Serendipity

I'm Coming Back!

2012-02-01T10:58:00.002-05:00

OK, it's a new year, and a new attitude! I'm not sure what I'll be blogging about other than photography and decorating, but I'm going to be making an effort this year, after taking last year off. I'll be starting with MCP Actions' Project 12, which will at least be motivation for me to post once a month! (I'm getting a bit of a late start in February, but whatever. I didn't make any resolutions this year, or else "abolish procrastination" would have been on the list. C'est la vie.

Right now I must go and paint sets for my daughter's play. This year they're doing "Grease" and she is Marty. I can't wait!

Have You Seen It?!

2011-02-08T08:27:00.007-05:00

I'm talking about the new Restoration Hardware catalog. I'd just like to say ****droooool****
Aren't these steel beds and the zinc dresser fantastic?!

...and we all know I'm a sucker for a linen slipcover.

This desk is hilarious, and really tickled my fancy. I'd love to know who is buying it, and where they're putting it. My brother-in-law has a plane, but I don't think he'd put this desk in his house, no matter how cool it is:

This couch reminds me of MY couch, so of course now I want to own that awesome coffee table...

This is sleek and lovely:

*swoon*

The whole catalog has this time-worn washed out wood theme going on, that I'm really loving.

I think I may have posted this pic before. I love a winged bed!

This desk appealed to me right away, and then I looked at the description, and it's a copy of a garment table--I'm assuming one that used to have a sewing machine on it? See? It was meant to be! I love that mirror above the desk too.

Tuft me, baby!

LOVE this table, and would love to have a party around it:

Some day I'm going to find me one of these pharmacist cabinets at an antique store, and I'm going to strip it, and it's going to look just like this:

(hey, a girl can dream...)

This mirror: *swoon* again:

Oh how I wish I could pull off this look in my house. I just always gravitate to color, though. I can't help myself. Color makes me happy! Maybe I'll save this look for my beach house:

(like i said...a girl can dream, right?!)

♥

More tables waiting for me to host dinner parties:

...and last but not least, a closer look at the zinc night stand. I love zinc. I once saw a zinc bathtub at an antique store in Hudson, NY, and fell in love:

Go to RestorationHardware.com to see more of this deliciousness. I'm only like 10 pages into the catalog, and this is how excited I got! :) (Oh, to have millions of dollars to blow....)

Miraculous Paper Sculptures

2011-01-30T11:13:00.004-05:00

Around the holidays, when I was searching the 'net for ideas for my vintage book wreaths, I came across some of the most amazing paper art that I have ever seen. The artist who did the little bird in a tree below is Su Blackwell. You must go check out her website for more of her amazing work. It's whimsical, beautiful, and sometimes even a little bit sad....

This light from Paper Couture is genius, and I'm thinking I'd like to make one some time:

Another artist, Oona Patterson, creates the most amazing things!

These next three are completely different, and are by San Francisco artist Jeff Nishinaka:

I love the soft roundness of his pieces.

I got this pic from DesignModo.com, which is a design website of some sort. I think this was part of an advertising campaign or something. Sorry I'm short on credit for this one. But I just liked the more retro feel of this work:

I think this last one is my favorite from Su Blackwell....a little cabin in the woods:

Someday I'll have one of these....

Winter Wonderland

2011-01-12T22:30:00.006-05:00

I probably should have brought my pots in....*sigh* I hope too many of them don't get ruined.
Maybe when it warms up I can rescue them.

My little Japanese maple is so picturesque:

Remember you can click the photos to see them larger.
They really look much more impressive that way.

I love this stand of young cedars in my neighbor's yard:

These are lily seed pods. These lilies are incredible when in bloom.
I'll have to get a good picture this summer:

Bittersweet:

Love:

I felt badly for the birds today, with all the snow on the ground. Thank goodness all of my neighbors have bird feeders. I think that's why there were so many birds around this afternoon while I was shoveling. I'm glad SOMEbody's taking care of the poor things!

I took this picture from the end of my driveway.
I hadn't shoveled myself all the way out at this point:

If you've got snow, as I know many of you out there do, make the most of it and enjoy it! Spring will come. I promise!

*all of my photos were edited with Photoshop Elements 8.0 and Lightroom 2.0

Snowy Morning in NY

2011-01-08T14:46:00.003-05:00

I love waking up to a snowy morning when the snow has managed to stick on everything and stay there! It's a winter wonderland out there today! It's mild, though, so the roads are all melted. It's the best of both worlds!

My poor flag. I guess I should bring it in for the winter.

I love icicles!

View out one of my LR windows:

See my "when pigs fly" glass figurine from my sister Ann? He's so cute!

View from my DR/office window (side of the house):

And last but certainly not least, my lovely little Japanese maple tree:

I hope you're all enjoying a lazy Saturday. We're staying in and watching movies and football today. Go Jets! :)

Terrariums and Trellises

2011-01-04T15:40:00.005-05:00

Sunday was my Christmas celebration with my best friends, and this is what I made for them:

The one with the kids is for my friend Kelly, who runs a day-care. She takes the kids for hikes and down to the river all the time, so I tried to theme hers along that vein.

Jennifer's husband is a surveyor, so when I saw the mini surveyor dudes,
I knew what I had to do!

I love the kite-flying girl:

(LOVE the Venus fly traps.)

