Another one with a quote . . . . .

You can blame Kim Klassen for starting me off on this . . .I downloaded her free brush set and it took off from there.
This quote is one I found myself and I thought it was lovely . . . .especially when you look at it as I do through the window of  trust in God's overwhelming love for us . . .
The photo was taken when I went for a walk near the beach on a really windy day . . .it really blew the cobwebs away.

Hope you like this  . . .

"Life's voyage"

Now that Christmas is over I'm looking forward to everything settling back to normal  . . .we don't do anything  special for New Years eve so this weekend should be nice and peaceful . . . just the way I like it.

I hope you all have a wonderful 2012, Teresa xx :-)

Christmas Day . . . . . .

Have a wonderful day everyone . . .

I hope your day is filled with peace and joy . . . .
Love Teresa xx :-)

Love endures . . . .the Christmas message . . .

or what it means to me  . . . .

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas full of peace and joy.
Sent with love and my very best wishes, Teresa xx :-)

Plainly pink . . . . .

I was given a gift of a little potted cyclamen which was so sweet and of course I took a lot of  photos. As I was working with the images I had taken I decided to make this one  a "pinky" colour which is quite a departure from the things I normally do.

This new set of pics dovetailed very happily with the fact that Kim Klassen has been so generous this Christmas and is freely giving a new texture every day for the "twelve days of |Christmas so it was an ideal opportunity  to use one of those on it. . . . .I love her magic textures and this one is called "moremagicscratched" and as she has said, for those of you who may not know, the way to use the magic textures is in screen mode at 100%.

I have called this one "pink inspiration"

It's decidedly soggy here at the moment . . .hoping it clears up soon or I'm going to get rather damp walking to my friends house later . . .
Keep smiling :-)) Love Teresa xx

Pre Christmas lull . . . .

We don't really do much for Christmas but even so things really seem to speed up in the week or two before .

But . . . . . I've sent all the cards . . . . . been to the Christmas Fayre in the village . . . .and seen Santa arrive so I guess things are on track :-)

I'm going to remind myself of warm summer days today with this photo of an agapanthus. I only have one plant in the garden but it's so reliable and I love the flowers . . . .

"Early Summer Sunshine"

                                                                                                                                    (textures by Kim Klassen)

Hope your Sunday is calm and peaceful . . . .
Love Teresa xx :-)

Underwater . . . .

I was down at the harbour the other day and it was so calm. I loved the reflections of the boats in the water and snapped away quite happily.

So here is "Underwater"

Have a good weekend everyone . . . .and to all those in the UK . . .stay warm ..
Love Teresa xx :-)

Whispers of Summer . . . .

These dried grasses have been sitting on my kitchen window sill for months now and they always look the smae . . .so delicate and beautiful . . . they just go on and on and on.

I took some really close, close up shots and this is one of the results . . . .

"Whipsers of Summer"

                                                                                                   Texture is by Leslile Nicole

We've got another mild day today and we really have had a lovely spell of calm sunny weather . . . .but the clouds are beginning to build and tomorrow and the next day is forecast as rainy . . . so I made sure I got out and about with my camera first thing this morning . . . .got to have something to work on :-)

Happy Monday, Teresa xx :-)

Blue Autumn . . . .

The post title gets it's name from the blue leaf in this image which was the first one I created.

These are vine leaves beginning to fade and fall from the vines . . .but I decided to do something different with them . . .another collage but a different treatment this time.

"Blue Autumn"

It's short and sweet from me today . . .have a lovely weekend everyone.

Love Teresa xx :-)

Gratitude at TT . . . . . . .

The theme for this week over at Kim Klassen's Texture Tuesday is "gratitude".

My husband has just finished harvesting our olives . . . .he's taken them to the olive press and we now have more than enough olive oil to last us a couple of years . . . .so I'm very grateful for that.

The best olives for oil are not the big plump ones . . .those are best for eating . .. but rather the small ones.  There are a lot of different varieties of trees but the majority of ours are the ones that produce the little olives for oil.

So here is my "gratitude" A photo of some small knobbly little olives . . .insignificant by themselves but when  accompanied by thousands more they become something really lovely . . . . .there's a metaphor there somewhere :-)

"Gratitude"

                                                                                                                                                     

                                     and this is the recipe:-

















Happy Tuesday everyone,
Love Teresa xx :-)

Still playing . . . . .:-)

Yes, another collage with digital  tape strips . . . .

