The Beauty of Textures

This is another photo art creation using photos taken of a bouquet of carnations. I merely wanted to take a picture of them to preserve their beauty so my daughter could remember that Valentine’s day gift. I couldn’t photograph them indoors because the lighting just wasn’t right, but when I simply placed them out on the table on our lanai, magic happened. I was able to photograph them like a painting and convey the beauty that my eyes were seeing. However, in adding Kim Klassen’s textures to the image, really turned this piece into art. 

Beauty Fades

© 2012 Cheri Wenger Design Photography

Photo art featuring textures by Kim Klassen.

To see the evolution, you must see the original photo. 

It has a warmth to it, but I love the vintage look of the finished art 

achieved by adding Kim’s Just Blush texture plus some of my own textures 

and quote to it! Check out Texture Tuesdays challenges with Kim. This is her justblush texture:

Here are the two of my own photo textures that I applied to the image that helped to add that dreamy, watercolor look to the image. For those of you not familiar with photoshop, you can layer photos, textures, text and color over photos in varying opacities with different layer style choices to achieve very dramatic or very subtle effects.

The two photo images above were photos taken of the glass block window in our master bath. The third image, below, was a closeup taken of our textured wall. So you see, creativity exists all around us, just waiting to be used and appreciated! 

In the first image, I changed the hue to a sepia tone look. It includes wispy textures from the floral arrangement that sits on the ledge.These are all colored textures, however you can use b&w textures/photos to create effects. Don’t be afraid to experiment & live life creatively!

Here’s a peek at my layers palette in photoshop so you can see the order of the layers used. 

A Mother's Day Tribute

This photo art was created as a tribute to all moms...whether you have given birth, adopted or fostered a child, or simply have been thought of in a motherly way. I started off using a photo image taken of an arrangement of carnations given to my daughter Kai on Valentine’s day. See below for a peek at that image so you can appreciate how it was transformed into the artwork you see on the right. I used two great textures that I purchased from Kim Klassen's Bens Collection.

Kim offers a Texture Tuesday challenge which inspires artists and photographers to use her textures creatively. For this piece, “In the Garden”, I wanted to create a painterly, watercolor effect. I used a combination of layers and effects at varying opactities. From the Bens Collection, I chose textures 2 & 6, and selected a quote attributed to Claudia Chandi as my verse.

So how did I create this?
I used Photoshop with my original photo on the main layer, add the textures on top. To make the type more interesting I mixed two fonts and three coordinating shades of colors: a deep olive, dark red and a medium shade of rosey pink. Now take a peek below to see all of the original images that were combined to create this art.

Here is the original photo image...

And here are the two textures from Kim Klassen’s Bens Collection that I used...

Check out her Texture Tuesday Cafe,

and be inspired!

Happy Mother’s Day to all the great moms out there who daily work your mommy magic!

Ooooh, baby, baby!

There must be something in the air because this Spring, there have been a bunch of friends and family members having babies! This put me in the cardmaking spirit, something I have missed doing lately. I grabbed the cutest little embossing folder, a gift from my stampin' buddy, Trudy, to use on some cards. Keeping in line with a current design trend to use strips of pennants as a background, I created these baby boy cards...

Baby Boy Pennant Card (for new baby)

I added two navy mini brads to the wheels of the carriage! Make this in under 5 minutes!

 Baby Boy Mix Card (outside view)

Layered patterned paper pennants with buttons, polka dots and an embossed baby carriage. This card uses a mix of subtle and bold tones of red, white and blue.

(inside view)

Don't be afraid to coordinate the inside of your card with the colors,

papers and design theme used on the outside!

Embossed Carriage Card

White and Blue tones paired up with embossing adds up to an elegant looking baby card. I made this for our friend, Meghan, who recently had her third boy. To bring out the embossing more, you can dip a small piece of sponge into light or dark ink and drag over embossing. On this, I used navy ink to bring out the edges and lighter blue over top of the embossing.

Can't forget about the girlies!!!

