Saturday walk

Make a Smilebox postcard

Just playing around here.  I don't know if a Smilebox presentation is my thing but I thought I would give it a try.
Let me know what you think!

How do you choose?

My favourite thing to bring home from a vacation is a piece of art; a print or photo or a piece of pottery or glass... (And yes... a handful of rocks). I will still likely do that but now that I have my own collection of photos ~ I can display my own art. So how do you choose from such a large selection?

I think it might not always be the best technical photograph or the most awe inspiring but the ones that bring forth a memory of a place or person that I want to see every day.

When sweetie and I went to Hawaii in 2008 (I can't believe it was that long ago) I took over 1300 pictures. Some were very obviously not contenders for display, but many captured  some wonderful memories. This one in particular takes me back to the day we spent trekking through the most amazing botanical garden.  I managed to fill both of my 4GB camera cards that day.  It was sweltering hot, but once we reached the base of the garden, I realized we were deep in the midst of a real rainforest.  It was the most humid place I have ever been.  The sweat just dripped off us. It was also one of the most beautiful sites I have ever seen. The flowers were literally dripping from the trees and for a West Coast gardener, it was Eden.   If you are ever on the Big Island of Hawaii, you really must make time to see it.

Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden

Without fail every morning of our Hawaiian vacation we would grab a coffee at the Starbucks in King's Shops at Waikoloa then head out for our day of exploration. In front of the Starbucks was this gorgeous koi pond.  I took many pictures of the koi and this picture just takes me right back there. I can smell the kona coffee now.

Kings Shops at Waikoloa

This picture was also taken at the botanical garden.  I love the perspective and the pop art rendering of it.  The original photo is okay too!

This is one of my favorite photos of the entire 1300 or so from that trip.    I had put the camera down on the glass table top on our lanai and pushed the button.  This is what was captured.  I love it. 

And the view .... there I am again... drinking a glass of wine... watching the sun set in Hawaii.

Painted garbage cans! What's next?

Yesterday Gladys and I painted a garbage can.   Now I know that sounds odd but I have to tell you it was the most fun I've had in ages.  It's a gift for her son who undoubtedly has a great sense of humour.   She got this idea from a set of pasta bowls that she is giving him, and from the fact that his family is so large they need a full size garbage can in their kitchen. Hard to imagine isn’t it!

The first picture really makes me smile because Gladys is the only one there with a head. (And NO she isn't standing in the can).   For quite a while the fat chef’s were all headless. It was most disconcerting. Once they got heads it even got weirder because none had faces yet. We decided to finish the faces with sharpie pens so the paint has to be really set for that step. I can hardly wait!  Our base coat was Krylon paint for plastic and it was fantastic coverage.   http://www.krylon.com/products/

I love that I remembered my camera for this event, and  I love even more that I can record it in a blog. Now I will have this day forever. Yay!

The more art blogs I read the more I am beginning to realize it isn’t just about the photos or the art that is being produced. It’s about the process and the recording of time going by (so very very quickly).   We are all making a visualtrack of our lives.  Am I allowed to makeup words here?  

Well, Yes I am.    This is my blog.

Here a brief look at our progress ~ with one bonus picture of the cutest (and he knows it) dog in the world.
Fat Chef Weekend pic's slideshow

Popping Pop Art

Sometimes a picture just screams out at me, it is just begging to be saturated with color. I’m not sure what this plant is, a lovely ground cover of some kind I bought a few years ago. Every fall it is covered with these ruby slipper red berries and then the leaves start to turn the most delightful mix of green, yellow and orange and purple.

When I took the picture I had no idea there was blue in the background because the berries were hogging all the attention  :)  Some plants are like that, they just have to be the center of the universe.

Sweetie bought me some Mums at the Heritage Fair this morning.  I think this one looks like fire in color, and in black and white I wonder if you couldn't see the shape of a flower... would you know what it was?