Then, I had BF make me some peony supports for Jennifer, because she has a huge hedge of them. We had seen these supports at Campo de Fiori over in Massachusetts last year, but they were pretty pricey. Luck for me, BF can bend metal!

...and he can weld it too! I had him build these two trellieses/obelisks for Kelly's garden:

Those iron arrows are drapery finials! Cool, right?!

I had to take a picture of this pot that Jennifer's mother gave her. It's a beauty!

Happy New Year!

2010-12-31T16:16:00.002-05:00

Kathleen and Madeline at my sister's house for Christmas:

Me playing with Photoshop:

Winter has arrived:

Here's wishing you all a Happy New Year!

I'm looking forward to bigger and better things in 2011!

Ho Ho Ho!

2010-12-15T10:04:00.005-05:00

Hello all! Long time no blog! My apologies. Not only have I been busy, but I really haven't felt much like blogging of late. Now that winter is settling in, though, I'll probably hop back on the blog train. Don't hold your breath though.

December 5th was this year's Christmas by the River event in Coxsackie, and I had a great time preparing for it this year. I did lots of crafting, which is one of my favorite things to do! I've seen these vintage book page wreaths all over blog land, so I decided to try my hand at them, and this is how mine came out:

The big one was over 24" in diameter, and the small one below was about 12" in diameter. They were a big hit. Everyone kept saying "Oh, how clever! I should try that!" Which, of course, is what I always say when I see a craft that I could TOTALLY do, so I won't pay someone else for it...lol. Between a trunk show I had last weekend, and Christmas by the River, though, I sold two big wreaths, and four small ones. I could have sold more small ones, so next year I'll probably make more of those.

I was in a new space this year--the Town Offices building, and I really liked it. The brick walls and wainscoting were great and fit in with my aesthetic. If all goes as planned, I'll be in the same spot next year.

I made up a bunch of linen pillows, which I am in love with--which is a good thing, because I only sold one of them! BF told me I should have made them in matching pairs. I just think that this was the wrong venue for pillows. So...live and learn. The good news is, they all look great in MY house, so LUCKY ME! Hee!

I made up some felted wool flower necklaces, which I thought were adorable. I sold a few of those, but they were not as popular as I thought they might be. A lot of people liked them, but not many were willing to wear them. C'est la vie. Another lesson learned!

Aren't they cute though?:

I also had some fun with Photoshop and vintage pages from an encyclopedia. I only sold one of these. Again, I think I just need to know my audience, and only the young ladies appreciated these. I think they're awesome, and of course they will look fantastic in my house! Ha!

The stockings and the burlap pillows are gone, as well as all of the felted wool candy canes there in the glass basket. Those sold very well. I wish I had gotten a better picture of them.

Again, me and my crafty self, cutting up old books and turning them into chair art. Me likey!

There's the lovely Kathleen, helping me out for the day. ♥ Oh, and check out my little needle felted santas in with the pillows on the tower. I sold all of those. They were too cute! (Click the pics to view them larger.)

I didn't make much in the way of new jewelry this year, because I was too busy crafting all the other stuff! Next year I think I'm going to head in a different direction with the jewelry--a little more dainty, with more silver chain involved. What I had, did sell well though, so I'm happy.

The vintage lace on this pillow was given to me more than ten years ago by my friend Kelly in a big box of vintage trims. Isn't it pretty?

As you can see, I have once again updated my blog background. I wanted it to be wintery. Of course, now that I see it all up and in my face, it looks kind of dreary, so it may change yet again soon! Thanks for stopping by after my hiatus. I'll try not to stay away so long next time.

If you're local, come to Proctor's this weekend for the Melodies of Christmas. All of the net proceeds benefit the Melodies Center for Childhood Cancer and Blood Disorders at the Children's Hospital at Albany Medical Center. My darling daughter will be singing in the Empire State Youth Chorale. If you can't come to the show, they play it on TV (CBS) on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day as well. Look for her smiling face!

John Derian

2010-10-26T08:17:00.005-04:00

Damn he's cute, isn't he? I don't think he's batting for my team, though. Shame, that.

Have you all seen John Derian's decoupage work? I'm in love!
(Click below to enlarge the pics.)

Imagine my surprise when I came across this page on his website. He's selling TREE FUNGUS for anywhere from $140-$350!! The "artist's" name is Mark St. Clair, and the tree fungi are "kiln dried and mounted for easy hanging." I had to laugh, because ONLY someone who lives in a city and has never taken a drive through the woods would possibly BUY one of these things, would they?! I mean, I just drove by a tree with four of them on it the other day! It just kills me, the stuff people will pay money for.

Of course, this IS a post about little pieces of paper glued to the back of glass plates, so I'm one to talk. Heh. I'm thinking that instead of breaking the bank and actually buying one of these things, I should try my hand at it myself. What do you think? Good craft idea?
I love this hosta:

And I'm *swooning* at this cloche:

....and this compote:

...and this one:

And it all started, once again, from an email in my inbox, with a photo of a linen chair. What's up with the marketing ploys? Is someone out there reading my mind? I had no idea John Derian sold furniture. (You can get it at the Hammertown Barn if you're in upstate NY. That's who sent me the email.) So that's what prompted me to head to his website and rip off all the pics for my blog post today. :)

Can you stand it? I love the lines of that stuff!!
So THEN, when I was looking at what was new in my blog list to the right, Catherine Nolin had posted another painting, and it was a gorgeous chair! I love chairs. And her paintings are bright, happy, and lovely:

See how one thing just leads to another in my world? I need to stop surfing so much! I just keep seeing more things I WANT. I guess the good news is, I've always been good at window shopping, and resisting the urge to spend money I don't have. Well, for the most part anyway.

Cool Autumn in NY

2010-10-25T10:45:00.008-04:00

Tess wasn't up for posing, but Kathleen was! :)

She's really an indoor cat, but both Kathleen and BF insist on bringing her out for little outings, which on this day, involved Tess running under the neighbor's porch, and Kathleen looking at ME like I was supposed to do something! I said "Go GET her!" Geez. Don't look at me with that stuff. I told them both to keep the darn cat INSIDE. Whatever.
Nobody listens to me around here.

I love this shot I got of Kathleen standing in a bunch of cattails. I thought it was cool that her hair matched the grasses, and the way she looked right at the camera--perfect!

....and then she ran away...hee!

The other morning, there was frost on the field as the sun was coming up and hitting the tips of the trees. I love the ever-changing landscape around here. Just a few weeks ago, the field wasn't mowed, and the grasses and wildflowers were tall and glowing at sunset.

I am going to try to work with purpose this week, and see if I can pull myself out of my funk.
Wish me luck!

Gorgeous Grasscloth

2010-10-19T17:16:00.004-04:00

Ok, since my last post about linen got everyone all excited, and the one I did yesterday about how fall depresses me got NOBODY excited, I thought I'd go back to my decor musings.

I'm dying to do grasscloth wallpaper somewhere in my house. The dining room seems like the most logical place.

Nobody really sees my hallway to the upstairs except me and Kathleen, so that's probably out...

...although this little landing looks an AWFUL lot like my stair well...hmmmm....maybe just on that one wall?

I think the little settee and the wood cabinet got me more excited about this photo than the actual wallpaper did:

Do I have a nook? I need a nook!

I like the idea of popping it with color....so perhaps grasscloth in the DR with my red bamboo chairs in there instead of in the kitchen?

Another nook!

Hmmmm....I COULD put it in my bedroom...would look great with what I already have going on in there, don't you think?

Although I would never have the guts to do this myself, I'm loving this Phillip Jeffries
green grasscloth:

Hey Sally...when you send me my other four bamboo chairs (hee!) I could paint them all white and it would look like this!:

If I had lots of money and a way bigger DR, I'd love upholstered chairs. But that's never happening. That chandelier, however, is sort of what I want to do with my existing POS brass chandelier. My plan is to buy the parts for a drum shade, wrap it in linen, and install it over the brass chandelier--having painted the brass chandelier a fun color first, of course:

It's on my list. My never-ending list. *sigh*

Inertia

2010-10-18T13:07:00.005-04:00

The Autumn

~Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Go, sit upon the lofty hill,
And turn your eyes around,
Where waving woods and waters wild
Do hymn an autumn sound.
The summer sun is faint on them --
The summer flowers depart --
Sit still -- as all transform'd to stone,
Except your musing heart.

How there you sat in summer-time,
May yet be in your mind;
And how you heard the green woods sing
Beneath the freshening wind.
Though the same wind now blows around,
You would its blast recall;
For every breath that stirs the trees,
Doth cause a leaf to fall.

Oh! like that wind, is all the mirth
That flesh and dust impart:
We cannot bear its visitings,
When change is on the heart.
Gay words and jests may make us smile,
When Sorrow is asleep;
But other things must make us smile,
When Sorrow bids us weep!

The dearest hands that clasp our hands, --
Their presence may be o'er;
The dearest voice that meets our ear,
That tone may come no more!
Youth fades; and then, the joys of youth,
Which once refresh'd our mind,
Shall come -- as, on those sighing woods,
The chilling autumn wind.

Hear not the wind -- view not the woods;
Look out o'er vale and hill-
In spring, the sky encircled them --
The sky is round them still.
Come autumn's scathe -- come winter's cold --
Come change -- and human fate!
Whatever prospect Heaven doth bound,
Can ne'er be desolate.

The first few stanzas of this poem really speak to my feelings these last couple of weeks. I’m remembering what a wonderful summer I had, relaxing on many of those sunny, warm days by the river and in my yard, and enjoying the water, the birds, and the flowers. This was one of the loveliest summers I can remember. Last year’s was short, rainy, and filled with mosquitoes. This year there were NO mosquitoes, and we could sit outside and enjoy the day without dousing ourselves in DEET.

The fall often brings me this paradoxical joy and melancholy. I love the beautiful colors and crunch of leaves under my feet, and the crisp air in my lungs, but I also feel a strange sadness—not a sadness that summer is over, but that SOMEthing is over and dying. It must rest through the winter, where I will cozy up and hide for a few months, and then spring will bring with it the new beginnings and the fresh start of the new year. In this way I feel like my "mental" year is dictated more by seasons than by months.

I think I’m feeling older this year as well. Watching Kathleen grow is an absolute wonder and a joy, but it is also a reminder of the years speeding by, and that what is happening now, will soon be “remember when?” I do find myself looking forward to her future, and what lies ahead for her with college, career and family, and in my next thought I’m sad (and angry?) that my mother is no longer here to witness my life and her grandchildren’s accomplishments.

