• Art - Blog - Creativity

    T Tuesday: changes edition

    This week is one of change. J heads back to college for the Spring semester. Our school is having its final week of the semester. Next week brings new classes for me and Mini-me, just to name a few.  With J heading back to college I’ll once again be expanding my crafty space to include the desk in his room. Perhaps then I’ll catch up with a couple of projects that have hit the back burner over the last month.

    New projects

    I’m creating an embellishment storage booklet. I was inspired by Gayle Agostinelli. So far I only have one page of the booklet completed. It’s not pretty but that wasn’t my purpose. I’m using up papers and extras that I’ll never use. It’s strictly utilitarian. Waste not, want not.embellishment booklet

    I slipped a few random paper pieces in the pockets so they’d actually show up…

    embellishment booklet

    It will make better sense when it’s all put together but basically I want to have a book or booklet with all my small or fussy cut embellishments at the ready instead of searching through half a dozen places for just the right piece I know I own.

    Another new project is actually an old one that I never started. The sketchbook project that I purchased over the summer. Of course, at the time the due date seemed so far away…now its only weeks away.sketchbook project page

    sketchbook project page

    I’m sure you’ll be seeing a lot more of these pages in the weeks to come. My only disappointment is that the pages are so thin…any wet media really soaks through very quickly. I definitely have to keep this in mind instead of just intuitively creating as I prefer.

    Last weekend we finally put away all the Christmas decor. I snapped this late even photo the night before for my obligatory T Tuesday beverage reference. T Tuesday obligatory photo

    Something fun that just came in the mail that I had to share was our “free” Marvin puzzle.

    Marvin puzzle

    I say “free” because for the puzzle itself we had a coupon code making it $0 but then the shipping seemed a bit overpriced so they definitely were making their money somehow.

    I snapped this pretty sky photo when I got to work this morning. The sun was behind a veil of thin clouds…it was a perfect orange disk. The view almost made up for the slick driving conditions from the overnight snow. Almost.snowy morning sky

    Such a bummer…we’re getting snow again right now…in fact, we are getting snow basically every day this week during one or both commutes. Not fun.

    T stands for Tuesday

    What are you doing today?
  • Around home - Blog - Creativity - Outdoors - Photography

    A second look: summer photography wrap up

    I haven’t been using my “big camera” (my DSLR) all that much lately.

    Its a shame really since I love photography. Over the past couple weeks when the weather has cooperated, I’ve tried to get in the habit of using it again. I really need to keep up on my skills…I’ll be taking Senior pictures for Mini-me NEXT summer. Geesh…the time certainly flies.

    Take a look…

     

    9/23/2016

    2016 Summertime Photo Scavenger hunt wrap-up

    The summer has ended and so has the hunt for photos. I like to wrap things up with a recap of the old and any newly snapped photos. This year I only missed one on the list but got an alternative to takes it’s place. In the past I’ve gotten every single one including the alternates.

    1. A “wild heart” – a naturally occurring heart (like the rock above, but it doesn’t have to be a rock)summer photo huntHostas in my backyard

    2. A footprint or pawprint

    paw-print

    Husky paw print

    3. A skeleton, bone or x-ray

    bones-collageAt the orthopedist

    4. A book or magazine read during 2016

    books

    Lots of books…can’t stop reading…

    5. A porch or deck

    deck collage

    Trex Deck at the MN landscape Arboretum

    6. A camper (caravan)

    summer photo hunt

    Camper trailer

    7. A family gatheringsummer photo hunt

    Independence day gathering

    8. A drawing, art project, artistic photograph, scrapbook page, greeting card, or art journal page created by you.summer photo huntObviously this isn’t my only creation of the summer…if you’d like to see more just browse around the blog. 🙂

    9. Someone playing with, in, or around water.summer photo hunt4th of July waterfight….a tradition

    10. A bicyclebikeAt a parking lot next to a state bike trail.

    11. Fresh producesummer photo huntBeans from my garden and CSA box

    12. A windowwindowThe broken remains of my drivers side window…you can read about it here.

    13. The moonsummer photo huntLucky low light shot of the moon over the house.

    14. A buffet of foodsummer photo hunt4th of July gather again…

    15. A team logoteamsSome of our beloved local teams…current and former.

    16. A map showing a trip taken during the time period

    map

    Mini-me and I traveled to Alexandria over the summer for a girls weekend.

    map-2This close-up map has both lakes that we stayed on…if you look closely you can see my reflection.

    17. Twinssummer photo huntI took a bit of liberty with this one just because it made me laugh.

    18. A supermarket cart, basket or trolley full of groceries cart

    Back to school stock up at Target

    19. A seasonal cocktail or beveragesummer drinkMoscow Mule…favorite summer drink!!

    20. Someone laughing

    This is the one I didn’t get mostly because I don’t show faces on my blog if at all possible.

    21. A photograph of you with a newspaper or calendar page from the time period covered in the Hunt. Note: you may not use a substitute for this item.

    timely-photoI believe this one is self explanatory

    Alternatives – if you’re having trouble finding any of the above, you may substitute from this list (but you may not substitute for item #21):
    alternative 1: a lighthouse

    No lighthouse either

    alternative 2: a baby (human or animal)

    alt-baby

    Can you see the baby? Cute little “O”.

    That about wraps it up. I’m not sure what happened to Rinda’s blog as it hasn’t been updated since June but I do know that the Facebook group has been active so I’ll be posting there. I do hope to continue with photo scavenger hunts…they are really fun and a real challenge at times to get creative and think outside the box.

     

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    Thanks for stopping by for Second on the 2nd.

     

  • Art - Blog - Creativity

    Thoughts of Springtime

    This time of year I’m really done with winter. Especially a long, snowy, brutally cold winter. My thoughts turn to warm weather, starting my seedlings and Easter. Pastel colors are everywhere in the springtime. My color palette tends to lean that way as well even when its really one of my least favorites to work with if I’m completely honest. Yet here it is…pastels.

    I think the pastels remind me of rebirth, soft and new…like baby clothes and accessories. Or maybe it’s just babies…spring is full of birth and babies! None here…and that’s 100% just fine. 🙂

    As I take this photo this is my view…pouring rain on the mountains of snow…now we are in a flood warning too.

    We are lucky enough not to live in the river valley so we just have to deal with local street flooding on occasion. So spring really can’t get here soon enough for me.

    Linking up with Art Journal Journey for Hello Springtime

    Art Journal Journey