5 Beautiful Fairies

Okay, I've learned a bit more.... How to duplicate objects, change colours... Now I've ended up with a set of 5 beautiful fairies (click for larger image):

Fun with 3D Textures - Not Pretty!

Tonight I found a tutorial on how to use textures to create outfits for the 3D characters. I tried to create a Waldo outfit for Aiko, but didn't have much luck. After 2 tries, I got the stripes in roughly the right places, but my white seemed to be translated as "skin", so I tried off-white, still no luck (click for closeup):

So then I then just experimented with some random textures, had a bit of fun, the result is definitely not pretty, but I can see there is some good potential here:

Dragonfly Fairy

Oh my, this one is gorgeous, and I love dragonflies. I think her pose/posture is not quite there yet, but I love it already... What do you think? How would you improve this image (click for a larger view):

What are Toadstools Anyhow?

Hmmm... Ever wonder why they are called "toadstools"? Because toads like to sit on them, of course! Enjoy my latest DAZ 3D creation (click photo for larger image of these lounging tree frogs):

Trio of Forest Fairies

It didn't take long tonight (less than an hour) to create a magical scene of a trio of beautiful fairies in the forest. Something to the right has captured their attention, and stopped them mid-flight (click the photo for a larger image).

What was that light? They had never seen one quite like it before....

Well Dressed Fairies

I got tired of the fairies being stuck in wet suits, and decided to buy them some dresses. What do you think (click photo for a larger image)?

Fairies and Toadstools

It was just over a year ago I was pleased to discover and take photos of some beautiful spotted red mushrooms (the classic toadstools from the childrens fairy tales - see mushroom photos post), and thought this may make a good setting for my fairies. What do you think? (Click the image for a larger view.)


Here it is, in a puzzle:

Garden Painting Progress - Finally!

I finally made some more progress on my garden painting, by admitting that I am simply not making any progress, since my painting of the lupines in February 2007, so we may as well hang it as is. So we went to Michaels a couple of days ago to buy the hardware to hang it.

Since the start of this project in January 2006, it had become a permanent fixture in our eating area, sitting on an sturdy easel (provided by my brother John), but recently has been feeling "in the way", and I've been scared it would one day be knocked down by the kids. It was no longer the conversation piece that it once was, other than to solicit "I don't see much change since the last time I was here" observations.

Here it is, on the wall:

Since it is hanging in our loft, it is visible from the entrance lobby:

Perhaps with seeing the painting on display, I'll be inspired to pick up the brushes again. Or at least, I can enjoy it in the meantime, while my current lifestyle doesn't allow for indulgences such as painting.

More Fairies in My Garden

I have added some hair to Hiro, and lengthened Aiko's hair. They look great out in my garden, don't you think?

Yet More 3D Fairy Images

I was so happy to find the Hiro 3.0 character, now Aiko has a friend (click for a larger image):


That's all for tonight. Enjoy!

More Fairy 3D Images

Oh, this is really cool, I couldn't help myself to spend a couple more hours... I have discovered a new character, called "Aiko 3.0", she's considerably cuter, and in a Japanese anime style. I've fitted her with some fairy wings, too, and placed her amongst some mushrooms I photographed this summer, near Alouette Lake:


Then I sent her out to my garden, among the Kwanzo daylilies, photographed in June'07:


Wow! I'm starting to see the possibilities... I wish I had taken more photos of my kids in the garden this summer... This would make a cute "photo", to sit them in the garden amongst a few fairies! Hey, would even work for my daughter's fairy party, I can get photos of the girls together, and then add in a few fairies when I "develop" the photos.

PS. I know, I've got to work on Aiko's outfit. The colour of her wetsuit matches her fairy wings, but I think I should be able to find something more appropriate for her to wear.