There is also a restlessness in me that has been eating away for a while—a feeling that there is something more out there waiting for me, and that I need to do something about it to make it happen. I’ve always been prone to this sort of inertia—where thoughts and ideas spin around in my head like little fireflies in a jar—where the hope of making something happen just sort of floats there, trapped. The last time I can remember kicking myself in the ass to change this, was when I left my husband 11 years ago. I’m thinking it’s time I gave myself another kick in the ass, don’t you? Eleven years is a long time to go without exacting any true change in my life. This is not to say I’m going to kick BF to the curb. What I AM saying, is that I need to wake up each morning with a PLAN for what I’m going to do to make my life better. This is more than what I HAVE been doing, which is waking up each day and going through the motions. Hmmm….could this be my mid-life crisis? The timing seems right… ;)

Wow. This got deep. It’s a good thing there aren’t many of you out there reading this drivel—you might become depressed! My apologies. Read the poem again. It’s uplifting.

P.S. The top photo was one I took of Kathleen last week on one of our photoshoot outings. The other three were taken by either Kathleen or Madeline yesterday afternoon, and edited by Kathleen in Lightroom. Those kids have potential! ;)

Take a Seat

2010-10-07T17:11:00.007-04:00

I'm not usually one to take pics off the internet and repost them here, but let's blame it on Schumacher today, shall we? I received an email today with their new furniture line in it, and the above sofa (the Hayward, in a luscious velvet) was featured in the email. So I wanted more. And where do I go when I want MORE of something--ANYthing?? Why, GOOGLE of course!

So for your enjoyment, I've gathered some of my favorites for you to enjoy. I'd also like to know if there is a self-help group for linen addicts out there. If so, let me know, will ya'? Thanks.

This post is dedicated to my friend Sally, wherever she may be. :) I know you're out there somewhere, woman!

Homecoming 2010

2010-10-04T12:12:00.003-04:00

Remember last year's Homecoming dance? Well, since then, Kathleen has shed her braces, and grown a couple of inches, and it seems like she has instantly, overnight, just-this-minute, become a woman. I'm scared. I need to dig out some old baby pictures and post them, so you can see what I mean. I'm sure I snapped them yesterday. They've got to be here somewhere. :-/

Is Summer REALLY over? :(

2010-09-25T10:26:00.006-04:00

Here I am, slacker blogger extraordinaire, back with more gratuitous pics of Kathleen and my niece Madeline on Cape Cod. Since I last wrote, school has begun amidst a flurry of course changes and first-week activities, and I've just been trying to adjust to the fact that real life has actually begun again, and I am no longer on vacation! It's time to make the doughnuts! :)

I took the kids to Race Point Beach in Provincetown for a sunset photo shoot, and I think I got some winners! These kids make great models! Be sure to click to enlarge the pics--they look much better bigger!

I know the jumping could get old, but it makes for a good picture, doesn't it?

...balancing on the log, trying to look natural....

...and then losing their balance...

*sigh* my girl.

They look like sisters, don't they?

I loved this shot. The colors were amazing:

This one was ok, but the sky was kind of boring, so I layered it up in Photoshop, and this is
what I came up with:

I'm hurting for reading material now. I read "Mockingjay" on my sister's Kindle after Kathleen finished it. I'm thinking I may need one of those Kindles! God, I am such a sucker for cool technology, and that Kindle is COOL! I've hit a lull in the reading, though, so I just added a bunch of Amazon's top ten for the month to my library requests. We'll see if any of them are any good. I'm hurtin' for a good read.

I had my 26th high school reunion last weekend. What a riot that was! We had a pretty good turnout--107 people out of a class of about 200, and only a few of them were spouses! It was great to see people I haven't seen since we graduated, and some since our 10-year reunion. It was also quite interesting to find out that a BUNCH of people are local and I NEVER see them around town! What's up with that? I suppose it's because the only place you would actually SEE anyone in my small town is if you happen to catch them at the town hub: Stewart's. LOL. This place needs a pub. For real. Oh well. I've got a lot more Facebook buddies now, and hopefully we can expand the circle for the next reunion five years from now. I'm thinking we'll have to make it a weekend event, so that we have more time to visit with each other. I figured out that I only had about 3 minutes to spend with each person last Saturday. And I KNOW I didn't get to talk to everybody! *Sigh*

P.S. Has it REALLY been 26 years since I graduated? How is that possible?

Cape Cod 2010

2010-09-01T11:33:00.004-04:00

Fun! We're headed to Provincetown later today to check out Race Point Beach, and we'll be making a pit stop in Truro at the Atlantic Spice Company to pick up some spicy goodness!

A Day at the Fair

2010-08-23T19:57:00.007-04:00

My sister and I took our kids and two of their friends to the Altamont Fair last week, and of course I had to take some photos....and play with them in Photoshop Elements 8.0 and Lightroom 2.0! :) The picture above is a montage of two pics, and the one below was taken from the haunted house and superimposed on that cool concrete texture. In reality, it was painted on the side of a metal trailer.
The next two shots were processed in Lightroom using a weird HDR effect from a preset....and then I desaturated it too. I like the effect....almost looks cartoonish.

I especially love the colors in this one:

The moon was beautiful toward the end of the day, and the clouds were turning pink:

It looked so pretty with the colors of the tents and rides:

I like this shot because niether Kathleen or her friend Emily knew I was taking the shot. Emily looks a little dreamy here. :)

I think I took about ten shots of this ride while it was going. I'm happy with this one:

The fair looked much cleaner, brighter, more colorful, and happy this year. Maybe it was just my perspective? Not sure. But I loved this booth:

...and this ride:

...and of course it's not a fair unless there's a ferris wheel!
(It's the only ride I rode all day. I'm getting too old for this stuff.)

