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Zoom In, Zoom Out: Week 33

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A friend and I spent a wonderful day yesterday on a little road trip. We started in Skaneateles, a lovely little town on a lake just east of Syracuse. The town is filled with charming shops and restaurants. While we were there I spotted a more picturesque bakery for Rinda's Scavenger Hunt. The line was very long inside, so the Zoom In shot was taken from outside, which I rather liked in the end. And we were able to resist coming away with a bag of goodies. Which was just as well since we were headed off to Elderberry Pond for lunch.

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You can check out the rest of this week's ZIZO photos at Helena's blog.

Online Card Class: Stretch Your Stamps 2

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It's not the first time, nor will it be the last, but I've overextended myself with online instruction once again. This week I had lessons in two drawing classes, the phone photography class at BPC, and the new Online Card Class. Since neither of the drawing classes have lifetime access, it's been critical to keep up with them. I'm definitely a newbie to the sketching/drawing world, so it's also been very time-consuming. Add Sarah, Adam, and Caleb's visit plus daily trips to Conesus Lake this week, and it's really quite amazing that I have a card to share! 

Two of Sarah and Adam's friends have just adopted a beautiful baby boy. We were lucky enough to meet William the day we were in Chicago earlier this month. I wanted to send a gift and card back when Sarah and Adam left today, so it was a good opportunity to try one of the techniques from Days 3 & 4–using alphabet and sentiment stamps.

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This is a take on Tami Hartley's class on Day 4 where she created a banner for her sentiment by using alpha stamps. At first I thought I must have purged all my small alphas, but finally found an old Technique Tuesday one that fit on the banner from My Favorite Things Blueprints 5 die set (another item that's seeing it's first use.) The striped paper is a left-over from the other baby card I made recently, and the banners were cut from a piece of paper I watercolored. Three little hearts (using an old paper punch) with little pearls from AMuse finished it off. The "welcome" was selectively stamped from a sentiment in the "Baby Button Bits" set by Papertrey Ink.

I'm linking this up with the Simon Says Work It Wednesday challenge which is BLUE this month.

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Sarah, Adam, and Caleb headed back to Chicago this morning. We've been blessed by such a nice long visit, and I'm going to miss that two-year-0ld voice (as well as his parents) every morning for quite some time. FaceTime is fabulous, but it sure doesn't replace the real deal! 

Zoom In, Zoom Out

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Tracy's mom rents a cottage each summer on Consesus Lake. All of Tracy's siblings, and most of the children and grandchildren arrive for one or more day during the week. We drive down each afternoon after Caleb's nap and stay for dinner. It's been raining every night, but finally, last night, it was beautiful.

Tracy's niece, Lena, is here from Arizona with both of her boys. Cash, the younger one, is five years old and is relishing being the "big boy" with Caleb. When Caleb got into the car last night, his first words were, "I had fun!" They had a great time trying to skip rocks on the water, chasing one another around the lawn, and just being boys! But they stopped long enough to "pose" for Zoom In, Zoom Out photos.

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For more Zoom In, Zoom Out pairings, head to Helena's blog!

The Pile of Postcards Exchange

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As soon as Sian posted about her Pile of Postcards Exchange, I dashed off an email to be included. I love these little projects, and as always, it's been fun. I sent off seven postcards (the six names I received from Sian, and one to Sian, of course) and have received six myself. I only know where one of mine landed, thanks to Allison's persistence in trying to find me. I neglected to add my blog url, email or other information. (Where was my mind that day?)

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These three arrived from Texas, California, and France. The postcard from France arrived in an envelope with the usual beautiful stamps so I'll be saving those for a project. Thanks to Liz, Nicole, and Helen!

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These cards arrived from Sian in North Ireland, Becky (vacationing in Crete), and Hazel in Utah. We visited the Great Salt Lake a few years ago when we were in Salt Lake City, but didn't make it to the Bonneville Salt Flats. Thanks for the fun cards! I've saved them all, and hope I'll think of a way to incorporate some of them in a project.

Then at the same time, but not part of the official swap, I received this beauty from my blogging friend, Deb. It's a postcard of the beautiful canvas she created. 

