Oh Christmas Tree

Inspired by the internet Reese and Marley and I made this lovely tree with their handprints.

Three Little Kittens.

I love my new mittens... they are just so ..me. Reminds me of when we were kids and Mom gave us socks to wear outdoors after we had lost our mittens. I am going to try to make these.

Christmas In My Heart

Last night we went to visit Floyd's sister and hubby. She is a incredible crafty woman who sells her beautiful creations. I admired a scarf that she made. She instantly told me she would give me a ball of yarn and a set of needles to get me started making one of my own. As I watched the ruffled scarf rolling out from my needles this morning. It struck me that she had given me such a gift. She could have given me a scarf , but instead she gave me the feeling that comes from creating something beautiful. A touch of the passion she feels for her craft. I hope whom ever comes to have this lovely scarf draped around their neck feels a tiny bit of that. Who knows maybe it will be keeping my neck as warm as it has made my heart.

Perfect Saturday

Saturdays  on the farm dont get much better than this... Pancakes and Paperdolls with a few of my special girlies.

Fairydust

Today we went to see the Fairy Godmother

She showed us rows and rows of beautiful gowns

 

She transformed the young maids into tiny princesses

and they twirled  and danced and floated on air.

What a magical day it was.

Day 6 Lights

I am having a hard time keeping up to this photo challenge.. yesterday morning I baked bread and tarts, made a meal that could be kept warm in the oven. Then I went out with hubby and two helpers to vaccinate the cattle. It was dark by the time I made it back to the house to grab a shower and put that meal on the table. Little time to think about photo challenge and even less energy. I did manage to get this shot of Kim leaving our house in his muscle car. I was excited to see the effect. A ghost car. I would like to try this when I have more time

30 Day Photo Challenge Day 5 "Words"

Some metal words I have been waiting to do something with.

30 Day Photo Challenge "Water"

All the water in the great outdoors is frozen around here , so I had to come up with an alternative plan.Water droplets on a piece of glass worked well.

Day 3 of the 30 day photo challenge.

This is the sweater I plan on wearing today. Usually a tshirt or chunky sweater for me this sweater is soooo soft and cuddly makes me want to hug everyone.

Photo Challenge Day 2 Breakfast.

I almost forgot to do the photo challenge today.

When I remembered it was well past breakfast so I decided to recreate my breakfast.

Close, but the eggs were scrambbled and I added some jalapeno cheese.

Plenty of coffee to follow.

Photo Challenge Day 1

Day 1. Something Shiny.

Would you like to join the fun or just challenge yourself?

Just clk on the 30 Day Photo Challenge List 

Please feel free to post a link to your photo if you are following along.

30 Day Photo Challenge List

I have decided to try a 30 day Photography Challenge.

I think I will start now so that I can be done by Christmas.

I have seen this idea around the web and thought it would be

great fun and a learning experience. I'm all for lurnin'.

I am going to post the results here.

Want to play along?

Post a link to your photo from your blog

or whatever site it's on.It's just that easy.

Ok let's get started.

Day 1. Something shiny         

Day 2. Breakfast                    

Day 3. What you wore today

Day 4. Water                         

Day 5. Words                        

Day 6. Lights                         

Day 7. An animal                  

Day 8. Something white        

Day 9. Clouds                       

Day 9. Hands                        

Day 10. A flower                  

Day 11. A clock                   

Day 12. Interesting shadow  

Day 13. Sunflare                  

Day 14. Texture                  

Day 15. Desert                    

Day 16. From a low angle   

Day 17. From a high angle  

Day 18. An ornament          

Day 19. A toy                      

Day 20. Something pink     

Day 21. Something hot      

Day 22. A smile                

Day 23. Long exposure    

Day 24. A friend              

Day 25. Shopping            

Day 26. What's cooking 

Day 27. Black and white

Day 28. Tied in a bow   

Day 29. Artwork          

Day 30. Self portrait      

Lights ...camera... action.. 

                   

                    

       

Getting into the spirit.

I decided to start a teensy tiny bit of decorating for Christmas. I strung a couple of sets of lights outdoors while the weather is giving us a reprieve.

Mother Nature's bling.

One of the things I like best about winter is hoar frost. These photos taken last week are from my yard one morning when the fog created this beautiful crystal coat over everything. Makes even the mundane clothes line look like something special.

Bling bling

My daughter got engaged last week. She was very excited to show me her ring and have me take a photo of it. It is beautiful and I am very happy for their little family.

Photography Class

Last Saturday I taught a Photography class for the day. It was so much fun. One of the things I asked the group to do was to make a portrait discribing the charactor of their choosen model, without using the face. I couldnt let them have all the fun.So here is my portrait of Laura. I added a bit to it but I think you can tell that she is a funloving , young lady.

Adventures in Collagraph

 I spent a few days now preparing the matrix for this print. This is what the matrix looks like after a few prints. I was excited to try this technique because it seemed fun , easy, inexpensive, and a good way to make a larger print. Also a great way to use up the roll of rice paper I have had in my stash for a few years. The Matrix is made of cardboard that I cut away with an exacto knife. I think I would have been tempted to try something a bit more complicated. After a few cuts I realized that something bolder and more graphic would be easier to cut. I also thought if it was more primitive I wouldnt be so hung up if it flopped. After I finished carving and glueing up the matrix it had to be coated a couple of time with some sort of water resistant coating . That keeps the ink from soaking in and preserves the life of the matrix. That took me a few days to do and I learned a few things here. But it was hard to be patient .... come on dry now... I want to start printing.