"Greek Impressions"

                                                                                                                            (textures by French Kiss Textures and Kim Klassen)

Happy Monday everyone,
Teresa xx :-)

The remains of summer . . . .

I can't remember what these flowers were . . . all that's left now are the dried husks . . .but I thought they were pretty in their own right.
After I had worked on this I went back to the field to see if I could identify them . . but I couldn't even find them . . .so they're a mystery

Anyway here are "Fields of Gold"

                                                                                (texture by Leslie Nicole)

It's sunny but colder today but I think I can find a spot out of the wind for my morning latte


Have a wonderful Sunday everyone, Teresa xx :-)


P.S Hannah very kindly offered to identify this for me so . . .here is the unedited version

Thank you Hannah x

My new play things . . . . .

Leslie Nicole has a sale for a few days  . . . .30% off all the textures . .  . so . . .I bought these tape strips which I've used below.

I'm lovin' them  . . . . . .

Teresa xx :-)

I found this . . . .

This week at Pixel Dust Photo Art the idea is to look back on something we have produced but not really done anything with . . . .this photo is one of those.

I took it in the summer when I went for a day trip to the island of Kalymnos and when I saw it I was taken with how "old fashioned" everything looked . . . .so that was the feel I wanted to give to it.

"Anticipation"

                                                                   (Textures by Kim Klassen and Leslie Nicole)

Doesn't the summer feel a long way away now . . . . .lucky you in the Southern Hemisphere :-))

Hope your weekend is really enjoyable . . . wherever you are.
Love Teresa xx :-)

A load of old rope . . .

Well mooring lines actually . . . .
I was walking along by the harbour at Kefalos . . . . . .which I'm very happy to say is close to where I live . .
. .when I spotted the mooring lines of the little boats which are moored on the harbour beach. Some of the ropes were lying on the sand others were pulled tighter but I found the sight of them with their shadows really appealing.

I've used that photo for todays Texture Tuesday entry

"Ropes and Shadows"

This is the edit I did in Elements but I also ran it through RadLab . . .which I'm really impressed with.

We've got clouds today and maybe rain later but in the next couple of days I need to get out to pastures new with my camera . . .I get twitchy if I don't use my camera :-))

Looking forward to seeing your work.
Happy Tuesday, Teresa xx :-)

Natures finest . . . .

Open to debate I know but when you see a group of roses and smell their fragrance well . . . .

These are a sort of shrub rose that blooms really prolifically and is the most gorgeous pink but in this edit I wanted something paler and more ethereal so . . . .

"Old English Roses"

                                                                          (textures . . .I used three . . .are by Leslie Nicole)

It's a beautiful morning here and I've been out prowling around the garden in my pj's with my camera . . . .what a lovely start to the day . . .
Hope your week goes well.

Love Teresa xx :-)

A walk in the meadow

A spring photo for this Sunday which I hope finds you well. These flowers were on the bank at the edge of a field near to our house. Fortunately I didn't have to get low down to the ground to get this perspective . . . .I love it when there are no contortions involved in getting the shot I want . . . I once fell over backward whilst I was stooped down and got sort of wedged between two old  doorposts . . .I should point out it was a very narrow opening :-))

So . . . this is "meadow"

                                                                                                                         (texture by Leslie Nicole)

Enjoy the rest of your weekend . . . .I can hear a cup of coffee calling . . .
Love Teresa xx :-)

Playing today . . . .

I'm finding it's liberating moving outside of my comfort zone so I've been experimenting with different styles.
I put this image through RadLab and then used textures by Leslie Nicole.

I call it "a load of old rope"

Have a lovely weekend everyone,
Love Teresa xx :-)

Butterfly or should that be Flutterby . . . . .

These butterflies are very common over here  . . .I think they are called "painted lady" but I could well be wrong :-) The problem is  . . .as you all probably know . . .they love to move about but after lots of blurry shots I managed to get this one whilst it was reasonably still.

I've used textures by Leslie Nicole and have included my layers panel from Elements as some people have asked me how I use the textures.

