Great Halloween idea

Niel Gaiman is one of my favorite authors (Stardust, Coraline, The Graveyard Book, Good Omens and many more) and I came across this wonderful idea that he is promoting.  Hope you enjoy the idea and particapate.

Enjoy

☺☺☺Johnina☺☺☺

They make great Christmas gifts, too

Give away #3 Animal stickers

My computer is back. Yes!!  Had to take it back.  Boo!! Hiss!!  Now I have a computer that works so much better in spite of the frustration of getting it fixed.  First I had to take it down because it was s--l--o--w and frustrating, overheating, but put it off cuz I didn't want to be without my computer no matter how frustrating it was getting.  Then the touch pad was no longer functioning properly and sometimes the cursor wouldn't move and I would have to restart.  Kind of hard to use a computer in that condition so to the Geek Squad it went. 

They backed it up, wiped it clean, reinstalled Windows, took it apart and cleaned out the dust and it worked amazing better.  However I had to reload programs and then data but could not get my one computer, one use programs  to reinstall.  Considering this included MS Works and my anti-virus program this was a serious problem.  I also tried to reinstall my photos onto my computer and then couldn't pull them up on my editing programs another big problem for me.  Back to the Geek Squad again.  They were able to fix all these problems and I am now back in business; however I was without a computer that was set up for me for quite a while.  I had to borrow a computer to put up the posts for the last week or so.  Unfortunately this has slowed down getting my themed sticker sheets out to my winners.

Above is the sheet for SheWhoSeeks; she choose animals as her theme as she like the frog on the bottom of the first sheet of stickers (see my post on Giveaway #3.  These photos were taken of critters from my garden and the Atlanta zoo.  Hope she enjoys.

The give aways for those I heard back from will be going out Monday as I had to re-install my printer, too and then the ink needs to dry before they can be sent. Helpful tip: when you print in color on an ink jet printer the ink needs to dry and cure for 24 hours before it can even be stacked much less shipped.  It has taken longer to do this than I had expected but they are going out as quick as I could get them out

Even though I am still reinstalling programs and getting things set up like I want, I'm back.  Thanks for you patience

Enjoy

☺☺☺Johnina☺☺☺

  

Climbing tree

We are down to one car for three drivers, so in order to get everyone to work I had to be on the road early today.  It gave me a wonderful opportunity to photograph the sunrise someplace else besides across the street.  This tree stands outside of where my husband works.  He loves this tree and would put it in our yard if it was possible.  Such a good climbing tree; a young boys climbing fantasy.  It also has great character and in the early morning light and combined with the steet lights what a delightfully graphic quality it exudes.

Serendipity strikes again

Have a wonderful day

Enjoy

☺☺☺Johnina☺☺☺

Insomnia strikes again

“See how nature - trees, flowers, grass - grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence...we need silence to be able to touch souls.”

Mother Teresa of Calcutta A couple of nights ago, I woke in the middle of the night; nothing real unusual  about that. Occasionally when this happens I get photo ops that I would normally never get; and this time was one of those times.  This particular photo is also thanks to Rascal, who normally sleeps quietly through the night, but this night he had to go, bad, and was whining to go out.  There was this wonderful moon outside, just a sliver but the night was so crisp and clear even the dark side was visible.  I just had to try to capture that image, through adjusting the aperture and exposure, putting the camera on a tripod and using the delayed timer I was able to capture this photo.  Not perfect but pretty good considering I only have a bridge camera. I wish I had the words to convey the wonderfulness of that night.   Crisp, clean, clear Air surrounding me- Profound silence Blanketing me- Only an owl Occasionally Quietly hooting- Peace enveloping me. Wonderful awakening Enjoy ☺☺☺Johnina☺☺☺



Frost on the Pumpkin

We had our first frost of the fall yesterday.  The appearance of the 'frost on the pumpkin'.  Since I don't have my pictures and I don't have any pumpkin pictures anyway, I decided to just have some fun and draw a pumpkin for you.  It's been a while since I've done any drawing but zentangle; I'm a little rusty.  I had fun doing the drawing and experimenting with my watercolor pencils and colored pencils.  This is not best work but it is bright and cheerful so I decided to post it anyway.

