snapdragons

The little girl I give art lessons to brought me these flowers from her garden last week, so I had to photograph them. Snapdragons have an antique feel for me, so I chose Melissa Gallo's texture 'Green Lakes' to lay over the intense blue-violets. The tray, I found at a yard sale. I sanded some of the paint off so it would look antique also. I hope I've captured the sweetness of a child's smile as they proudly present the flowers they've picked.

Hooping

Playing with animation again. Thanks for the tutorial, Kim Klassen ( in BeyondBeyond). This is really fun.

motion

For 52 of You this week we have the challenge to show motion. I created this simple animation from 12 stills. Now I'm anxious to try others.

white roses

Roses are beginning to bloom. I'm fascinated with the layers of petals, the variations of colors, and with some, the lovely scent. Even amidst vibrant colors, I'm attracted to the whites with the oh-so-subtle tinge of pink or yellow.  Here, I've used "embossed fabric/cool" by Melissa Gallo to provide the necessary contrast to highlight their delicacy. I'm stopping "to smell the roses" as much as possible these pleasant spring days and of course, snapping photos too. Enjoy the scents of spring.

last tulips

I cut a few of the last tulips of the season today. Their lovely colors brought hope for the warmer days which are finally here. Now, the irises are taking center stage unfurling some spectacular, vibrant colors which I'll be sure to show you next week. With the tulips, I first added one of my painted textures in pinks. This intensified the color more than I intended, so the next layer was turquoise and green. The image was taken with my phone and processed in photoshop.

Life is Good

It's warm, the birds are singing, the flowers are in bloom, I got this new bag, and it's my birthday. Life is good.

Memories

It seems my mom has saved all the roses ever sent - a nice remembrance of occasions. This last time I was visiting, I decided to put some of those memories into digital form. I chose a cake plate she received as a wedding gift sixty years ago to place the roses on. The photo was taken and processed with my iPhone5. Snapseed is the first app I go to for exposure, contrast, and saturation. I then played in Laminar to achieve the crackled, antique look. All the processing choices available in apps makes for a lot of fun play and a huge variety of possibilities.