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Fall Excursion #1

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We have several short trips planned for the fall. This week we spent three days in the Adirondacks with good friends. Bob and Tracy spent two days backpacking to Phelps and Tabletop Mountains. Cathy and I dropped them off at the Adirondack Loj on Sunday about noon and picked them up late Tuesday morning. Their views were much more colorful than ours. Here are two of the many photos of the stunning scenery Tracy captured on their hike.

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TOW2w 

Cathy and I had much nicer accommodations than a backpacking tent, but we didn't have views like this.  We had a great time, nonetheless, shopping, eating out, and a wonderful visit to The Wild Center in Tupper Lake.

 

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The Wild Center is a natural history museum of the Adirondacks. They have wonderful interpretive displays,  several river otters, and a collection of birds that are being rehabbed. We enjoyed seeing this small falcon and hearing about the falcons in the area.


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We also listened to a talk on loons . . .


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and took a walk with a naturalist down to the Racquette River.

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I loved the details on the bridges.

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About a year ago I saw (but wasn't able to get a good photograph of) a Wood Duck at a local pond. They are so beautiful and I had no idea why they're called Wood Ducks. Now I know. They actually have claws that allow them to climb into trees and to find food on shore. It's hard for me to imagine these ducks sitting in a tree.

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When we picked up the guys, I walked down to Heart Lake by the lodge. In the two days we were there the colors became much more vibrant (though not to the extent they had changed at the higher elevations). Here are a few of my favorite images.

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Tomorrow we're off to the Finger Lakes and the Ithaca Farm Market. We're meeting Tracy's cousin and her husband at the market, hope to visit Cornell's ornithology lab, and then do a bit of antiquing on our way home. It was very hot here today, nearly 90°, but tomorrow's high is expected to be only 62°. Fall and its erratic temperatures is here!

Paper Pieced Posies

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I did a paper piecing project for the blog at Scrap-Mart and thought I'd share them here as well.

SMHappyBirthday
I really enjoy paper piecing. I can cut the pieces out while I watch the news and feel like I got two things done at once! All the papers on this card are Sassafrass Lass. The flowers are from Unity's Material Girl stamp set and the heart from their "Stitched Greetings" set. The label is a Scrap-Mart Exclusive die from Spellbinders that's quickly becoming a favorite. The sentiment ("Birthday Bash Sentiments"), cardstock and twine are both from Papertrey Ink. 

SMBirthdayWishes
This is another Sassafrass Lass project. I didn't realize at first that the scalloped border was little owl images. Quite the surprise, but they seem to work just fine. The posie on this card is one from Jillibean's "Sending Thoughts."  A little layering, two layered buttons, and a tag finished it off. The cardstock and sentiment are Papertrey Ink, ribbon and buttons from my stash. Years ago a friend gave me a tool that cuts off the shanks of buttons. It's the best little device and allows you to layer buttons like the fancy metal one.

Moxie Fab Offset Scallop Challenge

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I love scallops and Moxie Fab issued a challenge for
projects with offset scallops. It was a perfect opportunity to get our my
Papertrey Ink scalloped border dies. 
I started out hoping to use some of my new Teresa Collins papers, but
ended up with just cardstock and a chipboard star from her Celebrate
collection. I also used my Tin Type Impression plate for the first time and
just love it.

MoxieScallop
Cardstock: Spring Rain
and Pure Poppy (PTI); Chipboard start: Celebrate (Teresa Collins); Stamp:
Fillable Frame #5 (PTI); Dies: Medium Scallop and Mat Stack #3 (PTI);
Impression plate: Tin Type (PTI); ribbon from stash; white Filigree Embossing
Powder (Superior)

Here's a layout I did for our California album that also uses scallops. These remind me of Minnie Mouse, although we don't have any photos of Minnie.


DisneyFunw

Cardstock: American
Craft, Chipboard alpha: AC Thickers "Sprinkles;” Patterned papers: Chicken Noodle "Dried Egg
Noodles" & Soup Staples "Red Sugar" (Jillibean)

More Cards from Bits & Pieces

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In the little bag of goodies I found the other day were several partially colored images or pieces of projects that had never been completed. Here's another round of cards from my "Finish It Up" session.

