THREE MUSES

This week SPRING is our theme for inspiration at the Three Muses.  Meet Martha whose head is bursting with excitement at the thought of it!

Credit to Beth Rimmer and Finecrafted Designs (both from Deviantscrap).

Thank you for looking.

TAKE A WORD

Marie has chosen HAT as our word for inspiration at Take A Word this week and that  reminded me of the very strange girl I saw the other day.  It was 4 o'clock so definitely time for tea but there she sat in the sunshine pouring herself an nicecool icecool Coke!  "Lovely hat", I said as I past by!

Credit to Beth Rimmer at Deviantscrap and Bluesse at Deviantart.

Thank you for looking.

THREE MUSES

 

Clowns

 

There's No Place Like Home

Alice's Place

I was having so much fun making HOUSE TAGs for the Three Muses, I made three.  Hope you like!

Credit to Beth Rimmer, Finecrafted Designs, Holliewood Studio and Irene Alexeeva.

Thank you for looking.

TAKE A WORD - ANGELS

This week Marie has chosen ANGELS as our word for inspiration at Take a Word and that reminded me of the strange sight I saw on my walk the other day.  It was raining cats and dogs and as I glanced up from beneath my umbrella I thought I saw a winged creature, soaked to the skin, and huddled before a small open fire.  I blinked and looked again but there was nothing there and I realized it must have been an angel OR perhaps indigestion!!!

Credit to Finecrafted Designs.

Thank you for looking.

THREE MUSES - ONE

This week Bev has chosen the theme of ONE at the Three Muses.  Here is my very frivolous interpretation on ONE.  Thanks for a great theme, Bev.

Credit to Finecrafted Designs.

Thank you for looking.

DIGITALMANIA - JOSEPH CORNELL

This week, across at Digitalmania, we are exploring the artist Joseph Cornell and his shadow boxes.  This is my interpretation on a digital shadow box.

Credit to Bluesse at Deviant Art.

Thank you for looking.

TAKE A WORD - GREEN

Marie has chosen GREEN as our word for inspiration at Take a Word this week and that reminded me of  St Patrick's Day and the Irish cousins!

Credit to Hidden Vintage for the shamrock and the Irish cousins.

Thank you for looking.

THREE MUSES - TWO

Marie has chosen TWO as our theme this week at the Three Muses and that reminded me of the lovely breakfast I had this morning.  A boiled egg and soldiers .... TWO of them!  Yum.  Yum.

Thanks Marie for helping me realise that the term boiled egg and soldiers wouldn't be a universal one.  So may I explain, for those who didn't see Marie's explanation.  Here in the UK children eat a soft boiled egg with finger sized slices of either buttered bread or toast (soldiers) which they dip into their egg.

Truth is I never did grow up ...... and apologies if I offended anyone!


Credit to Irene Alexeeva and Kubivet.

Thank you for looking.

TAKE A WORD - MASCULINE

This week Marie has chosen MASCULINE as our word for inspiration and usually at this point I get a little twinkle in my eye and create something quirky.  This week, however, I was in a different kind of mood entirely and wanted to just play in Photoshop.

So starting with a greyscale image of John Lennon I found on the web, I extracted him from the background, increased the brightness by around 50% to remove detail and to increase the light within his face, added contrast by around 10% for clarity before experimenting in colour variations until I created this lovely purple blue.  Finally, I  added a sharpen edges filter to lift and highlight and accentuate his bone structure and his signature round rimmed glasses.  Ta daa!

Thank you for looking.

DIGITALMANIA - STIELER

 

As a follow on from last week's look at layering and blending on Digitalmania, this week we used the portraits of Karl Joseph Stieler as stock to practice our new skills.

I chose this Stieler portrait to play with and ended up with two interpretations.  I chose the one above for the challenge on Flickr but thought I would show you the other one here too.

Credits can be found on my Flickr page.

Thank you for looking.

A TRIP TO THE CIRCUS

The theme at the Three Muses this week is A TRIP TO THE CIRCUS and that made me think of clowns.  When I was a child I used to love to watch their antics at the circus but I know not everyone likes them.  So if you are one of those who finds them creepy be careful when you turn out the lights tonight .......... or the clowns might get you!   Heee heee.

