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Notes from the Garden - February Newsletter Edition

 
February's Featured Image

A Chocolate Love Affair

All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt.

 

The behind the scenes story? It was a great day in the studio to photograph chocolate. It was winter and a bit cloudy so the light from the southern window wasn't too bright. We set up the table on the windowsil for the natural light with a secondary light on the opposite side to give it a warm glow. We were doing just fine rearranging and shooting every angle....until....the sun came out...and we had to eat it all before it melted. lol

February Newsletter Special Price

5x7 standout image ready for hanging or sitting on an easel just $15.00 + shipping. Please allow 2 weeks for delivery

Sizes

Past issues

Jan. 2015

Dec. 2014

Nov. 2014

 

 

 

      

 

 
 

 
 
Adventures Through The Enchanted Door

Meet Abella

I had to quickly add another fairy the other day. The kids were coming to stay the night and we needed someone new to add to the collection. I had told the kids I thought I had seen something blue flying around in the garden and that set them in motion to go find the fairy trap. They went outside and placed the fairy trap on the picnic table in the garden house. We attached the spring loaded door with a shiney piece of jewelry and lined a path from the gardens to the trap with hershey kisses. Satisfied they had did it right, the kids and I then set off to go rollerskating for a few hours. It worked, Abella was trapped inside when we returned and quickly became Avery's new favorite fairy.

Newsletter Special

Adventures Through The Enchanted Door Series

1 book of each in the series or 2 of same book for $25.00 + shipping. Please allow 2 weeks for delivery.

multiple discounts for both books with combined order
 

        

 

 
 
 

 
 
Second Glances, An Introduction to Seeing

Whispers of the Woods,

Whispers of the Woods is the second in the "Second Glances" series. I've been working diligently on it for a few months now and it seems like it is finally starting to come together. It feels good to have the cover done, now the first few pages are falling into place. Next month I'll give you a sneak peak into the actual page designs.

Behind the scenes?

The tree is from a shot I took at Meadowbrook Mansion in Rochester, Mi. I enlarged it, gave it a sepia tone and took out the original blurry background becausejust didn't look right behind the lettering. I slipped in a textured background that I will use in the main background for the book pages giving everthing a uniformed look. Then I used a couple tree brushes to create the look of a forest, then embellished a top layer with a little magic dust. The final touch was the sun beams which are done on it's own layer by painting in white streaks then changing the layer style to "soft light". Pampai lettering wiil be used for the text throughout the book. That's it, old and sepia with a little bit of magic.

        

 

 
 

 
 
Featured Note Cards

Love

 

Just in time for Valentines Day and would make a perfect expression of love for your Valentine.

This bleeding hearts image came from my garden. They are usually one of the first plants in the spring to give me some color in the shade garden. And what a beauty they are.

These 4" x 6" cards are blank inside and come six in a package.

Special February Newsletter price of $6.00 and with free shipping

 

        

 


 
 

 

 

On a Personal Note

 
 
Mouse in Cup won!

Here it is! I received my hand signed original drawing from Aaron Blaise this month. For those of you who didn't see the announcement a few weeks ago on facebook, I had entered a contest for which I had to use Aaron's new photoshop hair brushes to create an image. I created "Mouse in a Cup" (shown on Wacom tablet) and won first place! I'm still stunned but very happy.

Aaron Blaise is this amazing artist that has worked for Disney Studios working as an animator or supervising animator on “The Rescuers Down Under”, “Beauty and the Beast”, “Aladdin”, “The Lion King”, “Pocahontas”, “Mulan” and I was co-director of “Brother Bear” for which we earned an Oscar nomination for Best Animated Feature Film.

I have always dreamed of doing his job.

I'm honored to have one of his images and it will be right here on my desk, next to Norman Rockwell, as one of my inspirational artist to nudge me along.

Until next month,

Ann