random reflections

Summer Scavenger Hunt 2013: July Link-up

Well, just how did it get to be the end of July so quickly? I'm really hoping to find all 21 items on Rinda's list this year, so I needed to get a move on recently. One night last week we drove up to Charlotte Beach on Lake Ontario to see if I could find a fisherman and a sunset. I managed both. 

This man was very friendly, and made every effort to make sure I got a decent shot. (#19 fisherman)

As we were walking back down the pier, these two still had their lines out as they came down the Genesee River to their dock.

I have two to offer for the sunset (#5).

On Sunday as we drove to Seneca Lake, Tracy spotted this cute windmill (#16). I had another photo op in mind for a windmill, but this will suffice for now.

 The first two stained glass (#14) windows are from our church.

Here's a more modern offering from the Corn Hill Arts Festival.

The candle (#17) was on the table for our anniversary. I didn't notice until after I'd taken the photo that the candle actually singed the edges of the flower.

On our travels Sunday, we encountered a young couple with a sleeping baby (nap: #6), and they were willing to let me take his photo.

So now I just have three items left to find---none of them easy, I might add. I'm glad there's still a good six weeks left!

BUT, I have two more photos to share. I've already posted photos for a police car, but we followed this old one down the road on Sunday. I zoomed in with my iPhone from the back seat of the van, and it's actually a pretty decent shot.

Two years ago, I hunted and hunted and hunted, but never found anyone on a unicycle. This year at the Farmer's Market, there he was. So two years late, but finally found. I'm still looking for a pirate from that year.

By clicking on "Summer Scavenger Hunt" under "Categories" on my sidebar, you can find the rest of my scavenger hunt photos. You'll be able to find more fun scavenger hunt finds right here today.

Anniversary Post and 52/50

We had a lovely day Sunday celebrating our anniversary along Seneca Lake. Our first stop was a new to us winery, Damiani. The staff was delightful, and so were the wines. Later that night, we ended up choosing one of their wines to have with our dinner. Tracy was anxious to get back to a lovely, small organic winery called Silver Thread. Although their wines are a bit more pricey, their whites are just perfect for summer entertaining on the patio.

The view from Silver Thread is not bad either.

This is my pick for this week (#31) for the 52/50 project.

The grapes are still green, but beautiful.

But the best part of the day was the fabulous dinner at Suzanne's.

It's a beautiful setting, overlooking the lake. If you look closely you can see tables and chairs on the porch for dining. We opted to eat inside as it had rained off and on all day.

Imagine my surprise, when I looked at the menus Tracy and I were handed.

Not only did we get anniversary wishes from the hostess and our waitress, but the chef came out at the end of the meal to wish us happy anniversary.

The food was amazing. Each of us chose a different entree, and all four of us were delighted with our choices. Before dinner we were offered a complimentary appetizer, and we shared a cheese plate as well.

Much of the food served here is sourced locally, and if it's not, you know where it came from. All four cheeses were from New York, three of them from the Finger Lakes. My rack of lamb came from Colorado and was cooked to perfection.

There are beautiful gardens surrounding Suzanne's but by the time we finished dinner, it was (once again) raining, so we'll have to save those for another trip. At the end of the meal, we were given our menus rolled up and tied with a green bow. I did take a photo, but the light was so poor for the iPhone by that time, that it's not very good.

So this week's 52/50 photo is at the top of the post, and here are the last few weeks in reverse order:

Miss Skylar, for Week 30

A yellow daisy from my garden for Week 29

An umbrella from a crafter's booth at the Corn Hill Arts Festival for Week 28

Here are a couple more shots from the festival, one of three huge arts festivals that are held every summer in Rochester.

I loved the name this crafter chose, and we loved her art---bought two gifts and a little something for ourselves. I also found something for Rinda's Scavenger Hunt at the festival, but I'll save that for tomorrow.

Happy Anniversary to Us & a CASology Challenge

Today is our 40th anniversary. Last night we both agreed it surely hasn't felt like 40 years---we can't be THAT old! But it is, nonetheless, and we've had our big anniversary trip already. But we didn't want the day to pass without marking it in some way, so a bit later we're off to Seneca Lake with our good friends, Bob and Cathy. We have two wineries to check out, and a farmer's market I want to explore. Then we'll have dinner at Suzanne's Fine Cuisine, a restaurant highly recommended by friends and in the book, Summer in a Glass, which we both finished reading this month.

I thought I'd post this card tonight with a few photos of our day, but I want to link it up to the CASology challenge for this week, and the link closes before we'll get home. I recently discovered this challenge on Cassandra's blog, but haven't had much time to play along this month.*

I cased the design for this card from Nora on A Creative Touch. The woodgrain cardstock and the chipboard hearts both came from a Simon Says Card Kit. The die is also Simon Says, and the sentiment is from Papertrey Ink's "Live Love Life." The gold paper I've had in my stash for years. (The store where I bought it closed at least 10 years ago.) I love it, and this is the last piece of it.

