Icon Express

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Here's another batch I posted on Livejournal before but never on my InsaneJournal. I'm going back to my photography again. I got side track with the holidays there at first. But that's because I didn't have photography ready for Thanksgiving, Christmas, or New Year. So I used someone else's. I only want to do that when I'm in desperate need of making icons for that particular holiday. I don't really like using someone else's photography. I'd really rather fool around with my own photos than messing up with someone else's photos. As a matter of fact, that is actually the "main theme" for this community. Use my own photography. But sometimes I don't mind having a little bit of exploration.

I don't mind exploring other things. I'm always open to new ideas. But I'm not sure if using someone else's is really that NEW since everyone seems to be doing that. Anyway for now, I am still using Photoline. Sometimes, I would add "textures" on my photos to give a different look. Eventually, I'm going to get the Photoshop Elements as aristoboule suggested. BTW, if you have time, take a look at her icons. She makes awesome icons!

Anyway, I'll start with these icons while I'm away for the weekend. And after I come back will make more icons from my photography. On Saturday, it's my 16th Wedding Anniversary and hubby planned for a little rendezvous. I will see you all when I get back.



( 10 roses icons )


( 15 geese icons )

Just a few things to remember:

Comment the ones you take.

Credit: icon_express

DO NOT alter my icons. Textless icons are not bases.

Save the icons on your computer.

The following "brushes & textures" credit:
stripped_s0cks, madika555 , birdlove

P.S. If you comment "anonymous" please sign on your LJ name or Scribbld name or whatever name from another journal on the bottom. Thanks!!!

I just want you to know that I posted these icons before on Livejournal but never advertise them on InsaneJournal. So guess by reposting some of these, some of you can see these. I've actually created a few banners that's related to these icons. These icons are actually from my photography stock. The flying one is when me and my youngest daughter flew to visit my oldest daughter in Arkansas. We attended her high school graduation back in 2005. Anyway, some of the others were taken in Yosemite back in the year 2006. So far I'm working on pets icons from my own stock photography. Meanwhile, I hope you like like these icons and the NEW banners.




( 12 icons inside )


( 6 banners inside )


NOTE: If you want a banner without text, I can remove the "Friends Only". Just tell me which one, leave me your email and I will email it to you. Or I can post it here for you, whichever is the easiest.


Just a few things to remember:

Comment the ones you take.

Credit: icon_express

Please DO NOT alter my icons.

Textless icons are not bases.

Save the icons on your computer.

Please DO NOT hyperlink my banners.

P.S. If you comment "anonymous" please sign on your LJ name or Scribbld name or whatever name from another journal on the bottom. Thanks!!!

The following icons are from the Artists: Renoir, Gauguin, Cezanne, Da Vinci, Monet, Picasso, and Van Gogh. Renoir and Gauguin are some of my favorite Artists. I like all the ones I have selected here but Renoir and Gauguin are the most favorite of all because their paintings are very colorful. Renoir paints a lot of happy scene such as "Le Moulin de la Galette" (#30 and #31 icons).

Not only Renoir's paintings are very colorful and so as Gauguin's. Although as an Artist, he is a little bit crazy and to the extreme, guess it's okay to be crazy if you're an Artist, right? I love his work. And to say a little bit about Gauguin, he used to live in America (but I forgot what state he lived in). After that, guess he had grown weary and left his wife & 4 kids and flew to Tahiti. He thinks Tahiti is paradise and so he had been promiscuous and later developed syphilis. During those times, syphilis is a deadly disease and there is no cure for it. I don't know if he died from it. But guess he lived a pretty "FREE" life in Tahiti. If you're familiar with Gauguin's paintings, you can spot them easy below.

When I was taking Art History, I hated history so much that I got an A on it. Yup, our teacher made us do it. The test was tough. We have to develop "an eye" for it. Remember every detail. We had to identify each artist's painting and memorize the title by showing us slides after slides. If you ask me the title on these now , I don't remember anymore. It's been awhile. But some of the things I remember are--Van Gogh and Picasso. Did you know they were best friends? And both committed suicide. Yeah, Artists are crazy. Some people said they can't tell if Monet painted from depression or was he just losing his sight? Anyway, hope you like these icons selection.



