Friday 1 January 2016

New Year, New Challenge

Hi Everybody!

Happy New Year!


Today is not only new year, but the start of a new challenge at 
Our hostess this month is Chrissie, and she has chosen the theme of
winter wonderland.

I hope to see lots of you at the challenge, so get your thinking caps on, let your imagination run riot, and join us at AJJ.

I am using photos as part of my journal pages this month. We haven't had any snow up till now, just a bit of frost, but I have lots of snow photos which I have used, and tried to find a suitable quote to fit each one. Here I have used the view from my window taken on a snowy and overcast day. I added it digitally to a painted background, together with the trees and silhouettes. I placed it onto an A3 sheet and pasted crackle paste 'snow' round about, and added a TH fence and tree and some snow flakes. The birds on the trees are photos of my balcony visitors. I love merging my reality and imagination this way.








I am also linking to Paint Party Friday and Moo Mania and More, anything goes.

Today started off frosty and misty:



The pigeons found the food in spite of the mist:



The path along the stream was full of frosted leaves:


This little robin looks cold, poor thing!


Have a great day you all, take care,
and thanks a lot for coming by!



58 comments:

  1. What a great theme for January, especially living in the northern hemisphere. It's certainly cold and icy here, so this theme speaks to me.

    I simply adore your creation, and it's true that my fingers glow when I've been out in the cold. This is a real beauty and I get cold just seeing it.

    I was impressed with the single frozen leaf and the poor robin. Your photos say it all about how cold it's gotten in your part of the world.

    Happy, happy 2016, dear Valerie.

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  2. Happy New Year Valerie. Love this new challenge at AJJ, perfect for the season. Your winter scene is beautiful-it really looks so cold and frosty but like a wonderland too. The foggy photos feels like a cold winter wonderland too, minus the snow, but that frosty leaf says a lot about how chilly it was. Hugs!

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  3. Lovely work for the winter challenge Valerie, we haven't had much snow either. Happy New Year and Happy PPF!

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  4. Happy New Year and a happy new challenge, love what you have made. Hugs, Sarah

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  5. Eine ganz wunderschöne erste Seite zum neuen Thema liebe Valerie!Ein faszinierendes Winterkunstwerk mit all der Struktur und der schönen Stimmung, die Du gezaubert hast!
    Wunderschöne Fotos heute!Rotkehlchen hab ich hier noch kein einziges gesehen. Wir haben Schnee bekommen heute Nacht - der Winter ist da.
    Gesundheit und viel Freude und noch mehr Gesundheit und Freude von mir für Dich im neuen Jahr Sweeite!
    Knuddel
    Susi

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  6. A wonderful page to star off the new year and the new challenge Valerie.

    How beautiful the seasonal frost looks so much better than the gales and the rain

    Happy 2016

    Love Chrissie xx

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  7. Very pretty designed creation here Valerie, lovely theme Chrissie chose. You never know I may just have a go in between all the DT projects. Hugs to you for New Year....xx {aNNie}

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  8. A beautiful combination page Valerie, love the images, photos and quote. There is a deep frost here this morning and everything is white.
    New Year wishes.
    Yvonne xx

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  9. Just love your creation with the scene outside your window and silhouette images.
    Hugs
    Desíre
    {Doing Life – my personal blog}

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  10. Beautiful work. It has not been cold here yet but your pictures remind me of what I am missing.

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  11. I love all of the layers! You did a great job of making all of the layers look cohesive. You truly did create a winter wonderland with a very appropriate poem!

    The photo of the frosted leaf is gorgeous.

    Thanks for sharing.

    Renee

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  12. HAPPY NEW YEAR, i'm happy you dropped in at my blog today

    much love...

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  13. Happy New Year, Valerie!
    Your New Year picture is a beauty, and your Winter piece is a marvellous work of imagination, creativity and hard work, it's a masterpiece.
    Frost on the leaves - so welcome to see - we had a little frost then it went away.
    And ending with a delightful photo of a robin - it's a lovely wintery blogpost, Valerie.

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    Replies
    1. I love frosty leaves, they always look so beautiful, my fingers nearly freeze when I take so many pics squatting on the path!

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    2. It must take you ages to sort out your photos for the blog, but they are much appreciated. I remember once you didn't have any outdoor photos at the end and I felt as if I had fallen off the edge of your post.
      Hope we get more frost, the birds are getting very confused and singing their Spring songs.

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  14. Happy 2016! Your winter wonderful artwork are beautiful, love the textures. Winter arrived here this week, it's snowing today as well. WE thought it was going to miss us this year. Wishing you a wonderful year. Thank you for all your kind words at my blog. Cheers, Shirleyxx

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  15. Your snow collage is so pretty. Love the bits of lace.
    Happy New Year and let's pray for snow!!
    let it snow let it snow let it snow
    It was boiling hot on Christmas day here and rained all day. It was awful.

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  16. Perfect theme for January even though "real" Winter has yet to hit us here in NY. I can be happy to enjoy your beautiful art (and hopefully will make at least one of my own). The leaves with their coat of frost are stunning!

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  17. LOVE your page -- so much to look at and so 3D which always makes it more interesting, I think. My favorite photo today is the leaves with frost on them. Absolutely stunning. Happy New Year, Valerie! hugs, Donna

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  18. Happy New Year Valerie, your winter scene is beautiful and I love the photo of the frosted leaf.
    xxx Hazel.

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  19. The way your reality and imaginaton blend are always a delight liebe Valerie.
    This collage pleases me so much and draws me in.
    The frosted leaf in your photo makes me say oooooh along with the beauty you always share.
    Happy New Year my friend...let's make it a good one oxo

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  20. Lovely winter scene. I too think the leaf is beautiful all frosted up Happy New Year.

