Art Creations Friday

Background by 7 Gypsies, butterflies from Dover, Photoshop brushes. I don't remember where I got the smaller background behind the woman.

Three Muses Challenge - Keys

The Knight of the Lake held the key to the castle. But was she brave enough to reach out and take it?

Background is from a wallpaper by Andy Simmons, and the maiden is from a painting by Edmund Blair Leighton. Knight's arm and key were googled.

Gothic Arches Challenge - Stars

The women had enjoyed a day of walking amongst the ruins, but all too quickly darkness settled in around them. They should have been home long ago, but the wind whispered and weaved its way through the ancient arches, calling to them...enticing them to stay and savor the beauty of the night.

The women are both from Waterhouse paintings, and the other elements were googled and altered.

Three Muses Challenge - In Your Dreams

My dreams take me to love in a different place and time.

I took a dark, yet romantic, painting by Gustav Klimt, and I replaced the male love interest with a man from a Lord Frederick Leighton painting...OK I admit it...because he makes me a bit weak in the knees! He might have to pop up in some future pieces as well. I don't remember where I got the echos background, but I really love it.

New Look

You might have noticed a new look to my blog. I really loved the banner that my daughter made for me, but it was time for some redecorating. This time I made my own banner, and I'm really happy with the way it turned out!

Let me know what you think of the new look!

Gothic Arches - Tickets

It's the Great Pumpkin!

Pumpkins are one of my favorite parts of autumn. Orange, white, green or gray - I love them all. And if they have a mix of more than one color...all the better!

This year I hit up a few of my favorite pumpkin hot spots in the area and took some photos to share with you.

Gothic Arch Challenge - Lord Frederick Leighton

It's been quite some time since I've participated in a digital art challenge, so I thought it was time I did one. Today's Gothic Arch Challenge was to use the artwork of Lord Frederick Leighton.

There were so many great paintings to choose from, but I picked this one, because I envisioned the mother and daughter sitting on the bottom of the arch.

I hope you enjoy it!

For the Love of Autumn

Hello Everyone! I'm back...sort of. I'm putting in tons of hours at work these days, so I can probably only do an occasional blog, but it's better than none at all. I've missed you guys!!!

Autumn is my absolute favorite time of year, so I wanted to share some of my photos with you.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN TO YOU ALL!

(click on us...we look better close-up!)

Is this tree spooky, or what? It almost reminds me of the tree in the movie Sleepy Hollow with all those exposed roots. How appropriate that it's in a graveyard!

Farewell For Now...

Due to the sad state of the economy, I'm going to have to say bye-bye to my home internet service. So I'm also going to have to say farewell to blogging.

I'm really going to miss it, and I will especially miss all of you. I'll still be able to check my email from work, so please feel free to say hi to me from time to time and let me know what's going on in your lives! I feel like I've made some wonderful friends through blogging, and I'm not ready to just let you all go!

Hopefully things will improve, and I'll be able to come back and join you all again! Until then...take care everyone!

Lots of love,

Lori

Marie Antoinette Tag Swap

I recently took part in a Marie Antoinette tag swap hosted by Le Vintage. This was the first swap I've ever participated in - actually, it was my first time even making tags. There were a lot of ups and downs in my learning experience, but it was a lot of fun.

I really enjoyed seeing how different everyone's creations were. Here are all of the great tags I received.

Becky at Whymsical Musings

Terri at Blooming Ideas

Teah Barrow

Tina at Tiny Bear

Mary Ann at Follow Your Bliss Designs

Elaine at Elaine At Home

Michelle at The Studio at Crow Haven Farm

Molly at Material Gal Molly

Anita at The Praierie Papier Ponderer

Missy at Fairy Child Heirlooms Weblog

And these were the tags that I made. I originally had ten different designs, but I discovered that the images didn't print out well after I got them all done, so I had to go to Plan B. Due to the looming deadline, I only had time to do two designs.

