Sue Thomas

I didn't go back as far as the Roman Empire. And skimmed over history. Like All Empires they were driven by power and greed, by their leaders, at the expense of their subjects. They invaded Scotland and Wales, but were confronted by hostile tribes, some they got on with and others they didn't. England was where they were able to put down roots. Evidence of their presence in Wales is visible today with Roman roads and artifacts which are found by metal detectors. All Empires eventually fall. The British Empire fell some time ago. The US super power (Empire) is now falling. It's debt to China is 33 trillion dollars. It's overall gross debt, which includes interest, and other costs is 128 trillion dollars. The US is collapsing around them. Ukraine is mobilizing men between 60-65 yrs of age. Ben Wallis former defence minister of the UK is asking Ukraine to draft youth ASAP. It's a proxy war, instigated by the US, back in 2008, and then the coup in 2014. Russia was provoked, into the special military operation, to denatzify Ukraine, and for NATO (run by the US) to move troops from it's borders. UKraine is one of the most corrup countries in the world, run by the Azof battalion Natzis. The Russian federation under Putin today isn't the old USSR under Stalin and Lenin. I can't for the life of me understand why all those in power in the collective west has such a visceral hatred for the Russian people. Churchill, after WW2 created Operation paperclip. The Secret Intelligence Program. That brought over 20,000 Natzi war criminals to North America. Many Western governments, US government in particular is a cess pool of corruption, run by the Military Industrial complex. President Eisenhower warned against the MIC in his farewell address.

I had a great deal of difficulty understanding the Canadians when I first moved here. Especially when they spoke, as they leave out letters. They don't' say Toronto, but Torono. Under the bonnet is the engine of the car. I'd often say, he's tinkering under the bonnet. In other words working on the engine. When the settlers arrived in Johnson in 1621, they came from all over Europe, with the intentions of starting a fresh. They wanted to leave behind the turbulent history, of inter country fighting dating back hundred and hundreds of years. Border wars etc. They adopted the English Language, as their primary language, but Greek and Latin makes up a great deal of the English Language. So, they decided to change many of the words. Changing a letter or omitting a letter in a word. Such as Tyre (tire) Colour (color). It didn’t stop there, they would change words like bonnet and boot, to hood and trunk. That is why we have (old) English and American English. North America has done it’s best to eradicate everything related to the settlers native countries. They believed that a continent like North America would be untouchable by invading countries. It was true. North Americans have led sheltered lives. Since WW2, the US has instigated over 200 wars in European and Asian Countries. Including dropping 2 atomic bombs. Russia has been involved in a total of 4 wars by invitation of the respective invaded countries. How the US has changed since those first settlers, they wanted a peaceful new life. My mother lost 2 of her eldest brothers to WW2, and a cousin, my dad lost an uncle. Today I say to myself, what did they die for. Hollywood has portrayed the US as the heroes of WW2. Not true, Russia was the primary army that defeated Hitler and the Nazi. With the highest mortality numbers. I can remember to this day, how my gran spoke kindly and fondly about the Russians. As they were allies of GB and the US. I knew the second the house speaker of the Canadian parliament, introduced a Ukrainian Canadian officer who fought against the Russians in WW2, that he was a SS Nazi of the worst kind. It worries me, that if the neocons of the US government, and governments around the collective western countries aren’t reined in, I fear for what is in store for the future of generations to come. I've gone off on a tangent here. It can be deleted if inappropriate.

Here is another one. The sign post was ideal to be placed in the small snow drift., rabbits in close proximity to the white tailed hares prints, same for the deer, as Antelope had passed through the yard earlier that day. With the right photos, they work well with clip art to create a page.

Carefully choosing one of my photos for the background, I then added some clipart to create a card. The prints in the snow are either from the white tailed hares or other resident four legged creatures. Placing the dog where some print are visible. No one would be any the wiser who made those prints.

We spent a great deal of time at the beaches, and National Trust (houses, buildings, gardens coastlines and countryside). I certainly had my money's worth from that membership.

