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California: Part 2

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We arrived home safe and sound last night. Since I am not a fan of flying I am always grateful for smooth flights which we had both ways this time. It was over 80° today, warmer than any of our days in California, but there is no green yet.

Sarah asked if she could have her birthday gift early this year. She and Adam rent a lovely little house in Livermore. They have a huge paved patio and a remodeled room in the garage, but very little actual yard. She really wanted her own garden. Since Tracy and Matt are both expert gardeners, it seemed like perfect timing. (I hope it’s all doing well in August on her real birthday!) She found a lovely nursery nearby and picked out a combination of vegetables and flowers for her containers. She also found a great book called Grow Great Grub which I have ordered from Amazon. We’re still waiting to hear, but are hoping to get a plot in our Community Garden this year.

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The Alden Nursery. The people here were very knowledgeable and helpful.

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Sadie was thrilled to be able to go on an outing!

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Just behind Sarah’s house is a lovely path along a creek. Matt and I took Sadie for a walk one afternoon. The path is paved on one side of the creek, and appears to go for many miles.

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Sadie was a very happy lady.

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We spent a lot of time just hanging out, playing games, doing crosswords, and reading. It was so good to just be with family.

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Adam had just gotten this new game, Corn Hole. The guys really enjoyed it.

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We are all big fans of Sadie, but Matt is especially fond of her. She slept on the couch with him every night.

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 BananaGrams:  lots of fun, but it could be pretty frustrating as well.

In addition to his job as pastor for youth and young adults at a Methodist church, Adam also works as a social media person for the Wente Vineyards in Livermore. He twitters for them and keeps them active on the social media sites. Tracy and Matt were the lucky recipients of a round of golf at the Wente golf course. They had a beautiful day for it.

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We’ve only been to California in the summer before this trip. The hills are always golden by then. They are a beautiful green in the spring.

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I still have photos to edit from the last few days of the trip. Today just flew by with unpacking, grocery shopping, organizing, and ironing. I really thought I’d get a chance to play with some new scrapbooking & stamping goodies I brought back with me. Maybe tomorrow.

California: Part 1

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It’s hard to believe, but we’ve been in California for a week now. I’ve deliberately taken time off from browsing blogs and posting while we’ve been here. This is a recap of the first part of our trip (lots of photos). We left Rochester very early (a 6 am flight, meaning we were out of the house around 4:30). Luckily we had great flying weather. Our layover was at JFK and we had a great view of Manhattan as we left.

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Our flight arrived in San Francisco an hour EARLY! Tracy and Matt kindly waited for me as I ran into the Scrapbook Expo in Pleasanton to meet Howard and Laura of Scrap-Mart. They were just as wonderful in person as they are through the internet, and I got a short look at the fabulous booth they maintain at the scrapbook shows. I also got a demo of the new eclipse electric cutting machine from Sizzix that will soon be released. It’s quite impressive!

We arrived at Sarah and Adam’s around 3:00. Early the next morning we headed out for Disneyland, making a stop at the Getty Center on our way. The Getty Center is truly amazing, and we didn’t begin to see all of the art and exhibits. The architecture and gardens alone are worth the trip, but we also enjoyed the photography exhibits and the small, but lovely, collection of Impressionist art.

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It was time for dinner by the time we finished at The Getty Center so we drove up to Malibu and found Dukes. We had an window table, a delightful waitress, and the food was great.

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We spent the next two days at Disneyland and California Adventure. All five of us had a great time, proving that you don’t have to be a kid to enjoy Disney! I’m not a big fan of amusement-type rides, but the kids actually got me on Space Mountain which I have to say was my favorite ride of all. I did skip the big roller coasters, the very tall Ferris Wheel, and the Tower of Terror in California Adventure, though.

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The entrance to Disneyland. Everything about Disney is clean and well-maintained. The flower gardens everywhere were beautiful.

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 Believe it or not, this is NOT the Tower of Terror, but it sure would be for me! The rest of them thought it was just fine.

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There were plenty of rides that were not at all scary, but delightful even for adults.

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The family portrait in front of Cinderella’s castle.

