random reflections

LOAD: Days 22-25

I finished LOAD today--actually did one extra layout (29) to finish up all the photos I wanted to scrap from the road trip last August. We leave in a couple of weeks to visit Sarah, Adam, and Caleb and I know I'll come home with a new pile of photos to deal with. To spare you some overload, I'll post the last ones in two batches.

Once I got to these photos, I decided to spend the rest of the week getting the vacation photos scrapped. I watched a few of the prompt videos, but eventually gave that up since I wasn't paying any attention to them. This was Caleb's first introduction to a pool, and he was not the least bit intimidated. He even let Sarah take him under water.

One of the stops we made on the way from Atlanta to Denver was in Birmingham, AL. We wanted to visit the Civil Rights Institute there, and it was well worth the trip. But we were delighted to find some other fun things to do there as well:  The Vulcan Center (with a fascinating museum about Birmingham's history and gorgeous views of the Birmingham skyline,) and The Peanut Depot which turned out to be loads of fun.

A very kind waitress came outside with us after dinner at The Lowcountry BackYard Restaurant in Hilton Head to take our photo. It was the only photo of all five of us taken on the trip.

I wrote a blog post about the amazing Crystal Bridges American Museum of Art, but I'd never gotten any of the photos into the Travel Album.

Here's a better view of the first page and the journaling.

Finally remembered to use some Washi tape on some of these layouts. I just love how easy it is to use. The little wood veneer heart in the Photo Op layout was covered with Washi tape, too.

CASE Study Challenge #129

I haven't given up on card making while doing LOAD. In fact, I'll have quite a few to share next month, but I wanted to get this one up for this week's CASE challenge. Here's the card to case:

I liked the diagonal lines on this card, and needed a thank you note for a friend. Here's my take on it:

I started with a ready-made card by Memory Box, and cut strips of paper from the papers provided in Simon Says Card kit for January. The sentiment comes from a Hero Arts stamp set, "Everyday Sayings," and the little stars are from A Muse.

Hope your week is off to a good start! I'm anxiously watching the weather as Matt is headed home this weekend from Denver. He's been off work for two days because of the snow there, and it's headed our way again. He turns 30 on Thursday, so I'm hoping he gets here for a birthday celebration!

52/50: Week 8--Lamberton Conservatory

We live just a short walk away from a fabulous park designed by Frederick Law Olmstead. It's beautiful during every season, but one of my favorite spots during the winter is the Lamberton Conservatory. When I just can't take any more snow and cold weather, a walk throught the conservatory cures the winter blues. Here are some photos from this week's visit. I neglected to write down the names of all the flowers so a couple are unknown to me.

This looks like a variation of a shamrock plant, but I can't be sure of it.

There are lots of orchids, but these were the most beautiful.

This little turtle was poking his head out as the koi swam about in one of the pools.

The hibiscus are always a favorite of mine.

But this one is my pick for 52/50 this week. I've taken other photos much like the ones above, but this back of the hibiscus is a different perspective.

You can find more photographic inspiration here.

More LOAD: Days 18-21

The end is in sight---28 layouts in 28 days. I've gotten lots accomplished and learned a bit in the process. More about that at the end. I have the rest of the layouts planned. Regardless of the prompts, I've decided to finish scrapping the layouts I want to do from our road trip this summer. We're in the midst of planning two trips this spring, one of which is the biggest trip we've ever taken, so I want to clear the decks for the most recent trip.

Not sure what the prompt was for Day 18, but once I scrapped the first Find Your Precious blog post, I knew I wanted to do them all. So here's February's.

Day 19's prompt was about relationships, and this is one of my favorite photos from Sarah and Caleb's visit in November. The journaling on the tag reads: 

Caleb is a particularly active baby. He’s on the move and busy all day long. It’s so nice to see that he is willing to sit quietly for a book to be read to him. He’ll now toddle off to his nursery, take a board book off the shelf and sit down to look at it. Sarah and I have shared a love of reading since she was Caleb’s age, and it looks like we’ve got another reader in the family.    

Day 20's prompt was to hide your journaling. I'd done that the day before, but decided to use a cute little envelope that came in the Simon Says card kit to put the journaling in for a layout about our trip to Florida in January.

I went back to the Home album for this day's prompt and documented how we came to own the home where we now live. All the photos were taken the day we looked at the house or a day or two after our purchase offer was accepted, a month or so before we moved in. My kids were so little!!!

Here's the story:

I hung up on Mitch, our realtor, when he called to tell me he’d found the perfect house for us. We had only lived on Bradford Road for ten months. I was working full-time; Sarah was four and Matt was two. There were still some boxes that had never been unpacked! Fortunately, Mitch ignored me, and called Tracy so we came to look at the house on Summit Drive.