DaisiesinJar
This card is a total lift from Maile Belles. I loved her card and reproduced it pretty closely, just changing the color of the daisies and adding some Judi-Kins Expresso Speckles to the centers. All the rest of the supplies are from Paper Trey Ink. The ribbon is their off-white silk ribbon which I colored with a Copic marker.

PumpkinThankYou
The picnic basket was in the baggie, so I stamped the pumpkins from the same set (Vintage Picnic by Papertrey Ink), used my Tin Type Impression plate (for the first time!) on the Paper Source card, die cut the Spiral Notebook page and stamped it with lines from It's Official (both PTI). The ribbon's from my stash, and the sentiment from Communique Sentiments (another PTI set.) Must say I have lots of Papertrey stamps and I love the way they can be combined so easily.

MumsThanks
The mums (Autumn Abundance–PTI) had been colored on this image at one of my crafty sessions with my friends, so I finished coloring the vase with Copics, die cut it with a Nestability Labels One and layered it onto two scraps of paper from the scrap drawer. I used a Martha Stewart border punch on the bottom and a sentiment from the 2009 Autumn Tags set (PTI).

Feels good to have some finished cards and a few less scraps laying around!

Bits & Pieces

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I had a little time the other day and found a baggie filled with bits and pieces of stamped goodies and some tags from Make & Takes at CHA. I decided to turn them into some cards. Here are the cards I made from the CHA projects.

AppleHi
The orange dotted tag and the ribbon were both from a Make & Take at CHA that came home in pieces. I don't remember where I was or what the finished project was supposed to look like, but I had saved those two pieces. The little gift card and envelope were in my stash, and I think they came from Paper Source. I added the letter stickers, stamped "For You" on the inside of the gift card and then a get well message inside the card.

IppityMake&Take
This tag was done at the Ippity booth with my friend, Eva. All I did was put it on a Dark Chocolate(Papertrey) card. It could be a birthday card, thinking of you . . . I'll do the inside message when I decide to use it.

HAMake&Take
The circular tag was a Hero Arts Make & Take at CHA. I layered a piece of A Muse gingham paper on New Leaf (Papertrey), and have a quick Christmas card ready to send.

And a bit of happy mail to share. In July I was a winner in a Zva Creative Blog Hop, and my package arrived this week filled with brand new releases.

ZvaPrize

Cards

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I had a card published in the most recent Cards magazine. I thought I'd share it here along with a few others none of which I've posted before. This is the card that was picked up for the Cards magazine. I subscribe
to the digital version and haven't received a hard copy yet, though a friend sent me a digital copy of the page.

SewSweet 

Cardstock: Terra Cotta Tile, Vintage Cream (Papertrey Ink); Patterned paper: Material Girl (Cosmo Cricket); Rub-on: American Craft; twill: Scenic Route; Tag punch cut to size.

Here are two birthday cards . . .

MakeLifeSweet 

Cardstock: Bazzill; Patterned paper: Kioshi (Basic Grey); stamp: cupcake (Hero Arts) & sentiment (A Muse); Doily (Martha Stewart); silk ribbon (Ellen Huston); glitter pen (Copic); pearls (A Muse)

HappyBirthday

Cardstock: Bazzill; Chipboard flowers: Lily Bee; Doily: Martha Stewart; die: Ribbon Trio (Spellbinders); Patterned paper: Lily Bee; Button: Sassafrass Lass; stamp: Savvy.

A baby card . . .

BundleOfJoy 

Cardstock: Lavender Moon, Scarlet Jewel, & Vintage Cream  (Papertrey Ink); Patterned paper: Bitty Dots (Papertrey Ink) & Making Memories; pearls (A Muse); stamp: Baby Button Bits (Papertrey Ink); Nestability die: Labels Four; brad: Making Memories.

A "just because" card . . .

OctAftHi

Cardstock: American Craft; Patterned paper: Go Fly a Kite (October Afternoon); Slice Basics 2 and Calendar cartridges; button: Sassafrass Lass; twine from stash; DMC floss


And a get well card . . .

