Scrap Challenge #2

After Jeanne & I scraplifted a design from a blog post we were inspired by a few weeks ago, we decided to keep the little project going. No timetables or anything, just whenever we decide. This time we visited Bazill Blueprints, and this design in particular. I'd saved and printed a few ideas from there, and I'm sure there's a ton more ideas at this site I haven't seen, so I'm sure we'll both find more sketches that we like. Go here to see her take on the sketch!

I used Bazill cardstock, Happiness sticker from Adornit, Friends vinyl stickers from American Crafts Thickers "Sprinkles", swirl stamp and journaling circle stamp from Scrappy Cat. Little butterfly stamp from Inkadinkado's doodle alphabet set. All photos taken between October 2006 and September 2008.

Skywatch Friday

Ok, now I can post the sunset photo I took the other night. It sure was a beautiful one, too. I almost missed it when I was trying to get a good picture of the resident hawk. It looked like this when I first got to the boat ramp, and I got a few nice pics.
Finally I was rewarded with the gorgeous sight of the sun dropping below the horizon....

As always click for the larger image, and feel free to go here to find links to many more skywatch participants from around the world!

Sunset!

Hah! No chance, I'm saving those for Skywatch Friday since I skipped out last week. But here's a picture of a seagull that seems to enjoy watching me wander back and forth along the edge of the pier, waiting for the sun to get further along below the horizon. I also saw the hawk arrive, but couldn't get in close enough to get a pic of him, darn trees. He gave a warning cry 3 times, and 3 times I backed off just enough to keep him from flying away, but no dice on a pic. **sigh** This is the only pic i've gotten of him so far. his butt is in focus, but his head is not. LOL

/weekend..

I had a pretty busy weekend, and I skipped on skywatch this week, but I did take a lot of pics with all the stuff I did do.

We had some mandatory overtime at work on friday, plus an optional half day on Saturday. Next week, same story.

This bird photo was captured while I was in traffic heading to the rally. Parking and traffic was very well organized, no problems at all.

Saturday afternoon, Senator Obama was at Metropolitan park in Jax, FL for a rally. Only 12000 allowed in, but 8000 were in the surrounding area outside the main park.

Funny story: I was walking towards the line, had my camera, and small purse that I was using to carry the other lenses with, cuz I knew backpacks or other bags weren't being let in. volunteers were stopping people telling us no cameras with detachable lenses, or my "purse", so back to my car I went to toss stuff in, then headed back towards the line. After following the line towards the entrance, a truck came around with a bullhorn announcing the gates were closed and that no more were getting in. So, back to my car I went to get my camera again, figured I might get some crowd shots and knew we'd at least get to hear him. Wanted to be there for history's sake..

These are Anhinga birds, they have no oil on their wings, so they have to dry off the old fashioned way!

Today I hit the beach for a walk, and then stopped at Barnes & Noble for some browsing. They moved everything around on me, so it took forever to find the locations of the books I was looking for!

Saw lots of pelicans at the beach, and this bird...Didn't really get as close as I would have liked. Gonna have to look him up.

Brimfield Flea Market

While on vacation, I went to the Brimfield Flea Market with my parents for most of a day. We started with breakfast at the local diner, then headed out to W. Brimfield. I knew there'd be some interesting things to take pics of so I made sure the camera batteries were well charged.

This is me & my mom after we parked the car. We made plans to meet back at the church on the hill at 2-ish, then mom & I headed one way, stepdad went another.

Reflections in big old mirrors were a favorite shot, and I saw some very unique items for sale.

Like a bunch of hands..

And I saw this cool tin, with 2 of my most favorite words ever: Boston & Coffee! Java is a close 3rd, I might add! It was too expensive to buy, so this was as close as I'll get to having it.

Here is a very colorful display of beads.

Last but not least the Church we waited near to finally make our way back home. We walked for about 5-6 hours around the market, and didn't even see half of it. It's huge!

Scrap Challenge..

Jeanne & I were chatting and surfing around last night when we happened upon a certain post on a new-to-us blog. We came across the 2nd layout in the linked post, and it immediately looked like a cool layout for our most recent Boston trip. So, we sorta challenged each other to create a LO based on hers. For those of you new to scrapbooking terminology, it's called scraplifting, and it's usually considered a compliment.

We shared our layouts with each other through e-mail to see what we'd each come up with. Tonight we share them with the world!

Here's mine:

Happy Accidents..

I haven't been down to the boat ramp in a couple weeks, so tonight seemed as good a time as any to head down. The lot was lined with cars, only a couple trailers were waiting on returning boats. The pier had quite a few people shrimping, so I walked out one of the small bulkheads near the ramps. It was a pretty quick sunset, and there was a line of dark clouds on the horizon, so I knew it wasn't worth standing around til it got darker.

