From a Chore to Heart Wrenching

I needed to get something out on my blog today - yeah, we all dig around in our jumble box sometimes just to get something out on the blog.

I took a picture of a teddy bear that we had recently been given and just messed around with it in PSE.  But honestly, it looked naff.  So I thought let me try and make it look vintage so I added a picture of my sister and all of a sudden my Mother's old story came back to me with piercing sadness.

When she was about 4 her Dad threw away her teddy bear because she left it once too often lying around in the lounge.  She never forgave her father for this and it was one of the few stories she told about her happy but strict childhood.

So in her 80s she bought herself a little old fashioned looking teddy bear and crocheted some clothes for it and propped it lovingly on her bed until she sadly passed away just before Christmas last year.

So the picture I ended up doing completely changed and I took a picture of her teddy which is now propped up lovingly on my bed. I think it's quite hard for me to put it on here and if you see a smudge on the photo it's probably one of my tears.

She's the little girl in the middle of the family picture and I left the tear across the middle of this picture because I think it was meant to be there.

Picture Transformations

Start with a picture of an orchid and a scrap of fabric with some doodles:

Turn the doodle into a brush, then a frame, then create a clipping mask with the picture and you get one of these:

Will be showing this in one of my future courses on brushes!

Online Photoshop Elements Workshops!

I'm going to be launching a new website for Photoshop Elements in May and guess what, my first one month workshop, called Selections, Selections is going to be FREE.  Do you really know what selection tool to use when and the power of each?  Participate in the Challenges and see what others have done!

For example, the Magic Wand video will take you through how I created this:

from this:

Details coming soon!

Run up to the Olympic Games

Flag for April:

More on Using Art

Here is another piece of dyed fabric which I have combined within Photoshop Elements.  I made zigzigs on the cloth by drawing with a squeeze bottles filled with thickened dye. First with a golden yellow and then turquoise.  I left it for a little while and then scrapped over the pattern with a credit card.  This of course combined the colours and made them green.

Here it is combined with a picture I took of some wrought iron gates:

Using Art in Photoshop Elements

My whole aim with Photoshop Elements is to merge art and the computer.

I am doing a course in fabric surface design and dyeing this year with Committed to Cloth called 'Wet and Wild'.  The 1st two weeks we concentrated on straight forward dyeing and colour mixing.  Last week we started on mark making with thickened dyes and the aim was to experiment with all sorts of mark making tools like credit cards, brushes, combs etc.

So at last I have something to experiment with on PSE.  Here is one of my bits of fabric marked using a credit card:

Here is the fabric scanned into Photoshop Elements, changed and made into a pattern.  I really want to print this onto fabric.  Just love it. And what potential for machine or hand embroidery!

And this is just one of my samples!