random reflections

Capture the Sky

A week ago my friend, Kat, posted another of her Exploring with a Camera series on Capturing the Sky. I've always been fascinated by the sky so I went through the archives currently on my laptop (many are archived on an external hard drive) to see what I could find. Interestingly, most of the shots were taken with my point and shoot since I always have that in my purse. Here are eight shots of the sky.

Actually the sky figures in both the top and bottom of this photo. This was taken with one of my first Canon point and shoots from the deck of our townhouse on Kiawah Island.

Here the sky is captured in reflection. This was taken with the same camera during a vacation in 2007. I'd like to be there right now!

I took this one from my car one morning; another point and shoot. The sky was so dramatic I pulled over on my way to work.

I could never print this photo; there's a lot of digital noise, but I love the colors on the horizon. I took this as we flew into Atlanta one night.

This I took with an iPhone app; probably the Hipstamatic since I'd just gotten my iPhone. This was from Sarah's patio in California. I'm always looking at the sky there since it's almost always blue--quite different from the typical gray skies of western New York in the spring.

This is one of my favorites. This was taken with my DSLR on a tripod early on Halloween last year at Conesus Lake as the sun came up.

And another favorite, also taken with my DSLR on a tripod in the Badlands. I waited a long time that night for this shot, but it was worth it.

What about you? Do you watch the skies?

Online Classes: Take 1

Despite my intention not to start any new classes, I am in fact taking three. The first is a class at My Creative Classroom on using the Silhouette, and it has been fantastic. I'm learning just what I needed to know and am amazed at the capabilities of this machine. The other two are both at Big Picture Classes. I broke down at the last minute and signed up for Karen Grunberg's Finding Your Way. I'm already happy with that decision because I've decided to use the assignments to work on one of my biggest 2011 FINISH albums. The last is Picture Inspiration because I'm always looking for photography inspiration and conversation. My plate feels too full right now, but I know it will ease up as I get going with each of these.

One of Karen's first assignments was to identify the things you use on your pages so you can focus on making those accessible and stop spending money on things you don't use. I did that when I moved my studio and did one of my first big purges. But before I started the Home Album I gathered up all the supplies (kraft paper for the basics, patterned papers, stamps, and embellishments) from my stash that I thought I might use. It has really expedited the process.

Here are the first layouts I did for Finding My Way with some Silhouette work as well.

This isn't the title page which I'll do later, but it's an introductory page to the album. I scraplifted it from a layout I saw on Kelly Purkey's blog a long time ago. I also incorporated journaling stamps and my own handwriting---two things Karen suggests as ways to speed up your scrapbooking process.

Here's a close-up of the journaling.

This page shows photos we received after a visit from the man whose family built our house in 1931.  The journaling documents the people in the photos as well as how we came to have them.

One of the things I've learned how to do in the Silhouette class how to cut my own titles using the fonts on my computer. This week we learned how to weld the letters of a script font and create a shadow for the title. The chipboard accent is from Cosmo Cricket Circa 1934, which seems appropriate.

The first week's assignment for Picture Inspiration was to take a self-portrait. I avoid these as often as possible and I didn't take this until the last day possible. But I'm not unhappy with it and will eventually change my avatar since I finally have a photo that doesn't use a mirror. I used my tripod and my remote and took it in my studio.

Team-up Thursday: Everyday Beauty

It's hard to believe it's Thursday already. The days are flying by! This week's prompt was Everyday Beauty. I walked around the house and took some photos of things that give me pleasure. (No cameras, since I posted those yesterday.) Nancy sent the photo of the wreath on her deck with the note that, "This beautiful wreath has been on my deck since early Dec. and has looked pretty much like this every day!" We can't decide if all that snow for three months is a good thing or not! I chose my MacKenzie Child clock for the diptych. It's the same shape as Nancy's wreath, and one of my favorite things in my studio. Sarah and Adam gave me a gift certificate for my birthday last year, and I knew exactly what I wanted. You'll see by the other photos, that I'm a fan of MacKenzie Child as well as black and white checks!

