Skip to content

Big Birthday Wishes

  • by

 Here's one final card for the CASual Friday Birthday Bash celebration.

 
Cfc99 (1)

This is one of those cards that had multiple iterations before it was done. I wanted to use the new Wonderful Words: Birthday die as well as the patterned papers from Lawn Fawn's Daphne's Closet that came with the Simon Says March card kit. I tried a lot of different ideas, but finally ended up with a birthday banner and a card I'm quite happy with. The card stock (all Bazzill except for Neenah Solar White) came from the kit as well. 

BDBanner_blog

The banner dies are Papertrey Ink's Countdown banners folded in the middle, and I selectively stamped Big And Wishes from two different sets:  Birthday Bash and 2012 Birthday Tags. 

Spring has finally sprung here, and it's simply gorgeous. I've managed to walk over ten miles in the last several days, walking when I normally would have driven—to the library on Friday, a walk through the park on Saturday, to breakfast with Tracy on Sunday, and to meet a friend for lunch this afternoon. So good to be outside again instead of on the treadmill!

 

Happy Birthday Betsy!

  • by

This week was Betsy's birthday, and her main gift was a gift certificate. I used one of the Fancy Pants envelopes in the April Simon Says kit to create a card for her. This turned out to be one of my favorite cards created with the kit. 

BetsyBD

Using the patterned papers from the kit, I die cut the flower with Papertrey Ink's "Beautiful Blooms 1" and the leaves with "Tender Leaves" by Memory Box. I love the way the leaves are embossed at the same time they are die cut. The button from MME "Follow My Heart" wasn't in the kit, but was just the perfect center for the flower and I threaded it with a thin black ribbon. The border was another of the patterned papers and a bit of black cardstock. The sentiment came from "Birthday Basics" by Papertrey Ink.

BetsyDetail

I'm linking this up to Simon Says "Anything Goes" and to CASual Friday's Birthday Bash challenge. (That challenge couldn't have come at a better time for me!)

SimonSaysStamp_160x240

Cfc99 (1)

52/50: Signs of Spring

  • by

We've had several days of warmer weather, and it looks like spring has arrived. These photos were taken on Monday when I walked to the park to see what was in bloom. Tracy and I walked through the park again today, but I had my wide-angle lens on so none of today's photos will work for this project. It's amazing, though, how much more has blossomed in just a few days.

Colgate1_blog

Our street dead-ends at the Colgate Divinity School property, and I often walk across their lawn on my way to the park. Not many signs of spring here, but I love the way the beautiful building stands out against the clear blue sky.

Magnolia1_blog

Not many of the magnolias were in bloom on Monday, but almost half of them were today.

TinyDaisies_blog

The current challenge at Image City is to take a photo with the camera no more than four feet from the ground. I'm finding it a very difficult task. These daisies are very tiny IRL.

LilacBuds_blog

Here's this week's pick. Highland Park is known for it's extensive collection of lilacs. They are just beginning to bud, and should be right at peak the second week in May when the Lilac Festival begins. I'm linking this up at P52.

P52SST740_125

 

Retro Sketches #60

  • by

Here's another birthday card, this time based on this week's Retro Sketch challenge. I had some flowers stamped from this project, and this sketch seemed perfect for them.

Rs60

I tried a couple different patterned papers for the right-hand side of the sketch, but they all seemed too busy, so I did a partial embossing with the Cuttlebug Polka-dot embossing folder. I couldn't find any good way to add a bow either. I tried twine, thin ribbons, and twine, but my CAS style won out on this one.

RetroSketchBD

The flowers are stamped with Papertrey Ink's Rosie Posie and Rosie Posie Step 2 stamp sets, and the sentiment is from Papertrey's Daydreamer set. I die cut the circle with a Spellbinders Small Circles die. The inside sentiment reads, "Hope all your birthday wishes come true."

Linking this to CASual Friday's Birthday Bash challenge and Simon Says Anything Goes.

Cfc99 (1)

SimonSaysStamp_160x240

Amazing Birthday

  • by

Here's a second card for the CASual Friday Birthday Bash challenge, as well as the Simon Says Challenge this week:  "Anything Goes."

Cfc99 (1)

SimonSaysStamp_160x240

The calendar for the end of April, May, and June is packed with birthdays and anniversaries, so I set a challenge for this week to get some cards created using the April Simon Says Card Kit. I love the mix of yellows, grays and blacks so it was easy to do. You'll be seeing several cards with this color scheme this week.