The first day I was quite disappointed as we s
aw no Disney characters. When we were at Disney World many years ago, Mickey, Minnie, and friends were everywhere. Finally on Tuesday, we got to see quite a few of them, but only Adam (who had to leave early to get home for a meeting) got his photo taken with one.

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Sarah, Tracy, Matt, and I stayed on in California Adventure until lunchtime. We had a lovely lunch in Disney Town, and then drove over to the coast. It probably wasn’t our best idea as it added several hours to the trip home. We did have a great dinner in Morro Bay and were there for the sunset.

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And my two great kids. It’s been so nice to have everyone together. They are great travelers, make us laugh a lot, and are truly flexible and easy-going. It’s been a great trip so far. More to come . . .

Photography Walk

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This was the last week of Moving Into Manual at BPS. I was a bit disappointed in the class which was billed for “advanced” students. I don’t consider myself advanced, but I have taken several photography classes and have a good understanding of aperture, shutter speed, ISO, and white balance. I KNOW I have a lot more to learn so I figured it would be good to push myself. The first three weeks were pretty basic information. Things, in fact, that were covered in Barbara Carroll’s Photography 101 class at BPS. This last week, however, where Elisha “put it all together” did produce some “aha” moments. For the last couple of weeks I’ve shot everything on full manual. I need to keep it there so it becomes automatic. I know what to do, I just forget some of the things in the “heat of the moment.” Thank goodness for instant feedback on digital cameras so you can quickly take another shot. Getting a really sharp focus is still a goal as well.

Tracy and I walked over to the Highland Park Conservatory this afternoon so I could take a few photos. Here are the best of them. I had to choose one of them to post on the critique gallery. Which one would you choose?

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And a few I didn’t consider, but liked anyway:

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These are water chimes, and I liked that I finally got a photo of a water droplet falling from one cup to the next. I’ve tried several other times when I’ve been there, but never managed to get one. Here’s another shot of the water chimes.

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The light was really tricky here, but I loved this turtle standing on the back of two other turtles. I think I could improve this photo in PSE 8 using some techniques I recently learned from the tablet course with Jessica Sprague, but it will have to wait until I have more time.

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On our walk through the park, we kept remarking about how wonderful it is to see the blue skies again after a week of rain.

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Project 365 & A Card

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Here’s the February Photo 365 Layout. I used an Ali Edward’s template and simply listed the photos under the collage. That’s really all the journaling I need for this month. I chose photos that represented what happened this month as well as a couple of favorites from the month. I decided to go with graph paper again. If I have enough in my stash, I think that will be the consistent element in the layouts. I’m not nuts about the font style of these Doodlebug stickers, but I’m determined to use my stash, and these were the only ones that were the right color.

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Journaling:

1. Snow, lots and lots of snow 2. One of my favorite photos of the month 3. The night sky 4. My new high-tech point and shoot camera 5. Valentine flowers and cupcakes 6. Books read  7. The 2010 Olympics  8. Goodies from a road trip to Buffalo 9. Wacom tablet & pen class

I’ve been wanting to try the Flower Soft I got in Buffalo, so while I watched the news tonight I put together this card. I love the soft, spring-like feel to it, and have a spring birthday recipient in mind for it.

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Cardstock: Papertrey (Sweet Blush, Spring Moss) & Bazzil textured white, stamp: Memory Box,  pearls (A Muse Creative Candy), sentiment: Papertrey (Vintage Picnic), silk ribbon: Papertrey, Flower Soft & glitter

Waiting for Spring

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We’re waiting, but the weather is not cooperating. We’ve had about 8-9 more inches of snow since I took these photos yesterday morning.

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Fortunately we’ve not lost power, and the snow hasn’t prevented me from getting to a concert at the Rochester Philharmonic last night, or to a Church Leadership Conference this morning. Tracy used the snow blower three times yesterday, and again this morning.

The Friday challenge on my photo board this week was “vintage.” I used an antique cup that belonged to my great-aunts and put it on a beautiful hand-embroidered tablecloth that was made as a wedding gift to my parents. I used it as an opportunity to work on the fourth Develop on Friday lesson on changing your angle. Here are my two favorites.

