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Creativity Boot Camp: Fluid & Photo Walk

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Here’s my take on fluid:

Fluidw
It was a really nice day so I got to Park Ave. for a little photo walk. I took a lot of photos, but here are my favorites.

Fencew
One of the first things I saw was this fence which reminded me of Charleston.

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The windows on this old building had been covered with metal. It’s now rusted, and I liked the contrast of the ivy.

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This is Oxford Street and these are all magnolia trees which are stunning in the spring. I love the streets that have the malls down the middle. Our first house in the city had one, but not this nice.

SeeThingsw
This made me smile. It’s in the window of an optician.

Benchw
I loved the lines of this bench and the brick sidewalk.

DeliWindoww
I’ve never been in this deli, but it certainly appeals to me.

SidewalkTablesw
And last, I loved the reflection of the trees in the table tops.

Creativity Boot Camp: Grow, Baby, Grow

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Today’s prompt was an easy one. 

Here’s a shot of the first tomatoes in our garden:

2Tomatoesw 

Typically I take my point and shoot to the garden, but today I took my SLR with the Tamron 28-300mm lens. This was shot at 120mm; f 5.6; 1/200, ISO 100. The zoom on this lens really takes pretty decent macro shots. Close up you can even see the “hairs” on the tomato stems.

I was happy to see that the slugs seem to be gone, but found two snails attached to the new lettuce plants. We read in our organic gardening book that both coffee grounds and ashes repel slugs and snails so we took some of both and spread them around the perimeter of the bed. They warned not to use too many coffee grounds as they are quite acidic.

Ashesw 

We also got a fence up around our plot today. You can see the tall “plants” beyond our plot. They are weeds! There are only three plots that haven’t been claimed in the community garden and two of the three border ours. I’m hoping the mulch around the plot will help keep down the spread of weeds, but each time we go we need to dig out a few. If the plants have as deep a root system as our weeds, they will do well!

Fencew

The only thing ready to pick were some tiny arugula leaves, two kinds of basil, and some cilantro. We used the Thai Basil in a shrimp and tomato pasta sauce tonight. It has a lighter flavor than the typical basil, but is quite nice.

Creativity Boot Camp: Heavy Metal

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My first thought when I read the prompt was the heavy metal rock bands, but since I know nothing whatsoever about them, that was out. I’m a day behind getting this posted because it rained all day yesterday, but late in the day I ran out to Home Depot since I thought I might find some heavy metal there. I did, but it took until today to get the photos organized for the post.

HeavyMetalHDw 

On my way home, it stopped raining and I had to drive by an ongoing construction project near our house. All the workers had gone home, so I parked the car in a nearby medical center parking lot and hopped out to see what I might find. I took a lot of photos, but ended up deciding on these three, all taken of the same piece of equipment.

HeavyMetalCollagew 

I used the Colorize action on the last of the photos.

But my favorite photos are of this little red wagon that was “parked” alongside the road. It’s obviously being used by the crews to haul cement or some such substance. Not exactly heavy metal, but I like it anyway.

ThreeWagonsw
The first photo was simply sharpened, the middle photo is the Seventies action (again), and the last one is the Pioneer Woman’s Heartland action. I increased the contrast on the last one after I ran the action.

Got to say, I’d never have taken any of these without the prompt!

Multilayered: Take Two

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Part 1:

The prompt for Creativity Bootcamp today was multilayered. After a bit of consideration I decided to photograph the roses blooming right outside our dining room door. My first inclination was to play with light today, so I started taking a photo every hour or so. I had to take a break for a dermatologist appointment and while I was driving had another idea:  to show how the multilayered rose unfolds. So here is the triptych I came up with. I tried a few actions, but decided I liked the simply sharpened photos the best.