Amazing

All the product for this card except the wood veneer star (Studio Calico) which I painted yellow, the banner die (also Simon Says), and the rickrack from my ribbon stash came from the April kit. These kits are a great value. You received a full set of stamps (which retail for $14.99), a mix of patterned papers, cardstock, and embellishments for $19.95. There's easily enough product to create a minimum of ten cards without raiding your stash (though I usually do add a few items) which is certainly cheaper than Hallmark.

Inside I repeated a strip of the Washi tape, and used some Papertrey Ink products for the inside sentiment. (Tremendous Tags die, and 2012 Birthday Tags stamp).

AmazingInside

There's been quite a bit of blog conversation about what reader to use once Google Reader disappears this summer. I've been using Feedly for a month now, and can highly recommend it. I have it on my desktop, iPhone, and iPad, and blogs read seamlessly on all three. I can actually say I prefer it to Google Reader. I love the small photos and summaries of the posts on the desktop, so if it's a blog where there are only certain posts I read carefully, I can work through them very quickly.

I also switched my browser to Chrome which I like as well. Safari was giving me a hard time about comments on several blogs, so I moved to Chrome to see if things would improve. It's very fast, and the only feature I miss from Safari is the ability to "save" blog posts or websites to read later without having to add them to your bookmark system. On my agenda is to set up a bookmark folder in Chrome for that purpose (and to clean out the old bookmarks I no longer want!)

 

Papertrey April Blog Hop Challenge

  • by

Today is the monthly blog hop at Papertrey Ink. I couldn't participate last month since we were in Oregon, so I really wanted to play along today. Here's the challenge:

PTI

Papertrey Ink is frequently right on top of trends, and tilted is definitely one I've seen around the internet for the last couple of months. I managed to get two cards completed for today's blog hop. The first one was a get well card for a dear friend who had eye surgery on Monday. She is required to keep her head face down forty-five minutes of every hour for at least a week, and most likely two weeks. She has a special chair, but to say it's uncomfortable is to put it mildly. Fortunately she isn't in any pain.

BlogHop2

I haven't place a PTI order in awhile, but I did this month and ordered "Rosie Posie Step 2" stamps for the "Rosie Posie" set. I've always loved "Rosie Posie," and the second stamping brings the flowers alive. The patterned paper is an old one from my scrapbook stash: Basic Stripe by Reminisce, and the sentiment is from "Communique Sentiments." I colored the pearls with a Copic marker. Here's a closer look at the flowers.

BlogHop2Close

Last night after dinner, I tried used another of my new purchases, the "Wonderful Words: Birthday" die. I cut thin strips of Orange Zest, Summer Sunrise, Simply Chartreuse, Hawaiian Shores, and Raspberry Fizz, and layered them diagonally on Select White cardstock. "Birthday" was cut from True Black and the Happy is stamped from "Birthday Bash Sentiments." The pearls are from Michaels.

BlogHop1

You're sure to find lots of inspiration for beautiful cards here today. Edited to add a link to this week's CASual Friday challenge: Birthday Bash!


Cfc99 (1)

Wish Big

  • by

One of my favorite card designers, Cristina Kowalczyk, recently posted a challenge on her blog to create a card using one of the smallest stamps in a given stamp set. It's a technique I've wanted to try for a while. I chose Mama Elephants "Trifecta" set, chosing one of the small triangles.

WishBig

I stamped it multiple times using three Fresh Inks from Impress:  Ginger, Celery, and Sky Blue. The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink's "Stylish Sentiments: Birthday," a set I find myself using over and over.

I'm linking this to the CASual Friday challenge: Birthday Bash.

Cfc99 (1)

52/50 and Elderberry Pond

  • by

The weeks are flying by, and I'm not feeling nearly as productive as I'd like despite the fact that I feel like I'm busy all day. As I type this, it's snowing/sleeting outside and the wind is howling. We had several warm days last week and there are beginning to be some signs of spring, but then after a couple of days we're back to winter again. Frankly, I've had enough; I want real, sustained spring! I've been admiring beautiful floral photography from other parts of the world, and want to get out and take some photos of spring myself.

But not quite yet for western New York. Here are the photos for 52/50 this week.

4.16EveningSky_blog

I took this out my studio window one night and was surprised at how well it turned out.

4.17Violets_blog

Aside from a few daffodils, all I could find in our yard this week (beside the Helleborus) were these few violets.

4.18Camera_blog

I had one of my old cameras out for another project and decided to play around a bit with angles and perspective. This was my favorite.

4.18CameraBW_blog

Although there's not a lot of difference, I thought I see what it looked like in black and white. I'd be curious to know which you prefer.