Thank you to all you lovely ladies who participated in this swap! You made it an experience to remember....especially Missy, who received an empty envelope from me! I had one of my dingy moments and addressed an envelope other than the one I put her tag in. But I did find it (after she emailed me...laughing hysterically!) and was able to finally get it to her. All's well that ends well, right?

Nora the Piano Cat

I'm sure some of you have already seen this YouTube video, but it's just so adorable that I had to share it! Conductor Mindaugas Piecaitis wrote a concerto (or catcerto) around what this cat was playing on the piano. Nora has quite an expressive technique, and I just love that this composer had the idea to write the concerto. I hope you enjoy it too!

Maides Treasuries

I made a new blog discovery today, and I just had to share it with you! Maide makes such beautiful things, from cuffs to spats. You heard me right...spats! Just take a look for yourself at these samples, and then run over to visit Maides Treasuries to take it all in for yourself! Tell her I said hello!

Something for the Marie lovers!

She has even been published in Vogue!

Idyllhours Award

Karyn from French Charming has honored me with this award. Thank you so much, Karyn! You're so sweet to think of me! By the way, Karyn was the very first recipient of this particular award, in fact it was created just for her! So please go visit her and offer her your congratulations!

Following are the details of the award:

Copy the award and post it on your blog


Link it back to the person you received it from


List 10 things you love about blogging


Pass it along to 10 blog pals

I had decided a while back that I'm no longer going to choose people to pass awards along to, because I hate leaving everyone else out. Each of you is deserving of your own award, so just know that I would like to pass this on to all of you.

1. I love the people I've met and the friends that I've made. You all are the BEST!!!

2. Blogging challenges me to be more creative and take risks.

3. No matter how lame I feel one of my posts or art pieces may be, someone is always there to encourage me and give me a kind word.

4. The sense of community. It's such a wonderful way to connect with people who share the same interests.

5. The opportunity to encourage other people with comments. I hope I've been able to do that with as many of you as possible. I know how much your encouragement means to me, and I love returning the favor.

6. Getting inspiration from other bloggers. I've never seen so many talented and creative people! Your ideas never cease to amaze me!

7. Being mentored by the experts. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank two women in particular - Indybev and Ozzstuff. It was through seeing their fantastic artwork that I decided to give it a go myself. These ladies have encouraged me in my art and are always so uplifting. Thank you so much for helping me learn the ropes of digital art!

8. Eye candy...You all have such beautiful posts, and it's so nice to come home from a hard day at work and just immerse myself in lovely things!

9. Surprising myself. When I first started doing art challenges, I didn't think I would ever be creative enough to be able to do them. While I don't feel I'm up to the same level as so many of you, at least I have something to aspire to with time.

10. Hopefully making someone smile or laugh when maybe their day hasn't been so good. If I can bring any cheer to your day, that is fulfilling to me!

Thanks again, my sweet friend Karyn!

Gothic Arches - Bathing Beauties

My Bathing Beauty decided to go for a ride on a swordfish and ended up hanging 10 on a huge wave. She looks remarkably calm, but then she is the adventurous type!

The wave and swordfish were google images, and the woman is from Luna Girl.

Not An Opera Fan?

I'm not sure that I can call myself a die-hard opera fan, but every now and then a song will just reach out and grab me.

My favorite piece I've ever heard, and probably one of my favorite songs of any genre, is "Je Crois Entendre Encore" from "The Pearl Fishers." The first time I heard it was in the Johnny Depp movie "The Man Who Cried," and it is so hauntingly beautiful that it has stuck with me ever since.

I have also found an English version of the song called "While Floating High Above," which you can see by clicking here. This is a gorgeous, gorgeous video that was put together by BluEyedDaizy using clips from "Phantom of the Opera."

So what do you think of the song? I'd love to hear from you!

Teaser Trailer for Alice in Wonderland!!!

For all of you who just can't wait for Tim Burton's Alice In Wonderland to come out, here is a link to a teaser trailer for you...it looks AWESOME!!!

Just click here.

