One for the Book

This is for the Hat challenge at Three Muses.

Click image to enlarge.

This one started as something quite different, but when I started to put it together, it went a different direction. I love it when that happens.

A Question of Balance

Click image to enlarge.

Ever have one of those days?

Chocolate

This is for the Food Word Art challenge at Collage Obsession.

Click image to enlarge.

My immediate food word that came to mind, of course was chocolate. That made me think of those wonderful chocolate letters they give out on Sinterklaas Day in Holland. They were solid chocolate, and big, and oh so wonderful. I think I might have to go on the internet and see if I can order myself one--or maybe get my whole name spelled out.

Rosie's World

This is for the Pink challenge at Take a Word.

Click image to enlarge.

When I think of the color pink, I think of Rosie. She was sweet and pink and white with her little black cap (and tail). Rosie was a truly magical cat. She just had a way about her and everyone loved her. She died more than ten years ago but has never been forgotten. We buried her in the back yard, and I planted pink roses in her honor. My other cat Chip slept on her grave every day.

If I Were a Butterfly Instead of a Cat

This is for the Animal Magic challenge at Three Muses.

Click image to enlarge.

My cat Winston was kind enough to pose for this one.

The Night Has a Thousand Eyes

This is for the Night challenge at Collage Obsession.

Click image to enlarge.

I went a little weird with this one.

Synchronicity

This is for the Sea challenge at Three Muses.

Click image to enlarge.

Bird Walk

This is for the Bird challenge at Three Muses.

Click image to enlarge.

I met this bored-looking seagull on the beach the other day. I think he'd be pleased at being included in one of my pieces.

A Little Sketchy

My dad had a nasty fall and has been in hospital this past week and I haven't been able to give my creations much attention. So as things calm down again, I'm back on the computer. The first challenge that caught my eye was a challenge called A Little Sketchy over at the Order of the Opus Gluei. Well, you can't get any sketchier than a sketchbook, so I dug out an old one of my own, photographed it, and took it from there.

Click image to enlarge.

And Love Will Steer the Stars

Only old hippies will get this one (and perhaps a few folks born in February). A bit overdone I'm sure, but what the heck? It's what I was feeling at the time...

Click image to enlarge.

The heavenly bodies were all courtesy of NASA, but I made the stars myself.

Turquoise

This is for the Turquoise challenge at Three Muses.

Click image to enlarge.

Debbie's Note: The eggs were a brown egg from the fridge that I changed the color of and added the veins in another layer. The condensation on the egg outside in the heat made it nice and shiny, and helped with the stone effect.

Pick me! Pick me!

This is for the Anthropomorphism challenge at Collage Obsession.

I had fun with this one. I almost named this one High-Five-Biscus, but that would have been way-over-the-top cheesy.

Hey Teacher, Leave Us Kids Alone!

This is for the School Days challenge at Three Muses.

Click here to enlarge.

Children are natural free spirits and much wiser than the adults they eventually become.

Deb's Note: I only noticed, after I posted, a terrible typo which must have occurred when I was in the throes of creativity and had gone a bit dyslexic. I was going to fix it, but decided that this was my inner child struggling with sentence structure.

When Skies Are Grey

This is for the Gray challenge at Collage Obsession.

Click image to enlarge.

The dove in the picture was a mama dove who nested in our palm tree a few summers ago. The raindrops were once clear marbles. Oh, and yeah, I knitted those fingerless gloves myself.

Luminaria

Click image to enlarge.

Tropical Storm

We were in the bulls-eye of Isaac for longer than we were comfortable, but decided to drive out to the beach to have a look at the waves. It was so windy, humid and laden with salt spray that my camera coughed, choked and then completely froze up. The pictures were terrible because I couldn't keep the lens clean. The power of a hurricane is tremendous, and I was continually being sand-blasted and pushed around. Our beaches are normally sparkling white, but there was this ugly brown sea-foam everywhere.

This is a very enhanced photo I had managed to take before my camera gave up on me. As an artist, I had to pull out some of the colors I had seen.

