Merry Christmas and I'm still here after no blogging for 5 weeks!!

I have not logged into my blog since Halloween!!

In the last month I have peeked at a couple of my fave blogs, and read a couple of posts.

that's it!

Explanation if you have a minute.

Life around here has been extra busy.....my sister has a very sick grandbaby that has been hospitalized for over a month. We hope and pray she is now on the road to recovery. She's only just over 3 months old. My sis has been run off of her feet with helping with the other grandchildren in the family while her daughter and husband have been spending most of their time at the hospital.

My sis and I split time going to visit my mom at the nursing home and as a result, I've been trying to make up her visits, so that has taken some of my time up lately.

and

One of my 3 daughters and her son have moved in temporarily (2-1/2 weeks now) while they wait for renovations to be completed on the house they will be renting (5 minutes away from me....yaay!!)

I am enjoying having them here, but it also means more and bigger meals to cook and more visiting and enjoying the chit chat ...

I'm still trying to keep up with my ebay sales, so that eats up time too.

I have lots to do before Christmas and with what is going on here I don't know when I'll be posting again

so

Merry Christmas

to all!

and have safe and happy holidays.

My "Noel" is a digital collage I made probably around this time last year.

ttfn (ta ta for now)

Lucy

(hoping to get around to some blogs to visit although I don't expect to be posting)

Time? Time to play for a challenge!

Well, I don't really have time to play these days,  but I made this digital collage one late night last week, I haven't "PLAYED" with photoshop for weeks, more like months!

I started off to make a collage that I wanted to use for a project I was thinking of, but ended up with this!...no particular reason, it just HAPPENED!...

 I just filed it and today, after not logging on to blogger all week thought I'd check on a few challenges and lo and behold! There was one on TIME over at Soartful

So here is my first challenge piece in months!

It was good to PLAY and CREATE!

GREAT GIVEAWAYS & my domino art digital collages

You just have to go and enter these two giveaways! 

VINTAGE SUSIE, one of my favorite places to visit and one of my very first followers, a true blog friend, and someone you'll all just love to visit..........

COTTON PICKIN CUTE is also having a great giveaway, some awesome goodies! You must go check out her lovely blog too and enter!

 

I was catching up on some blogs I follow and popped in to see Chris over at My Arty Attempts and this link will take you to some very creative ATC's she's done.
 One of them was using the image of this girl. I have the same image and used it in photoshop to create the above digital pieces which I then get printed out..........I layered the girl on different backgrounds and added  to it in different ways to use for making my domino pendants. She's an all time favorite!

I'll  post the link to where we got our images later. Gotta get dinner on right now!

 

Sunday Postcard Art Weekly Challenge

I have been waiting for the opportunity to use this image of the "sew sweet" little girl......she is advertising the thread, but she's not exactly sewing....she is making a "cat cradle".....I remember how to do the very basic one! Anyway, here she is, hope you like her!

Sewing was the theme this week for Sunday Postcard Art , my first challenge for this site.

Back Home for ACF Challenge 70

Such a beautiful image of this lovely young lady we were given for this challenge from Art Creations Friday. I have called this piece "Innocence".

I'm now back home in Canada after almost 3 months in beautiful Arizona! What a surprise to come home to an early spring, NO SNOW left at all, dry, yards being cleaned up, grass raked, golf courses open!
That hasn't happened for at least 10 years!

Catching up at home and hope to catch up on my blogging real soon!

Art Creations Friday #67

 

My entry for Art Creations Friday. A beautiful background was given for inspiration.I just added the fairy and brushes. I was going to go further but decided I liked it just like this!

Hope you like it!
I barely have time to do a challenge! Panic has set in! We have been in Arizona since mid-January and now I only have about 10 days left and I have alot to get done before then.

The time has flown by!  The desert wild flowers are starting to bloom, I must get out there and take pictures before we leave! Only 2 Saturdays left to garage sale! Want to try the rapid transit and go to downtown Phoenix.......haven't been to one of my favorite shoe stores.....I could go on and on....

AAAACK..........I need at least another month!

Soartful Challenge.........OOPS!!

Here's my entry for this weeks' challenge over at Soartful Challenges.

Thanks for stopping by!

Art Creations Friday Challenge

Is she primping for the frog prince? Do you like her water lily hat? LOL!

I had fun with this beautiful image that was provided for the challenge. The is the first time I have entered the ART CREATIONS FRIDAY challenge.

