A New Kind of Puzzle

Many hours of my life have been spent putting together puzzles. It all started as a young child and continued until a few years ago. But now I'm doing a different kind of puzzles--scrapbook artistry. 

Each kit that I purchase contains a variety of pieces that need to be put together to create an amazing picture. It is so much fun to see what finally emerges.


Take a look at some of the new puzzles I've put together.

• A Glimpse of Spring

From This

To This

• Flora and Fauna

    From This

To This

• Venezia Bundle

From This

To This

• Lasting Presence

   From This

To This

How much fun is that? And it allows for my creative side to express itself, which goes beyond just putting pieces together to form another person's ideas.

Check out the lovely things at oscraps.com by Lynne Anzelc Designs. You will be amazed at all the lovely things she has for you to let your creativity soar.

Coloring Book Craze

Many years ago as a child, an exciting day was when I got a new box of crayons and a coloring book. 

Now I relive those happy moments with gel pens, colored pencils and an adult coloring book thanks to a special friend's Christmas present.

Who would have thought that coloring for adults would become so popular and also so addictive. It has become my evening's entertainment while listening to TV.

Here are some things I've colored.

• Gel Pens

• Gel Pens and Colored Pencils

• Computer

Besides books for purchase, there are many freebies. I have enough things to color to last a very long time.

Have you tried you hand at this latest craze? Just remember that it is addictive, but also relaxing and therapeutic.

Watercolor Effect

I'm always looking for new ways to make creative pictures. Have been wanting to do a watercolor effect. Yeah! Found it on YouTube. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q79j_Eg_1Ww

This same process can be done in either Photoshop or Elements. So easy and fun to do.

• Scrapbooking Kits

• Photos

Now it's your turn. Give it a try.

Digital Scrapbooking Techniques

There are so many different techniques that can be applied to digital scrapbooking pages that help to give a creative flair. Here are some examples of three of those.

• Using elements from a purchased kit

• Working with a template

• Adding photos

Whichever technique you use, or a combination, digital scrapbooking allows for a great amount of flexibility and creativity. Have some fun and give it a try.

Processing Ingredients

Doing something creative raises the level of enjoyment for me. Working with several software programs, photographs and digital scrapbooking materials open up a world of possibilities for artistic endeavors.

When cooking, a variety of ingredients go into coming up with an edible dish. Some people use a recipe and others just wing it.

When doing art, I tend to wing it, until I like it. But it takes several ingredients and various tries to get there.

Final Result:

Now for the various ingredients:

1. Created a background in ArtRage with the watercolor brush and the palette knife.

2. Did the remainder of the project in Photoshop Elements. Choose a texture from the many that I have. Especially like the ones from Lenabem-Anna J on Flickr.

3. Added a frame from OnOne software.

4. Decided which digital scrapbooking materials to use. I chose "Harvest Time" from Digital Scrapbooking Studio. Wanted a fall look.

5. Found a quote I liked. Then added the text. When all the ingredients are right, it comes together in an amazing way.

I like the variety of using various resources, but you don't have to go through all that to make a lovely, creative piece of art. See what you can do and have FUN!!!

Learning ArtRage Tools

Artists use a variety of tools to create their art pieces. Just so, in ArtRage there are several tools to work with. I have been experimenting. So far my favorite is the palette knife. It has five varieties of knives--flat, edge, soft, blur and wet. Then within each of those, there are a number of settings. The possibilities go on and on. And that is only one of the many tools.

I started with this from one of my scrapbooking papers. It had such nice fall colors.

With the palette knife, I was able to add texture. That is a look I especially like.

Then added some elements and created a couple of pictures.

Such fun!!!