RosesTriptychw 

Part 2:

Last night I finished a layout for the vacation album that was an “out of the box” design for me, but one that I see frequently on blogs and admire. When I finished I was quite pleased with the final product. This morning during my coffee/blog browsing hour I came across Layle Koncar’s article at Ella Publishing. She’d read a pamphlet about decorating that suggested three things to consider when mixing patterns. Layle boiled it down to this:

  1. Have an odd number of patterns
  2. Include a solid
  3. Include a stripe

I was curious and checked. Indeed, that’s exactly what I had. Perhaps that was why I liked it so much. See what you think:

In&OutLO

Cardstock: American Craft; patterned paper from scrap drawer; chipboard embellishment: “Mama Razzi” (BoBunny); pin: unknown (purchased at a stationery store in Ithaca a couple of years ago); digital frame: “Framed no. 3” (two shutter sisters)

It fits the multilayered prompt as well. A bit of serendipity.

Creativity Boot Camp Day 2

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Today’s prompt is picnic. Merriam-Webster defines picnic as “an outing with food usually provided by members of the group and eaten in the open.” For this prompt, I set up a still-life outside, tried  various settings, played with different apertures, and took about 40 photos from different perspectives. These are the two I liked the best. Both were taken with my 50mm. lens at f 4.0; 1/100; ISO 400. The diptych frame is from Katie Pertiet’s Vintage Storyboard Frames. I used a new (to me) action on both photos from Noel Joy called “Picture Pop.”

  
PicnicDiptychwcopy

Creativity Boot Camp Day 1

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Today’s prompt for Creativity Bootcamp was “Ivory” and the piano keyboard was the first thing that came to mind. One thing I decided to do with this class is to play with some new techniques. Today I used a photo mask for the first time and played with some of the Pioneer Woman Actions.

IvoryDSMask
Define and Sharpen Action; Katie Pertiet “Stamped Blocks No. 7”

Ivory70sMask
Seventies Action

IvoryVintageMask
Vintage Action

Love is in the Air

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We’re off this evening to the wedding of one of our long-time friend’s daughters. I sent the gift to their home in Colorado, but made a card to take to the wedding.

WeddingCard 

Cardstock: American Craft & Aqua Mist (PTI); embossed cardstock: Creative Imaginations; dies: Beautiful Blooms (PTI); ribbon: Paper Source; gems: Memory Box; stick pin: Making Memories

And the inside of the card:

InsideWedding

Dies: Nestabilities Label 4 & Beautiful Blooms (PTI); sentiment: Delightful Dahlias (PTI)

A daughter of another dear friend got engaged a few weeks ago. Tracy was able to get to the party, but I had tickets to the RPO so missed it. I made this card to send to them.

4x4Congrats 

Cardstock: Dark Chocolate and Lemon Tart (PTI); patterned paper:  Letter Box (American Craft); die: Flower Layers 3 (Sizzix); embossing folder: Swiss Dots (Cuttlebug; Flair Badge: American Craft

About six weeks ago, I got an email from Tamron announcing a two-hour workshop “Eleven Secrets to Improve Your Photographs” at our local photography store. Since I own two Tamron lenses and the cost was minimal, I decided to sign up. The class was this morning, and although the first half of the material was familiar to me, I picked up enough tips to compensate both my time and the cost of the workshop. I also got a chance to try out the 60mm 2.0 macro lens that is on my wish list. The most helpful information for me was about lighting, filters, and using your flash. I have a lot of things I want to try out, and hopefully, I’ll be able to incorporate them into the projects  for Creativity Bootcamp. The workshop pretty much solidified my choice of medium to photography. I’m looking forward to the first session tomorrow.

CKC Cards

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I took two classes with Making Memories on using the Slice at the Creating Keepsakes Convention last month. We didn’t finish any of the cards in the class. We just created the different components. I much prefer that so I can put my own spin on the cards when I get home. The cards below are from the Slice 101 class. I didn’t learn a lot in this class, but I enjoyed it and won a new cartridge which was really nice. They also gave a cartridge away to everyone in the class, so I came home with two new ones. I learned a lot more in the Tips and Techniques class. That was a layout class, and I’m not sure I’ll ever put the layout together, but will probably use pieces of it on layouts in the future. In that class we learned how to emboss, cut shadow and mirror designs, and how to trouble-shoot some potential problems. 

