Gene Autry, the singing cowboy…my first ATCs ever

By on 9-15-2011 in Digital Images + Collage, Mixed Media, Vintage

These are my first ATCs. The topic was the Wild West and I thought of Gene Autry right away. When I was a young girl my mother made me a cowgirl outfit for my birthday and added cowgirl boots, hat, guns and holster. I wore them to the Toronto Canadian Exhibition where Gene was starring. He spotted me and waved Hi. A great memory.

Gene Autry, the singing cowboy

Gene Autry sang “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer” as well as other cowboy and Christmas songs. I can still remember him singing them.

Gene Autry, the singing cowboy

These ATCs were so much fun to make, beginning with finding vintage images to putting them together along with backgrounds in Photoshop using layers, styles and filters to make them all fit on the little 2 1/2″ x 3 1/2″ cards. I made the decision to sew them together to continue on using fabric for my creations.

A little girl, her doll and an umbrella …. a story using vintage images

By on 9-15-2011 in Digital Images + Collage, Mixed Media

This is my first posting for September … what a busy month! Between working on a quilt, several other small projects and putting away some of the produce in abundance this time of the year my days were very full with little time to spare.

A little girl, her doll and an umbrella

One of the projects I was working on was this little animated story about a little girl. When I first saw these vintage images I knew I had to use them. They are wonderful and the story they tell is very poignant. I used layers and shapes as well as brushes and styles in photoshop to create this little gif.

A hazy day in Ottawa on the Ottawa River…. a great day for sailing

By on 8-17-2011 in Original photos, Places to See

On a beautiful summer day in August the Ottawa River calls. The sailboats were out on the water, the sun was shining, just enough wind to power the boats with a hazy sky and the Gatineau Hills in the background.

hazy day

This photo reminds me of the pictures of tropical islands. The branches of the pine tree show off the sky, water and beach. What a great landscape quilt this photo would make.

fine day

There were a lot of sailboats on the river, but this one in the distance, with the Gatineau hills in the background looks so peaceful on this hazy summer day.

hazy day

Another photo of the Ottawa River from under three branches. I think they frame the river dramatically.

A rare and beautiful Monarch Butterfly plus a Bumble Bee on a Scotch Thistle

By on 8-16-2011 in Digital Images + Collage, Original photos

One bright and sunny day a Monarch came to visit. It spread it’s wings just long enough for me to snap a photograph.

monarch

When I was young they were numerous and you would see them almost every day. Now it is rare to see one at all and we have seen two this year. I will use this photo in a collage, soon, to honour this beautiful butterfly.

Bumblebee on a Scotch Thistle in the rocks of the Ottawa River

A Scotch Thistle that is growing in the rocks by the Ottawa River is sporting a bumble bee. What a pretty colour these thistles are.

Mixed Media Card….”Adore”

By on 8-04-2011 in Mixed Media

This is my first mixed media card. I created it in Photoshop, no gluing or paper has actually been involved. The background was painted in gradients with colours chosen from the image. The butterflies are painted with a brush with a lower opacity. The image is courtesy of Dover Books through their free images they send every Friday. You can sign up for their free images here: Dover Publications The large butterfly is a photoshop shape that I beveled and embossed. The words were given an outer glow and the “adore” was also beveled. The edges of the image were filtered to give it a ragged look and I beveled them as well to make it look like it was set into a frame. I also beveled the outer border and then flattened the layers and saved it as a jpeg.

mixed media card in photoshop
I am very pleased with this first try at a card.