Driving Me to Drink

So creating 350 images with borders and ready to print for the printer is no easy or quick task!  I've had my rear end stuck to this office chair for the past few days/weeks and I'm starting to think that at any moment it might become a permanent fixture the next time I get up!

I have ventured out, I had to or I would have completely lost my sanity.  But it's been to places like the chiropractor's office, to take the dogs out, or to get something to eat when I actually remember to eat.

After so many days of constant interaction with my newest friend Photoshop, I forced myself to pick up the camera and head outside for a much needed mental break.  And as I wandered around our backyard in my too short sweatpants and big bulky coat, I took a moment to decompress and look around for something, anything to shoot. 

My neighbor loves it when I am in the middle of a working frenzy...she can always tell because my hair looks like I haven't brushed it...because I haven't, and you never know what I will be wearing.  If I had to describe my look on these sorts of days, I would say that it's somewhere between crazy cat lady and eccentric millionaire, sadly without the millions.

She never questions it though, but often phones me when I go back inside...maybe to see if she needs to call the loony bin?!  Either way I appreciate the phone calls as they give me another chance to avoid working for a bit.

While out on my adventure this afternoon, I was treated to a visit by a lovely woodpecker.  The original photo is at the top of the post, but I preferred the image with a little texture added.  One of my goals for our upcoming trip is to visit a few flea markets and find some great old French ephemera to use as textures.  I have quite a bit already, but you can never have too much.

For both of these images, I actually used other people's textures, but I prefer to use ones I've sourced myself.  Plus I just love the look of beautiful old documents, postcards, and letters from by gone eras, and hope to frame some of the pieces I have one of these days.

Woodpeckers are often as elusive as good ephemera, and they like sitting high up in the trees, making them difficult to capture without lots of cropping.  Still, I love to hear their distinctive calls and the tap, tap, tapping on the trees as they hunt for insects.  This little guy was happily flitting from treetop to treetop looking for the juiciest worms, ants, or whatever he could find.

It's amazing how stepping outside for just 20 short minutes can give you the oomph you need to come back inside and keep working.  And now that the sun has set and it's too dark for picture taking, I am using a different secret weapon...I'm enjoying a nice cold cider... Strongbow to be exact.

I still have 24 more images to create and although I'm a complete lightweight when it comes to drinking, I decided to grab a hard cider left over from Thanksgiving and sip it slowly while I work.  The crisp apple taste pares well with photo editing I think.  ;-)

Don't forget that there is still time to use the 10% discount I am offering on any gallery wrapped canvas available in my new shop.  And should you prefer something from my photography website that isn't offered yet on Low Tide High Style, you can simply shoot me an email and I will have that created for you instead. 

The code for 10% off is LTHS10

Enjoy your evening!

********************

Looking for Unique Artwork for your Home?

Visit us at Low Tide High Style 

 

Changeable Charlie

Thank you everyone for your wonderful support and encouragement of my new shop!!!  I truly appreciate all of the great comments, emails and messages on Facebook that I've received!  A special thanks to Grace of Sense and Simplicity who has been an invaluable eagle eye at helping me tweak the site...thank you so much!

I did receive a few questions too, like is all of the artwork ready to hang?...and the answer is YES!  Each piece is gallery wrapped onto a 1 1/2 inch kiln dried stretcher bar, some images have mirrored sides (where the image continues to wrap around the edge), while others have a solid edge in a complimentary color.  Then each piece is paper backed to prevent dust from gathering on the back of the picture, and a wire hanger is attached so that it is ready to hang on your wall just as soon as your package arrives and you take it out of the box!

Ok, so now about me and my Changeable Charlie'ness.  Some of you may have noticed that I put a holiday header at the top of my blog yesterday.  It was the image above and it's of a new piece of artwork I have for sale in my new store.  I love the little bluebird surrounded by holly, and the traditional reds and greens, but I decided I wasn't happy with it as my header after all, so I made a change.

Mr. Tide was kind enough to bring in a few of the holiday tubs from the garage yesterday and I began looking through them this morning to see what my decorating theme would be this year.  Because I'm so changeable, I like to switch things up from year to year, using different colors, or whatever strikes my fancy.

This year, because I've been so busy of late, I was kind of floundering as to which way I should go, especially in my living room and dining room.  But when I opened one of the bins, I was pleasantly surprised at what I found.

When our son moved out and into the rental property he is sharing with his sister, I came across some old Christmas ornaments in the garage that had belonged to the previous owner...our 100+ year old neighbor George.  His son and daughter in law were getting rid of the items they no longer wanted or needed and so I poked around to see what I could buy before they took things to the donation place in town.

I ended up purchasing a wonderful old typewriter that George had used during his adventures in India and the other wonderful places he called home during his very full life.  The typewriter now sits in the big black cabinet in my dining room, along with a collection of vintage cameras.  Some day I will take a few photos of that cabinet to share with all of you.

But the other big score I found in the garage was a collection of old vintage Christmas ornaments.  They were a hodgepodge of old glass ornaments in shades of aqua, silver, gold, but mostly pink!  I fell in love with them instantly and could just imagine George and his wife lovingly decorating their tree with them for the many years they were together.

