Trading cards

Tonight I decided to play around some more with some collaged art cards I've been working on. This group has some pages from old dictionaries and other books used as the background, then some random scenes literally torn from old, non-collector grade comics (stuff from the 25 cent bins at comic fairs). Don't worry, no rare books were sacrificed for these mini-collages that are the size of baseball cards, 2.5" x 3.5".

I worked on them tonight, adding some rubber-stamped textures, some words to go with the theme on the dictionary page background, and some brailled words on clear Dymo label tape to add 3-D texture to them. I'm still not done. They are really fun to make.

Bestest buddies

Tonight's photo, featuring Harley grooming his buddy Bogey.

I'm in a much better mood now than I was Friday. These two characters help.

Comfy

These are the pictures from Jan 10. There's nothing like snuggling under a down comforter, right, Riley?



A second shot, this time playing with the angled strokes filter in Photoshop for a painterly effect.

Broken

It's been a bad weekend, so I'm catching up on my blog. This is Friday, the 9th's pic. How I felt after I found out my college classes for braille textbook transcribing had been canceled. I went all the way past bent out of shape to broken. Too shaken up to even be in focus. This photo of a plain old no. 2 pencil has been manipulated in Photoshop Elements with the watercolor filter and a couple of layer changes.

Hot Stuff

I've been experimenting with macro images some, and I like this one, because of the highlights in the beads. I have a friend who, like me, is an obsessive Virgo (we even share the same birthday, although not the same year), and she makes me the most wonderfully zany stuff. This, dear readers, is a beaded Tabasco bottle. A miniature Tabasco bottle. Like the kind you see attached to those nifty specialty shop chili or soup mixes. See the tiny peppers on the top?

Bogart's close-up

Tell me this isn't a handsome lad! He really plays to the camera. I missed posting this on the 7th. Now I'm caught up.

View from my desk chair

Now you know. I'm a certifiable comic geek. Anybody can find Spider-man stuff, but it's a challenge to get cool Daredevil stuff. This is the hutch above my computer screen. I've been known to play with my action figures. What fun are they if you keep them in the box?

Ice Ice Baby

I ran outside today long enough to shoot this from the front porch. I marvel at the way the ice coats the holly leaves, making them look like Christmas candy. The rain had just begun to freeze, with the icicles forming like fat little stalactites. Not a wonderful shot at all, but not every photo needs to be a masterpiece, eh?

A Bicentennial event

Today is the 200th anniversary of the birth of Louis Braille, the man who invented the system of writing for the blind when he was just a teenager. That's the inspiration for today's photo shoot.

I found my camera tripod this evening and decided to try some different lighting, exposure, and composition with my copy of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Actually, this is one of four parts the same size that make up a copy of that book in print. The metal guide in front is a slate used to hold the heavy paper, and the yellow awl is what is used to punch the braille into the paper. It's done from right to left, backwards, because the dots are punched from the back side to make them readable on the front.








And, yes, I forgot to write down the settings because I was having too much fun. I did discover that I could do a decent macro shot with my little Olympus point and shoot. Maybe I could find out some more fun stuff if I would bother to read the manual!

Jake-in-the-box

Sometimes, I like to do some photoshopping on my photos. And then I realize that I like the original version just fine.

Original Jake-in-the-box:















No-red-eye Jake:



Jake has stunning blue eyes, sort of odd for a grown cat who isn't Siamese or Himalayan. Instead of the green glinting off his eyes in the dark, you catch this eerie red glow. I did a literal pixal-by-pixel retouch to keep the highlights.

Tricky shot

This is Casey. She's not been feeling well lately, and I added to her annoyance by aiming a camera at her. This was taken with my knees as the tripod, with only light from the window. Not totally sharp, but I still like it.



Edited to add: We had to say goodbye to dear Casey on the 19th of June, 2009. She had diabetic neuropathy, which caused her to lose control of her hind legs and finally her kidneys began to fail. We had to make the call, and she crossed the rainbow bridge, wrapped in a favorite blanket. We miss you, sweetheart.

A new year, a new challenge

I'm going to attempt to make a post a day here this year, along with taking photographs of things happening in my little world. Most times, it will be the cats, as they are the most photogenic thing around the house.

