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5 in 5 on 5/5

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I was inspired by Maggie's post to see if I could find five blooms worthy of a photograph in our yard. Maggie had double that number, but we are way behind this year due to many cool (and frequently, rainy) days. But I grabbed my camera after dinner and did, indeed, find five worthy subjects. The Helleboros was past it's prime as were most of the daffodils. Sadly, I don't know the names of some of our ground covers which are quite lovely right now. The yard, in general, is in need of much loving attention.

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Our Korean Pear Tree is one of my favorites. It looked as if it might not make it through the winter, but I was delighted to see it come back to life this spring.

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I'm not sure of the name of this low growing flower that blooms for a long time along our stone wall.

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We have lots of myrtle which I love when it's blooming.

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We have several primroses blooming along the edge of my perennial bed. This one is the prettiest.

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And another pretty ground cover that I can't name. I do know where it came from, however. Every fall we dump our hanging baskets into the shade garden, and frequently some of those flowers return and take up residence in the garden. This is one of them.

 I'm happy to link up with Sandi at itchifingers for the May Five in Five—on the fifth, no less!

SNAP: Spring Flowers

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The days seem to be flying by! How can it be Wednesday already? I went off in search of some spring flowers yesterday. It's been rainy and cool for days on end it seems, and we finally had a sunny afternoon. The annual Lilac Festival begins on Friday at Highland Park. The festival draws thousands of visitors, many from out of town. If they've booked for the first of the two weeks, I'm afraid they'll be disappointed. There were hardly any buds on the lilacs yet, and nothing in full bloom. There isn't any moderation in temperature in the forecast either, which would certainly help. 

But all is not lost, the magnolias are blooming as are the spring bulbs, and we found one azalea blooming already.

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I'm linking up with Helena's meme, SNAP, featuring three or four photos that create a set. Hoping next week to be back with lilacs from the festival!

Memorandum Monday

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It's a crafty Memorandum Monday! Having been away so much, I needed to make a lot of cards for a busy month of May. In addition, I had a couple new stamp sets I hadn't played with yet, so I spent most of yesterday making cards. So far I have eight made, and still need 5 more before the beginning of June. That doesn't include any unexpected events, or the thank you notes I know I'll need in the middle of the month.

I also have a new storage container for my embossing powders. I've seen it several times on different card-making videos, but hesitated to invest in it. I finally broke down last week, and it was definitely worth the investment. It holds all my most used embossing powders, and is so much easier to apply to the cards.

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It's the shaker top that makes it so efficient. This is meant for spice storage, but works great for embossing powders.

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I have two cards to share today. Both of them will be hand-delivered tomorrow when I get together with the recipients. The first is for a friend who recently had a stroke. She's in rehab now, and doing really well. I used Alt&New's "Magnolias for Her" stamp, inspired by this video I watched Saturday night. I've had this set for awhile, but haven't had much success with it until yesterday. Later, you'll see two more cards made with the same set. I'm linking this card up to a challenge at The Card Concept, choosing Clean and Layered for the style.

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The flower and leaves were embossed in gold and then watercolored with Daniel Smith watercolors, and hand cut. The tag was cut with the "Stitched Dress-up Tags" by Simon Says. It's a new die that's never been used, even though it was a Christmas gift!

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The second card is for a mutual friend of my friend in rehab. We'll be going to visit Peg tomorrow, and it's Jean's birthday on Wednesday. I have a cake to take along to celebrate. I purchased "Tulip Time" from Papertrey Ink two months ago, but this was my first opportunity to pull it out. I was pretty sure I'd like it, and I do!

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The stamped piece is layered onto Raspberry Fizz cardstock cut with Simon Says "Stitched Rectangles." It makes a perfect frame.

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I'm linking up with Sian and waving to all the other Memorandum Monday folks who found something new to do this weekend! I'm also linking up with The Card Concept challenge of "Spring Flowers."

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I have finally figured out how to upload images with a full-size pop-up window, so if you'd like a closer look, it's now possible.

 

 

 

Playing with Vellum

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I enjoy using vellum in my card making so when I saw the latest Online Card Class, Sheer and Clear, I signed right up. The first lesson dealt with different ways to attach a vellum piece to your card. This can be quite tricky at times, but Yana Smakula demonstrated 11 different ways to consider in the first video of the class. Some I knew, some I had forgotten, and a few were new to me.

The first card is one I actually made before class begun and gave to my niece and her husband at their wedding. I attached the vellum piece with a thin line of matte adhesive under the silver thread and then added a dot or two under a few of the rhinestones.

