Shadowhouse Creations: Someone you should look at!

I've seen a trend lately that is quite creative.  People take their digital photos and 'texturize' them with things like the written word, grungy effects, cracked mud, whorls, canvas, and anything imaginable.

I thought I'd do an internet search on the 'how and why' this has become a 'fad' of sorts.  Surprise!  Nothing!

I'm sure textures and edits have been around since, well, forever.  So it is a pleasant surprise that I've started getting more interested in it.

I see many digital artists using and contributing incredible ways to add interesting effects to your digital photos.

There is Shadowhouse Creations, a blogger and a member of the Flickr community [SkeletalMess] that does some incredible work.

He has tutorials and samples of his textures here at Flickr and here at his website.  Don't forget to visit his tutorial Here.

These are some of my 'attempts' at textures and photos.  Some of the textures are those I created myself.  I photographed items like dirt, the cracks in a cow skull, and other bizarre things.

However, not just any photo will look good with a texture.  It takes a lot of time and experimentation.

 

 and then today's fun edit with Grunge Frames from Skeletal Mess downloaded from his Shadow House Creations site.

This was just a fun experiment.  

Happy Editing!

Ninja Sneaky Dog ~by Teslin

I'm very very sneaky.  I'm the sneakiest dog in the world.

Grandpa doesn't think I should sleep on the bed with him and Grandma Val.

So I'd been waiting for the proper moment.

Like I said.

I'm sneaky.

Morris was sulking in his crate because the Grand's thought I should be able to wander around and be comfortable at night.  Morris usually gets free run of the house but ... after all, I AM the guest of honor!

About 3 AM, I padded quietly into the Grand's room.  The night air was chilly and I just knew knew knew...that it would be snuggly warm on THAT bed.

So in my best ninja dog effort I lept over the end of the bed and landed softly between the old folks.

How nice.

Soft cuddly and warm.

I slept there until the Grand's woke up.  Funny thing is, Gramps laughed about it and pet me.  I stayed on the bed after they got up.

It only took me a few days to start training these old folks.

Easy peasie.

Father's Day ~ Birthday Gift

So I decided that my husband would be surprised if I gave him a gift that he could not get anywhere else at all.

I dragged out the hose and pulled his 2003 Chevy Diesel HD2500 extended cab with a full size box up to the pump.

I proceeded to wash it and wax it.

Then detailed it.

How long did it take?

Hours.

But it was a labor of love and besides that, it looks nice and shiny now.

Was he pleased?

Oh yes.

Pleased as punch.

He is thinking of lining up the skid steer and his Allis Chalmers for me to do next.

Ha ha!

***************************

Siera and me...

Siera.

We are trying a slightly different bit on her...well, I am.  So last night we got saddled up and headed out to a couple of fields and a small pasture.

This way I could have her concentrate on what I was asking her with the reins and my legs.  I put her face to face with a fence and asked her to follow the rein that laid across her neck.

By golly she got it a few times!

Walk.

Stop.

Back up.

Turn right, turn left.

All pretty boring stuff, but until she gets is down pat, I consider her a 'green' mule.  We ended the session by going up on the ridge and walking along the freshly cut and baled hay fields.

She did very well there.  I think she is not a brush busting mule.  She seems to lose confidence when she cannot see through the thick underbrush.

That's okay too.

I'll see what we can work out together.

Last night's ride was very relaxing.

What can I say?  She is young and my times working with her have been sporadic at best.  But she is a quick learner.

On a side note.  Hubby grumbled something about 'not getting' to go for a ride 'whenever' he wanted....this grumbling came while he sat at his laptop I'd given him.

I cocked a brow and gestured towards the laptop.

He didn't get it.

Sigh.

I grab a moment whenever I can.  Mr. Grumpy Pants will have to join me... or grumble.

:)

We ... Siera and I had a great great time!

Teslin ~ another country day in paradise!

Grandma and Morris and I went for a long and wonderful hike yesterday.
It was hot!
So Morris and I stayed mostly in the creek water to stay cooled off.  I bet Grandma wished she could have laid in the creek!

Grandma put this video thingy together, she said it was perfect in a lot of ways...

Teslin~ the first day of my vacation

Mom and Dad which are human people dropped me off at the Grandma and Grandpa farm.  Grandpa and Grandma have many BIG scary animals, but Morris, my buddy lets me know which ones are dangerous and which ones are not.

The first day I was at the Farm, I was bummed.  Mom and Dad LEFT me.  Then I decided to wrestle with Morris and smush him into the carpet.  That helped me feel better.

At first I wouldn't eat at all.  The Grand's got pretty worried about that.

But as soon as I walked past Morris's bowl, [he eats other kinds of dog food]...I dove into his food and gobbled it up.  Grandma Val tried putting some of Morris's food on top of mine.

I carefully sorted out my food, leaving it on the floor, and ate the Morris food.

Morris came along and did the cleanup job.  So we have a routine.  I dribble food on the floor, Morris cleans it up and the Grand's are happy.