This would be our third house. The first one was a total fixer-upper, and the second one needed lots of cosmetic work as well. Summit Drive was filthy and the walls were covered with hideous wallpaper. Despite that, it was absolutely charming. Lots of beautiful wood, built-in bookcases, a built-in desk and china closet, a fabulous fireplace, and pegged hardwood floors throughout the house. Add to that a patio and an amazing two-tiered yard surrounded by old trees. Although it’s in the heart of the city (actually the edge of the first suburb), it feels like you could be in the country. We were sold after the first look. Along with four other prospective buyers, we put in a bid for the asking price. It’s thanks (again!) to Mitch that we have lived here for the last 28 years. He called the lawyer every day until the lawyer got so exasperated with him, he said, “They can have it!”  It took us a lot of years to work our way through the house, removing wallpaper and making repairs, but it’s all been worth it. We love this house, and we love the neighborhood. There’s no where else we’d rather live.

After I finished the layout, I decided to add three sets of divided page protectors to the album with other photos of the house the way it looked before we moved in.

In all, I managed to get 33 photos into the album. Glad to have this done, and I was surprised to find I don't have a lot of other layouts I'm ready to do for this album. There are photos I can't seem to find (did they ever exist?) and photos I need to organize (about our new kitchen), but a lot of what I wanted in this album is done. It's a good feeling.

 

 

LOAD 2013: Days 13-17

I'm keeping up with LOAD although some days it's a stretch. I'm not doing so well with posting here so I'll try to keep the words brief and share the last five layouts. I must admit I like this project. I have a hard time getting myself to scrap sometimes, but this provides a lot of motivation.

Day 13's prompt was to try a new technique. I don't often mix a lot of patterned papers and I've never gone to one of my 6X6 paper pads for a layout. All the papers came from Love Me by MME.

Day 14 was to scrap "Home." I started a big album about all the homes I've lived in several years ago, and haven't done anything with it in a long time. I scrapped about the first house I really remember living in when I was in K-2nd grade in Kansas.

I don't remember the prompt for Day 15 except I know I didn't follow it. I took the opportunity to do a two-page layout about my niece's wedding last July.

Day 16 was to scrap something you're grateful for. I'm hardly ever on Facebook, but I'm really grateful my son-in-law and Tracy both post regularly. Otherwise I'd miss the photos like this one. Evidently Caleb insisted on pushing the cart around for over 40 minutes before he was willing to get in the cart and take a ride.

Day 17's prompt was to scrap some object that was meaningful to you. Sian's StoryTelling Sunday's "Pick Your Precious" was right there on the blog waiting to be scrapped.

Hope you are having a good week! I'm making progress on some cleaning projects, busy with committee meetings, and keeping up with the elimination diet we're trying. Although it hasn't answered the questions I hoped it would, it's been worthwhile, but takes a lot of time, both at the grocery store and in the kitchen. I'll be back later with more about it.

Two Challenges

I got Matt's birthday card made yesterday and it meets two challenges. Since he doesn't read my blog, it's safe to post it early. I used the latest CAS(e) This Sketch as well as the most recent CAS-ual Friday challenge which is to use black and white plus one. You won't be surprised that it's black, white, and red---one of my favorite color combinations. I liked the sketch as it was, so I didn't vary it at all.

I think this is the last of a set of cards I bought from Impress years ago. I added a banner from Boxy Banners (PTI) and the numbers (Memory Box Typewriter die), and stitched it down. The sentiment is from PTI's Birthday: Inside and Out. How is it possible that my youngest is going to be thirty years old?

Last week I used basically the same supplies to make my friend a thank you card.

The only addition here is a very old Making Memories brad.

Winter Storm and Project 52/50

It's sunny, but cold here today. There is nothing but a remenant left of the storm we had a week ago. Unlike the east coast, we got lots of snow, but NO wind. The result was exceptionally beautiful as the snow clung to the branches for nearly three days.

It started like this:

And developed into this:

Here are a few more photos of the first two days:

But it was Sunday when the snow came out that it became simply stunning. 

Lots of these were taken with my iPhone and a few with my wide-angle lens. This one was taken with the 50mm and it's my pick for the 52/50 project I'm doing this year. I'm linking it to Kent Weakley's P52.

You can find more photographic inspiration here.

LOAD 2013: Days 10-12

Keeping up with LOAD has been a bit more time consuming that I would like, but I know I'll be happy at the end of the month to have finally scrapped some of the photos that have been hanging around in my photo files for awhile. For these three days, I scrapped one very old photo (but a long-time favorite), some photos from our road trip this summer, and a layout about the winter storm last weekend. 

I've always loved this photo of Sarah on Valentine's Day and this was the perfect week to get it scrapped. She's wearing the only dress I ever hand-smocked for her and holding a sheep I made her as a gift that year for Valentine's Day. Those were the days when I sewed and had no idea what papercrafting was about!

My journaling is not usually so detailed, but I knew exactly what I wanted to say when I found these photos.