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I love the bright colors, and postive message! It's hanging above my desk, and is sure to brighten any day—but I know I'll really appreciate it this winter! 

A special thanks to Sian, for thinking of this fun exchange—just another of her great ideas!

The Birthday Girl

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Yesterday was Sarah's birthday, and luckily for us, it was the second year in a row she's been here to celebrate. I didn't post yesterday because the celebration didn't end until tonight when Adam arrived. Actually the birthday began mid-week when her first gift arrived from Amazon. Sarah's become the DIY queen in the last several months. She's been finding free or very inexpensive furniture and other goodies on Craig's list and refinishing or repurposing them. So this year, she asked for a power tool. After much consultation with her very handy father, she decided on a scroll saw.

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Somehow I haven't gotten a photo of the really cute toys she's made for Caleb–a whale, a school of fish, a darling hedgehog and more. Today she finished painting and adding the oil/beeswax finish to all of them.

Somewhere in her search about the Rochester area, she came across a reference to the Avon Flea Market. We've never been, but yesterday morning we headed out. It turned out to be a lot of fun and we all came home with something.

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Turns out Matchbook cars are a big collectors' item, and there were hundreds of them for Caleb to look at.

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But interestingly, he didn't come home with any of them. Instead he came home with a bin of great alphabet blocks that were 50% off the already reasonable asking price.

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I bought an old dictionary for $3 to use in art journaling and an antique (or just old) folding six-foot measuring stick.

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Tracy and a friend have gotten into model railroads since they've retired, and Tracy found a really cute N-gauge train that works great. (I think Caleb thought this was the best find of all.)

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But Sarah negotiated the best deal for a mitre saw.

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Last night we joined Tracy's mom and siblings at Conesus Lake where they've rented a cottage for the week, and after dinner celebrated with a cake.

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Tonight Matt, Betsy, and Skylar came to dinner, and we had an ice cream pie from Sarah's favorite soft ice cream shop. Their chocolate almond ice cream is to die for, and the pie might even be better!

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Given Sarah's new hobby, I decided to break out a stamp set I've had for a couple of years. I've hardly used it, and when I bought it I certainly didn't have Sarah in mind. It's a definite case of a card Maille Belle did for the release of the set at Papertrey Ink.

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All in all, I think Sarah had a good birthday. She was definitely glad to see Adam tonight who just returned from a mission trip in Havana, Cuba. Their departure was delayed by 12 hours, so he was a day late arriving in Chicago, and didn't get here until just after we finished dinner, but before Matt and Betsy had to take Skylar home for bed. They'll be here for the rest of the week, and we'll be heading to the lake after naps each day. 

Baby Shower

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I'm off in a few minutes to a baby shower. It will be their first, a little boy due next month. A happy occasion, and the grandmother-to-be who is my good friend is excited beyond words!

Once again the Papertrey Ink Phrase Play #5 die came to the rescue.

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I used piece of American Craft 12X12 scrapbook paper that's been in my stash for a long time to cut the die, and Spring Rain cardstock by PTI for the card base. The layered felt sticker has been in my stash for a long time, too.

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I only have a couple baby-themed stamp sets, and couldn't find any sentiment that worked so I created on on the computer and ran the card base through the printer before starting the card front. 

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I'm linking this to the new Simon Says Work It Wednesday challenge which is BLUE.

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Hope you're having a great weekend. Ours is pretty quiet aside from the fact that we have a busy, happy 2 1/2 year old living with us!

Summer Scavenger Hunt: Part 3

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How can it be the end of July already? The summer is flying by far too quickly, and it's time for the July wrap-up of Rinda's Scavenger Hunt. I have four more photos to add, and just five left to find. They, of course, are the hardest ones. I'm pretty sure I can find three of the five, but two are seeming pretty difficult right now. Maybe I'll get lucky!

Here are the latest captures: #3 Birds on a wire. This proved a bit more difficult than I expected. We found a huge group of birds on a wire driving home from our camping trip a couple of weeks ago. Tracy pulled over a good distance from them. I got my camera ready, but as I walked toward them, most of them flew off. These were the brave ones.

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 #9 A bakery. A new bakery and cafe just opened up near us. Sarah, Caleb, Tracy, and I ate lunch there on Tuesday.

