Pumpkin Moon

Playing around with some pics when we took Ava to Vala's Pumpkin Patch. They had these cut-outs, and I think we've found her calling! She was so tickled when Daddy held her up to look out the peep hole at the rest of us other poor souls who were on the other side!!

Perfect Day

Just a simple collage from last weekend, which we (we, being Lindsey and me) spent up in MN with my beautiful little grandbaby, Ava. Omigosh, is she really 14 months old already???

We never really have any "plans," so to speak, when we go a'visitin'. Heck, I'd be happy just to sit and watch her sleep, eat, and play all day! Which, come to think of it, is pretty much exactly what we do! :-)

But we did take our Elmo coloring book and crayons with, and Grammie and Ava joined forces and colored a page together, the results of which are now adorning my refrigerator door. And we pulled out the little yellow rubber ducky out of my purse when it was bath time. And, we took a couple hundred more pictures! LOL! What can I say...when you have such appealing subject matter to photograph...:-)

Reflective Ava ;)

Once I was into my program again (and also due to the fact that I got my dates wrong on the Ridge Cemetery Tour that I thought was today but is actually two weeks from today and I had nothing else to do...) I started playing around with the filled letters again. This time I cut and paste and flipped them around and use the opacity button to create reflective letters. Ended up doing something similar with the background papers, and, it seemed to work! I like it anyway...:-)

The Magic of Bubbles

Still obsessed with the bubbles pictures, I created this a while ago and sort of forgot I had done it until I pulled up my program again and browsed through my finished projects and saw this and thought, "Wow, that one is cool!!" LOL!

Bubbles and More!

Nothing like a new technique to sidetrack your day!

I watched a Webinar last night for Creative Memories Storybook program, and learned a simple, yet fascinating technique in which you can add text under a picture (or anywhere around it, actually) and have the text become part of the picture! Cool beans, huh??? :-)

All you do is create the text, then line it up next to the picture (or as I found out, it doesn't necessarily need to be touching the photo). Select both the pic and the text, flatten them, then fill the image area with the picture. It's sooo fun to see what you can do with it!

Here's what I was doing till just past one in the morning! LOL!

I could have positioned the above photo a bit better,
but it was my first attempt,
and I was too excited to get to the rest of the pics!!
Did the one above,
then decided to use try a different take on it...

I couldn't decide which of
the Bubbles I liked the best...;)
So the next trick is to pull myself away from this 'puter before I find myself pulled into playing around with this even more...!!!

Torn Pages - Summer Breeze

So I was playing around with my Creative Memories program with a new technique (torn pages) that was so darn simple I can't believe I couldn't figure it out for myself! And, in the process of testing out the procedure, I got a bit carried away and started playing with other buttons I've not used utilized much, such as switching out paper, the shapes button, and using textures on the papers. I'm not sure what this is...? But it was interesting!! At least I found it so. Hope you do, too...:-)

Ava Art - Session in Fingerpainting :-)

The budding DivaArtist-in-Training wasn't sure what
to think upon the first touch of fingerpaint.

But it wasn't long before she dived in with both hands!

"Like this, Grammie??"

Didn't take her long to be awed by the colors and feel ...
my little artist-at-heart...;)

Though she wasn't thrilled with making handprints
on the mat for her newest creation....

So we did the next best thing, and did the feet! :-)

Look what Grammie did to me!!

Can't decide whether she's thinking, "Why ME???"
Or, thanking the heavens for fingerpaint!!

The End Result:
"Ava Art"
(This is the second piece she created;
the first one went home with her ;)

"Flowers in Grass"

So you'll have to indulge a very proud Gramma here. :-) But this is the very first piece of Ava Art for my refrigerator! Done in Crayola, with the beating of the crayon on the paper technique, this piece was completed in the past week by 11-month-old Ava. Clearly she shows an aptitude for the art world! Junior Diva in the making!! :-)

American Made

Couldn't resist doing a "4th" bit of (digital) art, seeing how long it's been since I've done anything even halfway creative of late. Maybe this will get me back in the swing of things. And what better inspiration than our little Ava!

Happy Gramma's Day :-)

Just a test

Just testing to see how my new browser works!

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Happy Spring!

Yes, it's been Spring for a bit now, but I just found this new toy to play with! Make sure you click on the arrows in the middle of the pages to turn them! :-)

Make a photobook - it's easy!

Happy Easter!

My Little Irish Lassie

So it's nearly St. Patrick's Day, and having married into an Irish family figured I'd better do a St. Paddy's Day page, with, of course, my darling little granddaughter (who seems to be the subject matter in most, if not all of my art of late...LOL!).

Digital, again - haven't pulled out my 'real' art supplies yet - I used freebie images offered by scrapbookflair.com

At first I thought I got a titch carried away, but then again, it IS St. Patrick's Day, and you can't overdo anything!!

So here to the Irish in everyone!

"May you always walk in sunshine.
May you never want for more.
May Irish angels rest their wings,
right beside your door."

Love Bug

So it didn't take long to make my favorite picture (so far) of my cuddly little Love Bug into art! :-) Again with the digital collage. I had wanted to play with "real" papers with this one, but I am in the process of revamping my art space and everything is all topsy-turvy, and inside out, and upside down, and frankly my computer images are much better organized than my actual ones! LOL!

The Love Bug itself was "cut" out of the digital background papers and layered to create the Bug! I love the way you can change the opacity of the papers to make them look like vellum. It would fool me if I didn't know it was done on the 'puter! Then again, I'm easy....:-)

Oh, and to give credit where credit is due, I stole the "Love Bug" idea from my friend, Angela! Thanks for the inspiration on this one, toots!

Two Little Huggy Bears

Not art (at least not yet!), but too cute not to share. At least I think so...*says Ava's Grammie proudly*

My darling little granddaughter, Ava, with the Teddy Bear that her daddy gave her for her first Christmas. I have no doubt this will be art, eventually, if I can take my eyes off those baby blues of hers long enough to make it!! :-)

Pun'kin Pie

Okay, I'm having way too much fun with this digital collage stuff! Or maybe it's because I have a too-adorable granddaughter to work with. Nah, not possible! She could never be too adorable! LOL!

Anyway, here is Ava in her finest at Halloween. I know it's not exactly seasonal, but you have to work when your muse strikes!

A New Year

Aileens' Musings posted an Eye Candy Challenge, so while I was nesting on the couch last night, seeing in the New Year (my life is waaaay too stimulating!), I played around with this digital collage using one of Aileen's images.

I guess it's sort of a my New Year's Wish for everyone, to find that one thing "new" in their lives that will give them hope and happiness in the new year!

Walkin' in a Winter Wonderland

Another digital collage with pictures sent to me by my son, starring, of course, my beautiful little granddaughter, Ava. ;-)

It snowed all day in Minneapolis on Christmas Day, which is where my son, granddaughter Ava, and her mommy live, so they took a walk with Ava in her little sled. Must have been exciting! She fell asleep halfway through the ride!!

All for the Love of You

Thanks to a good friend of mine, I've found a new reason (as if I needed another) to spend even more time on the 'puter. Digital scrapbooking. :-) I bought Storybook Creator Plus (Creative Memories), and have been playing around with pages and pictures and images and omigawd! The possibilities are endless!

This little piece is a page I printed out for a small scrapbook that I bought when I found out I was a Gramma! I've got only one other page in it so far so I sat down tonight with the 'puter and some newly downloaded background and embellishments and put together this page of Ava and her daddy...