Coming Up...A Quarantined Christmas

It’s been a long time and I’m trying to remember how to do this (I think I've forgotten everything I ever learned about HTML). I’m not yet in a place where I’m ready to resume this blog more regularly, but I needed to share a burst of recent creative activity. I never did chase down a new (preferably free) source of image hosting, but for now I’ll try uploading them to Google Photos.

Anyway, we’ve all been dealing with the global pandemic. For many it’s been fear and inconvenience while others have suffered the loss of livelihoods and loved ones. Everyone is trying to cope in their own way. Hunkered down and trying to keep my family on an even keel, I’ve been sewing masks, experimenting with new recipes, growing vegetables in pots (with only minor success). Though not because of the virus, I also suffered the loss of a close family member earlier this year and have been trudging through the grief process.

With so many distractions, it can be hard to make time for creativity. But sometimes it forces its way out anyway, like the day I started doodling images of the coronavirus while contemplating how different our Christmas will be this year. One idea led to another, and the result is a series of images I decided to place on products for sale on Zazzle. I hope you’ll have look at them, and that they’ll give you a smile.

Until whenever arrives again…

                      

 
                     

Store links for these and other products with these designs:

Christmas Covid Zazzle products by nharveyart

Other Covid Zazzle products by nharveyart

Remember, there’s ALWAYS a sale on at Zazzle! They display the current code near the top of every page.

Thank you so much for visiting!

Christmas, Bigfoot and Cookies

Everyone knows a Bigfoot fan. They range from those who are continually amused at the idea of such a novel creature to those who make forays into the wild to bang sticks and whoop out calls in hopes of a response. (I often wonder whether any responses are real or possibly another Bigfoot searcher.) Many fall in between, spending their weeknights glued to reality programs searching for elusive cryptids. I've got one of those.

It is in their honor that I created my newest design, "Christmas with Bigfoot."  He's overcome his shyness and is out for a walk, ready to spread some holiday cheer!

I uploaded the design in various parts so that I could arrange the elements (Bigfoot, trees, snow) most appropriately for each product. It was a bit more work than usual, but I'm quite happy with the way they turned out, with each differently shaped Zazzle products getting the best possible design arrangement.

Oh yes, I did mention cookies, didn't I? That's why you're still reading. I haven't forgotten and no, Bigfoot did not run off with them. This post is a "two-fer," or rather, a "three-fer."

I've been fascinated with repeating patterns and how they work so well for products like wrapping paper. Using a photomontage technique, I baked a batch of my favorite Christmas cookies—rolled out, cut into shapes and sprinkled with colored sugars—then photographed them. In Photoshop, I then cut the cookies from their background and piled them into a repeating pattern, one with an assortment of shapes and colors, and another with only tree shapes. Here are "Christmas Sugar Cookies" and "Sugar Cookie Christmas Trees."

Don't they look appetizing? (I can testify that they were delicious and exploding with crunchy-vanilla-sweetness!) Here are just a couple of the Zazzle products on which they're available.

Thanks for visiting, and please come again!

You're Spending Christmas with Who? Yes.

It sounds like a line from an Abbott and Costello sketch (and yes, I know it should be "whom"), but for Whovians everywhere, it makes perfect sense. The annual Christmas special has become a traditional way to wrap up the holiday. A glass of eggnog and the BBC are a delightful pairing.

So are we liking the new guy? After four weeks I, for one, am quite happy with Peter Capaldi's version of the iconic character. The new Doctor is a delightful curmudgeon with a streak of eccentric social oblivion, yet remains true to his core values. His attire is both understated and snappy, and the new TARDIS interior has the flavor of traditional elegance with a streamlined, modern flair.

Happily, none since Six have attempted to repair the chameleon circuit, and we still have the classic blue police box exterior we've all grown to love. It's an image that inspires dreams of adventure and a better world, and one that many of us enjoy looking at in our daily lives.

With that in mind, I'm happy to announce (as promised a few weeks ago) a new Christmas police box design in two variations... with and without snowfall.

In making this design, I placed each of the bulb colors on different layers then added a glow around them using Layer Styles. It would not have been possible to make the glow the same colors as the lights had they been on the same layer. It's a subtle embellishment, but one I think contributes to the overall impression of warmth. I also added more glow around the top light and the whole than I did on earlier versions.

"Police Box with Christmas Lights" and "Police Box with Christmas Lights & Snow" are available on wrapping paper, greeting cards and a great variety of other Zazzle products including MORPHING MUGS!...because what's better than a police box that appears and disappears as your beverage changes temperature?


Several other versions sporting a holiday wreath  and a non-holiday version are also available. Delight the Whovian on your gift list or bring home a little blue box cheer for yourself.

Thanks for visiting and please come again!

Not A Creature Was Stirring

Well, maybe just one or two.

Have you noticed all the "Christmas in July" sales that just passed? Some stores even ran sales they called "Black Friday" sales. I'm definitely not a fan of what has become known as "Christmas creep," but it is the time to be thinking of the holidays for those of us who create Christmas designs. I have several ideas I'd like to get done, but will kick off with the design I used for my own holiday cards last year.

As I've mentioned before on this blog, our family keeps pet mice (they're such sweeties!). I wanted to feature them on our Christmas card, so I sewed a little stocking for them then snapped picture after picture as they played around it. Mice are incredibly difficult to photograph because they move quickly and often. I think it was a Christmas miracle that I was able to get even one shot where both of them were still and posed with the stocking.

 I also photographed some bunched up silky material to use as a background. I didn't want to put this down for the mice to play on thinking they might chew or soil it.

Using Photoshop, I cut out the picture of the mice and pasted it onto the fabric. I also cut out the shadows and pasted them on as well, but only used them as a guide to darken that section of the fabric image.

 
Next, I started applying filters, including going over the entire image with the Impressionist Brush Tool. This tool is found in the toolbox after selecting the brush tool, and is symbolized by a brush surrounded by a swirl. This brush take the pixels that are already there and rearranges them into a pattern of paint strokes that give the picture an Impressionistic appearance. Once it's been selected, there are other parameters that may be set, first size, opacity and blending mode. Under the Advanced button are choices of stroke style, area (how much space around the brush is impacted) and tolerance (how similar in color pixels need to be before the brush will change them).

It's a good idea to record the settings you use so you duplicate a look that turns out to your liking...advice born from the regret of not doing so with this piece.

"Christmas Mice" is now available through Zazzle on greeting cards, address labels, wrapping paper and a number of other products. The inside of the cards read "Christmas... The perfect time to delight in the little things." (However, as all of these products are customizable, this may be removed or changed to anything you like.) Many thanks to our dear Squiggle and Griswalda!

Thanks for visiting and please come again!