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This card uses a new die I purchased recently from a new-to-me company called Concord and 9th. There are several other pieces to the die set as well as an accompanying sentiment set which I didn't use. The striped vellum is from Papertrey Ink as is the Tropical Teal cardstock. The die-cut sentiment is from Simon Says, and the silver thread is from a spool that's been in my stash for years.

Next up is the first card I made for class. I needed a couple thank you notes, so it was a good opportunity to try some new things. 

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I embossed the beautiful flower from Clearly Besotted's "Fresh Flowers," and then colored them in with some white Prismacolor pencil, and added some Wink of Stella. I've never tried this technique, but Jennifer McGuire demonstrated it in a Day 1 video, and I like the extra oomph it gives the card. 

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This time, I attached the vellum piece behind the Simple Stories, "Life in Color" tag, and underneath the sequins from Simon Says.

Last is a card I made last night after seeing a video by Dawn Woleslagle. Her cards almost always blow me away, and the card she presented in class was truly elegant. My first attempt leaves a LOT to be desired, but I'm posting it in hopes that a later attempt will show some improvement. For this technique, you trace a stamp's outline in white on the back of a piece of vellum and then dry emboss it. It creates a raised white line on the front of the piece. Dawn recommended using parchment paper, which I don't have, so maybe one part of the problem is that I used vellum. Then the design was colored with Copic markers from the backside. The stamp I traced is one from Penny Black's "Blooming Garden."

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In looking for some spray adhesive to attach this piece, I found a can of vellum spray adhesive I'd totally forgotten about. It would have saved me a lot of frustration with the wedding card if only I'd known I had it. (I've started a new purge of my workspace, and this would be one reason why I need to do a good clean-out every year or so!) I scored three lines on the Raspberry Fizz card, and die cut the vellum piece with Simon Says "Stitched Rectangles." The die-cut sentiment is from Papertrey Ink's Mini-Market kit, "Still Life: Summer." Finally I added a few Rainstones from Papertrey to finish it off. Not a fave, but I can live with it.

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SNAP: China Lights

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The New Orleans Botanical Gardens has a special exhibit on called "China Lights." It was recommended by a friend of my SIL's who lives in New Orleans. It would have been much more beautiful at night, but the only chance we had to see it was Sunday morning. Although I like the photos in the SNAP collage, overall the exhibit seemed a bit overdone. Tracy commented that without the China Lights display, the gardens themselves would be a bit disappointing, at least at this time of year. I supposed we're spoiled since the Chicago Botanic Gardens and the Atlanta Botanical Gardens with which we're familiar are so spectacular. (Rochester has a few small gardens and many lovely parks, but no botanical garden.) Nonetheless, we had a very pleasant hour or so walking around, taking photos, and ended up at a great Po'boy restaurant for lunch we would have missed had we not been in that part of town.

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Linking this set up with Helena, and off to see what other sets folks have found this week. Before I go, I thought I'd share another photo of the dragon to help put his size in perspective.

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5 in 5: Street Music

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I always seem to be cutting it close to the deadline to join in with Sandie at "itchifingers" for her 5 in 5. I actually had several subjects I could have chosen this month, all from our trip to New Orleans, but decided on the street music on Royal Street in the French Quarter. Tracy and I stayed an extra day after everyone else went home, and I'm so glad we did. We spent the morning in the Garden District and had a fabulous lunch there, and then took the streetcar down St. Charles St. to the French Quarter. Royal Street was our favorite place to stroll, and this particular Monday afternoon, the street music was wonderful. Everyone talks about Bourbon Street being the place for music, but we heard much more, and better, music on Royal Street every day we were in the French Quarter. Love these dancers, too.

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And a second group just a short distance away.

 

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I have one more group I want to share. They weren't in the five minute period because they were on the next block, but I loved their music, and the singer was just so cute! (And good!)

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I have several other photos of individual musicians as well, and think I'll put the photos in a collage for April's Project Life pages. They're such an iconic part of the French Quarter in New Orleans.

 

SNAP: Fences

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As most tourists in New Orleans, we spent quite a bit of time walking in both the French Quarter and the Garden District. The two areas have very distinct personalities which you'll see more clearly in later posts, but there are beautiful wrought iron fences in both. 

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Interestingly, both districts have a cornstalk fence. The one in the French Quarter sits in front of The Cornstalk Hotel, and was erected in 1840. According to a tour guide we overheard, the same story about the owner building the fence to ease his wife's homesickness for her home state of Iowa is told about both fences. I think this one is more beautiful because of the painted posts and gorgeous gate. 

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The mansion in the Garden District was built in 1860. The fence was created by the same company that built the fence in the French Quarter. 

