Share Your Cup #211

This is one of the books I read recently.  A couple who are separated in their teens but make a pact to meet in 11 years.  He has always tried to find her but she made choice she was not proud of so, took steps to make it hard to find her.  It was a very good book from this great author and it was hard to put down.

 
I added some letters to my Alphabet Photography collection.  A wonderful S and an I.

 Some colorful flowers and nature shots I took during my walks this week.

My latest offering in photo calendars.  It meant many trips to get the shots I wanted and then vetting them to get the 12 best ones.

I've been working on digital watermarks for my photos as well.  I have started participating in Flickr challenges and see some nice ones on the site.  I thought I could design one for myself from my own art.  I'm not sure it's the final ones because it's a bit on the big side.  It is my first effort and I will have to sit with them for a while then decide if any changes will be made.

You can check out my Flickr page.

Sharing with Carol at Art & Sand for Share Your Cup.

Cityscapes Photo Calendar

I've completed my black and white 4x6 photo calendar for 2017.  I was given some feedback last year that street photography and black and white photos would provide more variety to my the calendars I was offering.  Taking that to heart I started looking outside my comfort zone of macro photography.  I thought they would be landscapes and wide open spaces but I chose some cityscapes instead. The calendar includes buildings, bridges, parks, lighting and doorways.  I meant several trips to the downtown core as well as some early morning trips to get good contrast in my shots. I chose to also make it black and white.  It was a stretching experience and I am better for it. 

Card - Accordion Card

I made this card for a couple who are leaving our office and moving to Toronto. I needed a large card for everyone to sign. I decided on an accordion card. I wanted the left side to represent Alberta so I added mountains and pine tree. The vellum in the centre represents our Muttart Conservatory in the river valley. Then along the road in the centre I created sign posts with locations long their way east; Saskatoon, Winnipeg, and Sudbury. The right hand cover represents Toronto and Ontario. The cityscape, CN Tower and the water.

I used artists canvas 6x9" for the covers. I painted the sky and the grass on with acrylic paint with a bit of a dry brush technique. I used 50lb text weight paper for the accordion which was painted in the same way. I used my Creative Memories Wavy Cutter to create the highway that runs the full length of the card from left to right. I added the white centre line with a Marvy Opaque marker. The mountains were cut by hand, the pine tree is a Sizzix die cut, and the grass was ripped and cut with decorative edge scissors. The Muttart Conservatory is 3 large glass pyramids so I decided on vellum which was scored and then I added a bit of fine black marker to add definition. I designed the road markers in Corel Draw. The cityscape was cut on the Cricut - Paper Dolls Dress Up. I placed yellow paper behind to put light in the windows. I cut the waves with the wavy cutter and chalked them to add some depth. The CN tower was a clipart image which I printed and cut close to the edge. The clouds were cut with the Cricut - Create a Critter. I made a vellum sleeve to hold and protect the card.