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I’m way behind in reading blogs, so I know there’s new Develop on Friday lesson ready to try this week. I’ve just about finished all the lessons for Jessica Spragues’s Wacom Tablet course. I didn’t do the layouts since I’m not interested in doing that kind of total digital layout, but I will certainly use many of the techniques she demonstrated. One of the lessons was on photo editing a portrait, and the results were incredible. I have to say her courses provide a lot of “bang for the buck!” My goal was to learn to use my pen and tablet, and I’ve been using them exclusively since the first week of class.

Project 365-Week 6

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I didn’t take as many photos this week, so when I went to choose photos for each day it was quite a bit harder than usual. Note to self:  take lots of photos!

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1. Valentine goodies 2. Buttons (see below) 3. My stack of photo magazines I need to get through 4. Cupcakes and azaleas

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The photo board I belong to issues a new challenge each week as well as a monthly theme. This year we decided to use the letters of the alphabet for the monthly challenges. Since I have LOTS of buttons, I took photos of them and put them together into a collage for the photo blog.

Happy Valentine’s Day

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I have some Valentines and Valentine treats to share today. First a couple of cards; one for my daughter and son-in-law and one for my son. Tracy’s card is one I made awhile ago, and knew I would use for Valentine’s Day.

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This Memory Box tree is such a versatile stamp. I have another idea for it that I hope to make this week.


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 I found the dimensions for this clever gift card holder here. Coming up with a valentine for an adult son is a bit tricky, but this seemed quite appropriate and I know he’ll enjoy the iTunes gift card.

I also made some treats for Valentine’s Day. The graphic for these cute bags was downloaded here.

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Each bag held two heart brownies:

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We were invited to friends for dinner last night, and I brought dessert.

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Two little heart-shaped cakes with raspberry sauce, whipped cream and fresh raspberries. Yum! I had extra batter so I made some cupcakes for a friend and his family (since neither Tracy or I want extra treats hanging around here!)

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Last, but not least, my beautiful valentine from Tracy.

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I’m loving that it’s a plant, and we’ll be able to enjoy it for weeks. Since spring is still many weeks away, we’ll be in need of some bright, cheery flowers. Hope you have a Happy Heart Day!

Project 365

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I took a lot more photographs this week, so I had quite a few to choose from. Completing the first of the Develop on Fridays assignments has reminded me to take several (or many) photos of the same thing from different angles. Here are five from this week.

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1. beautiful cord from a lovely shop in Rhinebeck, NY that I rediscovered this week in my card-making tote 2. shadows from the fence in our backyard, taken from our bedroom window 3. Cornell bread made by Tracy with his new breadmaker 4. the newly renovated Kodak Hall at the Eastman Theater; a friend and I went to the RPO Pops concert Friday night 5. oven-roasted tomatoes; the only way to eat them in the winter.

Project 365

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Here’s my layout summary for January. I used the color picker in PSE to color the text squares, and didn’t realize quite how bright it was until I printed it. I was unwilling to use the ink it would take to redo it, so went through my stash and found this equally bright graph paper from Paper Loft. The photo template is one of Cathy Z’s from Designer Digitals. It’s definitely not me, but done. I do like the format, though, mostly photos but a bit of journaling about our month.

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I played around with some textures and blending modes this weekend, so for this week, I’m sharing the original and the altered photo. For the first one I used an Antique Paper action and then a black and white tint. I rather like it.

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For the second one I used the pencil sketch action in PSE and adjusted the contrast. It turned the photo into a drawing. I think it’s a technique I could use for a transfer or maybe for a card.

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At any rate, it was fun to play around.

Project 365

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I know some of you are working on Project 365. Yesterday I came across two articles that I thought were interesting and had some helpful hints.

Eleven Tips to Succeed with Project 365 and Carry Your Camera Around. In the photo you can see a bit of my colorful new camera strap Matt gave me for Christmas. He had it lined with Minky, and it is super comfortable. It’s so much more fun than the original.

Develop on Fridays: 75 Shots

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The first Develop on Fridays assignment was to take 75 shots of the same thing. Choosing a subject was easy since I was given a beautiful bouquet of flowers that very night, and had just purchased a new pitcher from Antropologie. I took well over 75 shots, deleted many of them right out of the camera, and then chose 13 to process. I narrowed them down to eight, and Matt helped me choose the top five. Here they are in the order I like them best. I’d love to have your opinion, too.