( 35 icons inside )

Just a few things to remember:

Comment the ones you take.

Credit: icon_express

Please DO NOT alter my icons.

Textless icons are not bases.

Save the icons on your computer.

NOTE: If you comment on IJ "anonymous" please sign on your LJ name
on the bottom, so I know "who you are". Thank you. I appreciate it very much!!!

Here are a few icons to start. Angels ICONS!!!! I don't see too many people making angels icons and so I thought I make my own. These are not my photography but I googled them somewhere to find the right angels I want to include in my icons collections. Next icons I'm going to post are Artists Icons like: Renoir, Gauguin, Cezanne, Da Vinci, Monet, Picasso, and Van Gogh. Then next will be based all from my photography. I hope you like these. My favorite one is "Amor & Psyche" (main icon I'm using now). That one I actually photographed from my Art book.



Just a few things to remember:

Comment the ones you take.

Credit: icon_express

Please DO NOT alter my icons.

Textless icons are not bases.

Save the icons on your computer.

( 10 angels icons inside )


NOTE to LJers: If you comment on EyeJay "anonymous" please sign on your LJ name on the bottom, so I know "who you are". Thank you very much!!!!

I think some people are hyperlinking my banners HERE and you know Fotki is pretty smart. Although I haven't changed the ones missing in the banners there, Fotki is changing their linking address for me. #132, #134, and #137 are all missing but I haven't change the address on my Fotki, the pictures are there. Just not the link anymore. So please DO NOT hyperlink my banners.

NOTE: If you see the images of #132, #134, and #137 now, that's because I just changed the link address back to their right address in Fotki. However, if you hyperlink again, Fotki can IDENTIFY who you are. They know who are hyperlinking their images. I'm the only one entitled to use hyperlinking at Fotki.

( Frequently Asked Questions )

It was brought to my attention by a good IJ Friend of mine that some people are stealing my icons here and posting it in their lame icon community. Since some people are STEALING my icons without giving me proper credit, from now on, this community will have moderated membership. Meaning you have to be "approved" in order for me to "add you". This way I can check your profile before adding you and see if you are giving proper credit to other icon makers out there. Another thing, all the icons posted in public will have LIMITED time. I'm sorry, I have to do this.

Anyway, if you came from Livejournal and just made an account here to JOIN my community, make sure you state it on your comment to me on a particular post. My suggestion to you is, create the "same" username you have there on Livejournal HERE on InsaneJournal. So this way it's easier for me to check you. Anyway, I thank all of you (you know who you are) who gives me this consideration of giving me proper credit.

EDIT: That person who stealed my icons is banned from this community.

Date Posted: Dec. 3rd, 2007
NOTE: This is previoulsy posted on LiveJournal.

Here is another banner I created last night.

I've created several "color" text version on the bottom. And so today, I'm going to take REQUEST from some of you. Tell me what kind of "verbage" would you like me to say there. For instance, if you want me to say "Friends Only", tell me what style it is. Cut & paste on your comment the "verbage" and "style" you want like my example on the bottom.

I would like the following:

Verbage: Friends Only
Style: 001

Some of the following things you can say there are:

Happy Holiday

Season's Greetings

Your name, etc.

Please make it two lines only. Don't say, "Merry Christmas & A Happy New Year". That's too long and I don't think it's going to look good on this format. If you like the banner "without" text, I have provided one for you as well, look down below. If you like the following banner below w/ the verbage that says "Merry Christmas", just go ahead and grab it. Anyway, I hope you like this banner. Suggestion is always welcome!

this is our Christmas tree...

style #001

( see the rest of different styles inside )

NOTE: This is previoulsy posted on LiveJournal.

Some of these I'm kinda frustrated. Just because I don't have the right tool. I want to make the color brighter and the next thing I knew, it blurs when I saved it into an icon. UGH, that is very frustrating. I mean, Photoshop can do a better job than these. Using Photoshop for 15-years and only to find out later, I'm using a different photo editor? It is frustrating. It's like after driving a Mercedes Benz, I'm back to driving a truck. Something like that. Photoshop is definitely the BEST photo editor EVER!!! I cannot wait to get it this Christmas so I can manipulate these icons a lot better. But for now, bear with me. Despite of my frustrations, still manage to "sharpened" all of these icons.

