha! So, there you have it and once again, I would like to give Birgit an Uffda, a huge thank you and bunches of hugs!

Making Smiles on Faces Award

Hi Everyone! I received this award from my very dear friend, Birgit - I think last month but I haven't had extra time to thank her properly until today and again...Thank you very much!

Now, if I understand this correctly, I am to pass this award on to five others which I would like to do right now in no particular order:

1} Trak from CraftyCat957

I adore checking out your blog and it always makes me smile! Your creations make me smile and You make me smile! Thanks for sharing your life, your stories, and your creations!

2} June from ArtFreebies

Well, you know how I feel about you and your blogs already! ;) I know you've had a very difficult year but you always keep your chin up and I want you to continue to know that I think you're terrific!

3} Nan from Nan'sNiche

I always know I can find something to learn from your blog. Recently, it saddened me to read of such a great loss to you but then I found my smile thinking of all the wonderful times you must have spent together and how she will live in your heart forever. You are such a wonderful person and I thoroughly enjoy your blog! Thanks Nan!

4} Tacey from Tacey'sCorner

First, I miss you Tacey and I hope you are alright! Your blog always made me smile and I sure do miss that. I do hope you'll be back in the near future to share more smiles with me!

5} Gayle from AStamper'sTouch

I don't know of anyone else who creates as much as you do Gayle and I absolutely love it. Just when I think I've seen it all, you show me I haven't! ;) You truly put a smile on my face!

Thank you all for providing the smiles upon smiles! You are more appreciated then you know!

A Holly Jolly Christmas

I've had lots of fun therapy lately with my set of three snow people! I didn't realize how much I missed drawing and enhancing my own creations until I tackled these three. I never have a shortage of sketches since I actually do sketch something each and every night. Actually, sketching doesn't take as long as scanning it into photoshop for all the loving work that goes into it from there. I'm sure some of you completely understand this.

It's been so hectic this year that I didn't even notice how my blog was getting left out. I was shocked to see I had only ONE entry in two months. I sure hope next year isn't as hectic.

AND just in case I don't have time to make another entry, I wish you all a Very Merry Christmas, Happy Holiday, and Season's Greetings! (Whichever you prefer) Hugs to everyone!

Merry Christmas Everyone

I started my Christmas cards this year by drawing two ATC's. I then scanned and enhanced them in photoshop cs. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did creating them.

The above and below images are my new Christmas cards for 2009 in a 4x5 format. I really enjoyed working from my own drawings once again. I certainly don't have to worry about violating any copyright laws this way and that makes me smile.

Autumn & Thanksgiving

Although I really enjoy Autumn, I have a difficult time creating Thanksgiving images. This is when I really depend on free-use images from Dover Publications. In the first selection of work, I used a variety of Dover Publication images then enhanced them using Photoshop CS.

The second set of work displays images from other sources at the top and my own creation of fall leaves at center and bottom. All images are enhanced using Photoshop CS.

Please note that I do not take credit for any images borrowed to create some of my digital art. I only take credit for the enhancements and composition.

A Halloween Jump-Start

"BOO"

I had fun creating my very own font! Not as a "saved" font, mind you, but a hand-drawn font! I only wish I were that talented to make my own fonts! The other three images used in creating "BOO" were from Dover Publications. My thanks go to them for all the free-use images we're all allowed to use. If you're interested in free-use images I would recommend you check out their web site at: www.doverpublications.com
"R I P"
This pumpkin seems just a tad bit worried but I'll let you figure out why on your own.
I have to say that I really enjoyed trying to make a Halloween cat. Perhaps in time I will learn how to paint fur. As an after-thought, I was thinking I should have had the cat looking up toward the bat. At least that is something a cat might be a little interested in, right?

"Trick or Treat"
This creation is one of my favorites. I started drawing costumed kids about three years ago and now this is becoming a collection. I have a few more drawn for next year already. ; )

"EEEK"

This one is for my son. He loves anything crazy and monstrous. One time, we did a shared drawing. I would sketch for a few minutes then pass the sketch book over to him and so forth and so forth. I started by sketching my art box. He then turned that into a monster. Since I wasn't very good at monster drawings, I added just a few more paint objects and let him do the finish work. After all...he is amazing when it comes to monsters. When I finished drawing this one and he liked it I decided I would just have to dedicate "EEEK" to him.

You can view his comic art at: www.kat-nap.com

"RIP", "Trick or Treat", and "EEEK" are my own creations - first sketched then scanned to Photoshop CS for color, filters, effects, enhancements, and fonts.

Sunflower Prints

Sunflower Originals by Joan Marie in Mixed Media and Digital

So here they are! I actually finished 12 although I only needed 9 for the swap. Only original ATC's would be accepted for the swap. I had so much fun working on these that I created three with some added images from Dover Publications.