The added elements are from Itkupilli, Frame is from Lisa's Altered Art

Have a great weekend!

Soartful Challenge and a catch up

I can't believe my last post was 2 weeks ago! I've been busy, also down with flu/cold, but I'm feeling better now and hopefully won't neglect my blogging!

The theme at Soartful Challenges  this week is International Women's Week and like Jeanette I'm honoring motherhood.

We get some really interesting swirly clouds in our sunsets! I was just able to catch the end of what had been some really great formations..........

I MADE THIS!!!!!!!!

One of the fun things I did over this last couple of weeks was to take a class in making soldered glass pendants!! It was so much fun and I can't wait to make more! I have my supplies, but then got sick and so no energy! Maybe this week, if it doesn't shrink in front of me!

 The pendant above was my second attempt. The choice of images was very limited so I picked the only one that looked "vintage"......I have TONS of images back home in Canada.....who knew I'd be doing this! Don't you love the use of scalloped foil (you solder over it) rather than the straight edge type?

This was my first attempt and rather rough and gobby!

Soartful Challenge Life is Just a Bowl of Cherries

 

A fun theme this week at Soartful Challenges! I used the vintage cherries background (googled), the lady and grunge from Lisa's Altered Art, and some added effects. I always want to keep going but "less is more" usually is the case. It was fun and didn't take me forever like some that I get into, LOL!!

I've not been a very faithful blogger lately, too wrapped up in my snowbird life here in Arizona! Garage saled yesterday until it started raining! We retreated to a mall, found some bargains, so happily headed for home after a nice lunch!

I got into a book I couldn't put down and just had to finish it so actually didn't even turn on the computer til near noon today! It usually gets checked for email, etc first thing in the morning with my first cup of coffee!

Have a great week everyone, hope I'll get back here soon!

oops.......almost forgot to post this picture....I got these great Mardi Gras masks last week at a garage sale....I will take them home to Canada with me and my grandaughter will be delighted with them. I know she'll make her mom and dad each wear one too next Halloween at one of their costume events! $1.00 each, one still had the attached tag and it was 12.00....

Soartful Challenge and Arizona sunshine

 

I feel like I haven't blogged or done a challenge FOREVER!....so I played with this one and it really doesn't make too much sense, but then why should it if it is "out of this world!"

The image below is what we started with to do this

SOARTFUL CHALLENGE with.

On to other things....the weather has turned absolutely gorgeous! We are supposed to be in the 70's all week! Garage saleing this last Saturday was so much more fun with the beautiful day we had!

And I spend a couple of hours by the pool in the afternoon too!

 

This afternoon, my BFF Millie and I grabbed a coffee to go and went a quarter mile up the road and parked at Prospector Park where we have a bit of a different view to soak up while we enjoy our coffee.

I didn't even realize there was a little birdie perched up on this big saguaro cactus until I uploaded the pictures to my computer! CLICK ON THE PICS TO ENLARGE

I'm sure I have a zillion pictures of the mountain. I just never tire of looking at it and taking pictures of it from different spots and angles.

Theres Millie, watching me taking pictures and soaking up the sun. She's sitting on her "baby". Her 1990 Nissan Maxima lives here year round in Arizona (Millie and husband Tate return to Oklahoma City in May). We put alot of miles on "baby" between garage sales, shopping, riding around taking pictures. She runs like a clock! ......even at 20 years old!

A beautiful Ocotillo cactus infringing on a saguaro. Did you know that it takes approximately 75 years for a saguaro cactus to sprout 1 arm?....so we know that although the cactus in the picture doesn't look too large, it is around 75 years old.......it does have the beginnings of an "arm".

They get really quite huge and live to be around 200 years old.

....did you know that?

Three Muses Birds of a Feather

For THE THREE MUSES Challenge this week......Quite simple.....that gorgeous background is part of a digital collage set I won over at DEZINAWORLD  (thankyou so much June!)...I just had to add a few things. The lovely white doves were just googled.

Soartful Background Challenge

I'm sure we've all seen a sunrise or sunset with these vibrant colors! Depends where you live, I've seen these colors in Canada on the prairies. Here in Arizona there is more pink involved. Anyway....here is my entry for the challenge this week. As usual, it's not at all as I planned, but just kind of evolved!! Look at my last post to see a few pictures of last night's beautiful sunset here in Arizona, plus a gorgeous moon!
Below is the background that Jeanette at SOARTFUL gave us to work with.