Pond1_blog

I decided to choose this photo from yesterday's road trip to Elderberry Pond to post on Kent Weakley's P52.  Tracy and I needed to go to the outlet mall in Waterloo yesterday. I'd seen ads for Elderberry Pond in the Edible Fingerlakes magazine, and was curious to see what it was like. This shot is of the pond looking toward their Country Store which won't open until June. Elderberry Pond specializes in local foods and produce. In the summer, much of the food comes from their farm, and you can purchase some here. I'm hoping to get back this summer to check it out.

It's wasn't a particularly beautiful day, but we had a lovely lunch. The food is first-rate, we had a charming waitress, and it's a beautiful setting. We'll definitely return, although it turned out to be a bit more of a trek than we expected

.

Restaurant1_blog

Sunroom_blog

We ate in the sunroom.

DiningRoom_blog

This is the main dining room. There's also a patio that's open in the summer.

We made two other stops on our trip. One to Normal Bread in Geneva. We've been there twice before and the bread is fabulous.

NormalBread_blog

And to Sauder's Amish Market in Seneca Falls. The meat, cheese, and home canned goods are wonderful here, and the prices are exceptional. I love their tiny pickled beets in a salad.

PickledBeets_blog

Last night we had dinner with friends, tonight there's an engagement party for Tracy's best friend's son, and tomorrow the Walker clan will celebrate a belated Easter dinner since most of us were traveling on Easter Sunday. I'm looking forward to church tomorrow as well since the chancel choir is performing a Bluegrass Mass. I'm hoping to get lots of crafting done today since the number of birthdays and anniversaries in the next month is quite something. Hope your weekend is filled with good things.

Congratulations!

  • by

A friend of ours recently moved into a new apartment. She's just starting out, so we wanted to send her a gift card for Target, knowing you always need something you didn't count on when you planned your move. 

NewApt

I started with a Hero Arts envelope, cutting out a partial circle with a circle punch. I paperpieced the little house with papers from my scrap drawer, and stamps from "Love Lives Here" by Papertrey Ink. The sentiment is from Papertrey's "Enjoy the Ride." The twine is from Paper Source.

March Art Journal

  • by

Alexa4circledetails_blog

Thanks to Alexa for the template!

One of my goals for choosing to do my monthly recaps in an art journal was to try new techniques and materials as well as using some of the art supplies that have been lanquishing in my closet for years. This month I decided to try some patterned paper collage and brought out some Gel Medium that I purchased this summer in anticipation of this project. 

I wrote my journaling first, and that determined the theme for the pages. My first project was to create the five photos for the page. I decided to change two of them to a dark brown, and desaturated the colors in the other three photos. I used a Papertrey Ink Framed Out die and sized my photos to fit.

The next step was to choose some papers from a variety of 6X6 paper pads. The colors originated with the paper I'd chosen for the frames.

Papers_blog

Next I randomly cut up the papers in strips and rectangles and started assembling them on the pages, using gel medium to adhere the papers as well as coating the tops of the pages.

CollagedPapers_blog

Arranging the elements onto the pages turned out to be a relatively easy.

Journal1_Blog

I used my vellum envelope to hold the journaling and typed up the quote using the American Typewriter font. (Wish I had an old typewriter to use!) Once I decided to use the Studio Calico Wood Veneer letters, I thought another piece of Wood Veneer on the first page would provide some balance. Aside from the collaged pages, it's a pretty clean and simple layout.

Journal2_blog

A closer look:

Page1_blog

Page2_blog

These pages weren't as spontaneous as last month's, but I'm quite happy with the way they turned out. Here's the monthly recap in words:

March turned out to be
family month—always a pleasure. Matt was home to visit for a long weekend the
first of March, and to celebrate his 30th birthday. Then we spent the second
half of the month in Ashland, OR with Sarah, Adam, and Caleb. It couldn't have
been nicer. The first ten days we were invited to stay in the home of one of
the members of Adam's congregation. It's a stunning Arts & Crafts home, and
we loved every minute of our stay there. The weather was terrific. While
Rochester was still buried in snow and experiencing winter temperatures,
Ashland was in full bloom. Pear and other fruit trees were in flower and
daffodils, hyacinths, and other spring bulbs were up all over town. The last
weekend we were there the temperatures were in the 70's and 80's, and we took
advantage of the warm weather with visits to North Mountain Park, the ice cream
parlor, and a day trip to Crater Lake.