Those would be the two with the lizard(s) and the Land of Enchantment. The background in Land of Enchantment is from an original watercolor painting I did several years ago and the image with one lizard has my hand-drawn mandala sunflower.

The remaining 9 were hand drawn then painted in watercolor and/or acrylic or digitally colorized in photoshop cs.

As I mentioned in the previous post, these might be the last images I will be able to post for a while. Please know that even if I appear to be absent, I will still be checking in to see how the rest of you are doing and will be viewing all the lovely images from your blogs. : )

I'm slowing down for now

On Wednesday morning I got one of those calls that we all dread. While my father was in an oxygen chamber at a wound clinic, the technician on duty noticed something wrong and immediately removed him from the chamber. My father was having a stroke and thankfully because of response time and immediate action, they got him to the hospital in time to save his life. Four hours later, a new drug was delivered through his IV which again saved his life and stopped the paralysis from being permanent on his left side. Twenty minutes later, he was able to move his hand. From what I was told, it appeared there was a miracle taking place. Forty minutes later, he was being transported to a hospital with a stroke ward. By the next morning he was talking and I could understand every word even with the missing dentures. By that evening, the decision was made to move him from the ICU into a "regular" room. Each day he has shown more improvement then one would think possible. Today, he is able to eat, sit in a chair, play with his new therapy toys, and seems cooperative and happy. Although he is certainly not out of the woods yet, we are all feeling very hopeful and thankful. You know the cliche we are following...Just take one day at a time.
I can't thank everyone enough who send their thoughts and prayers to him and my family! I truly believe in the power of that.
So, as you can imagine, because of what is currently taking place in our lives, this blog will be slowing down for now.
I had just finished my Sunflower ATC's for a swap - unfortunately they won't be able to make it in time - but I will post those in the next blog entry for your viewing.
In the meantime...I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and the week ahead will be fantastic.
Hugs, hugs, hugs to everyone!

Theme Thursday Challenge - Purple

Although this is not one of my newest creations, I still love how it turned out and it's Purple! I haven't worked with purple recently so I will try to create another image for this challenge - if I can find the time.
Please check out other purple creations at: http://themethursday.wordpress.com/

We Love Digital Art Challenge - Friendship

I'm a simple person who likes clean lines with a refined look so I prefer the above version - however it is good to go out of one's comfort zone from time to time so I added a printed background for those who like a slightly busier look. Either way, I had a delightful time creating these for the We Love Digital Art Group - Homepage Challenge.

The center image was provided by Dover Publications. The background is from a scrap of fabric. All the enhancements were completed in Photoshop CS.

In Loving Memory

Doodles entered this world with a club foot, bent tip of the tail, bent ear, and no meow and we instantly fell in love with him. Add his masked-look face to the adorability factor and you have one very special cat. His hind feet were the size of rabbit feet which made him clumsy at first though he grew into those quickly. He was always the "protector" from the time he opened his eyes and we could all sense that he had an old soul. Doodles had three brothers and two sisters - Halsten, Kibbles, Minky, Cali, and Minnie. Here they are with their Mother, Cerra - you'll find Doodles in the middle of the pack.

From left to right: Minnie, Minky, Doodles, Halsten, Kibbles, and Cami

That was all of 17 years ago. How time flies. Over the years, Doodles was loved by all who came in contact with him. He was just that kind of cat. We were so blessed to have him in our life - a part of our family.

There was a time several years ago where we thought we had lost him forever. He rarely stayed out all night so when he didn't show up for a few nights, we started to assume the worst. Ten days later, I received a call from my neighbor who wanted to know if we were missing a cat. When I replied "YES!" she informed me that she thought she knew where he was. Apparently, on one of his neighborly visits, he decided to enter their trailer. The neighbors had no idea he was in their trailer when they shut the door, moved it to the race track camping area, and left. Little to say, after 10 days with little water and food, he was very happy to be rescued and he never strolled into their trailer again.
You know, they say a cat has nine lives. I wonder... if they don't use up nine lives in their current life... do they get to come back and have extra do-overs.? If they get to come back, I sure hope he finds his way back to us. We would cherish another 17 years with him!

Sigh... a person can dream!

On August 4th, Doodles was laid to rest at 3:45PM. He will be missed by all ... Especially missed by us.

Artarazzi Challenge #34 - Flickr Collage Images (by Takeabreak)

"Autumn's Pride"

Wow! What a great bird image to work with. I love birds and could watch them for hours. Yes, I even love seagulls and bluejays! (Not sure if I like the crows and vultures although they are great for use in Halloween cards!) Our summer heat wave was really getting to me this past week so I really enjoyed working with Autumn colors today! Thanks Bev for giving us such a great image to work with in this week's challenge! Your creation is fabulous for sure! : )

You can view others images at: http://www.artarazzi.blogspot.com/