So today, January 1, 2009, is the start of the 365 Project. Here I have a wrestling match between Bogey and Toby.



I think this year, Toby will learn that Bogey is going to make up for all the times Toby picked on him when he was a kitten.

Lucky Bogey

Bogey is making himself right at home. He loves to snuggle into this squishy, fuzzy bag.

Credits:
Papers: Abrasive Earthtones by Lisa Carter, Rusty Nail by Lauren Bavin
Heart clip and brad by Meryl Bartho
Ribbon and tag by Lauren Bavin
Basic Basic stamped font by Meryl Bartho
Font: International Chunk funk

Play me again, Sam

I am a sucker. There is an unwritten law that says I must fall in love with homeless kittens. Here I go again.

Meet Bogart. At least that's what we are calling him right now, because we are fairly sure it's a male. Bogie was found a couple of days ago by my friend under the fenderwell of her dad's Mustang. He was hiding, scared, but friendly enough to let her snag him and get him into the cat carrier. She called me, distressed because she couldn't keep him, and wasn't able to find any of the neighbors who might have lost a kitten. Bring him on over, I said.

He's a delight. We've been keeping him in my bathroom, with a blanket of his own and a litterbox, water and food. I'll take him to the vet to be checked out in the morning, to make sure he's not got anything to spread to the other cats.

Dan had him out laid up on his chest while he watched tv this evening. The little guy just curled up and purred like he's been here all along. Melt my heart, why don't you, guys?

For this page, the credits are as follows:
Background paper: Beyond the Meadow, Lauren Bavin
Slide mounts: As Time Goes By, Meryl Bartho
Chain: Rusty Nail, Lauren Bavin
Captivate charm from the DSP welcome kit
Kitty tag by me
Photo corners by me
Split rings by me

More recycled art stuff

This is Altoid tin #2, with bits of tatting, wrapping paper, mother-of-pearl buttons, and an odd earring. I hope it will sell on ebay like #1 did. I shipped that one off to Colorado Springs yesterday.

Getting into collage again

I'm getting ready to move house again, and with that comes the necessity of some organizing. I must be a real world class pack rat. A couple of friends tell me I have the coolest "stuff". As in collections of odd bits and pieces of great things to use in collage work.

I decided to try my hand at some altered art. First, came the Altoid tin. I had a couple of them rattling around the house, and thought it might be fun to play with some of them. Oh, yeah. This is what I can do with some odd antique buttons, bits of lace and tatting, some pewter charms and this lovely wrapping paper I've been hoarding. Uh...recycling. ; )

Now, I've begun to swap some artist's trading cards with others I've met online. This is unbelievably fun! Here is the digitally designed card I sent out in October, and I received eleven outstanding miniature works of art by return mail. ATCs are a standard size of 2.5 inches x 3.5 inches, the same as baseball cards. They fit conveniently into album pages made for collector cards. Very, very cool.

I love this photo of Harley so much I decided to scrap it again in Alma's Quick Fix layout.


I used Amy Bleser's Carefee kit, with the Artistamps font, and Anke Calligraphic.

Pirate Girl

Courtney is my cousin's granddaughter, so I suppose that makes her my third cousin? Anyway, she's a doll, and here she is all ready for Halloween, although it was at least a month before!

Grungy papers and elements by Christy Heins.







On the big night, Courtney's mom and friends all dressed up to go out for trick or treating. Hard to say if the big girls had more fun than the kids! Papers and elements by Robyn England .

They don't stay kittens very long, do they?

When I first brought Harley inside, he barely was as long as one of these six inch tiles. Now, he's a long, lean kitty machine, very opinionated, and very personable.

This scrapping kit is from Stacy Carlson, called Moroccan Holiday. I used Gary Fryn's grungy mats. The font is Whimsy.

Harley is really growing fast. He's big enough now to get up into my desk chair, and does almost every chance he finds it empty.

I used a posterizing filter on this photo, and it almost looks like one of my thread paintings. The offset ovals are a throwback to some pen and ink sketches I once did and sold at a gallery in Roanoke, Virginia.

Ringo is definitely a Morris look-alike. He's such a big bundle of loving cat, always wanting his tummy rubbed. He enjoys this cat tent I got at Ikea this spring.

Toby and Harley love to rumble around. They really entertain each other.