Happy Easter!

Easter is my favorite holiday of all. I'm finally back in the creative mode and that makes me happy! What I have finished is two Easter drawings I did several years ago. With the magic of photoshop I was able to bring both to life adding color, special effects, and embellishments. So...here is the white rabbit, the brown rabbit, and a bunch of chicks! LOL

"Spring into Easter"
-AND-

"Somebunny Loves You"
Same bunny - different finishes

"The Kite has Risen"

This creation began eight years ago from some fabric I thought was very adorable. Before I passed the fabric on I decided to free-hand a little section of it for a postcard and here it is finally finished. Now I'll have to print it for a memory book someday. Hopefully that won't take another eight years to do! Hope you all have a fun weekend and enjoy Easter Sunday!

For those who are participating in Pink Saturday this week...Happy Pink Saturday!

Another new addiction!

Oh how I love the zen of it all! My attempt at designing my own line of Reiki jewelry is in the making! I absolutely love what is happening with my internal creative muse. What great therapy this has been for me to reduce my stress level! I'm so addicted to this new passion!

I know this isn't a good photo for showing you some of my designs but at least you can see I've been busy! I have strung three bracelets, two necklaces, and one ring/toe ring. I'm really sorry you can't see how cute the ring is...but it's basically three tiny Tibetan silver dragonfly beads on a stretchy cord. That's all it is but it is oh so cute. The wings fit together perfectly with the center one turned upside down. All I need now are some clasps to complete them...well, all but the ring.

And of course, with the clasps...I had to order crimp beads and a crimping tool! I was going to just tie the cord and call it good but it just doesn't have the finished look that way.

I put up three different photos in hopes that you could get a better idea of what this first necklace really looks like. Beaded with jasper and two tones of jade along with Tibetan silver bone beads, I added a beautiful Tibetan shank with beads hanging down to the hand of Fatima pendant. In the middle image - center, upper, left hand corner you can get a little glimpse of a matching bracelet.

Here is my favorite so far. Beautiful design with MOP shell flat round beads are accented by the mixture of round jade beads and Tibetan silver bone beads. I used the same Tibetan shank to suspend the beads and amethyst wand/pendulum. Both necklaces will be Reiki energy infused and used in my Reiki practice. I've also been guided to use them as prayer beads. I really wish I had better pictures to share with you but I think you get the idea.

So, there you have it...my newest addiction! ; ) Hope you all are having the best weekend ever!

Welcome to another Pink Saturday!

I was thinking of my friend, Pat, while I was creating this digital image (from an email forward) for Pink Saturday this week. She could fully understand this language used at http://icanhascheezburger.com/ as well as write it on some of the images provided at that site So...this one's for her!

"I iz flower"

Thank you Beverly at How Sweet the Sound for yet another great Pink Saturday! You can check out more pink by clicking on the Pink Saturday thumbnail to the lower right (Yes, from here...look to your right...then scroll down just a bit...there it is!) and then once you get there - just click on Pink Saturday Posts to see all the other pink entries. Enjoy your Saturday!

What a fantastic birthday!

I was whisked away for a night on the town and it was terrific! Everything was FANTABULOUS!

The place is beautiful! The people are the friendliest! The service is impeccable!

And the food was scrumptious! Especially the pastries and pie! Although the prime rib was the best I've ever had as well! What a fun place to celebrate my birthday!

What classic elegance this great room/foyer is!

I so wish I owned a bed like this! A touch of Heaven's comfort!

What a beautiful spa with pool and hot tub! Didn't get a chance to jump in but it is inviting!

AND here is the stage I will see next trip...and I really can't wait until then!

I can't believe I will see a performance from no other than....

JoDee Messina! Is she gorgeous or what? I absolutely love her music! Can't wait, can't wait, can't wait! Oh but I must! Still...I am so looking forward to it!

In the meantime...I'm going to continue to savor the memories of this spectacular birthday!

Winners of the Name the Critters Challenge!

It's April 4th and time to announce the winners for the "Name the Critters" challenge! I have to say you all had awesome names! You managed to make it too difficult for me to decide which names to use so I am declaring you all winners! I thank you all for your participation in this very fun challenge. In the process of this challenge something magical happened. New children's stories began to emerge from my muse within and I have had so much fun with this new direction. So...thank you again!

Here are the submitted names in no particular order:

Zizzer, Zazzer, and Zuzz - Paddles, Scrambles and Shirr - Larry, Moe, and Curley - Moley, Cow, and Toledo - Pete, Pharo, and Phara - Koko, Pelli, and Sierra - Cream Puff, Little Debbie, and Big Mac - Mine - Inkie, Beekie, and Cuddles.

