random reflections

Summer Card Camp

I've missed the last couple Online Card Classes. I always learn some new techniques, and the inspiration is great, both from the instructors as well as from the student galleries. When I enrolled in the class, I had no idea how preoccupied I'd be this week. Tonight, however, I had time to get three cards made.

I really like this week's color combo, and my blues really are a better match than they appear in the photographs.

It's bright and summery. Just what I needed for three cards I need to get in the mail. The first card also follows one of the three sketches provided for the week.

I needed to get a "happy" card in the mail, and this fit the bill. I decided the circle/embellishment would be overkill so I left that off.

I embossed the card front with a new Nestability die--A2 Matting Basics B. The patterned paper strips are from two BoBunny 6X6 pads--Very Vintage Double Dots and Very Bright Double Dots. The stamps and die are Simon Says "Happy." 

The next card is an overdue thank you card for Tracy's cousin who had us to lunch a few weeks ago. This one meets the 10 Minute Card Challenge. Once I had the alphas cut out, this one was done in about 8 minutes. I forgot to take a photo of the stop watch.

I die cut a Nestability Classic Circle for the sentiment which was die cut using Papertrey Ink's Headliner Alphabet. I cut a whole alphabet of all four colors, so you'll likely see this color combo again soon. The border is another piece from the BoBunny Very Bright's pad, and I added three enamel dots by My Mind's Eye.

The last card is an anniversary card for my SIL and BIL. I had cut the Papertrey Ink Hexagon Cover Plate intending to do a white-on-white background for one of the cards. It just didn't work for me, so I put it over a Hawaiian Shores card and was much happier. 

After I arranged the sentiment, I needed a little extra detail in the heart. Two tiny gem hearts by AMuse were the answer.

Hopefully I'll be able to keep up a little better next week.

Summer Scavenger Hunt 2013

Yesterday we went to Niagara-on-the-Lake with our friends, Mary and Jim, to see a matinee performance of "Enchanted  April" at the Shaw Festival. I knew it would be the perfect place to get a shot of a theater for performing arts (#2).

(Looking in at the posters with the reflection from the window)

I knew we'd be going to our favorite pub (#18), The Irish Harp, for lunch.

I didn't expect to find an intentionally funny sign (#7), but there it was outside the pub.

But I did know, the clock tower on main street would qualify for #8.

I'm now officially half way through with the scavenger hunt. I know where to find a few of those items left on the list, but I'm going to have to search for the rest.

When we returned home last night, I went up to the hospital. Mike had bypass/valve replacement surgery yesterday (in the OR for about 8 hours), and had just come out of the operating room. Once again it was touch and go all night, but he stabilized this morning, and was again in the OR for some clean-up this afternoon. The surgeries have all been successful. There's one more to go---probably Friday to disconnect the ECMO machine and reconnect the chest bones. It's really been an ordeal, but his family and I so appreciate your thoughts and prayers. We hope we're now on the road to recovery.

Rüstem Pasha and Süleymaniye Mosques

My favorite of the mosques was Rüstem Pasha Mosque, the smallest of those we visited, and rather unremarkable from the outside. Inside, however, it is simply gorgeous. Every wall is covered with a different design of Iznik tiles.

The  Rüstem Pasha was built in the 1560’s and is a showpiece of Ottoman architecture and tilework.

The Süleymaniye Mosque was the largest mosque we visited, and is visible on the hill from across the Golden Horn as well as from the Bosphorus. Construction began in 1550 and was completed in 1558. The famed architect, Mimar Sinan, was responsible for its design. It was commissioned by Suleiman I who was known as “The Magnificient,” and his mosque lives up to his name. 

The interior is less elaborate than some, but beautifully decorated with painted designs.

The colors here are just gorgeous.

The Süleymaniye Mosque is unusual because many of the original outbuildings have been retained and restored. The grounds and gardens are beautiful and well maintained.

We visited both mosques on the same day we did the Spice Market and the Grand Bazaar. No wonder we were tired!

Edited to add:  Some good news here. Mike squeezed Karen's hand on command yesterday afternoon, and by-pass/valve replacement surgery is scheduled for early tomorrow morning. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers---keep them coming!