I suppose one of the most important things in this image is that I changed the colour of the texture from shades of blue to shades of yellow. I often do this with a texture so that the colour of the texture harmonises with the colours in the image. This can be done beforehand ,like I did here,or during processing. If you do it during processing and have multiple layers of the same texture you can alter the colour on each individual layer and sometimes it's only a change on one layer that's needed. Leslie had a really good tutorial on her site which shows how to do this . . . .and honestly it's not difficult. Here's the link . . . . tutorial.

The second thing I did was to smooth out the texture because I particularly wanted a smooth look for this.

Anyway here's the image . . . . . . "dining al-fresco"

           

                     

                                 . . . . .and here's the layers panel





















If anyone wants to ask me any questions about this I'm more than happy to help . . .if I can . . .but not right now as I'm off to bed :-)
Love Teresa xx :-)

Texture Tuesday . . .

I was looking through some photos I had taken whilst on the neighbouring island of Nisyros and decide to use one of these for this weeks project over at  Texture Tuesday

Here it is . . . .a narrow street in the village of Nikia.. The textures created an aged appearance that I really liked .  . .. .normally I go for the bright and vibrant . .  . ..but this relates back to the age of the place in a way that seemed to fit.

This is the workflow . . .and I've even progressed a little further . . .no more of my spidery scrawl  . . :-)

The weather is set to improve today and I really hope so . . .two days stuck inside and I'm going a little stir crazy :-))
Happy Tuesday everyone.
Love Teresa xx :-)

A little bit of grunge . . .

I was down on the beach the other day and for some reason nobody had collected these umbrellas . . . .  Over here when the season finishes at the end of October, there aren't any more tourist flights until the middle of April so . . . . all of the people who have the beach concessions stow away their equipment until the following year. Maybe the person who owns these had decided to keep them for personal use while the weather was still good.
I saw them because there's a lovely cafe, right on the beach, where hubby and I had enjoyed a leisurely capuccino.

I've been trying out lots of different effects with the RadLab software I've got on trial  and using different textures so here's my "little bit of grunge" . . .

                                                                                                                    (textures by Kim Klassen)

It's still raining here :-( but tomorrow should see a change.
Happy Monday,
Love Teresa xx :-)

A winter Sunday . . . .

Well . .  after the lovely spell of calm, warm weather today we have winter . . . .windy, rainy and cold. The picture below is one I took of a summer storm but I've worked on it to give it a more wintery feel and it kind of sums up today.

                                                                                                                           (texture by Kim Klassen)

Hope your Sunday is warm and cosy . . . .  like mine is now I'm snug inside . . .
Love Teresa xx :-)

Little heather bells . . . . . .

The morning sun was shining through the patch of heather the other morning  . . . .and  this is the result . . .

                                                                                                             (texture by Leslie Nicole)

I'm going to post this over at Bonnie's for Photo Art Friday and I'm looking forward to seeing what you've all been up to.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone,
Love Teresa  xx :-)

It's 2 time at TT . . . .

2 is the theme for this week over at Texture Tuesday  .

I've been taking lots of pics of the leaves on the Apricot tree which are beautiful this year. This one was actually taken a few days before the one in the previous post but this one fitted the theme

I've discovered that I can actually write as well as capture a screen shot with my liitle "snip it" tool so I can include more meaningful screen shots of the layers panel. Hopefully I'll be able to write myself soon and sack the spider :-).

As usual, I'm looking forward to seeing what you've all produced.
Happy Tuesday everyone,
Teresa xx :-)                                                                                    


                                                                                                

Autumn glory . . . . .

The leaves on one of our apricot trees have turned the most amazing colour this autumn.

Here are three of them :-)

                                                                                                                                      (texture by Kim Klassen)

Happy Monday everyone,
Love Teresa xx :-)

Hannah has asked me for some more info on pp so here it is.

Here's the original

I ran the image through the Redfield Fractalius filter to get the effect  I wanted.

Then on to the texture which is KK chamomile (well spotted Hannah)

And that was it . . . .please excuse the spider scrawl above :-) xx

summer sensation

I keep harking back to summer . . . .even though I often complained about the heat . . . . .and despite the fact that the sky is blue at the moment. . . . .very strange !!