The inside sentiment (I forgot to photograph it before I wrote a note inside) reads: "A good life is a collection of happy moments," and we've had 40 wonderful years of happy moments together. There's no one I'd rather spend time with! I'll be back tomorrow, hopefully with a few shots of a day in the Finger Lakes (though it's a bit drizzly now), and a 52/50 update.

*Great update on our friend, Mike! He was released from the ICU Friday night, and is walking around the nursing station, eating real food, and joking with us all. He's still very tired, and will need some weeks of rehab, but a complete recovery is within reach! Thanks again for all your thoughts and prayers. 

Summer Card Camp: Week 3

This is my second post of the day, but it's the first time I've had a chance to play around with the Summer Card Camp challenges. Here are this week's colors and sketches:

Truthfully, these are the most difficult colors I can ever remember trying to work with. After I finished the first two cards, I realized you only needed to use four of the five colors. That certainly would have been easier! 

The first card, and my least favorite, was supposed to be Sketch #2, but it ended up looking more like Sketch #3.

Looking through my embellishment drawer, I came upon these wooden start stickers (Studio Calico?), the patterned papers are from Paper Source (purple) and the Hip Hip Hooray paper pad by American Craft. The sentiment stamp is one of my oldest wooden stamps (St. Louis Stamp Design). I managed to get the fifth color in there with some My Mind's Eye enamel dots. I think the funky light at the bottom of the card is because the banner extends off both ends. 

I'm happier with the second card.

I haven't used this border die cut from Memory Box yet, so I thought it would be perfect for Sketch #3. I used three patterned papers, two from Bo Bunny and one from American Craft, added some pink gems (there's that fifth color again!), and a tiny banner I hand-cut for the sentiment from Star Prints (Papertrey Ink.) This card is getting linked to the Moxie Fab Birthday Card Challenge.

My favorite of the three cards is this last one where I tried a double-stamping technique Jennifer McGuire shared in a video. 

I used Mama Elephant's "Trifecta" stamps to create the background. It's a border stamp with three rows of tiny triangles. First I stamped it in purple, and then went back and slightly offset the blue triangles. This is the kind of thing that usually is a disaster for me, so I'm really please that I only had to do it once. The rosettes are an oldie but goodie and I'm not sure who made them (another find in the embellishment drawer. The die cut banner and sentiment are a set from Simon Says called "Tilted Banners." 

I'll be linking this last card up with the Moxie Fab "Trendy Triangles Challenge." 

July 2013 Papertrey Blog Hop

This month's challenge for the Papertrey Blog Hop was a color challenge. There were six gorgeous color combinations to choose from based on the "Fruits of Summer." You can see them all here. This color combo screams summer to me, so that's where I started.

I was hoping to use the new birthday stamps I ordered this month from Papertrey, but for some (yet unknown) reason, the package arrived in Rochester, but was returned to Papertrey Ink before it ever got on a mail truck! I was so disappointed, but turned to the Wonderful Words: Birthday die cut for my card.

I die cut the word in each of the five colors, carefully cut the letters apart, and reassembled the word. "Wishes" was selectively stamped from the Think Big Favorites #16, and I die cut the stars from the Star Gazer dies. It's a pretty simple card, but I'm happy with it. I'll be entering it in the Moxie Fab Birthday Card Challenge as well. 

You can find lots more colorful inspiration here today.

 

The Cats of Istanbul

We've come to the last of the Istanbul posts. I had read that cats roam freely around Istanbul, and it's the truth. They are everywhere, and seem to be fed by locals as well as tourists who leave food and water where cats can find it. Most of them appear healthy and well-fed, although I believe most of them are homeless in the sense that no one properly owns them.

Cats feasting near Dolmabahçe Palace . . . 

sitting in dress shops . . . 

in the street . . . 

in the window of an arts and music shop . . .

on a car roof . . . 

sleeping in windows . . . 

in

on a stack of  pillow covers in the Arasta Bazaar.

 

 

 

 

 

Summer Card Camp: Thursday Challenge Week 2

Today's challenge was to use the week's color combination and a holiday stamp to create a non-holiday card. To qualify for the color challenges, you need to use four of the five colors.

We've been invited to a lovely celebration this weekend, so it seemed like a perfect opportunity to get a card made. I used two flourish stamps from Papertrey's Holiday Photo Finishers to create a "frame" for the sentiment.

I was quite surprised to discover I didn't have any holiday stamp with the word "celebrate" that fit into the frame, so I ended up using Papertrey's Celebrations stamp set. Both the frame and sentiment were embossed onto Vintage Cream Shimmer cardstock. I matted that with a piece of Hawaiian Shores shimmer paper. The card was created with my favorite brown shimmer paper that I believe is by Bazzill. I added four pretty pearls in blue. Here's a closer look at the pretty shimmer paper.

