Saturday, October 8, 2011

Photography: Autumn Colors

Since photos are at the heart of scrapbooking, I'm always interested in improving my photography.  We've been having a beautiful autumn here in Minnesota, which has given me some great opportunities to shoot some fall photos.  As I mentioned in my last post, I'm going to be introducing some new labels for my blog over the next few days, and today the new label I'm introducing is "photography."

Below are a few fall photos I'd like to share with you.


I hope you enjoyed seeing Minnesota's rich fall colors in those photos.

Speaking of fall colors, the challenge for this week on the October Afternoon blog was to create something based on four colors from an autumn photo posted by Lexi Bridges.  The colors are orange, aqua, black, and white.


I decided to take the challenge, and I first pulled this aqua paper (above), which to me looked like feathers.


Next I pulled these cards (above), and when I looked at the blue and orange bits of those patterns, I imagined round eyes and a pointy beak (below)...well, it was immediately clear to me that I needed to make an owl!


I ended up creating and framing this wall hanging (below) for my son's room.  He loves birds of prey (especially owls), and he loves music, so it just seemed perfect for him.  My son is also an enthusiastic student of kung fu, so, for an extra, whimsical touch, I gave the owl a stylized kung fu sash.

Supplies: patterned paper, stickers, buttons, ribbon (all from October Afternoon), ink (Versa Color), glitter glue (Stickles by Ranger), gel pen (Sakura), frame (second hand).

To make the owl, I cut my own template from scratch paper.  I think this is sometimes easier than searching around for a template that has the look you want.  Folding the scratch paper in half and drawing half of your desired shape on the crease (see below) allows you to create a shape that is symmetrical.


That's it for today's post.  "Owl" see you again soon!  :)

6 comments:

Unknown said...

Denise, Thank you so much for your visit to Creative Breathing. It makes me smile to see so many OA projects here. You are a wonderful paper artist! I particularly like the "grizzly" layout. Thank you for this owl pattern, one to tuck away! Have a lovely fall day! Elizabeth

Heather Innusa said...

My goodness! What anazing pics! I'm in S. Fla & its like we don't even have seasons, so I really appreciate these photos - and what wonderful inspiration for your awesome project!! Thanks for visiting & following my blog! I'm gunna check yours out too :) ps isn't October After the best!!

Anonymous said...

That is awesome. Thanks for sharing with us at OA.

Ella Swan said...

Oh Denise this is the height of cuteness! Love what you have done here - so clever & so cute!!

Ella Swan said...

Oh dear my comment seems to have disappeared! Love what you've done with the OA papers- that owl is so cute!! Love your Fall photography too - we don't have a real Autumn here in South Africa as most of our vegetation is Evergreen!!

Jing-Jing said...

Seriously, WAY way too cute!!! Awesome frame! And of course the photos are seriously beautiful!!!