Crazy Amigo Challenge RED

My first time doing a challenge for  Crazy Amigo The theme is the color RED. The Aix-les-Bains poster is an image of an old advertising travel poster. Aix-les-Bains is a tourist destination in France.
I just can't leave the photoshop alone!

....I do have a zillion other things to do! Next week I will start going to the rec center just down the road for some fitness classes....I need to "tone and trim" and seem to only get around to doing so while we are here in Arizona for a few months.

It has also been kind of dull and cool around here, so no swimming pool.....it's heated but I like to feel warm when I get out of the water!

I did go to a huge church sale this a.m............a few vintage linens for ebay, nothing spectacular but the price was right. This particular sale is a yearly event and only 5 minutes away and it is HUGE!! The crowds are HUGE as well! You can't MOVE once you get inside. I'll go back later and check tomorrow and Saturday as well. Some good sales coming in the next couple of weeks, hoping I can SCORE!!!!
Bye for now, but I'll be back!! The challenges are calling me!

Yes another collage!

I am determined to practice and learn more in photoshop! The weather is a little cool here in Arizona (but a beautiful blue sky and sunny day) and I had washing, grocery shopping, etc to do today so in between I've been sitting and playing!

I made this for the Dezinaworld Spot Challenge, and used some of the elements from the collage sheet set that I just purchased there. The set was featuring Gold, but I ended up getting all involved with the photoshop effects and I liked the way it turned out.......silver or pewter!

I can see my errors now that I've posted it.....I should have layered the flowers over the oval locket frame....I'll go back at it later and see if that works or not, LOL...I've already gone back and re-centered the oval locket as I was posting and when I previewed I noticed that!  Well, that's all part of the learning process I guess! Happy week to you all!

Soartful Challenge Little Black Dress

Audrey Hepburn immediately came to mind for the latest challenge at Soartful called The Little Black Dress. I'm actually early doing it this time!!

The sun is shining, although a little chilly here. I wonder if there are any garage sales today?

Dezinaworld Girly Challenge

Little Girly Daydreams
I'm trying to get back into my Photoshop collage fun! I'm rusty after a few weeks of not using what I've learned. I did this piece for the Girly theme over at Dezinaworld

I used the sweet and dreamy little girl image that was a freebie from June on her other site Art Freebies, and other images from Lisa's Altered Art, the pink background image was from Carol Anne's and also a couple of images from my own collection.

Soartful Challenge POGONIP (FROST)

frosty sisters.....

LOL! I thought I'd better get this submitted as it is already Friday! I have not used my photoshop for the last few weeks, being busy getting ready to escape here to Arizona and the travelling, etc.

I had already made one collage using the image provided and I have NO IDEA where it disappeared to!! I'm sure I saved it to my Soartful folder!........gone!!
Being new at it I have forgotten some of what I've learned......it will come back and I'm always learning something else as I fool around trying to create. Backgrounds of pogonip are what my daughter back in Canada took pictures of a couple of days ago. Ladies and pets are from iTkUpiLLi and Elegia's freebie sheets. They are both so generous....go look at link in sidebar.

Please read more about Pogonip here.
Soartful Challenge

...the one below I like as well but while fooling around I put that funny frame thing around it and couldn't get rid of it!

Dancing with Joy

Dancing with Joy is the Soartful Challenge this week and this is what I came up with.  I wish it was me! It's very cold here, not much snow, but the temperature was -29C with a -41 windchill this morning! I won't complain, as last year this was the norm through November and December with lots of snow too! I'm keeping cozy in the house and trying to catch up as usual, on everything! My escape into the digital world is a welcome break that I so enjoy! Have a great Sunday!

Three Muses Challenge

The theme this weekat the Three Muses is bottles and jars! The bottles in the window image is from Howard33 on Flickr, the ladies are from June at ArtFreebies. Being new at this photoshop stuff my skills are limited, so I was quite proud of myself to be able to get the ladies on the outside of the window.

Now if I could figure out to how to get things inside those bottles.....lots to learn, lots to learn....

I am trying to do one or two challenges a week to force myself to experiment with different tools in my Photoshop Elements 8 program. I sometimes start and don't get finished. I made sure I started right away on this challenge so here it is, hope you like it!