Artarazzi - John Waterhouse

Vron across at Artarazzi Challenge blog gave us a John Waterhouse picture this week. Along with the picture she asked us to use a dash of orange.

This is my interpretation. (It does rain a lot here in the UK.)

I used the John Waterhouse picture which I altered, the orange flower and the background (much altered) are from the lovely designers at the WaterLO Project, and the rain drops are courtesy of Kubivet.

Thank you for looking.

Theme Thursday - Alice Gets Smaller

There was an open theme this week at Theme Thursday, the only stipulation being whatever was created should be 4 x 4 inches. I chose an Alice theme.

Credit to Tangie Baxter and Sherriejd for all elements other than the arched door.

Thank you for looking.

Mixed Media Monday - Britain

This week MMM asked for a picture that best represented where we each came from.

The Union Jack came to mind first and then of course Daffodils followed closely by Lewis Carroll's Alice In Wonderland. So here we are.

The field of Daffs is one of my own photos, Tartx provided the Alice pngs, and the flag was Googled.

Thank you for looking.

Sunday Postcard Art - Cats

This is what came to mind when I saw this week's theme and is as near to a valentine page as I'm ever likely to get. {smile}

Romeo Cat is courtesy of Irene Alexeeva, whilst the other elements, including Miss Cat and Would-like-to-be Romeo Cat are courtesy of Rachness Designs.

Thank you for looking.

Collage Play with Crowabout - Where Your Creative Soul Begins

This is my second entry for a Collage Play With Crowabout challenge, and I love doing them.

All the elements for this collage were courtesy of Nancy Baumiller aka Crowabout who provided them for Challenge 21.

The font used is Arno Pro.

Thank you for looking.

{in a small whisper with a big cheesy grin} I won the challenge last week and await my goodies in the post. Yaay.

Simply Skinnies - Fashion

This is my entry for this week's Simply Skinnies challenge and the theme is fashion.

I think it's safe to say this particular lady likes her hats.

I used a background image by Happy Scrap which I duplicated and blended.

The lady is courtesy of the very generous Takeabreak (public domain) at Flickr. I duplicated her also, used a hard light blend and finally used a poster filter to get this look.

The font is Arno Pro.

Thank you for looking

Make A Moo Or Two - Buildings

The guest host at Make a Moo or Two this week chose buildings as the theme.

Alice looks quite cosy in here don't you think?

Credit to Donna Miller for the backgrounds and the book, Happy Scrap for the bird, Irene Alexeeva for the paper curl, and Grandma's Graphics for the copyright free Sir John Tenniel illustration.

Font is Arno Pro.

Stock Photo 59 - Digital Art Quirks

Helen hosted the stock photo challenge this week at Digital Art Quirks and chose the three chairs below.

They were part of a larger image so I used the magnetic tool to draw round them and cut away as much of the background as I could, and the eraser tool to carefully erase between the arms. The image in its raw state was very small so I duplicated three times to get some depth of colour to enable me to bring it up to a usable size.

After that it was relatively plain sailing as Gouzi-Akiloune's Street Spirit kit provided the rest.

The stock photo was courtesy of Stockxchnge by Sundstrom.

Thank you for looking.

Artarazzi - Challenge 6

The challenge was hosted this week by Bev who chose a very interesting stock photo from Stockxchange.

I like stock photos as they always inspire me and this is mine for this week's challenge.

Credit to Tangie Baxter for the 1920s lady, Aprilmouse for the background and to sxchange 1131992 for the amazing stock photo.

Thank you for looking.

Mabel Knows How to Party

It was my turn to host the Quirkle challenge this week.

I asked those entering the challenge to use :

1 A stripey leg (or two)
2 A crown
3 Something red.

Here's what I came up with. That wicked Mabel strikes again.

Credit goes to Franco Folini and Oracio Alvardo for the house and legs. The background is Booland Designs and the rest, excluding Mabel, is from the wonderfully talented and generous Irene Alexeeva.

Thank you for looking.

