It's not cheating...it's mindfulness

With Hubby coming and going, and Junior a tad more

 stressy than even he is used to, Arting has been near

impossible.

Fortunately I was invited to join a FB group set up by 

a digi artist friend (Dezinaworld) who has been sharing 

collections with us to play with.

Here are a few of  my endeavours :D

Sometimes we start with a colour palette...

(Burgundy/Mustard/White)

other times a single word

(Double)

(Freedom)

and sometimes I just play with my imagination :)

Now I know some people don't consider digi manipulation

 "Art"

but having tried to make my own png's I am in awe of

the skill and time required to produce a single image.

So if you like making collage pieces in the real world

you will enjoy digi collage too.

After all, anything to pass time during lockdown  has

got to be helpful...and you can always print them out to

use as physical collage sheets later.

Like this journal cover I started (got a day in my shed)

Stay Safe, but Stay Sane!

Enjoy XXX

And Finally...

though not Lastly mwahahahaha

For LeighSBDesigns Poe Appreciation Blog Hop 2018

My closing tribute to the Genius that 

was and is....

Edgar Allan Poe

*Using CryztalRain digi kit*

Well one could hardly finish without a tribute 

in words :D 

and a few last "past" makes...

 a knitted Raven

 My hand embroidered Art Apron....

and a look through the Art journal I was making 

(must get round to finishing) inspired by a

Rock classics calendar ...each page altered to

represent a quote from 

E.A Poe XXX

Hope you enjoyed this as much as I did

XXX

Edit: *Couldn't stop myself...have now started a POEtrait x-stitch*

​

An InLinkz Link-up

Birthday POE stcards

HOW DID I NEARLY MISS THIS!!!!!

LeighSBDesigns Poe Appreciation blog hop

Thank goodness the ladies at 

Dream in Darkness

are on the case!

So after a manic morning I now have 

4 POEstcards :D

 I(not surprisingly) have several collections of 

Poe related digi images....

I used My Craft Studio to create 4 collage pieces

from my Poe kit by CryztalRain

 The kit includes background papers, so I printed one

 of those off and used it to cover my postcard blanks.

 Cut out and glued...

 before adding some verdigris and black embossing powder

around the edges.

 A quick blast of satin varnish and a few 

black peel offs and done :D

The quotes are also from the digi kit...

 "I became insane with long intervals of horrible Sanity"

 "I felt I breathed an atmosphere of Sorrow"

 " We loved with a love that was more than Love"

" And this maiden she lived with no other thought

than to love and be loved by me"

Entering for the following challenges;

Poe Appreciation Day Blog Hop #2018

Dream in Darkness # January 2nd entry
TTCRD # Week of Jan 16th
SOSS # 101 T is for technique (digital collage)

​

An InLinkz Link-up

"I'm seeing creepy dolls?" lol

That was one of the comments from a Medium we saw recently

 that sort of impressed Hubby a little{major league sceptic}

That and that my house looked like the "Dingle's" place bwahahaha :D

*for non Brit's the Dingles are a Gypsy family from tv's Emmerdale*

So this got me back to working on my little Faerie dolls.

The project I was making them for wasn't due to be aired until June 2018,

but it has been cancelled due to work commitments...

So I gets to show you ASAP :D

Here is a little teaser...

You have already seen Cora and Agatha, but now I am working on

Bryony, Erica, Delphine,Flora and Giselle

I will be writing a story to go with them shortly.

Just loving this little troupe of Gypsy Fae :D

Enjoy XXX

Sharing with the following challenges;

Dream in Darkness # August Life is a Circus

Crafty Creations Challenge # 347 Anything Goes

A link to the past...

This weeks Prompt at Dezinaworld's Cheeky Challenge is

"Old Lace"

*photo of my great-great-grandmother Ann Hudson 1840-1917*

While the Prompt from A Dash of Sunny is

"A Photograph is but a memory in raw format"

A Tangible link

Though we never met I see your face,

And know you must have lived life at a pretty full pace.

No one is left to voice your stories

yet the gleam in your eyes tells of long lost glories.

So I trawled through the records to link with your life

and found you weren't married...

just "common-law-wife".

That the one I descend from was purely your own

though your long term family was rapidly grown.

You had many more children named after their Dad,

but he wasn't the father to your first born lad.

I may never find who you loved so long ago,

though he must have been special to hold your heart so.

You stayed with "Mr Owen" to the end of his days

but kept your own name against all "proper" ways.

When in 1911 the Census came

 your listed

"Miss Ann Hudson"

You valiant old Dame!

*the image above was sent to me by a relative*

Enjoy :D XXX

*collage includes images from Dezinaworld and Daisy Trail*

Shuffle on!

This weeks prompt at a Dash of Sunny is 

"Let's take a look at the cards, shall we?"

There is a link to a free tarot reading where you just select 3 cards

representing your Past Present and Future

I drew The Lovers/The Fool/The Wheel of Fortune.

I found some copyright free images to make this digital collage..

Choosing my own path

With a Lover from my past I'll run,

Picking flowers beneath the Sun.

Taking risks and having fun,

Until my turn of the wheel is done.

I took these words from the reading as inspiration;

PAST:We give our love to others with ease and without fear,

PRESENT:We believe in Life, and expect our path to be good

 and rewarding.

FUTURE: Accept~take responsibility~move on!

Believe in your own potential.

Enjoy :D XXX

Quirky? ... or just weird :D

This week at LOC the challenge is to make something "Quirky  or Weird"

While the August's challenge at Dream in Darkness is to get Steampunky.

These are two styles that work really well together, and on the theme of "togertheness"

I decided to blend physical crafting with digi crafting...just because I can :D

I started by stamping and stencilling a selection of cogs/clocks and whatnots onto a piece of craft card stock...

 I already knew the images I was going to add.

Jacob and Gwendolyn from Simply Betty Stamps.

(coloured with markers)

Again colouring around the image helps to soften the outline against the background.

 You can never have too many cogs on a steampunk project...

die cut card inked and highlighted with metallic ink...

 to add a bit of dimension.

 Don't you just love Gwendolyn's saucy attitude?

I then uploaded this photo into my graphics programme

(I use Serif Craftartist 2)

and added the frame/legend and gnome :D

*Staring at my Pumpkin is going to get your Mangle Wurzled*

I know....but I is just weird lol

Enjoy, and a Blessed Lammas to all XXX 

When getting messy isn't an option...

Try digital art!

That's what friends kept telling me, so I thought it was time to get stuck in :D

I have all the graphic programmes you could want, but had fits of technophobia everytime I tried to use them.

A couple of days ago my very talented friend June Mac of Dezinaworld

shared some amazing free images (all her images are free of charge), and I found she has been running a weekly Cheeky Challenge

 Now you know I'm not shy at jumping headlong and wellied up into a challenge, so being half a year behind, I thought it would be a great chance to work on my digi skills.

Rather than just join in from now, I am going to make a Cheeky Challenge art journal :D

I already have an out of date A5 desk diary to alter...

 and the full years challenge prompt courtesy of June,

so today I have made my first 2 pages which I am going to print off and stick in the diary.

 Week 01 Rags/poverty/homeless

Week 02 Wildflowers

I have used a mixture(cos that's what digi collage is about) of images from Dezinaworld, Daisy Trail(serif), Itkupili images and my own photos.

I'll try not to bombard you with my new project lol, but I'm sure some will find it refreshingly lighter than my other projects :D

Enjoy XXX