Credit to Eenas Creations, Rian (Freubel) and ObsidianDawn.

Thank you for looking.

TAKE A WORD - MAIL ART

This week at the Take a Word challenge Marie has chosen MAIL as our word for inspiration and that reminded me I should probably send more snail mail than I do.  It didn't help, of course, as this one is still going down the super highway via the world wide web.  Never mind, it's the thought that counts!  :D

Credit to  Crowabout Studio B and Obsidian Dawn.

Thank you for looking.

DIS N DAT - CHALLENGE ON FLICKR

TMI - FEBRUARY CONTEST - NURSERY RHYMES

RUBY'S TREASURES STOCK CHALLENGE NO 8

DIGITALMANIA CHALLENGE - INSPIRED BY CATHY HORNER

DIGITALMANIA CHALLENGE - INSPIRED BY CATHY HORNER

Four pieces for three challenges on Flickr.  

The first is the TMI challenge where this month Nursery Rhymes is the theme.  At TMI the intriguing challenge is to produce something that doesn't contain either people or anything man made ...... more difficult that you might think.

The second is for Ruby's Treasures Stock Challenge.

The third and fourth pieces are for Digitalmania's challenge, where Marie aka Ozstuff has chosen the artist Cathy Horner as our artist to be inspired by.

Credits can be found on my Flickr.

Thank you for looking.

THREE MUSES - ART IN THE ROUND

Bev's challenge theme for this week is ART IN THE ROUND.  Here's mine, and I'm  looking through the round window and I'm sure I can see Spring.  I hope so.

Credit to Finecrafted Designs and to Numb Bumm.

Thank you for looking.

TAKE A WORD - TURQUOISE

Marie has suggested TURQUOISE as our word for inspiration at Take a Word this week and that reminded me of the time I went into my newly decorated sun room and found our cat perched as high as he could be trying to get a taste of the turquoise cream.

Credit to Bluesse at DeviantArt.

Thank you for looking.

THREE MUSES - OUTSIDE OF THE FRAME

It's OUTSIDE THE FRAME this week at the Three Muses and, as you can see,  I took the theme quite literally!

Thank you for the fun theme, Marie.

Credit to Finecrafted Design for the frame and picture whilst the 'hands' and crooked nail are courtesy of Marta Van Eck.

Thank you for looking.

TAKE A WORD - OLD FASHIONED

This week Marie has asked us to make an ATC for Take A Word and she has chosen OLD FASHIONED as our word for inspiration.

Since I have an ATC swap with Peppa, which being February is a Valentine one, I have combined Valentine and OLD FASHIONED to create this vintage Valentine card.  :D

Thank you for looking.

THREE MUSES - TORSO TAGS

It's my turn to host at the Three Muses this week and I asked for Torsos and then I made a couple for myself.  Now I can't decide which one I like the best ...... well that's not entirely true!  Ha ha!

Credit to Playing with Brushes and Efie.

Thank you for looking.

TAKE A WORD - COFFEE

COFFEE SIR?

Our word for inspiration at Take a Word this week is COFFEE and that reminded me of the day last week when I was invited to take my morning coffee with a very special person indeed!

Credit to Bluesse at Deviant Art who offers some amazing stock. 

Thank you for looking.

DIGITALMANIA - TRIPTYCH

Created for the Digitalmania Triptych challenge.

Credits can be found on Flickr.

Thank you for looking.

THREE MUSES - MUSICAL INSTRUMENT

Our theme for inspiration at the Three Muses this week is MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS and here is what I was inspired to create.

Good choice of theme, Bev.

Credit to CAJoline, Kubivet, Miss Honey and Sailor and Lula.

Thank you for looking.

TAKE A WORD - REGAL

This week at Take a Word our word for inspiration is REGAL and that reminded me of HRH Queen Elizabeth II who, here in the UK, is our one and only right regal queenie.  (I'm forced to mention her Regalness, since it would be high treason not to and probably punishable by a stint in the Tower, or worse still, a valid reason to lose my head.)

Credit to Playing with Brushes for the background, Obsidian Dawn for the font whilst the remainder was either Googled or in the public domain.

Thank you for looking.

DIGITALMANIA - ZETTI SONG TITLE

Across at Digitalmania this week we are choosing a song title and illustrating it in a zetti style.