I pick out some of the photos from Photodisc and some of these are my OWN photography. Some of the colors here are tweaked but not much because everytime I try to make the colors brighter, it'll give that weird colors. So why even fix something that doesn't need fixing. Majority of these are treated with "lights & effects" to make the color brighter. I really hope you like all of these icons. BTW, those of you who are in dial-up, can you please tell me if this is slowing you down? I can separate THIS into 2 post. I would appreciate it if you let me know.



WARNING: There are 111 icons inside.
(EDIT: I'm sorry that this is NOT dial-up friendly.)

( 63 Christmas icons from Photodisc stock... )



( 48 Christmas & Food icons from my photograhy... )



( EDIT: 15 Christmas banners added from Photodisc )




( EDIT: 6 Fireplace banners added from my photography )




( EDIT: Just another banner. My tree. My own photography. )


Just a few things to remember:

Comment the ones you take.

Credit: icon_express

Please DO NOT alter my icons or banners.

Textless icons are definitely not bases.

Save the icons or banners on your computer.

DO NOT hyperlink my icons or banners.

NOTE: This is previoulsy posted on LiveJournal.

You know everytime there is a birthday for my LJ Friends, I always go to this glitter graphics website and try to always "cut and paste" on some of the birthday greetings there. And so the other night, I decided to make "birthday icons". These photos are from the Photodisc stock. Again, I had to do this because I don't really have very many birthday cake photos. And some of these icons were treated with "lights & effects" and some with text that says "Happy Birthday". Anyway, it's 5:16 AM here and I haven't gone to sleep yet. So hope you guys like these icons.




( 20 icons inside )


Some of you know this already but to the new ones:

Comment the ones you take.

Credit: icon_express

Please DO NOT alter my icons.

Save the icons on your computer.

Date Posted: Nov. 9th, 2007
NOTE: This is previoulsy posted on LiveJournal.

Here is another Icon Eyecon Tour. This is my daughter's eye. She took a bunch of photography herself and this EYE is one of them. I thought this is pretty darn good photography for a 13-year old. What do you think? If you want to use this "eyecon" feel free to go ahead and use it if you'd like. I think I found a new model to do all of my eyecons from now on. hehe... Anyway, her "original" eye color is BROWN and I actually tweaked and manipulated this photo on PhotoLine and did some changes on this. You can see how I did this below.


( You wanna take a TOUR how I did this Eyecon? )

Date Posted: Nov. 9th, 2007
NOTE: This is previoulsy posted on LiveJournal.

I thought I should give you a TOUR on how I do my ICONS here sometimes. Would you be interested of me doing this more? I would love to do this sometime and I don't mind doing this one bit. Some of these icons may look easy but it takes a lot of tweaking sometime. Many times, I'll take a huge original photo with all kinds of backgrounds. I might drop the background and/or frame it in a way I would think might look good. From then on, I'll work on the original (ie. 413 x 413 pixel) and then resized it to "100 x 100" icon. Sharpened the image and walla. On this "maple leaf" icon, you can see how I did this below.


( You wanna take a TOUR how I did the maple leaf? )

NOTE: This is previoulsy posted on LiveJournal.

I'm sorry this time I have to use someone else's photos and that's from the Photodisc images. I used to use these stocks when I was a Graphic Designer and I believe I still have the Volume 1 to Volume 12 disc from them. I wanted to do "special" photography for Thanksgiving but I didn't have enough time and the means to do it. But I promise to myself next year, I will be doing my own photography. Anyway...from number #21-28 and the number #12 are my own photography. The rest of the icons are from Photodisc stock. And all of the banners are from Photodisc images. I hope you like all of these selections. Some of the fonts there I kinda got a little crazy, like the technicolor ones. But oh well, just having fun.




( 28 icons inside )


( 21 banners inside )


Some of you know this already but to the new ones:

Comment the ones you take.