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  21. Valerie, it is your first page for 2016 and it is already a favorite. I have enjoyed your photos of the gorgeous red skies and the birds with the leafless and feathery branches. Using them in your journal is marvelous. This will be a great theme for January.
    Hugs,
    C

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  22. HAPPY NEW YEAR to YOU Valerie - one of the most uniquely eccentric artistic creators I know. I wish you many hours of joyfully being artsy in 2016 and I am excited to see the results too!!!! Your Winter Wonderland is so fun - there is so much to see in it. But let me tell you - that frosty leaves picture totally blew me away.... surely you should enter that in a contest - it is just stunning. It should be framed..... or maybe you can make something from it for another winter wonderland scene - eheheh. I am going back to look at it again - just photography at it's best.... wow. Again... HAPPY NEW YEAR - be blessed!!! XO j.

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    1. Glad you said 'Eccentric', most people say crazy, but that's okay too! And there is a journal page made with frosty leaves, it will be shown soon!

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  23. Brrr, I feel cold on the outside after seeing your photos :) and warm on the inside after reading your welcoming post today. A happy and creative new year to you!

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  24. I really like how you incorporated your photo into your journal page. Lovely!
    Happy New Year!

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  25. I adore what you've done. What an eclectic, talented artist you are! Fills my eyes, this does.

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  26. Nice New Year's imagery. We do have snow, one storm, about 7 inches, so we are white at the moment and a bit chilly, but still not as cold as we usually are. I see you have fog, which probably comes from the river, we have it now frequently too. It is a different landscape than we are used to in that respect. Hope you have a wonderful day this New Year's Day. xox

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  27. Beautiful winter scene with a great photo and silhouettes!
    Happy New Year Valerie!
    Hugs, Mar


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  28. I LOVE how you combine reality with imaginary Valerie-really fantastic pages!! And of course you have the most wonderful photos to not only admire but to art with too. Looking forward to the new theme!

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  29. Gorgeous pages Valerie,
    I love that tree especially with it being so pronounced.
    We haven't had any snow (yet) but masses of rain which doesn't do it for me. Christmas should be white!
    Your photo's are great too. I'm feeding my birds and they're growing in population at my feed stations. I think the word is out!
    Happy New Year to you.

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  30. Super photo art. Happy PPF and new year too.

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  31. Hi Valerie
    Hope you had a nice evening to see in 2016. I am late visiting you as I didn't go to bed til about 3.30 am and a bit slow today.
    But I've finished tidying my craft room so that was good.

    Well Chrissies 'Winter Wonderland' theme was well timed as the temperature dropped here a lot last night and we had a heavy frost too.
    I love what you have created today - what a beautiful and inviting scene, I can imagine walking there.

    Super photos - such a different sky and range of colours than your usual skies lately. The poor Robin did look cold and fed up.
    I was upset this morning seeing a neighbours cat running through our garden with a male Blackbird in its mouth and nothing I could do to save it.

    Happy New Year ........ Gill xx

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  32. Deine Wintercollage gefällt mir sooo gut, liebe Valerie!!
    Was es das alles zu sehen gibt.... und wie gut das alles zusammenpasst, einfach wunderbar!!
    Und: Frohes neues Jahr!!
    Alles Liebe, Beo

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  33. nature and art goes hand in hand. Love the piece you created and what nature created too. :)

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  34. we didnt get snow just loads of rain...fab pages happy creative 2016

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  35. Beautiful art pages and your photographs are stunning. I love the frosty leaf.
    hugs & Happy New Year!
    Teresa

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  36. I love the contrast between the picture of the trees and the abstract shapes of trees. Beautiful combination. Have a happy and healthy 2016!

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  37. Love your project! Beautiful colors and layers - very striking!! Happy New Year :)

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  38. Winter has a beauty all it's own and you have captured it here so perfectly. Gorgeous contrast and shadow!

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  39. Oh such a stunning page... I love the mystique of the winter wonderland! Even your photos represent a winter wonderland!! Thanks for sharing!
    Happy New you to you!!

    Hugs Giggles

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  40. So much lovely inspiration! That portrait is gorgeous. What a wonderful tribute.
    I'm so sorry to hear that you are not feeling well and hope that you are feeling better SOON!

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  41. I am inspired how you incorporate other things in with your photos, this is something I struggle with in my art journals. I like how you decorated the trees, I don't know if you did this digitally or with a white pen. Beautiful photos. Thank you for stopping and leaving a comment earlier. While I'm running late I am enjoying a leisure day of visiting everyone's posts. Happy New Year!

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  42. Beautiful. These journal pages may be your best ones yet.

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  43. Love your winter wonderland! Love how you added the snow and love the palette you chose! Did I say I loved this page? teehee
    Happy New Year dear Valerie!
    xo

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  44. Love your creative digital art images, especially the one with the fence. Lovely photos of your frosty world.

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  45. I enjoyed every picture and art journal page Valerie. What wonderful art work you do when you mix your digital photos with your journal pages. That looked fantastic!
    sandy xx

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  46. Gorgeous project! I've never tried digitally working with photos to create art - looks intriguing. Always love your photos - so stunning.

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  47. visiting again saying thanks for linking up with me :)

    btw, I just noted you had a new one too, have to chaeck it out :)

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  48. Happy new year, Valerie. Wishing you best of 2016.

    Great theme, rendered with warmth and glow. I am currently vacationing in India where there is a lot of warmth with no frost, literally and metaphorically.

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  49. Thanks for visiting my blog. I love how you use photographs in your art.

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  50. A great page to start the new year!
    The pictures look beatiful too!
    Groetjes Karin

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  51. Beautiful wintry art! Love the silhouettes too.

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