So...since I last wrote, I have read "To Kill a Mockingbird" (and watched the movie), "A Wolf at the Table" by Augusten Burroughs, and another of his, "Dry." I also read "Push," which is what the movie "Precious" was based on. Oy, what a book. It certainly makes me thank God for my many blessings in life. I daresay I should NEVER complain about ANYthing again! Oh, and just for kicks I chewed through James Patterson's "Alex Cross's Trial" in one day.

I have also done a cursory cleaning of my sewing room, which allowed me to finish some projects that had piled up. I have my eye on some storage shelves at Target that are half the price of the ones I saw at IKEA, so as soon as I get some moolah, I'll be grabbing those and getting organized for the busy season ahead. (At least, that's what I'm hoping for! ) I'm off to Cape Cod next week with BF, Kathleen, and hopefully my niece Madeline, so I'm looking forward to that fun ending to my summer of leisure! Then it's back to the grindstone for me! :)

Playing in Photoshop Elements 8.0 Again

2010-08-07T12:59:00.004-04:00

You may recognize Kathleen's jump from my post the other day. I played around in Photoshop and put her in this field. Pretty cool, eh?

....oh, and I tied her up (in Photoshop only...lol) on the train tracks and added a freight train too: :)

Riding the Rails

2010-08-01T15:35:00.004-04:00

....aka my afternoon photo shoot with Kathleen. I know it's overkill, posting all the pics that I did, but she was a great subject! I wanted to share! All of my post processing on these was done in Lightroom 2.0, so no textures have been added. Click to enlarge.

Everything looks better bigger! (<---my motto) ;)

Fix It Friday #64

2010-07-30T10:08:00.006-04:00

Today is Fix it Friday over at I Heart Faces, so I thought I'd give it a go! I used Photoshop Elements 8.0, and my first step was to crop the pic, and then run the Coffee Shop Perfect Portrait action. Then I added a texture from Shadowhouse Creations as my background. I'm not in love with the way it turned out, so I may play some more, but I like the way the texture warmed up the whole pic. Click to enlarge.

Yaddo Gardens and Other Stuff I Saw While My Kid Was at Six Flags

2010-07-29T14:57:00.005-04:00

I brought Kathleen and three of her friends up to Lake George to Six Flags Great Escape yesterday. She had a great idea for me: Instead of me paying $40 to go into the park and park my butt somewhere to read for 9 hours, why didn't I just drop them off and go DO something?! Well, I thought that was a swell idea, so I dropped them off--two girls, two boys, all 15 yrs old (but NOT a double-date or anything like that!)--and I went cruising!

I had to go back down to Saratoga Springs to drop off some cushions and bedskirts for a customer, so while I was down there, I pulled into Yaddo Gardens, which I haven't visited in a few years.

There were koi fish in the large center fountain!
This picture was rather foggy, so I went with it, and put it behind this awesome glassy water texture. Cool, right?:

Ooops....photos are out of order....this pic is the view from my chair at Moreau Lake State Park, where I spent the majority of my day reading books and leafing through decor magazines. It was within 15 minutes or so of the park, in case the kids needed me, and it was cool and peaceful in the shade of the trees, with my water view:

There were lots of pretty things to take pictures of at Yaddo:

These girls were there for a photo shoot of some sort. They looked so cute in their little white dresses, I couldn't resist sneaking a shot:

This pergola was striking...so long and pretty!

...and I made it spooky with a texture from Shadowhouse Creations!

There were four of these statues at the perimeter of the rose garden:

This one was in the center of a quatrefoil shaped fountain at the beginning of the garden, and I played with three textures, and posted them all for you! Click to enlarge any of these pics...you can see the differences better that way:

That's it for today! I'm going to the movies in a few hours with my friends, and then hopefully out for a nice cool beverage and some girl talk afterwards. In the mean time, I've got sewing to do up in my sweatshop! ;) Have I ever shown my sweatshop to my bloggy buddies? I don't think so. Well, it's due for a big time makeover, so maybe I'll add that to my list for the summer/fall.

Playing With Textures in PSE8

2010-07-27T18:34:00.007-04:00

Jerry, over at Shadowhouse Creations, uploaded some new textures today, and I thought I'd play around a bit. I took this picture of a yellow swallowtail butterfly last week when I was working on my headboard:

We had a family party in Windham this past Sunday, and I got some great shots of Kathleen that I've been playing with too:

This is a hens 'n chick pic from a couple of years ago, with one of Jerry's aged photo textures:

...and some pansies

...and a hosta flower

What kills me, is that I've been adding textures on TOP of my photos, with the photo as the background layer, and then using different blending modes to get a certain look. Well, Jerry posted some examples today and said that he used the texture as the background, then added the photos on top, using the Overlay layer style. Genius! Why hadn't I tried that before? It's the simple things, sometimes, that thrill me!

