Hidden in the garden.........

.............been away from blogging....... don't you find it's hard to fit it all in!
         
First love.......painting...................something new for spring................ a new down loadable painting pattern

pack. inspired by some flower near the front door      website
         
    ......... I love spring when all the birds and bees are buzzing about .......  soon new babies in  nests.............

 ......I used this wonderful vintage bird eggs background paper......... for you to use for your own creations ...

click on the image, right click and save as.......... remember to see where you saved it on your computer so you can find it.          
                                                                
                                                                     Happy creating!

Spring

absolutely most favorite time of year....................

............it's like color has been sleeping and it is suddenly awakened by the light........

                       I love trees lining a driveway.  We planted these 4 years ago and
                              they are just beginning to pop with color in this pic

    
                                   ..........close up flowers in box welcoming visitors for spring..........

                                                                                                            
                               


. ....on Sunday I had to snap this one, with spring blossoms and a dusting of snow on the mountain top, such a contradiction to each other.....

  ...and last an old photo for your use, marked copyright 1942 in Can. and the Philippines  use at your discretion......

Fog

                                       ......  one day last week the fog rolled in  ......    
                                             and just as quick as it came  .......  left

.....   the sun peeking through the clouds  .....

                .......playing with painting and photo..........

Winter

.........Foot prints and shadows.......

............snowy day...........

.........road home............

.....things I've seen lately..........

First let me explain where I live.  We live near the river, where it is very flat, and not a many trees. We have a few on the banks of the river, and ocassionaly eagles will be spotted there. 

A lot of fields are farmed in this area, and when they cut hay, your attention often times will be caught by the huge wing span when looking upward.  Usually a bald headed eagle, looking for mice from the newly cut field, and sometimes hawks.


Recently I happened to be looking out the window, and  three black objects, caught my attention. They  were moving across an open field in the distance.   At first I thought it was dogs, but upon closer observation, I noticed that they didn't seem to walk like a  dog.  I found to my suprise it was a momma black bear with two baby cubs in toe.  Very cautiously she moved watching for any pretators.  Her main aim, to get her babies safley across the wide open, down to the river where the salmon are a plenty due to spawning right now. Definatley not a site seen every day.   If I hadn't been so enthralled looking throught the bicnoculars I would have snapped some pictures.  Hind site.  I am so happy to have the privledge of seeing these wonderful creatures, and be in  a perfect place where they can survive in peace,  not having to struggle to leave their homes, and where their seems to be plenty to eat.

 Last week it was raining pretty hard, so out the window in the field behind our house were the herrings, maybe 5 or 6.  I really want to get a snap shot, but the day was dark, and they often come to the fields when it is raining.

The winter birds have arrived, when driving out our Hillybilly road, so I call it, because of all the bumps and lumps in it, I seen some junco's swooping across.  Such an non evasive bird, but nice to see  them dropping by for winter.

.  I love this picture, wonderful work.   You can view more of Steve Gosser's photo's here at his site http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=3943124

I really enjoy painting birds, especially the chickadee's.  I love their spring cheet cha cheet song, a little quieter now, that it is not mating season, but you still see and hear them flitting about.  Some other wonderful pictures like this
chickadee dee picture are found here http://www.weforanimals.com/free-pictures/birds/index-birds.htm  

Although we have no cable or hi speed interenet, which can be a pain, I love the bits of nature we encounter. 
I hope you have enjoyed my notes for now on this journey, through life. 
I would love you, to share your comments or thoughts.

New Winter Cards

 I thought it would be fun to create some winter cards, from my original paintings.  On the week end I played around with a few things and this is what I came up with.
This deer design was originally painted on top of a wooden coaster box.

The snowman scene is painted on a textured background with raised snowflakes, and is a fitting winter welcome sign.
If you would like the patterns to these, to create you own design you can go to my website.

The deer pattern is under the pattern packets section, and the snowman scene is under the epattern packs section.


When making your own cards, the key  is to make sure you have a good photo's.   You can ensure your  photo is nice and clear, by a couple of easy steps. Try taking your pictures outside.  Having a bright day works well, but no direct sunlight on your picture.  Also make sure you don't varnish you piece until after you have gotten in a few nice shots of your piece.Try to keep an eye on having your item straight in the camera.  This sounds easy, but I actually find it difficult, because if you move ever so slightly, your picture will not be straight.  If you have a tripod, this will help to avoid any shaking that might occur.
Another thing that can be very helpful is a photo editing program.  If you don't have one on your computer  you can go to www.picnik.com , a free editing program.  This will help to lighten your photo if needed, crop it, or adjust a few minor things.
Once you have your photo edited, you can now enhance it by using borders, and trims to frame it.  For this step again, I use a photo editing program.
Have fun creating and remember "imagination awakens creativity."

If you happen to be short on time, and you would prefer to purchase these cards, you can also find them at my etsy site here www.carolforsythca.etsy.com

Fall Favorites

These birdies flew the coop!!!

We seem to have this robin that comes back every year and nest in the barn. Last year she had 4 batches, this year three. Here is the last batch she had this year. Got pics of them the day before they flew.