Nov16

Playing with “Paint”

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Playing with “Paint”
Playing with “Paint”
Here’s another nifty item I ordered:

It’s a CD of Victorian Religious Images, and it is lovely. It’s from Lunagirl and can be found, along with other image collections, on etsy.

I love Brandi Hussey’s use of photoshop to pull a palette from a photograph. She has a tutorial on her blog, but my Photoshop software came preloaded on my old Gateway desktop, and when the hard drive died, so did the Photoshop.

I’d used the eyedropper tool in “PAINT” before, so I set out to see if I could use it to “pull a palette.” Before I selected “Open with Paint” from the right hand menu, I made a copy of the image for editing. I enhanced the colors, also, by using the photo editing software on my laptop to increase the saturation of the colors:


Then I used the rectangle, eyedropper, and fill bucket tools to “pull a palette:”

It’s not nearly as professional looking as Brandi’s, but I was just playing, anyway.
Some of the cross images from my Lunagirl disc show ribbons that, to me, are in need of words:

I used the text tool (A) from Paint to add “Holy Bible” to this one:

I am pretty pleased with my “PAINT” play, today!
Nov13

Shopping My Stash!

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Shopping My Stash!
When I got these palettes, I thought the blue and brown one would be the easiest. I’ve got sodalite and wood beads, with antique silver findings for the gray.

As it turns out, I have more beads and findings that go with the peach and turqoise palette. This is harder than I thought it’d be, but I’m enjoying it!

Nov11

“At last…

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“At last…
“At last…
my love has come along.” Well, one of them. I do love organizing products:

That handbag file will store my Miche Bag covers. Miche sells an organizer, but they cost about three times what this one did. The flip flop file is for my growing crazy quilt stash. They are both from Amazon.

I ordered the watertight storage boxes straight from the manufacturer, IRIS-a USA company!
They were having a sale, and even with shipping, I could get them several dollars cheaper than I could order them elsewhere online or pick them up at the Container Store. I bought a set of six. They’ll go in the sewing room  closet and store fabric yardage and kits.

And here’s a tip: If you need to move a very heavy box on hardwood floors, flip a throw rug upside down. Walk the box onto the rug and slide it wherever it needs to go!

Nov10

My Colors Arrived!

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My Colors Arrived!

I can choose one, or both, for my bead challenge. I wish I’d had the forethought to check my junk email folder before I left my daughter’s house. There are now 3 Michaels, a Hancock Fabrics, and a Joann’s between here and there. (Oooooh, I just remembered, a Hobby Lobby has recently opened in Mooresville, NC. I’ll have to check that out soon!) Now, I’ll just have to start by shopping my stash (a
good thing!)

Nov7

My First Challenge!

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My First Challenge!
My First Challenge!

I am about to participate in my first Blog Hop/Color Challenge! It’s based on Landsat satellite photos. I have to create a jewelry accessory using a color palette from one of two Landsat images which should be arriving by email shortly. The Blog Hop will be Nov. 30. That’s when I’ll post photos of my work. I am very excited!
Speaking of excitement, I took my mom to Boone, NC, for a doctor’s visit, today, and it snowed the whole time we were there! It was not enough to stick, though they had white out conditions during Hurricane Sandy, leaving patches of snow on the ground. It was just enough to be pretty and inspire Christmas carols!

Nov5

Camera Crazy

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Camera Crazy
Camera Crazy

I’ve been pretty sick for the past two weeks now, but that hasn’t stopped me from grabbing my camera and seeing what I could capture. I’m still working on the macro and supermacro features. I’ve practiced with flowers and leaves.

I had to zoom in on this red beauty. I thought it was Virginia Creeper (harmless) but I couldn’t for the life of me find more than three leaflets. After zooming in, I found one compound leaf with four leaflets. Can you see it? I have learned that “baby creeper” will only have three leaflets, like poison oak. I guess it’s developed a protective mimicry.
Nov4

UV Spray

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UV Spray
UV Spray
My next experiment was actually to use Krylon’s “Preserve It” to spray my recently printed silkies. I experimented on the “Three Mary’s” since I felt I had used too much color saturation. If it ruined it, I wasn’t going to use it anyway. It didn’t, so yesterday I sprayed the print of Jesus as the Good Shepherd.

The only misgivings I have about the spray is it contains toluene. Because Hurricane Sandy was afoot, (we only got wrap around winds, here,) I sprayed it in the basement, but made sure I scotched the door open for ventilation.