A New Beginning

This flower bud was photographed in my daughter's yard in OR and it seemed appropriate to post on New Year's Eve.  It represents a new beginning that will turn into something beautiful and that seems to be a good way to look at the coming of 2014.  I hope you find a lot of beauty in your new year.

Driverless

Once in a while as you travel about you see something interesting or strange.  I'd put this in the "strange" department.  We followed this car through several intersections and it really appeared that there was no driver.  I think in reality it was a very short female at the wheel, but the car really appeared to move on its own.

Nuts

I tried a new recipe for glazed nuts to give as Christmas gifts.  Found the recipe online and you'll have to take my word for it--they were quite delicious.  I decided to put them back in the original can for presentation but wanted to spruce it up a bit.  I chose a die cut for the Merry Christmas text and added it to a red cardstock circle with some punched snowflakes.  The label is printed on my computer and I added some die cut pine and dimensional paint berries.  

Moving Water

Water is very important in agricultural areas and there are a lot of different ways to divert water or carry it where it needs to go.  This structure is in Idaho and I've marveled at it all the years we've driven by it on trips from Colorado to Oregon.  I have no idea how long ago it was built nor by whom but it is made primarily from wood, holding up well and still in use.  I'm impressed.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!  May you be well and enjoy a relaxing, special day.

The Epitome of Fashion

This fashionista was outside one of the stores at Bridgeport Shopping Mall in OR.  She's so thin she should be worried and she wasn't dressed properly for the chilly temperature but the young and fashionable have their own set of standards so I didn't really feel too badly for her.  I'm all about practical and comfortable so I don't suppose we would ever relate very well.  I did away with some of the background with some blending.

And now it's Christmas Eve!  Are you ready?!  It certainly came quickly and before we turn around it will be a new year.  Yikes.

Christmas In The City

This time of year it's nice to see all the tiny bright lights, soft red ribbon and pine garlands.  That all came together rather nicely in this courtyard where once can sit and eat what they buy at the grocery store.  There are heaters strategically placed to make it quite comfortable.

In The City

This was the scene at one of the stores at Bridgeport Village in Oregon.  I thought it captured the sense of big sales, colorful holiday fashions and traditional decorations in pine, tinsel and red velvet.  The gray draped fabric in the window provides a neutral frame for all the color and the overall scene is inspiration for a card design.

Christmas Color

Seems like every year brings a different color of poinsettia.  This was a collection at the grocery store.  Nice, bright spot.

Central Oregon

Three Sisters peaks near Redmond OR.  Snow on the ground but it felt warm in this area after being in the teens (and chillier) in CO.

Snowy Blend

I decided to try some blending with wintery photos.  The leaves and seed pods on the Russian Olive tree still had snow which added interest to the photo and made a good starting point.  I blended with two textures.  Yes, winter photos have definite possibilities.

Christmas Wreath

This card turned out to be a slow and tedious design because the tiny interior pieces didn't easily remove from the cut wreath.  It didn't help that my metal sheet was packed and I didn't have access to it. Sometimes ya just gotta do what you gotta do.   I cut a circle from the cream-colored cardstock before adhering the wreath and also punched the corners.  My goodness, that's quite an old punch!  The letters were die cut as was the pine.  I added the festive bow and the design was complete.  Not traditional Christas colors but that's one of the reasons I liked the design.

The Positive And The Negative

Yes, it's another die cut and I'm showing you cards I made using both the positive and negative.  I cut the tree from gold cardstock and for the first card I removed the cut and added some sparkly circle stickers and a sparley topper.

The green card shows the positive--the pieces I removed from the gold cardstock.  I carefully adhered them to green cardstock, being careful to save the little center pieces that float free.  Both cards were embellished the same.

I actually like both cards and was happy to have a design that used both the positive and the negative from the die cut.

The Die Cuts Continue

The cranberry strips was folder embossed and cut into narrow strips.  I cut the labels, the smaller one from patterned paper.  I added die cut pine boughs and tied narrow satin ribbon into a bow.  Now that was easy!

Ornaments For The Tree

The photo doesn't show well how this card was made.  I die cut the label design from red patterned paper and a smaller size of the same label from dark green cardstock.  I added texture to the small label with a folder.  The ornament is a stamp I found in the $1 bin (now a $1.25 bin) which I gold embossed and cut out. I stamped the bow portion twice and added it with foam tape for dimension.  The pine is die cut.  Is your tree up and decorated?

Let The Snowflakes Fall

I saw this design in an online class and used both die cuts and punches for he snowflakes, some in white and some in silver cardstock.  The text is silver embossed and I added some sparkly flat sticker dots.  Will there be enough snow to build a snowman? or for a white Christmas?

