It Has Been Too Long

Hello everybody ~ I hope you are all doing well! I can't believe that I haven't blogged here since May. Our summer was a very busy one, and then with both of my kids (now adults!) starting up at college the early Fall was quite busy too.

I have been doing a lot of new artwork - and will start posting some of it today. I do feel that since my last post in May I have begun to create art a little differently. Taking it to new layers - creating a foundation image, and then layering and layering until the piece finally, I feel, has its own voice and can speak to its viewer. Perhaps its message will be different for each person - I assume that it will be - for we bring to each image we are viewing our own perceptions, expectations, memories, etc.

I do hope that you will like my new pieces ~ please feel free to make comments, constructive criticism, etc. and possibly let me know what, if anything, these little offerings might say to you.

So, I will get some images together to post, and am also planning on creating a whole new "look" to the blog - something fresh and welcoming - because I want you to enjoy your visits here. Hugs to everyone!!! Peggi

Hummingbird

Two combined and altered public domain photos...

Jasmine

Altered public domain photo of jasmine...

Take a Word Challenge - Memories

Here is my entry for the Take a Word challenge this week. I am excited to be hostessing this week's theme, Memories. Recently I have been doing a lot of reading about the life of Mary Pickford and I decided that I would base my collage around these two images of her as a young actress. The images were found through a Yahoo image search; the photo of the old French lace and linens was taken by me, and the French postcard and script are from the Flickr Collage Images group. I colorized the collage in Photoshop and added the flowers in Paint Shop Pro. Thank you again, Marie for allowing me the honor of providing the image for this week's challenge. Please stop by the Take a Word blog to see entries from all of the participating artists this week..... =) xxoo

Steampunk ATC for CS Swap

Geesh! I have gotten behind on everything ... finally finished this up for an ATC swap at Creative Souls. I hope my swap partner likes it (and forgives me for being a tad bit late). Sending love and good thoughts to everyone in Blogland! xxoo

Spring ...

Digital Collage

Angels

Cleo

Colorized and altered photo of Cleo de Merode.

Untitled Abstract Mixed Media Collage

Gypsy II

Digital Collage. Background by SkeletalMess; Dolores Costello courtesy of flickr; and colorized in PSP and PS.

New Etsy Shop and Blog Buttons

These are just samples ... please copy the ones on the right margin to link directly to the shop and the blog. Thank you! xo

Marie (pink)

This digital collage measures 8 X 10 inches, and is for sale as an instant download in my Etsy shop, AJoyfulStudio, for only $10.00 ~ I've already had a lot of interest in the other ones I did, so if you want one please hurry! xo

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The Seeker

Digital collage Textures courtesy of Shadowhouse Creations

New Item for Sale in My Etsy Shop

Newly listed, with more to come soon. Digital downloads for 9 separate ATCs, featuring vintage beauties Cleo de Merode, Maude Fealy, and Dolores Costello. Please visit my Etsy shop regularly to see what's been added, and let me know if you have any questions. Thanks! xo

For the Take a Word Challenge - Blooms

Here is my entry for this week's challenge at the Take a Word Challenge blog; the theme is "blooms". For this piece I combined a photograph of the beautiful Dolores Costello (flickr images), with a postcard (also flickr images) and did some layering and colorizing in Paint Shop Pro and Photoshop. Please visit Take a Word to see more artwork by the many talented participating artists. Wishing everyone a beautiful week ahead! xo

For the Sunday Postcard Art Challenge - White

Here is my submission for this week's Sunday Postcard Art Challenge - the theme is "white". The ballerina image is courtesy of e-vint.com; texture from Shadowhouse Creations; hyacinth photo from flickr; and I colorized, combined and altered everything in PSP and PS.

Please be sure and check out SPA for more white submissions this week =) xo

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Some New Art

Feeling a little down and slow due to the weather, I think - I wish that spring would come in full force ... the flowers and trees were already full of blossoms and then it snowed, and now we have more snow expected tomorrow. But, I don't mean to gripe - I'm sure that spring will get here in due time. Perhaps the weather is why my art is a little bit darker this week, I don't know but I'm okay with it. It all balances out, and balance is always a good thing =) xxoo

~I Dreamt I Dwelt In Marble Halls~

Last Year's Flowers

A photo I took in our backyard - altered in PSP and PS ... hope we get lots of these little beauties this year =)

For the Echo Challenge - Flight

For the Echo challenge ~ the topic is Flight. Please visit the

Flickr Group to see more photos =)

Textures are courtesy of Shadowhouse Creations; photos taken by me, at home, on Christmas morning 2010

Remembering ...

