Art Smorgasbord - A Real One!

Greetings!  Yes, I have a real smorgasbord this week with everything from a pretty sketch/collage, to delicious meal photographs, to a cute digitally enhanced frog.  I hope you enjoy it!

The art journal page above was inspired by my mother and wife, who are both priceless women, and Proverbs 31:10, which was featured in Word Art Wednesday last week.  I began by sketching an antique drawing of a lady that I found on-line.  I've never sketched anything in this style, so it was fun.  I embellished my page with Tim Holtz tissue tape and a fleur cut with one of his dies, as well as with Art-C trading card clip art.  I am submitting this piece to Art Journal Journey - Challenge Yourself, Inspiration Avenue: Sad Girls with Flowers, Paint Party Friday: Week 10, Year 3, Three Muses - Quote, and the Twenty Minute Challenge.

The page above is dedicated to my blogging friend, Jennifer McLean, who is celebrating her birthday this week.  May she "live, laugh, and love" for many years to come!  The hand lettering in this page was inspired by Lindsay Ostrom's alphabets, and was done using Sharpie micron pens, Faber Castell Pitt Artist Pens, Prismacolor Pencils, and a paint marker.  I added a K&Company Smash flag as a finishing touch.  I am submitting this page to Artist's Play Room #57 - Birthday Art, What's On Your Workdesk? Wednesday 206, and Sunday Sketches.

I designed tag-shaped card above to test drive my two new Tim Holtz Baroque dies, as well as 4 other of Holtz dies and a Martha Stewart punch.  I used Canson Mi-Teintes for the card base, as well as burlap, 6x6" paper prints by Maryjo Koch, and up-cycled cardboard for all the collage elements.  I also used Recollections paper flowers, an Art-C fabric flower, and a K&Company Smash brad.  I punched a hole in the top center of the card, threaded a strip of organza ribbon, and tied it in place with some jute cording.  I am submitting this card to Simon Says Stamp and Show - A Little Paper, Simon Says Stamp Challenge - Flower Power, Word Art Wednesday - Challenge #80, Tag Tuesday - Letter S, and Paper Saturdays.

(Photograph before cropping for the collage.)

The two photographs above are from my wife's Mother's Day celebration last Sunday.  My daughters and I began her morning by bringing her breakfast in bed, along with her card, fresh flowers, and gifts.  (You can get other views of the card in my last post.)  Then, for lunch I prepared her a full Mexican dinner with my daughters' assistance, which included homemade salsa and chips, guacamole, queso flameado, sangria, sirloin fajitas, nopales salad, and rice.  My oldest daughter, who's a marvelous baker, made a delicious flan.  I cropped my photographs to form the digital collage using a Comic Strip app on my iPhone.  I am submitting this photographs to 52 Photos Project: Gallery 4 {Crop It}, Take a Word Challenge - Mothers, and The Round Robin Photo Challenge: Before and After.

The little fellow above is a visitor that one of my 4th grade students brought to my classroom this week.  Isn't he a handsome dude?  I took the photo while my student was holding it in his hands.  However, I decided to have some fun and play with the photograph digitally in my Pixelmator program.  I began by adding a fog effect, which brought out the highlights.  Then, I changed the color of the child's hands to orange, to create some contrast.  Finally, I brought out the pixels for some fun.  I am submitting this photographs to Orange You Glad It's Friday #38, Mandarin Orange Monday #42, and Inspire Me Monday - Week 72.

I hope you found something in my art smorgasbord that pleased your taste for art.  Thank you for all your kind words during my last post and to all those who are now following me.  I am both humbled and honored by your by your kindness.  I also want to thank the folks at Simon Says Stamp and Show for the $50 voucher I won during their drawing.  They have so many choices, I can't decide what to get.  Hopefully someday I'll earn the honor to be chosen top 3 by their amazing design team.  Have a blessed week!