The first two cards used the Flutter line from Making Memories and the Vintage Findings Design Card.

Butterfly1 

Butterfly2 

Butterfly3D

These cute baby cards use Making Memories’ Pitter Patter line which just came out & the Baby and Animal Cracker Design Cards.

BabyBoy 

BabyGirl

4 You

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I finally got the Copics I needed to finish this card from the class I took several weeks ago using Copic markers with Prisma colored pencils. This is my favorite of the three we made that day, and the only one we didn’t have time to finish coloring.  I wish I knew a little boy to send it to!

Boy&Dog
Since I didn’t choose the papers for this card, I can’t credit the manufacturers for any of the card elements.

Picture Spring

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I’ve been organizing both in my study and on the computer today, and finally got the photos I’ve taken for Picture Spring edited, posted, and printed for my album. I’m still missing photos for three prompts: “A Heart-shaped World,” “New Point of View,” and “Flirting with Flare.” I actually took photos for two of those prompts but want to redo them. Finding a heart shape in nature is proving a bit challenging. I should go look at the gallery and see what others have found. So here are the photos and prompts I uploaded today:

April 9:  Everyday Beauty  This one had me stumped for some time, but when I was sweeping the kitchen floor recently, I saw this. I love my red kitchen chairs.

DailyBeautyw

April 16:  Out of the Shadows

Shadowsw 

April 17:  Punchy Patterns (About the only punchy patterns I own are my Vera Bradley purses. This is my newest one which makes me very happy.)

PunchyPattern1w

April 18:  Appreciation–the grass at your feet

GrassAtYourFeet1w 

April 19:  Hidden Messages–this is hardly hidden. It’s hanging on my inspiration board over my desk. I love the “Keep calm and carry on” message and design and this is a similar design. The message is a good one to remember.

WordswR

April 21: Daily Rounds   I took several photos for this one, but decided on the balls I saw at a flea market.

BlueBallsw 

April 22:  Burst of Color  Hard to beat these lively tulips. I wish they were in my yard, but I found them in the park.

Burst1w

Copics & Prisma

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Saturday my friend and I drove to Buffalo to take a class on using Copic markers with Prisma colored pencils. I’ve been using Copics for about a year now after taking a Copic Certification class last February. I’ve had Prisma pencils for years. It never occurred to me to put the two together. The instructor was quite knowledgeable, but had a tendency to want to “do it for you.” Nonetheless I learned quite a bit. We completed two of three cards she had planned, and I have most of the coloring done for the third, but am waiting for an order with new Copic markers to arrive before I finish it. The images the instructor chose are very different from the stamps I use and own, but they were great practice vehicles.

ClassCard#1 

I have no idea who the manufacturer of this stamp is. If anyone knows, please leave a comment.

ClassCard#2
I actually really like this image. I changed the ribbon on the card when I got home. These are October Afternoon papers, but again, I don’t know who makes the image. I was quite pleased with how these came out. The basic coloring was done with Copic markers. Then we added very small highlights with the Prisma pencils and blended them with Gamsol.

Yesterday I tried this technique on one of my new Papertrey Ink stamps, Delightful Dahlia. I think over time, I will get better at this and will enjoy blending these two mediums together in an image.

BlueDahlia

Cardstock: PTI Spring Rain, Select White; Cuttlebug embossing folder: Swiss Dots; sentiment: PTI Mega Mixed Messages; ribbon: Offray; ink: Brilliance.

PinkDahlia

Patterned paper: A Muse; Quickutz embossing folder: Vine Label; sentiment: PTI Mega Mixed Messages

Magnolias

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It was another beautiful day here, but the forecast is quite dreary so I decided I’d better get to Highland Park to see the magnolias. I was also looking for some shots to meet the prompts for Picture Spring. We live just a block from Highland Park which was designed by the famous Fredrick Law Olmstead. It is always beautiful, but never more beautiful than in the spring time.

