Karen's Muse and Musings

Cosmic

cosmic |ˈkäzmik|
adjective
of or relating to the universe or cosmos, esp. as distinct from the earth : cosmic matter.
• inconceivably vast.

It's Every Inchie Monday again, and this week's theme is cosmic. I used Photoshop to digitally create my interpretation of the 2nd definition — inconceivably vast.

I've been asked what I intend to do with 52 inchies at the end of the year. I plan to mount them on a substrate to form a paper quilt and frame it.

Another Monday, Another Inchie!

Mirthful!

I cannot recall seeing a more mirthful face than that of my grandson, Bobby, when he was in a swing at the playground for the first time. Just love those 2 tiny teeth!

Every Inchie Monday — Maudlin

MAUDLIN |ˈmôdlin|
adjective
self-pityingly or tearfully sentimental, often through drunkenness : the drink made her maudlin | a maudlin ballad. 

I must admit I thought I knew the meaning of this word, but I did not. I was thinking it meant something more like macabre, dark or sinister, so it's good to learn the correct meaning. It wasn't an easy word to illustrate, but I decided to go digitally this week and recycle a digital artwork I did a while back.

I love this stone angel, maudlin as she is. She is located at the historic Oakland Cemetery in Atlanta.

More Skinny Halloween

Gotta do this quick. It's past time to start cooking supper, so here is the flip side of my Halloween skinny page.

So this is my lighthearted haunted house. The fun part of this is the Photoshop work I did to the house. Before Photoshopping, the house looked like this.

The Skinny on Halloween

So once again it's time to do a skinny book page for the swap on my OhMyGothic group. When we began this swap, we each chose a theme, and Betsy chose Halloween. I am so lucky that it's my turn to create a page for her, and it is actually October! She wanted lighthearted Halloween, so I did my best to accomodate her. The little witch is from a vintage postcard, and using Photoshop I replaced her face with the sweet little face of Nellie (from one of my collage sheets). I used Color Mists from Outside the Margins on pages from an old German textbook for the background, and then I used Distress Inks to grunge it up a bit. Color Mists create a beautiful shimmer that doesn't really show up in the scan.

Catching Up

That seems to be the story lately. I'm always trying to catch up — housework, errands, friends, art projects, blogging. My life has changed so much this year since I keep grandson Bobby 2 or 3 days each week. My focus has definitely shifted from myself and my art to him. And I'm happy with that. At first, I kept beating myself up that I wasn't creating much art, but I've cut that out now. I am enjoying spending time with Bobby, and I know that I'm making an impact on him and his future. That's an accomplishment to be proud of.

I have found some time for digital scrapbooking. I want to make a scrapbook for both Bobby and granddaughter Kathleen documenting the first year of their lives. I need to hurry, at least in Bobby's case since he will turn 1 year old in less than a month. Here is a sample from his book.

And here's a page from Kathleen's.

Kathleen is now 6 months old. I don't get to see her as often as Bobby since she lives far away, but I've enjoyed using Skype to visit online with her and her mommy. Isn't technology wonderful? At least sometimes. I just love this fairly recent photo of her. She has such an adorable little face. I guess you can tell why her nickname is Cheeky.

Bobby, my husband, Warren, and I recently visited a local park where Warren took this photo of Bobby and me.

I have found time to enjoy some knitting lately. I actually finished a sweater that I can actually wear! That was a pleasant surprise. Oh, and I sewed myself a skirt. I'll try to take photos of those projects and share them later — when I'm caught up. Hah!

Calling All Angels

These are a few spreads from an altered children's board book I just completed.

Merry Christmas Baby!

It's very quiet here right now. Husband is still in bed. Turkey is in oven. Ganache is cooling. So I'm taking advantage of the lull in the holiday madness to actually add a post. I thought I'd share these photos we took of grandson Bobby last week. He's the best Christmas present ever!

And one last photo. I think he had had enough picture taking!

Merry Christmas to you all!

Six Quirky Things About Me

My friend, Beth, tagged me to name six of my quirky traits. First thought, only six? However, when I start trying to list them, all the quirky thoughts fly right out of my head, but here goes:

1. I can't fall asleep without having the TV on. I have a collection of "fall-asleep" movies — movies I've seen many times that are guaranteed to put to sleep within 5 minutes.
2. I play Scrabble every day — with my computer as my opponent.
3. I make up silly songs that only my dogs ever get to hear.
4. I'm eating a chocolate cupcake right now — for breakfast!
5. I talk to myself — a lot — and sometimes I even answer.
6. Like most people, I'm afraid of snakes, but I actually like lizards. I think they are cute.

This tagging game does have rules, and here they are.

• Link to the person who tagged you.
• Mention the rules.
• Tell six quirky yet boring, unspectacular details about yourself.
• Tag six other bloggers by linking to them.
• Go to each person’s blog and leave a comment that lets them know they’ve been tagged.

Since I've played this game a few times before, I won't choose any particular people to tag, but if you're reading this, please share some of your quirky traits on your blog.

Gothic Arches — Wee Witches!

Here's a little digital art I cooked up for this week's theme at Gothic Arches.