Three Muses - Incredible Journey

"Incredible Journey" is the theme that Ann came up with for this week's Three Muses challenge. I chose the incredible journey that music can take you on, and who better to orchestrate that journey than Ludwig van Beethoven?

All images were obtained through google searches.

Saturday Surprise - Games We Play

One of my favorite games used to be Clue, so I wanted to use it for today's Saturday Surprise theme.

The billiard room and the clothes were both googled and layered together, and then I posterized it for a game-like feel. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Sunday Postcard Art - Vintage Children

Today's Sunday Postcard Art theme of "Vintage Children" was selected by Gayle.

I started with a scan of a piece of scrapbook paper for the background, used some Photoshop brushes, and added a vintage photograph (that's my mom on the right). The Crayola box was googled.

Gayle's lovely piece can be found by clicking here.

Gothic Arches - Marie Antoinette

I created two arches for the Marie Antoinette theme today.

I created the script background, used an arch from IndyBev (altered color), a Google image of Marie, the butterfly is from Dover.

This arch is from Irene Alexeeva, the background from Itkupilli, and the Marie image is from Blissfull Elements.

SoArtful - Angel's Tears

When I saw June's theme for SoArtful today, I knew exactly what I wanted to do. The theme is "Angel's Tears," and I immediately thought of a painting my daughter, Ashley, did back in 2001 when she had just begun taking art classes in her freshman year of college.

The angel I used is from her painting, and as you can see it's perfect for this theme.

I took the angel and digitally transferred it onto an image of a painted tin ceiling tile. Then I added some roses from Dover for a finishing touch.

It's a shame Ashley doesn't have more time to work on art these days, because if she painted something this good eight years ago, I can only imagine what she could accomplish now!

Thank you to June for coming up with this theme that's so close to my heart, and to Ashley...thanks babe for letting me use your lovely angel in this piece!

A Peace From Heaven

Bev's TGIF theme is "A Piece From Heaven." I took a bit of liberty with the theme and titled mine "A Peace From Heaven." I figured there is no better peace than knowing you're being held in the hands of the Creator of the universe!

Art Creations Friday #35

This was the challenge image for today at Art Creations Friday.

I wondered what this little one could have been up to, standing on a chair with a tennis racquet, and this is what I came up with.

The butterflies are from Dover, and the font is Curlz.

Theme Thursday - Stripes

I had the image of this woman in my collection, and when I saw her striped sleeves I knew she was perfect for my Theme Thursday entry for Stripes. I added her to a digital piece of scrapbook paper, striped of course, and added the word "stripes"...just in case you didn't pick up on the theme. ;)

Let Them Eat Cake

If you've been blogging for any length of time at all, you've probably noticed that there is quite an obsession with Marie Antoinette for many people. I was visiting Nancy at Fete et Fleur today, and she did a post about a Bastille Day celebration.

She reminded us that Marie Antoinette never actually said "Let them eat cake," which got me curious about how this notion started. In case anyone else is curious, I found an interesting article here.

Please be sure to visit Nancy to see the photos she took at the celebration by clicking on the Bastille Day link above. Here are a couple of samples.

Three Muses - Word Salad

Bev's challenge this week for the Three Muses was to use a word or words, expressed in any way we choose. I picked a quote/poem from the movie Neverwas.

I don't remember where I got the image, but I altered it and added the lower part below the rocks.

Giveaway at Painted White

The lovely Alice from Painted White is having a wonderful giveaway. I would really love to win this one, but the competition keeps growing. So you may as well enter too! Just click here to go to Alice's blog.

SoArtful Challenge

June gave a us a great background to work with this week for the SoArtful Challenge.

I pulled out parts of it and decided to have a little fun with them.

I didn't have listed where I got the vintage photo from. If it's yours let me know, and I'll credit you. Thanks for looking!

Gothic Arches - Roses

Today's gothic arch theme is roses. I decided instead of adding multiple roses to an image, that the whole background would be a rose.

The image of the woman I used is from 1st Floor Flat Freebies.