Parkw 

These trees are pretty, but the real prize today were the magnolias. As a group they aren’t particularly lovely as some are already past their prime and some have yet to bloom. Our strange weather pattern this year must account for some of that. I took my Tamron 28-300mm lens with me today. Of the three lens I own, it works the best for macro shots. Some day I would love to have a good dedicated macro lens. But I was pretty pleased with the shots I got today, and had some more fun with the new Pioneer Woman actions.

MagnoiaD&Sw 

Nothing done here but a little sharpening.

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On this shot I used the Colorize action and reduced to opacity to about 50%.

MagnoliaFreshColorw 

 I ran the Fresh Color action on this one.

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This is the Seventies action. It’s really been a lot of fun playing around with these.

MagnoliaSunshinew
The Sunshine action.

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Vintage.

PinkMagnoliaw 

Fresh Color.

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This is for Picture Spring, the Awakening prompt for April 12. I ran the Colorize action again on this one.

SoftFocus1w
And for today’s prompt:  a soft focus. Sadly, my favorite shots don’t match a prompt.

Sorry to overdose you on magnolias, but they are short-lived!

Photographic Challenges

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I’ve been working on the last three prompts for Think Spring. The first one for April 6th is one of my all-time least favorite “assignments:”  a self-portrait. Tracy gave me a remote controller for my RebelXsi for Christmas so really, I have no excuse. I put the camera on my gorilla pod at one end of the dining room table and sat at the other end. I’m relatively satisfied with the photo, and did some photo editing techniques I learned in Jessica Sprague’s Wacom Tablet course.

Portraitw 

The prompt for April 7th was pastels. I really wanted some Easter M&Ms, but couldn’t find any. I settled on some malted chocolate balls.

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Then I saw a bottle of Papertrey Ink buttons sitting right in front of me so I scattered them for a photo.

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The Pioneer Woman’s actions have just been converted for PSE. I got them uploaded this week so I spent some time playing with them. Here’s the Soft & Faded action.

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And the Colorize action:

ButtonsColorizew 

Today’s prompt was to capture the sparkle of spring. It rained last night, and I found water droplets hanging from leaves on our holly bush. I quickly took a couple of photos before I left for my volunteer job. Unfortunately, I took them quickly and wasn’t happy with the focus on any of them. Tonight at dinner, Matt and I were talking about it. He suggested taking a photo of some water droplets in our old washer tub in the basement. The photo certainly doesn’t qualify for the “sparkle of spring” prompt, but it was fun to do. We’re supposed to get rain again tonight so perhaps tomorrow I will have another chance outside. (Of course to get sparkle, we will also need sunshine. That may take a couple of days if the mete0rologists are correct.)

Faucet1w 

And the Sephia action from Pioneer Woman:

FaucetSepiaw

Think Spring: Getting Grounded & Weekly Gratitude X 3

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One of the things I’m enjoying about this class is taking the time to be more observant. Today’s prompt was to get down on ground level and take a photo. I’ve spent a lot more time in our yard this week, and each day new flowers have burst into bloom. I’m seeing them when they are so fresh and new. I’m sure I’ve missed seeing any of it in previous years. Here’s today’s shot of just opened primroses, the first flowers (always) in my perennial bed.

PinkPrimrosew 

Since I do my Weekly Gratitude pages on Saturdays, I needed to do three when we got back from vacation.
They were all easy to do.

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WeeklyGratitude3.27Rw 

WeeklyGratitude4.3w

Think Spring: Look Up

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Happy Easter! We had a simply lovely day–a fabulous Easter service and then family dinner with Tracy’s family in Hemlock. The food was wonderful, and it’s always good to have time to catch up with the family.

Today’s prompt was “look up.” Our sky wasn’t very interesting today, but as we went to the car to leave for Hemlock I took this shot of our budding tree. Tonight I decided to play around with a black & white version, but ended up liking the “antique” effect in iPhoto which I then enhanced a bit in PSE. I like the blue sky the best, but it’s fun to play around.

SkyDiptychw