A Few Festive Photos

Well...I have been knocked into the slowest of slow lanes recovering from gallbladder surgery...but my pal, Kim, has been cheering me up with her recent brushes she offered in the Test Kitchen and other fun places.

In the corner of the eat-in kitchen...I set up a very simple branch in an oversized glass brandy snifter and some sand.  A simple decorative touch...

I made this little brush by combining the words with the sprigs Kim provided.

And made this with Kim's vine heart brush and text overlay.

And what's not to love about Kim's "jingle all the way" brush?

So, although I'm laid up...amazing how you can create with your feet up, letting your nail polish dry, and a laptop nearby.

Thank you to all who have encouraged me this week with your texts and prayers!

An Old Building ~ Texture Tuesday

Out and about on Sunday...roaming rural Ohio with camera next to me on the front seat...I found this great old building...

I'm not sure what it had been...or what it is now...as you can see there's a light on the landing. Regardless...it's perfect for Texture Tuesday.

This is a black and white version with layer of Kim's distressed 2 at Linear Burn blend mode at 66%.

From a front view with a layer of Kim's allard at Color Burn blend mode at 65%  Brush used from Shadowhouse Creations.

Nice grungy, vintage looks...almost haunting!

Have a terrific Tuesday!

What Season Is It?

Linking up with Texture Tuesday with Kim and Tuesday Muse over at A Rural Journal...

And wondering what season is this...????

I see summer fading...days of darker mornings and the sun lower in the sky setting earlier.  Climate becoming more temperate...crisp blue skies...cool evenings and open windows.

Then today it is 94 degrees...hot, muggy, humid...blech!  Definitely not feeling summer fading...

And definitely not feeling Fall...

But alas, by the weekend we'll be lucky to reach beyond 60 degrees.

Gotta love northeast Ohio weather!

A New Effect - Friday Finds!

Back at Kim Klassen's Friday Finds today...this week I found and practiced a new technique...a coloring book techqniue...

These photos are from Jackson's Mill, the childhood home of Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson...

This cabin on the property is that of my 5th great-grandfather, Henry McWhorter...

This was part of the lesson from Linda Sattgast's Art of Blending...using filters, masks, and blendings.

Can you tell I think this new found trick is a ton of fun?

Blending Anyone?

I've been taking a class by Linda Sattgast of Digital Scrapper.  While I have learned so much from my guru, Kim Klassen...I was interested in seeing what other things I could learn from another source.  It's been eight weeks (and STILL not done) and it has been a wonderful learning process.

I learned how to make a texture by combining color and other textures...FUN!

Our homework was to create a texture and then add it to a photo...

This is the texture I made using a pale yellow-green base, then added three textures:  one of Styrofoam, one of distressed wood, and one of metal in various blend modes.

This is the original photo...not remarkable... (This is a veterans' chapel at our local oldest, active cemetery...lots of history here!)

But then some edits and desaturation...and then add the texture I created...

MAGIC!!!  (Kinda Gothic...remember Dark Shadows?)

Such fun!  And I had to create a folder of textures that I have created...so far I have a grand total of one!

Takin' It To The Streets - Sans the Doobie Brothers

I'm a little behind in my Beyond Beyond course...but I took it to the streets today!  Kim challenged us to take our camera out around people...and snap some candids...

So Edster, Arthur, and I wend down to the Cuyahoga Valley today for a Sunday road trip...

Indulge me for a second here...

You have to see how Arthur takes road trips...NO not in the back...ALMOST in the driver's seat...

With his head out the window...as if he could fly.

So we headed to Szalay's...which I knew would be hoppin' on a Sunday afternoon.  It's a produce farm known particularly for their great sweet corn...and have other attractions.  Very folksy!

I was amused by this young lad's despair...then became envious that my age doesn't allow me to squat like this anymore and get up gracefully!

There was a wonderful saxophone player making jazz with glorious style.

But THIS is Szalay's!  Buying a hot, roasted, buttery ear in the hull...and enjoying its succulent goodness!

Arthur had to settle for ice cream...life is tough...

The simple life is SO good!

Furry Friends for Day 25

Well, Kim wanted us to try something different this week in Beyond Beyond.

No stills...

           No flowers...

                     No landscapes...

Today it is our furry friends!

I'm biased...it has to be my Arthur.  I took this shot early evening today.  I desaturated the image after some editing in Lightroom and then added a white, feathered vignette.

He FINALLY stopped in one place panting...after trying to herd our boxer, Bruno.  What Bruno has in size and weight, Arthur is low to the ground and can nip those ankles of Bruno.  They are a hoot to watch!

Now, Arthur's favorite place is under our bed.  It's where he sleeps.  It's also where he puts and protects his Milkbone stash.  Bruno sometimes is aloof, even though they get their Milkbones at the same time.  He's looking the other way and off goes Arthur with his and Bruno's bone in his mouth, stashing it under the bed in the middle...and guards it!

And at times...when something is discovered...USUALLY one of my flip flops are missing and I know he has it...he hides under the bed.  He thinks if he can't see me...I can't see him.  But that nose ALWAYS gives him away...