While I was out walking the dog this morning, yet another frosty morning, I noticed the frost patterns on the roof of my neighbor's house.  I thought they were kind of interesting and graphic in nature.  I then noticed the roof on my house and how very different mine looked.

Apparently the house next door has some heat leaks in their attic, which caused the patterns on the roof.  Our roof was solid in color indicating no leaks.  Pay attention here, whether you are a DIY kind of person or not; if you want to know how well your attic insulation is working, go out on a frosty morning and photograph your roof so you know where you need extra insulation.  I wish I could hire myself out to the contractors in our area to do this, but I'm sure if I give them this idea, they will just do it themselves. 

I hope you enjoyed seeing my frosty mornings from my point of view (I don't have much in the way of editing programs on my husbands computer) even with just basic editing and maybe you can use this idea to help with your heating bills this winter.

Enjoy

☺☺☺Johnina☺☺☺

BTW I did get my computer back today but it is like a brand new computer, no programs but what comes with the computer and no data.  It was all backed up on an external harddrive, but I still have to put it back on my computer.  They completely wiped my computer and physically took the computer apart to get any dust or whatever from the inside, so basically I do indeed have a new computer.  It will however take a little while for me to get it back and up in running so please be patient.  ♥Johnina♥

So Sorry

Once again my computer is down and out and this time my touch pad on my laptop has stopped working correctly which makes the computer a little hard to use. Plus it was overheating, the cord was even overheating and the backup battery was dieing. So into the shop it went.  Good timing, my warranty runs out Nov 4.  Hopefully all will get fixed quickly and my computer will run better all the way around.   My pictures are on my computer so it will be a couple of days before I can finish with the sticker pages for my giveaway.  So sorry.

Enjoy

my picture from off my hubbies computer.

be back soon.

☺☺☺Johnina☺☺☺

Carlyn's flower stickers

Carlyn of Crafting with style has gotten back to me and chose the theme of flowers for the 2nd set of stickers she won.  I tried to choose a variety of flowers both from my garden and some wild ones.  There is even one taken at night using shutter speed to take the photo instead of a flash.

Enjoy

☺☺☺Johnina☺☺☺

Sticker winner is:

These are the stickers to be given away and after the winner lets me know what theme they would like )see http://young-eclectic-encounters.blogspot.com/2011/09/give-away-3-photo-stickers.html.  I will be posting their personally selected photo stickers.

Using a random number generator the winner is

Gypsywomen (http://gypsywomanworld.blogspot.com/)

Since I had so many entries I decided to give a second prize and the random number generator picked

Carlyn (http://craftingwithstyle.blogspot.com/)

And since Debra entered more times than anyone else and entered in all three ways;  I have decided to give her a third prize

Debra (http://shewhoseeks.blogspot.com/)

Congratulations to all; I'll be contacting you shortly or you can leave a comment here with your chosen theme

Enjoy

♥♥♥Johnina♥♥♥

Feed my soul

I have had a very tough week and it has been extremely difficult to keep on being just a tad annoyed.  It has reached the point were the word ridiculous is applicable to the number of things that have gone wrong for me.  One night I started to bed at 7:30 because so many things had gone wrong that day that I just didn't want to continue on that trend, better and easier to just go to bed than to continue on with frustrating mistakes and no accomplishments being made because of them.

Since today was Sunday I decided to slow down and feed my soul.  One of the best ways for me to do that is to listen to inspiring music.

This is one of my favorites.

Enjoy

♥♥♥Johnina♥♥♥

Just too cool

I couldn't believe it when I saw this.  What an amazing idea!!!  There is a flickr group dedicated to pictures taken by throwing your camera up in the air and hopefully catching it and seeing what kind of photo turns out.  Of course this is done with an old camera your don't care about but it is kind of funky an fun to see.  Wouldn't they just love this camera ball?  This goes on my 'Oh what fun if I could afford it' list.

 Enjoy

☺☺☺Johnina☺☺☺
PS Remember today is the last day to enter my sticker giveaway.  See http://young-eclectic-encounters.blogspot.com/2011/09/give-away-3-photo-stickers.html for details.

