"Lucky Signs" - ATC

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This week’s Think Monday – Think ATC challenge was “Lucky Signs.” I made four leaf clover shapes, then had trouble coming up with an idea for the design, because I didn’t want to do a Saint Patrick’s Day theme, since it’s too soon for that.

"Blue Moon Ball" - Tag

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This week’s Tag Tuesday challenge number 32 was “Happy New Year.” I created a “Blue Moon Ball” theme, because Dec 31, 2009 is a blue moon. I made party favor champagne bottle and name tags for this.

Notes: When I scanned this, I selected “enhanced color” again, and the colors came out well. So that is the solution to my “washed out colors” problem.

"Pink Princess" - Least Favorite Color

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This week’s Mixed Media Monday challenge was “Least Favorite Color.” Pink tops my list. I went outside of my comfort zone in many ways on this one, and it took me much longer to make than I planned on, but I had fun doing it.

"Medieval" - Gothic Arch

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This week’s Gothic Arches challenge was “Open Theme.” I went with a medieval theme. This is a conglomeration of several experiments.

Merry Christmas!

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This is another Christmas postcard I made.

"Christmas Postcard"

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This is another Christmas postcard I made. The words are from Mariah Carey’s song “All I Want For Christmas Is You” which is one of my favorites. I misused a GIMP script and created the background by accident, which demonstrates mistakes can lead to great results.

"Purple, Gold, and Green" - Star Tag

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The GC35 Gingersnap Creations challenge due by Jan 16 is “Purple, Gold, and Green.” I used the star tag shape I created for Tag Tuesday challenge 31 to create another one for this challenge. I’m also making this my second entry for that challenge.

Notes to myself: When I scanned this, I selected “enhanced color” and I think that helped the “washed out” problem I’ve been having. I’ll try that from now on.

"Medieval Star Tag"

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This week’s Tag Tuesday challenge number 31 was “A Shaped Tag.” I made a star based on a design I had seen recently. I made a medieval theme and used red, gold, and white for the colors. I just wrote a GIMP script to create star shapes, and used it for this. This scanned in washed out. I still haven’t figured out why that keeps happening. This tag took a long time to make, but I think the end result is beautiful, and was worth the time.

"Darkest Day of the Year"

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This week’s Art On The Darkside challenge was “Darkest Day of the Year.” I’m a day late, because yesterday was the darkest day of the year, here in the Northern Hemisphere. It should be a day for Pagan Rituals. ;-)

"Wintery Wraiths"

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This week’s Macabre Monday challenge #018 was “Wintery Wraiths.” This is my first entry for this challenge. I used several images to create this.

"Merry Christmas Postcard"

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This week’s Sunday Postcard Art challenge was “Christmas.” This is the second postcard I made for it.

This is another picture from the snowstorm. It’s my forsythias and a lovely green vine. You can see the water in the brook in the background.

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"Christmas Postcard – Mary and baby Jesus"

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This week’s Sunday Postcard Art challenge was “Christmas.” This postcard shows Mary holding baby Jesus.

We’ll be having a white Christmas this year. It looks like last night’s snowstorm dumped about a foot of snow on us, and the temperatures won’t be going above freezing all week. This is a picture of my pine tree.

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"Peanuts Characters Christmas Decorations"

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The snowstorm wasn’t going to arrive until late in the day, so we had our family Christmas gathering after all, which was wonderful. My brother and his daughter are creating Peanuts characters Christmas decorations for their lawn. So far they’ve made Charlie Brown, Snoopy, and Lucy. I took a picture of them when I arrived. Tomorrow they’ll be snow covered.

The forecast has been upgraded to 10 to 15 inches of snow with “locally higher amounts as much as 18 inches.” The snowfall rate will be 2 to 4 inches an hour, accompanied by thunder and lightning, at the height of the storm.

It’s snowing in the New York City area now, but not here yet. But I have no doubt I will awaken tomorrow to a winter wonderland. Photos to follow.

