Usually during the school spring break we go to Kiawah Island. This year we stayed home to save money for our cross-country trip this summer. But to celebrate the week off (and make the most of fairly decent Rochester weather) we took two road trips last week. One day we went to Buffalo. We had a lovely visit at the Buffalo Botanical Gardens, ate lunch at Pano's on Elmwood Ave, spent some funds at Buffalo Stamps and Stuff, and went to East Aurora to visit Vidlers. The botanical garden in Buffalo is considerably larger than ours in Rochester.

They were having their Spring Flower Show.

They had a fabulous orchid display.

Overall, just a beautiful spot. We took LOTS of photos.

On Friday, we headed to Corning. We had visited the Corning Glass Museum last year, so we headed to the Rockwell Museum of Western Art.

They have restored the old Town Hall, and the building itself is a work of art.

But there are many lovely sculptures. I like the reflections of this one in the display case.

And pottery.

From Corning we drove to Watkins Glen for lunch and then to Ithaca to see Matt. Tracy and I have made several trips to the Cornell Ornithology Lab, but Matt had never been there so we headed out to Sapsucker Woods. It was a beautiful day, but there's still more brown than green.

We heard more birds that we saw, and it's hard to get a photo of them. These geese, however, put on a real display. They were NOT happy. I'm not sure what the problem was but they were both aggressive and noisy.

And my favorite photo of the day:

This weeks challenge–make a birthday card using blue, green and circles. Here's my take:

Making Memories patterned paper, PaperTrey Ink message & cardstock, Martha Stewart butterfly punch, ribbon patterned paper for butterflies unknown. I punched out all these butterflies months ago and stuck them in an little envelope for occasions such as this, so I'm no longer sure who made that patterned paper.

CPS posted their new sketch yesterday. I had already made a card for my husband's step-father's birthday, but I thought this might make a better one. This is what he'll be getting later this afternoon.

Dark Chocolate cardstock  and Around and About Sentiments (Papertrey), Basic Grey patterned paper

And another card I made while I was trying to improve on my ability to emboss with Nestabilities. The oval is cut and embossed and came out much better this time, although you can't see it in the photo.

I finished both the February and March pages for my 2009 Tag book today.

The focal point on the photo pages was a bit low, but I decided not to retake them.

Journaling pages are designed by Cathy Zielske and are available on her blog.

My photos are uploaded (see Photo-a-Day) and the layouts are complete through Week 15. Week 12 is a totally digital page (with no template!).

Basically, my clean and simple style: Overlay (Trish Jones Distressed Diva) and accent (Paisleepress Photogenic)

A paper layout for Week 13 with new paper from Lily Bee. Frames are from Paisleepress: Viewfinder Frames 2.

Quickpages from Sande Krieger (2Peas) with a few embellishments once they were put on cardstock.

A KylieM Designs template, My Mind's Eye paper and embellishment, Amercian Craft Thickers, and a journaling card made with the journaling stamps from Papertrey Ink.

The last few warm days have brought out some buds and blossoms at Highland Park. Tracy and I walked through the park tonight on our way to dinner.

On our way home, we walked through the Vietnam Memorial.

And through the Colgate Divinity School yard to our street.

Such a beautiful evening.

My friend, Mary, came over yesterday before we headed out to hear Robert Mankoff at Arts & Lectures. We spent a couple of hours chatting and making cards. I finished cards for two challenges and have a couple more to share.

First for CPS 111:

I used Lisa Johnson's Life set from Papertrey again. I love how versatile this set is. The paper is from the new Basic Grey Marrakech paper pad I picked up a week or so ago.

Then for card*a*licious–19:

This weeks challenge–make a thank you card using stripes, polka dots and pink. This was all done with scraps from my scrap drawer. Where's the pink? In the striped paper!

I made this card for my son-in-law. The tree from Papertrey's Father Knows Best set reminded me of a tree Adam designed for Sarah's blog. The card is a lift of Allison M. that I found on a World Cardmaking Day post. I can't find a current link to it.

This stamp has to be one of the first I ever purchased. I've sold a lot of those stamps, so I'm finding I don't have a lot of stamps with which to practice using the Copic markers. (I've now straightened the buttons which I didn't notice weren't even until I saw the photo!)

“60 Minutes” is one of the few TV shows I try to watch each week. About a month ago, there was a fascinating and inspiring piece on the reliability of eye witness testimony. A woman who was raped in her early twenties identifies her rapist. She and the police are convinced he is the man who committed the crime. He, however, steadfastly holds to his claim of innocence. He is convicted and sentenced to life in prison. Ultimately, DNA testing (not available when he was convicted) proves his innocence. After eleven years in prison, he is released and the identity of the real rapist revealed. Since then the victim, Jennifer Thompson-Cannino, and Ron Cotton, the man she incorrectly identified, have become friends and speak at conventions and rallies about the need for improved procedures for identifying potential criminals. When I was contacted by Authors On the Web to see if I was interested in reviewing the new book Picking Cotton, I knew I would be interested in reading the “rest of the story.” It’s a very well-written book, and truly is a story of redemption Each person tells his/her own story in alternating chapters. The chapters about life in prison are particularly moving. That someone can spend eleven years in that kind of environment, and create a meaningful life afterwards is a testimony to his character. Jennifer, too, show great courage in admitting her terrible error, and devoting so much time and effort to seeing that others will not have to go through what either she and Ronald Cotton have endured. It’s a good book with a compelling story and an inspirational message.