This is a design I'm quite sure I'll use again, and I would never have come up with it without today's challenge---one of several reasons I enjoy these online card classes.

Summer Card Camp: Week 2

Week 2 of Summer Card Camp brought three new sketches and a new color combination. I was able to use one of the sketches and the color combo to create a new baby card for a friend of ours.

I used Spellbinders Circle Nestabilities to create the card and the mats. The patterned paper turned out to be a great find---the right colors and perfect phrase for the sentiment. I selectively inked and white-embossed a message from Papertrey's Baby Button Bits to get the rest of the sentiment. The bow is tied with Papertrey's New Leaf twine. and the little brown matted, glittered star is left from an old sticker sheet. 

Another thanks for your thoughts and prayers for our friend, Mike. He has gotten through the last of the surgeries, and now they are trying to find the right level of pain medication so he can awaken, but not be in severe pain. All looks good, but no one can say how long the next step in the process might take. We did find out yesterday that only 1% of patients who suffer this kind of cardiac arrest survive. He's truly the mircle man, thanks to all the prayers and the incredible expertise of the doctors and nurses at Strong Memorial.

The Bosphorus Cruise

Friends of ours who traveled to Istanbul a year ago, recommended a day long cruise of the Bosphorus. On our last day Rachel, Tracy, and I boarded a boat for a cruise from Kabataş to the Black Sea.

Our tour guide (I've misplaced his card, and didn't record his name in my journal):

The first stop was Orokoy, an artsy community on the Bosphorus. We were given about 45 minutes to get off the ferry and look around.  A friend of mine who had lived in Istanbul for a year had recommended wandering around here. It probably is much more lively on a weekday, but we enjoyed a 45 minute stroll around the area, not too far from Rachel’s office. I loved this sign over one of the stree of shops.

We got to see a lot of European Istanbul as we cruised along the shore. Although you see banners and photos of Ataturk all over Istanbul, these banners were flying because May 19th was a national holiday in Turkey.

The boat crossed the Bosphorus to the Asian side to stop at the Küçüksu Palace (Little Waters Palace).

Built in 1857, this very ornate eight room palace served as a resting place for the sultan during the hunting season. There were no bedrooms, but there was a kitchen in the basement to prepare light repasts for the hunters. The sultan and his hunting partners returned to Dolmabahçe Palace to sleep. No photos were allowed inside the palace. The inlaid floors, tables, and doors were beautiful, but the painting, gold trim, and chandeliers were quite gaudy. The grounds, however, were beautiful, and I loved some of the intricate detail on the exterior of the palace.

Leaving Küçüksu Palace, we crossed the Bosphorus again to visit Rumeli Fortress.

Under the directions of Sultan Mehmed II, this amazing structure was completed in just four months from April-August 1452. Granted, over 4,000 people were involved in its construction, but it’s hard to imagine how this could happen without the benefit of the modern equipment we take for granted.

A huge chain was stretched across the Bosphorus from Rumeli Fortress to a fortress already constructed on the Asian side so the sultan could control the traffic on the Bosphorus and protect the city from invaders. 

This was the one stop on the cruise where I wished we’d had more time to explore. We climbed about 1/3 of the way up, but ran out of time before we could reach the top.

Following the Rumeli stop, we were served a lovely luncheon on the lower level, and then could relax as the boat cruised up the Bosphorus to the Black Sea.

We were fascinated to see several men sitting atop tall poles along the shore of the Bosphorus near the Black Sea. We were told they were on the lookout for dolphins who might raid their fishing nets. I have no idea what they do if a dolphin comes along.

We were given time to get off the boat and explore along the shore of the Black Sea. Although swimming was an option for our time here, most of us walked to the top of the hill overlooking the Black Sea where the guide spent some time talking about the history of the area.

These boys were locals, and were apparently doing some cliff diving, though they stayed on the side of the cliff while we were there.

We also got to see the beginning of construction just south of the Black Sea of the third bridge to cross the Bosphorus. It's expected to open in about two years. For now, truckers have a very long drive down either side of the Bosphorus before they can cross over to the other side.

After four full days of sight seeing, the cruise was a very relaxing and enjoyable way to end our stay in Istanbul.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Summer Card Camp 2

At the end of the first week of the Online Summer Card Camp we were given a whole set of color combinations to consider.

I like the third combo and wanted to try the selective inking technique Jennifer McGuire showcased on last Tuesday. I chose one of the Papertrey Ink "Stylish Sentiments: Birthday" stamps, and masked off three sections of the sentiment so it could be stamped in three different colors.  This worked surprisingly well.

I used the herringbone striped Impression Plate to emboss the purple cardstock to play off the orange herringbone patterned paper. The patterned paper, Orange Zest mat, and sentiment were die cut with Spellbinders Label dies. Four little orange pearls from Michael's finished off the card.

Today was another new lesson, new color combo and new sketches. Hopefully I'll get a card finished tomorrow before I get too far behind.