Three Muses Challenge- Steampunkerie

Here's my steampunkster...full of gears and ideas and keys and clockwork.

Bits from Cecelia Swatton's steampunk kits and Cindy Powell's too. Dictionary pages from the Graphics Fairy and textures from Shadowhouse.

Take a Word-Bloom

Flowers in the snow

It's such a blessing to see the earth renewing itself in spite of all odds!

Image from Google
Background made with bits fromRubyblossom at Frames Free for Use Flickr Group and some PS brushes.

SPA White

White Knight

Image from Dover, background from Rubyblossom

Three Muses Challenge- Odd

I've been wanting to use this Victorian woman image for a while now, but couldn't find the right place for her, because she's --well--ODD.
She's from a Dover free sheet, the watch from the Feathered Nest, the tickets from Free Collage Images and the background made from a piece from a Songbird Avenue kit, a gradient layer and lots of brushes.

Alphabet Inspired-M is for MArcus Aurelius

Marcus Aurelius Antoninus was Roman Emperor from 161 to 180. He ruled with Lucius Verus as co-emperor from 161 until Verus' death in 169. He was the last of the "Five Good Emperors", and is also considered one of the most important Stoic philosophers.
Marcus Aurelius' work Meditations, written in Greek while on campaign between 170 and 180, is still revered as a literary monument to a philosophy of service and duty, describing how to find and preserve equanimity in the midst of conflict by following nature as a source of guidance and inspiration. The meditations serve as an example of how Aurelius approached the Platonic ideal of a philosopher-king and how he symbolized much of what was best about Roman civilization.

Some quotes from Meditations:

"Dwell on the beauty of life. Watch the stars, and see yourself running with them."

"It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live."

"The universe is change; life is your perception of it."

"If someone is able to show me that what I think or do is not right, I will happily change, for I seek the truth, by which no one ever was truly harmed. Harmed is the person who continues in his self-deception and ignorance."

Take a Word-Architecture

When the Americans visited the Queen...

I found this great old photo on Smugmug. I don't know if it's England or not, but it surely is cowboys and Indians.
Altered with textures from Zen Textures and Shadowhouse and hand colored.

SPA Fair Maiden

It was so hard to decide which "fair maiden" from my collection should get to play in this week's challenge. I chose this beautiful child from Suzee Que's collection.
The background was made with bits from T4L and Untamed Reflections, along with some filters and brushes.

Art on the Dark Side--Rueful Renaissance

I haven't played here in a long time...nice to be back on the Dark Side for a while.
Images from Dover and Google, along with a texture from SkeletalMess and a gradient layer. Lots of filters and blending modes were applied as well.

ACF--Last Challenge- Adieu

Goodbye to the wonderful Art Creations Friday Challenge. We will all miss the beautiful images and fascinating backgrounds these creative ladies provided for our inspiration every week.
Thank you all for your hard work, your inspiring challenges and your warm and thoughtful comments.

We will miss you!

This was made with bits from Shadowhouse, Scrapbook Flair, HZDesigns and Songbird Avenue's Light the Night collection, along with some wonderful PS brushes.

An Irish BLessing for St. Patrick's Day

Three Muses Challenge- Fish

I didn't think fishies gould be so much fun. I found these gorgeous guys on Google Images, and the quote is from Brainy Quotes, with no attribution.
The background was made from multiple gradient layers and textures from Shadowhouse and Textures For Layers, ans some Photoshop brushes.

Take a Word-Green

Green!!!!! Green!!!!!!! GREEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have been so enjoying seeing the early signs of Spring, the tiny buds swelling, the jonquil leaves poking up, the moss looking alive again...not to mention the Shamrocks, Leprechauns and Irish flags sprouting all over my very Irish neighborhood.

Here's my entry for this week's challenge. I made a montage using two photos of mine--a shot of the rainforest in Washington state, the absolute GREENEST place I've ever been-- and a portrait of the Green Man, the guardian of the forest in Carver, MA, where King Richard's Faire is held every Fall.

I used textures from Cottage arts and from JoesSistah and Karrie Amelia at T4L. Lots of blending , filters and brushwork to add to the texture.

SPA #1

Here's my entry for this week, inspired by the old Three Dog Night song, "One is the Loneliest Number"
The original photo is of Mary Pickford from an old trading card. I remember buying these for a nickel at the amusement park Penny Arcade near where I grew up.
The background is made with pieces from Jerry Jones of Shadowhouse Creations--he has some fabulous free texture sets on his site!-- and a grungy music piece by Brenda Starr that I found on Textures For Layers. The rest is, as usual. the magic of Photoshop.

Small Miracles

Two days ago I posted that I had lost my job after 12 years. Yesterday was to be my last day.
What I did not know was that the amazing and dedicated group of women volunteers I work with and for, had rallied and launched a full scale effort to extend my tenure at least through the end of May, so I could help bring a huge project to completion.
I can't say enough about these women. I love them all and am full of wonder and gratitude that they would do this for me.

So here is a collage in tribute to all of them.

clipped wings

I lost my job yesterday...

Another Journal Page

For the digital journal pages swap that I'm in. Still haven't journaled anything, but it's fun to collect and print the pages.

Take a Word-Birdlife

A glimpse at the life of shore bird, in this case, white herons, always on the hunt...
The original photo of the tidepool, sans birds, I took a few years ago, and found again today, while viewing some discs from and older computer. The bird came from Google Images. The background wac created with the help of texture pieces by Encounter_Laura and and others at T4L.

Alphabet Inspired--L is for Lion

A Lion
Photo from Wikimedia, taken at the zoo in Antwerp.
Lots of filters used here.
The background made with 2 texture pieces from Untamed Reflections and one from Les Brumes at T4L

SPA--Illusions

A complex and thought-provoking theme this week from Kris. So many ways to interpret--optical, magical, spiritual...I do hold with the idea that life is illusion--so often we see what we want or hope to see in the world; hope that our illusion is really real; and rise up when our illusion is shattered, and "wake into another dream."

The image is Maude Fealy, an American silent screen actress. Although some of her films -- Moths (1913), The Runaway Princess (1914), Frou-Frou (1914) -- were popular enough, audiences simply failed to warm up to the actress' glacial beauty. Hhe was always more appreciated on the legitimate stage. Longtime friend Cecil B. DeMille, whose loyalty to former co-workers was legendary, employed Maude Fealy in most of his sound films, including his last, The Ten Commandments (1956). In her retirement, Fealy told an interviewer: "Actors never give up acting; it gives them up." She died in 1955. To learn more about Maude Fealy or to find images of her, follow the likk, or try Google.
http://www.answers.com/topic/maude-fealy-1#ixzz1FpOG1EnL

The background/overlay was created with pieces by Tanya at T4L and by Jerry Jonesat Shadowhouse, along with the application of filters, brushes and blending modes.
The quote is from Ralph Waldo Emerson, one of Americas Transcendentalist poets and philosophers.