random reflections

April in Pictures

My One Little Word this year is Explore, and I've spent more time exploring sketching than any other item on my list. That's not likely to change in the next month or two because I got way behind in the Foundations course with Liz Steel. I've done a pretty good job of keeping up with my goal of a double page sketching spread/week in my personal sketchbook. I should be able to catch up there in the next few days.

I'm blaming travel---but have no regrets! We were away as many days as we were home in April, and we had a great time. I'm so grateful to be fully vaccinated, and traveling did feel perfectly safe. To be sure, we continued to be very careful--wearing masks, washing hands, and staying out of any crowded situations. 

The first week of April we were with Sarah and her family in Wisconsin. Here's a peek at our time there:

Here's one of the main reasons for going!

We were there for the Easter egg hunt on Easter Sunday. I love watching Hannah run; she has such a graceful (and fast) run!

Caleb is being homeschooled this year by Sarah's co-pastor's husband. They're using a Waldorf curriculum which calls for lots of outdoor activities and big projects. Tracy helped Caleb and Evie with building a tree house in Sarah's backyard. All the sawing and nailing was done by hand. By the time we left, a railing had been added to the tree house.

One day we went on a field trip to the Seven Bridges State Park. 

We had just five days between this trip and the next. Luckily, we had one really nice day and were able to get to Highland Park to see the magnolias most of which were in full bloom.

Then we were off to Kiawah Island, South Carolina. We spent many years here on our Spring breaks when the kids were growing up, and it became our favorite vacation spot. Our last trip to Kiawah was fourteen years ago, so when we were thinking about a way to celebrate the vaccinations, it immediately came to mind. We rented a one bedroom condo for the week and spent our time riding bikes and doing lots of walking. The weather was relatively cool most days, but sunny every day. We had one day that was really warm and went to the beach to read. The wind was so strong, it snapped our beach umbrella in two! It was really old, so we weren't upset, but decided walking on the beach was preferable to sitting there. The beach on Kiawah is wide and rarely crowded in April.

You can see a squadron of brown pelicans flying in the upper left of the photo.

We love watching the shore birds, and also saw White Egrets, Great Blue Herons, Tri-colored Herons, Anhingas, and lots of pelicans and pretty wading birds.

Our second floor condo had a lovely screened porch overlooking a lagoon where we spent a lot of time when we weren't out exploring. This alligator swam by several times a day.

One night we drove to Mingo Point to watch the sunset. This view overlooks the road that takes you to the island.

We've been home for a week now, and are just getting back into the routines of daily living. I've managed to get a couple Mother's Day cards made, but haven't had a lot of time for creative pursuits. Today, however, I'm meeting up with two friends (also fully vaccinated) to stamp. It's been nearly 16 months since we've been together, and I'm really looking forward to it. If things go as they usually do, there'll be a lot more talking than creating!

 

Take Twelve: July

A very quick post before we leave to go camping for the weekend. The forecast for the next three days says temps in the 90's so I don't think we'll get cold. Hopefully our camp site will have some shade!

Here's this month's Take Twelve layout. The teal patterned paper is a bit dull in the photo, but nothing I could do in PSE quickly seemed to help it much. 

The journaling reads:

My day started a bit later than usual and one of the first jobs was to make a new To Do List. I love these Knock Knock pads with the four quadrants. I had an early appointment for my first complete opthamology appointment in several years. I got a great report and don’t need to go back for two years.

The big tasks for the day involved getting ready to host our three-table duplicate bridge group. Some of us have been playing together for 39 years. It’s a fun, social bridge group which is a good thing for us since we don’t play very often.

When I brought some fresh oregano in to chop for the tortilla roll-ups a little ladybug came along. Once I rescued her, I got it all chopped with my Ulu, certainly the most useful souvenir I bought last summer in Alaska. 

The pile of books are this week’s haul from the library. I read The World Without You in just two days---the perfect summer read. I’ve started Gold, and we used the national parks books to help plan our time at Rocky Mountain National Park in August with Matt. 

I thought I’d capture our typical lunches for this month’s layout. Tracy has toast with crunchy peanut butter, yogurt, and milk every day for lunch. I’m not quite so predictable, but usually make a nice salad, and today had unsweetened iced tea.

Here's  a close-up of the bottom border. I cut out the cameras from a border on a 12X12 piece of Amy Tangerine scrapbook paper that I used on a layout previously.

Once again, nearly all the supplies came from the last one or two Studio Calico kits. 

Have a great weekend! Hope yours is a cool one.

 

 

Take Twelve: June

It's actually taken longer to find the time to blog than to get the photos taken (on the 12th) and the layout made (on the 13th). The weekend was wonderful, but very busy. I attended a two-day workshop with groups from nine urban Presbyterian churches who have committed to working together to improve congregational life and health and mission in the city. Our church, the largest and most metropolitan of the group, is not declining, but has been holding steady in membership for the last 10 or so years. Most of the other churches, however, are experiencing decline and have some hard decisions to make. It's hoped that a communal effort will open some options up for renewal. The presenter from the PCUSA was articulate and well-organized. There was a lot of information to digest, and I think it will be bringing new volunteer commitments to my life.

