random reflections

One Valentine: Three Challenges

This afternoon I had time to make some valentines. Not many of them can be shared here, but I'm pretty sure my three granddaughters don't have any opportunity to check my blog! The card fits three challenges--an unusual event for me.

I've always loved the My Favorite Things animal stamps by Birdie Brown. Now that I have five grandchildren, I didn't have any trouble justifying the purchase of several sets. I used one of the stamps from this set, "Polar Bear Pals," for Caleb's birthday card, and now I've used two of the images for a valentine for my three granddaughters, aged 5, 2, and 7 months. I masked the little bear in the front, and then stamped the two bears in the back sitting down. The sentiment seemed pretty perfect, too. I colored the images with my Prisma colored pencils which have been neglected for awhile. After stamping the images, I die cut them with a Simon Says "Stitched Rectangle" die; might be the most used die in my collection.

This give you a better view of the shiny hearts I added as embellishment.

I'm posting this card at The Heart Desires . . .

The Card Concept . . . Love and Romance challenge . . .

And last, but not least, the Simon Says Wednesday Challenge:  Cute!

Tuesday's post for the Five in Five photography meme was my 1,800th post. Somehow I missed that milestone, but I do find it incredible!

Five in Five: Taken on the 6th; Posted on the 7th

I'm not quite sure how the 5th of the month escapes me over and over, especially when I've been participating in Sandie's meme for over a year. But it wasn't until I saw Mary-Lou's photos yesterday morning that I realized that, once again, the 5th had passed me by. I was determined to remedy my neglect as quickly as possible, so yesterday I took a detour between two appointments and visited the Highland Park Conservatory. My membership had expired, so I was overdue for a visit there. Much to my surprise, I ended up with as many animal photos as plants or flowers. They have always had a covey of quails and a bale (I had to look this term up) of turtles, but both had greatly increased. The quail scurry around so quickly, it's hard to get a clear photo even with a decent shutter speed. I had two five minute segments to choose from, and decided the animals were far more interesting than the plants and flowers.

One group of turtles were having (or thinking about having) lunch.

This group was playing in and around the pool of water, and playing piggy-back.

A croton, just because there should be one plant in the mix. Love the colors and the beautiful veins in the leaves.

A few quail having lunch.

And perhaps hunting for lunch. This one is my fave. Love the bench legs and pot along with the cute little quail.

Linking up with Sandie at itchifingers with thanks for hosting this meme once again this year.

 

Memos, Mail, Me: Very Happy Mail

After being away for nearly a month, it seemed a long time since I'd seen some of my friends. This was a week of catching up over breakfast and lunch. Our book group also met to discuss News of the World, which I can highly recommend. It's a compelling story and beautifully written. Paulette Jiles, the author, is a poet, and I also enjoyed her earlier novel, Enemy Women. News of the World takes place in Texas shortly after the Civil War; Enemy Women takes place during the Civil War. Both are well researched. We also played bridge---nothing I'd like to talk about; my bidding left a lot to be desired.

Early in the week I got the first happy mail---an order from Papertrey Ink. They had a huge sale of their paper packs for $1 each; they usually sell for $4-$10 each. At that price I was willing to buy some I had passed up when they were released. Interestingly, there are almost none available in the store now. I'm hoping they will restock some of them. I didn't order the night of the release, and by the next morning my favorite pad, "Black and White All Over," was sold out.

I thought perhaps I'd have a card to share using one of these, but I've been busy making valentines, and can't share those until they've arrived at their destination. I received the most amazing valentine ever this week though. My friend, Sue, is an incredible paper crafter. She doesn't make cards or scrapbook, but makes wonderful constructions from paper. I've been the lucky recipient of many of her creations, but she outdid herself this time.

From the front

A closer look

Looking down

The sides. 

Sue pulled all the photos from Facebook, and had them printed. When I showed Matt & Betsy, Matt said, "Wow, Mom, that's better than anything you make!" I agree, it's true, but when I told my friend, she said he was just charmed by the photos of his three pretty girls! The whole thing folds flat and was hand delivered at lunch on Friday in an envelope. It's being proudly displayed in the living room until Valentine's Day. Then I'll pack it away carefully so it can come out every year!

Waving to Sian at From High in the Sky and friends sharing their happy mail.

