random reflections

Winners and Some Sad News

First off, the winners of the blog giveaways:

Jacky, I'll be sending you Botanical Silhouettes. I have  your address and will get them in the mail before the week is out.

Donna C., I need your address so I can send you the Papertrey Ink Thank You set. Please email me with the information: karen@walkermediadotnet

Rinda, later tonight you should find an Amazon gift certificate in your inbox.

Once again, thanks for coming to the blog to visit, and especially, for the kind comments and support I've gotten over the last few years. I've really enjoyed getting to know you!

And now for the sad news . . .Tracy's mother and stepfather have operated a wildly successful bed and breakfast for the last 20 years. They renovated their beautiful home where Tracy and his four siblings grew up. Yesterday they suffered a terrible tragedy. About noon, a neighbor saw smoke pouring out of the roof and called 911. Then the neighbors contacted Tracy's sister since his mom and Bill are in Florida for several months. By the time Tracy and Jill arrived it was clear this was a major fire.

The cause is still unknown, and thankfully, no one was hurt. The damage was extensive. The roof and entire third floor (where there was a lovely suite of rooms) are totally gone. Most of the rest of the house received extensive smoke and water damage. Tracy's mom and stepdad are handling it remarkably well. We are so grateful they were safe in Florida when this happened as well as to the fire department of Rochester who worked for nearly seven hours to be sure the fire was extinguished. Today when Tracy and his siblings walked through the house, they were immediately aware of the care the firemen took to protect as many of the antiques and valuables as they could. We really don't know what can be salvaged. It's another reminder for me to live each day to the fullest, and to count my blessings which are many.

Project 64: Brown & A Giveaway

Last week it was BROWN at Project 64. When I saw Caleb in this cute dinosaur outfit, I knew I'd found my first photos for the challenge.

But I think folks at Project 64 would be more interested in this really lovely pinecone I found in a window box in Honeoye Falls, so I'll be linking it instead.

It's amazing to me, but this is my 1,000 post on my blog. When I started in several years ago, I had no idea I'd still be at it today, or that I would ever have reached 1,000 posts. To celebrate, I'd like to give away three prizes. First, a set of Papertry Ink stamps that were an exclusive anniversary set---Botanical Silhouettes.

Second, a bonus set of Thank You stamps from Papertrey Ink. Much to my surprise, I received a second set in my last order. And it seems most appropriate as I definitely want to thank all of you for visiting the blog, becoming my friends online, and providing me with so much inspiration and support. It never crossed my mind when I began, that I would find a community of crafters and photographers through this blog.

And, finally, a $20 gift certificate to Amazon.

So if you're interested in any of the prizes, just leave a comment, and I'll draw three names on Wednesday afternoon.

Home

I must admit that leaving Oregon was MUCH harder than I expected it to be, and I never thought it would be easy. Fortunately, we already have our next trip planned, so that makes it a bit easier. For the first time in several trips we actually got home on time, despite a long delay leaving Medford. So here we are, a bit jet-lagged trying to get ourselves back into some semblance of routines. I've cleaned our basement pantry since we returned and done a huge grocery/pantry shopping. Today was filled with appointments and commitments, and tomorrow doesn't look a lot better.

But what I really want to do is get busy in my studio. I have over 100 photos of the baby to edit. (Don't worry, you won't be subjected to all of them!) I started working on Finding Photo Flow, an online course by Kayla Lamoreaux, while we were away and which I can already recommend. I really need to get through the next lesson soon. Then in just a week or so, two new courses begin:  a BPC class on type with Cathy Z. and a class by Amy Tan at Studio Calico on stretching your scrapbook kits.

January is a month filled with birthdays. I got most of them made ahead of time so I could mail them from Oregon. Most of them are for guys, so I made a set of cards with a new Hero Art set I picked up in Buffalo earlier in the month. 

