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Papertrey April Blog Hop Challenge

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Today is the monthly blog hop at Papertrey Ink. I couldn’t participate last month since we were in Oregon, so I really wanted to play along today. Here’s the challenge:

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Papertrey Ink is frequently right on top of trends, and tilted is definitely one I’ve seen around the internet for the last couple of months. I managed to get two cards completed for today’s blog hop. The first one was a get well card for a dear friend who had eye surgery on Monday. She is required to keep her head face down forty-five minutes of every hour for at least a week, and most likely two weeks. She has a special chair, but to say it’s uncomfortable is to put it mildly. Fortunately she isn’t in any pain.

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I haven’t place a PTI order in awhile, but I did this month and ordered “Rosie Posie Step 2” stamps for the “Rosie Posie” set. I’ve always loved “Rosie Posie,” and the second stamping brings the flowers alive. The patterned paper is an old one from my scrapbook stash: Basic Stripe by Reminisce, and the sentiment is from “Communique Sentiments.” I colored the pearls with a Copic marker. Here’s a closer look at the flowers.

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Last night after dinner, I tried used another of my new purchases, the “Wonderful Words: Birthday” die. I cut thin strips of Orange Zest, Summer Sunrise, Simply Chartreuse, Hawaiian Shores, and Raspberry Fizz, and layered them diagonally on Select White cardstock. “Birthday” was cut from True Black and the Happy is stamped from “Birthday Bash Sentiments.” The pearls are from Michaels.

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You’re sure to find lots of inspiration for beautiful cards here today. Edited to add a link to this week’s CASual Friday challenge: Birthday Bash!


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Wish Big

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One of my favorite card designers, Cristina Kowalczyk, recently posted a challenge on her blog to create a card using one of the smallest stamps in a given stamp set. It’s a technique I’ve wanted to try for a while. I chose Mama Elephants “Trifecta” set, chosing one of the small triangles.

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I stamped it multiple times using three Fresh Inks from Impress:  Ginger, Celery, and Sky Blue. The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink’s “Stylish Sentiments: Birthday,” a set I find myself using over and over.

I’m linking this to the CASual Friday challenge: Birthday Bash.

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52/50 and Elderberry Pond

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The weeks are flying by, and I’m not feeling nearly as productive as I’d like despite the fact that I feel like I’m busy all day. As I type this, it’s snowing/sleeting outside and the wind is howling. We had several warm days last week and there are beginning to be some signs of spring, but then after a couple of days we’re back to winter again. Frankly, I’ve had enough; I want real, sustained spring! I’ve been admiring beautiful floral photography from other parts of the world, and want to get out and take some photos of spring myself.

But not quite yet for western New York. Here are the photos for 52/50 this week.

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I took this out my studio window one night and was surprised at how well it turned out.

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Aside from a few daffodils, all I could find in our yard this week (beside the Helleborus) were these few violets.

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I had one of my old cameras out for another project and decided to play around a bit with angles and perspective. This was my favorite.

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Although there’s not a lot of difference, I thought I see what it looked like in black and white. I’d be curious to know which you prefer.

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I decided to choose this photo from yesterday’s road trip to Elderberry Pond to post on Kent Weakley’s P52.  Tracy and I needed to go to the outlet mall in Waterloo yesterday. I’d seen ads for Elderberry Pond in the Edible Fingerlakes magazine, and was curious to see what it was like. This shot is of the pond looking toward their Country Store which won’t open until June. Elderberry Pond specializes in local foods and produce. In the summer, much of the food comes from their farm, and you can purchase some here. I’m hoping to get back this summer to check it out.

It’s wasn’t a particularly beautiful day, but we had a lovely lunch. The food is first-rate, we had a charming waitress, and it’s a beautiful setting. We’ll definitely return, although it turned out to be a bit more of a trek than we expected

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We ate in the sunroom.

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This is the main dining room. There’s also a patio that’s open in the summer.

We made two other stops on our trip. One to Normal Bread in Geneva. We’ve been there twice before and the bread is fabulous.

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And to Sauder’s Amish Market in Seneca Falls. The meat, cheese, and home canned goods are wonderful here, and the prices are exceptional. I love their tiny pickled beets in a salad.