Caleb is in day care four
mornings a week, and loves it so we didn't want to break his routine. That gave
me lots of time to read and finish the "Bloom Your Blog" course with
Jessica Sprague. I finished reading Istanbul:
The Collected Traveler—a fabulous book filled with so much information
and our April book group book—The Given
Day by Dennis Lehane. As part of the course, I redesigned the blog, and
before we left, made nine cards.

Before we left for Oregon,
we finalized the plans for our biggest adventure yet. In May, we're off to
Istanbul to visit a friend and her husband for five days, then to Athens for
two days, and finally a few days on Santorini—long on our bucket list. This
is a BIG birthday year for both of us, and our 40th wedding anniversary, so it
seemed like the perfect way to celebrate.

Two home improvement
projects were finished this month. We had pull-out shelves made for two
cupboards in the kitchen and new lights were installed in my studio and studio
closet. What a difference both projects make on an every day basis!

We spent a day in
Niagara-on-the-Lake with Karen and Mike, played duplicate at the O'Briens, and
had Rick and Marcy to dinner (who shared lots of good information about our
upcoming trip.) Mary and I heard Frank Delaney speak at Arts & Lectures,
and I participated in an interview process for the youth delegate to Synod at
Presbytery. All in all, a busy, fun, and productive month!

 

Weekend Recap

  • by

Tonight I tuned into the nightly news and heard the awful news from Boston. My hairdresser (I’ve been going to her for over 30 years and feel like she is family) was running the Boston Marathon today, and I am anxious about her safety, and the safety of her family.

We had a busier weekend than usual, and I thought I’d share some photos. Friday night Betsy and Skylar came for dinner. Skylar’s been under the weather with ear infections, and was feeling enough better in the afternoon to come to dinner, but it was easy to tell she wasn’t her usual happy self. No smiles, and very clingy. Nonetheless we were delighted to see both of them.

BetsySkylar_blog
Skylar did feel good enough to play with the toys for awhile, but decided being in the toy box was best.

SkylarToyChest_blog

Saturday I drove to Syracuse to spend a few hours with my brother. When he retired a few years ago, he decided he needed a new job, and became a school bus driver. He’s a people person, loves the kids, the other drivers, and the structure it gives his days.

DaneBus2-blog

He drove a group of middle school students from Highland to Syracuse University for a state science competition. He had most of Saturday free while they were in competition, so we met at the newly expanded Destiny Mall.

Mall1_blog

This is the rope and climbing area that is suspended above the addition to the mall. I'm guessing there's a 30% addition to an already large mall; about half of the stores are filled. We had lunch at a fabulous Mexican restaurant. I’m sure it’s a chain, but the food was incredibly fresh and delicious. 

MexicanRestaurant_blog

We opted to have the guacamole which is made fresh at your table, and we both chose the Enchilada Vera Cruz. It was fabulous.

GuacamoleCart_blog

The guacamole cart.

Enchilada_blog

I got home about 2:30, just in time to get ready to have good friends for dinner.

Table_blog

Cathy and Bob were our companions on our Alaska adventure two years ago. Their daughter, Rachel, is a good friend of Sarah’s. Rachel and her husband recently moved to Istanbul, Turkey. They’ll be there just a year with a Citibank training program, and we’ve been invited to come visit. We’re taking them up on the offer, and one month from today we’ll be on our way to Istanbul. Since this year is our 40th wedding anniversary, we’ve decided to extend our trip with two days in Athens, and a few days on Santorini—long on our bucket list. I’m very excited. Bob and Cathy will be going this fall for two weeks. I made a Mediterranean appetizer platter in anticipation of our trips.

Appetizers_blog

On Sunday we christened my mother-in-law’s new home with a impromptu picnic. The condo is completed (and stunning!), but Ellie will have to completely furnish it since there was almost nothing salvaged from the fire last January. Sadly, none of the photos I took were good of everyone, but this one was the best of the bunch.

Family4.13_blog

Later that night, we had dinner at Tina and Bill’s. No photos of the delicious dinner, but suffice it to say, I need to get back on The Plan quickly!

Hope your weekend was a good one!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Birthday & 52/50: Week 15

  • by

Yesterday was Adam's birthday, and although I did get a phone call in to him, I didn't get a blog post up because I ended up driving to Syracuse to spend a few hours with my brother. (More about that later this week.) Here's the card I left with our gift for him when we were in Ashland.

AdamsBD

I'm a big fan of Papertrey's Stylish Sentiments: Birthdays, and thought the bicycle image from Studio Calico was a perfect match for it. The arrow is a Papertrey die, and I hand cut the banner. I think I cased the design for this card from one by Joy Taylor, but I can't for the life of me find it on her site or in my Vi.sualize.us account.