No points for guessing my song title this week!

Credit to Kubivet, Crowabout Studio B and Obsidian Dawn.

Thanks for looking.

THREE MUSES - OO LA LA

Marie has chosen OO LA LA as our theme at the Three Muses this week and suggested we might like to create something with a French feel.   So here is 'someone' who only wishes she COULD still eat cake!

Credit to Papermoon for the cupcake, Terri Khars for the 'unfortunate lady', CAJoline for the furniture and Aprilmouse for the background images.

Thanks Maire.

TFL

DIGITALMANIA - SHERRY PARKER

FAMILY RESEMBLANCE

At Digitalmania (across at Flickr) this week we are encouraged to be inspired by the work of the artist Sherry Parker.

Here are two 'mixed media' digitally created pieces inspired by Sherry.

WRITE FOOT FORWARD

Credit for both pieces can be found in my Flickr gallery.

Thank you for looking.

TAKE A WORD - VINTAGE

Marie has chosen VINTAGE as our word for inspiration this week and suggested that we create our work as one or more MOOs.

Here is my trio of Moos which were great fun to make.

Credit to Beth Rimmer.

Thank you for looking.

THREE MUSES - ANIMAL KINGDOM

Matilda was rendered speechless with embarrassment when she realised she and Baa Baa Ra were wearing identical outfits. 

Credit to Holliewood Studio, Finecrafted Studio and IStock.

Thank you for looking.

TAKE A WORD - FISH

Our word for inspiration this week at Take a Word is FISH and that reminded of the perfect day I spent last week at the races.  There was horse racing in the morning followed by giraffe racing and then after lunch the fish racing began.  Puffing and blowing and quite red in the face a great brute of a fish came up from behind, but alas to no avail, as first one and then the second lady glided over the finish line.  And I won a fiver!

Credit to Holliewood Studio and Finecrafted Design.

Thank you for looking.

THREE MUSES - THE SHOE TREE

It's MAPS this week at the Three Muses and following last year's UK Arctic Winter, this year I wanted to be ready to make a swift exit should there be a repeat performance.  So I packed a suitcase and included sandals (or jandals if you are from down under), plotted my route to sunny climes and made sure I had suitable footwear on the shoe tree to get me to the airport!

Credit to Marmalade Moon, Created by Jill and Roger Wood - Klockwerks.

Thank you for looking.

TAKE A WORD - NATURE

NATURE is our word for inspiration at Take A Word this week and that reminded me of last year's very harsh Winter.   I remember I had just happened to look out of the window as a tiny humming bird landed on my garden fence.  Now even I know humming birds are not found in the UK which meant  he must be lost, and worse still, starving hungry out there in the snow.  So I took a crisp, juicy apple and placed in the garden hoping it would keep him alive.  Well, the next morning sure enough that apple had been bitten, but oh such a large bite I thought, for such a tiny bird!  It was then I noticed the snowman who appeared to be watching that poor little  bird's every move, and that little humming bird was looking hungry and oh so sad!  Life can be cruel!

Credit to Ruby Blossom and Efie.

Thank you for looking.

THREE MUSES - SONG LYRICS

Marie has chosen SONG LYRICS as her theme for this week at the Three Muses.

The Beatles' track : Paperback Writer came to my mind and here is what my Muse helped me create.

Thanks, Marie, for a great theme.

Credit to Irene Alexeeva

Thank you for taking the time to look.

TAKE A WORD - A NEW YEAR

Marie has chose several words for our inspiration this week with her theme of A NEW YEAR, so here is a little peep at the New Year I celebrated last night.  Heee heee.

Happy New Year To You All.

Credit to Eenas Creations, Joes Sistah and Freubel's Freebies.

THREE MUSES - ALL ABOUT ME

A nice self indulgent little piece ALL ABOUT ME.  It's my turn to host at the Three Muses this week and I've invited artists to share a little something about themselves.  Mine is a journal page in which I have shared the fact that if I could have one wish I would wish that I could fly so that when I'm shopping my feet won't hurt.  Hee hee.

Credit to Crowabout Studio B, whilst the font is : Gingerbread House by Obsidian Dawn, oh and there's a little bit of painting and drawing by me.

Thanks for looking.