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Last night we had dinner with friends, tonight there’s an engagement party for Tracy’s best friend’s son, and tomorrow the Walker clan will celebrate a belated Easter dinner since most of us were traveling on Easter Sunday. I’m looking forward to church tomorrow as well since the chancel choir is performing a Bluegrass Mass. I’m hoping to get lots of crafting done today since the number of birthdays and anniversaries in the next month is quite something. Hope your weekend is filled with good things.

Congratulations!

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A friend of ours recently moved into a new apartment. She’s just starting out, so we wanted to send her a gift card for Target, knowing you always need something you didn’t count on when you planned your move. 

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I started with a Hero Arts envelope, cutting out a partial circle with a circle punch. I paperpieced the little house with papers from my scrap drawer, and stamps from “Love Lives Here” by Papertrey Ink. The sentiment is from Papertrey’s “Enjoy the Ride.” The twine is from Paper Source.

March Art Journal

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Thanks to Alexa for the template!

One of my goals for choosing to do my monthly recaps in an art journal was to try new techniques and materials as well as using some of the art supplies that have been lanquishing in my closet for years. This month I decided to try some patterned paper collage and brought out some Gel Medium that I purchased this summer in anticipation of this project. 

I wrote my journaling first, and that determined the theme for the pages. My first project was to create the five photos for the page. I decided to change two of them to a dark brown, and desaturated the colors in the other three photos. I used a Papertrey Ink Framed Out die and sized my photos to fit.

The next step was to choose some papers from a variety of 6X6 paper pads. The colors originated with the paper I’d chosen for the frames.

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Next I randomly cut up the papers in strips and rectangles and started assembling them on the pages, using gel medium to adhere the papers as well as coating the tops of the pages.

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Arranging the elements onto the pages turned out to be a relatively easy.

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I used my vellum envelope to hold the journaling and typed up the quote using the American Typewriter font. (Wish I had an old typewriter to use!) Once I decided to use the Studio Calico Wood Veneer letters, I thought another piece of Wood Veneer on the first page would provide some balance. Aside from the collaged pages, it’s a pretty clean and simple layout.

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A closer look:

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These pages weren’t as spontaneous as last month’s, but I’m quite happy with the way they turned out. Here’s the monthly recap in words:

March turned out to be
family month—always a pleasure. Matt was home to visit for a long weekend the
first of March, and to celebrate his 30th birthday. Then we spent the second
half of the month in Ashland, OR with Sarah, Adam, and Caleb. It couldn’t have
been nicer. The first ten days we were invited to stay in the home of one of
the members of Adam’s congregation. It’s a stunning Arts & Crafts home, and
we loved every minute of our stay there. The weather was terrific. While
Rochester was still buried in snow and experiencing winter temperatures,
Ashland was in full bloom. Pear and other fruit trees were in flower and
daffodils, hyacinths, and other spring bulbs were up all over town. The last
weekend we were there the temperatures were in the 70’s and 80’s, and we took
advantage of the warm weather with visits to North Mountain Park, the ice cream
parlor, and a day trip to Crater Lake.

Caleb is in day care four
mornings a week, and loves it so we didn’t want to break his routine. That gave
me lots of time to read and finish the “Bloom Your Blog” course with
Jessica Sprague. I finished reading Istanbul:
The Collected Traveler—a fabulous book filled with so much information
and our April book group book—The Given
Day by Dennis Lehane. As part of the course, I redesigned the blog, and
before we left, made nine cards.

Before we left for Oregon,
we finalized the plans for our biggest adventure yet. In May, we’re off to
Istanbul to visit a friend and her husband for five days, then to Athens for
two days, and finally a few days on Santorini—long on our bucket list. This
is a BIG birthday year for both of us, and our 40th wedding anniversary, so it
seemed like the perfect way to celebrate.

Two home improvement
projects were finished this month. We had pull-out shelves made for two
cupboards in the kitchen and new lights were installed in my studio and studio
closet. What a difference both projects make on an every day basis!

We spent a day in
Niagara-on-the-Lake with Karen and Mike, played duplicate at the O’Briens, and
had Rick and Marcy to dinner (who shared lots of good information about our
upcoming trip.) Mary and I heard Frank Delaney speak at Arts & Lectures,
and I participated in an interview process for the youth delegate to Synod at
Presbytery. All in all, a busy, fun, and productive month!