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There's one other cornstalk fence. It was built 1858 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Linking up, as always, with Helena and off to see what other SNAP offerings there are this week.

Memorandum Monday

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I'm a day late with this post, but we just got home tonight from a six day trip to New Orleans for a family wedding. Thirteen of us shared a house on the water out near Lake Ponchartrain, and I knew I wouldn't have any computer time, so I didn't take my laptop. I did, however, have one very new experience and learned quite a few new things, one of which I'll share tonight.

Friday night, the groom's family hosted an amazing party at their home with a crawfish boil. I had to get a lesson in eating crawfish from one of Randy's friends but it was easy after that and delicious! They boiled 110 pounds of crawfish, and then quite a few pounds of blue crabs which were much harder to peel and eat.  Included in the crawfish boil were spicy sausages, corn on the cob, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and even some brussel sprouts. It was quite the feast.

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My grand-niece, Bella, is an old pro at this. Living in Lousiana has its perks!

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Saturday morning five of us took a walking tour of the Garden District.

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We had a fabulous tour guide, and I learned all kinds of things. One of the most interesting was the difference between Creole and Cajun. Both terms are used frequently in New Orleans. Creole is anyone who was native born to New Orleans but nationality is not important. Their ancestry might be French or Spanish, or someone who descended from African/Caribbean heritage. Cajun describes people who immigrated from Acadia after the British took over the area in Canada and demanded that the Acadians adopt the king's Protestant religion. The British forced them to leave and many were shipped south to the Louisiana territories.

When it comes to food, Creole cuisine is considered "city" food, and Cajun "country food." While many of the ingredients are similar, if the dish has tomatoes in it, it's Creole. I had both Cajun and Creole gumbo and both were excellent. One had alligator sausage as well, and it was my favorite.

It was a fabulous trip and a beautiful wedding. I'll have lots more to share once I get the photos organized and edited.

SNAP: Colorful

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We took Caleb to the Skokie Exploratorium while we were in Chicago. I'm always looking for an interesting shot that's a bit different and colorful, and took the first shot (top left) in the Week 15 collage there. Afterwards when I was editing the photos from the trip, I remembered taking a photo at the Strong Museum when we took Caleb and Skylar (photo bottom right). After looking through Lightroom, I came up with two more photos to make a SNAP collection for this week. The magnetic "blocks" were taken in Chicago a year or so ago, and the wooden blocks in our living room one night when Skylar was playing with them. 

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This one makes me happy. It's been a gray, cold, wintery week here, though it's supposed to improve soon. Linking up with Helena for this week's SNAP collections.

Inlaid Dies–Addicted to CAS Challenge

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This week's challenge at Addicted to CAS is inlaid dies. I made an earlier version of this card for two guys in grays with one red stripe, but today's are for two female friends who celebrate their birthdays later this month.

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This "Stars and Stripes" die from Frantic Stamper takes care of any design questions. It's just a matter of choosing the colors and the orientation of the die. All the purple papers came from my scraps file—a good way to use up perfectly good paper that's left over from earlier projects. I keep a file folder labeled by color for my scraps and that's my first "go-to" when I'm looking for paper. Although the die comes with a die cut for the "celebrate" sentiment, I substituted Papertrey Ink's "Wet Paint" die. The star rhinestones are from Michael's.

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A slightly different version with some Simon Says star dies and some tiny enamel dots. I love the look of inlaid dies, so I'm off to check out the other contributions to the challenge.

My Month in Numbers (And more ‘gators for Lady Ella)

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For the last several years, I've wanted to join in with Julie Kirk and her month in numbers project. Earlier this year, she and I had a lovely email exchange about the project, but I never seem to be able to keep track of things. Since we were traveling a lot in March, I thought there'd be some interesting numbers, and started a list on my Notes app on the iPhone. Today I finally had time to count up some of the other numbers so here they are:

We drove 4,068 miles in March. That doesn't count the trip from Chicago back to Rochester since that happened in April. We drove through 12 states (PA, NY, MD, WV, Vir, SC, NC, GA, FL, Ohio, IN, AND IL).

We spent 14 days on the beach at Longboat Key, and I walked 92,450 steps over 12 of those days—averaging slightly less than my goal of 10,000 steps each day. We went on 3 excursions while we were in Florida, and 1 in Chicago (The Art Institute) which makes for 4 total. I collected 103 coquina shells which you'll hear more about later.

In Florida we went to the Arcadia Rodeo, Myakka River State Park and the Ringling Museum.

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The beautiful courtyard at The Ringling Art Museum

I've linked to some previous posts about those trips, but Lady Ella said she'd be interested in some more alligator photos (as long as she was warned–hence the title of the post) Counting the earlier photo, that makes 4 alligators photographed. I think we saw quite a few more.  