 

 

 

 

Pick Your Precious: Travel Jewelry

It's time for the July edition of Sian's Storytelling Sunday. I made a list some time ago of items I'd like to share, but I added a new one to the list after reading Sian's suggestion to consider something related to travel. My jewelry box is quite full, and many of the items there were purchased as we've traveled. I love to put on a piece of jewelry that takes me back to the place I visited. I can still picture in my mind's eye the exact spot where I bought the jewelry and memories of the trip come flooding back as well. Another advantage to buying jewelry as a "souviner" is it doesn't take up much room in a suitcase.

Here's a collage of some of my favorite pieces.

 From left to right, top to bottom:

These handcrafted beads were purchased at a craft fair in Spring Green, Wisconsin the day we were there to visit Taliesen, the Frank Lloyd Wright home. The artist helped me choose the beads. I was leaning toward purchasing all black and white beads, and she convinced me to purchase some brightly colored ones. I wear them frequently, and am so glad I listened to her advice. 

This is the newest edition to my collection of travel jewelry. I bought this is Athens, Greece last month. The black beads are lava, and the red one is coral. I've already worn it several times.

The red beads were purchased in Tucson, Arizona at the Tohono Chul gift shop. Red is one of my favorite colors, and as soon as I saw these I knew they'd be the keepsake from that road trip.

Red, again. These are my favorite red earrings. They were handcrafted in San Francisco, but I bought them during a trunk show to celebrate the opening of the new wing at the Chicago Art Institute. 

There are several cute shops in Decatur, GA where Sarah went to seminary. Last summer when we were babysitting for Caleb while Sarah and Adam attended a conference, I found these earrings in one of my favorite shops. These are one of three pairs of silver hoops I wear nearly every week.

I don't wear these earrings as frequently, but I do love them. Tracy bought them for me as a birthday gift at Taliesen West in Phoenix, AZ.

Next to the color red, I have a passion for black and white---especially black and white checks. The minute I saw this pendent, I was in love. I wasn't planning on buying anything that day, but the more I thought about it, the more I knew I'd regret it if I didn't. It's another favorite, purchased at the Southern Folk Art Center just outside Asheville, North Carolina.

These were very inexpensive beads that I bought in January in St. Augustine, FL at a free trade shop. They go with almost everything, and I've worn them a lot.

And finally, the last bead came from Sante Fe, New Mexico. I had seen a similar bead before our trip so searched many jewelry shops in Sante Fe before I found it. Each side of the bead features different colors, and it's another long-time favorite!

Be sure to hop over to Sian's Blog today to catch the other precious stories.

 

52/50: Weeks 25-27

Finally, a much shorter post! Thanks to all of you for your prayers and good wishes for our friend, Mike. There hasn't been any significant change. What we need now is "purposeful movement," responding to commands. They reduce his sedation and medication every day now for a few hours. Yesterday he moved his head from side to side, and opened his eyes, but it wasn't in response to a command, nor did he seem to focus or recognize anyone. Keep your prayers coming!

Here are my picks for the last three weeks of my 52/50 Project:

Father's Day was the beginning of Week 25, and Matt was here to help celebrate. We had dinner at TRATA, and ate on the rooftop terrace.

Matt and Betsy gave me a beautiful orchid for Mother's Day, and I've managed to keep it alive for nearly two months. This week (26) was pretty dreary, so I took a lot of photos inside. This one was the winner.

Tracy's been working on our shade garden which surrounds our patio for many years. It's particularly beautiful this year. (I'm sure more photos will be coming.) This week (27) we picked up some new plants at Grosman's. They've added some nice color to the garden.

Istanbul Bazaars and Markets

Before we get to the travel post, I'd like to ask for your thoughts and prayers for one of our dearest friends. Mike was riding his bike to meet a friend last Sunday when his heart suddenly stopped. Fortunately, a young man and two nurses happened by and he received immediate CPR. He's been in the cardiac ICU all week. On Monday, the odds were very poor, but each day he's made progress, and everyone is now optimistic that there can be a full recovery. It's still too early to be sure, and there is by-pass/valve replacement surgery yet to come. We've spent part of each day at the hospital with Karen, Keri, and Jim. We would all definitely appreicate your prayers.