 

WishingYouSunshine
Cardstock: Hawaiian Shores (Papertrey Ink); Patterned paper and die cut: My Mind's Eye; stamp: Blooming Button Bits (Papertrey Ink); flowers: Prima; brad: Making Memories

Sunday Creative: Timeworn

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I've wanted to participate in the Sunday Creative challenge  ever since it started, but this is my first contribution. I've always liked this photo of the barbed wire, and it seemed perfect for the theme "timeworn." It also seemed like a good candidate for playing with textures. So here are three versions. I'd like to hear which of them you like best.

Timeworn1w
No editing here except to sharpen.

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With Kim Klassen's new texture, "Nutmeg," with Soft Light at 100%.

TimewornNutmeg58%w
Same texture, at 58% Soft Light.

A Butterfly

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I woke up the other day and said to Tracy, "I had an idea for a card for Marcy. I should get up and make it." Here it is.

HelloFriend
But there's a story here, too. The same day I made this card my BIL posted a message on Caring Bridge that Mercy was pretty frustrated with her slow progress after extensive chemotherapy. Her blood count has been slow to recover as well as her energy, so she's still in the hospital. He told her she should think of herself as a butterfly still in the cocoon, building its strength for its later flight! Such serendipity doesn't happen often. I hope this card brightens her day!

Cardstock: Ripe Avocado & Vintage Cream (PTI), turquoise from stash; stamps: Turning a New Leaf, Birds of a Feather, & Butterfly Dreams (PTI); Twinkling H2Os were used to color the butterfly.

California Scrappin’

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I didn't take many photos the week I spent with Sarah, but I printed three of them the other night and got layouts done for all of them.

Ride?LO
I love Sadie, Sarah and Adam's dog. She LOVES to go for a ride in the car. Here she is as Adam and Sarah take me to the airport to fly home. All the papers and the tag are from Teresa Collin's new line "Freestyle." It was one of my favorites at CHA, and I couldn't wait to use them once they arrived this week.

PrettyFeetLo
I joined a scrapbook club again a month or two ago. It had been some time since I'd belonged to one and I decided on Scrapbook Circle. The cost/month is very reasonable, and so far I've been pleased with the variety of product that arrives. If I don't keep up with using it, I'm sure I'll give it up as I have a few others I've tried in the past. The background paper is old Scenic Route. I love the graph paper and bought a lot of it before they went out of business. The Paislee Press patterned paper, and Jenni Bowlin butterflies were from the kit. The alpha is a new one I picked up at CHA from American Craft, and I found the ribbon in my stash.

I always make my kids pose for photos when I'm with them. Adam took this shot of Sarah and me before we left for the airport. The title says it all.

PricelessLOw

The patterned paper is an older Collage Press line. Like the  Scenic Route I bought some extra when it was being discontinued. I have no idea where the fabric medallion came from, but the flower on top of it is from Maya Road. And the ribbon is from my stash. The small alph is October Afternoon and "priceless" is my fave–American Craft Thickers. I just noticed that the strips of patterned paper seem a bit crooked in the photo. Absolutely straight IRL. 🙂

Learn Something New

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Truthfully, I was a bit surprised when I pulled out my album for Learn Something New. I did know that I had done a few pages, and that I had participated more than once, but I was quite surprised to see that I made the title page in 2007! In three years, I had created just ten pages. Nonetheless, it was really interesting to see what I chose to include. So here's a little summary and three new pages for this year. I've been keeping a little list this year (although not as extensive as some of my friends, but I know I won't do a page a day. I am hoping to finish my little album this year, however, so that next year I can try a different kind of project. I've seen lots of interesting ones since class began.

LSNTitlePg
I actually prepared for class the first year. I chose papers from Crate Paper and coordinating cardstock. Fortunately I kept it all together in a folder so each year I've had the papers all ready for the new pages. And I still like them!

LSNAlbum1-2
The first page was about practicing with auto-exposure bracketing and continuous shooting. We'd gone to a balloon festival and it was a great place to try something new. Page two is about Matt's first day at Cornell. He'd had quite a rocky educational path, and this day was so important to him.

LSN3-4
I was still teaching full-time when I started this album and page three is about making time for creative pursuits. The next page was done the following year (my first year of retirement) and I was still struggling with issues of time and my never-ending lists of projects.