AND the names I created:

Paddles (from Greg's suggestion) Padittles - Zwizzle, Zwazzle, and Zawooz (from Tammy's suggestion) - Dragonia Draconia and Drog - Dwiddely Do and Diddely Don't -Rip (Rip Roar), Rap (Rap a tap tap), and Raz (Razamataz)

So there you have it... and now for the surprises...final hint...Think Jewelry! lol

The winners of this challenge will be receiving one or more of the following. Lapel pins: chevron pin with white Austrian crystal accents, gold-tone key pin, crown pin with red and white Austrian crystals, bar pin with red and white center stones. -Or- You could be receiving a pair of silver turquoise studs surrounded by a silver rope trim. -Or- You could be receiving a variety of Christmas fish hook earrings -Or- You might receive my little sculpted clam with a real pearl in it's mouth along with an Asian pendant enhanced with a very tiny real pearl and a real pearl tie tac. There might even be a few silver jewelry findings or beads included with your surprise gift. I have recently purchased some really nice Tibetan pieces for making jewelry. I would love to share these with others.

How do you receive your gift? It's simple! Just email me at joanshomestudio@yahoo.com with your name and physical mailing address and I will get it mailed as soon as possible.

Pink Saturday and the link for Dover Publications

Good morning, good day, and good evening everyone! I'm celebrating Pink Saturday this week with a vintage image from Dover Publications which I enhanced with spring azaleas. I've also created another Asian image with several images from Dover Publications. Please stop over to Beverly's Pink Saturday celebration. All you have to do is click on the PS pic to the right.

And with a big smile... I bid you yet another Happy Pink Saturday! :)

"A Vintage Pink Saturday"

"A Pink Flamingo Saturday"

~AND~

before you go... One last thought with some samples for you!

Easter is on it's way so I thought I would share a few samples from Dover Publications with you. If you would like free samples from Dover, here's the link: http://www.doverpublications.com/ You will be amazed at the variety the company offers and you might just find a few cd books to order while you're there. The sales are great there as well as all those fantastic samples!

Name Those Critters Challenge ends April 4th

It's not too late to submit names for those cute little critters but it is going to end soon - So...if you want a chance to win a surprise...you need to do that very soon! I will be announcing the winning names on April 4th. You really don't want to miss out on the surprise, do you? Ok. I've been really good at not spoiling the surprise but one can only hold out so long! So I thought I could give just a few hints which you can read at the end of this post.

What I really wanted to post this last evening of March is what has been on my mind through this month - Japan. I've never been one who believes in taking high risks. It has become so evident that my convictions seen through this devastating disaster in Japan were correct. Nuclear power plants are, and in my opinion, always will be in a high risk category. I don't care how many precautions we humans think we can take...we are no match against Mother Nature. Now the big question - the controversial question has become where we go from here. Perhaps you have some views you would like to share? Here's what I will do. For every comment/view/statement left on this blog post, I will donate $1.00 (up to a maximum of $100.00) to the Red Cross Japan Relief funds. I do hope you will participate.

And I also wanted to share my new digital piece. I have been painting and using PS CS to create Asian images since I began Reiki quite a few years ago. I seem to fall into a quiet, calm, zen mode while creating these. That, alone, has provided me with countless hours of stress reducing therapy. In essence, I feel that I have received an abundance of gifts from that culture. In this image, my thoughts were of giving back and I hope I have conveyed that message.

So here we are at the end of my post and here are a few hints.

1] When I think of Japan, I think of pearls. [2] When I think of Japan, I think of symbolism. [3] The American Southwest is famous for this type of natural stone. [4] I could save this for Christmas in July but why wait? [5] This is something you could wear on your head if it were not so small! [6] This is something you use to unlock something...but you wear this instead.

There you have it...all the hints. Do you think you have a clue to what the surprises might be? I guess you'll have to come back on April 4th to find out! In the meantime - Have a great Friday!

Pink Saturday - The Muse of Flora's Feast

She played her gentle harmony - with a tune for greeting spring.

Baby flowers peak there heads out from mother earth while the elders show off their full bloom. Birds flitter and flutter about enjoying the warmth of the sun in their search for a new mate or perhaps a new home. There's a bird feeder filled with black oil seed hanging from the branch of a flowering plum tree. Bright green leaves begin the rebirth of tulips and primroses. And the sky is the most beautiful shade of blue. Spring has arrived and it is good.


I wish you all a bright and beautiful spring and a fantastic Pink Saturday! Let the muse within come out and play! Don't forget to take a camera, sketch pad, pencil, markers, or whatever else you might need when you get out to play. I find this to be one of the best times of the year to get creative outdoors and take lots of photos. This is a great time for Pink in the landscape!
And... you can still see more pink right now just by clicking on the thumbnail to the right.