Blizzard Warning: Long Island

You don’t see this very often here in December. Long Island now has a Blizzard Warning. This is the color map from NOAA, which gives you a quick idea of what’s coming. I’m in Bridgeport CT. I’m going to run out shopping this morning, and then I’ll be hunkering down for the duration of the storm. I’ll be posting snow pictures later today and tomorrow. Looks like we’ll be having a white Christmas!

Winter Storm Warning: 8 to 12 inches of snow

Well, it dropped down to 10.8 °F (-11.7 °C) this morning. And tomorrow the New York City, coastal Connecticut and Long Island area will be hit with a Winter Storm with 8 to 12 inches of snow. (Mother Nature doesn’t seem to realize it’s still Fall.)

Watch this space! I’ll be taking pictures of the snowfall and posting them on my blog. It’s not like I’ll be going anywhere. Our family Christmas gathering planned for tomorrow has been cancelled. :-(

From NOAA:

Winter Storm Warning

URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE...UPDATED

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW YORK NY

434 PM EST FRI DEC 18 2009

...WINTER STORM TO IMPACT THE AREA THIS WEEKEND...

.LOW PRESSURE TRACKS TO NEAR CAPE HATTERAS SATURDAY MORNING... THEN DEEPENS AS IT TRACKS TO THE NORTHEAST OVER THE ATLANTIC SATURDAY NIGHT. THE INTENSE LOW WILL PRODUCE A SWATH OF HEAVY SNOWFALL...AS WELL AS A CORRIDOR OF HIGH WINDS. ONCE AGAIN...A TRACK DIFFERENCE OF ONLY 100 MILES WILL HAVE A SIGNIFICANT IMPACT ON THE WEATHER ACROSS THE REGION.

CTZ005>012-NJZ003>006-011-NYZ071>076-190545-

/O.CON.KOKX.WS.W.0006.091219T1700Z-091220T1600Z/

NORTHERN FAIRFIELD-NORTHERN NEW HAVEN-NORTHERN MIDDLESEX-NORTHERN NEW LONDON-SOUTHERN FAIRFIELD-SOUTHERN NEW HAVEN-SOUTHERN MIDDLESEX-SOUTHERN NEW LONDON-BERGEN-EASTERN PASSAIC-ESSEX-HUDSON-UNION-SOUTHERN WESTCHESTER-NEW YORK (MANHATTAN)-BRONX-RICHMOND (STATEN ISLAND)-KINGS (BROOKLYN)-QUEENS-

434 PM EST FRI DEC 18 2009

A WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM NOON SATURDAY TO 11 AM EST SUNDAY.

DEEPENING LOW PRESSURE OVER THE ATLANTIC SATURDAY AND SATURDAY NIGHT WILL RESULT IN THE A PERIOD OF MODERATE TO HEAVY SNOW AND GUSTY WINDS. SNOWFALL ACCUMULATIONS OF 8 TO 12 INCHES ARE POSSIBLE BEFORE THE SNOW ENDS SUNDAY MORNING.

ANY MINOR DEVIATION IN THE TRACK OF THIS STORM SYSTEM WILL HAVE A LARGE IMPACT ON SNOW AMOUNTS AND WIND STRENGTH. AT THIS TIME... THE BEST ESTIMATION IS FOR THE STORM TO TAKE A FAVORABLE TRACK TO PRODUCE THIS MODERATE TO HEAVY SNOW AND STRONG GUSTY WINDS. STAY TUNED.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A WINTER STORM WARNING MEANS SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF SNOW... SLEET...AND ICE ARE EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. STRONG WINDS ARE ALSO POSSIBLE. THIS WILL MAKE TRAVEL VERY HAZARDOUS OR IMPOSSIBLE.

"Punch It (Out)" - Tag

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This week’s Tag Tuesday challenge number 30 was “Punch It (Out).” I had to look at several entries, to figure out what this meant. I don’t have a punch, so I went with using a cut out design instead. Although you can’t tell from the scan, my tag is two layers. The top layer is cut away in two circular areas: One showing the woman, and one showing the tag fastening point.

I used a razor blade (I need to get an exacto knife) to cut a small box in each circle. Then I used large scissors to cut the holes all the way. (I need to get small scissors too.) I applied glue stick to the back of the circular areas, and to the front of the underneath layer around the tag edges. I didn’t line them up exactly, so the final result is slightly off from what I wanted.