These days are always difficult - it was five years ago today that my wonderful father passed away. He had been ill for quite a long time, with prostate cancer, and we all knew that his time here on earth was almost finished. We had lost my mom six years earlier on Mother's Day to lung cancer, but Dad had stayed busy and remained upbeat, his silly wonderful self, up until the last few days of his life.

I did this picture last night - I don't know why, but I was compelled to look back over my blog during 2006 and earlier, and read some of the comments Dad had left on here. He was such an encouraging person - if he knew you had an interest in something he would go out and buy you tons of books, or supplies, etc. on the subject and give them to you. He was always interested in learning something new, and he is actually the person who got me interested in photography to begin with. Anyway, when I came across the photo of these flowers I knew I wanted to use them in a collage. I remember the day my mom and I bought them - they were to go on her piano, and they did, and they were lovely!

To say I miss my mom and dad would be quite an understatement. They were my friends, my cheerleaders, they believed in me and always encouraged my interest in art. So this photo is for both of them, with much love ...

Flower Princess

Digital collage ...

Another way to look at loss ...

Perhaps God is a poet
Who writes with words
Of flesh and bone and leaf and flower.
Every hour of every day
Words pour out of the poet's heart,
...And every word is beautiful
And true and worth telling.
And when each poem is perfect,
And there is no more which ought to be said,
The poet gently takes the words
Back into his heart, where
They are safe forever ~
And then begins again.

Author Unknown

Lady With Rose

Digital Collage - image of lady with rose courtesy of The Sum of All Crafts blog.

Venetian

Images courtesy of Creative Commons on Flickr ~ created in Paint Shop Pro. xo

Sisters

Digital collages ...

Good Muse

Thankfully I was visited by my long lost muse last night and was inspired to create some new pieces =) It wasn't a very good week for creating any art, I just felt overwhelmed and emotional, and tired and cranky. But not anymore ~ there's a hint of spring in the air, and all is well =) Happy weekend sweet blogging friends! xxoo

JOAN BAEZ "Sweet Sir Galahad" - Woodstock69

Starry Starry Night

Remembering my dearest friend who passed away two years ago tomorrow ~ your song ...

One World One Heart ~ And the winner is ........

All good things must end, or so they say ... and Thursday was the final day for One World One Heart =( It has been such a fantastic blog event to take part in, and I have met so many wonderful and talented people and made many new friends; I've visited more than one hundred blogs - and still wasn't able to visit them all! Many hours well spent, to be sure =) I want to say a BIG thank you to Lisa, for hosting this event again ~ it wouldn't have been the huge success it was if it weren't for your commitment and energy (and amazing organizational skills!).



But now, the time has come to announce the winner of my giveaway. I used the online random generator, and ... DRUM ROLL PLEASE ... {thank you!} the winner is ........... DEIRDRA DOAN!!!!!!! Deirdra, I will be emailing you shortly for your mailing info. Congratulations! And thank you so much to all who dropped in and left messages ~ it has been a pleasure getting to know you! xxoo

A new (companion) blog

Hi everyone!

I recently started participating in the Digital Whisper 100 Theme Challenge. I've set up a companion blog so I can post the collages for that challenge in a separate place. Here are the two pieces I've created so far, "Solitude" and "White", and the link to my other blog can be found on the right hand side bar. I'd love it if you'd stop by and take a peek. I just love all these wonderful challenges: Three Muses, Take a Word, Theme Thursday, etc. - I know now I will never be bored again LOL

Hugs to all =)

Apparition ~ Digital Collage

For the Take a Word Challenge - Blackbird

My submission for the Take a Word Challenge this week - the topic is "blackbird". To create this image I used a photo of the lovely lady courtesy of Izabella; the blackbird is clipart that I got from a Google search, the background embellishments are from liquidpoppy.etsy.com, the frame is from Paint Shop Pro (but I altered it a little bit), and the sheet music was from the collage image group on Flickr, I believe. Please check out all the great entries this week at the Take a Word Challenge blog! xo

