New Tree and Mary Doodle Frame

A friend sent me this new tree shape as an idea for a Christmas tree doodle on our 2012 cards. Not sure that I like it, but I'll probably color it in today and see of it appeals to me more. 

And I played around in PSE with the doodle frame I did for E's picture....worked with the masking tool to get a better fit in the frame. Much better. (This is a picture I took of Mary some months back at Hobby Lobby. I just happened to snap it in front of the LOL! sign. Ha!)

Ok - off to work! Have a good one, bloggy friends! And go check out AEDM for some creative inspiration if you get a chance.

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Tree Doodle with Color and PSE Tutorial

I spent some time today coloring my doodle-tree in Photoshop (I use version 10.) I find coloring in a doodle electronically so relaxing. There's no worries of messing anything up like there is when you color with paint or markers. And I'm pretty pleased with the results. I still don't think this is the tree for our Christmas card, but I've really enjoyed the process plus I figured out something new with Photoshop: How to color in spaces without boundaries (like the petals that fall out of the "edge" of my tree shape).  

Here's a quick tutorial to fill an object without a boundary. I needed to fill in this green petal, but there's no boundary because my tree shape is design doesn't have any edges.

1. Select the eyedropper tool.
2. Pick the color you want to fill the petal with. (See the green color box in the bottom left-hand portion of the screen? Now the "paint" I use will be this color.)

3. Select the paint brush tool and choose a regular brush.
4. Set the size to about 6 or 7 pixels.

5. Draw a boundary line at the tip of your petal connecting the black outline.

6. Switch to the paint bucket tool and paint the line you just drew with the brush. (This makes it thicker and gives a more secure boundary.

7. Now you can use the paint bucket tool to fill in the empty space in the petal (make sure you have "contiguous" checked on the top tool bar) and "TA-DA!", you've filled in an object in Photoshop that appears to not have a boundary!! Yay!

I've never had a class on PSE so I mostly stumble around trying to figure things out as they come up. I'm sure there's a smoother, more elegant way to do this but for now, this works for me. 

Have a lovely weekend out there, bloggy friends!

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Doodle Tree Attempt #1

I scanned in the doodle ornament and darkened the black lines with Photoshop. I like it!

Then last night I worked on my first attempt for a Christmas tree. That's the direction I think I'll go for our Christmas card design this year - a doodled tree with the four of us around it. And maybe something about Savannah since The Boy and The Girl are there now.

I scanned this first attempt in and darkened the lines. It was drawn with a Micron .01 pen. I might play around with coloring it in Photoshop and see how that goes. More to come....

Don't forget to check out the lovelies on AEDM!

Hope you are looking forward to a long weekend as much as I am, bloggy friends!

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Clean Up

Here's my doodle ornament scanned in and black lines darkened in PSE. Loving AEDM! Making me DO SOMETHING CREATIVE every day! 

Go forth and create, bloggy friends!

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Doodle Ornaments

Last year the Christmas cards we sent out were hand drawn.

The year before that they were a photo of Mary as the angel Gabrielle inserted in a hand drawn frame.

The year before that..... they didn’t exist!

Yep…. It took me 25 years of marriage to get it together enough to send out Christmas cards. *Sigh.*

But now, this year, I’m looking forward to coming up with a new design. And, like I often do, once I have a project in mind I’ll look to other artists for inspiration. I’ll practice their style and let it morph into my own with some new ideas. Last night I found this artist, took one of his cards, and gave it a try. Mine’s a bit more crowded than his and not nearly as smooth, but I like it just the same.

  

I especially liked the way he colored each flower in with one or two colors and left a good bit in black-and-white. I think I over-worked mine, though.

I’ll be thinking on this one…. Maybe not a doodle ornament, but a doodle Christmas tree? And how to show the family? Maybe I can show us decorating the tree with doodle flowers?

For more doodle inspiration, here’s one of my favorite artists – Jennifer Judd-McGee. Isn’t she awesome?

Have a thrummy Thursday, bloggy friends! And stop by AEDM for more creative awesomeness!

Update: Scanned version posted here!