Fairy 3D Images

I was looking at fairy images today, getting ideas for my daughter's 9th birthday, which is coming in a few weeks. Last year, she took her friends to the Midnight Fairy Party Store, where they dressed as fairies and did fairy dances and had fairy stories, and brought home fairy dust and such. They had so much fun, that she wants to have a fairy theme party this year, in our house. We will transform the Christmas tree into a fairy tree, and decorate fairy wings, and whatever other fairy activities we can come up with.

After a few searches, I stumbled upon the fantasy-fairies.com website, and was quite struck by the 3D-like fairy images, such as this one:

At this point, my fairy search took a bit of a curve, and I found myself downloading the free DAZ Studio 1.8 software, and a few hours later, emerged with my own fairy image, which I'll call "Fern Fairy" (click for a larger image):


The DAZ Studio software is quite amazing, it lets you manipulate and animate 3D objects, and there are LOTS of characters and objects you can purchase, and assemble together. For example, you "fit" the dress to the character, and then it moves when she moves, and you have control over individual joints, to move fingers and toes and elbows. It is really worth trying out, but be warned, it could be totally addictive. I'm not sure what I'm thinking, having just returned from a serious massage session today, trying to undue all the damage to my neck & back which I do, sitting at the computer all day!!

Anyhow, I think this may only be a holiday diversion for me, at this point. I haven't bought any more objects (I'm afraid that if I look, I will!!), I'm just experimenting with the sample ones that come with the free download. (By the way, you need to download the objects separately, they are in "My Account" once you register.)

Another couple of hours, and here is my fairy in the scene I'll call "Follow that Dragonfly":


By the way, this is really cool.... You can set up her eyes to fix on whatever object you like, and then when you move that object, her eyes will follow. In this case, I fixed them on the dragonfly. You can also control how skinny or fat she is, make her pregnant (I want to try that out, for fun), and lots of other neat stuff.

I have yet to figure out how to export or save into a file format which I know what to do with. So for now, I'm using the SnagIt screen capture program to capture the rendered image, and save it to an image file. I also wish I could make the fairy smile. I don't seem to be able to control her mouth, just her eyes and head position. Perhaps other objects have control over this.

I'd love to hear from anyone who's used this software, and have any images you can share with me, or tips (just in case I spend some more time on it ;-) ).

First Snow Creation of the Season

The snow started out dry and fluffy this morning, but turned progressively wet and heavy this afternoon. Finally, my son and I were able to make a snow creation, before it turns to rain (which is the forecast for tonight, I hear). He wanted a penguin, since my kids are both Club Penguin (ClubPenguin.com) fans.

With some Photoshop colour (colouring the snow would have been too messy), it looks quite a bit like a Club Penguin member, don't you think?

First Snow in Vancouver

It is December 2, and we just had our first major snowfall in Vancouver (BC). Yesterday when the snow just barely covered the ground, my daughter was excited to run barefoot in it, and being a cool mom, I wouldn't deprive her of the experience:

Today, it has been snowing all day, and I got tired of waiting for it to stop before taking a photo of the back yard, especially since I've heard the forecast is for rain by this evening. I like how everything (except the shed and fence, and one pink solar tulip light) looks kinda black and white:

Good thing I pretty much had the garden trimmed, dahlias dug up, hoses disconnected, and my echium pininana potted up and brought into the basement. I would have liked a few more hours in the garden before the frost and snow hit, but it's in pretty good shape this year under the circumstances.

P.S. For any puzzle fans out there, here is that last photo as an online puzzle, courtesy of JigZone.com:

P.P.S. On first try, my time was 6:35. Wow, that was a challenging one. Enjoy!

Weird and Wonderful Photoshop Dream Homes

I am too tired to continue working (on a holiday Monday!), and don't have enough sense to go to sleep early when I have the chance, so here I am tonight, browsing for neat images and interesting blogs. I came across this contest to create wonderful and unique Photoshop dream homes. See the entries here, they are quite inspiring.