"Mail Art" - Postcard Address Side

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This week’s Three Muses challenge was “Mail Art.” I recreated the decorative look of the address side of early American postcards.

"Dark Christmas Bubble - Skeletons" - CD size ornament

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This week’s Art On The Darkside challenge was “Dark Christmas Bubble” where the Bubble was a CD sized ornament. I used a Christmasy type background, then added skeletons and a skull. The size is 4.75 x 4.75 inches.

This week’s Darkness Inspiration challenge was “Skulls, Bones, and Skeletons.” This is my first entry for that challenge, and I combined the two.

"Lights, Lanterns, and Candles" - ATC

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This week’s Think Monday – Think ATC challenge was “Lights, Lanterns, and Candles.”

"Holly Christmas Postcard"

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This week’s Sunday Postcard Art challenge was “The Holly or The Ivy.”

"Marble Box"

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This week’s Lots To Do challenge for week 50 was “Boxes.” This is my first entry for this challenge. I created an ATC size box using a template I had made awhile ago from a Dove Go Fresh soap box. I created a veined marble pattern for it using a GIMP script I just wrote. Unfortunately my printer streaked when I printed it out on white card stock, so there are lines running across it. I used a glue stick to glue it together.

Arctic air in CT 18.9 °F (-7.2 °C)

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This is sort of what it looked like Wednesday morning at 3am. By 4:40am, the snow was changing over to rain here on the coast, but just a few miles inland, they got 6 inches of snow. The “dividing line” in Connecticut is the Merritt Parkway. The winter weather can be very different north and south of that line. This morning it was 21 °F (-6 °C) here when I first checked. Now it’s down to 18.9 °F (-7.2 °C) and still dropping.

There’s a saying in New England: If you don’t like the weather today, wait until tomorrow. That’s because the weather can change drastically from one day to the next. It’s not normally this cold here, this early in the season (and it’s not even winter yet). October was colder than normal, November was warmer than normal, and now we’ll find out what December has in store for us.

This picture is from an early snowfall we had Dec. 7, 2008. Like the temperature, snowfall here is also unpredictable, and can be radically different from one year to the next.

"Teal, Wine, and Blue" - Tag

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This week’s Tag Tuesday challenge number 29 was “Teal, Wine, and Blue.” I designed and created the background pattern based on one I had seen. The larger star has teal in it. The border is wine. The overall color is blue. Then I added the images to it.

"Cardinals" - Postcard

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I made this postcard for my Mom. I had to recreate parts of the image, to make it complete. I used several brushes for the background pattern. Unfortunately the scan of it is washed out.

"Prayer of St. Teresa of Avila" - Tag 2

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I went back to the drawing board, and came up with a new design for the tag with the Prayer of St. Teresa of Avila on it. I liked the way I did the background on the first tag, so I used that format again, with a different background.

"Prayer of St. Teresa of Avila" - Tag

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I decided to make a tag with the Prayer of St. Teresa of Avila on it. I couldn’t determine a good font color to go with the dark background. When I have time, I will go back to the drawing board, and come up with a better design for this prayer.

Prayer of St. Teresa of Avila

Let nothing disturb thee;

Let nothing dismay thee;

All things are passing.

God never changes.

Patient endurance Attains all that it strives for.

He who has God Finds he lacks nothing.

God alone suffices.

"St. Nicholas" - Postcard

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This week’s Sunday Postcard Art challenge was “St. Nicholas.”

"Ghost of Christmas Future"

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This week’s Art On The Darkside challenge was “The Three Ghosts of Christmas – Past, Present, and Future.” I made a scene showing the Ghost of Christmas Future: the Grim Reaper, symbolizing Death.

"Tiger in Frame Postcard"

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The GC32 Gingersnap Creations challenge due by Dec 19 is “Frames.” I designed and created this frame based on a picture I had cut out of the newspaper awhile ago. I used a GIMP script I just wrote to automate the border replication, after I made my border layer. I printed this postcard on white card stock, cut it out, and then scanned it in.