Gothic Arches Challenge - Butterflies

"Butterfly Fairy Castle"

If you have a love for butterflies you will want to fly on over to the Gothic Arches Challenge blogspot! Here's the link: http://gothicarches.blogspot.com/

Art on the Darkside and Digital Montage Studio Challenge Combined

From Art on the Darkside - Rueful Renaissance Challenge. I'm not quite sure if you would call this image rueful...but I really enjoyed putting this one together - rueful or not.
http://artonthedarkside.blogspot.com/2011/03/challenge-72-rueful-renaissance.html
The background is from Digital Montage Studios and I have to say I absolutely love it. It really was the perfect background to multiply over one of my weirder drawings. Thank you so much Cynthia! Here's the link to the dmstudiochallenge: http://dmstudiochallenge.blogspot.com/2011/03/5.html

Happy Pink Saturday and Collage Obsession Challenge - Many

A Happy Pink Saturday to Everyone! This is also my entry to the Collage Obsession Challenge. Believe it or not...there are "many" layers and "many" effects to this image as well as "many" fonts. The cat is an image provided by Dover Publications and layered backgrounds are from weekly challenges from the past.

For more pink...you know what to do. Just click on the Pink Saturday box on the right.

For more Collage Obsessions - Here's the link: http://collageobsessionchallenge.blogspot.com/2011/03/collage-obsession-many.html


You all have a fantabulous weekend! And don't forget to check out the contest...Name those critters before April 4th and you might just win a wonderful surprise!

Critters on Parade

Hi and Welcome to my new form of art therapy! Not only is it great for my mental well being but it sure has helped the fine motor skills with my hands. AND it's great fun too!

I also wanted to take this time to remind everyone about the name contest for the penguins, seagull, and dragons. Don't forget to get your name suggestions added to the comment section of those two blog posts by April 3rd as the winner(s) will be announced on April 4th.

So here are a few of my newest critters. A couple of snakes, a few fish, a child monster, a comic-style clam shell with a pearl, and a silly blue dragon to name a few. And speaking of name - it has been suggested that the blue dragon's name should be Giggles. How cute is that?

Oh, now you can see the large-eared cat. It's a fraidy cat and was hiding behind the dragon! LOL You can also see in this picture that there are some flowers, a seal with a ball, a slug, and a black bird with a jack-o-lantern.
I think the child monster with the jump rope has the rest of the critters thinking they may be taking a trip to the great outdoors. That might be giving them a bit of worry since they've never been outside before. It's just so much safer inside. ;-}

I do hope you enjoyed the little critters on parade and I wish you all a Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Happy Pink Saturday

Hello Everyone!

Welcome to another Pink Saturday Celebration!
AND in honor of St. Patty's Day, we have mixed in some green!

How about some shamrocks and a wee bit of Irish fun?

This was a sticker from Dover Publications free samples. I couldn't resist it's cuteness and just had to use it for today's Pink Saturday! I absolutely love teeny tiny things and this sure fits the bill. How adorable is a baby elf(?) in a small, little acorn shell? I would love to make this from sculpey. Don't know if I have the talent to pull that one off though. At least not yet.

I believe this image was from Dover Publications also. I added those wee little ones and a few shamrocks before I enhanced it with satin, borders, and bevel/emboss. The font is Celtic Garamond the second.

I hope you all have a terrific Pink Saturday and don't forget you can see lots more pink if you just click on the Pink Saturday icon!

New Little Critters

Hi all! Yes, I seem to have a new addiction, and yes, that would be with Sculpey! I couldn't

stand to see little bits just waiting to be used today so...I decided to create a trio of tiny little
penguins. Unfortunately, my lack of camera skills didn't help at all for snapping a few pics to
show you. I hope you'll give me some slack on my attempt to adjust lighting, filters, etc. with

no terrific results. I think you can get the idea though. Not one of these tiny penguins are over
an inch and a half tall! The baby is just a bit over an inch.

Like the other critters from my last post - these all need names too so, if you please, submit a name or two or more - there Will be a surprise to announce on April 4th! If you would like a chance at winning the surprise, all you have to do is: 1] Leave a comment with one or more name suggestions. AND 2] make sure to add your email addy to the comment so I know how to contact you if you win. That's it...It's quite simple! In the meantime, I hope you all have a fantabulous week! I know I will! With all this art therapy - it couldn't be anything else but fantabulous! : )

My new little babies

As promised...here are my new little additions! Please remember that I have never created any dragons or seagulls before and it's been way too many years to count since I last worked with fimo/sculpey so go easy on my first attempt, ok? The measurements (in length and height) are:

1] Bigfoot Seagull - 2 1/4" L x 1 3/4" H
2] Baby Dragon - 1 1/4" L x 2" H

3] Sister Dragon - 2 7/8" L x 2 7/8" H

I do love working with very small creations although now I need to find my glasses to see better. I didn't catch some of the very small blemishes this time around. And I know I can improve with much practice...and I certainly wouldn't mind the practice...I had so much fun!

