As you can see by the challenge header above, our topic to muse upon this month is centered around TREES. Trees are such an integral and important part of the world around us so I wanted to explore how they intertwine with our lives in so many different ways. WEEK 3 - BARK, BRANCH AND LEAF This week we will look at creating layouts using various textures and colours from different parts of a tree as inspiration. Do you have a certain type of leaf that you love? is it the texture, the shape or the colour that draws you to it? Or have you found a skeleton leaf and picked it up, marveling at how beautiful the leaf looked? Ever hugged a tree and pressed your face against it's warm rough (or smooth) bark? Have you seen any trees that have really intricate patterns embedded in their bark? Or what of the colourful lichens and fungi that grow only on certain trees? Ever seen the silhouette of a bare tree branch against the sky and thought how perfect it looked? Nature truly is wonderful and I personally love all the textures that are associated with trees. My garden at my old place had some beautiful smooth barked gum trees that use to transform into stunning patterns of colour after rain, when the bark was wet. Other trees, like the Melaleuca tea trees, used to shed their bark and I can remember stripping some of these off one day and making a "pot plant" out the bark to house some native orchids. Your challenge this week is to scrap a layout featuring a branch, bark or leaves..... these can be in any form, like photos, stamps, brushes, papers etc. the MAIN thing I want to see though is TEXTURE. You can have colour or none, what I am wanting to see though is some texture in your layout inspired by our main subjects this week, namely from a branch, bark or leaf. This is an inspirations board I have created using Pinterest, take a look and see if any of the images or quotes will inspire you. This is the link to my Pinterest board where all of the images for the Inspiration Boards for this month have come from: HERE Here is my page: I used to love walking through my garden at my old place. The garden itself was built beneath various tall gum trees and I used to look forward to what I would find as I walked through my 'little' forest! There was always something of interest to be found on the path all year round, like skeleton leaves with their soft intricate patterns, different types of coloured leaves and even bird feathers. I also used to take lots of close up photos of these treasures as well, and this is one such photo that I used on this layout. I loved the beautiful colours and the various textures of all the leaves here, with some pretty tree nuts as well. Tip: To get a more texturised look on leaves or bark, duplicate your layer and use the High Pass filter, then change your layer blend mode to one of the lighter modes, like Soft, Hard or Linear. I used Linear on this photo as I wanted the texture in the brown leaf to really stand out. Credits: Please see layout in gallery for all the products I used. You may create any style of layout (ie. clean and simple, artsy, pocket style etc.) you wish, with or without a photo. Create any size page you wish. This is for everyone, so have fun and see where the inspiration takes you. If you want all 4 Muses on one page that's perfectly okay or you can make 4 separate pages!! It's totally up to you! Please post your layout to the Art Journaling Gallery HERE prior to February 29, 2020 EST and then post it in this thread by copying the code (at the right of your gallery image) from the box under "Share BB Code". We will draw a winner at the beginning of next month for a coupon!! You can use any products in The Lilypad store or retired products from current Lilypad designers, (just make sure you follow our gallery guidelines). Looking forward to see your pages everyone!!
Until this challenge, I didn't realize how much I love trees. I could have done a dozen pages on trees I love (palms, my redwood, the electric broad leaf trees in autumn, "my tree" in a school yard we drive by every week, the evergreen trees whose needles turn bright yellow in the fall, the ubiquitous cedars and firs of the Pacific Northwest (where I live).... But for this challenge about texture, I had to go with the paperbark maple in our back yard. It speaks for itself! Credits: https://the-lilypad.com/forum/galleries/02_wk-3_paperbarkmaple_texture.425066/
It is way too snowy to get outside today. I'm settling for a photo I took back in October, a branch off of one of our burr oaks that had fallen off the tree & was headed for the burning pile. I've often heard that a dead tree supports more life than a live one, and this photo makes me agree.
I had a hard time narrowing down which tree I wanted to use, too. In the end, I used two pictures I recently took of a huge Banyan Tree at the Jupiter Florida Lighthouse. Thanks again, Ona, for giving us the opportunity to reach into our creativity and love of trees for this wonderful challenge.
oooooh!! I am in texture heaven!!!! what stunning layouts ladies!! So happy you are enjoying this month's muse and I am loving ALL of the layouts you creative ladies have made!!! off the gallery I go!
When I first saw this challenge I was stumped. What more can I come up with having to do with trees, I thought. Then I found the page I started for last week and never finished because it didn't fit. lol!
I did not use any background papers on my page it is totally two photos I took - butterfly with autumn leaves and bark of a log my husband will be soon using for his woodwork.
@wombat146 thank you for this challenge, I am so loving the art journaling with trees. My photos are from a grove of trees I found when visiting Jekyll Island.
Whew!...Finally Here To Post My Layout For Week#3...I Have Sooo...Many Photos Of Trees...Leaves,Branches & Bark...So I Had To Give This Week's Challenge A Lot Of Thought...I Finally Decided To Go With Leaves...I Really Wanted To Do A Page All About Spring...I Did Summer/Autumn & Winter Respectively For Week#1,Week#2 & So Spring Was The Topic Of Choice For Week#3...Now I Know Most People Think Of Autumn Leaves As The Most Common Time For Leaves To Stand Out...And Frankly...I Have Tons Of Autumn Leaves In Photos...So I Wanted To Spotlight/Highlight The Fresh Green Leaves Of Spring... I Am All About Thinking Of Spring Right Now & This Page & Theme Is Just The Right Time For Me...A Time When Mother Nature Has Awoken To The Joy & Anticipation Of A Fresh,New Season Of Beauty & Possibilities!!!...I Love The Fresh,Green...Breathability...& Airy Feeling In All The Spring "Greens" I Call Them...It's Like Taking A Deep Breath...& Letting Go Of All That Was Winter...& Opening The Windows Of Your Heart & Soul...To Once Again Breathe In The Newness Of A Fresh New Season...Full Of Possibilities...Bright Sunny Days...A Time To Enjoy All That Is Spring & Feel That Gentle Spring Breeze Upon Your Face...As You Gaze Up & See The Perseverance & Strength Of All Those Beautiful Green Leaves...Reaching Out With A Gentle Hug & Embrace...So We Can Feel Their Presence & Marvel At Their Fresh New Bounty Of Spring Beauty... *For My Spring Greens Layout-I Used: *Mixed Media Monthly-April 2019-Thrive/Earth/Natural-Little Butterfly Wings/Paula Kesselring/Rachel Jefferies *Mixed Media Monthly-July 2019-Pastures Green-Rachel Jefferies(1)