Collage Play with Crowabout - Wake My Muse

I'm a member of the Flickr website and I've found the most wonderful challenge on there called Collage Play with Crowabout.

Each week she supplies a collage sheet and the challenge is to use 3 or more pieces from the sheet to create some kind of collage.

This is my very first attempt and I'm sure it will open up lots more creative possibilities for me.

So credit to Nancy Baumiller aka Crowabout for all the collage elements, except for the lime background which is my own and the fonts used : Budmo Jiggler, Baron Kuffner, Futura and Tom's Handwriting.

Thank you for looking.

Make A Moo Or Two - Circles

This is my interpretation of Circles for the Make A Moo Or Two challenge this week.

Credit to Donna Miller for the background, hat, bow, and rubber bands. The face is Flickr copyright free, and the stamp is a BVA-LYO brush.

Font used is Silom.

Thank you for looking.

Art Creation Friday - School Days

For Art Creation Friday's 9th challenge, we were given a picture of this young girl and this is what I came up with after a number of layers and blends.

The window (very much altered) is credit of Kubivet.

Thank you for looking

Simply Skinnies - Hollywood

I chose Bet Davies as my Hollywood idol for the theme at Simply Skinnies this week. She was such a beautiful woman don't you think?

Credit to SilentLadiesAndGentlemen for Bet and to Kubivet for the film elements and backgrounds.

Thank you for looking.

Theme Thursday - Couples

The theme this week is couples and I chose the show biz variety.

All images are courtesy of The Queen's Dresser Drawers a lovely website of copyright free images. You can find it at the bottom of my blog.

Thanks for looking.

Artarazzi Challenge

This week at Artarazzi Vron asked us to use the photo of the three ladies by Barbara Moustafa at Deviant Arts as the base for our work, and this is what came to mind for me.

Madam Mim provided the background and the curtains and audience are from Sailor and Lula (everything altered).

Thanks for looking.

Gothic Arch - Grunge

The theme at Gothic Arches this week is Grunge, and not to be outdone Mabel dons a hoody, sprays a few cans of graffiti then settles down to read the news.

Credit to Gouzi-Akiloune for use of his Free Spirit grunge kit.

Sunday Postcard Art - Winter Mystical

A Winter kit called Snow Is Glistening from Joanne Cinnamon at My Digital Addiction was used to create this Wintery scene.

Font : Bradley Hand ITC

A Moo Or Two - Winter Frost

The theme this week is Winter Frost, though making sure it didn't take a backward step into a Christmas scene was quite difficult.

Here in the UK we've been in the grip of a fierce deep freeze since Christmas Eve and this little Moo just says freezing weather to me and I hope it does for you.

Credit to the wonderful designers of the WaterLO Project.

Theme Thursday - Vintage Love

Sometimes your muse takes you places you never thought to go and this is one of those times. Albert came to mind and as soon as he did it occurred to me that his love might always be divided. So here it is.

Albert and Mrs Einstein were Googled and to some extent altered, and I made the hearts.

Font used : Papyrus

Artarazzi - Challenge 4

This week we were given an image of Marilyn and asked to produce something arty.

Several layers , blends and filters later this is what I came up with.

Thank you for looking.

Mixed Media Monday - Moon

Maria is the guest host at Mixed Media Monday this week and she's chosen Moon as the theme and that made me think of this nursery rhyme.

The cow is courtesy of Kendrive, the moon is from Paper Relics, other bits were Googled and altered.

I created the background using Vanilla Sky brushes and overlayed with a filter.

Font is Prissy Frat Boy.

Sunday Postcard Art - Celebrate

Now that the hub hub of Christmas is over and we are into a brand new year what better way than this to celebrate?

Credit to the ever talented Kubivet.

Scary Fairy Tales

Scary fairy tales is the theme at Art on the Darkside this week and this is my contribution.

The background photo is one of my own and the wolf and Red were Googled.

I treated the whole thing to a number of layers and blendings to get the desired effect and finished with a Fresco filter to sharpen up the highlights.