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In other news, I have finished "Running with Scissors", by Augusten Burroughs, and oh my, what a life that guy has led! The story was a bit of a surprise, after having read his brother's book "Look Me in the Eye" a few weeks ago. The brothers have very different writing styles, and I guess I was thinking that "Running" was going to be a little lighter for some reason, but I found that it was really quite dark and disturbing at times. I loved it, though, and followed it up with "Magical Thinking", which is a collection of stories mostly from his adulthood. I've got the "Running with Scissors" movie in my Netflix cue...in fact, it may be coming tomorrow...not sure. I've also got "Dry" and "A Wolf at the Table" (both books by Augusten Burroughs) on order at the library. I'll be all Burroughs'd out by the time I'm done reading everything he's written! :)

I've been a reading fiend this summer. I've read "The Girl Who Played with Fire" and "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest" after seeing the first in the trio ("The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo") at the movies. They're great action/adventure/intrigue reads, and the next movie is coming out this week, and I'm seeing it Thursday with the girls.

I've also read "Island Beneath the Sea" which follows a slave's life from Haiti to New Orleans over a span of 40 years. It's beautifully written, and if you're a fan of historical novels, it's a real winner. I also finally read "To Kill a Mockingbird" at the age of 44. Pathetic, I know. Especially for an English major. Whatever. Better late than never, right? "The Help" was an earlier read, which I think I may have mentioned here, but it's in the same genre of race relations as the two above, so I thought it was worth another mention. It was one of the more beautifully written books I've read in a while.

Rose, I just finished a book that I think you should read! (I'm hoping you made it this far in my blabbery post to see this! LOL!) It's "My Stroke of Insight" by Jill Bolte Taylor. She's a neuroanatomist who had a stroke at the age of 37, and it's the story of her experience during the actual stroke, and of her recovery over a span of I think seven years, and her discovery of her right brain's capacity for nirvana, when unencumbered by her left brain's linear, more logical thought. I just kept thinking of you and how you seem to have found a way around your left brain that brings you very close to what Jill Bolte Taylor is describing as her newfound way of looking at the world. It's very interesting, and I'm strongly suggesting that you grab it from the library and tell me what you think! I would also like to thank my invisible friend for the unwitting recommendation. You know who you are.

Ok, that's it for my book recommendations for now. It's funny. I feel like I'm definitely making up for lost time with all this reading I've been doing this year. The only TV I've been indulging in is The Bachelorette (Frank! I miss you! And Ali was in love with you, you idiot!) and Design Star, which has been a HUGE let-down this season. I don't even know why I'm bothering. The challenges are lame, and the execution and judging even moreso. I think I'll just go read a book.

My Vintage Door Headboard Project

2010-07-20T15:14:00.011-04:00

So...this is one of last weekend's projects. My friend Sandra gave me this door two years ago, because I wouldn't let her throw it away. She said "What are YOU going to do with it?" and I said "I don't know, but I'll think of SOMEthng!"

So....I've been letting it weather outdoors next to the garage through 8 tumultuous seasons, and this is what has become of it:

Yes, I agree. It's kind of gross. But I can totally see the potential in gross.
So I started scraping and sanding.

I love my king sized bed, even though it pretty much eats this tiny bedroom for lunch:
Oh, and I hardly ever make my bed. Unless company is coming. (Which was this past weekend...so I actually broke down and made it on Saturday....but I digress)

I went down into my basement, which is also set up with my chop saw, and found some old chippy molding hanging out in the rafters. I pulled it down, and put it under a 1 x 6 board that I had screwed to the top edge of the door:

This is the front of the headboard, all screwed together. I just put 1 x 3" legs on the back. I probably should have put one in the middle for more stability, but I didn't.

Because really, I'm just lazy, and always looking for the quick fix.

This is the back side of the door, which I thought I was going to like for a cottagy look in my bedroom, but really, it just looked like a hot mess. So I painted the other side.

Oh, and did I forget to mention that no matter what I did, I couldn't get that darn handle hardware off? So I just worked with it, and hung a tassel.

I was impressed with how all that crappy wood could clean up so well! See? :

Now I can read in bed without worrying about all 72 of my pillows falling down into the black hole behind the bed. It's pretty cool like that. Also, I don't have to have a curtain that keeps getting bunched up behind my pillows, and I don't have to worry about breaking that window any more. It's all good! And since I've taken these final pictures, I've moved the painting on the right up, and added another on the left, to balance things out.

You like?

Join the Transformation Thursday party over at The Shabby Chic Cottage and see lots of other projects, big and small! Also, at Beyond the Picket Fence, you can see lots of projects that were done for under $100! Mine, as you can see, was free! (But that's just because I have lots of crap lying around here waiting to be dealt with.) ;)

Patio Afters, Garden Gifts, and Fountain Projects

2010-07-09T13:42:00.007-04:00

Sometimes I find myself wondering when Blogger is going to give me the big boot because I use up so much bandwidth with all my pics. Oh well. Until that day comes, I'll keep posting photos, because I can't help myself.

First up, my new Rose of Sharon from my friend Jennifer. Birthday gift. I've got great friends, don't I? It's all white, and I'm thinking a supporting white garden is in order. What do you think?

This is an almost-after shot of my new-to-me rattan furniture. The seats are covered in a stripe that matches the floral on the couch, but I still need to cover all the back cushions (which I bought ready-made for $10 each, because I can't make them for that) in the floral, which was back-ordered and which I have finally received.
The stripe that's on the seat of the chair above, will then be going on these back cushions on the sofa below. Did you hear me when I told you I got the couch, two chairs, and the ottoman for $50? Bargain! I think I paid a total of $110 or so on fabric, and $50 on those back cushions, so all told, I got comfy new outdoor furniture for $210. Not bad!
I can't get over how tall my coneflower is this year! It's so pretty, and obviously VERY happy where it is!
I finally potted the little trees that I left in their original pots for a year. It's a miracle they survived, and I love them flanking my front door in those pots from Lowe's.
This is my new Japanese maple, which was a birthday present from my friend Pat. I love it SO much I can hardly contain myself. My plan for the front yard is to put up a fence along the top edge of the hill to enclose a little cottage garden, so I planted the tree on what would be the outside corner of the fenced in area. I hope I can get that fence up this year.
So here's what you've been waiting for, Diane! My new patio pics! I wet the stones, so that you could get the full effect of how awesome it all is. I'm so happy. I spend a LOT of time out there now.