All four cards were made with small ready-made cards from Paper Source, the new Hero Arts "Past Times," "Simple Sentiments" by Papertrey Ink, and patterned papers from the "Funday" paper pad by My Mind's Eye. The tags are from my stash, and I wish I knew where to get some more of them.

And because I'd hate to leave you without a baby photo or two, here are two favorites. The first one Adam took with Caleb in one hand and his Rebel in the other. Nothing I'd ever be able to do, and I just love how it came out.

And one of Sarah and Caleb:

He's so tiny now, but he gained over a pound in the second week we were there, so I know he's not going to be tiny for long.

Project 64: Blue Green

Last week's color at Project 64 was Blue Green. I found these mugs at the Breadboard in Ashland on Saturday morning. Just in time, as I hadn't paid as much attention to this project as I usually do. This week the color is Brown. I shouldn't have a problem with that!

Twelve on the Twelfth: Posted on the 18th

I'd like to use the excuse that I'm spending my time holding babies, cooking, and visiting, but the truth is I'll probably always be posting this project a day or two or three later. Nonetheless, I've decided to give 12 on the 12th a try this year. When I get home, I'll add this template to a scrapbook page.

From top left to bottom right:  our room number at the Best Western, Sarah and Caleb, Grandpa and Caleb, Sadie (best dog ever!), the current book group book (very interesting; I'm getting a bit of it read here while Caleb sleeps in my arms), Sadie checking out Caleb in his car seat before we leave for the mall, Sarah and Caleb, Caleb in his stroller, Caleb's mirror on the back of the car seat so Sarah can see him in the rearview mirror (we never had such products when she was a baby!), the mall sign, my Photo365 app, and turkey chili for dinner.

I think I'll try to always have a shot of our dinner and the book I'm currently reading. Beyond that, who knows? It was no problem getting 12 photos here in Oregon. I think it might be more challenging once we get home. Our time here is more than half up; we have just five full days left. It's not going to be easy to leave! 

Project 64: Wild Strawberry

Last week's color at Project 64 was "Wild Strawberry." Not a color you'd find in my house or my closet, and certainly not outside in January in Rochester. So before we left for Oregon, I visited Skylar's closet and nursery and had no trouble coming up with the right shade of pink.

Baby Uggs waiting for Skylar to grow into them.

The crib mobile

And a cute little bib that came on a sleeper with little pink and green whales all over it. Betsy sent Caleb the same ensemble in blue and green.

I'll be back later with photos from Oregon as well as some cards I finished before I left.

Ten on the Tenth

Normally I wouldn't subject you to ten scrapbook pages in one post, but I really did want to do 10 on the 10th this year, and I have finished my Christmas Journal and there were exactly 10 pages to share. You can find more 10 on the 10th at Shimelle's blog.

Years ago, we added a new ornament to our collection every year. For many years, we added one from our travels. Once we had more ornaments than our tree could hold, we stopped buying new ones. But this year, I bought two beautiful new glass ornaments, one from Denver, CO and one from Ashland, OR. They’ll remind me of the year both of my kids made big moves.

This year my gifts are under three trees:  one here, one in Oregon, and one TV tree in Denver. When Matt received some boxes a few days ago, he called to see which ones were safe to open. Only one of three in which I had sent some wrapped gifts for him to open Christmas Day. 

 Knowing full-well he hadn’t any intention to buy a tree, I said, “Put them under the TV and pretend it’s a tree.” 

 “That’s the plan,” he responded.

 I’ll miss my kids on Christmas morning. This is the first year in 31 years that neither one will be here on Christmas Day. But it will still be festive, as nearly 20 of us will gather here at 4:00 for Christmas dinner.  And I only had to send a few of Matt’s gifts as he’ll be here for a long weekend in early January.

I love to make tags and wrap gifts. This year I had fun making some tags for specific gifts and people. I don’t always find the time to be as creative as I’d like during the holiday season, but it certainly is fun when I do.