 

LSN5-6 

On September 6, 2008 I thought I had lost my purse, and this page was about making copies of every important card and piece of paper in your wallet. The next day's lesson was "Sometimes retail therapy is called for."


LSN7-8
Page eight "Like a duck, calm on top, paddling like crazy underneath." (Seems to be a theme here.) Page nine's lesson is that every shot doesn't need to be perfect or artistic. "A snapshot is OK with me."


LSN9-10
Page ten:  "Focus on progress." Still obsessing about time.

Here's the first page for 2010:


LSNFlowers
I love flowers and always have some on the kitchen table. Even in the dead of winter, we can get inexpensive flowers at the grocery store, but the ones from my garden are the best.


NewShoesLSN
These are my new hiking shoes, purchased after I discovered that my big toes were bruised from shoes that had become too short. (They fit fine a couple of years ago!)


LSNHipstamatic
And it's not a great photo, but it's my first with my iPhone and the Hipstamatic ap. It's also the first time I've ever printed directly from iPhoto, so I learned a couple of things yesterday.

Honored

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I've been trying desperately to catch up (and keep up) with my blog reading. With all my travels and the rearranging here at home, I got way behind. I've now caught up with all my blogging friends (though not all the photo and scrappy blogs), and I'm trying to stay current. Late last night, I found that Alexa had honored me with a blog award! And honored I am, especially when it came from a blogger whose posts are as beautiful and thoughtful as Alexa's.

There are some requirements associated with this award. First, thanks to Alexa. Next post the award:

CherryOnTop
Third, list three things you love about yourself. (I wonder why this is so much harder than listing three things you'd like to improve.) Nonetheless, here are three that come to mind: I am loyal, organized, and on time. Fourth, pass the award on to bloggers you love. Many, many of my blogging friends are already members of the Cherry on Top Club, but here are three that I love. If they've already received the award, a second nod is definitely in order. I have many other favorites, but know for a fact they've received this as well. And of course, I am neglecting many others whom I love as well. So with no further ado:

Kat–Her "Kat's Eye View" is filled with stunning photography as well as wonderful informational posts on                composition and other photography-related topics.

Amy–"Over At Our Place" showcases top-notch clean and simple scrapbooking and photography with lots                 of digital tips, but it's Amy's wonderful story-telling abilities that bring a smile to my face day after                 day.

Sharyn–Sharyn's blog title, "Living Arfully," aptly describes her photography and scrapbooking. All of it is a                     feast for the eyes.

And lastly, post a photography you love (that comes to mind right away). It's harder and harder these days to get a photo of both of my children at the same time. In March, we were all together for a drive from Anaheim to Livermore and I took this shot at dinner in Morro Bay. Two happy, productive adults—couldn't love them more.

SarahMatt

Camping at Filmore

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Tracy and I have been camping with our friends, Bob and Cathy, for many, many years. There used to be eight of us before our kids grew up. During the teenage years we began a long hiatus when all four of the kids had busy schedules of their own in the summer, but about eight or nine years ago we started getting together for a few days of camping each August. Next year, the four of us are booked for a cruise to Alaska, so there'll be no camping, but I'm quite sure we won't be complaining.

This was one of the first years in many that we had perfect (no rain) weather. It was a little hot, but we managed to spend the hottest hours on Monday doing some wine tasting on Cayuga Lake. The rest of the time we spent at Fillmore State Park. It's just east of Cayuga and south of Owasco Lake near Moravia. I had never been there before but it was a great spot.

Warning:  this is a heavy photographic post!

Campsite2w
This was our camping spot, and after the first night there were no other tent campers in the park, so we had the place to ourselves. There were a lot of trailers and RVs, but they were in a different section.

There's a lovely gorge and a 5 mile trail through the gorge which then loops up a ridge and circles back to the trail head. We hiked the trail early Monday morning before the heat got too intense.

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I always try to remember to turn around as we hike and look back. As we started up the trail I turned around and saw these wonderful reflections.

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One of Filmore's "claims to fame" is its waterfalls. They are lovely and so is the stream we walked along.

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I love the way the water falls here–back and forth.

And a few other favorite images from the park.

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All my photos on this trip were taken with my point and shoot which has a fisheye effect option which I used here.

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I really liked how this mushroom stood so straight and tall–and all alone–among the trees.