Serendipity

The other day I mentioned to my friend Gladys that while I am still blogging away, I really have no idea what I am doing! She recommended I pick up a copy of Artful Blogging by Sommerset Studio.    Artful Blogging

 I know without question this is what I am after as she is undoubtedly the Queen of Books and magazines (her collection is so extensive she has been known to purchase the same book twice) and she is an author herself ~ her book Embellishing with Anything is a wonderful source of fibre art techniques and ideas. Embellishing with Anything by Gladys Love.

  Be sure to check out the reviews!

So off I go to LeaPenhi Paper Designs, a local source of all things to do with paper.   I locate the book almost immediately and am drawn to another Somerset book simply called journaling. journaling by Somerset Studio.   Both of these as well as a new brayer are coming home with me tonight!   All the way home my mind was racing... which book will I read first?

As it turns out, the journaling magazine kept me up until the wee hours of the night.   I was so excited to read it I had to forgo the movie that sweetie had lined up for us (just too tired) maybe tomorrow night....  This explains why I have been collecting all the pens, scraps of paper and odds and sods of paints, and pictures of words and collections of graffiti art...

Here are a few of the pictures I’ve been hording without knowing why. I am so glad I now know what to do with them!

Thank you so much Gladys! And I really will get to the Artful Blogging soon!  I have to add, that to me these are books not magazines.  The content is truly remarkable.

Inspiration at Starbucks!

What’s to miss about summer...

The onset of fall is undoubtedly a miraculous thing. The smell alone should be bottled. It's so fresh and sweet with everything at its peak of growth, and just a hint of  decay. I  just love  the fall weather, so temperate with wind  that's still warm but gaining momentum.  The intensity of the summer sun is tamed.  With its glut of strong color and the overabundance of everything summer has to offer ~ it is almost too much some times. Yet even so it’s hard to say goodbye isn't it?

We can pack up the outdoor furniture, the hoses, sprinklers and watering wands. Away they go. There’s so much work that goes with summer. Is that the reason we can sigh in relief when it's over?  I wonder how people in perpetually sunny climes feel about one to two seasons at best?   I know  I would miss fall and maybe even winter... .. .

the pull of the Moon

This photo manipulation may be a little pedestrian but I love the look of it. What is a blue moon? 

Can you believe Man actually walked up there over 40 years ago.  Where will mankind be in another 40 years?  I certainly hope I am around to see.

A walk to the beach

Every Saturday I like to walk to the beach.  From my favorite slice of sand it's a beautiful view of the Straight of Georgia to the mainland (as we islanders like to call it).  I think my beach is directly across from Lund.  Anyway, today I took my camera with me and wouldn't you know, by the time I reached the beach I had taken quite a few pictures, yes, shocking I know,  and my battery was dying.  Along the way I spied  a plant that most people consider a noxious weed.  After taking the picture I wondered what is it that makes one plant desirable and another repugnant? I think in the right circumstances I could come to love a patch of horsetail.  How about you?

 

 Today was jellyfish day at the beach.  They were everywhere.  This lucky fellow made it back into the water before the tide went out.  There were so many more that didn't, you wonder how they don't become exinct!                                                                                                                                                                               

My route takes me from the beach along to the mouth of the river.  Upstream is a wonderful run off channel with the most amazing moss covered rocks, downed trees and back eddys that are just ripples of color.   

I love the bubbles that surrounded this piece of seaweed. If you click on the picture to enlarge it you will see what I mean.

Some hidden, some not so much

Have you ever noticed that some fruits are very visible ~ as in the case of these crabapples.  Yesterday I picked four buckets of these lovely little apples.  I managed to give two away, but now I am faced with quite a few cups of crabapple juice.  I love the jelly made from these particular crabapples, it's the most beautiful color, and the taste is out of this world.  It's just with the laundry, vaccumming and general after the weekend cleanup, I don't really have time for this :)   Yet, I did have time to take pictures of them, and even more time to play with that picture.  I really like the result of this manipulation.

Right across the driveway are the filbert nut trees.  You really have to search out the nuts, they are so camouflaged. The birds don't seem to have the same problem I do though, which is why they get most of them.