Here's one of the entries, to entice you to take a look:

Sweet Surprise in November

Late in October, I had a delightful surprise, when cleaning up my garden for winter, I lifted a raspberry branch, and was greeted by a cluster of red raspberries (and a spider, which I didn't even notice, until I looked at the photo later).

I also found a number of my golden raspberries were ripe also. So after taking a photo, I carefully carried in a handful of the sweet little treasures...

...and prepared a small bowl to share with the children:

Because after all, the only thing better than discovering treasure is having someone to share it with. :-)

Now, this is already mid-November, we have had a number of mornings of frost (at least visible on the roof), and there is snow in the local mountains. So when I made a trip into the yard with the kids (they were home today in lieu of Remembrance Day) to do some more garden cleanup, I was not expecting to again discover a number of ripe gold & red raspberries.

There were probably 2 dozen berries I picked today, and the kids were very happy to share them with me. There are still a number of green berries coming, too. I wonder what those raspberry canes could possibly be thinking!!

Daylight Savings Time Confusion

It was the wierdest thing when the alarm woke me up at 7:30 this morning. Usually I look out the window, then just crawl into the shower, with my eyes half open. But when I looked out the window, it still looked too dark for 7:30am. So I consulted my watch, just in case I had mistakenly changed the time on my clock. It also indicated 7:30am. Then it occurred to me that this might be the "fall back" day at the end of Daylight Savings Time. So I went downstairs to consult my computer.

(Usually I rely on the preacher announcing the change the week before, to avoid half the congregation arriving one hour late, or in this case, early. I didn't remember any such announcement.)

The date on the computer indicated only 6:30am. So I googled, and found that in 2007, Congress in the US and Parliament in Canada had changed the end date of Daylight Savings, it WOULD have been this morning, but instead is November 4, 2007, next weekend.

So I crawled into the shower, this time with my eyes fully awake, but my body telling me I still had one more hour to sleep.

A Small Cloud in a Blue Sky

While washing dishes in our south-facing kitchen window today, enjoying a rare Fall day of sunshine and blue sky in Vancouver, I noticed a dramatic shift in temperature and colour, as a small white cloud drifted and for a moment, blocked the sun. It made me reflect on how this is a metafore for so much of our life. We can let a small comment deflate our enthusiasm, or a small event discourage us, or a small disappointment challenge our faith. At the time, the feeling is dramatic, and all seems so real and overwhelming, but in light of our life and all that is possible, it is just a small cloud in an otherwise blue sky.

It made me also think about how life can go by, and we fail to appreciate and enjoy what we have right in front of us. I work from home, and other than trying to take on additional household chores and taking care of the kids' needs on top of my full time work, I too often forget to take a break, enjoy the awesome view from our office window, or stroll through our wonderful back yard gardens, or really enjoy the children and the stories that they share with me on arrival from school. Usually I don't even take time to enjoy lunch, I eat while thinking of what I am working on, and take more notes (I keep a book, as well as all my "flagged" emails as reminders) of what I need to do next.

So today I decided to enjoy the gorgeous blue sky, and sunshine. I boiled a pot of my favourite herbal tea (Celestial Seasonings Dessert Tea "English Toffee"), and sat on the deck for a short while, enjoying the heat of the sun on my face. The Sun gets way too much bad publicitly lately - it is the source of life, healing, growth, warm, relaxation. I noted how the Euonymus alata (aka "Burning Bush") which only days ago was a brilliant red, has dropped most of its leaves and is bare twigs. The fall asters, which were brilliant pinks, purples and whites for many weeks now, are starting to fade. The dahlias, close to the house, are still green, although the blooms are a bit smaller now, and they are quite fallen over. I will wait until a hard frost will turn them black, before cutting them down, and digging up the tubers for winter storage (leaving the ones protected by the house and overhang in the ground). There is the sound of leaves falling through the alders and cottonwoods in the nearby woods.

Then, in typical nerdy fashion, I return to my computer, and blog about my experience.

