A Great Magazine and More Photos

I mentioned Artful Blogging Magazine in my last post but I failed to tell you which issue I had gained my free lens information from. It is the Aug/Sep/Oct 2016 issue which will be on display until 10/31/16. The full title is Artful Blogging Visually Inspiring Online Journals. I love this magazine! It is packed with inspiring photos and great articles. I don’t have a subscription but I am thinking about getting one. I find the price to be a little steep at $59.99 for four issues a year. I guess it’s just the lump sum that is hard to swallow but I just realized I have paid that much all together for various magazines in the last two months! I am a magazineaholic.

So I went back and re-read the article that Sarah Rhodes had written on her blog, A Beautiful Mess trying to see if I missed something or not as I am finding it very difficult as did Erin Hensley from the article in Artful Blogging. Erin finally mastered it very well may I say! Below are more of my free lens photos as well as one reverse lens and some attached lens photos.

Buster

I hope you enjoyed these and will give it a try.

 

 

 

 

Beautiful Colors

How I Made The Watercolor Of Luna

I found the photograph that I thought I had deleted! So now I can show you the process. I started by tracing all of the shapes and shadings in this photograph using my Wacom Tablet.

Then I printed the tracing out and retraced it the old fashioned way to get more detail. I am not happy with the way my tablet is working but I hate fiddling with the settings. It’s old so maybe I need a new one. This way works for me so no big deal.

Then I used these watercolor lessons for the first few steps, the eyes in particular. I started with the eyes unlike the lessons.  And the black part is too large but better luck next time around. I am just learning after all.

Then I blocked in the ear and started laying light colors that I gradually built up over time.  This picture is about the halfway point.

Many times when I thought it was finished I would find something else that needed more attention.  After I uploaded it too the blog I noticed the top and bottom eyelash area and was not one hundred percent happy with it but I really feel as at this point I should not do anything else. It’s done.

Silly Dog

This is Darla being a silly dog. She ran and jumped onto the bed covering herself halfway with the sheet and waited for me to come by and look at her. I was amazed by how long she sat there waiting for me. She isn’t usually that patient.  Then I was supposed to go in and attack her and wrestle with her.

How To Find A Lost Pet

While looking for tips to find a dog that is lost in our area I came across this information on PetFinder and wanted to share it with all of you. Please share it with everyone you know who has a pet.

I particularly like the advice of making huge signs as most that are posted on 8.5 x 11 paper are far too small to be seen while driving in a car. Get whiteboard and cut it out in the shape of a dog. Just a generic dog shape will be fine. Write, Help me I’m lost, on it. That will catch someone’s attention don’t you think? Put your phone number in a large easy to read size. Post signs at any and every store that will let you. Go to your local truck stop if there is one in your area and hand out fliers to the truckers. They are nice and willing to help. That is a lot of eyes.

I don’t think it would hurt to ask the local police either. After all they are out there riding around right? And how about local realtors? And mailmen! All they can say is no, but if you flashed the picture then they have seen it. Leave it on your mailbox. Set up a large poster size whiteboard/foamboard in your front yard with huge ( it really does have to be huge)  font in black or red. Don’t forget the local dog and children’s park.  Use Craigslist!

Also I have noticed a lot of dogs without collars while at home. What sense does that make?!  If they run out of the door and get lost they are without their identification!!! Make them wear it all of the time.  A lot of the lost dog ads say that the animal doesn’t have it’s collar on. That is a an accident waiting to happen.

Any other ideas are very welcome.

Tina and Terry

I’d like you to meet Teeny Tiny Tina and her dog Terry. You can read more about them at my Etsy shop.

Oops!

Rather unexpectedly I had to let my son’s dog out to go the bathroom a few days ago. My daughter in law is a doula so she had to leave the house in too much of a hurry to give the dog all the time it needed. So as I hadn’t slept because I didn’t have my sleep meds I was wide awake. I took this opportunity to take pics of their dog on the greenway behind their house. I was under the impression that they always took her out there without a leash. I just found out when I showed him one of the pictures I took that I was wrong! I told him she walked right along with me never going more than about fifteen feet away and always looking back for me and coming when called. He could not understand why she had been so good. I am so glad we didn’t happen upon any other animals that would have lured her away! The sun never came out and I didn’t get the pics I hoped for but it was a nice walk for both of us. I wish I could take my dogs but they don’t walk well enough to go through the forest to get to the paths on the greenway. Plus there is lots of mud for them to drag me through. Maybe one day next week I will brave it. They would love it. So here are two pics that I took.

Let Sleeping Dogs Lay? Lie? What?

I love to watch Luna sleep.

Focus Snorty!

Don’t Bite Me

I have never seen Darla stay this interested in a squirrel for that long. At least an hour, maybe more.  The squirrel was scared to death. I felt so bad for him, sitting there saying, “please don’t bite me”.