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#11 A horn. I actually have several images to share, all taken at the Antique Boat Museum two weeks ago.

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And last, but not least, #21 A photo of you with soemting representing the season. Here I am relaxing at our camp site (definitely a summer-only activity in western New York) with a glass of wine before dinner.

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By clicking on the Summer Scavenger Hunt logo on my sidebar you can find all my scavenger hunt photos in a SmugMug gallery. I'm off to discover what other finds have been made around the globe for this fun, summer project!

Zoom In, Zoom Out on the Cherry Trees

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Apples are the crop I most associate with western New York, but cherries are big here, too. I recently rediscovered my love of cherries, but years ago, a friend and I picked several baskets of them, pitted them, and canned them for pies. No picking or canning this year, but the cherry trees are lovely.

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Other offerings for Helena's meme can be found right here.

Sad Time

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It's been a tough week. Betsy's mom passed away last Tuesday after a brief bout with cancer. She was just 65. In April she went for a routine physical, having no symptoms, and within a few days had a diagnosis of stage 4 cancer. Sally was one of the most positive people ever, and always thinking about everyone else, right to the last minute. She will be missed so much.

I've made cards for Betsy, both of her sisters, and her dad. Paul's card is a duplicate of one I've made before so I'm not posting it again. I tried a new watercolor techniques for two of the cards. I've always thought sympathy cards needed to be simple, and watercolor seems to fit the bill. 

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Both of these cards were stamped with a light Distress Ink which fades into the background as you watercolor the separate petals. The key is never to watercolor two petals touching one another so you keep the definition of the flower. Although it takes some time and the outline of the stamps is still more visible than I think it should be, I'm happy with the first attempts.

The last card uses my favorite watercolor technique: a white embossed image that is then watercolored. I've learned to do it in a window so I can see the outline of the white embossing.

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We made a quick trip to Chicago this week to bring Sarah, Caleb, and Sadie (their dog) back to Rochester. Adam is in Cuba on a mission trip. When he returns this weekend, he'll drive to Rochester, spend a few days with us before they return to Chicago. We're always glad to have lots of time with family, so this makes a sad time easier.

Art Journaling

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My friend and I enrolled in an online art journaling class in April. Overall it was pretty dismal. I wasn't inspired by the artist's final pages, and none of the techniques I tried pleased me in the least. I'm fascinated by mixed media, though, and didn't want to give up on this. I've been following The Documented Life Project for awhile, and just as I decided I wanted to give that format a go, both Cheri and Alexa published posts about their journals. My reasons for starting the project are a bit different than theirs. I already keep a daily diary of activities to help me in my Project Life spreads, so daily documentation isn't the motivating factor. My interest is in the mixed media aspect, and I've decided to do it a bit differently. Instead of using a Moleskine planner, I've created my own using a Dylusions journal I already owned. And for now, I've decided not to add the "tip in" pages until I know if I'll need one. (A special thanks to Cheri, Roben-Marie, and Lorraine Bell for all their help in getting hooked up to the FaceBook page for the DLP.)

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I created a template for the left-hand pages with a piece of lightweight cardstock and gessoed the first couple of spreads before starting the work.

Here's the first week:

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One of the issues I had with the art journaling class was that none of the pages were my "style," which we all know is basically clean and simple. So for this first week, I stuck with some watercoloring, and wrote out some of my goals for the journal. The prompt for this week was to add a small photograph. The prompts are another reason I like this project; they give me a focus for the week. I kept my dates the same as my daily planner since I've been using that format since January. It's off by two days since the new prompts from The Documented Life Project arrive on Fridays. That's OK, it's easy to be two days behind!

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I was a bit more adventuresome with the second week, layering a variety of stencils I inked with Tim Holtz Distress Inks. The prompt was to make a wish list, and I listed three. I ran out of room for all the places I'd like to visit on my Bucket List!

I've already learned a bit in the process. I neglected to gesso one page and had to perform surgery on the journal for Weeks 3 and 4. But so far, it's satisfying my need to play around more, a bit outside my comfort zone.

ETA:  I'm entering this in the Simon Says Monday Challenge which is J . . .  for Journal and July in this case.

