"Up, up, and away" - "Hot Air Balloons"

© All Rights Reserved

© All Rights Reserved

© All Rights Reserved

This week’s Three Muses challenge was “Up, up, and away.” The only thing I could think of was a hot air balloon. I created my postcard using two images, which I merged together and modified about 40% of. I thought the fish hot air balloon was unusual and unique, so I created a “fishing” theme for it.

I had first tried to create my own hot air balloon. I checked some tutorials, but ended up making mine “from scratch” because I had problems with the path tool. But I wasn’t quite satisfied with the end result.

After creating my “fishing” theme postcard, I decided to combine a cool looking basket with a different balloon top. (The original image barely showed the balloon.) This was mostly an exercise in erasing, and combining two large images, which I haven’t done before. I added the guide wires over the original ones, to extend them to connect to the new balloon. I also created the sky background for it. Then I added a flock of birds from a third picture (more erasing), because their flight pattern fit with her releasing the birds.

"Look into a face…" - Faces

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This week’s Think Monday – Think ATC challenge was “Look into a face…” I’ve wanted to use this woman for awhile, and I thought this was a good opportunity to do so. I colored her since she was black and white, and I created the background. (Unfortunately the background doesn’t look as cool as it did originally, because it lost some of its color on the upload to the blog page.)

"The Fourth of July"

This week’s Sunday Postcard Art challenge was “The Fourth of July.” I used several images and some fireworks to celebrate my country’s upcoming anniversary of July 4th, 1776.

"The Alphabet"

This week’s Thank God It’s Friday challenge number 91 was “The Alphabet.”

"Eternal Goddess"

This week’s Tag It On challenge was “Eternal Goddess.” This was a wonderful theme, but I struggled with it, which I’ve been doing a lot of lately with all of the challenges. I used an art deco type stamp for the tag fastening point. The print out and resulting tag came out much darker than I expected.

"Wild Things" - "Lota the Panther Woman"

This week’s Three Muses challenge was “Wild Things.” I created Lota the Panther Woman from the movie Island of Lost Souls (1932), which was based on the novel "The Island of Dr. Moreau" by H. G. Wells. (That is one of my favorite movies! All of the remakes pale in comparison to it.) In my creation, Lota’s claws and animalistic temperament are returning, as she reverts to her original form.

"Frogs"

This week’s Think Monday – Think ATC challenge was “Frogs.” I had fun with this theme, so I made three. For the first one, I started with one image with many frogs in it. I wanted this frog only, and a slightly different scene, so I modified about 65% of the image, to create my ATC. For the second one, I found this image of a frog with a gun, and simply added a border (several layers to create) and the words from the musical to it. For the third one, my giant “monster” frog is climbing the curtains, trying to get the birds that he thinks are real.

"Burma"

This is a 4 x 6 inch postcard I started around May 30, 2009. (That’s when I last worked on it.) I was experimenting/practicing in GIMP, using various images related to Burma, to create this “theme.” I think I didn’t finish it because I got busy trying to work on the multiple challenges I’ve started participating in. Today (June 21, 2009) I decided to revisit it, to see where I left off. Other than one place that wasn’t complete, I don’t know what else I had in mind with it, so I finished it and here it is.

"Secrets"

This week’s Thank God It’s Friday challenge number 90 was “Secrets.” My piece was inspired by the song Talking In Your Sleep by The Romantics. I used several images to create it, and modified them. The words are from the song.

"Fathers" - Happy Father's Day!

This week’s Sunday Postcard Art challenge was “Fathers.” I created a fishing theme Father’s Day card. I used several elements to create the fish plaque. All of the images are from various sources.

Happy Father’s Day to all of the Dads everywhere!

"Art Creations Friday - Challenge 31"

This is my picture for the Art Creations Friday June 19, 2009 challenge (number 31). The challenge site provided the background image. The two clusters of purple circles reminded me of grapes, so I created a “wine” theme. I modified the images I used.

"Summer Solstice"

This week’s Think Monday – Think ATC challenge was “Summer Solstice.” This was another wonderful theme where I found myself full of great ideas, but unable to create any of them, so I went with a simple design again. I think my creative muse has decided to take summer vacation early, because she seems to have abandoned me.

"Simplicity and Serenity"

This week’s Tag It On challenge was “Simplicity and Serenity.” I decided to make a bookplate and chose colors found on some Tiffany Lamps. I used the Ex Libris for my tag fastening point. The picture didn’t come out well again. It looks better in person.