Another one.

This year my little girls requested their very own calendar. Using photos I took when I was home last year, here are a few pages for the calendar.

It doesn't need anything else, it's perfect as it is.

That is a beautiful tribute to the atrocities inflicted on the First Nations of any country. Do you have any hobbies, or enjoy baking, needle work etc that you can take photos of, and then showcase them in layouts. It may help you if you have passion for something. That passion will then show through in your work, and in turn you will be happy and like what you have done. Don't try to hard, and over think what you are doing. Like this page you have created. You obviously feel strongly about it, and it comes through in your page. I hope I haven't spoken out of turn.

Mid October is when I usually start thinking about the festive season when it comes to making Xmas cards etc. As the days get shorter, and the nights get longer is when I find I have more time to be creative. This year is an exception, as I have been steadily plodding along making all my cards and calendars since I knew that I was going home for the whole of December and January. I'll be printing more of the cards than usual, as I will be able to give them to the recipients in person., which I am really looking forward to.

Yes, we are all artists in our own right!

I totally agree! They appear to speak to me, visualizing the circumstances under which they were taken, surrounding sounds, even how hot or cold I was when I was taking them, particularly when it's 30 below. All of which I feel reflect in the layouts. I'm not an artist, but I can fully understand how artists capture every emotion they experience when being creative. (All forms of art included)

It's always a good idea to get distracted from the main task in hand. When you go back to it, you go back with a fresh perspective.

You have done this designer proud! When creating a double page, I place the pages side by side frequently, to make sure they look right. I think it's a lot to do with how your eye perceives the layout.

I used a framed pic of the barn swallow I did a short while back, showcasing it in the wood frame 2 tutorial. I like this wood frame. I thought using screws or nails on frame would be a bit much. Anyway, they could also be glued together.

I'm coming to the end of my Xmas card making for 2023. Here I used one of the templates from the greeting card workshop. Using the watercolour technique on the photo.

Jannette, the sketch is only a starting point, you don't have to follow it to the letter. The smallest detail of the sketch may trigger a layout, which will not resemble the sketch one iota. For me it was the three different sized frames, which took me down a completely different path. Don't feel compelled to replicate the sketch. For me, more often than not my photos determine the colour scheme and layout. Of all the challenges we have, I have to say the sketch, is my least favourite.

I'm off out now to shoot the moon. We had a drop of rain last night, which has dampened down the dust. It's a calm clear night.

Thank you. I love what you did with the sketch. Creative photography, beautifully done, you can't beat natural lighting, capturing the fine hairs on the stems. I sometimes use boards as wind breaks, but never as a background. lol Did you have the sun behind the plants? As part of the leaf appears translucent. I call it the telephoto effect, backlighting, which I often like to do to capture the translucency of flowers petals, and Autumn leaves.

I see that I should have put this page in what are you working on in September. I'm going to leave it where it is. There isn't any point in duplicating it anywhere else in the forum.

Another Autumn page in a series that I'm doing, on the birds that stop off for a brief visit, before continuing their long migratory journey. The border is a combination of a corner element which I added a thin border all around to, overlay. Phrase strips which I created, adding one of Carole's new punches. I really do love these, they are ever so easy to use. I do recommend using guides or grid when using them. Text on a text path, masks to slot the photos in . Photo frames are done using the vector rectangle tool.

No at all! The colours are prefect. I can not fault it, although, and not being critical , if it was mine I would make the tree largest stars a little smaller. They overpower the models a tad. I love the three B's word art.

I know, the photos depict the layout etc, etc, etc.

Well! I started out with the intentions of using the sketch. It didn't take long for me to do my own thing, once I added the photos. The background paper is the photo of the Immature White-throated Sparrow, blurred, overlay, and lowered opacity I added the rosehip photo to add a vibrant colour to make the page pop, on an otherwise earth toned page. I screenshot the poem to save me having to type it out. Blend mode multiply.

As is yours Cristina!