PS. Don't follow my example - get out there and enjoy it while you can! Invite a friend to join you, too!

PPS. Credit to Marsha J. O'Brien for the cloud photo, used without her explicit permission, but used in the same spirit as her blog : http://marshaobrien.wordpress.com/2007/06/12/i-love-you-and-there-is-absolutely-nothing-you-can-do-about-it/.

When Gardening Turns Dangerous

Most of the time, gardening is very therapeutic. Even on days when I overexert myself (predictably related to me getting out the garden shovel), and return from the garden sweaty from head to toe, I know that the time spent in the plants and dirt and sunshine has done wonders for calming my spirit, lowering my blood pressure, and strengthening my heart and muscles. Gardening, to those who enjoy it, is one of the most rewarding activities for maintaining health and happiness.

But at times it can turn hazardous. I found out for myself, in my own small but distinct way, as I was weeding underneath one of my rose bushes in July. I suddenly felt a sharp pain in the back of the joint of my little finger. I was wearing gloves at the time, so pulled them off and looked for the thorn. Nothing obvious. I remember thinking at the time, what an irony it was, since I really don't have much fondness for roses in the first place, and have only 4 or 5 bushes which I either salvaged or bought on clearance ($1 is a hard price to resist).

That evening, after I had washed off my hands, I could see a very small spot in the skin where the puncture had occurred. So I took out a needle, and made a serious attempt to search for the thorn. Unfortunately, it was my right hand, so I was working with a handicap, using my left to poke around. The thorn was pretty close to skin colour, and went straight in, leaving little sign. No luck. So I decided to leave it, and see if it worked itself out eventually.

More than 11 weeks later of regular pain when bending or touching the finger or trying to wear gloves (I cut the little finger off my usual pair of gardening gloves, so I could continue to wear them), prayer, and two more serious attempts at digging out the thorn, I was finally successful tonight. I wish I could take a photo of it, but it would be too small (approx 1 mm) to show up well. But the relief I feel is so great, I knew I had to share this moment, even though it means working even later tonight (anyone following my blog and/or gardening painting project will note the infrequency of either lately!).

A big thanks to Mark Anderson, whose "Andertoons" have brought me many chuckles over the years, as I have enjoyed his "Daily Cartoon" on the sidebar of my blog. He generously provided the cartoon which is shown here. To view more of his cartoons and to order cartoons for presentations or cool merchandise, visit his Andertoons site.

Golden Ears Park Pics

We went for a hike in Golden Ears Park today, and got a few nice photos from the trip (click any of them for a closer view). The first three photos are from the Spirea Nature Trail, which led us through (over) a bog, where we could see tadpoles with small legs developing, some beautiful blue dragonflies, lily pads (the leaves sticking awkwardly into the air, as the water level is quite low this time of year), and bog beans. Then through a forest where the forest floor was completely lined in moss. Quite magical:

One of the neat products of our wet rainforest weather in the Vancouver area, is the trees with moss draped over the branches (sometimes with ferns growing on them, too) found in many of the parks. I like to call them "spooky trees" because they would look quite frightening at night:

I was delighted to see many Cornus canadensis or Bunchberry (a type of low-growing rhizomous perennial dogwood). Too bad there were none with flowers or fruits. But they are still delightful.

We also hiked to the North Beach area, where a number of people were camping or enjoying the beach for the day. I tried my hand at building a small rock man or inukshuk:

Near the beach, my husband noticed a small snake, most likely a garter snake, black with yellow stripes. As I stopped to see it (the photo didn't turn out well), I spotted this beautiful little lizard. I still question if it could be a native species, it looks like something more suited to the Utah desert than a Pacific Northwest lakeshore. I'm glad I had nothing to carry him home in, or I would have been too tempted. What a little beauty:

When I got too close, he darted into the rocks, but then peeked back at us from between the rocks. I was sad to go, I would have liked to watch him longer. Can anyone identify the species? I would be very curious to know more about him: