random reflections

Summer Scavenger Hunt 2013

How did the first month of summer fly by so quickly? It's time to link up at Gallo Organico for the Summer Scavenger Hunt. I have a few new ones to share today, and thanks to Miriam's Flickr slideshow, decided to create a gallery for mine at SmugMug. You can click on the Summer Scavenger Hunt button on the sidebar to get there as well.

We walked to the Farmer's Market today which has moved for a few weeks across from the town hall and library. I knew I'd be able to find a police car (#15) and the town hall (#3), and I hoped to find a fence (#13) as well.

Much to my surprise, I found a deer standing in front of someone's fence on the way to the market.

But I also like this shot of our garden fence now that the flowers are finally beginning to bloom.

I didn't need to get behind the police station to find a police car either, as one pulled into someone's driveway as we walked to the market.

Here's the photo I planned to take:

We don't really live in the city of Rochester, though we are just one street away from the city. So we have a town hall rather than a city hall.

Thanks to Becky, I realized I also have a dinosaur (#20) residing in our living room. We're not sure how it came to be there, but Tracy likes moving it around so you're never quite sure where you'll find it. Here he is on the bookshelf in the living room.

I like this one, too, that I found a few weeks ago at the Ithaca Farmer's Market.

Finally, the scavenger hunt has prompted a new little photo project for me. As we were walking this week I saw several cool benches (#10), and decided to do a little Bench Project. So here are this week's captures.

At the library; a self-portrait and a reflection of Tracy, too.

Both of these were on Monroe Avenue

And a sailor's memorial bench behind the library that I'd never noticed before. I love how these projects focus your attention.

So now I've checked off seven of the twenty-one items. I know where I'll find a couple others, but I'm going to have to work a little harder on most of them.

 

 

Two Cards & Challenges

 

I don't often play along with the Tuesday Trigger at Moxie Fab World, but I love the color combination for this week's challenge and decided to get my mother-in-law's birthday card done a few days early.

I've seen Maile Belles use this design on lots of her cards recently and decided I'd give it a try. I like the overlaid sentiment panel quite a bit and think I'll use it again.

Papertrey Ink came out with this floral set "Happiness in Bloom" a few months ago, but I held off as I surely have lots of floral stamps. I already owned the dies which were released several years ago, though, so this month I broke down. Their recent floral sets have included a variety of ways to double or triple stamp the flowers which makes them much more interesting. Everything on this card came from that stamp set.

When I first saw the challenge at Case Study, I didn't have anything in mind, but then the CASual Friday challenge to use an arrow on the card came along, and I had an idea to combine the two challenges. I'm really happy with the way it turned out.

I don't usually do too well stamping a pattern, but the triangles from the Mama Elephant "Trifecta" set were easy to work with. The sentiment with the arrow came from Papertrey's "Live, Love, Life."

ETA: I'm linking this to the Moxie Fab "Trendy Triangles Challenge."

Both of these cards meet the challenge at Simon Says for "Anything Goes."

Istanbul: Part 1

Istanbul is the most fascinating city I’ve ever visited. I spent eleven weeks in Europe following college graduation and was lucky enough to visit many wonderful cities, but Istanbul is the most colorful, vibrant, frenetic, crowded, historic place I’ve ever been. We loved it!

The first day we walked over ten miles, starting at Rachel and Juan’s apartment and walking to Taskim Square, now the site of the ongoing protests. The pedestrian mall, İstiklâl Caddesi, begins at Taskim Square.

From there we walked past the Galata Tower . . .

(I had hoped to return to the Galata Tower and get some panoramic photos of Istanbul, but the timing for good photos was never right.)

. . . and along the streets of shops to the shore of the Golden Horn. The Galata Bridge stretches across the Golden Horn from Beyoğlu to Sultanahmet, the area of many of the significant monuments and museums.

The bridge is crowded with fishermen all day long, and even at night. We came out of a restaurant around midnight in Sultanahment, and there were still many fishermen casting their rods at that late hour.

You can buy fish at many open air shops to cook at home,

0r already cooked from a street vendor.

Ferries are constantly moving up and down the Golden Horn (as well as the Bosphorus). Here you can see Topkapi Palace in the distance.

We ate a late lunch at a cafe under the Galata Bridge. We chose the fish to be grilled. It was excellent and beautifully presented, but very overpriced. 

After walking across the Galata Bridge, we walked north along the Bosphorus, a channel that connects the Sea of Marmara with the Black Sea. The Bosphorus is an incredibly busy waterway. We learned later that freighters wanting to travel the length of the waterway may only go from north to south during one 12 hour period, and then from south to north during the next 12 hour period. Otherwise the smaller boats and ferries transporting workers and tourists from the European side of Istanbul to the Asian side would be overwhelmed by the huge freighters.

One of the places I wanted to visit was the Istanbul Modern Museum. It reportedly has a fabulous view of the Bosphorus from its cafe, but every day we were there that fabulous view was blocked by the largest cruise ships I’ve ever seen. It took a panorama with my iPhone to get the whole ship in one photo. I was too tired to enjoy an art museum by that time of the day, so we passed it by and sadly, never returned.

We walked alongside the Dolmabahçe Palace, another place we never found time to visit.

We stopped for a cold drink and then headed back to Rachel and Juan’s. Had I know how long and steep a climb we’d have to make, I might have insisted on a taxi. The advantage of walking was that by the time the first day ended, we had a good sense of how Istanbul was laid out, and had seen quite a bit of it! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Big Moves

It's going to be a very exciting July here. Both of my kids are making big moves in the next few weeks. And both moves bring them MUCH CLOSER to us!

Adam has accepted a new call as Associate Pastor at the Winnetka Presbyterian Church in Winnetka, Illinois. It's a North Shore community an hour or so north of Chicago, and a 10 1/2 hour drive from Rochester. To say we're excited for them, and about the move is to put it mildly. They've been in Chicago for the last week. You can read a bit about the church festivities here on Adam's blog. They've signed a lease on a house just a few miles from the church and next-door to a rec center and a park. There are many, many good things about this new call beyond two parents/grandparents who are delighted to be within driving distance again after their six years on the west coast. They'll be in Winnetka by August 1.

Then on Mother's Day, Matt told us he was planning to move back to Rochester to be with Betsy and Skylar. Over Father's Day weekend, he had two interviews, and received two job offers. He's accepted the job at one of the premier nursery/landscaping concerns here, and hopefully it will offer him some opportunities to learn the nursery side of the business. Here they are goofing around for the camera on Father's Day.

This is Matt's last week on the job in Denver. He'll be packing up over the weekend, and driving home next week. His first day of work at the new job is July 8th. He and Betsy will be less than two miles from us, and we're just delighted!

June 2013 Papertrey Ink Blog Hop

Papertrey's June blog hop challenge was to use a "touch of gold." It really is one of the hot trends right now, and I had a variety of ideas. But, once again, time ran short, so I decided to go with a simple design and created a set of cards that I'll be able to pull out when needed. Another piece of inspiration came from Papercraft Magazines 350 Cards & Gifts issues which features a whole section of card sets. I made three birthday cards and three thank you notes. Let's start with the birthday cards.

I started by embossing a Nestability Classic Rectangle on the card front. I ended up using three pieces of Papertrey's new shimmer cardstock which I love, and three pieces of regular cardstock. The blue and black are shimmer cardstock, and the purple is Royal Velvet. Then I embossed the Boutique Borders: Birthday stamps in the middle of the embossed rectangle. Simple and elegant. Here's a closer look:

Here are the thank you notes.

I found several sentiments that fit between the beautiful boutique borders and tried three different ones. I kept the cardstock lighter and only the back card is a shimmer cardstock. The first card uses one of my all-time favorite "thank you" sentiments from Impress. I've had it for years. The others came from Papertrey's Round and Round and Autumn Abundance. I'm quite sure this Boutique Borders will become a  go-to set. You can check out the loads of inspiration right here.

Shoot the Moon

The photo editors meet-up group I belong to held two photo shoots this weekend to shoot the "super moon." I ended up going to both of them, and I'm glad I did. I got much better shots the second night. One of the organizers gave a short tutorial on HDR Friday night. I've bracketed my photos before, and I've owned Photomatix Essentials for over a year, but I've never gotten up the courage to try it. It's so easy, I'm embarrassed I waited so long. Here are my favorite shots from the two nights. I didn't get any shots I loved of the moon the first night, but there are a couple others I like.

This is the area where Carl gave his tutorial. It's the underside of the Fredrick Douglas/Susan B. Anthony Bridge that goes over the Genesee River.

Here's a look at the bridge itself, taken with my iPhone the same evening. No HDR here.

And the downtown skyline at the blue hour.

On Saturday night, we met on the bridge overlooking the Erie Canal in Pittsford.

Here's a look at an overprocessed HDR. I had to give it a try, but one of the organizers told me the surefire way to tell that it's overdone is the halos behind the trees. I love that we can get good feedback so I don't keep making the same mistakes. Good to know when looking at others' HDR photos as well.

My favorite shot of the moon.

And my final shot. I've tried several times before to get good shots of the full moon, but this is the first time I've felt at all successful. I always learn something at these photo shoots, and these were no exception. How was the moon where you were? We saw a shot taken in Iowa last night on ABC World News that was nearly three times as large as anything I saw here.

52/20 Catch-up

Almost all the photos I took on our holiday were taken with my new 18-270mm Tamron zoom or my iPhone. But I did take my 50mm with me, and once a week put it on the camera for enough shots to keep up with my 52/50 project. 

Here are the last five weeks of photos for the project:

Week 20: Most of my shots for this week were taken in the Spice Bazaar and the Grand Bazaar. There were two other contenders for this week, but I finally settled on the spices.

One of the guide books recommended buying Turkish red pepper to bring back. I didn't, and I wished I had, along with some sumac which is an ingredient I'm finding in many Turkish recipes. But Saturday I found a great Turkish market right here in Rochester, and was able to purchase both spices and some other ingredients I wanted. We loved the Turkish and Greek foods, and I've made several dishes from The Sultan's Kitchen since we've returned--all of them delicious. 

Week 21: Each morning in Santorini our breakfast was delivered to our room. If it wasn't too windy, we ate on our patio. We had quite a nice menu to choose from, and the food was great. We ate lunch at the hotel a couple of times, as well as dinner. One of my best meals of the trip was here---lamb on roasted white eggplant puree. (I'd love to get that recipe!)

Week 22: This photo was taken from a museum looking up at a restaurant. I loved the bright green umbrellas against the clear blue sky. Matt couldn't get over the blues in the photos from Santorini. None of the colors in my photos are enhanced. It really was that blue! We ended up eating lunch at this restaurant later in the day.

Week 23: When we arrived home, our peonies were in bloom. I always enjoy taking photos of them.

Week 24:  Saturday we took our annual spring road trip to Ithaca to go to the Farmer's Market. On our way home we stopped to have lunch at Tracy's cousin's home in Interlaken. Mike had trimmed the bushes around their entrance way the day before, and discovered this tiny nest. The morning of our visit, this baby bird hatched. His eyes are still closed.

Summer Scavenger Hunt 2013

This is the third summer I've played along with Rinda's Summer Scavenger Hunt. If it had been a spring scavenger hunt, I'd be well on my way to finding the 21 items, as many of the things on her list are among the photos I took on our trip. But, alas, I must start anew. In the last week I've gotten three checked off (and one that might do in a pinch, but I'm not ready to surrender to that item yet.)

The first one (open air market) was easy. We go to the Brighton Farmer's Market almost every Sunday from June through October. Everything is organic, and there's usually a great selection of fresh produce, baked goods, honey, flowers, and fresh eggs and meat.