Having seen Sarah and Adam in November, and knowing I would see them again as well as Matt in January, I didn’t expect to feel particularly sad at Christmas. But Tracy figured out how to stream our Christmas music through Apple TV and added lots of Christmas photos from past years as a screen saver. I was done in when this one showed up on Christmas Eve. I really do miss my kids at the holidays! 

The first page of a two-page spread.

The Walker Family Christmas is always lots of fun, but this year it seemed even more laughter-filled and joyous than usual. We visited, sang, saw interpretative dance, ate, ate some more, opened gifts (more laughter and fun), and simply enjoyed one another. The only way it could have been better was to have Marc (who had to work), Sarah, Adam, Betsy, Skylar, and Matt with us.

I've ordered a pile of prints from Christmas which should arrive today (after we leave for the airport). They'll go in these pages:

Despite a gorgeous new kitchen, I just wasn’t interested in making tons of Christmas cookies this year. It broke a 40+ year tradition, and in the end, both Tracy and I were sorry about it. We did, however, have cupcakes! I made three kinds: carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, chocolate with peanut butter frosting, and our favorite:  gingerbread with lemon frosting. No one in the family seemed terribly disappointed, but I especially missed not having goodies to give to our neighbors. 

I didn't journal for this page, I know I'll have lots of baby pages in the near future and I thought "Best Gift" said it all.

Matt was home for the weekend, and I took tons of photos. This is one of my favorites. Skylar is so attentive now, and she is staring at her Aunt Sarah in Oregon on the iPad. I love how much easier it is to stay in touch with Face Time. We visit with Caleb, Sarah, and Adam almost every day. 

Matt left today, and that signals the end of the holiday for me. We’ve been blessed beyond measure again this year by family, friends, and good health. On our way home from the airport, we stopped to see the night lights at the Lamberton Conservatory. I was glad we hadn’t missed it after all.

Thanks for sticking with me through a lot of pages. I always enjoy this project, and every year I'm so glad I've made the time for it. We're off to Oregon later today, so I'll be checking in with your posts, but probably not commenting as often. Babies to hold, you know!!!

Journal Your Christmas: Part 4

I'm still working on my Christmas Journal. I have seven or eight more pages to go, and I'm determined to get them finished before we leave to visit Sarah and the new baby. Matt comes home today. We're off to Buffalo to pick him up, but he'll leave from Rochester on Sunday. It's a short trip for him, but I'm so glad to be able to see him as part of the holiday. We've left our tree and Christmas decorations up until he has a chance to open the rest of his presents. It will all get packed away this weekend before we leave on Tuesday.

Here are the latest three pages. I continue to work on them in a random fashion, and it's a process that seems to work very well this year.

Sometimes I put one of the cards I make in my Christmas Journal, but I didn't have any left this year, and wasn't inclined to make any more so I was glad I'd taken a photo of some of them ready to go with the letter to out-of-town friends and the family photo. The journaling reads:  

Almost all of my Christmas cards this year were of the same design. I’ve found over the years, it’s just easier to mass produce a lot of the same card than do many different designs. I did send out the cards I made in a Memory Box class in Buffalo, and ones I made for the Scrap-Mart design team. The beautiful snowflake die was cut from some silvery text-weight paper from Paper Source which required a quick stop in Berkeley to pick up some more on our way to Sarah’s at Thanksgiving.

 

It's been awhile since I played around with the opacity of a photograph. I didn't want the large one to overpower the strip of close-ups so I decreased the opacity to about 65%. I tried printing the journaling right on the patterned paper, but it has a bit of a shiny surface so that didn't work. I ended up printing it on vellum and attaching it with the border sticker. Journaling:  

Although we frequently walk past Lamberton Conservatory, we don't often stop. Today we enjoyed a leisurely stroll through their lavish display of poinsettias. They've also installed lots of tiny lights among the tropical plants which are lit on Sunday evenings. We'll definitely be going back on January 1st to take another look.