I’m not quite sure how we discovered Canoe in Atlanta. The first night we were there was a warm August evening, and it had rained most of the day. As it cooled down, fog rose from the Chattahoochee River and a heavy mist settled over everything. We opted to sit on the covered porch, and it was an inspired decision. The beautiful landscaping and paths between the restaurant and the river are lit, and it just became more and more beautiful as dusk turned to night.

Then we ordered dinner. Exquisite is the only word for both the food and the service at Canoe. It’s leisurely, but efficient, and definitely expensive. All of us agreed, however, it was worth every penny.

Tracy, Sarah, and Adam returned to Canoe the night of her graduation from Columbia Theological Seminary. I was in New York with Matt for his graduation, and missed it. I got another chance this past August when we drove to Decatur to babysit while Sarah and Adam worked at a conference. Tracy and I ended up with an evening on our own. The minute I heard about it, I checked to see if Canoe was open. It was, and it was a perfect repeat of the first occasion---a bit hazy, a table on the porch, fabulous food and service. On our way home, Tracy and I decided Canoe is the only 5-Star restaurant we know. We’ve had great food elsewhere, been in some lovely settings, but no other place can match the perfect combination that Canoe presents.

Last night in the Photoshop class I'm taking at the Community Darkroom, I learned a technique to improve the color in the panorama on this layout. I may try to redo it and then replace it on the layout. We got about 15" of snow on Friday and Friday night. Because we had no wind, there wasn't much damage (one neighbor lost a huge limb from a tree), and the snow stayed on the branches until Sunday when the sun finally came out. It really was a stellar sight. I took all these photos with my iPhone.

I'll be back with my 52/50 photos and you'll see some more of the winter wonderland then.

Happy Valentine's Day!

This was my father's favorite holiday, and I always think of him. He made a big deal of it---presents for everyone and celebrated before we left for school. So it's no surpise that I love it too. Tracy and I decided not to exchange gifts, but as always, I got flowers and a beautiful card. 

I got gifts for the kids and grandchildren and was glad to have a reason to package up the ones for Betsy and Skylar who came to visit yesterday.

I also made some dark chocolate almond clusters to take to someone who went above and beyond the call of duty last week. I delivered several of these today. (Quite yummy, I must say! We saved a few for ourselves as a treat after dinner tonight.)

And finally the last of the valentines. A couple of them were made for challenges that, once again, were done on time, but not posted in time. My favorite of the bunch was Matt's.

Sarah and Adam got one of the valentines I made earlier for challenges as did Betsy and Tracy. Here's Skylar's.

And finally, one for my mother-in-law.

Hope you had a love-filled day!

LOAD 2013: Days 7-9

It was a busy, but productive weekend. We did get an amazing winter storm. We had 15" in our driveway Saturday morning, but by then the roads were relatively clear. Getting home on Friday afternoon following set-up for Church Leadership Development Day was another story. It took me more than twice as long to get home, and my friend spent an hour and a half getting home when it's usually a 20 minute trip. It was the most beautiful snow storm I can remember, though, and I hope to have the photos edited soon so I can post them. Despite the terrible weather on Friday, most folks made it to CLD Day and we considered it a big success!

I am managing to keep up with LOAD, although the last few photos of the layouts were taken at night which leaves something to be desired. 

The prompt for Day 7 was to scrap "Nature." It occurred to me that I have not even edited a lot of the photos from our weekend in Rocky Mountain National Park so I spent the better part of the morning getting some of that done, and then made this layout.

I started the layout using a photo template, and couldn't get a layout I liked so I reprinted the larger photo and cut out three of the others from the template. Then I finished the layout and photographed it, and decided I didn't like that either. So I took the whole thing apart and here is the final product! Part of the title is a vintage-style postcard I picked up at the gift shop in the park.

Journaling: The vastness of the west always amazes me. There are no vistas in the northeast like those we found in Rocky Mountain National Park. Tracy, Matt, and I spent two wonderful days exploring the park. The first day we hiked at Bear Lake, and the second day we drove across the park from east to west, crossing the Continental Divide. We had fabulous weather, and couldn't have had a better time.

I don't recall the prompt for Day 8, but I know I didn't follow it. I had these photos from Skylar's last visit and wanted to get them in the album.

The journaling reads: 

Watching Skylar grow and change is such a pleasure! She’s a very agreeable little girl, but definitely knows what she wants. She’s able to sign for many things, but doesn’t have a lot of words yet. She does, however, have a very expressive face, so you don’t have to guess much about what she’d like.       Janurary 2012

Last year LOAD's prompts were frequently about times past. I started an album of layouts from my childhood and hoped there'd be a couple prompts this year as well. Day 9's prompt was to scrap about something you enjoyed doing as a child. I found these three photos of me sitting on the walk in the garden making mud  pies. 

This has to be one of the simplest layouts I've ever made, but it's about a simpler time, so it fits.