Credit: icon_express

DO NOT alter my icons. Textless icons are not bases.

Save the icons or banners on your computer or website.

DO NOT hyperlink my icons or banners.

NOTE: This is previoulsy posted on LiveJournal.

I have been struggling doing these icons. With the "brush & textures" on there, it is time consuming. Some of these I'm not happy about. It's like an "unfinish" artwork to me. Afraid to add more and hesitant not to do enough. Whatever. Plus, when my daughter rush me into doing some things which many times she could wait, it makes me more tense. So busy today, so many things going on. Will tell you the details later on my journal. But for now, I hope you like these icons. The goose or geese in these icons are the latest photos I did at Woodward Park last Saturday. And as you can see, I am still stuck doing the Autumn leaves. It is still Autumn here. I dunno if that's true in your state/country. But we are still enjoying the many lovely colors of Fall. Next icons I'd like to make are Pets and/or Christmas theme. Please bear with me.




( 25 icons inside )



( 12 banners inside )


Some of you know this already but to the new ones:

Comment the ones you take.

Credit: icon_express

DO NOT alter my icons. Textless icons are not bases.

Save the icons or banners on your computer or website.

DO NOT hyperlink my icons or banners.

The following "brush & textures" credits:
stripped_s0cks, madika555 , birdlove


P.S. If you'd like me to make banners out of these "geese" photos, lemme know. Just right now, I'm running out of time. Gotta go to "parents/teacher meeting" at my daughter's this evening. If you'd like me to create the goose or geese banners, I can do it tomorrow. BTW, that "pumpkin seeds & pomegranate" icon is only a filler. Like I said, I was running out of time.

NOTE: This is previoulsy posted on LiveJournal.

Okay, I've been painting and having fun with these cool brushes & textures. I think I'm beginning to like PhotoLine. Not a bad photo editor for FREE. Guess, I just have to familiarize myself on this one. And yeah, it works almost like Photoshop. But still, I wanna get the Photoshop for my birthday. When it comes to editing my photos, for some strange reason the colors on Photoshop are much brighter than any other photo editor. BTW, I could actually animate some of these in PhotoLine but I don't have the license, so I couldn't save it on .gif document. Maybe I should just purchase this. Anyway, down below the roses from 01 to 05 are the ORIGINALS but I just resized them from my photography HERE. I think majority of you picked this "hotpink" roses. And charmed_hour I actually made these roses just for you coz you said that you like the "hotpink" rose the best. And so as the rest of you. So I thought I'd fool around more on this hotpink rose. I hope all of you like these icons....




( 15 icons inside )

Some of the things to remember:

Comment the ones you take.

Credit: icon_express

DO NOT alter my icons. Textless icons are not bases.

Save the icons on your computer or website.

DO NOT hyperlink my icons.

The following "brushes & textures" credit:
stripped_s0cks

NOTE: This is previoulsy posted on LiveJournal.




( 8 icons inside )

More icons from my recent photography just yesterday...

Comment the ones you take.

Credit: icon_express (so I can expand)

DO NOT alter my icons. Textless icons are not bases.

Save the icons on your computer or website.

DO NOT hyperlink my icons.

NOTE: This is previoulsy posted on LiveJournal.




( 20 icons inside )

These icons are from my recent photography. I hope you like them all.

Comment the ones you take

Credit: icon_express (so I can expand)

DO NOT alter my icons. Textless icons are not bases.

Save the icons on your computer or website

DO NOT hyperlink my icons

NOTE: This is previoulsy posted on LiveJournal.




( 23 icons inside )

These are varieties of icons from my trip to Yosemite, Arkansas, & much more.

Comment the ones you take.

Credit: icon_express (so I can expand)

DO NOT alter my icons. Textless icons are not bases.

Save the icons on your computer or website.

DO NOT hyperlink my icons.

As of December 6, 2007, this brand new community is created as a home refugee for icon_express from Livejournal. So far, I am transferring everything from my community at Livejournal "as of today" to Insane Journal. So if you see some of the posts w/ no comments and they all have the same date posted, that's because EVERYTHING (except the poll) is transferred HERE from my Livejournal.