A New Attitude

I was angry really angry and probably had every right to be so, but I found that because I was angry and thinking angry thoughts; I was not treating the people I was dealing with very well.  I needed to change my thoughts and the way I was talking to myself.  So I thought how can I change I am angry to a better way to talk to myself.  First I changed to I am annoyed, next I added I am a tad annoyed.  Much softer way to think.  Isn't tad a wonderful word; I looked it up in the dictionary and it means ' a small or insignificant amount or degree'.  I added temporarily to the sentence but that was just to much so I went back to I am a tad annoyed. Much better way to think; it helps put out the fire of my anger and puts things into perspective.  It allows me to correct the problem without taking my anger out on those who caused the problem or those who are trying to help me.

I learned these tricks for changing my attitude by changing the way I talk to myself from reading Anthony Robbins ('Unlimited Power') and James Allen ('As a Man Thinketh') and the scriptures- Proverbs 23:7 "For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he."

Enjoy your day
☺☺☺Johnina☺☺☺

Learning by doing and a little serendipity

.It still amazes me when serendipity steps in and blesses your life in unexpected ways.  I have been wanting to try my hand at Artist Trading Cards (ATC) and had been looking for a good trading site when I found Swapbot.  It turned out that Swapbot not only helps facilitate ATC trades. but other types of arts and crafts trades, also.  They also facilitate pen-paling.  Not only am I learning about ATC's and thoroughly enjoying it but in seeing how others do their art I am learning new methods and styles.  Some of the sponsored swaps even come with tutorials so you can learn and swap of equal value.  Some of what I have learned is new and different ways of using my art and sharing the joy it brings me.  One of my discovers was in Mail art; in seeing how others did their mail art I took it a step sideways and started using stickers (see photo).  I tried different methods and papers but now I use address labels to make my envelope stickers.  The 2x4 size Avery (48363) address label  is great and so is using the Avery (25395) self adhesive name badges.

. However one of the greatest things I've learned is the art of writing a good letter.  There is a knack to it; to make it enjoyable to both you and your reader.  In todays world of text messaging and short e-mails, this artform has been largely lost.  From recieving and writing letters from those I trade with I am developing that skill.  Just like in doing a blog I have learned to express myself better (still learning) by doing and seeing others blogs ( I go back and read my early posts and wow what a difference) With pen paling, writing is on a different level.  I am now learning to more effectively communicate with others and especially my grandchildren,  Since my grandchildren are growing up, living far away and most are in school, writing can now be a way to establish ties with them.  What a potential blessing this is; all because I joined Swapbot .  You just never know what blessings can come from seemingly little events in your life. SERENDIPITY at work.

On top of the things I am learning I am also gaining in friendships, double blessings. 

The photos are what I have sent on recent swaps.  The top one is 3 different swaps with 7 different people.  The bottom photo is a swap, Stuff an 6x9 envelope.  One of the nice things about this kind of swap in I can thin down my art supplies of excess and know it will be appreciated.  A new way of the old trading system.

Fun, fun

 

Enjoy

☺☺☺Johnina☺☺☺

Moonlight in daylight

These pictures were taken tonight just before sunset.  I still think it is odd to see the moon during the day even though I have seen it many times.  Tonight though I was fascinated by the moon being on the horizon and the clouds were creating interesting shadows on the moon.

For some reason It reminded me of the children's poem Bed in Summer by Robert Louis Stevenson.  Don't know why exactly, maybe because it seems odd to see the moon in the day to me, much like the child's question in this poem.

Robert Louis Stevenson

Bed in Summer

From Child's Garden of Verses

In winter I get up at night

And dress by yellow candle-light.

In summer quite the other way,

I have to go to bed by day.

I have to go to bed and see

The birds still hopping on the tree,

Or hear the grown-up people's feet

Still going past me in the street.

And does it not seem hard to you,

When all the sky is clear and blue,

And I should like so much to play,

To have to go to bed by day?

Another  Moonlight in Daylight photo taken tonight.

