Happy Christmas

Here's my bloggy Christmas card. It shows the postbox opposite our house (so handy to have your own postbox) in the snow. Couldn't persuade a robin to pose but this chap looks quite exotic. Our new neighbours are now convinced that we are mad.

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Winners of the birdies are Sue Wild and Emma Siedle-Collins. Let me have your snail mail addys and we'll send them off.

Have a lovely Christmas everyone.

Thanks for all the great comments. Rather a lot to answer but here's a selection.

deLysia - it sounds lovely and warm where you are - our snow is still with us, now frozen hard. If it wasn't so difficult to get a flight at the moment I'd be tempted to join you.

Christine - I'm delighted that you've been inspired to join the Photoshop course. Will look out for the IKEA shortcuts bit although Clive is on strike and is never entering their portals again. I'll have to go with the girls as I've got a £10 voucher.

I certainly need boxes and doodads Kira.

Smudge's antics seemed to have made you all smile. He is enjoying his new home but, even though he's now free range, he has decided to keep the indoor loo and keeps coming back in to use the litter tray. Not what I had in mind. Perhaps, as Judith suggests, it's the difficulty with the catflap.

Olivia - short legs are a certain disadvantage for doggy flaps. Do his eyes water?

Jacky - you are so cruel - but it did make me laugh.

Edie, whose dogs have outgrown their door, perhaps you could hinge it at the top - make the whole thing a dog door?

Ev - Smudge doesn't mind being laughed at - he's very into stand up comedy. Our dog used to hate it, so we had to run away and laugh somewhere else.

Clive is better - he tried gilby's stretches and they did help.

Julie - my mother had acupuncture for nerve pain after shingles. She didn't believe in 'that sort of thing' and declared that sticking pins in was a lot of nonsense. When asked why she kept going back she replied that it was the only thing that helped!

Dale - what does a myotherapist do? Fat cats are a good idea as the next step after birdies - I have tried owls and Maggie Hills suggested frogs - fun with the long legs.

Smudge misses the frogs here, as we have no pond. He had an intense personal relationship with one called Frogford in the last house. He kept fishing it out of the pond, without harming it, and they sat on the lawn together until we rescued it.

Zak - love it that you've been making birdies - these things should be shared and developed.

See you in the New Year

Giveaway Extended

Due to the post being so displaced I'm extending the give away until Friday and will post the birdy cards after Christmas. So if you missed it - you are not too late. Will blog on Friday and cover comments then too - there were some good ones, I thought. Thanks to everyone who commented. If you go to Workshop on the Web's Facebook site (If you are a subscriber) you will have a very good chance of winning a birdy there.

We had quite a fall of snow on Friday night which meant a lovely, snowy walk on Saturday. I was going to take you all for a walk from my new home so I took lots of photos and I guess you all know what's coming next. Yes, snowy displacement maps.

I know I do them every winter but it's such fun as the high contrast in the snowy images gives such good results. Not going through the method again - you'll find some tutorials if you look for the labels.

First, as usual, I filled the screen with a pale gradient and then used this image of snowy trees as a map.

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The results were beautiful but pale so I used the Artistic Effects and Coloured Edges to add definition.

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Ain't it pretty?

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I then used the same image to displace a pic of an Italian door.

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Loved the way the blue looks like a pool, especially as the original snowy shot was of a stream.

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Now hankering for some bright colours to counteract the pastels, I laid down some broad stripes of colour. Then the Warp brush was used to swirl them all up together. I've used an old version of Paint Shop Pro for these effects but any paint program should have these tools and filters.

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The same snowy tree image produced this. A bit busy but very colourful.

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I had intended to use this photo to end my walking blog - the best bit of a weekend walk is the coffee and papers at the end.

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However, look what a great result it gave me when it was used as a Diplacement Map on the brighty coloured warped image.

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Click to make it bigger and you'll see a design just asking to be turned into a mixed media study - right down to the corrugated cardboard on the left. I shall certainly be using this design. I'm sure the leopardskin slippers made all the difference!

See you on Friday.

Giveaway

Here's a pre-Christmas give-away - offering two of my Silly-bird brooch cards, picked from those who leave a comment on the blog. We've got another two up for grabs on the Workshop on the Web Facebook page, but those are for WoW members only. So, if you a fan of WoW, go along and double your chances. .

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I do enjoy making these - I stitch the silk carrier rods to felt, cut out the shapes and then hand stitch. They all seem to have a different personality - such fun. I think the one below is looking for a loo!

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We are still loving our new home and have decorated our bedroom - aka slapping on a coat of emulsion. Poor Clive has paid the price by developing sciatica, not sure if the two events are related. He has some strong pills from the doc but it's still extremely painful.

Smudge is now allowed to go outside. He spent a lot of time in this position (below) just to get the lie of the land. This also demonstrates the need for a cat flap from the outsize department when we re-do the kitchen in the spring. It takes him a long time to squeeze through it, with much frantic leg kicking on the way. It quite funny to watch but I fear he will be wearing the flap as a belt soon.
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We have been out buying stuff for my workroom but the putting together of it will have to wait until Clive is better. He came with me to IKEA to get the stuff - it was a bit like the Fred and Penelope cartoons. I should have photographed him under one of the 'walk this way' arrows with desperation written allover his face. The caption would have been, "Clive felt that the IKEA experience had somehow passed him by".
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Back soon with news of the free on-line classes for the mixed media book. The first one will be based on silk paper, water-soluble paper and acryic wax. I'm hoping to put some kits together and will offer some as a give-away, so watch this space.

Snizzle

We were too smug too soon about the snow. 'We won't get it down here in the warm south', we said. We woke up to several inches and we've had snowy drizzle (snizzle) ever since. I am cross because we've run out of paint and our hill is causing skids so we can't get out.
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I did love the look of this garden pot - wearing his scarf and muffler.
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While the hedge is very Christmassy.
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Clive had to go and shake the Pampas grass as the weight was snapping the plumes.
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Haven't blogged since the Harrogate K&S Show. That was a drama. We went to help set up the Wessex Textile exhibition on the Wednesday, scuttling home quickly on Thursday morning before the snow came. What with the move a few days before, we were both a bit shattered. Then came the news that poor Ruby Lever, who was stewarding with husband Ian and Brenda Weeks, had slipped on the ice and broken her shoulder. So painful. The rest of the gang rallied round to pack it up on Sunday but Ruby and Ian had to stay a little longer than planned and then got caught in the snow.
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Thankfully they are home and Ruby is a little better. The show was more quiet than usual, due to the weather.
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This weather is a real pain as I was planning a trip to Ikea to get the storage furniture for my workroom. I want to get on as I am planning some free on-line classes, based on the Mixed Media New Studio Techniques book (http://www.d4daisy.com/) in the new year. I have some great ideas and can't wait to get started. I shall have to work on the dining table (nothing new there, then). Watch this space for more news on that.
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I have been doing some knitting - my first attempt at making something without a pattern. I've got a jacket with crochet edging so have followed that as far as I can, using up lots of different wools for a striped effect. I haven't pressed it yet but you get the idea here.
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Really enjoying the crochet bits - easier than picking up and knitting the edging.
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. We shall see if it is wearable.

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Thanks to everyone for the warm new-home wishes. we love it here and it does feel just like home.