As I turned around to head down the short road that leads back to my apartment, I looked up and saw that the moon was rising. And what a moon it was! Not quite full yet, but darn close!

Sky Watch Friday

Today I thought I'd do something a little different, and post some neat photos of the sky. What? Oh. Right. Well, on with it then. :)



Up first is a cool view I saw while we were stopped to pick up some corn while in Massachusetts.

Love the pumpkin field too, it just screams Autumn in sooo many ways! Those sweeping clouds aren't too shabby either!

I caught someone taking a photo of the State House in boston...Jeanne? Is that you?? hehe

We were so glad that the weather held off for us while we did what we do best when in Boston. Next up is one of my favorite sights..as much as I also love a good starbucks, or Seattle's Best, there's just something about Dunkin' Donuts.

And last but not least is a night shot taken enjoying the parent's new fire pit. We toasted marshmallows and made s'mores, and just enjoyed the evening around the dancing flames. You can just see the moon above the tree in the center.

As always stop over at The Official Skywatch Blog and check out some of the links to other Skywatch participants. Have a great weekend all!

Tagged By Craver VII

Last week I was tagged by Craver VII, to tell about 5 ways blogging has affected my life, (positively or negatively) so today I'll post those 5 ways.

1. I originally started blogging (on another site) back in 2005 to keep in touch with friends & family when I moved away from my hometown, where I had lived for all of my 35 years. It was a way for me to share photos, and even the mundane day to day stuff.

2. I've always been pretty easy going, but would quickly dismiss those with ideas or ideals, that weren't the same as mine. Now I listen more to those people in order to learn more about myself, as well as others. There will always be things I may not agree with, but at least I heard them out. This has definitely impacted my work life as well as my blog reading/writing.

3. I like to think my photography has improved. I know my equipment has. ;)

4. Blogging increased my appetite for travel. Not necessarily out of the country but definitely to other states.

5. Sometimes I'm happier sitting in front of the screen, instead of getting outside. It *may* be seasonal, because summer in Florida is just plain mean. Winter I'm at the beach enjoying the 50 degree mornings.

Thanks again for the tag, Craver VII!

******
The rules:
Write about 5 specific ways blogging has affected you, either positively or negatively.
Link back to the person who tagged you.
Link back to the parent post, so she can track the meme. *edited to correct link*
Tag a few friends or five, or none at all.
Post these rules-- or just have fun breaking them.


And I won't tag anyone..but I won't stop anyone from joining in!

Winding Down...

My vacation is winding down now, and I've had a great one! From hanging out in Northampton and seeing Beau's band at Bishop's Lounge on Wednesday, seeing the girls at dinner on Thursday, a visit to the giant Brimfield flea market on Friday, and Boston on Saturday. Sunday was spent going for a drive with my sister and mom up to vermont, then dinner around the new fire pit they (my parents) put in the yard, complete with s'mores for dessert!

But today is crappy, as I'm feeling like, well, crap. Kinda flu-like, sore throat, just general blah-ness.

Zen is a restaurant in Downtown Northampton, looked and smelled delish!

This view is lower Main St, which is mostly restaurants. Fitzwilly's has been there forever, The Toasted Owl, which is part of Fitzwilly's, is fairly new, and they have great wings!

We were treated to a performance by a traveling group of musicians. It was really cool to see & hear them.

More to come...

Skywatch on vacation..

On vacation this week, so I thought I'd post a few pics from my "other" home. First one is my view out the airplane window en route from Florida to Massachusetts. On the first leg of my flight I had an aisle seat, and hated that I couldn't see out the window very well. The sunrise was beautiful to see, so at least I got to see it a little.

My next photo is from last night at Barnes & Noble. Jeanne & I noticed this parachute floating across the sky during sunset. Very cool!!

Last but not least is a nice little storm cloud that was a bit further west from where my parents live. We heard lots of rumbling thunder, but got no rain, so that was a bonus.

As always go here to find links to hundreds more participants of Skywatch Friday.

Really, I have been Scrapping!!

It's been awhile since I posted any scrap pages, but I have done a few these last few weeks. First one is yet another Boston LO..I can never have enough of those! This one mainly has some of my favorite statues, monuments and buildings. Not to mention those gorgeous views from the River Charles.

Next is one I did as a Month-At-A-Glance type layouts..not quite finished as I still need to add in the date numbers, but all the pics I want to add are on there..want to use it for self-portraits as well. Seems I had plenty of pics for the weekends, but had a hard time finding things for early in the week. Hmmm..