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Zoom In, Zoom Out at The Antique Boat Museum

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There were lots of opportunities for Zooming In and Zooming Out this weekend. First a nest of ospreys near the end of the dock at the Antique Boat Museum.

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The fireplace in the dining room on the Bolt/McNally house boat.

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And one of the displays of antique boats.

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You'll find more examples of zooming in and out right here.

Weekend Camping Trip

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Warning:  It's a long post, but mostly photos; not too wordy. We left Saturday for Selkirk Shores, a state park on the eastern shore of Lake Ontario. We've been camping with our friends, Bob and Cathy, for over 20 years. We used to go to the Adirondacks with our four kids, and climb one of the 40 High Peaks. Then, after the kids left home, we missed a few years. Now we go nearly every summer, but rarely do we hike. This weekend was no exception.

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We did wander down to the lake after dinner on Saturday, but spend most of the weekend in Clayton, NY.

Some views of the beach:

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One of the main reasons we went to Clayton was to visit the Antique Boat Museum.

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I had no idea how much I would enjoy it. I took LOTS of photos, and think I may make a small soft cover book of them. 

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The museum itself is a treasure, and the gardens are gorgeous.

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 There are four or five buildings and we were able to take a tour of the Bolt/McNally house boat.

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The curating of the displays was excellent, but it was the details of the restored boats that I enjoyed photographing the most.

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And a final view of the St. Lawrence River from one of the boat houses.

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The town of Clayton is lovely as well. We had fabulous pizza (pulled pork and a BLT) at the Wooden Boat Brewery before heading downtown.

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My friend, Clara, and her husband have their names engraved on the yellow chair in honor of their 50th wedding anniversary. Clara's sister is the mayor of Clayton.

 

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There are a number of wonderful murals painted on the sides of buildings, but this one was my favorite.

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I managed to capture three more items for Rinda's Summer Scavenger Hunt, but I'm saving them for the end of the month recap. I'll be back tomorrow with some Zoom In, Zoom Out photos from the weekend as well!

 

 

 

 

Sending Sunshine

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Last night when I should have been packing for our camping trip, I came across the new ColourQ challenge, and thought it would be perfect with the current CAS(E) This Sketch challenge. And I had the perfect (new) stamp set to put to use:  "Doodlie Do" by Papertrey Ink. Here are the challenges:

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And here's my interpretation:

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I love these bright colors! I embossed and masked the flower, then the leaves and colored them with Copics. The sentiment is from the same set. And it's another one for my encouragement card stash.

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I'll pop this into the Curtain Call Anniversary challenge, "Anything Goes," as well. 

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In about an hour we're off to Selkirk Shores on eastern Lake Ontario for two nights of camping with our friends, Bob and Cathy. It's supposed to be pretty decent (80's during the day), but chilly at night (50's), with a chance of showers on Sunday.  I had lunch with a friend on Tuesday who recommended driving up to Clayton, NY on the St. Lawrence River. There's an antique boat museum and a classy new hotel that just opened up as well as some "cute shops." Not sure the guys will be interested in the latter, but I think Clayton's the plan for Sunday afternoon.

Card Set

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Alexa once again shared her photo and digital gifts with a download this week. As soon as I saw these delightful typewriters, I knew I'd make some simple, one layer cards. Sadly, I'm in almost constant need of encouragement cards, so it's nice to have a little stash.

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After printing the typewriters on Lumijet Fine Art Ink Jet paper, I stamped each with two sentiments I cut apart from Hero Arts "Everyday Sayings." Then I found color coordinated cardstock in my scrap files to match each of the typewriters, and adhered it all to top folding cards made from Papertrey's Rustic White cardstock which almost perfectly matches the Fine Art Ink Jet paper.

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I just love these, and there are four other colors yet to print and use for another set of cards. Thanks, Alexa, for sharing your gifts!

I'm linking these up to the Curtain Call Anniversary challenge "Anything Goes."

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Zoom In, Zoom Out: Week 29

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I saved these photos from my earlier post about the Corn Hill Arts Festival for this week's Zoom In, Zoom Out. Check out the others here on Helena's blog.

Every year the display from Hurd's Orchards is one of the most beautiful displays at the festival. This year was no exception.

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