A Bookstore Surprise, Free Textures, and Signs of Autumn :)

I passed this sign in Gloucester, Massachusetts and created this altered photograph with tons of texture and colorful mums!  (wait til the end of this post for some free textures which you can steal from me to do fun stuff in Photoshop, too.)

I had fun making this in Photoshop, it's not perfectly layered or lined up but I love the way it came out like the fun, orangey and vivid Autumn I imagined. I had to really brighten the colors because sadly, hurricane Irene from last month has ruined our change at colorful foliage here in Rhode Island. :(  So I used Mums instead of Leaves. :)

So, last week I was at the local bookstore, happily and caffeinatedly flipping through the latest issue of Somerset Life, when I did a double take near the end...Wait, isn't that my photograph? Yes! it is!  :)) (Big smiles and a dropped jaw in the bookstore didn't seem to faze anyone else, though. The cashier didn't really care either. sigh.) But here it is:

So that was exciting! If you're interested you can submit work to them, too- they are now accepting submissions for everything from photos to projects and jewelry and..well, check out their site above. Each issue lists items and ideas they're looking for in the back.  And finally..

Sunflower Field texture by Mary

Hunter's Beach texture by Mary

Two more free textures I made- feel free to download them here by opening in a new window in your browser or visit my flickr textures for more you can download. For the image at the top of my post I used some of the lighter brown textures mixed with bokeh, and then I used a hard brush in Photoshop with the brush tool to dodge out more bokeh around the top of the mums and bottom of the sign post.
happy Monday! :)

Front Page, yay!

I'd almost (almost) forgotten about the stark, dark days of winter...I mean, it is 95 degrees here...but then this lovely treasury brought one of my photos, and that season, back to me.  It made Etsy's front page sometime this past weekend, and I'm thrilled with the resulting exposure and sales in both of my shops!
Anyway, I took this piece "Snow Tree", standing in a field of pure, white snow against a gray sky in early February- and I don't normally get excited about winter but this past one was made tolerable for me because of my camera, Elsie. When I'm with her I see everything in a new light, including the dark days of winter which seem so long ago!  Here is a screen shot of the front pager: (bottom row, third photo.)

Many thanks to DawnCorrespondence for creating this serene and peaceful treasury.
Now, back to summer!

Front Page of Etsy!

YAY!! Finally, after all my lusting after that seemingly unreachable goal of the front page....thanks to the ladies in my flickr group for letting me know about it!

Here was the lovely treasury created by Apothicaire, featuring my sepia-toned Beach Path print:

I just love the items in this one! Particularly photography of Irene Suchoki, the engraved beach stones, and awesome little journey necklace. :)