Just for fun, here are the other contenders:

A stack of red paper suitcases that hold Papertrey ribbons and twill and a collection of Letterpress tags.

Folk art heart boxes on our bedroom bookshelf.

This funky sheep was sent to me by a good friend. I've had the birdhouse for ages, and bought the MacKenzie Child cream pitcher about a year ago. If (when) we redo our kitchen black & white tiles are on the wish list.

And two shots of the tray on the coffee table in the living room.

 

A Local Roadtrip

Last week was a school vacation in Monroe County, and we had planned a little roadtrip with friends who are still teaching. Unfortunately, they had to cancel, but we decided to head out anyway. Tracy would like to find a new coffee table, so we started at a local furniture store. We found one we like quite a bit, but haven't made a decision yet. Earlier last week, we found the perfect table, but it is way out of our price range so we're still on the hunt.

Our destination was Rio Tamatlan, a fabulous Mexican restaurant in nearby Canadaigua. We took the scenic route although it was a gray and cloudy day. There are a lot of antique/vintage stores along Routes 5 & 20. We stopped at one on our way, and I picked up a couple of blue Mason jars to use in my studio to hold twine and buttons. I also found a vintage camera there, still in its box with the manual. I have no idea if any camera I buy has any value or not, and I don't really care. I purchase one if it's relatively inexpensive (less than $20--the least expensive one I've ever bought was only $3) and I like the way it looks. I'm particuarly attracted to Brownie cameras by Kodak, since those were my first cameras.

Lunch was delicious, as always. I had a combination plate with a tostada, a sope, and two flautas.

I brought half of it home, and enjoyed it again the next day.

On our way home we stopped at the Ontario Mall Antiques. We've driven by it hundreds of times, but never gone in. It's billed as the largest antique store in New York with over 1000 dealers displaying their wares. You could spend days here and never see it all. I did, however, pick up three more cameras.

Another Kodak, according to the tag, from the late 1930s.

About the same vintage, and also a Kodak.

And a little Brownie Flash. It's an unusual shape and in very good condition.

I had already started a shelf for the cameras when we redid the living room shelves. Here's how it looks now. I put the camera with the red bellows on the media center.

My last find was purely decorative. I walked by this little metal sewing machine and fell in love with it, probably because it's red. I was pretty sure I could find a spot for it in my studio, and I did. You may see it crop up as a photographic prop some day.

I love it next to my antique wire basket filled with felt. Recently we've spent a lot of time purging and cleaning out, so this little shopping excursion seems to go against the tide. I'm sticking with the theory that you should be surrounded with things you love as well as those things that are useful.

 

Three Things

First off, my shot for Sweet Shot Tuesday (and P52). It's the same shot I used for Team-up Thursday, but it was my favorite of the week.

I also like this one, taken the same evening.

Second, a layout I completed for Shimelle's 4X6 class on 2Peas, that I also posted on the Scrap-Mart blog. I usually wait until they've posted there before I post here.

I followed the sketch pretty closely and used a lot more product than I usually do on this layout. I made the pocket from two of the dies in the Spellbinder's Creative Book dies. I used a new Quickutz die for make the rose from Vintage Cream felt that I sprayed with a Perfect Pearls mist. I cut "Cures" from the Calendar cartridge with my Slice, and used embellishments from October Afternoon, Jillibean, Pink Paislee, and a Scrapbook Circle kit. I'm hoping to get the next sketch completed in the next day or two.

And finally, an update on my One Little Word: FINISH. Here's the February page in the tag book.

 

And the record page:

I'm very pleased with this month's progress. I finished two big projects (Sarah's Birthday album which I never listed on this record page, and Matt's Rossie Album--which I'll post soon.) I finished all the lessons for Kim Klassens' Essentials Photoshop class where I finally grasped the concept of layer masks. I've been quite successful in using them as well. I'm taking a Silhouette 101 class at My Creative Classroom which has been terrific, and I'm current on all the lessons there. I read one book from my 2010 list and finished our Book Group book as well. Now I'm into Cleopatra:  A Life, which is the Book Group pick for March. I fill out a project card for almost everything I make, and there were 27 of them in the February envelope.