"Purple, Green, and Silver" - Tag

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This week’s Tag Tuesday challenge number 28 was “Purple, Green, and Silver.” I made a Christmas tag. I did some experimenting with GIMP to create this, and used a digital stamp for the tag fastening point.

"Mahjong Tiles" - Fun and Games

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This week’s Three Muses challenge was “Fun and Games.” I created bone mahjong tiles for this. I created the shape ones (circle, bamboo) and used brushes for the character and decorative ones. I also ended up making a GIMP script to automate positioning my layers to center, bottom right, etc., which I’ll be able to use all the time now.

"Bedtime Stories"

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This week’s Mixed Media Monday challenge was “Bedtime Stories.” I used several images to create this.

"Dream" - ATC

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This week’s Think Monday – Think ATC challenge was “Dream.”

"Let It Snow" - Postcard

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This week’s Sunday Postcard Art challenge was “Let It Snow.” I used several images to create this, and made the frame.

"Bird Greeting Card"

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This week’s Soartful challenge was to use the background image provided by the challenge site. I created a greeting card. The scan of it is a little washed out.

"Joulupukki" - Bad Santa

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This week’s Art On The Darkside challenge was “Bad Santa.” I made a pagan Joulupukki, which I learned about from the challenge.

"It’s Later Than You Think" - Time

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This week’s Three Muses challenge was “Time.” This is a great theme with many possibilities. I ended up going in a dark direction with this.

"Christmas Card"

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This week’s Theme Thursday challenge was “Christmas/Holiday creations.” I wanted to make something specifically for this challenge, so I made a Christmas card. I used several images to create this. The scan of it is a little washed out.

Happy Thanksgiving!

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I made this greeting card for Thanksgiving Day today.

"Blue Bird" - ATC

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This week’s Think Monday – Think ATC challenge was “Blue and Bird.” I used several images to create this, and a digital stamp.

"Red, Green, and GoldenYellow" - Tag

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This week’s Tag Tuesday challenge number 27 was “Red, Green, and Golden Yellow.” I made a Christmas tag. I used several images to create it and a digital stamp for the tag fastening point.

I’m also combining challenges. This week’s Theme Thursday challenge was “Christmas/Holiday creations.” This is my first entry for this challenge.

"King of Diamonds" - Playing Card

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This week’s Mixed Media Monday challenge was “Playing Cards.” This is my first entry for this challenge, and I hope that I’m compliant with the rules. I created my piece based on several different vintage playing card designs I had seen. I used the standard poker card size of 2.5 by 3.5 inches. This is an all digital piece.

"Metropolis" - Faces of a Femme Fatale

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This week’s Thank God It’s Friday challenge number 112 was “Faces of a Femme Fatale.” I used the ultimate Femme Fatale: Maria/Robot from Metropolis, one of my favorite movies. The words are from the song Here She Comes, which was featured in Giorgio Moroder's fantastic 1984 re-make. Sadly, I have just learned this is the final challenge on Sandy’s wonderful site. I will miss it.

"Keys"

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This week’s Three Muses challenge was “Keys.”

"Pierrot pining for Columbine" - ATC

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This week’s Think Monday – Think ATC challenge was “Black White Red.” I haven’t been happy with my creativity lately, so I did a second one for this. This shows Pierrot pining for Columbine.

"Black White Red" - ATC

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This week’s Think Monday – Think ATC challenge was “Black White Red.” This lost some of its quality when I reduced it to put it on my blog.

"Stars" - Gothic Arch

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This week’s Gothic Arches challenge was “Stars.” I’ve been struggling to find my creative side lately. I seem to have “writer’s block” but I don’t know what the equivalent term is for imagery. “Artist’s block?”

"Sweet Dream or a Beautiful Nightmare"

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This week’s Three Muses challenge was “In Your Dreams.” This was a fantastic theme but I couldn’t create what was in my imagination. I’m not happy with this, but it’s the best I could do with my idea. I was inspired by the words “sweet dream or a beautiful nightmare” from the song Beautiful Nightmare by Beyonce Knowles. I wish I could draw/paint. It’s very frustrating picturing something in my mind, then not being able to create it digitally. I’ve also been working a lot of hours lately, so that’s probably affecting me too.