These are the prints that I handpulled from the matrix. The first print is done with black speedball ink. I chose it because I had more of it. Living so far out of town has it's drawbacks . One of them being that I am not able to run to the store for supplies.. so I get to use what I have on hand. I didnt like the way it printed in black. So on the second one I added some colour. My colour palette in speedball inks is limited. Not happy again. I do however have a whole shitload  tote full of acrylic paints. Hmmm... thinking. I thought the craft paints would be more the right consistancy , I also used a acrylic retarder to slow down the drying process. That gave me a little more time to apply the paint. Of course I had to try it with my metallics.. love that. For the most part I was not really that happy with the way they turned out. I did like the mottling of colour I was able to acheive and I think number 6 is my favorite colour combo. It is hard to tell hear just what the colours are. Maybe I will take some photos in the daylight so you get the idea. I think I am going to try this again with mattboard. although I love the way the corrugated part of the cardboard prints.

All in all it was a fun experiement.

The printed part of the images is 10"x 27"

Easy Come Easy Go.

Yesterday I cashed in my winning lottery ticket. I spent 24 glorious hours dreaming about what I was going to do with it. Today my daughter needed $20 .. poof there went my dreams.

Melted Ice Cream

Yesterday on my way home from the store , I thought the sky looked promising. I decided to drive  around for awhile. I Was hoping to catch the sun lighting up the underside of a huge cloudbank in the western sky. By the time it got under the cloud there was a film of haze between the sun and the cloud. This created a hazey glow instead of the fire I was hoping to see. Drat foiled again.. but then again this photo I took on my way home from my "secret" vantadge point made me smile. I hope it comes accross as good here as it did on my computer. I have a feeling it will come up small , if that is the case you just need to click on the photo to see it larger.

In perspective

Once in a while, especially when I look at the work of others I feel like I have a long way to go as a photographer. I have agreed to teach a photography class in a  nearby town and so I have been purusing my past photos looking for examples to support my classes. One good thing that has come from it is I get to see all the photos I have taken in past years. I get to see how my photography has grown, and all the lovely photos I have taken. It really is a boost. Sort of the same feeling I got when I saw all my paintings together in a show. Very gratifying indeed.

Farm dogs.

These two are my constant companions when I am out taking photos.
Always curious about what the heck Mama is doing laying on the ground again.
The top one is Bear.. also known affectionatly as Fattyfatty bear dog. She has one of the sweetest temperments of any dog I have known. Below her is Mick. He is a hardworking funloving kinda guy.
He loves long walks, playing ball, and catchin a frisbee.

Jump for joy

I spent far too much time playing with this little bit of silliness

 but I just couldnt resist.

Silly is good!

Play day.

Today I spent some time with the girlies. We had fun just playing.

Then I came home and played some more.

This time with some new photo editing techniques.

While there is nothing wrong with the original,

I thought the new version showed more of the fun we had.

Plus Emily's fav colour is yellow.  

                                          From this

                                          To this.

Pretty things

I got three tutus made last night.

I cant wait to do the tutu photoshoot.

Looking Back

I have been looking over some of my archived photos. 

 I really loved this photo from the past. It reminds me of my childhood,

 even though the subject is my Grand-daughter.

The birds have been flying south. I have seen very few of the little songbirds that visit for the summer. 
This guy will be here all winter. As pretty as the Canada Jay is they still annoy me. They are big and bossy and great hoarders of seed. But in the frozen winter it is kind of nice to look out and see this kind of beauty.

U R My Sunshine.

This is a photo that I took last week at a special photo shoot of a Mom and her young son. I thought it was kinda sweet.

First Day

Today is the first time I have logged on to the internet with my new computer.
The first post from my new editing software.
Seems only appropriate that I should post this pic of another first day.

Fraud with a camera.

 Wandering aimlessly around my yard with my camera , at a loss as to what to shoot, feeling like a fraud with a camera. I dont know maybe it's the weather that makes me feel this way. Yup she is losing it. The bottom pic is the view from under my hammock in the yard. I miss the leaves.

Hello Sweet Pea.

Around here the sweet pea is a cherished addition to the flower garden.

An old fashioned flower grown by sentimental gardener types.

It seems that those who grow them really love them. The other day a friend stopped by for a visit.

She had clutched in her hand a lovely bouquet of Sweet peas swaddled in moist paper towel.

What a lovely symbol of friendship, a gift from the heart.

Every time I get a whiff of the sweet soapy scent I am grateful to have such special thoughtful friends.

Phototherapy

The other day I was having a bad day.

I thought it might be theraputic to go out with my camera.

 My idea was to give in to the cold , foggy, dreary , decaying feeling that I had inside,

 and that seems to permeate outside, now that fall is in full swing.

 I was on the lookout for the most depressing images I could find...

oh yeah I was going to depress the socks offa you guys.

Seems like the universe had other plans for me. 

 Turns out there is inside me,

something that has a yearning for beauty,

an eternal optimist,

 a dreamer,

 a hoper

 and a sense that good always wins.

Sometimes I just need to have it pointed out to me.

 

Colour me delighted.

Look what I found today in my internet wandering. Are these not the neatest things ever? I have to say I love love love the pencil image at the bottom. Done by a carpenter named Dalton Ghetti. This would make a wonderful framed print. and would look great even without the alphabet carving. Sorry the image is so small . I guess I have alot to learn about borrowing images from google. And finally, just to cover my butt, I just want to tell you that these are not my images. Kudos to the creative types that did these awesome carvings.