So, here they are getting very hot in their metal fenced play yard. These little guys have to bake at 275 degrees for about 20 minutes. Just look at those heat waves! LOL If you could see the other side of the ball with the W on it, you could clearly tell it is a football.

What a perfect place to cool down. It will take about 30 minutes for their final cool down. I'm wondering what kind of adventures they will have once they get use to their new home.

I see now that they have already figured out how to move from room to room! Perhaps they were curious of the chicken-scratches on the table. Or maybe they are just following the light.

Oh...Look! They found some oranges to go with the Christmas lantern. I sure hope those oranges weren't in someones stocking! I wonder if they got hungry and thought those oranges might taste good. Or maybe they were just attracted to the color! ; )

I do hope you enjoyed your visit here today! All in all, it has been a very wonderful and creative day! I also hope you like my new little critters. They really put a smile on my face! Oh, and btw...I think they all need names, don't you? If you have any suggestions, please leave a comment and just perhaps - there might be some goodies for the person who comes up with the best names. (Or persons)

Digital art in the Zen

I just love it when I can approach a creation with Zenuition. Heh heh Do you like my new word? A little zen and a whole lotta intuitive! This is the type that just seems to flow on it's own and no matter what you do in your digital program - it's right on. This was one of those moments. It's as if the image knew exactly what it wanted. AND for whatever reason - I feel a sense of comfortable calm when I look at it. So...I wish you a comfortable, calm peace also.

Flutterby

I'm fluttering in with my black and white butterfly color pop. I copied then converted this background image from Dover Publications from RGB to Grayscale. Once I enhanced both layers, I then dragged this large, beautiful, colorful butterfly image over to the background and of course, it turned to grayscale! No problem, I thought. I'll just convert that layer back to RGB...and that's when I got the pop-up box that said...merge layers, cancel, or don't merge. I didn't know what to do. Thank goodness I do have some help here. Anyway, my point is that I always seem to get these wonderful ideas that I don't know how to fully accomplish. I guess that is just part of a creative mind but if it weren't for the help I have here, I would never be able to learn how to make it work (digitally).
Oh, and I created this with a challenge in mind from Gothic Arches. I actually worked on two images for the same challenge - neither of which I completed in time. Perhaps there will be another butterfly challenge in the near future and next time, I'll be ready.

So many things I like to do!

If this is the first time you are visiting my blog...Welcome! If you're a returning guest...then Welcome back! You may have noticed by now that my blog is mostly about digital art although that is not all that I do. I love to learn something new each and every day. Currently, I'm refreshing myself in the sculpting of fimo. No, I didn't try to create a seagull...at least not yet. Instead, I decided to try to create a small dragon. I'll try to take a picture of it as soon as I can create and attach it's head. Yes, that means I managed to get the body, legs, feet, arms, hands, and wings finished today. Hmmm...now that I'm giving a seagull sculpt thought...I just so happen to have the colors I would need so perhaps tomorrow that will be another new creation. What fun! Of course, since another project I have going has to do with jewelry, I could also make a few beads while I'm at it as well. I am so looking forward to my jewelry findings orders to arrive. I just need jump rings and some eye pins so I can start creating. Once I get my fill of those two projects, I will move on to one of my stitchery kits. Now that is certainly a project that will take longer to finish so that will keep me busy until the weather changes enough to continue the work on the house. One thing I have learned over many many years is how to pace myself. There are always way too many projects on my plate so I don't have any other choice now other than to pace myself.

Butterflies from the class

I had the opportunity to take a local workshop where the artist was teaching her techniques on painting dragonflies and butterflies. I had a fantastic time painting both that day and continued to paint butterflies for a few weeks after. I just found these black and white patterns - again, when I was going through files - and thought it would be nice to share them. So...You are more than welcome to use these patterns if you would like to. I hope you enjoy them as much as I have.

Visual Journaling

I believe it was sometime in 2003 that I started to read the book "Visual Journaling" It didn't take long before I was totally hooked on it. The below images were created from two of the meditation exercises from the book. The idea of the exercise was to quiet the mind through meditation and allow images to appear through the minds eye. Then the instructions are to draw, color, paint, or even write about those images.