 

Weekend Recap

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Tonight I tuned into the nightly news and heard the awful news from Boston. My hairdresser (I’ve been going to her for over 30 years and feel like she is family) was running the Boston Marathon today, and I am anxious about her safety, and the safety of her family.

We had a busier weekend than usual, and I thought I’d share some photos. Friday night Betsy and Skylar came for dinner. Skylar’s been under the weather with ear infections, and was feeling enough better in the afternoon to come to dinner, but it was easy to tell she wasn’t her usual happy self. No smiles, and very clingy. Nonetheless we were delighted to see both of them.

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Skylar did feel good enough to play with the toys for awhile, but decided being in the toy box was best.

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Saturday I drove to Syracuse to spend a few hours with my brother. When he retired a few years ago, he decided he needed a new job, and became a school bus driver. He’s a people person, loves the kids, the other drivers, and the structure it gives his days.

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He drove a group of middle school students from Highland to Syracuse University for a state science competition. He had most of Saturday free while they were in competition, so we met at the newly expanded Destiny Mall.

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This is the rope and climbing area that is suspended above the addition to the mall. I’m guessing there’s a 30% addition to an already large mall; about half of the stores are filled. We had lunch at a fabulous Mexican restaurant. I’m sure it’s a chain, but the food was incredibly fresh and delicious. 

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We opted to have the guacamole which is made fresh at your table, and we both chose the Enchilada Vera Cruz. It was fabulous.

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The guacamole cart.

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I got home about 2:30, just in time to get ready to have good friends for dinner.

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Cathy and Bob were our companions on our Alaska adventure two years ago. Their daughter, Rachel, is a good friend of Sarah’s. Rachel and her husband recently moved to Istanbul, Turkey. They’ll be there just a year with a Citibank training program, and we’ve been invited to come visit. We’re taking them up on the offer, and one month from today we’ll be on our way to Istanbul. Since this year is our 40th wedding anniversary, we’ve decided to extend our trip with two days in Athens, and a few days on Santorini—long on our bucket list. I’m very excited. Bob and Cathy will be going this fall for two weeks. I made a Mediterranean appetizer platter in anticipation of our trips.

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On Sunday we christened my mother-in-law’s new home with a impromptu picnic. The condo is completed (and stunning!), but Ellie will have to completely furnish it since there was almost nothing salvaged from the fire last January. Sadly, none of the photos I took were good of everyone, but this one was the best of the bunch.

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Later that night, we had dinner at Tina and Bill’s. No photos of the delicious dinner, but suffice it to say, I need to get back on The Plan quickly!

Hope your weekend was a good one!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Birthday & 52/50: Week 15

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Yesterday was Adam’s birthday, and although I did get a phone call in to him, I didn’t get a blog post up because I ended up driving to Syracuse to spend a few hours with my brother. (More about that later this week.) Here’s the card I left with our gift for him when we were in Ashland.

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I’m a big fan of Papertrey’s Stylish Sentiments: Birthdays, and thought the bicycle image from Studio Calico was a perfect match for it. The arrow is a Papertrey die, and I hand cut the banner. I think I cased the design for this card from one by Joy Taylor, but I can’t for the life of me find it on her site or in my Vi.sualize.us account.

We’ve had a very busy week and dreary, dreary weather—enough rain that we ended up with some water in the basement. It made for slim pickings for the 52/50 project this week. I had hoped a visit by Betsy and Skylar Friday night would add some good images, but Skylar was feeling under the weather, so I’ll save those for a weekend recap post later this week.

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My favorite image from the conservatory last Saturday, taken with the 50 mm.

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A rather winter-worn deer showed up in the yard one morning.

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I was happy with the clear focus on the raindrops since it was taken through the kitchen window. It was much too wet to take the good camera outside.

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There was a break in the rain the day I after I found the helleborus blooming in the backyard. This is the pick for Kent Weakley’s P52 project.

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Opportunities

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Rochester offers photographers a wide range of opportunities. First, there’s the George Eastman House. Saturday night Tracy and I attended a showing of the Ivory/Merchant film “Jefferson in Paris.” It was introduced by James Ivory, and an interview with Mr. Ivory followed the film. Their collection of photographs and films is one of the best and most prestigious in the world. A few years ago, my brother-in-law gave me a membership there for Christmas. We’ve renewed it every year, and enjoy the parties for members whenever a new exhibit opens up. I get to three or four lectures there every year as well, and we enjoy the concerts in the gardens during the summer.