Grandma Val took us out to 'The Merry Meadow' so we could have some chasing time on Monday.  Wow, did we ever have fun!

I chased a rabbit and thought it went up a tree.

Then Morris called me a 'dummy' and city slicker, so I decided to chase him.

That was more satisfying!

Yeah, okay..IT looks like Morris is chasing me...I did chase him though!

Later we just ran and ran and ran, for the fun of it.

This country life is pretty good.  I love playing with Morris.

This morning I used him as a 'chew toy' and we rough-housed for a while.  

I missed Grandma Val cuz she went to work yesterday.  But she said something about heading back out to the woods and maybe the creek today.

I can't wait.

Livin' like a country dog is pretty nice.

[Yes Dad and Mom...I sorta kinda miss you guys too...sorta]

Mandelbulb 3d ~ Journey to the Center of the Earth

I really enjoy Mandelbulb 3d as you are probably guessing right now.  Every once in a while I come across some parameters that should be shared with other enthusiasts.

Here is what I started with for my 'Journey to the Center of the Earth' Mandelbulb.

Mandelbulb3Dv17{
Y.....S....9/...ET...2....EDA7vVt.Z/.td3UPfBOZ/ERWd4cYPkWzPQSum/a3rvzOvsWcTseV.E
................................T0uLZnRhg.2........Y./.......U.E........7/2...rE
...........2..../M.0/....6kA/...e4...2E0.....Ig7oco7BFnD/.ElGOnDyHJp1dkpXm1....U
z.....kD12../2EmFtRaNanwzcNaNaNaNarDBnAnAnAnYy9............u1....y1...sD...../..
.w1...sD9xYkh.YU5w1VoOhDLl.Bz607E5hmQEjDSztf8F13owfZV/EZ0Sm/zYqIF9g3dXiD7Ab1gYLr
WvH8TKK7d5Pxy8lX.hUKzEnD.....52x..............kD.2....sD/2kz....................
.............ckpXm1...sD....zU/Ss9.isVj.MZ5y0UTSs9.auVj.sg5y0UxSs9ElGOnDi.....x/
.....MEUZz1.....I.kz..Ak.1Ep..9.E....U4...E6....M0...63...U0....J....UG6..EiJJb1
Md3U.yoPxJHEGdZ9....c.......0c..mN5S.6UkKZMxkayj/YqulQA8Sz1...........k.8.kYjd2.
YA72QifFDz1.H0/bvOonz0...........6U0.YnFP/UpfjrwdvgqzQ6Fbf24LNyD..........E..c..
0RH9.Q6Fbf24LNvjZBL9s6JkUz9..........IF6I..VHx0.AfpnSPCqaz1uk5LfQvXwz8ra5DlJDw.E
JEW0zH09r.EMoIRnIlIqzcnJXNw/X0xjw9zUrWWqG.2..c6Uc/UBkM1.3fUWhl2.Z/aJ.IQ3gK8X.g2I
E/kwT6sQL/kIFV2.D0nW846.ZJKO.sXCvV4E.k/6M..VERsUu/.NZd4./xJX7S6.nAHA.EjO5uLO.UQk
r0Ecs3dUU/UeaW8....y3q/.ee0k.1A.IJJBc6..wy5.....................................
E....M.....6....2....A....EEh3aSdtqNU6oPs/UQ..........................k/9.......
...................wz...........saNaNaNKjz1.....................................
................................................................................
.....................A.....3....7....22JZFbQVNpI.w4S.I4.........................
.Q...MU/46U..................U.E...........GVf53iSIoz...................o.2.....
..UH./.......O3E...................../..........................................
................................m....E/....0..../pKMuZaPb/mIp7bN................
............5.U/4M..0MU/................6.2........wz........Y1E.......Ua/2.....
..EC./..........................................................................
................................................I....k....EHZtqNZ7rGjB4O...IjR5.
..........................U/4MU/4M................62./..................2.2.....
...wz.........................................................................zD
...........................................................3....A....AJOZ75Q6Z4P
WJaQo/kPr/...........................MU/4MU/4.................zD........Mz9.....
...wz..........E................................................................
........6.2...................................................../....E/...U/....
TB5QcJaQZZaPq/EOiRKA..........................E1K6..............................
........................kz1........wz0........zD................................
........kz1.....................s/allthenightlong...........................}

The original can be seen on deviantArt, *allthenightlong's artwork called 'Heaven or Hell'.

My first take on that was the following.

My second take... and embarrassed that I didn't save the exact parameters...but oh well, that is how it goes sometimes!

Was this:

I really like this second version the best.

I have to look into rendering the images better and do a bit more research.  I rendered these files differently than in the past.

Here is a sample of the screen shots:

I used a DE stop of 5.

I really don't know why, but I guess I was experimenting a bit.

The render did take nearly 3 hrs.

A long time, but I considered the final image worth letting my laptop churn away while I did something else.

Happy Fractaling!