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I thought you might also be interested in the air boat we were on for the tour around the lake.

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We ate out 26 times in March. The top three meals were at The Waterfront on Anna Maria Island, Cotton & Rye in Savannah, GA, and The Gage in Chicago, but none were bad! We celebrated 1 birthday.

I took 589 photos but that doesn't include the many duplicates and out-of-focus photos I deleted as soon as I uploaded them. There are still too many to print or scrap, so there's much more sorting to do. I wrote 16 blog posts, which is way more than I usually manage while we're traveling. 

My goal this year is to read 36 books, which averages out to 3/month. When we travel, I usually do better than that since I can read in the car. I read 5 books in March, all of which I enjoyed.

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My favorite of the five was When Breath Becomes Air, a beautifully written, tragic memoir written by a neurosurgeon who was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer at the end of his residency, and died within two years of the diagnosis. Although tragic, it is ultimately an uplifting book with much in common, philosophically, with Being Mortal which I've recommended to almost everyone.

 

SNAP: A Day in Chicago

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Tracy and I took the train into Chicago last week to see the current exhibition, "Van Gogh's Bedrooms," at The Art Institute. Van Gogh painted three variations of his bedroom in his yellow house in Arles, and this may be the first time they've been hung together. It's certainly the first time a museum has created a exhibition focusing on them, and it was fascinating. I learned a lot about his life from the exhibition as well as enjoying the paintings. I was surprised that taking photographs was allowed. The first photo in the collage is the first known self-portrait Van Gogh painted. The second one is actually a digital projection of the three bedroom paintings which zoom in and out showing the differences between the three paintings. 

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After a delicious lunch at The Gage, we strolled up Michigan Avenue. I loved the yellow sight-seeing boat that was taking off down the river as we walked across the bridge. A friend told us about Eataly, so we stopped to check it out. It's a wonderland of Italian eateries and food shops. I took quite a few photos, but my favorite was this display of cookbooks. I wished we weren't so full from lunch, because the gelato looked delicious. Michigan Avenue is lined with exclusive shops and department stores, but we didn't do any shopping. We walked almost to the end of the avenue, and although we were just short of getting our 10,000 steps for the day, decided to take the bus back to the train station. In less than half an hour, we were back in Evanston. Now that we know how easy it is to get in and out of the city, we'll be planning more excursions when we come to visit Sarah and Adam.

Less is More: White Space That’s Not White

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It's good to be home, despite the 4 inches of snow we got as a welcome home gift from Mother Nature. This week's challenge at Less is More is an interesting one. One of their designers questioned whether or not my dotted backgrounds for the last week's challenge constituted "white space," and she was probably correct. This week the challenge asks for colored "white space," and I have a birthday card that fits the bill.

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The cardstock is from Simon Says and the patterned paper from an old MME's paper pack, "Go Fly a Kite." I used Papertrey Ink's "Sentiment Splits" die to create the curved bottom of the top layer, and the candle and sentiment both come from Papertrey's "Wishes Come True." I added a bit of Glossy Accents to enhance the flame of the candle.

I spent most of the first day home unpacking and organizing, and sadly, I think there's still at least one more day for the organizing piece. I took some projects to Chicago to work on, and got a good start, but have more to do. Hope your week is a productive and happy one!

Polka Dots: Round Two

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I have another card for the Less is More Challenge, "Polka Dots," this week. It uses the same paper pack as the last card, but a different design.

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So, once again, a piece of Silver Luxe paper from Papertrey Ink, this time with a sentiment in silver, die cut from the Wet Paint series (the stamped sentiment as well.) I finished it off with three enamel dots from My Mind's Eye. I love these card size paper packs which make for a quick, but lovely, card.

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This angle gives you a better view of the shimmer of the card stock and the die cut. 

SNAP: Easter

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Celebrating Easter in Chicago is always fun. Sarah's church in Winnetka is lovely, and the service is always beautiful. Caleb's Cherub Choir sang during the service, and the weather was good enough that the Easter egg hunt could be held outside. When we got home from lunch, Caleb got the first of eight clues (drawn by his talented father) for a scavenger hunt to find his Easter basket. He couldn't wait to begin. I have lots of great photos which will eventually show up in my project life pages, but for now here's a collection for Helena's meme: SNAP.

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We're spending today in the city. For all our trips to Chicago, we usually spend all our time on the North Shore. There's an exhibit at the Art Institute I'm anxious to see, and I'm hoping to get to a few other sights as well. The weather is somewhat iffy, so we'll see how it goes.