There’s a long standing camera club, Camera Rochester, that hosts monthly competitions the first Monday of the month, and a lecture/demonstration the third Monday each month. Image City, a local photography gallery hosts new photography shows every six weeks or so, and hosts a free photo critique session the first Wednesday of every month. The partners there frequently offer both short and long-term classes. Then there are several meet-up groups. In addition to Camera Rochester and the photo critique group, I belong to the Rochester Photo Editing Group (RPEG). We meet once a month to see demonstrations of photo editing techniques (Lightroom, Photoshop Elements, Photoshop, HDR programs, etc) and occasionally they host a photo shoot for edit. 

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On Saturday RPEG members met at the Lamberton Conservatory. It’s one of my favorite places to take photos. The deal with RPEG is to go to the shoot with some new skill to practice and then to upload your photos to share at the following meeting. I don’t use my tripod or my macro lens very often, so I went off with macro on my mind. I wasn’t thrilled with what I got (I had definite ideas about what I wanted), but I learned a bit. One of the benefits of groups like these is the help you get from other members. One of them walked by me on Saturday and asked why I wasn’t using the Live View feature on my new camera. Truth is, I didn’t know anything about it. In a matter of minutes, Brad had me “up and running” with Live View.

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I had hoped to convert several of the photos to black and white, but this was the only one that seemed to work. Seeing in black and white while shooting in color is another skill I need to learn.

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This one I liked; I call it “Eyes to You, ” though someone said it remined them of an owl.

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And this one I took simply for the amusement factor. Ah, sweet Victory! (It’s some kind of bud.)

Lastly, a photo taken with my 50mm at the end of the shoot of the cute quails that run about in the tropical room at the conservatory.

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It’s been several months since I participated in any of these groups, but it’s good to be back. I’m so grateful that there are so many free opportunities to practice and learn. I picked up some great tips for editing in Lightroom last night at the meeting, one of which I was able to use today while editing photos from our trip.

Simon Says Birthday Challenge

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I have another card for the Simon Says Birthday Challenge. April is a big month for birthdays and although I made a few before we left for Oregon, I still have three or four more to go. Here’s a second masculine one for another brother-in-law.

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Cardstock: Pure Poppy, Vintage Cream (PTI); Patterned Paper: Studio Calico 6X6 February card kit;Stamp: 2012 Birthday Tags (PTI);Twine: Pure Poppy (PTI)

 

Two Challenges

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My brother-in-law has a big birthday coming up, and I decided to see if I could get his card made in time to post it for two challenges:  Simon Says “Birthday” Challenge, and the current CAS(E) This Sketch challenge. I’m just under the wire for the second one.

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Here’s my card. I used papers from the April Simon Says card kit, the Typewriter dies from Memory Box, Tremendous Tags by Papertrey Ink, and an inside sentiment (no photo) that says, “. . .  years ago on what otherwise might have been an ordinary day, THE WORLD GOT YOU!” from Papertrey’s Big Birthday Wishes set. 

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I have another card for the Simon Says challenge which I’ll be posting later today.

Pick Your Precious: Chapter 4

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Sian (From High in The Sky) hosts a Storytelling Sunday each month. This year she’s chose a theme-“Pick Your Precious” and it’s given me a chance to think about some of the things I have that mean a lot to me. I’m guessing my children don’t know much about them, so I’m hopeful it’s meaningful to them as well. 

I grew up in my Great-Aunt Edith’s house.  We moved in with her when I was in third grade and lived there until we moved to New York when I was a junior. (Aunt Edith moved with us. She was 93 and had lived in the same town all her life and the same house for over 60 years.)  She never married and lived with her sister, Aunt Lily, until
Lily passed away the year before we moved in with her.

When she and Lily inherited
their parents’ estates they decided to invest some of the money in some fine china. It was kept in a glass-fronted china cabinet, and she always promised me I would inherit it some day.

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They had two sets of Haviland china. One of them was quite ornate, and when I
inherited the china, many of the serving pieces had been broken. The other, a delicate floral
pattern was still nearly complete. There are place settings for twelve with both tea cups and coffee cups. They seemed to
have purchased every size of platter, soup tureen, and serving dish that was available.
Tracy had to add a shelf to our dry sink (another precious item—also from my great-
aunts’ home) in order to be able to store all of it.