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Project 365

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Here are my three favorite shots from this week. The last one I took yesterday. It was one of over 75 shots of the same object. The paislee press blog is sponsoring a “Develop on Friday” series of posts. The first one was on developing your voice as a photographer. I’ve pulled 12 of the shots into a folder in iPhoto and I don’t know yet if this shot will end up being my overall favorite, but it’s my favorite of the whole bouquet which my friend brought me yesterday. I’m really interested in this series, and haven’t given a lot of thought to my voice as a photographer. I’m not sure I have one yet!

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I bought six of these glasses at the new Anthropologie store that just opened here. I really like the bokeh through my kitchen curtain. The curtains are red plaid, but you don’t see any color, just the weave.

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Another shot out our bedroom window first thing in the morning.

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My pretty flowers. I decided yesterday the living room needed a “new” look. I bought some primroses for the coffee table, and took down the evergreen wreath and the evergreens on the mantle. I rehung our quilt, added some candles, and a vase, and it just seemed too bare. This pitcher of flowers was the answer! I’m much happier now. (In this shot the pitcher is on the dining room floor to catch the sunlight coming in the patio door.)

Morning Inspiration

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A favorite photo from last June in our backyard which is now covered with snow!
  

I’ve been thinking about Photo a Day again, and having mixed feelings about it. I get overwhelmed by the number of photos, and although I got off to a great start in 2009, I wasn’t able to keep up with the recording/scrapping part of the deal. I have the photos, but after June, they never got posted or put up on my Photo a Day blog. In November, I started using Shuttercal, and I do like that alternative. Finally I decided I’d do a favorite photo a week, since I was pretty sure I’d take a few photos every week. Over the weekend I downloaded a “freebie” from Designer Digitals by Katrina Kennedy. I took a great online course with her through Get It Scrapped last spring. It’s a 17 page booklet with over 400 ideas for photos, and great suggestions for how to keep track of your photos. I decided I’ll give it another go after all. You need to register at Designer Digitals to access the book, but they send links each week for free digital templates, brushes, etc. so registering is a good thing. I’ve also purchased quite a few templates from them as well.

A New Year

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New Year

Morning light from our bedroom window.

 It’s a new year, and the beginning of a new decade. I love beginnings. The start of a new school year was always my favorite time of year. I loved setting up my classroom, getting to know a new set of students, creating new lessons, and being back with my friends. I feel much the same way about 2010. I have spent a lot of time thinking about how I want to spend my time this year than ever before. I’m sure that’s due to Karen Grunberg’s Reclaiming My Time class at BPS. I thought I would have a project to post today celebrating my thinking and my word for the year–intention–but the project is taking more time than I anticipated. The class, and Karen’s blog, have really helped me think through how I want to spend my time in 2010. Her process has resonated with me, and I’ll share some of it when I share my project.

Intention:
1.  A course of action that one intends to follow. 2.  An aim that guides action; an objective.

I decided “intention” really fit my needs this year. I always make resolutions; I’m good at keeping some of them, terrible at others. This year I’ve made some lists that I’ll be sharing to help me focus on my intentions. As I love new beginnings, I also love making lists. They help me prioritize as well as stay focused. I’m hoping that stating my intentions will help me be more productive. Here’s to a great new year!

Merry Christmas

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It’s hard to believe it’s Christmas Eve. I’m sure by the time we come home from the 11:00 service, I’ll feel like Christmas is here. We’re ready. In fact, I have never had so little left to do; there’s not much else I can do until tomorrow afternoon right before the family arrives for dinner.

When I started this blog four years ago, I really had no idea what I would do with it. Over the years, I’ve come to know many lovely people through the internet. Twice I’ve been lucky enough to meet friends I’ve met through the internet, and they are as wonderful in person as they are online. It’s truly been a pleasure, and I gain so much inspiration for photography, cardmaking, and scrapbooking because of you! Merry Christmas and may you enjoy every minute of your special time with family!