Anyway here's one of the amazing zinnias that were grown at my friends cafe

                                                                                                                                           (textures by Leslie Nicole and Kim Klassen)


Enjoy your weekend everyone,
Love Teresa xx :-)

If it's raining . . . . . . . . or not

A friend of mine who is in the UK at the moment told me it was raining . . . .so this is for all of you who may be suffering inclement weather . . . .a taste of warmer times :-)

                   
                                                                                                          (texture by Leslie Nicole )
Have a lovely weekend everyone,
Love Teresa xx :-)

Tulip time . . . . . .

Well, the bulbs are in anyway . . . .

My husband bought some new bulbs which I supplemented with a pack of anemone bulbs from the supermarket. He planted the main lot but I said I could do the anemones . . . wrong . . . .I mistook his instructions and now we'll have to wait and see if they come up . . . .and I watch all of the gardening programmes!!

His comment was to stick to photographing the flowers :-)

This is one of last years little stars . . . . .

                                                                                                      (Texture is by Leslie Nicole)

Enjoy your Wednesday,
Love Teresa xx :-)

Pods . . . . but you won't grow a beanstalk from these . . .

These pods make lovely whooshing noises as the are blown together in the breeze and are the seed pods from the albitzia tree. I'll post a photo of the flowers later because you may call it my another name in your part of the world.

So,  this is my TEXTURE TUESDAY entry this week.

I used the textures "and then some" and "serious magic"







These are the flowers strutting their stuff this summer.

Pretty aren't they.

Hope everyone's week has started well . . . .we're having a lovely spell of Autumn weather . . . . sunshine but not hot . . . . .just perfect for getting out and about . . . of course that's why I've been on the computer for most of the time  !!

 Love Teresa xx:-)                                                      

                                                               

Roses are . . . . . .

Well in this case they start out orange and yellow and finish up this lovely pink colour. They are only small but they grow in clusters so make a beautiful show. I forget their name but if anyone wants to know I'll ask my husband . . . . . . . . .who is the expert in all things gardening.

                                                                                                              (texture by Leslie Nicole)


Sometimes when I put a texture on a photo I have to try various ones before I find one that seems to fit but as soon as I used this texture I knew it was right . . . .don't you love it when that happens . .

So, I hope you enjoy it and it brightens up your Monday,

Love Teresa xx:-)

A teacup . . . .and a feature . . . about my photography !! Woo Hoo . . .

Well, as you can imagine I am absolutely thrilled to be the subject of a feature by LESLIE NICOLE . Just click on the following link if you want to have a look. FEATURE

I use the textures Leslie creates a lot in my work . . .they are beautiful and inspirational . . .so I was thrilled when she asked if she could use some of my photos and write about the way I use the textures.

So what's the teacup to do with all this . . . . Well the teacup and saucer (my favourite by the way) are featured in the photo below which is the lead photo in the article. . . . Well I think that's quite neat anyway :-))

As you can tell I am so excited . . . this is the first time anything like this has happened to me. . . . .happy sigh

Have a great Sunday, Teresa xx :-)

                                                                   

Three's a crowd

I felt like a little whimsy for the start of the weekend . . . .

"Three's a Crowd"

                                                                                                                                  (texture by www.FrenchKissTextures.com)


Have a wonderful weekend everyone,

Teresa xx :-)

Memories . . . . .of a lovely day

During the summer two girlfriends and myself took a day trip to the island of Kalymnos. We had a wonderful day travelling all over the island and ended up at lunchtime at a small harbour where we had a long leisurely lunch.
After lunch I wandered about with my camera and this is one of the shots I took. The roof with the bougainvillea climbing all over it is the taverna where we ate lunch.

I've done various bits and pieces on this to get the look I wanted including adding textures by Kim Klassen.

I'm linking up with Pixel Dust Photo Art for Photo Art Friday so I'll see you there. Time for breakfast now :-)
I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.
Teresa xx :-)                                                                            
                                                                                                     

TT time

It's time to post this weeks piece of work over at KimKlassenCafe and as the storms have now cleared from here I wanted something bright and cheerful to celebrate.

Here it is  . . . . ."delightful daisies"

The two textures I used were "lifesgood" and "serious magic"

I missed last weeks get together but am so pleased Kim had a wonderful time . . . . .can't wait to see what you've all posted.

Happy Tuesday, Teresa xx :-)