random reflections

Project 365 Layouts

I'm two weeks behind in editing photos for Project 365. Part of it is that I have a stack of tutorials for photo editing I'm hoping to work through before I edit them. I think I need to shelve that idea for awhile. I was also really behind in creating layouts for each week. I did finally get caught up with that and here they are:

I know there must be a way to "erase" the part of the scan around the file tab, but I haven't figured that out yet.

Cards

I was on a card making binge this week. I was lucky enough to attend a Copic Certification class in Buffalo on Monday which was a good source of motivation. I learned a lot about blending, perspective, and shadow. Now I need to find some practice time. Most of these cards, however, don't use Copic markers. I bought some Making Memories paper a few weeks ago, and handcut the butterflies while watching the news one night, so I started with those.

I also have a new set of Papertrey Ink stamps and wanted to make two cards I saw during the prerelease week. Both of these are direct lifts.

A total lift from Lisa Johnson.

And an almost total lift from Debbie Olsen. Her detail work far surpasses the time I'm willing to put forth!

This is probably my favorite card. It's based on a design by Natasha Trupp although the overall effect is quite different. I didn't used to make sympathy cards, but have come up with several designs I like recently. Sadly, I've had far too many opportunities to send one in the last six weeks.

And finally three cards with the Copic markers, two of the images were colored during the class on Monday. I can't wait to "perfect" these skills. These markers are so much more flexible and brilliant than water color markers which I've used before. There's lots to learn here!

I tried an accordian fold on the polka dot paper that I saw on Becky Oehler's blog. I liked how it turned out, and it made a perfect spot to tuck in the little message.

I love this flower from the Friends to the End set from Papertrey.

card*a*licious--18

Here's my card for the latest challenge. It ended up busier than I would prefer, but once the stitching was down I wasn't about to change it. Stars, a circle, and stitching were the ingredients of the challenge.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

And it's Tracy's birthday, too!

A Wish for a Friend
(An Irish poem)

Wishing you a rainbow
For sunlight after showers—
Miles and miles of Irish smiles
For golden happy hours—
Shamrocks at your doorway
For luck and laughter too,
And a host of friends that never ends
Each day your whole life through!

 

I bought these at The Willow Bakery on Saturday for a birthday treat tonight. Matt and I took Tracy out to dinner Sunday night while Matt was home, and we're going out again tonight with Tracy's mom and Bill. He'll get his birthday pie this weekend (banana cream) because he's still working on the chocolate cream from The Pie Plate.

Life is Good

We took our annual spring trip to Niagara-on-the-Lake Saturday with our good friends, Karen and Mike. We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful March day. We bought our tickets for the October performance of "Sunday in the Park with George." visited some of our favorite wineries, had a wonderful late lunch at The Irish Harp, and walked through the village window shopping. Of course, we had to stop at The Pie Plate and bring home some bakery goodness.

No signs of growth in the vineyards yet.

In addition to The Pie Plate, we went to The Willow Bakery. The cowboy cookies were wonderful, and I would have liked to bring home a whole assortment of their lovely pastries.

We did, of course, bring home some wine. Our favorites come from Jackson Triggs, Strewn, and Vineland. We didn't make it to Vineland this time, but bought some new (to us) wines at both Jackson Triggs and Strewn.

Monthly Summary Layouts

I used to do a monthly summary layout, but gave it up quite some time ago. I saw a challenge last month on Davinie's blog. I did the January layout in plenty of time, and then never posted it. I am WAY behind in my Project 365 layouts, but I have finished February's layout. I still need to do the tag book page for February. Here are both January and February.

The photo collage is a Quick page by pais-lee press designs.

This layout design is very similar to one I did in Cathy Z's Design Your Life class at BPS.

Hope

It was a cold, dreary, rainy day but made better by having lunch with a friend and knowing these have emerged in the back yard.

Three Card Challenges

It's been a busy week, but tonight I had a chance to make three cards for challenges that were posted earlier this week.

This one's from Card Positioning System and uses their sketch.

I really like the Card-a-licious site. Their challenge was to use red, black, some bling (the middle of the flower is much shinier IRL), and letter stickers.

This one didn't photograph too well. There's a border on the right that matches the border across the card. The challenge here was to make a card that "incorporates a bird of any type, but it must also include a "space" in which one is likely to find birds."

Matt's home for the weekend. We've had dinner together both nights, and had more conversation time than usual. He'll head back to Ithaca tomorrow, but next week is spring break so he'll be back shortly, although he expects to spend part of break in Ithaca organizing information and doing follow-ups for job searches. Hard to believe graduation is just a little over two months away.

The Mighty Queens of Freeville

I loved this book. I could have sat down and read it cover-to-cover, but it’s rare that I find a book that’s this entertaining and can be read while I’m on the treadmill, so it took a few days (miles) to finish.

Amy’s voice is pitch-perfect. Her language is fresh and filled with just-right similes and metaphors. She faces life’s disappointments with grace and humor. Her stories of Freeville remind me of growing up in a similarly small town in Ohio. Unlike Amy, I did not have to raise my children alone, but neither did I have the luck to be surrounded by a “village” of strong women who gave support, advice (solicited and not), and unconditional love. It’s a warm, loving memoir of a funny, upbeat woman who knows how to tell a good story.

Green: Day 5

Of all the green things around, this is the most hopeful.

A favorite green bracelet

Green Copic markers:  I need to practice with these!