October 2014

Welcome October!
Some things to love about October -
  ~  The cooler temperatures and cosy sweaters
  ~  All of the beautiful colors of autumn that can be found in nature
  ~  It's back to soups and stews for dinner - yum!

What do you love about October?

October 2014 Calendars

October 2014 Calendars!
Grab them here:
Desktop wallpaper - click here - (right click on image and save as desktop image)
Phone wallpaper - click here - (click on image and save as wallpaper image)
iPad wallpaper - click here - (click on image and save as wallpaper image)
iPad mini wallpaper - click here - (click on image and save as wallpaper image)

If you would like these images as greeting cards or home decor click here!

Have an awesome day!

Be Wonderfully Odd!

Focus

Last week we, for the first time, visited Junk Bonanza.  It was amazing!  Hundreds of vendors selling beautiful antiques.  Oh, a photographers dream!

So many wonderful props to be found - tarnished silver, peeling painted signs, rusty gears - antique cameras, vintage typewriters, aged cupboards - medicine bottles, worn linens, wooden spools - so much!

I have to admit that I had a hard time focusing.  As I combed through bins of small items I'd forget to look around at the larger pieces.   If I focused on a gorgeous antique wooden table I would completely overlook trays with handles worn smooth from use.  Remembering to look up I would spot intricately wired birdcages; looking down I'd find drawers filled with wooden printer's letters.

Oh, my!

This wonderful old Kodak camera and the old medicine bottle were finds from this trip.

Focus x2

I used one layer of Kim Klassen's "Achieve" and two layers of her "Waterfront18"

Enjoy your day!

Be Wonderfully Odd!

Roadside Beauty

A few days ago I was driving through my neighborhood on a road with a wooded park on one side and homes on the other.  Wildlife can often be spotted in this area so I usually drive carefully on this road - not only do I want to avoid hitting an animal, but drivers often stop quickly on this stretch of road.

I noticed a car pulled to the side of the road and the driver with his phone out was snapping photos of a flock of wild turkeys as they crossed the road.  I didn't have enough time to stop and take my own pictures - minutes, just minutes too late!

As I drove past this scene, I came upon a family of deer feeding along the edge of the road. I braked quickly, pulled to the side of the road, and grabbed my phone.  The deer where moving at a casual pace, but I managed to snap a few pictures of this mother and baby deer.

Mom and sweet baby

I used the basic camera app on my phone to take the picture and then the Snapseed App to adjust contract and adjust brightness - I also added tilt-shift because I like that "is that real" effect that it can give to an image.

Mom and sweet baby watercolor

Here is the same image processed twice in the Waterlogue app and blended in PS Touch app.

Check out the "app" happy wednesday button for more images and great tips on using your phone apps!

Have an awesome day!

Be Wonderfully Odd!

Organic

What do you think of when you hear the word organic?

Shape? Color? Texture? Food?

I typically think of vegetables - those that I've grown, still warm from the sun, and freshly picked. I think of weathered wood and nubby fabric.  I think of earthy colors like warm browns, muted greens, and creamy whites.

Fresh picked leeks

How about you?  What do you think of when you hear the word "Organic"?

Cherry Tomatoes

Fresh Leek Collection

Have an awesome day (and eat your veggies!)

Be Wonderfully Odd!

Balance

The warm and bright sunny days of summer are fading and the brilliant colors and shortened days of autumn are beginning.

It is the autumn equinox for those of us in the northern hemisphere. Today the night and day are of equal length - something that happens only twice a year.

I'm told that it's a good day to think about balance in your life - are you happy? healthy? are there things that you need more of? less of?

For me, especially this time of year, I wish that I'd spend more time outdoors.  Summer comes and goes so quickly that I never feel like I've taken advantage of the beautiful warm weather.  I need to make a point of enjoying the cool crisp days of fall - a hike on forest trail, a visit to a pumpkin patch, and a day of picking apples at an orchard.

I hope that today finds you "in balance" :)

Goodbye Summer

I'm joining Texture Tuesday with a sunflower image - today I used lots Kim's beautiful textures "Quiet", "Golden Hour", and "Magic 0916".  Sometimes I like a heavily textured image :)
Check out the Texture Tuesday button to see lots of wonderful images.