Contemplative Photography

As I always do I've set some intentions to guide me through 2017 with my OLW: Joy. Two of them involve photography. One is the Capture Your 365 project which I haven't done in a couple of years, and thanks to my friend, the other is the exploration of contemplative photography. Mary has a knack for giving me gifts I didn’t even know I wanted and/or needed. Her Christmas gift this year was three books on contemplative photography. She knew that my OLW last year was Mindful, and that I had been exploring meditation and mindfulness. And she knows I love photography. Contemplative photography seemed like the perfect match, and I think she was right.

Shortly after dipping into The Little Book of Contemplative Photography, I discovered Adventures in Seeing on Sandie’s blog, which I purchased and had sent to Sarah’s while we were there. It's proving to be a good purchase, and I've really enjoyed following Kim's site, Contemplative Living through Photography.

Contemplative photography has a different slant that that of capturing the everyday moments, people, and landscapes of your day. Howard Zehr describes it as “being deliberate about approaching photography as a kind of meditative and spiritual discipline.” The subtitle of Kim Manley Ort’s book is “How the Camera Teaches You to Pause, Focus, and Connect with Life.” They advocate leaving your preconceptions behind, and stopping to pause, reflect, and contemplate before you click the shutter. All the books provide exercises and writing activities to use as part of your photography practice. Writing about my photography is a totally new concept to me. Kim Manley Ort hosts a FaceBook group where you can explore the exercises in her book with others. I've been following the discussion, and am just now getting ready to participate.

I’ve dipped into three of the four books, and have started following Kim Manely Ort’s blog which features some very thought-provoking and interesting posts. A week or so ago she posted an essay “The Power of Patterns.” She encouraged readers to look back over photos they’ve taken and to look for those that represent patterns. I knew I’d find quite a few, but was surprised at how many there were in my Lightroom library. I pulled out over 100 and then selected 20 of them to use in thinking about what kinds of patterns and themes run through my photography, and what kinds of metaphors I might find. It’s a whole new way of approaching photography, and I’m looking forward to exploring it.

 

Chill Wishes

Our grandson, Caleb, is a huge fan of penguins. While we were in Chicago, "My Favorite Things" stamps had a quick sale, and I ordered "Chill Wishes" knowing I'd be able to use most of the images over time. He's also become a fan of Nate the Great books, and I picked up a couple for him this week at Barnes and Noble. I thought I'd send him a card and one book as a bit of happy mail this week. 

This card was lots of fun to make, and in addition to the new stamp set, I pulled out some products I hadn't used in awhile---a stencil and embossing paste, and old Spellbinders Circle and banner dies.

I colored this cute penguin with Copic markers and fussy cut it. I also used a die from Papertrey Inks "In the Meadow" set to create the snowy hill. The sentiment comes from the August 2014 Simon Says Card Kit, "Ice Cream Dream." I applied some Glitter Stickles to the hill for a bit of accent. And although you can't see it in the photo, the hat and scarf have a coat of Wink of Stella glitter.

I'm entering this in two challenges. CASology's theme this week is Youth. 

And here's another one for NBUS #10 (Never Before Used Stuff). Sad to say I've still got a bit of that around.

Winter Photography Scavenger Hunt

After a slow start, I'm halfway through the items on Eileen's Winter Scavenger Hunt. I've seven more items to post today, one of them an alternate.

First off, #2 raindrops. The day of Caleb's birthday party it poured. Once we got him settled in the car, I saw the raindrops on the balloons from the party as well as those on the windshield.

There are no pets here, but Sarah's dog, Sadie, is one of our all-time favorite pets. She's getting on in years but still a beautiful dog. She sits for #5 fur or feather.

A river or canal is #6. I got both in one shot (well, actually, I have two to share.) From a bridge in Genesee Valley Park, you can see where the Genesee River and the Barge Canal cross.

This photo was originally posted as part of "Memos, Mail, Me" a week ago, but is a great one for #7, glassware.

The next two were taken for Sandi's Five in Five meme, but they both qualify for #13, cogs and gears.

When I was driving out of the Eastman Museum on Sunday, I saw St. Paul's Episcopal Church across the street, so I parked and got a photo for #17, a church with a tower.

Lastly, the alternate, shadows. The first one here was also shot for Sandi's meme, and the other at the playground with Caleb while we were in Chicago. I'd be happy to see another 60° day here soon!

I'm keeping the list on my desk now, and hoping that I'll be able to cross another few off during the month of February.