Our first day in Istanbul, we visited the Arasta Bazaar adjacent to the Blue Mosque. According to Turkey Travel Planner, an arasta is a series of shops built near a mosque whose shops provide income for the upkeep of the mosque. It’s an open air bazaar, and my favorite of the three we visited. The quality of the goods and the prices were both better than those in the Grand Bazaar. If I had had the opportunity, I would have returned to make some more purchases. As it was, I bought a few gifts and two scarves for myself.

We visited both the Spice Market and the Grand Bazaar on the same day. If we had to do it over again, we'd do them on separate days. It was truly overload, and we visited two mosques as well that day.

The Spice Market is the smaller of the two, and the streets surrounding it are filled with shops as well. I had a hard time telling where the Spice Market began and ended.

There’s candy:

Olives:

Spices:

Tea:

Tracy later had some Turkish Apple Tea, and loved it. I really enjoyed the Turkish tea and loved the tiny tulip glasses in which they served it. 

On our last morning in Istanbul I purchased two lovely tulip glasses to bring home.

Then there was Turkish Delight:

They were giving out samples of the Turkish Delight at the Spice Market, but I held off buying any since I’d read in several books that the very best Turkish Delight came from Haci Bekir, a store near the Spice Market. 

We bought two boxes, pistachio and hazelnut. Rachel and Juan agreed it was the best Turkish Delight they’d tasted. Delish!

The Grand Bazaar was overwhelming. The bazaar was originally built by Mehmet the Conqueror in 1461, but grew and grew. Some guide books say there are as many as 4,000 shops all under one roof (actually many roofs linked together).

I did purchase some scarves, all of which I gave to friends.

 

You can shop, eat, and drink in the Grand Bazaar.

I doubt I’ll ever get an opportunity to return to Istanbul, but if I did, I would buy some Turkish red pepper flakes and some sumac in the Spice Market, some small dishes with Iznik tile designs and a pillow cover at the Arasta Bazaar, and just one thing as a keepsake from the Grand Bazaar.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Istanbul: Part 2

We did a lot of reading and planning for our days in Istanbul. Shortly before we left, Real Simple had a column about best travel tips. One of them was to create a spreadsheet with a list of the places you wanted to visit, the fees, the address, and the hours it was open. We made one, and it really helped us plan our days. Fortunately many of the top sites in Sultanahmet are very close to one another.

Visiting the Aya Sofya was top on our list. 

Built as a Byzantine church by Emperor Justinian in 537, it was converted to a mosque in 1453 by Mehmet the Conqueror, and turned into a museum by Ataturk in 1935. Walking into the Aya Sofya, you are first struck by its immensity. How was it possible to construct such a place in 537? The light in the Aya Sofya is so dim that capturing good photos without a tripod was nearly impossible.

 

The Byzantine church was noted for it’s beautiful mosaics which were plastered over when it became a mosque. Fortunately, many have been partially recovered.

After lunch, we visited the Basilica Cistern, the largest surviving cistern built by the Byzantines in 532. There are 336 columns, many of which the Byzantines salvaged from ruined temples. The water was delivered from a series of aqueducts from a reservoir near the Black Sea. (More amazing feats of construction!)

Two of the most interesting columns feature Medusa as a base. There are a variety of myths and stories around these, but one holds that the face was placed sideways to negate the effect of the gaze.

Our next stop was the Blue Mosque, seen here from the plaza separating it from the Aya Sofya.

Like all the mosques we visited, the Blue Mosque is a functioning mosque. Tourists enter by a separate door. You must remove your shoes, and your head, knees, and shoulders must be covered. 

The Blue Mosque was built by Sutan Ahmet 1 who hoped that it would rival or surpass the beauty of the Aya Sofya. The mosque is named for the fabulous blue Iznik tiles that adorn the interior. 

From the Blue Mosque, we walked to the Hippodrome. The views of the Blue Mosque from here were wonderful.

The Hippodrome is even older than the Aya Sofya. Built in 203 and renovated in the 320’s, it was used as a venue for chariot racing and sporting events. It’s also been the site of protests, massacres, and the downfall of several sultans.

Sarah and Matt gave me an Olloclip for my iPhone before we left. I didn’t have an opportunity to play with it very often, but I love this fisheye view of the Hippodrome.

We also visited a bazaar and had a fabulous meal at Hayat’s with Rachel and Juan, but I’ll save those for another day.