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In addition to the china, there are quite a few single dishes and serving pieces that don’t match the other sets. This is one of my favorites.

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I love these delicate dessert plates, too.

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I don’t use it too often—it must be hand
washed, and our entertaining style is a bit more casual than this lovely china, but I
treasure it. I wish my kids would be interested in it some day, but I doubt it. They’re even
more casual than we are! 


52/50: Week 14

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It’s been a whirlwind of activity since we arrived home (on time!) Wednesday night. It’s amazing how much mail accumulates in nearly three weeks and then there’s the empty refrigerator to fill, suitcases to unpack, and multiple appointments and errands. So here we are again on Saturday with another week gone by. 

Sarah, Tracy, Caleb, and I hiked the Orson-Todd Trail on Tuesday. There’s an entrance to it just down the street from Sarah’s house. All the photos were taken on our hike. Caleb alternated between the backpack and walking on his own. I’m guessing he did close to half the walk on his own power (that’s about a mile.)

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The view from the top of the trail was simply gorgeous, and it’s the pick for this week’s 52/20 project which I’m posting on Kent Weakley’s P52.

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The light on the mountains/hills is almost always dramatic and beautiful. It’s a really wonderful place to live. I’m hoping to get time to visit all of you in the next day or two. I imagine there are a lot of posts to catch up with!

 

Oregon Day Trips

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It’s still cold and snowy in western New York, but we’ve had fabulous weather in southern Oregon. Sarah, Tracy, and I visited Harry and David’s flagship store in Medford on Friday and took the factory tour. 

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We had a wonderful tour guide. The production line moves so quickly it’s hard to believe how fast some of the basket packers can work! We loved watching them make Moose Munch and arrived just as the caramel mixture reached the right temperature for adding the popcorn and nuts.

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We came home with three different kinds of Moose Munch along with quite a few other goodies.

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I loved their old pick-up on display. Harry and David (and the Medford region) are renowned for their pears which they used as a decoration on the truck rails.

While we were on the tour, the guide asked me what we had been doing while we were visiting here. I mentioned that I’d love to have gone to Crater Lake, but that it wasn’t a particularly great time to visit. She said she’d talked to several folks that had been there that week, and that it was wonderful. We checked the weather, and discovered the temperature for Crater Lake on Saturday was supposed to be in the 50’s, so after breakfast at The Breadboard in Ashland, Sarah, Tracy, Caleb and I took off for Crater Lake. Adam opted to stay at home and get some quiet time. The drive from Ashland to Crater Lake is wonderful. Despite the warm temperatures, there is still a LOT of snow at Crater Lake. The annual snowfall there is 44 ft. (the equivalent of over an inch of snow falling every single day!)

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After some time at the visitor center, we headed up to the Rim. Crater Lake is reputedly the cleanest water in the world. Crater Lake gets no water from rivers or streams, so all the water comes from the sky. According to the newsletter, it’s cleaner than the water that comes from your faucet at home.

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I love this panorama taken with my iPhone!

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Thanks to a kind offer from another visitor we have a nice family photo from the event. 

You’ll find my social media and email links on the sidebar now, and here’s the signature. Jessica’s class was well worth the money not only for the design, but for the confidence in knowing how to refresh the blog!

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Blog Update & 52/50 Week 13

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First off, Happy Easter! I hope you’ve had a wonderful holiday. After days of sunshine and warm weather, we awoke to much cooler temperatures and a steady rain. It cancelled the Easter egg hunt in the church yard, but one was held in the Celebration Center. Caleb gathered about eight eggs before he lost interest. 

If you’re reading this in a reader, hop over to see the new blog design. Random Reflections has been in need of an update for quite some time, but I’m always reluctant to mess around with it for fear I’ll do permanent damage. So I signed up for Jessica Sprague’s “Bloom Your Blog” course. Like every class I’ve taken with her, it was wonderful. Lots of great information, clearly presented on both videos and pdfs. 

One of the first things I decided I wanted was a two-column blog instead of a three column one. It turns out that to have the dimensions I wanted I would need to upgrade to the next level at Typepad which I’m not yet willing to do. Typepad offers a variety of premade themes, and I found one that I liked a lot except for the overlay on the banner. Once again, in order to eliminate it, I’d have to upgrade. Thanks to Adam, I was able to get a new banner designed that works with it, and I think I’ll be able to use other photos as well. Along with quite a bit of frustration, I’ve learned a lot and have more confidence about how to make changes on the blog. It doesn’t pay to let it go for so long.

