Pumpkin Art

This time of year I love painting pumpkins.

and while I'm at it, I love creating patterns for some fabric.

Have a Great Pumpkin day.

Inspiration Boards and Words of Inspiration

I have been sketching, printing and designing all kinds of inspiration boards.

This fabric started as a photo,

Then I used photoshop elements and lots of layers to produce a fabric design, which I then printed by Spoonflower.

I covered a canvas bulletin board with the fabric and had it professionally framed.

I just a had to add some Inspiration Board Jewelry and decorative pushpins.  I have been making rosettes from Vintage flower petals designed for millinery with a large upholstery pin for the center.  Finding tassels to match the boards and all kinds of wonderful notions that might add just the right embellishment.

So, now my new shop I call A WORD OF INSPIRATION is open.

My plan is to add BAGS OF INSPIRATION by theme to help make inspiration boards sparkle.

Inspiration Boards and New Designs

I have been working on lots of new fabric designs. Click on the image below to see it in fabric:


This is an inspiration board that I used to show my original photograph and then using layers to create this design I call Parisian Shadows.  I am using Photoshop Elements 9

The Sketchbook Challenge

My friend Karen from Creativity Cake told me about The Sketchbook Challenge.

The project began on January 1, 2011.  Each month there is a theme.

This month the theme is OPPOSITES.

There is a wonderful group of women hosting the challenge and offering tips, tutorials, and techniques.  There are also prizes awarded from some pretty amazing sponsors.

The Sketchbook challenge blog has a wonderful post about The Sketch-In.



When I saw the theme for February, I knew just what I would sketch, then using ink and watercolor...




My Underwood Vintage typewriter and my Apple iPad.



Little did I know when I used to type on my manual typewriter using correct-a-type...



that someday I would be working on an Apple iPad.

So, my entry for February OPPOSITES is...

An Apple iPad and a Vintage Underwood typewriter.  If you would like to join in for sketching fun, just click HERE.

The song for this post always makes me happy, just like sketching with my paintbrush.  Mindy Gledhill sings Anchor.

Photoshop Techniques

I just joined Kim Klassen's skinny-mini Photoshop class. I am having so much fun, that I also joined her on-going workshop with backgrounds called The Test Kitchen.

I think I am in love with backgrounds. Kim is amazing.  Here I have enhanced the photo even further.

In the illustration above, Kim teaches you how to use her lovely backgrounds and use words.

Paris Dreams

I love sketching a portrait



and then using digital magic to refine the look.



I remember the Breck Girls, which were lovely renderings of girls with lovely hair for Breck Shampoo.



Back in the 1966 I went to the Guggenheim museum to see the famous Andy Warhole exhibit.



Andy Warhole would probably be lost in the world of Photoshop if he were alive today.

The word Paris is from The Graphics Fairy.

My Vintage Runway

For quite sometime I have been getting back to my first love, fashion illustration.

Every now and then I'll get out a fashion magazine like I did at Seventeen,

and sketch away.

Most recently I went to the Boston Museum of Fine Art and saw two gorgeous exhibits about Vintage fashion.

I wrote a post about my visit to the museum and links at my other blog, A Scrapbook of Inspiration.

I was reminded of all the wonderful dresses that I wore Once upon a time.