SunFlarew

Light was a problem all along the trail especially later as the sun rose in the sky. But I liked this shot with the sun streaming through the trees.

Fire2w

And you can't have a camping trip without a good fire to sit around. We cook our dinners over the open fire each night, and then sit around chatting and enjoying some good red wine.

Fire3w

It was a perfect way to end a beautiful summer. I can't believe Labor Day is upon us, but that certainly signals the end of summer for me.

Botanicals

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Last week was the final class for Botanical Drawing. I could have well been intimidated by my fellow classmates as many of them have been coming for years, and some of them are professional artists. Their work is stunning. Mine, however, slowly improved and because it was such a supportive environment, I'm planning on returning for the fall semester. No, there are no drawings on this post, although there are a couple I've been willing to share. What I do have are some photographs from a brunch our instructor had at her home the last week. Deb lives right on Lake Ontario and her gardens are spectacular. So here are some botanicals, photographic style.

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DahliaClosew
Deb's dahlias are huge and so beautiful.

Daisiesw

Hibiscusw

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I'd love to know what these are if anyone can identify them. I didn't ask or take notes which turned out to be a big mistake. I have several photographs of flowers I can't identify.

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Here's a view of one of many gardens.

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And the view from Deb's screened-in porch.

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And, finally, the beautiful table she set for our brunch.

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Notepads

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I was asked to create some notepads to be given as gifts. Since I don't know the recipients, I decided to make some extras so there would be some choice. I like having a few on hand myself. I'm not terribly happy with the photos for this post, but I'm still trying to figure out the best place in the new studio to take photos. I thought they were fine, took the notepads off to my friend, and then wished I had checked the photos more carefully. They were all taken in exactly the same spot with the same light, but it sure doesn't look that way. Here's a look at three of them.

3Notepadsw
And a close up view of the focal images on six of them. I had a lot of fun mixing up the stamp sets and finding images that would work with the sentiment stamps. I found a flower in Beautiful Blooms II, one of the labels in Vintage Labels, and a tag image in Tags for Spring that worked really well.  All the stamps are Papertrey Ink.

NotepadDetailCollage
Most of the papers are also Papertrey Ink. The first pad in this group uses Basic Grey "Kioshi" papers, and the last one uses Cosmos Cricket "Delovey" papers. All the buttons are Papertrey Ink, and the pearls/gems are from my stash.

Aside from trying to find the right light to take photos, the new studio is proving to be very efficient. I LOVE working in here. I have so much more work space and everything is so convenient. It's the perfect space for me. We're still finishing up the details. A new track lighting fixture arrived from Pottery Barn this week and needs to be installed. My fold-up Ikea table and printer's drawer need to be moved into the new space, and then I think we're done. Photos should be coming next week, I hope.

We're off to Filmore State Park this afternoon for our annual three days of camping with good friends. Our friends found this spot earlier this year, and I'm looking forward to a new place to explore.

Team-up Thursday: Old

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This week's prompt was "old" and Nancy and I both chose to photograph heirloom objects from our family. Mine is a watch that belonged to my grandmother. For quite a few years after I inherited it, it worked perfectly and I wore it occasionally. I was always afraid I would dent the case. The last time I had it repaired, it kept accurate time for only a brief time. I love the beautiful chain with the trio of opals. The Methodist Hymnal also belonged to my grandmother. She died before my parents were married so I never knew her. Her portraits make her appear to be a very stern woman, but my father was devoted to her so I imagine that she was more personable than her pictures make her appear.

The beaded bag in Nancy's photo dates from early 1900's,  the small gold watch from late 1800's and belonged to her grandmother, the paisley shawl was used as a throw on Nancy's grandparent's piano in the front parlor ( late 1800's), the doll still has her original wig and costume. It was given to Nancy's mother by her uncle when she was about six (1916ish). The canaries are Victorian and are housed in a glass dome which Nancy removed for the photo. Finally, the wind-up tin toy, called Ham and Sam. The toy was given to my mom and her brother (1910-1920). Ham and Sam jump up and down and clap their hands when the toy is wound up.

OldDiptychw

I ran Pioneer Woman's Heartland action on my photo and reduced the opacity to 37%.