TAKE A WORD - PRINT

Our word for inspiration this week at Take A Word is PRINT and that reminded me of the strange little fairy tale I heard the other day.

ONCE UPON A TIME there was a wicked witch who lived in the forest by a little stream in a cottage made of sugar and spice.

The children were afraid of the witch because of her black pointy hat and her face which was the colour and texture of toad skin.

She was very ugly and very cruel but those little children just could not resist the thought of what that sugary house would taste like should they ever get the chance to stick their greedy little tongues on to those sweet walls.

The wicked witch knew that the children longed to taste the sweetness and so she opened up the garden gate and scattered sugared almonds along the path to entice those children into her grasp.
And before long the children began to move closer until ……..

Credit to Playing with Brushes and Dover samples.  Font : Apple Chancery.

 Thank you for looking.

THREE MUSES - ANGELS

Our theme for inspiration across at the Three Muses this week is ANGELS, and as usual my mind went off at a tangent and I thought about a famous angel we have here in the UK.  So I searched my photos from a previous visit and here we are.  Ta da.

Credit to  ....... well me!  :D

Thank you for looking.

TAKE A WORD - SEPIA

Our word for inspiration at Take a Word this week is SEPIA, so I knew you would be interested in seeing this old strip of film I unearthed from my family history box the other day.  Yes, these strange creatures are part of my family and yes, I had forgotten just how eccentric some of them are. 

On the right is my great aunt Olive together with sister Cordelia.  Olive always was in a world of her own and it was left to Cordelia to try to keep her feet firmly on the ground.  On the left we have the triplets, who were always the  'giddy kippers' of the family, and who were my great aunts (by marriage), Lydia, Lucinda and Louise.  It has to be said these three never did a day's work in their lives, never learned to sew or embroider or paint or play the piano or sing, instead they spent their days drifting from room to room in the house or likewise in the gardens performing this most extraordinary of dances.

I suppose we all have some skeletons the closet!!

Credit to jinterwas for the film strip whilst the ladies are all courtesy of Dover.

Thank you for looking.

WORKING WITH RAFAL OLBINSKI

Over the past week we have been looking at the work of the artist Rafal Olbinski across at the Flickr group Digitalmania.

Here are a couple of my interpretations on his work.

Credit Holliewood Studio, Finecrafted Designs, Irene Alexeeva and Obsidian Dawn.

If you want to see more interpretations on Olbinski's work by other members of the group click on the link.

Thanks for looking.

THREE MUSES - 'TIS THE SEASON

Marie has chosen 'TIS THE SEASON as our theme for this week at the Three Muses and I thought it should be a season of FUN.  So here is my Zetti inspired celebration.

Credit to Crowabout Studio B, Kubivet, Pareerica and Obsidian Dawn.

Thank you for a fun challenge.

Thank you for looking.

TAKE A WORD - JOY

Our word for inspiration at Take a Word this week is JOY and that reminded me to tell you about what happened on Thursday morning.  There I was decorating the Christmas tree, when I spied a little spot of red way across the garden in the snow.  As I watched, the spot became a man with a white beard and red suit, and I realised it was Father Christmas himself. 

Was he lost, I wondered, or worse still forgotten the date?  But no.  He said as he was in the neighbourhood thought he'd just pop in to pick up my Christmas list.  Wow, now how is that for service?

Credit to Marmalade Moon for the background, Kubivet for the the trees and Crowabout Studio B for the 'Christmas Joy' and Santa Claus.

Thank you for looking.

THREE MUSES - LAND OF ODD

I'm sure you won't believe me but I will tell you anyway.   Yesterday I got a new neighbour.  Nothing strange there I hear you say and normally I would agree, but this morning when I popped round to introduce myself I was surprised to find myself 'face to face to face' with the most unusual person I have ever met.  I thought to myself : nothing is likely to get passed her me thinks!

Credit to Holliewood Studios, Finecrafted Designs, Beth Rimmer and SkelitalMess.

Thank you for looking.

A LITTLE BIT OF MIRO

 

 EXERCISE CLASS

This week at Digitalmania across at Flickr we have been looking at the work of the Spanish artist Joan Miro.

Here's me having great fun with a little bit of tongue in cheek inspiration.

SELF PORTRAIT

Credit to Holliewood Studios.

TFL