Lil' Something Card

Again, I used the same embossed carriage, except this time on a girly themed card. This was made as a congratulations for my cousin Chris and his wonderful wife, Kelly who gave birth to their second daughter, Jillian. By adding some delicate ribbons, a scalloped border and flowers paired with feminine patterned papers, you see how the overall look has changed to a girly theme.

And I couldn't forget about the big sis either!!!

New Baby Sister Card

Didn't want to leave out Brooke, the big sister, so I decided to see just what fun I could have using my owl punch from Stampin' Up!®. To recreate this card choose a couple solid shades of pink to coordinate with a sheet of pink patterned paper. You will also need a sheet of white cardstock and two shades of brown. I used a chocolately shade with a textured taupe color. 

You will punch the owl once in white, once in brown and then in each of the pink papers (both solid & patterned). Mix and match the punched items to create the owls. For the diaper, you can cut by hand like I did. Or just cut the legs and top half of the body off of an owl punched from white cardstock...my delayed lightbulb moment! LOL. For the diaper pins, just snip your pieces of one of the solid pink cardstocks. For the Flowers, I used the Boho Blossoms punch and layered with some owl punch leftovers. I used rubber stamps selectively colored with a brush marker to stamp the words A, New, and Baby. 

I wrote sister in my own handwriting with a pointed nib marker. By doing these on separate paper strips, I was able to trim to sizes needed and angle on the card. Congratulations was heat embossed with white powder. To make the big sis owl have a bit more interest, I used small white satin ribbon to make a bow. For the baby owl's bow, punch white paper scraps using heart from the owl punch. Combine two hearts with a tiny circle on top to form the bow.

Now that I have show you some cardmaking ideas for babies, next I will share a few cards for the moms. Check back for Mother's Day card Inspiration! Remember to Live Life Creatively!

Colors That Will Make Your Digi Garden Smile

Anticipating the latest cool front to move on out so that we can kick start spring time, I designed this set of coral, melon, yellow and brown flowers. You can use these designs individually or in groupings for graphic design, greeting cards, invitations, birth announcements, scrapbooking and crafting. These would make beautiful embroidered designs, too!

The Fresh Florals set is a combination of loose doodles combined with softly textured edges on the solid petal shapes. Coral is a hot color trend and these designs look great on a soft yellow or solid white background for a fresh, contemporary look.

If you still need to send a Valentine card, check out the email version I created using the photo card in my Owlentines Printable card and invitation set. I just personalized by adding photos in Photoshop and our family name.

Anniversaries, Birthdays means Cardmaking Galore!

The other night we were discussing how there were so many kids birthdays this week which lead to the insight that these were probably to do with holiday celebrations leading up to New Year’s Eve. In glancing at my calendar I saw how far behind I am on cardmaking. My fastest solution? Use some ready made digitals or pull out some digi brushes to create fast, beautiful backgrounds in the colors of my choosing. With cooler temps promised this weekend in Florida, I chose a fall theme palette and my Au Naturale digital brushes as the basis for these designs. I also incorporated a fairly recent frame set called Frilly Frames that is so wonderful to add text and photos to. One of the birthday cards also incorporates svg diecuts from my Swirly QZs set.Here are some examples of my card creations...

Belated Anniversary Wishes

Frilly Framed Photo Anniversary Card

Masculine 40th Birthday Card

inside view of Masculine Birthday Card

70th Birthday Natural Swirls Card

inside view of 70th Birthday Card

New Look = 40% off Mygrafico.com Makeover Sale Today!

Here are eleven reasons to shop the sale today...my 11 newest summer collections!

Click here to go directly to my shop or browse all the designers here.

 

 

 

Plus a free digi stamp to download & play with!

5 Reasons to check out Mygrafico.com right now

1. Check out my 5 new sets. 2. The retirement sale - just $1 each! 3. So many great designs inspire your creativity. 4. One of those new sets is a FREE digi stamp...perfect timing for Father's Day ;D. 5. Flowers make everyone smile...three of my new designs let you choose from cool brushes, pen-n-ink botancials and bright summer flowers.

Here is a peek at my 5 newest collections...

