I enjoy taking photographs to use as greeting cards. In the Autumn I was able to capture this photograph of a dandelion. I was so pleased when I downloaded it onto my computer and saw that I had also captured rays of light. I loved the photo and decided to have it developed in many ways, full color, black and white, sepia tones, etc. Each one turned out well.
I had a birthday gift to give last week and wanted to enclose it in a photo card. The recipient loves pink, so I glammed up the plain photo with a little bit of glitz. Glitter doesn’t photograph well, but you can see a bit of the sparkle I achieved in the photo above.
I brushed a bit of iridescent medium on the photograph. The iridescence did not show up as much as I had hoped. Since the medium, when it dries, will also glue anything on it in place, I also added some ultra-fine glitter. It did the trick. The dandelion glimmered. Double-mounted on plain white and black card stock, the card had a bit of pizazz. I plan to try adding a bit of glimmer to more of my photographic cards. Happy Glimmering!
*Note: You don’t have to exclusively use acrylic medium. Try watered down white glue, mod podge, or anything else that will dry crystal clear. I also need to add that the medium you use as a “glue” might not cover well. Mine wafted about and made little rivulets, but in my opinion, this tendency to separate created a better, more ethereal look on the card front.
Forgive me, for I did not know where to put this….but I think you may find this interesting.
Did you know that you can make your own paints(for artistry work) from plants, flowers, & even from duck droppings?
The “presents” that ducks leave behind, once dried then mixed with water, create a blue color that is rather beautiful.
many different colored flowers were used by the Native Americans to decorate their Teepees, their horses for battle, or for the hunt…..
Reds, yellows, greens,all can be made from the wonderful gifts of nature.
I do not believe that there is a limit as to what colors can be made.
Just a little something I thought I’d share with you my friend. 🙂
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I love this comment Tulani. I did know you can make paint from plants and flowers, but never knew that about duck droppings. Blue is one of my favorite colors…would geese be considered “ducks” I wonder. There are hundreds around here. If you walk in some parks near water, you could bring your “paint” ingredients home on your shoe. Thanks so much for this. I always love ideas for new posts. This is a winner! 🙂 I will probably wait until warmer weather though…it is freezing cold here today. I am so cozy in the house, and today is my day to photograph “The Path.” Thanks for the great comment.
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you CAN use the droppings from the geese, but I forget what color you end up with. 😦
The texture of the paint is dependant on the binder & the adhesive used when making the paint. I’ll do some research & get you as much info as I can.
Doing this helps 2 ways…
#1) it educates my good friend
and
#2) gives me something constructive to do…
This way, I’m not driving my wife nuts by pestering her. ;-P
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I probably wouldn’t use droppings from the geese near the lakes here. I think some of the wild ones can carry diseases through their droppings. It would probably be safer, but more of an effort, to go to a poultry farm or find someone’s pet duck. 🙂 I know there are those who keep geese as pets too. I’ve heard they can be territorial and almost as good as a watch dog.
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My experience with Canadian Geese, and “farm geese” (the white ones), is that they CAN BE very territorial…when nesting or when babies are present, territorial is an understatement. They can be downright vicious at this time….
I used to work for a motel/resort type of business in N.W. Indiana & they had Canadian Geese there, as well as the farm geese…
when nesting/babies around, even tho I fed them on a daily basis, and even gave them treats, they made it clear that I was NOT welcome during the nesting times…
It is NOT uncommon for them to chase you 10 – 20 feet to keep you away from the nest/babies.
if you want to watch the nesting geese, or watch the babies & their comical actions, I suggest getting a pair of binoculars or a spotting scope like they use for hunting.
It will save bruises on the legs. 🙂
As for them being akin to a “watch dog”, oh yeah…
They will not attack unless threatened, but the noise they make is unreal…people with ill will on their mind, hate them….and they hate Guinea Birds too for the same reason.
The funny thing is though, Canadian Geese need a special license if you wish to keep them for a pet or “watch dog”….
Guinea Birds do not. Both cost the same amount as far as taking care of them, But Guinea Birds are far more loyal & will never stray far from their home…they are also somewhat trainable; meaning you can train them to come home when the sun goes down….Canadian Geese? good luck trying to train them…lest you have treats in your hand 24/7/365, they are gonna do, what they want to do, when they want to do it. LOL
In my opinion, Canadian Geese have more negative aspects about them than they do positive aspects…in English, they make a good meal & that’s about it.
Guinea Birds on the other hand, have many positive aspects about them.
“watch dog”, bug & insect control, friendly if raised & treated correctly(I had one that actually ENJOYED sitting on my lap while I talked to her & petted her)….they make for a good dinner too! 😎
I used to have a farm years ago, so I had all kinds of animals, and even took in wild animals that had been hurt(mostly shot by an idiotic hunter)…I miss those days, but in reality, I’m too old & my health too bad to have the farm I once had. 8=(
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Today, it’s easy to find paint. Specialty art stores, large retail stores and even local supermarkets offer a wide variety of paints for children to use to create works of art destined for the front of the refrigerator.
Long, long ago, though, these stores didn’t exist. Artists who wanted to paint couldn’t just buy the colors of paint that they wanted to use. They had to make their own homemade paint from scratch.
Cave paintings have been found that are 40,000 years old. The first humans to paint on the walls of caves likely used nearby minerals and materials like charcoal.
The Native Americans that first lived in the United States often made their own paints out of materials they found in the world around them. To make paint, they had to combine multiple materials.
To make paint, you need three things: pigment, binder and an emulsifier. The pigment gives the paint its color.
The binder is sticky and holds the pigment together. The emulsifier makes the paint flow, so that it can be spread on a surface.
Native Americans used many different types of natural materials for binders, including milk, eggs, sap from plants, animal fats, cactus juice and even blood. Common emulsifiers included water and soap-like substances from yucca plants.
To make many different colors, Native Americans were very creative in finding materials to use as pigments. Almost anything that had color and could be crushed and ground into a powder could be used as a pigment. These things included clays, minerals, ores, rocks, soils and many types of plants, flowers and fruits.
In particular, Native Americans often used roots, berries and tree bark to make pigments for face paints. They would crush the items and grind them into a paste to blend with other materials to form paint.
– See more at: http://wonderopolis.org/wonder/can-you-make-paint-out-of-berries/#sthash.hBBPVj8x.dpuf
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Thanks for the terrific link and information. I marked it for future use. We are forecasted to receive MORE snow here, somewhere between 6-12 inches with a bit of sleet and freezing rain first. I will have to dream of making paint from nature right now. Have the happiest of days.
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We have some Canadian Geese hybrids in this area. A white goose at the park mated with a Canadian Goose. Every year it’s interesting to see her “hybrid” babies. They don’t leave the park when the wild geese do. They stay together in a little flock. I have heard that Guinea Birds are terrific insect control. Thanks for the great comment.
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