Digital Artist Trading Cards

These mini `Works of Art' are designed to be shared and traded and they are often a `limited edition'. I have a number saved on my computer and they remind me of some very special artisits I know, not in person but from an online connection. This is my DATC - it just says something about me, where I live, and it is available to be shared with anyone who wishes :)

I Am a Life Artist - Woo Hoo

Well I have just been reading a Blog which talks about Life Artists and I realise that is definitely what I am - wow such a wonderful description, this comes from the Blog of Ali Edwards:

`So who is a life artist? Do you take photos of your family, yourself, your environment, your world? Do you tell stories? Do you bring them all together onto paper, into your computer, onto a canvas (or some other cool concoction)? Do you create art journals with all kinds of wonderfully interesting pieces of your life and thoughts and emotions? Do you celebrate your life through your art?
You are a life artist.
I am a life artist.

So that is definitely me and I hope that one day in years to come, when I am long departed from this world, someone, somewhere will read and look at the Art I have made and gain something from it :) Well, at least be a little bit interested in it and perhaps wonder about the kind of person I might have been and the lifestyle I lived.

Here are a couple of my recent `Works of Art'

Helen in Wonderland

I am so loving Blogging and reading other people's Blogs :0) It has been wonderful to hear from Kate in Canada - Kate if you are reading this I will be putting your Blog in my faves. I have a sister named Catherine who is Cate to all her family and friends. Anyway I digress, I have been having fun tonight doing some abstract Digital Art which I love almost more than digiscrapping, I guess they are very closely related. I do most of my LO's now at 6x4 and 200 dpi. Anyhow I titled this one `Helen in Wonderland'. I started with a photo of some flowers, posterised it and then used a lot of brushes. The `me brush' I made from the photo I posted earlier this week. The doll image is from Graphics.com and the flower tiara is by the very clever Maya whose artwork I really love, so quirky and different - sooo it all came together into a colourful surreal kind of collage and here it is :)

Happy 40th Jeff

On Saturday we were down in Caloundra overnight for our Son-in-Law Jeff's 40th Birthday Party. It was a great night, a big group of us went to a Mexican Restaurant called `Meg's Joint' in Caloundra. We ate Burritos, drank Sangria and for dessert we had some decadent chocolate mud birthday cake. It was a great night and everyone especially Jeff :) enjoyed themselves. Jeff and Louise are expecting their first baby in only 7 weeks time and we are all very excited about this. For Jeff life really is going to begin at 40 :) Louise took this photo of Alan and me and I have used it in a 6x4 Layout.

A New Baby Calf

Last week one of our cows - `Itsa Secret' gave birth to a little Bull Calf. He doesn't have a name just yet as will probably be steered, however he is really cute. I did a mini 6x4 LO of him to keep as a reference.

What a Week !

"Be kinder than necessary. 'Cause everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle."

I loved this quote which I found in one of those circular emails today, it struck a real chord with me as I had been thinking just that same thing this morning. Everyone - even those people who on the surface seem to `have it all' , is fighting some kind of battle, so that is my thought for the week. I always think of this when we are at R.D.A. where everyone is `kinder than necessary'. On another Blog this week I found this wonderful extract from a book called "A Slant of Sun' by Beth Kephart, a writer and mother of a child with a developmental disorder.

`When I fly I think about all the spirits we're passing through. The few I knew and the billions I didn't, their vapors mingling in the air all around us. My grandmother is up here somewhere, pinning a hat to her head; my favorite uncle decorating the universal Christmas tree; my father's parents; my great-aunts and -uncles; children I have heard about on the news; great writers. I think of them when I am aloft in an airplane. I think of the extreme significance of every single human being and the vast insignificance of us all. The earth is just one rock in a universe without limits; we exist in the blink of an eye. We are impossibly small against this dimensional hugeness, and yet we care, gigantically, about our place in things, survival. We attend to the tiny details of our lives, attend to one another, make room for the miracle of a child. Put his toys in a bag and draw him mazes and take him to places, for adventure. Fight the systems and labels on his behalf so that he, in turn, can fight the systems for others. "

This is a book about the power of love and commitment. At its heart, so very tender and true.


I haven't blogged for a while as we have been way too busy for my liking. Our Carriage Club is preparing for our Annual Carnival on July 1st and 2nd and we have been fundraising, having endless meetings and as Treasurer I have been busier than at any other time of the year. I spent nearly all day on Tuesday doing diagrams of each obstacle event on the 'puter and I am still not finished *!!**. We are also looking around for a smaller property, this may or may not happen depending on what we find but it is very time consuming. Looking at Real Estate can be a very frustrating experience especially as we have specific criteria which is hard to meet. In the end we know we will have to compromise somewhere and some of our horses, a lot of our `stuff' and all the cattle will have to go but that's life. :) We are feeling that the time is right to downsize so fingers crossed it will all work out.

Then yesterday as we were double parked and unloading a wheelbarrow full of raffle prizes from our truck Alan's back went out and he was down for the count. This happens every few years, usually when he is under pressure. So now he is in bed and I have my nurse's cap on. Luckily there was a Doctor's surgery at the shopping centre where we were selling the raffle tickets so Alan was able to see a Doctor, borrow a wheelchair, get a script for Tramal and an injection to get him home. What was really great was how nice and helpful all these total strangers were to us. It seems this Doctor has a 3 week waiting list yet he saw Alan almost straight away. It all reinforced my faith in human kindness.