Bring on the New Year - Simply Skinnies

The new challenge theme across at Simply Skinnies is : Bring on the New Year.

I used elements designed by Kubivet (much altered by layering and blending) to bring on 2009.

Make a Moo Or Two - Angels

Angel is the theme at Make a Moo or Two this week.

I chose an angel and background by the very talented designer Kubivet and played with layers and blending until I had a pleasing choice of colours.

This Way To Quirkland

Done for a Stock Photo challenge at Digital Art Quirks. I used several duplicate layers and otherwise blended to enhance colours.

Courtesy of Irene Alexeeva and Tartx and the Stock Photo from Stockxhnge was by ckgd2.

Crazy Amigo - Splash

Here's my splash into 2009.

Wishing you all the very best of New Years.

Thank you for looking.

Sunday Postcard Art - Happy New Year

It's an open theme at Sunday Postcard Art this week so I thought I would take the opportunity to wish you all manner of good things for the New Year.

Elements used are courtesy of Pepeetje, EMS Arts and Graphics, Tartx and Irene Alexeeva. The air mail sticker I scanned from an envelope. Mabel of course is part of the family.

Fonts used are Optima and Persimmon.

Thank you for looking.

Thank God It's Friday - Mabel Gets a Social Life

A new social life for Mabel was not necessarily a good thing.

The Charlie Chaplin suit was Googled. Everything else courtesy of Irene Alexeeva. Mabel, of course, is one of the family.

Font : Sans stone

Mable Parties Her Way Through Christmas

The last I saw of Mabel she was having a wicked time celebrating the festive season.

Credit goes to 51291 for the handsome mask and hat. The background is made up of so many brushes I'm unable to name them, but say thank you for their use anyway.

The dress and stockings are my own design.

The font (much altered) is Chocolate Box.

Thank you for looking.

Nursery Rhymes

A new Quirkster Jane was the host for this week's Quirkle and she decided we should use a nursery rhyme, a piece of bling and a bird in our artwork.

Credit to Kubivet for the background, the altered moon and the blinged wings, MarialaFrance for the felt bird, and Mamacatscraps for altered crown. The 'Old Woman' is from my own photo collection.

Other bits were Googled.

Font : Chalkboard.

Sunday Postcard Art - Christmas

The theme is Christmas at Sunday Postcards this week so here is a Christmassy take on the challenge.

The lovely snow covered tree background (altered) is from a kit with the charming name of The Kiss of The White Princess by Glow Fairy Designs, the snowflake is courtesy of Elena Designs and the turquoise Christmas tree is from Kubivet.

Fonts used are Almonte Snow, Gang of Three, and Cantara Gotica.

Mixed Media Monday - Gold

I made this from Danielle Engebretson's December Doodles kit. The star I made myself.

Font : SpillMilk

Thank you for looking.

Simply Skinnies - Your Presents or Yor Life

Here's just a silly one for Christmas. I saw the pirate (Cardamome blogspot) and thought of this.

Credit also to FlashGraphics for the presents, BarbaraDerksen for the santa hat and the wonderful designers of the Neige Eternelle collab kit for all the snowy bits.

Fonts used were Snowshoe and Santas Sleigh

Thank you for looking.

A Moo Or Two - Alice In Wonderland

Alice In Wonderland is the theme at a Moo Or Two this week, and since I've just purchased a beautiful Alice Through the Looking Glass kit from Irene Alexeeva I couldn't wait to get started.

Having said that I've altered all the elements either by duplicating and blending, or recolouring to get a truly unique effect and then adding a final mosaic filter to the finished Moo.

Thank you for looking.

Artarazzi - Challenge 2

An excerpt from Mitch Albom's book The Five People You Meet in Heaven inspired this piece for Vron's second Artarazzi challenge.

Credit also to Outsider Artists for the image of the girl (altered) and to Kubivet for the window frame.

Font used is Stone Sans Semilta.

Thank you for looking.

Quirkle Challenge 67 - Mabel's Incredible Talents

Donna hosted the challenge this week and set us the task of using a timepiece, some glitter and some brush strokes to complete our Quirkle.