But, here is the Take Twelve layout:

Patterned paper: Neapolitan (American Crafts); Banner: Resort (Cloud 9); doily (Martha Stewart); alpha (Paper Studio); Sticker: Garden Variety (Cosmo Cricket); photo template (Ella Publishing)

Journaling reads: 

One thing I love about the Take 12 project is seeing how different each month is. Last month we were in Oregon. Taking photos was so easy. Today it was raining most of the day, so thank goodness Betsy and Skylar came to dinner. Otherwise the photos would be a bit mundane. The rain stopped long enough for me to get a photo of the garden which I finally finished planting and mulching this week. Best photo: water droplets on the lupine. Tracy’s been busy reglazing a windows. I included a photo of my iPad which I was reading as I was getting my hair done. I like that you can see the title of the current book--Imagine: How Creativity Works. Great read! There are also photos of the new Subaru, and my very first Kichen Aid mixer which I just love.                                      

Happy Mother's Day & Twelve on the Twelfth

Happy Mother's Day! My very best present is being with all of my family on Mother's Day. After church we got a few Mother's Day photos.

Yesterday was the perfect day for 12 on the 12th:

(You can click on the photo to read the journaling--finally figured that out!) We had a great day. When Caleb got up from his morning nap, we headed to the Farmer's Market, and then to an Artisan's Market. After lunch at The Standing Stone Brewery we took a walk and "played" at Lithia Park. Matt and Adam tried climbing a huge jungle gym made from cables. It was a hot, sunny day---just perfect! 

Two Layouts

I'm keeping up with my goal of a layout every week. Here's what I ended up doing with my Take Twelve photos.

Everything on the layout is from a Studio Calico kit, all but the flower from the March Story Teller kit.

The next one is an almost finished layout. I left some room for more journaling since it's an old photo and I know I have more to say---just have to figure out exactly when it was taken. For years, we've taken photos on the front steps. Often they are "good-bye" photos--off to school, off to camp, off somewhere. I'm not so sure about this one though.

When I was cleaning last week I found a whole set of layouts I did in a Technique Tuesday class at the Creating Keepsakes Convention last May. Then I was going through the photo file looking for something else and came upon this photo which seemed just perfect for this layout. I have three more layouts, but haven't seen the right photos for them yet.

Take Twelve

Take Twelve done on the 12th----very unusual. I've even printed the layout on legal sized paper and think I may make a one page layout with it. But perhaps, I'll print each separately and do a two-page layout. I can't decide so I'll post the photos here for now. The template is one from Ella Publishing's Take Twelve set.

I love the two pages laid out together. But for better viewing here they are separately.

The journaling reads:  Maureen came to lunch today. It was her first chance to see our new kitchen. I made a favorite, baked chicken salad, and a new dessert: caramel crunch brownies which are fabulous. I'm still working on the Sunday crossword puzzle, and refilled my little cup with my favorite mechanical pencils. The clementines are sitting on our counter, reminding me to snack on fruit when I get hungry. It works most of the time.

The beautiful flowers were a gift from Maureen. After lunch I took some clothes to the tailors to be altered as well as a lovely article about the tailor's daughter who is now a co-owner. New phone books arrived today. It's always a dilemma to figure out what to do with them, since we use the tiny ones in the kitchen which are not updated. I had to ice my knee (bursitis) while we watched the evening news. This month I'm reading "The Marriage Plot," as well as a book on Lightroom and some travel books on Washington, D.C. ----all on the iPad.

Like Capture Your 365+1, I'm happy to be keeping up with this project. It's fun to record one day a month, something I know I wouldn't do without this motivation. 

Twelve on the Twelfth: Posted on the 18th

I'd like to use the excuse that I'm spending my time holding babies, cooking, and visiting, but the truth is I'll probably always be posting this project a day or two or three later. Nonetheless, I've decided to give 12 on the 12th a try this year. When I get home, I'll add this template to a scrapbook page.

From top left to bottom right:  our room number at the Best Western, Sarah and Caleb, Grandpa and Caleb, Sadie (best dog ever!), the current book group book (very interesting; I'm getting a bit of it read here while Caleb sleeps in my arms), Sadie checking out Caleb in his car seat before we leave for the mall, Sarah and Caleb, Caleb in his stroller, Caleb's mirror on the back of the car seat so Sarah can see him in the rearview mirror (we never had such products when she was a baby!), the mall sign, my Photo365 app, and turkey chili for dinner.

I think I'll try to always have a shot of our dinner and the book I'm currently reading. Beyond that, who knows? It was no problem getting 12 photos here in Oregon. I think it might be more challenging once we get home. Our time here is more than half up; we have just five full days left. It's not going to be easy to leave!