Merry Christmas Die Cut

I admit that I depended quite a lot on die cuts for my cards this year.  That's because 1) I enjoy using them and the results they give; and 2) my Big Shot was still available for my use.  I cut the "Merry Christmas" from both red and green cardstock, removed the cut from one color and inserted it into the other.  I dislike it when the center of the letters aren't included so I was careful to save those little pieces and get them in place.  The snowflakes were punched and the border was die cut.  I added a strip of narrow ribbon for some variety in texture.  Merry Christmas to all!

Joy

This is a design I found on Pinterest.  There's that snowflake embossing folder again and this time I cut it at a slant and added some color with patterned paper.  The holly and letters are die cut and I added dimensional paint for the berries, some string and a narrow strip of dark green cardstock that matched the holly.  I like this one a lot and used made them until I ran out of the red paper.  Joy to the world!

Leftovers

There were some short strips of paper left from the card design I showed yesterday so I used them for this design.  Just reversed one of the strips (the paper was double sided) and flagged the end.  The snowflakes were punched.  Got two cards out of the scraps; they were quick and I didn't waste much at all.

Snowflake With Flag

This card design is one I got from Becky's class but, of course, I had to modify it to use the paper, stamps and snowflake die cut that I had.  The background was folder embossed and I put a pearl in the center of the snowflake.  Let it snow!

Santa

I've been seeing Santa all over town.  Here he is on a Saturday walking down Main Street and I saw him the day before having a late breakfast or early lunch at The Egg & I.  Now I realize he has extra duties this time of year in the form of guest appearances, etc. but seeing him so often makes me wonder if he is leaving too much responsibility to the little elves.  But they seem to be dedicated to their cause and quite happy so I think they have worked out a system that works for all.  I hope you find what you want under the Christmas tree.

Suspended Snowflake

I had new snowflake die cuts and used them rather extensively in my Christmas card designs this year.  This card requires two identical snowflakes with filament adhered between them.  The filament is taped to the front of the card, centered in the window which was die cut.  The white front is folder embossed and I added sparkly stickers to the center of the snowflakes.  Of course the suspended effect is only effective when the card is open but I think it's a nice surprise for the recipient.  And it's pretty easy to accomplish which is always a good thing.  I'm dreaming of a white Christmas.

Dotted Die Cut

I thought this dotted circle die cut was unusual and a good possibility for some fun designs.  I backed it with contrasting cardstock and added a punched border in the same color.  The snowflakes are die cut or punched and I added a glitzy sticker to the center of the snowflakes.

Leftover Circle

This card started with the circle cut from yesterday's card.  I simply matted it on a slightly larger circle and added a double bow.  The card front was embossed and the green border was die cut.  I removed the front edge of the card and backed it with a thin strip of green cardstock.  I added a wider strip of red cardstock inside the card.  Pretty easy and a way to use the leftovers.

White Wreath

For this Christmas card I cut a circle from patterned paper.  The wreath and poinsettia were die cut and I added yellow dots for the flower center and loops of ribbon behind the flower.  The patterned paper was popped up.  Tomorrow I'll show how I used the circles cut from this design for another card design.

Blended Grafitti

I photographed this graffiti downtown and blended the face (downloaded from the internet) with it.  I added some grunge corders and a text stamp.  Faces and the human form definitely have a place in photo blending.

Face On The Wall

I made a presentation on photo blending to our camera club.  Afterwards one of the members briefly mentioned seeing in a photography magazine a photo of a face blended with trees.  That got me thinking that I hadn't used many humans in my blending so I gave it a try.  The face was downloaded so it's not anyone I know.  The wall is a photo I took in OR.

Last of The Dots

This one isn't so different but since I'm desperate for cards to post, I decided to show it anyway.  I'm working on Christmas cards (inadvertently packed those I had finished) so will be posting some of those now that Thanksgiving is past.

Dots In Three Sizes

For this card I cut off a section of the piece that was die cut and added some patterned paper.  The flower, leaves and butterflies were punched and I put a narrow strip of cardstock between the two paper pieces.

Seeing Dots Before My Eyes

I got this clever die cut for a circular design and had to try it out.  I think my procedure is self-explanatory but you may not be able to tell that I popped up the kraft piece.  The border is also a die cut.  I'll show you a couple variations in the coming days.

Washi Stripes III

Okay, I heard you say, "Enough of the stripes!" and I promise this is the last one.  And by now I think it is rather self-explanatory.  Did you see a favorite?  

Washi Stripes II

Happy Thanksgiving!  I hope you get your fill of turkey and all the fixin's or whatever it is you traditionally have for Thanksgiving dinner.  I like the leftovers as much as I like the first round.

This card was made like all those I've been showing and again I added strips of orange cardstock.  The flowers are die cut and punched.  Pretty simple.

