Hum, The Smallest Town in the World

On my Croatia trip last year I visited Hum in Istria. Hum is officially the world's smallest town. Istria was absolutely amazing - I definately need to go back.

Here is a picture of a painting I did of Hum. You can find more of my paintings available as prints at my Etsy store.

Venice...I tried

Well, I tried my first streetscape today. Here is my oil painting of Venice, Italy. 

Port Fairy Lighthouse

One of my favourite getaway places is Port Fairy. I've lost count how many times I have been there - I just LOVE it!
At my last trip there, I took a photo of the lighthouse. Yesterday I had a go at painting it...

My First Painting at Home

After 2 painting classes, I thought I would give it a go at home. I've been watching all the painting shows on Channel 31 - Rod Moore, Ken Harris and Wayne Clements.

Today I psyched myself up and painted this! I didn't do it completely on my own - I was watching and following a Ken Harris episode. I can't wait to paint another one.  :)

My new handbag

After 12 months of using my converted jeans handbag, I thought it was time for a change.

I wanted a bag that was pretty simple to make, and by that, I mean it would only take me a few hours from start to finish. Lately I've been coming across lots of "foldover" bags, so I thought I would give it a shot. 

I had some faux suede fabric lying around which was perfect for the base. I also picked up a retro curtain fabric at an Op Shop last year that I've been dying to find a use for.

The faux suede base provides structure and stability. I made it so that the base also doubles as pockets - you can never have enough storage spots in a bag! For the body of the bag, I used a thin layer of batting between the outer and inner fabrics. This gives it a little bit of structure without it being too stiff.

The only thing I would do differently would be to change the colour of the lining. I lined it in black and it makes it difficult to see inside. A lighter colour would definately be a better choice.

My First Painting in 17 Years - Uluru

Yesterday I went to a painting class held by Rod Moore's Art School. It was fantastic!

I hadn't picked up a paint brush since High School (17 years ago), not to mention that I'd never used oil paints or painted on a canvas before.

Rod (an impressionist artist) showed us step-by-step how to paint our painting of Uluru (Ayers Rock). We learnt many different techniques like drawing the eye into the painting, values, depth etc. And even though we were all painting the same scene everyone's work was unique.

I think my first effort turned out pretty good.

I thoroughly enjoyed painting and I think this will be something that I will continue to do.

How Cool is Tilt and Shift?

Those photos that look like they're of a model village (but really they're not) absolutely blow me away. I could stare at them for hours (sigh).

I did a bit of googling on how the look is achieved. It's called the "Tilt and Shift" effect. I use both Photoshop Elements and Lightroom and after a LOT of hits and misses, I found the perfect instructions! You can find them here. The way it's done in Lightroom is SO easy.

Here is a photo I took in Venice last year...

...and with a little bit of Lightroom magic...

Not bad for a first go :)

Welcome

Seeing as this is my first Blog post... Welcome! I am hoping to share my world with you through as many pictures as possible - I love pictures and love photography. I may not be a professional photographer, but I love taking photos! Thank God for digital cameras :).  Another one of my favourite things is doilies. I have quite a collection that I hope to incorporate in my craft projects. I love the intricacy and their old world charm.