When I took my sad little pine trees out of these tall planters, I inserted a reasonably sized square planter inside them so that I could actually plant them this year. I'm happy with the way they came out. The lilies were burgundy when they were blooming, and were lovely. I'm going to transfer them to a garden bed, and plant the begonias in their place now.

Here's what I have so far at the back of the house. I basically threw in some plants that I hadn't put in the ground last year, so it's a little sad. I also haven't curved it out or edged it with anything. All things in time, right?

Here's a fountain that I fashioned from what I think was supposed to be some sort of floor vase. I bought it at a garage sale for $5. I then filled it with pea gravel and a pump, and voila! Instant fountain! :) When I told the lady at the garage sale my plan, I could see her disappointment that she hadn't thought of it first! Ha! C'est la vie!

These are some pics for Rose. This one below of The Kiss is unretouched. I took it through the lens of my polarized sunglasses:
I did manipulate this one, but I think it looks REALLY cool like this:
I did this next one in b&w too, because it just felt right:
And here is the sailboat pic that I manipulated on my last blog post. This is the original shot, pretty much. I think I did some vignetting on it, but you get the idea:
...and here is the original shot of the kiss photo that I went crazy with on my last post. It too is a nice shot, but I like having fun with Photoshop too! :)
Thanks for looking, y'all! I just got back from the library, where I picked up another four books! I tell ya', I'm on a roll! I'm in the middle of "The Girl Who Played with Fire" by Steig Larsson. I saw the movie "The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo" a few months ago, and this is book two in the series. I like it! Is anybody else out there reading? What's on your book list?

Is It Just Me?....

2010-07-05T22:15:00.007-04:00

....or is the premise of the new show "Downfall" disturbing to anyone else out there? I haven't even seen it yet. I've only seen the previews, where thousands of dollars worth of perfectly good merchandise is being tossed off the edge of a 10-story building, if the contestant doesn't answer all of the questions in the right amount of time (or something like that). All I can think about when I see those previews, is all of the people around the country who are out of work, struggling to put food on the table, while Hollywood throws cars off of a roof for our "entertainment." What the heck is going on with this country? It's pathetic. That show is only a symptom of the whole "hell in a hand-basket" thing that's going on. And now, with Vienna and Jake broken up, I can't even IMAGINE what's going to happen next! :-P Ugh. I can't believe I even turn my television on any more.

I have been reading a lot, though, so that's a good thing. I just finished "Look Me In The Eye" by John Robison. He's a grown man who was diagnosed with Asperger's when he was in his 40's, and the book is a memoir of his life, through the enlightened eyes of his newly-diagnosed self. It's a great story, and a must-read if you have, or know anyone with Asperger's. His brother wrote "Running With Scissors" so that's next on my list. It's also a memoir, so it will be interesting to hear the other side of the family story through the eyes of the "normal" brother.

And now, for YOUR entertainment, I bring to you some photos from my San Diego trip. Please click to enlarge them....these little ones don't do the pics justice at all:

The Kiss statue, next to the Midway navy ship (boat? whatever.)

I took a TON of pictures of this, and doctored this one in Photoshop. What a sight to see, in real life. It was HUGE!

In the same park, was a collection of bronze soldiers all standing listening to this one of Bob Hope. It was beautiful:

The sailboats were incredible that night. I took this shot through my polarized sunglasses, and then played around a little in Photoshop:

...and another sailboat shot:

...and THIS one was taken by my lovely daughter. The subject is my niece Madeline, and I took some liberties with the photo in Lightroom...but not many. Kathleen has a great eye. She took a couple of other shots of Madeline that I'll try to post too. This was taken at Lake Taghkanic state park last week. We've been there twice in the last week and a half. We love it there!:

I have lots more to say, but I'm on to another book about a kid with Asperger's who is accused of murder. I don't know what got me on the Asperger's kick, but it's very interesting reading, and I feel like I'm learning too! Bonus!

The Makings of a Bluestone Patio

2010-06-24T23:54:00.006-04:00

This is my back entrance. I know, I know, it looks like crudola, but this pic was taken WEEKS ago! I've cleaned up a bit since then....and things have changed!

When I first looked at this house, I just loved the bluestone walkway against the back of the house, but realized how impractical it was, since it butted rightupclose to the foundation. I mean seriously, who walks rightupclose to their house to get into it? Not us!

So the rocks came up, and were destined for THIS lovely spot:
(again, a wreck, I know...I hadn't mowed yet, and BF brings those damnable pallets home all the time...I finally foisted those upon my sister last week. I don't know what she's going to use them for, and I don't care. They're gone. That's all that matters.

In preparation, BF mowed the grass VERY short. Hey, see that rattan couch over there in the background? You'll see that transformation soon too! ($50 for the couch, two chairs, and an ottoman. Ka-ching!) I also spray painted the rusty fireplace with stove paint.