Click image to enlarge.

Amazingly, after my Canon Rebel quit, my iPhone was happy to help me take some more shots from the pier. I'll have to post some of those later.

We're in NW Florida, and were happy when Isaac decided to move on westward. Gotta love life in Hurricane Alley...

If You Believe In Forever

Click image to enlarge.

I love graveyards, especially old ones. Not only are they very peaceful, but they tell stories. I thought I would tell my own story with this one.

Click image to enlarge.

This is the original picture I took this morning.

DEBBIE'S NOTE: I'm submitting this to the Order of the Opus Gluei challenge called Me and My Camera.

Tattered

This is for the Tattered challenge at Take a Word.

Click image to enlarge.

Conquistador

Click image to enlarge.

There's a statue of a man named Tristan de Luna near the water in downtown Pensacola, FL. Tristan is credited with founding Pensacola. Every American student has learned that St. Augustine is the oldest city in the United States, but Pensacolans would argue that point. Before St. Augustine was settled, Tristan and his cohorts settled in Pensacola. A vicious hurricane swept through the area, however, and they gave up and moved on. By the time they came back to re-settle, St. Augustine had been founded.

This picture is not so much about Tristan, though. He was just kind enough to pose for me so I could create this scene. I had a deeper meaning in my mind than that. 

An Invitation

This one is for the Invitation challenge at Three Muses.

Click image to enlarge.

Beach Time

Click image to enlarge.

Midnight Wanderings

This is for the Footprints challenge at Collage Obsession.

Click image to enlarge.

The sand and shells are local. The footprints are probably mine. (There were other people on the beach that morning.) The moth was photographed at our local butterfly house--under glass.

Take Flight

This is for the Wings challenge at Take a Word. We went to the beach at sunrise a few days ago, and I took hundreds of pictures. The sun came up minutes after we arrived. I did the tourist thing and threw food out for the seagulls. This one rewarded me with a nice pose. The downside, of course, was that I had seagulls following me around long after I ran out of food.

Click image to enlarge.

It took fifteen layers to create this piece. Well, probably more, but I merged a few as I went along.

Strawberries 'n Cream

This is for the Strawberry challenge over at Three Muses.

Click image to enlarge.

Awakening

This is two challenges rolled into one: Collage Obsession's Orange challenge, and Take a Word's Butterfly challenge.

Click image to enlarge.

Originally I had started a different butterfly picture, but it didn't go well, and in the end I disliked it so much I abandoned it. Then I found the orange challenge, and started that one, and before I knew it, the butterfly appeared in it.

On the Beach

Click image to enlarge.

This one is being submitted to the Three Muses challenge, which is windows and doors.

Paper Mountains Majesty

Today was another experimental day. This time the mountains are made from tissue paper. It would have been easier if it wasn't so breezy outside. I had tape it down to keep it blowing away. This was another fun project.

Click image to enlarge.

Maybe a few of you will see the little pun in this.

Silky Mountains

This was a fun experiment. The mountains were made from a silk scarf (a pink one) and the foreground is from a crumpled sheet of paper. The globes were made from one clear marble.

Click image to enlarge.

Under the Sea

Inspiration Avenue are having a Swirl challenge this week. Shells are my favorite swirly things.

Click image to enlarge.

I had to grow extra hands to pull this one off.

And I Dreamed I Was Flying

Click image to enlarge.

I was just thinking about how this piece came out to be a bit of a mess, when I noticed that this week's theme at Take a Word is Messy. So, there you have it--instant submission...

Dancing in the Moonlight

When that old moon gets big and bright...

Click to enlarge.

Where Do We Go At Night?

Click to enlarge.

I had a little fun today. I got myself a nifty little remote shutter release for my camera, because it's not easy taking pictures of your own hands with a large camera. So, I realized that I could now take pictures of my feet too. Yup! Those are my tootsies...

Alone

This is for the Alone challenge at Three Muses.

Click image to enlarge.

The crow was kind enough to pose for me the other day on a dead branch.