Washi Stripes

Th striped piece started as a square and I cut the corners for a different look.  And the patterns are washi tape rather than paper.  I added narrow black cardstock strips.  As before, the large flower is die cut and the smaller flowers are punched.  For centers I added a brad or dimensional paint.  I'm finding I can make a lot of use out of limited supplies now that I have some of my materials packed away for a move.  But it is also forcing me to be more creative which doesn't hurt a bit.

Stripes III

And here's another variation of the striped card.  This time I added some narrow black strips.  The large flowers are die cut, the smaller ones and leaves punched.  And then I used different materials.  You can see that tomorrow.

Stripes II

This card is quite similar to yesterday's but the stripes are in a different order and I used a different embossing folder.  The burgundy flower is die cut and the smaller flowers and the leaves are punched.

Stripes

Can you believe it?  I actually got some cards made.  They aren't a traditional Thanksgiving theme but I thought the colors were seasonally appropriate.  I stated with a square background and centered a small gold square in the center.  Then it was a matter of adhereing strips of paper, working my way around and to the outside.  Then I put it through my Big Shot with a "swirl" embossing folder.  The flowers and leaves are punches and I added dots of dimensional paint, thin ribbon and a black embossed strip.  Tomorrow I'll show you a variation of this card.

That's The Berries

We had rain this week and I noticed these berries as we came out of a local business.  I couldn't resist taking a photo because I liked the raindrop.  I didn't particularly like the looks of the background so I did some blending to improve it.  With just a bit of drop in temperature it could have been snow on the berry.  When the snow falls I may go back and get another photo--if the birds haven't eaten the berries.

A Bushelful. . .

. . . of cinnamon.  I have never seen this before.  Yes, there are small packages of cinnamon in the craft stores this time of year and there is some in jars with the spices in the grocery store but this is a whole bushel in loose form.  I guess I'm supposed to be using a lot of it - but I rarely use even a single stick.  It makes me wonder.

Gotta Love Potatoes

I'd be the first to admit that this photo is a little strange and not a very good one but it shows what I intended--the smoke ring at the top.  This plume comes from the OreIda plant in Ontario OR.  I don't know why it forms or if it was designed intentionally but I look for it each time we pass by.  A puff of cloud comes out, it slowly drifts upwards and then forms a circle.  Pretty cute, especially for something "industrial."

Clouds Over The Plains

I don't know if I took this photo in Northern UT or SE ID but it was one or the other.  There's some snow on the distant mountain peaks that almost blend with the clouds.  Cloud formations have been unusual in the past few months and they gained my attention.  This one isn't so unusual in its formation but I liked the contrast between the clouds and the plains.  It's more "drive by shooting" as the car traveled at 75 miles an hour.

Desert Color

 

I took this photo because I liked the contrast between the grass and the rock both in color and texture.  I did some severe cropping and for the second photo I added a color gradient.  I like the addition of the extra color and I don't think it distracts from the image.

More Signage

 Because I don't do much of the driving on road trips and I'm unable to do much while riding, that leaves watching the scenery and reading signs.  Between CO and OR there are a number of signs that put the imagination into gear.  I think we all want some bliss in our lives and here's the route to finding it when in UT.

On the other hand, this second sign conjures up some bad times for what may have been a large number of people.  It's on the top of the Blue Mountains south of Pendleton OR and it makes me think of a lot of suffering.  Hopefully in the end things worked out well for these people and they found a little of their own bliss.

Welcome!

These are the states we pass through as we make our way from CO to OR to visit family.  I often wonder how much thought goes into each design and what they try to convey.  OR wants us to know the shape of their state; UT wants us to see a lot of color and know that they have a motto; and ID is just plain Idaho.  The UT sign changes fairly frequently and they had a special one when they hosted the Winter Olympics. The photo of the OR sign is unusual because it is almost always raining when we arrive in OR yet this time it was sunny and bright.  At least we always know when we've crossed into another state and I guess that's the primary goal of these signs.

We've made this trip around 40 times over the past 15 years (plus a few extras when we flew).  That represents almost a month of my lifetime in a car (27.5 days) and a total coverage of 42,362 miles--just going one direction.  Since I always came back home, I have to double that for the total time and mileage.  Whew!  No wonder I want to move closer.  I'm getting too old for this type of travel.

"Like my neighbor? . . .

. . . I don't even know who he is."

This is a very isolated farm in northern UT in early November.  It doesn't seem like anyone currently lives there so perhaps they grew lonely and migrated to where there were more people.  Or did they find this too crowded and move to where they were even more isolated?  Hmmmmm

Curb

While waiting for my daughter to check out at Office Depot, I went outside with phone in hand and found this photo.  I thought the curve was interesting with the white lines adding good contrast and other lines.  The leaves added some color.  I think those white lines might need a little bit of text.

It pays to look at the everyday and see what you can find.