What a joy he is to our household!

Latest Pages - Beyond Beyond

It's been awhile since I did any scrapping pages of my work in Kim Klassen's Beyond Beyond...and my challenge from Viv Halliwell to scrapbook each work so I have 52 pages of work done all year...

In case you don't remember, this is a year-long course of inspiration, photography challenges, and editing tutorials...a continuation in some ways...of Beyond Layers, which I participated in last year.

Day 7 (Week 7) - We were given this image...here is the original...

and edit it with our own interpretation...possibly had text.

Day 8 (Week 8, actually) had two different lessons.  This was my work on editing with a matte finish on my photos...

The second lesson that week was about making chalkboard images in Photoshop.

Day 9 (Week 9) is about having fun with type...typing on shapes, et al.  This was a super fun lesson!!!

I have not done Day 10 (Week 10)...but I have a whole year...but  Day 11 (Week 11) was about gathering items of similar colors (I chose pink) and make a storyboard.  Another fun lesson!

Day 12 (Week 12) was about taking a color photo and tinting it with a shade in Lightroom 4.  Arthur steals the show!

Day 13 (Week 13) had two parts...I've yet to complete the second part (I was on vacation for goodness sake and started Kat Sloma's course).  We were taught out to take picture fonts and color them...turning them into stamps to use over.

Day 14 (Week 14) showed how we could take a "portrait" orientation photo (which really looks long on a blog) and add a wide border and text to make it more landscape or square.  Great idea!

Now...what will Day 15 bring?

A Sense of Style - A Sense of Place

I've been lavished with the grace of a week in remote West Virginia, with Edster, Bruno, and yes, Arthur's first vacation and trip to this amazing state.

In editing some photos to give a Sense of Place, as challenged by Kat Sloma, of Sutton, West Virginia...I found a certain style emerging that appealed to me.  I hinted at it on the Groupies of Kim Klassen facebook page...

But I want to hear from you...by viewing these before and after photos...

I'm drawn to a lighter, hint of details kind of look...where it doesn't scream "photograph"...

Not sure if this will become "my style"...but dying to hear what you think...

Before

After

A bicycle on the porch...and I can just hear a boy dropping his bike, running through the front door hurriedly and yelling, "Mom!"

Before

After

Does this swing not call your name?

Before

After

So...I'm not certain if this is part of a trend...or a creative breakthrough...or nothing really that special...

My full sense of place of Sutton will be posted in the next day...

What fun!

A Happy Ending - The Battlefield of the Mind - Day 14

As I close this series, we are in the days where we ponder the last days of Christ before His death...and return to life...

I have come across a verse in Scripture that has been quite perplexing.  It says,

But we have the mind of Christ.

I Corinthians 2:16b (ESV)

What does this mean?  I found this explanation from Joyce Meyer* quite interesting:

If we have His mind, we will think positive thoughts. We will think about how blessed we are--how good God has been to us.

Jesus was positive, in spite of being lied about, lonely, misunderstood, and a multitude of other negative things. He was deserted by His disciples when He needed them most, yet He remained positive--always able to offer an uplifting, encouraging word. Just being in His presence would suggest that all fear, negative thoughts, and discouraging hopelessness would evaporate into thin air.

The mind of Christ in us is positive. So when we fall for the opportunity to be negative about something, we should instantly discern that we are not operating with the mind of Christ. God wants us to be lifted up. It's the enemy of our soul who wants us pressed down--depressed. We have many opportunities to think negative thoughts, but that's not the mind of Christ at work in us. We don't have to accept those thoughts. They are not ours!

*This does not mean the owner of this blog agrees with every theological position of this author.

But between the impact of watching The Bible this month, going through this study, and an experience last night...I have had a personal revelation.

Last night, Edster and I went to a Good Friday service to hear Alexander Adelson and his wife, Svetlana, Messianic Jewish missionaries to Tel Aviv, Israel.  Alexander was born in Russia; his wife born in Ukraine.   They serve through the organization of Jews for Jesus.  They believe the Lord called them to Israel as 1.2 million Jews from the former Soviet Union live there now.

He demonstrated how the Passover feast points to Jesus...with great symbolism and a wealth of history of each element.  I saw how at the Last Supper, recorded in Scripture, we see only one part of the Passover meal...but after learning of the entire Passover ceremony, I was humbled at the meaning of the cup of the wine and bread...and the brokenness of the Passover Lamb on my behalf.

If a God would send His precious Son...who uplifted, healed, encouraged and truly understood those He came to save...to be broken, be abused, endure character annihilation, be abandoned...to redeem me...to ransom me...at such a price...how can I be anything less than deeply valued and precious?  How...now convinced that God must see me through His eyes is incredible...forgiven, clean, and ransomed...can I entertain any thoughts or ruminations that say otherwise?

Thank you, Jesus, for deeming me worthy of Your sacrifice, Your vulnerability, Your love, Your passion, Your compassion, Your forgiveness.

Help me to be victorious in this battlefield of the mind...

Remind me of Whose I am...

And may my behavior and thought life be indicative that I truly do have the mind of Christ.