I hope I didn't confuse too many people today when I redecorated my blog. I was in the mood for a change.

Long and Winding Road

This is for the Maps challenge at Collage Obsession. I almost didn't have anything to submit, as I'd originally started with a disaster which included a cheesy pirate map that was going absolutely nowhere. I had to abandon ship on that one (haw, haw), and got a new idea this morning.

Click image to enlarge.

I should start a separate blog called Debbie's Bloopers, and feature all my failed and abandoned pictures.

I scanned a map and gave it some perspective. To add the road, I had to create one in Illustrator and then also give it some perspective. The two rows of mountains are from one mountain picture, and one of them was distorted beyond recognition.

Carry Moonbeams Home in a Jar

This is for the Moon challenge at Take a Word.

Click image to enlarge.

I Spy With My Little Eye

Click image to enlarge.

Guess Who....?

Inspiration Avenue's challenge for this week is Fly. I happened to step out onto my back deck a few months ago and discovered two flies--well, being flies. (Actually, it looked like the one was playing guess who with the other.) I took some pictures. So, when I found a challenge called "Fly", I couldn't resist.

Click image to enlarge (if you dare).

I probably spent less time than normal cleaning up the picture, because flies are just not pretty close up. I think I may have thrown up a little in my mouth while putting this one together. Ugh! I can't look anymore...

Happy Hour

If you're not hungry enough for the Blue Plate Special, the place next door is having Happy Hour.

Click image to enlarge.

Blue Plate Special

This is for the Blue challenge at Take a Word. I just adore my cobalt blue plates.

Click image to enlarge.

Birds of a Feather

I got a little bit ahead of myself on this one, as the challenge hasn't started yet, but I'd seen at the Three Muses blog. It was actually a sneak preview for the upcoming challenge, but I ran with the idea and created the picture below. I don't participate in all challenges, as sometimes I just can't seem to get the right ideas, or sometimes I start and the whole thing falls flat, and I abandon it. Anyhow, I hope I can remember to link it when their next challenge is finally announced.

Click image to enlarge.

I was just about to explain the picture, but decided that it's always best if the viewer draws his/her own conclusions.

All the elements are from my photos, including the cooperative mockingbirds. (Actually, it's only two birds.)

Midnight Tea

This is for the Teapot Challenge at Inspiration Avenue.

Click image to enlarge.

There is just no telling what can happen at a midnight tea party.

Another Brick

Click image to enlarge.

Anywhere But Here

The Sepia Challenge at Sunday Postcard Art caught my eye today. Their criteria is that it must be 4x6 inches, and the original actually is that size, but I do like to resize for the web. The aspect ratio is still the same. I had to throw a little color in there.

Click image to enlarge.

This turned out to be a postcard within a postcard within a postcard. Have you ever wanted to be somewhere else? The little sepia postcard in the middle is where I'd love to be. The postcard with the beach scene is where I am. All you inland and cold-climate folk are probably wondering why someone living in a warm climate with snow-white beaches would want to be elsewhere, but I truly prefer to be in the mountains and gladly trade in the snow-white beaches for some real snow.

Night and Day

This is for the Frames Challenge over at Three Muses.

Click image to enlarge.

I made the frame in Photoshop, because I didn't feel like dragging a frame outside into the heat to photograph it.

Cappuccino Sea

Does anyone else love coffee as much as I do? I've always had a fascination with sea foam. It was only a matter of time before I made the association with cappuccino foam. Imagine how heavenly a sea of coffee would smell...

Click image to enlarge.

Note: I've just submitted this one to the Three Muses Challenge

Mint Chocolate Chip

This is for the Summer of Color: Mint Chocolate Chip challenge.

Click image to enlarge.

What better way to spend a hot summer's night than in a sea of mint chocolate chip ice cream?

Pearls of Wisdom

This is for the Ocean challenge at So Artful Challenges.

Click image to enlarge.

The beach, pearls, hand, and book are all my own images. I made a moon brush to create the moon.

This is the original photo of the beach:

Bowling for Sand Dollars

Click image to enlarge.