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Sisters

Ok, so since I want to make an angel garland, I thought I should try to figure out how to make these little girls a bit more efficiently, so I tried another one. Bleh. Not too efficient… but my blond angel has a sister…. She’s pretty scraggly looking, though!

Grrr…. part of her bangs fell out but, oh well! I need to rethink this whole hair process. And I’d like to find thicker felt….. Like this.  It’s expensive and I’d rather find a local place that sold 100% wool felt or a high wool content blend. I’ll keep looking.

And here’s a little felt inspiration for you at Checkout Girl. Pretty stuff, huh?
Have a lovely Wednesday out there! And stop by AEDM for even more pretties!

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Angel Ornament

I had coffee with a crafty friend last week and she was making these sweet little angel ornaments from a pattern at Crafty Staci.  I decided to decorate the dress and put some hair and a mouth on mine. The feet need some work! I can just see a garland of five of these little girls on a golden cord, though. I’ll keep working…. I think I need better felt, needle nose pliers and a more organized workspace!

Happy AEDM, bloggy friends!

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Butterfinger Bird

I made this bird ornament today from a tutorial by Stephanie at Under the Table and Dreaming. For the past five years or so I’ve made a new ornament or garland for our smaller Christmas tree we put in the study. Sometimes I get really energetic and make ornaments for some of my girlfriends, too. I thought I’d play around with this one as a possibility for my 2012 ornament. I think I like him! You can’t tell from the photos, but he’s sparkly, too! Right now he’s decided to perch on the flowers on the dining room table until a proper tree is found.

Oh…and he’s the “Butterfinger Bird” because, as Mary pointed out,  the random dictionary pages I cut him from have the entries “butter dish”, “butter fat”, and “butterfinger.”  I think he and about five of his friends would make a great garland, too.

Well – here’s to one more day of doing something a little creative! Hope you had a great start to your week, bloggy friends! Stop by AEDM to see some creative loveliness all month long!

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Joy!

Inspired by Alice W, I made this little joy banner last night and this morning with odds and ends...bits and pieces... that I had around the house: A few pages from an old prayer book, silver pipe cleaners, shiny beads, floral wire, letter stamps, gold and orange napkins, and a piece of orange scrapbook paper. After lots of tweaking and redoing, I think I like it!

Merry Christmas, and wishing you a joyful Christmas, bloggy friends!

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A New Tree

Tucked amongst my books, I've got my very own tree! I bought this small artificial tree and hung it with some country ornaments and balls plus a few ornaments I've made over the past few years. A white blanket for snow around the bottom, and ta-da! I've always wanted a Christmas tree in every room of the house. No where near to that yet, but I do have our main one in the living room, this one in the library/study/art/laundry room, and a tiny pink one in the dining room. The kitchen is next! Merry Christmas, bloggy friends! Off to Georgia for a wedding...

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Christmas Memories

Anyone remember flipping through Sears and JCPenny catalogues and circling what you hoped Santa was bringing you for Christmas? Well - check out this site for some old catalogues to jog your memories. These are pages from the toy section of a 1973 Sears and 1976 JCPenny catalogues. I *know* Santa brought me Mrs. Beasely ($12.94!) and I *definitely* had the Make-Up Mannequin with hair that really "grows" ($5.84!) She had a looong hunk of hair that you could pull up out of her head. It was kinda creepy.

Well - Merry Christmas! :-)

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Silver Tree

I.Love.This. (Found it posted here on artist Anna Wilson-Patterson's blog.)

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Christmas

On this side of eternity, Christmas is still a promise. Yes, the Savior has come, and with him peace on earth, but the story is not finished. Yes, there is peace in our hearts, but we long for peace in our world.

Every Christmas is still a "turning of the page" until Jesus returns. Every December 25 marks another year that draws us closer to the fulfillment of the ages, that draws us closer to...home.

When we realize that Jesus is the answer to our deepest longing, even Christmas longings, each Advent brings us closer to his glorious return to earth. When we see him as he is, King of kings and Lord of lords, that will be "Christmas" indeed! - Joni Eareckson Tada

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