I had great fun and of course Mabel got involved.

Thanks go to Irene Alexeeva, 500 ml and Headley Designs for the elements and brushes.

Photograph is my own.

Font (much altered) is WhatsHappened.

Make A Moo Or Two - Christmas

GingerScraps provided these lovely elements for my inspiration for the Christmas theme at Make a Moo Or Two this week.

Art Creation Friday - Challenge 4 - Smoke and Mirrors

A really enjoyable challenge with plenty of scope for layer blending and filters, which I used liberally.

I duplicated the 'lady' layer, added a radial gradient overlay which I inverted, and gave it a hard mix blend.

At this point I flattened the layers and added a 'paint daub' filter.

The frame I also duplicated and then used a hard mix blend to get the coppery colour.

Thank you for the lovely image of the lady. The gold frame was courtesy of Numbumm.

Art on the Dark Side - Masks

Aah a lovely new challenge, a little bit on the dark side, with a theme of masks ..... Yaay I love it.

Well lookee here, I don't know where this came from but I did enjoy doing it. :O)

All images and bits of images (much altered) were Googled.

Theme Thursday - Mabel and the Perfect Present

Mabel saw her opportunity when she saw this week's circus theme.

The window is courtesy of Kubivet, the photos are my own and the bits and pieces were Googled.

Font : WhatsHappened.

Who will get those shoes?

Mabel and the Snow - A Quirkle Challenge

Donna chose the colour purple, a number or numbers and some dots to be used in our Quirkle this week.

As I've just made my first foray into making my own templates I thought the numbers should be used as templates, so that's how Mabel is looking out of number 25 and showing Albert the snow.

The background is courtesy of Can Designs, and the photos are from my own collection.

The fonts (much altered) are slugfest and WhatsHappened.

Frameworthy Challenge - In the Style of Randal Plowman

Each week at Scrapbook Graphics there is a challenge where participants try to emulate the style of a famous artists. This week it was Randal Plowman.

Completed entirely with brushes by 500ml in Photoshop.

Font : Copperplate Gothic.

Sunday Postcard Art - Fairies

This week's theme is fairies at Sunday Postcard Art.

I used Enchanted Forest Collab (designs by Vicki) to layer and blend a pink background paper and pink flower, and to get the lovely rich red I used colour burn. The word art I duplicated, then used multiply to give depth and richness. I added fairies, bubbles and cream flower, resizing as needed. Finally I added the child image from Christine Annette's Free Image stock and blended her into the two backgrounds to create an ethereal feel to the piece.

Gothic Arch - Trees

Trees is the theme at Gothic Arch this week.


I chose a festive slant on this and used Ginger Scraps' Whoville kit as it's so colourful and Christmassy.

Artarazzi - Challenge 1

Vron has given us the theme Beautiful for this her first challenge.

Here's mine and of course I added just a little twist.

Credit goes to Outsider Artists for the image of the girl, and to NumBum for all other elements.

The font is Skia.

Thanks Vron.

Theme Thursday - Children

This week at Theme Thursday the theme is Children.

I had lots of fun with layers and filters and this little girl from Art E Zine is busy imagining herself as a famous ballet dancer.

My own backgrounds and hat.

Font : Shoplifter.

Daily Art Stop - Dolls

My Mum often tells the story of when she was a child and two beautiful dolls came into the shops for little girls : one was the Princess Elizabeth doll, and the other was the Princess Margaret Rose.

Mum was a tomboy, but she said she wanted that Princess Margaret Rose doll soooo much.

Like lots of things in life though we don't always get what we want, and with a wistful look she tells me she never did get that doll.

So here's a Princess Margaret Rose doll Mum.

The frames are courtesy of KlarissH and the photographs are my own.

Font is Chalkboard.

Simply Skinnies - Party

Come and join us at Simply Skinnies where this week the challenge theme is Party.

I used balloons and happy birthday from Memories Made Easy, and the little girl from Art E Zines. The papers are my own.