And just a few more sunflower images!

Sunflower images

Have a beautiful day!

Be Wonderfully Odd!

Making Art with Phone Apps

I've been playing with my phone apps again and I'm joining App Happy Wednesday too!

I didn't have an image that I really liked this week - so I made another mixed-media-like piece.

Phone App Art

This started out in the Rhonna App where I picked an orange pink background with sun spots.
Moved this into the Pic Grunger App and added the "weathered" effect and the "pulp" texture set on the "studio" style.

Next I opened the RD Magic App.  I added a light leak to lighten the colors and 4 different textures (erasing sections to let the lowers layers show through) a rock texture on the right, newsprint in the center, a map along the bottom, and lace on the left side.

Into the Distressed FX App to apply a filter to add blue in the upper half of the image and yellow on the lower half.  Also added the birds flying in the background.

Finally back into the Rhonna App to add the bird with a top hat and branch.  Also lots and lots of detail - paint dabs along the edges, several faded pink wings, a bird cage, dots and arrows and textural bits throughout.
So much fun!

Check out the "app" happy wednesday button for more images and great tips on using your phone apps!

Have an awesome day!
Be Wonderfully Odd!

Still-Life Family Portrait

This weeks assignment, in our Be Still 52 class, was to create a still life family portrait.

This is a portrait of my daughter Lily.  She loves to read.  One wall of her room is lined with bookshelves which are packed with hundreds of hard cover and paperback books.  I have no idea how many books are on her Nook e-reader.

This image is what I imagine paradise might be for her - a quiet afternoon, a stack of books, a mug of hot tea, and a few squares of chocolate.

Still-Life Family Portrait - Lily

 

Have a fabulous day!
Be Wonderfully Odd!

Hello Autumn

It's starting to feel like fall around here - the air is crisp and cool, the garden is just about spent, and the delicate pink flowers of summer have been replaced with bright and hardy mums.

I have to say that I sleep much better when the air is chilled and I can wrap-up in a soft warm quilt.
I've been snapping photos of the last of our summer fruits and vegetables from the garden.

I love all of the texture in this squash - the rough skin and the dried, curly stem.

Hello Autumn

I used two of Kim's textures on this image - "Awaken Magic" and "Chill Magic".

Check out the Texture Tuesday button to see lots of wonderful images.

Dramatic Melon

Here are a few more of my dramatic fruit images (the texture is one of mine).
I liked them so much I popped them into inexpensive frames and hung them in my dining room :)

Dramatic Grapes

Dramatic Kale

I hope that you have a great day!

Be Wonderfully Odd!

Red & White Meringues

Still playing with the Milk & Cookies theme!

This the last set of photos with my meringues!

I only made a small batch of each color and we've eaten them all!  Click HERE to see the lemon meringue images and click HERE to see the pink striped cookies.

This time I have red and white striped meringue cookies and a red and white striped straw.

Milk & Cookies - Red & White 1

This image was taken with the basic camera app on my phone.  I opened the image in the RD Magic app to add the lacy "wallpaper" and to blur the side edges. Then into the Rhonna app to add the circles and text.

Milk & Cookies - Red & White 2

A similar image - again taken with the basic camera app on my phone.  This time I opened it up in the Waterlogue app and applied the "Travelogue" filter - love the worn and aged look.

Milk & Cookies - Red & White 3

This is the same image as above.  This time I used Waterlogue to create two images - one with the "it's Technical" filter and the second with the "Rainy" filter.  Then I opened both images in the Diana app and blended them.

Check out App Happy Wednesday for more images and great tips on using your phone apps.

I hope that you have a wonderful day!

Be Wonderfully Odd!

More Milk & Cookies

I love meringue cookies - crunchy on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside.  They dissolve and melt in the mouth - so good!

So easy to make, a few egg whites, sugar, a pinch of salt and cream of tartar - and a lot of whipping.
The yellow striped cookies below are flavored with lemon zest - something so good about lemon and meringue together.

Yesterday I posted a picture of a few pink striped meringue cookies.

Lemon meringue cookies

I'm joining Texture Tuesday today - the image above is textured with Kim Klassen's "Canvas Magic".

 

Milk and Lemon Cookies

Have an awesome day!

Be Wonderfully Odd!