This was from my first experience in creative meditation. I had a large sketch book and pencil ready so I tried to sketch the images. I really wish I could have achieved the complete contrast from dark to brilliant light but I just couldn't in paper and pencil. I might be able to with Photoshop someday.

This was created by using the same type of exercise as above only an intent was added before meditation. I think this was the first time I had ever used oil pastels and for one reason or another I was guided to apply the color and then push. It was such an amazing and exhilarating experience that I designed a workshop called pushing pastels.

My early days of tole and stitchery

Hi all! I was just going through some of my older files and stumbled on a few favorites I made years ago...before painting on a blank canvas or creating digital art. Since I've never shared these on my blog, I thought now was as good of a time as any.

Here are a few of my miniature tole wood pieces that I thought were so adorable. I had quite a collection of books to take patterns from as well as a couple of friends who cut out the wood pieces for me. I still like to paint little wood creations but I really haven't had the time for quite a while now. Perhaps I'm just going to have to dig a few out of boxes.

And here is one of my cross stitch pictures. Stitchery is another favorite therapy for me as it is so relaxing and I love the finished product. I have several kits I've never even started yet so I might just have to dig a couple of those out too. : ) Plus I have a new computer program that will transfer my own art into a cross stitch pattern. How cool is that?
For the past four years, I've used digital art as my main therapy although I have done some painting as well. Now I am getting anxious to do a few other projects just for fun with my newest being some bead work. I also just found some fimo and sculpty (sorry if that is spelled wrong) and I really want to make something fun out of that. My goal is to sculpt a small purple dragon but I'm not sure if it will look like one when I'm done. So far, dragons have not been my forte' but I really do love them. I'll try to remember to post some of the newer projects as I get them finished. Hope you all have a simply marvelous day!

Pink Saturday Is Not Over Yet!

Saturday is not quite over so I'm going to go ahead and post my Pink Saturday contribution before I'm officially too late! I have three images this week to share with you pink lovers. "Aries" is true and through digital art with a multitude of layers. I softened it by adding swirls, circles, and sweet peas. I thought it would look more girly that way. I also changed the colors from red-tones to pinks just for Pink Saturday.

Below is a watercolor print painting. I stumbled on this technique quite by accident one afternoon. Water dripped on the original black and white print. I thought I had ruined it until I found that I could just paint with it instead. In this image, I painted several layers - allowing each layer to dry before adding another.

This one is a watercolor/acrylic painting I completed several years ago. I slightly changed the color in photoshop to a brighter pink. Now it's more fitting for a perfectly wonderful Pink Saturday.

I do hope you had a terrific Pink Saturday! Don't forget to hop over to Beverly's for more Pink!

You can click on the Pink Saturday image over there in the right sidebar. :~}

Snow, snow, snow - no more

Don't let this blue sky fool you! Yes, it was beautiful but you know that cliche, the calm before the storm? Well, the storm (third in progression) started just minutes after I took this shot. You can see for yourself what the last two days has brought us. Be ready for lots of black and white! LOL Hey! I started you with color first!

This is one of my favorite images! You never know what you're going to get with bad weather conditions. I was amazed at how this turned out. No, we didn't get tennis-ball-size snowflakes.

Remember all those lovely planters I shared last summer with you all? Here's a couple of them and I seriously doubt if anything will grow back after this much snow. Guess I should have covered them for winter. I do think it's cute how all my little solar lights got new white hats!

My trees form a really cool arch in the snowy winter. I'm going to have to play with this image in photoshop and see what fun items I can embellish it with. Could be fun!

This bush will come back! It's a salmon colored azalea and it's been here for over 20 years.

This one will also return in the spring/summer. It's now a mature Rose of Sharon and I absolutely love it. It is however being held up with a large 2x4 stake since it really does not like the weight of the snow.

Oh my gosh! After snapping this one, I felt so guilty that the feeders were empty that I just had to go out and fill them up...and by then it was snowing yet again!

Toby absolutely loves the snow. Here he is patiently waiting for me to finish filling the feeders so I can throw the ball. Unfortunately the tennis balls sink in the snow and it takes him forever to find them. Maybe I can find something a little lighter to throw.

I wonder if he is thinking "You said ball! Not another picture!" He does seem to be showing his attitude face! LOL

This might be his next thought..."I guess I'll just have to eat some snow while I wait for that ball to get tossed" Although I don't have a pic to show you - I did throw a larger plastic ball for him a couple of times. Only a couple times because he wouldn't bring it back to me and I had to chase him all over the yard for it...many times.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend and either stay warm if you have Winter or cooled off if you're having Summer.