For The Three Muses - Black and White

For the Three Muses Challenge this week the topic is "Black and White". I decided to once again go with my favorite silver screen actor, Tyrone Power. I combined an image of him that I purchased from eBay a while back with a picture I took of my mother's piano. I also incorporated a photo I took of old French lace, and a rose photo and handwriting (poem) I got from a Google image search. I did lots of layering and colorizing in Paint Shop Pro and Photoshop - finally I got to the point where the collage seemed to say "No more! I'm done now" =) ... so here it is. xxoo

One World One Heart 2011

It has been decided - 2011 is the fifth and final year of the One World One Heart Event. Although I wasn't able to participate in the past due to other obligations, I am so excited to be participating this year. For those of you who have not visited my blog before, my name is Peggi and I've been blogging and creating digital art since 2005. I try to create pieces that are visually interesting and varied, and I love colors and textures so you will see a lot of that in my artwork. I love vintage images too, and I often combine a bit of the past with the present to show how they relate to each other. I hope that you enjoy looking at my work and getting to know me. I am excited to visit your blogs and to learn about you, and to make lots of new blogging friends =) All active bloggers worldwide are invited to participate in OWOH. To see a list of the participants please visit this link: 2011 Participants

The event will begin at Midnight tonight, January 30th, and will end on February 17th. Please be sure to follow this link if you would like to participate or would like further information about One World One Heart 2011.

Each participating blogger provides a door prize to one random winner, selected on February 17th. My prize is actually three items combined - three different digital collage prints of my recent work, sized 8 X 10 ready for matting/framing, printed on high quality photographic paper, and signed and dated on the back (see images above).

For a chance to win, all you have to do is leave a comment on this post between midnight tonight and February 17th, with a way for me to email you if you win and so that I can visit your blog. That's all there is to it =) I will email the winner and will post their name here at the end of the event. Good luck to all the participants! I look forward to getting to know you. Many thanks to Lisa Swifka for organizing each of the One World One Heart events ~ what a truly special lady she is!

For the Take a Word Challenge - Vintage

This week, for the Take a Word Challenge, Marie has given me the opportunity to be Guest Artist. And the topic is Vintage - hooray! I always love taking part in these weekly challenges. The prompts never fail to put me into a creative frame of mind, and I love meeting the other artists and seeing what wonderful creations they come up with. Please stop by the challenge blog today and have a look. Thank you again, Marie! xo

Credits: e-vint.com for the image of the lady; liquidpoppy.etsy.com for the frame embellishments; old French handwriting sample that I had on hand, and Paint Shop Pro and Photoshop for the colorizing and texturizing tools.

For the Take a Word Challenge - Botanical

This week for the Take a Word challenge, our prompt was "botanical" - one of my favorite subjects =) To make this collage I used an image of Maude Fealy which I've had for a while, and found some botanical images on the Flickr Collage Images page. I colorized the image in PSP and Photoshop. Be sure and stop by the Take a Word blog to see more entries - there are lots of gorgeous submissions this week =)

For Theme Thursday - Love

For Theme Thursday this week we are to make an art piece relating to love. Being the sentimental girly-girl that I am (yes, sad but true =) , my favorite movie of all time was the 1938 version of Marie Antoinette with Tyrone Power and Norma Shearer as the doomed lovers Count Axel von Fersen and MA. To create this collage I used images from my stash that I have had on hand for some time (including the MA print which I got from eBay about 10 years ago) ... say what you want about Tyrone Power, but he was IMHO the original 20th Century Fox!

For the Take a Word Challenge - Butterflies

For the Take a Word Challenge this week the subject is Butterflies - ya gotta love 'em =) My image was created using butterfly picture tubes from Paint Shop Pro, and an image of Maude Fealy that was in my "stash". I colorized the image with Photoshop and PSP. To see more butterfly images please visit the Take a Word Challenge ... xo

For the Three Muses Challenge - Old Fashioned

For the Three Muses Challenge this week, the prompt is "Old Fashioned" - one of my very favorite art subjects. So I went ahead and created this digital collage ATC - the fashion plate is a digital image I've had on file for several years and never used, and the frames are from Paint Shop Pro X2. The lace accents and vintage handwriting are also from my "digital reserve". Be sure and stop by the Three Muses Challenge blog to see all the wonderful entries. xxoo