In true Changeable Charlie form, I had to play around with the angle of this one beautiful ornament that says Merry Christmas, so I took 2 different shots of it in the teacup.  Truth be told I took 3 shots, but these are the two I liked the best! ;-)

Because my roses haven't gotten the memo yet that it's nearly Christmas and they should be fast asleep, I went outside and gathered up a few to put in a vase.  Then I grabbed a couple ironstone platters, plunked the vase of roses on it and began scattering the beautiful pink and silver ornaments on top a lovely and festive centerpiece for my dining room table.  I also used an old bedspread that had belonged to my grandmother as the tablecloth.

The roses will fade long before the holidays hit of course, but for now I am loving the look.  And I can always get store bought roses if I want to keep this look going all the way through Christmas...can you ever have too many flowers in your house?!   And the answer is...heck no!

So there you have it, my long winded explanation as to why my header is now all pink and sparkly...because I am a consummate Changeable Charlie!

And it's kind of getting me in the mood for not only the holidays, but also my trip to Paris!  Yup, it's official, we are going to Paris next month and I can't wait.  I can't even fathom the idea of being in the City of Lights during one of the most festive times of the year.  Of course I'll be snapping pictures left and right while Mr. Tide is busy working (poor guy), and maybe when I get home I will be completely rethinking my idea of Christmas decor altogether...we'll see!

*******************

Looking for a special piece of artwork?

Visit us at  Low Tide High Style

Shop Low Tide High Style

Well folks it's finally here, my new shop is open, and I have to say that I'm so nervous to unveil it that my stomach actually hurts while I'm writing this post.  It's a combination of excitement, apprehension, and downright exhaustion...but I have to say that I'm so proud of it too.

I've been burning the morning, noon, and midnight oil to get it done and it's finally time for this little birdie website to fly from the nest.

And I'm not the only one who has been working hard, my dear friend Mary Beth Griffin, and friend and fellow blogger Trish Jones have also been busy creating wonderful new works for the site.

I hope that when you visit the shop you will agree that we've collected some pretty special artwork that you can only find at Low Tide High Style.  We are excited to be able to bring you beautiful gallery wrapped canvas prints on archival canvas, paper backed and ready to hang, and the best part is they are all Made in the USA! 

Like with any business, there is more work to be done, and I will continue to add to the various galleries on the site.  We are creative girls after all, so we'll be busy coming up with new artwork to share with you very soon!

And along with the new artwork, there will be some old favorites too, so keep checking back to see what we add to the mix!

As a thank you for your patience and for your wonderful support as I have traversed this crazy world of c-commerce, I want to offer a 10% discount on purchases between now and the 30th of November.

Just visit Low Tide High Style to take a peek and use the coupon code LTHS10 upon check out to receive 10% off your purchase!

Thank you!!! :-)

Over the River and Through the Woods

Wishing each of you beautiful weather

Time for one more pass with the vacuum and dust cloth

Lots of yummy food

 

Good company

 

 And a very Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Jack Frost Nipping

Yesterday when I woke up to take the dogs out just after the sun came up I was greeted by a canvas of white.  It wasn't snow of course, but it was a very heavy frost that blanketed everything in it's path.

It was quite lovely really, and got me in the mood to start thinking about the holidays.  And speaking of holidays, am I the only one who was completely caught off guard by the fact that a week from today is Thanksgiving?!

My sister and I take turns hosting Thanksgiving and Christmas each year and this year she has decided to take Thanksgiving again, even though technically it's my year to host it.  You won't hear me complaining one bit about having it at her house.  We all bring stuff, but the fact that it's at her house and I don't have to run around like a crazy woman making sure every nook and cranny is clean is a very welcome relief.

I spoke to her on the phone a few days ago and we were running over the menu and discussing who would be bringing what, when I said, "oh I'll just call you next week and we can chat about it."  She seemed a little quiet when I said that, and when I hung up the phone Mr. Tide promptly informed me that "next week" was Thanksgiving!  Oops!!!  I really had in my head that it was the following week.

I guess it just goes to show that when you are wrapped up in other things you can completely lose all sense of time...and clearly I did.  I'm back on track now, and I will have the corn pudding, candied sweet potatoes, and desserts all ready when the time comes...I hope!

A few more days of Jack Frost nipping at my nose, toes, and anything else he can freeze should get me straight and remind me that November is halfway done and Christmas is just around the corner.

Thanks for your sweet comments on my last post, and I hope if you are celebrating Thanksgiving next week that you are much more organized than I am! :)

Like a Kid in a Candy Store

I've been so busy with chiropractor appointments and working on my website that I haven't really had time to create much lately.  Creating is my happy place, the space where I find quiet solitude and joy, so I've missed being there.

But today I decided I would combine a little work with some play and work on a few images.  The top image is from a candy store in France.  It was housed in a beautiful old building with elaborate plaster work.  I can only imagine how the lucky French children who visit there must feel when they leave the store with their yummy, and equally beautifully packaged sweets.

The second image is a piece that MB and I collaborated on, and it will be for sale on the website which will be up early next week...fingers crossed!  

While working on both pictures I felt like a kid in a candy store.  There is nothing quite like doing what you love and having fun while doing it. 

On a side note, I found out today that I might, and emphasis on the might, be going back to France sometime soon.  I wonder if I'll be able to find my own version of a candy store...Ladurée

anyone?!

Today, and Every Day

Happy Veterans Day

and

Thank You

For a Friend

Wishing each of you a happy weekend. xo