Have a good evening and good night

Enjoy

☺☺☺Johnina☺☺☺





Eye in the Sky

This cloud formation reminds me so much of a friendly version of  the eye from Lord of the Rings.  I was so glad that I had my camera with me this morning and all ready to shot when I saw this as I am a big fan of Lord of the Rings
I really loved the books and the movie did a wonderful job of portraying the characters and the vision of the books.  When we first bought a copy of the Fellowship of the Ring it was on VHS tape; we didn't own a DVD player yet.  Then we bought it on DVD.  Although we have yet to get Blu-ray player, the movie has been recently re-released on Blu ray, so I guess we will have to buy that version in the not to distant future.   This is one of those rare movies that lived up to the books.  I've read the books so much I wore out my first copy that I bought as a teenager.  I've read my second copy several times now. This is a true classic that never gets old.  As an artist  I've also enjoyed the books that depict how they came up with the artwork for the film.  I was amazed when I typed in Lord of the Rings on amazon at the number of items available there.  Lots to enjoy.
Below is just another sky scene that I took this morning for you to enjoy.

Enjoy
☺☺☺Johnina☺☺☺

WrittenInc makes you think

WrittenInc is one of my all time favorite blogs.  Carmi posts everyday and he always gives you something to think about.  Today's post posed the question of where do you find comfort when the world doesn't seem to offer any?  Not only does Carmi give his thoughts but the people who comment are also generous with their answers and it makes reading the comments just as thought provoking as his posts.  I left my comment there,

He also does a thematic challenge every week.  This is were his followers can post a post from their blogs depicting his theme.  This weeks thematic challenge is Autumn.

I don't very often post a special post just for his theme; I have been blogging long enough so I can find a post to fit his theme from past posts and this is acceptable for his challenge.

But as I have recently been reorganizing my photos I have come across lots of autumn photos that I don't think I have shared before so I posted on his weekly theme today.  I hope you enjoy them. 

 Happy Autumn

Enjoy

☺☺☺Johnina☺☺☺

PS click here for information on my latest giveaway. Enter and good luck

ATC's adding texture- Swapbot

I was doing an Artist trading card for a trade for Swapbot and wanted to add some texture to the background of my zentangle design.  I had seen this technique on youtube and thought I would try it.

This is my result:

My photos were not that great, but I think you can get the idea.  I love using textured backgrounds with my artwork.  I liked the way this turned out but next time I will try using more alcohol.  I used a spray bottle because of the small size of this project.  I did the first layer in pink and the second layer in purple, because those were favorite colors of my swap partner.  As you can see I added a couple of my stickers and of course I can't leave the envelope alone.  I don't send out letters or packages without them being decorated anymore.

I also did a mail art swap.  I added a letter, two stickers from my photos and blank note cards again using my photos.  I send according to my swap partners profiles.  This person likes purple, zentangle and realistic frogs.  With these swaps; I send to one person and someone else sends to me.  This is kinda cool as I get to know more artists this way.  I am also learning to use my photos in different ways.  I'm now making stickers, envelopes, and note cards.  I've got a current swap making postcards, so I'll figure out how best to do those.  I have been using my photos for more than printing up and hanging on my walls.  I've discovered more ways to enjoy my photos and to share them with others. 

I hope you have enjoyed seeing what I have been up to and it helps get your creative juices flowing.

Enjoy

☺☺☺Johnina☺☺☺

PS the give away of my stickers is still in progress scroll down to Giveaway #3 for details and good luck.

  



Disorganized organization

A couple of days ago i opened up my computer only to be greeted by the dreaded blue screen.  Fortunately I was able to start my computer without any more problems; however It reminded me that I had not backed up my photos for about a month.  When I was backing up my files I realized I really needed to organize my photos.  Yet another task that I have neglected lately.

When I was going through my photos I discovered some photos I really liked and don't think I've ever posted so just for fun I am posting just this and that photos.

Hope you

Enjoy

☺☺☺Johnina☺☺☺

PS scroll down to enter my latest give away

Give away #3

Tears in my eyes- Thank you

♥♥♥thank you, thank you, thank you ♥♥♥  
(See my last post)  This morning I got up and decided to check on Laura's wish list.  Surprise, surprise, pick myself up from the floor, more than half her list has been purchased and sent.  I have such wonderful family and friends.  It truly brought tears of gratitude to my eyes.  I don't know who sent what, but Laura will when her packages arrive and I'm sure she will tell me.  In the meantime you know who you are and I am humbled and thankful for your generosity. 
Love to all
☺☺☺Johnina☺☺☺