We've had a very busy week and dreary, dreary weather—enough rain that we ended up with some water in the basement. It made for slim pickings for the 52/50 project this week. I had hoped a visit by Betsy and Skylar Friday night would add some good images, but Skylar was feeling under the weather, so I'll save those for a weekend recap post later this week.

4.6Tulips_blog

My favorite image from the conservatory last Saturday, taken with the 50 mm.

Deer_blog

A rather winter-worn deer showed up in the yard one morning.

4.11Raindrops_blog

I was happy with the clear focus on the raindrops since it was taken through the kitchen window. It was much too wet to take the good camera outside.

4.9Helleborus_Blog

There was a break in the rain the day I after I found the helleborus blooming in the backyard. This is the pick for Kent Weakley's P52 project.

P52SST740_125

Opportunities

  • by

Rochester offers photographers a wide range of opportunities. First, there's the George Eastman House. Saturday night Tracy and I attended a showing of the Ivory/Merchant film "Jefferson in Paris." It was introduced by James Ivory, and an interview with Mr. Ivory followed the film. Their collection of photographs and films is one of the best and most prestigious in the world. A few years ago, my brother-in-law gave me a membership there for Christmas. We've renewed it every year, and enjoy the parties for members whenever a new exhibit opens up. I get to three or four lectures there every year as well, and we enjoy the concerts in the gardens during the summer.

There's a long standing camera club, Camera Rochester, that hosts monthly competitions the first Monday of the month, and a lecture/demonstration the third Monday each month. Image City, a local photography gallery hosts new photography shows every six weeks or so, and hosts a free photo critique session the first Wednesday of every month. The partners there frequently offer both short and long-term classes. Then there are several meet-up groups. In addition to Camera Rochester and the photo critique group, I belong to the Rochester Photo Editing Group (RPEG). We meet once a month to see demonstrations of photo editing techniques (Lightroom, Photoshop Elements, Photoshop, HDR programs, etc) and occasionally they host a photo shoot for edit. 

CactiBuds_blog

On Saturday RPEG members met at the Lamberton Conservatory. It's one of my favorite places to take photos. The deal with RPEG is to go to the shoot with some new skill to practice and then to upload your photos to share at the following meeting. I don't use my tripod or my macro lens very often, so I went off with macro on my mind. I wasn't thrilled with what I got (I had definite ideas about what I wanted), but I learned a bit. One of the benefits of groups like these is the help you get from other members. One of them walked by me on Saturday and asked why I wasn't using the Live View feature on my new camera. Truth is, I didn't know anything about it. In a matter of minutes, Brad had me "up and running" with Live View.

PalmB&W_blog

I had hoped to convert several of the photos to black and white, but this was the only one that seemed to work. Seeing in black and white while shooting in color is another skill I need to learn.

EyesToYou_blog

This one I liked; I call it "Eyes to You, " though someone said it remined them of an owl.

Victory_blog

And this one I took simply for the amusement factor. Ah, sweet Victory! (It's some kind of bud.)

Lastly, a photo taken with my 50mm at the end of the shoot of the cute quails that run about in the tropical room at the conservatory.

Quails1_blog

It's been several months since I participated in any of these groups, but it's good to be back. I'm so grateful that there are so many free opportunities to practice and learn. I picked up some great tips for editing in Lightroom last night at the meeting, one of which I was able to use today while editing photos from our trip.

Simon Says Birthday Challenge

  • by

SimonSaysStamp_160x240

I have another card for the Simon Says Birthday Challenge. April is a big month for birthdays and although I made a few before we left for Oregon, I still have three or four more to go. Here's a second masculine one for another brother-in-law.

Tom'sBDcard

Cardstock: Pure Poppy, Vintage Cream (PTI); Patterned Paper: Studio Calico 6X6 February card kit;Stamp: 2012 Birthday Tags (PTI);Twine: Pure Poppy (PTI)

 

Two Challenges

  • by

My brother-in-law has a big birthday coming up, and I decided to see if I could get his card made in time to post it for two challenges:  Simon Says "Birthday" Challenge, and the current CAS(E) This Sketch challenge. I'm just under the wire for the second one.

SimonSaysStamp_160x240

Cts22

Here's my card. I used papers from the April Simon Says card kit, the Typewriter dies from Memory Box, Tremendous Tags by Papertrey Ink, and an inside sentiment (no photo) that says, ". . .  years ago on what otherwise might have been an ordinary day, THE WORLD GOT YOU!" from Papertrey's Big Birthday Wishes set. 

Scott'sBD

I have another card for the Simon Says challenge which I'll be posting later today.