I was blessed by receiving cards from all over this Christmas, many of them handmade. One of Shimelle's prompts encouraged us to use postage stamps from some of our cards to embellish the page. I still have a few saved to use on other pages (or projects). Journaling: 

Being part of a crafting community, both locally and through blogging means I received many beautiful, handmade cards. This year they came from England, Ireland, New York, Pennsylvania, Oregon, Arizona, and California. I also got a lovely card from Australia. I decided to showcase all the handmade cards on my new magnetic chalkboard in the kitchen. They were admired by many during the holiday!

I can't resist leaving without sharing a couple of baby photos. This one of Caleb was taken in the brief hours they spent at home last Sunday. Within several hours of arriving home, Sarah developed a high fever, and they were back at the hospital. She had a kidney infection which took several days to get under control. They're all home now, and doing well.

I can't wait to get my hands on this little one. In the meantime, I'll be spending more time with Skylar this weekend while Matt is home. I have to figure out how to post a video. Betsy posted the most fabulous video of Skylar laughing on Facebook yesterday. Here are a couple of my favorites of Skylar, taken right before Christmas.

 

Project 64: Green

Last week's color at Project 64 was green. My favorite shot was a macro shot of a poinsettia. Not what you'd typically choose for "green," but the inner green here seems to be a perfect match.

I was surprised and pleased to see that my bowl of SILVER bells was the favorite last week at Project 64. This has to be one of the only challenges for which I have never missed a week!

2012 OLW: Balance

My OLW for 2011 was FINISH. And although my active pursuit of the 12 projects I wanted to finish collapsed in June, I did complete half of them, and got a good start on #7. The truth is I probably wouldn’t have finished any of them if it weren’t for the OLW project. For awhile I was discouraged about the outcome, but considering our travel and remodeling projects in 2011, I’ve decided it was pretty successful after all.

This year my OLW is BALANCE. Two years ago  I took a class from BPC called “Reclaiming Your Time” by Karen Grunberg. I had just retired and was finding my days slipping away without doing many of the things I really loved. The class was fantastic and helped me set priorities. I still do a better job of balancing activities than I did before the class, but I feel myself slipping again so “balance” seems to be the word that fits.

Family, social activities, volunteer commitments, and cooking always find a place in my schedule. It’s really fitness and creative pursuits that don’t get balanced. Although I walk regularly, I haven’t been to the gym in months. It’s time (especially with the winter weather) to get back to a regular schedule at the gym. 

Scrapbooking always takes a back seat to cardmaking, but I’m hoping to complete at least one layout a week this year.

I’d like to establish a daily practice for photography, so I’m going to try a couple of new photography challenges since I’ve enjoyed Project 64 so much (and it won’t last the year). I’m also determined to finally master Lightroom this year. I’ve signed up for Photo Flow, and Cheri and I are hoping to be class buddies via email.

Reading only seems to happen at bedtime, and I often fall asleep before I’ve read very much. I need to set aside some time during the day to read. Blog reading has also taken up much of my reading time. I recently reorganized my Google Reader and am finding it much easier to keep up with the blogs I want to read regularly.

Not long ago, I read a blog post (by Karen Grunberg again) about how a 15 minute daily practice improved her sketching skills and confidence. So I want to try this technique to improve my coloring skills with Copic markers. I’m hoping to start this next month once we’ve returned from Oregon.

Cardmaking always finds its way into the creative process because I make cards for every birthday and occasion during the year. I had a whole list of challenge sites I checked regularly, but I’ve narrowed it down to just five I enjoy. Whether I participate regularly or not, I’m hoping to incorporate them into the cards I need to create anyway. 

I’ve created a new checklist, much like the one I created in Finding My Time to track how I’m doing. Cheri did something very similar last year. I also have a list of techniques, software, and ideas I want to explore this year that I’m posting it on my bulletin board.

Of course, travel to the west coast is in the plans, and I’m hoping to use these times as a creative break . . . a time just to kick back and relax. It’s probably the one thing I don’t do well at all! (Yes, Cheri, I do plan to work on the class a bit while I’m away this time.)