Matt flew in from Denver for the weekend, so I took my camera to the airport hoping to find an airplane. None in sight! But on the way home, a plane was flying in along Elmwood Ave. and my camera was sitting right there in my lap. I'm pretty pleased with this one, taken through my car window.

I'll be adding another bench to the list some day, but this one was sitting outside The Piggery, a butcher shop in Ithaca, New York, and I couldn't pass up the chance to get a third photo.

And yes, I am working on all those vacation photos. We've narrowed the several hundred (from over 1,000 taken) down to a reasonable number, and now I'm trying to organize them into some sensible blog posts. 

I {heart} Happy Mail

The mailman arrived early yesterday, and I received a wonderful package from Alexa as part of Sian’s Great Big Swap of Very Small Things. The mailing envelope itself was a piece of art. (No surprise!) 

And what it is about “Royal Mail” that adds something exotic to a package from England.

Inside was a delightful mix of embellishments, papers, frames, stamps, and other bits and pieces. Before I ever read Alexa’s thoughtful note, I knew that the items tucked inside these folders had been chosen specifically with me in mind. (Check out the personalization on the notecard!)

The goodies were enclosed in four handmade folders each with a tiny tag.

The first read: “for your little ones.” Inside were two plastic bags, one with brads that spell CALEB, and another with brads that spell SKYLAR and little bits and pieces for each of them. (There's also a #4 paperclip which somehow I included in another photo.) How cute is this?

The next was “for scrapping your holiday,” with embellishments perfect for our recent trip to Turkey and Greece. I just love that airplane stamp. 

And then some lovely papers and stencils “for your art journaling.” I have two pages on the burner. Hopefully these will be an inspiration to get moving on them.

Finally, a folder stuffed with goodies “for just playing with.” Check out the cute cameras and some camera Washi tape!

Right after dinner, I got busy. Dear friends of ours are celebrating their 60+ anniversary this month. I chose a lovely floral print card from Alexa’s goodies as well as a fabric-covered button as the focal points for their card.

I know you’ll be seeing lots more from this very extravagant gift in the months to come. Thanks, Alexa, it was truly a treasure-filled package!

 

 

 

 

Happy Father's Day & Two Challenges

It's a day to celebrate fatherhood here in the States. Two of my three favorite dads are here with me today, which makes for a good celebration. Matt, Betsy, and Skylar were here for brunch, and later we'll be going out to dinner. It's raining (again), but at least we don't have the flooding that's plaguing the middle of the country.

I think I got Adam's card in the mail just in time. Hopefully, it arrived in Oregon before today. I think it's my favorite.

The dark brown cardstock came from the June Simon Says card kit. The Absolutely die and awesome stamp are also from Simon Says, and the Thickers are Amy Tan for American Craft. I don't often use Thickers on a card, but it worked well here.

The materials for the next card (for Tracy) almost all came from the June kit except for the map paper which was from an old October Afternoon collection called "Boarding Pass." It started with this inspiration card from Kristina Werner, though I ended up in a totally different place.

The card that holds the sentiment (from a Kelly Purkey set called "Dude") is from a collection of cards by Basic Grey. Both the pad of cards and the stamp set were part of the June kit. I forgot to take a photo of the inside of the card, but I used two tickets from Papertrey's set called "Big Ticket Basics." They seemed to fit the theme perfectly. I coated the heart with some Glossy Accents.

I stuck with the same theme for Matt's card, using a different map from the "Boarding Pass" collection. This card was inspired by one of Nicole Heady's cards for a Papertrey release party awhile ago.

The plane which I colored with Copics and cut out came from "Fly Away" and neatly fit over a printed plane in the patterned paper. The sentiment is from the Boy Basics series by the same name. The last two cards meet the CASual Friday Challenge this week:  MAPQUEST.

And the last card also meets this week's Simon Says Challenge:  TRANSPORT.