I deleted a few items from the sidebar that were outdated, and updated my Photo-a-Day blog. That’s another frustration as it clips the photos, so if you want to see the whole photo, you need to click on the sidebar photo within that album. But it’s a great place to keep my Project 365. If I get time, I’ll get January and February up as well. 

Next on the agenda is to get some social media buttons up and add a signature for the blog posts. I thought they might be done by now, but we were on a road trip yesterday to Crater Lake (more about that later), and we’re having a guest for Easter dinner tonight. Hopefully, I’ll get it done tomorrow. For now I need to get my link up for my 52/50 Project. Here are the contenders—Caleb again—but, sadly, this will be the last week as we’ll be headed home on Wednesday.

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I loved this reflection of Caleb in the sliding glass door, watching his dad work on the patio.

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Concentrating.

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At North Mountain Park wearing Dad’s sunglasses.

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At the top of the slide.

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And this week’s pick for 52/50 posted on Kent Weakley’s Project 52 post.

February Art Journal

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The day before we left for Oregon, I managed to finish the art journal pages for February. I have to admit, I find mixed media work a bit daunting. I’m never sure quite how any of it will end up and since I’m working in a spiral journal, it is what it is—no ripping out and starting over. 

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I did start out with a general idea of what I wanted to do, but it did end up somewhat differently than I planned. Even the quote changed as I worked on the pages. I started out with a water wash on the pages and then used a set of Inktense Pencils Sarah gave me for Christmas. It worked best to take the color from the tips of the pencils with a brush and then apply the color to the pages. I had two shades of red/pink and blended them together.

The dotted stencil was a piece of cardstock in which I’d die cut a circle border to test a die from Simon Says. I used a dabber and some Tim Holtz Distress ink in pink.

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The hearts were also the negative cut from Simon Says dies which I filled with several layers of Gesso and then painted over them with some metallic paints that I’ve had forever. The LOVE stencil were stencils I picked up for a dollar or so at A.C. Moore’s after watching the first video of  the “Use Your Words” class Rinda linked me up to, and the tiny stickers are from a set by Making Memories that have long been in my stash.

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I did some doodling around the edges of the hearts and hand drew the stems and leaves. You can see the metallic paints better in this photo.

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When Mary and I were in Buffalo I purchased enough vellum envelopes for each month’s summary.

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I used stamps from Papertrey Ink’s “Love Lives Here” for the houses, and the small hearts scattered on the two pages. The arrow stamp is from Studio Calico and I swiped one of the Papertrey tea dye pads around the edges of the papers.

Here’s the recap for February:

February started out with a trip to Buffalo for a card making class and lunch at Pano’s to celebrate Mary’s birthday. The first week was devoted to getting materials ready, setting up, and overseeing Church Leadership Development Day which went off well despite the heaviest snow of the season.

We met with Cheryl to start planning our overseas trip this spring, had a lively book group centered on Creating a Mind by Ray Kurtzweil, played duplicate at the Lenio’s, attended concert at the Eastman Theater, and a very powerful play, “Next to Normal” at Geva. We had meals with Dick & Eileen, Bill & Beryl, and Jill & Tom,

We didn’t do as much entertaining since we went on The Plan, an elimination diet, early in the month. It takes a lot of time and is slow-going, but overall we’ve majorly changed our eating habits. Both of us have lost a few pounds, and I’m finally seeing some improvement with a Eustachian tube dysfunction that’s caused some considerable discomfort for the last six months. I think we’re committed to staying on The Plan except when we eat out. 

I received quite an honor this month. One of my photos from a Camera Rochester competition was shown at Image City. Much to my surprise, it was chose as one of five “Gallery Picks.” This is the third time I’ve exhibited there through Camera Rochester, but I never expected to be singled out by the Image City staff.

I did a lot of reading for our upcoming trip and finished “Happier at Home,” but am still not finding the time I want for reading. I did complete LOAD–29 layouts this month as well as fourteen cards. 

I’m not as happy with this month’s pages as I was with last month’s pages, but I’m glad to be playing with some of my art supplies that have lanquished for quite a few years.