"Doors" – "Enchanted Elevator"

This week’s Three Muses challenge was “Doors.” I decided to create an “Enchanted Elevator.” Instead of opening inside of the wall, the doors open by sliding on the outside of it, to reveal a portal to a magical world. I started with a picture of an art deco elevator, that I’ve had saved on my computer for awhile. I split the doors in half along their seam, then created a frame for the elevator opening. I used a section of the original wall to create the tile that I used for my wall. I modified the original magical world picture, and added a frame to the mural picture.

FYI: I’ve been having problems when I try to post comments on other peoples’ google blogs where the page is set to: Comment Form Placement - Embedded below post. When the setting is Full page or Pop-up window, it works okay. I changed my own blog site to use Full page now.

"Postage People" - "James Dean"

This week’s Thank God It’s Friday challenge number 89 was “Postage People.” I made a 4x6 inch size postcard using the United States Post Office’s James Dean stamp. I first learned about “Postage People” on a Sunday Postcard Art challenge, and had a lot of fun creating them, so I was glad I had an opportunity to make another one.

"Over the Rainbow"

This week’s Sunday Postcard Art challenge was “Over the Rainbow.” The only thing I could think of was the song “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” from the Wizard of Oz. I googled the lyrics and used the words about “bluebirds fly” to come up with an idea for my theme. I created a double rainbow because I think they look cool when they occur. (Note: I misread the hint, which I thought only said “over the rainbow.")

"Treasure"

This week’s Tag It On challenge was “Treasure.” I made a semi-magical theme of a seahorse guarding his treasure. Because it was a nautical theme, I used a shell for my tag fastening point, instead of a flower. The tag didn’t come out well because the printer smeared.

"Magical"

This week’s Think Monday – Think ATC challenge was “Magical.” The idea was to create a magical, enchanted world. I used the fairy I’ve used before. This is one of my favorite themes, but I didn’t have much time to work on this, so I had to settle for making something simple. I’m going to continue with this theme offline, outside of the challenge.

Firefox problem? - problems posting comments on some people’s blogs

FYI: If you’re having problems posting comments on some people’s blogs (like I have been), and you’re using gmail and blogger, it might be because you’re not logged into your gmail account. Being logged into your google blog (blogger/blogspot) account is not the same as being logged into gmail when you’re posting on those sites. I hope this information helps others having similar problems.

2009 Jun 14 05:47 EDT: This still doesn't work using Firefox. I used Netscape (obsolete browser) and it did. I might try Google's new Browser to see if that works.

2009 Jun 15 18:00 EDT: I have problems when I try to post comments on google blogs where the page is set to: Comment Form Placement - Embedded below post. When the setting is Full page or Pop-up window, it works okay. I changed my blog site to use Full page.

"Mona Lisa"

This week’s first Three Muses challenge was “Mona Lisa.” The challenge was to alter her in some way. Boy, have I struggled with coming up with an idea for this one. In the end, I decided that maybe she’s tired of being altered, so I put her in a disguise.

"Vintage Bathing Beauties" - "Sexy Back" and "Cruel Summer"

This week’s Sunday Postcard Art challenge was “Vintage Bathing Beauties.” I ended up making two postcards.

The first one was a stretch for me, because I forced myself to use more of a collage technique, which I’m weak at. I tried to make it playful, fun, and unconventional. The words are lyrics from the song Sexy Back by Justin Timberlake. I was being facetious, because her bathing suit is far from sexy.

I made the second one because the young woman’s face haunted me, so I had to use her. She looked very sad. I ended up thinking of the song Cruel Summer by Bananarama, and imagined her being sad over a temporary separation from her lover, and being alone on the beach. The words are lyrics from that song.

A thank you goes to Marie for telling me how she made the bubbles in her Art Creations Friday – Forever blowing bubbles artwork. I’m not using the same program as she is, but I was able to figure out how to do it in GIMP. She’s part of a group starting a new challenge, The Three Muses, so you can check out their site if you want to learn more about it.

"Dreams"

This week’s Thank God It’s Friday challenge number 88 was “Dreams.” I created a 6x4 inch size postcard showing a woman having various symbolic dreams throughout the night.

"Dragonflies and Butterflies"

This week’s Tag It On challenge was “Dragonflies and Butterflies.” Most of the images I used are free samples from Dover Publications. I did something a little different this week, and glued a back to it, too.

"Egypt" - ATC

This week’s Think Monday – Think ATC challenge was “Egypt.” This is one of my favorite themes. My ATC is 2.5 x 3.5 inches, and I used 96 pixels/inch.