Pen-n-Ink Garden

A collection of 4 beautiful pen-n-ink botanical illustrations including a lily, rose, lenten rose and iris.

Lighthouse Digi Stamp - FREEBIE

Escape to the beach with this lighthouse sketch. Pair with the Father's Day verse in my new Masculine Verses set and you will have a quick and easy Father’s Day card, as shown. Download for free and tell all your friends!!!

Summer Florals

I can’t help but get in a cheery summer frame of mind looking at these brightly colored flower clip art designs. Use on cards, layouts, invitations and other projects. Take your pick of formats...eps, png and abr brushes!

Bold Floral Brushes 1

If you like to be in charge of what you create, there is nothing like Photoshop brushes. Use this set of 20 digi brushes and art files to create amazing flowers in patterns, textures and colors that you like. The eps files are scaleable and editable. Use the png for layering and also to selectively color or try the digital brushes for creating fast, easy one color floral designs. Combine with textures and styles in Photoshop to unleash the possibilities!

Masculine Verses

The set of verses and titles for creating projects for and about the men in your life. Includes brushes as well as eps and png files for use in your software programs. Just print, or colorize first, then print. Layer on cards and layouts either digitally or traditionally.  This is one of those basic gotta have sets!

I promise to catch you up soon on all of my Project 365 creations. It has been a busy time in our household and I am just getting caught up on photographing and uploading the projects so I can share my daily creative experiences with you.

Project 365 - Days 88-97 The Creative Life Continues

After an exhausting prom weekend, I headed to bed early for much needed rest. 

Now, I am ready to share with you some more catching up on project 365 - daily creativity!

Day 88 - Volleyball Tournament Photos

Day 89 - College Memories Box

You may remember the keepsake box I made for Kylie to store momentos from her relationship with her boyfriend. I didn’t want Ashley to feel left out, so I made her a College Memories Box to store letters we send her and other favorite keepsakes from her college years at FAU. I found the box at Marshalls and decorated it to personalize it for her. It coordinates with the comforter set we bought for her dorm room.

Day 90 - Crosses for New Digi Set

I am working on a religious themed set with crosses and words for Religious events and holidays.

Here are a couple elements from that I just finished.

Day 91- Dishwasher Magnet Design Team Project for Glue Arts

You can check out a supply list, complete project instructions with additional photos on the Glue Arts blog. Scroll down to the bottom of this blog post to view the project.

Day 92 - Stained Glass Cross Art

Working on my last graphic to finish up my Faith Filled Set!

Day 93 - Faith Filled Set Completed!

With Kylie's Confirmation coming up, I got busy completing this set so I could use some of my own digi art for making cards and gifts for my small Confirmation group and Kylie’s friends.

Day 94 - Photos of the Merc

My husband’s uncle surprised us with a visit. He brought down his classic custom build 49 Mercury so to leave behind for Ashley to use for Prom and for us to enjoy for a while. I took a few pictures of it to share with everyone. It is such a cool car and I just love the paint job.

Day 95 - Eggs to go...

...actually, to go along with the Bunnies and banners that I created earlier. 

All for a new set that I am working on called Bunny Hugs n’ Wishes.

These eps and png files with solid underlayers allow them to be grouped and layered

any way you wish. They are also easy to edit and change out the colors.

Day 96- Confirmation Card

Here is a hybrid card created in Photoshop using a white brush and the stained glass cross art done ealier this week with airbrushed colors on a separate layer below. I then used a mask to contain those colors to display just behind the art. I printed out the art, mounted on card fronts and added a simple bow to each.

The verse and screened, decorative stem flourish are also from my new Faith Filled set.

Day 97 - Flower Illustrations

Spring is here and beautiful flowers inspire me so I wanted to create a set of pretty inked flowers...very clean line with beautiful details. Here are the first two sketches.

I haven’t shared many cards lately, but for you card enthusiasts, just wait for my next group of posts.

Day 98 holds a new set design that has brought about an Easter cardmaking frenzy. I am having such a blast working with my latest digi set. And for you photo enthusiasts, I have more photos to share as well.

Have a week filled with Living your Life Creatively!