Note the sad little tree that never got planted last year. Well, it's planted this year, along with its brother, and they are both in lovely pots flanking my front door. Stay tuned for those pics as well. Also note the bass boat that has been sitting in my driveway for a year. Anybody need a boat? :-/

Nice, right? I spray painted all the pieces with Krylon's plastic paint stuff. That scary floral is no longer on the furniture. I've replaced it with Sunbrella outdoor fabric:

Since BF got a tad over-zealous and started moving all the stones without a plan, this is where they sat while he (and then me) was away in San Diego. While he was gone that first week, I broke out the graph paper, and cut out little tiny paper stones, and got busy plotting the layout.

I was left with fresh garden space at the back of the house. I filled it with dirt and compost in anticipation of planting:

....and THIS is what I did at the back entry where we pulled the bluestone up. Those 18" "stones" came from Lowe's. They're cement, and they actually have a very similar texture to the bluestone. This was sort of my test run for the patio, because this is how I wanted to do it, with the pea gravel in between the stones:

So....since my camera has apparently been stolen from my car, (I'm thinking I must have left a rear window open by mistake--I ALWAYS lock my car) I don't have any afters of the patio and furniture yet. I'm going to have to use Kathleen's camera until I can scrape up the cash to buy myself a digital SLR. I figure why go back to a point-and-shoot, right? It's time I moved up in the world. Now, if only my birthday were NEXT week.....sigh....anybody got $699 bucks they're not using?

Legoland (AKA the reason I got to go to California!)

2010-06-16T16:43:00.004-04:00

Hi y'all! It's been a while! I don't know what happens to me. I guess I get so much going on that I don't feel like sitting down and blogging about it because it's already come and gone. But San Diego was beautiful, and I'll be sharing more pics with you over the coming days. I've decided to add them in small doses, so I don't get bloggy burnout (which I suspect may be a foregone conclusion.)

So BF works for a company in Selkirk that builds custom interactive equipment for water parks and museums. Mostly water parks. Below is the giant splash tower that I saw being built in the shop a few months ago! It's amazing to me to see a bunch of metal pipes go together and become something like this:

This is part of one of the interactive lego water tables. I saw them when they were first welded up--no paint!:

...even the adults were getting in on the action. This guy has his hands on two protrusions that had holes with water coming out the tops. When you plug up the holes, water fills the clear acrylic tubes, and eventually comes spilling out the top:

I think she was having fun with her brother!:

BF had to play too. The tube on the right filled much slower than the tube on the left. I'm pretty sure he had that fixed by the time we left. The water guns that were attached to this table were also fixed on day two. They were spraying so hard the first day they thought some kid might take a finger off! They adjusted the water pressure and voila!

Legoland wasn't ALL we saw. We went on a lovely harbor cruise one evening, watched the sunset from a couple of waterfront restaurants, went to the zoo, and I spent one day at the San Diego Botanical Gardens while BF worked at the park. Oh, and we spent a little time on the beach as well. The Pacific is beautiful!! I have lots of great pictures to share, and I will try to do so in between working and reading (which is my latest free-time pastime).

Oh, and I had a birthday last Saturday. There was a lot of patio building going on last week before my dinner party. I'll have pics of that for you too! Stay tuned!

Sexy Roots

2010-05-28T22:17:00.002-04:00

...and NO, I'm not talking about my hair!

Cool, right? I took these shots when Kathleen and I were on a walk at the Audubon Preserve near us the other day. The downside of the trip? Kathleen's phone is GONE. We think she may have put it on the roof of the car to spray on some bug spray, and somebody snagged it. Big bummer. She's now using her old phone, which does NOT have a qwerty keyboard, and she is NOT happy. We're not due for new phones until January, so if anyone out there wants to send me their old Verizon phone w/qwerty keyboard, you just let me know! :-D

But the views sure were purty! This bud was an allium of some sort...almost ready to burst!

The phlox were in full bloom all over the place. They were gorgeous, and their scent was divine!

Look how far back into the woods they went!

I cropped this one so it's just cattails. Click it to see full size...it's fun!

This was me trying to use a slower shutter speed to capture moving water. Not bad. Not great, but not bad. I had my monopod with me, but this really requires a tripod and self-timer to get it right:

So...big news! BF has been out in San Diego (installing a job at Legoland) for about a week, and he called me today and said "Want to come to California?" And I said "Hell YEAH!" Heh. His boss is flying me out for the week so we can have a mini-vacation together out there. (He's been working 7 days a week for over two months now...I've hardly seen him!)

So who am I to say no to a free trip to California, right? San Diego, here I come! If anyone has any great ideas on what to do while we're out there, let me know! (The Zoo is first on the list!) I fly out Monday afternoon. Talk about spontaneous! I feel like a wild woman! I just got back from Florida for cryin' out loud! I can always work when I get home, right? It's only bills. Whatever. :)

Country Living in Upstate New York

2010-05-22T13:20:00.005-04:00

I was driving down near Rhinebeck, NY last week, and happened upon some lovely sights as I meandered back roads, letting my GPS show me the way. I adored that front porch above, which was attached to this little house, below:

...and this looked like a little guest house.

I could spend some time there. How 'bout you?

I adore peonies. A lot. I need to get some for MY yard.

These lillies of the valley were at my sister's house. I did some playing around in Lightroom to get the effects you see:

I bought a set of rattan furniture yesterday...a couch, two chairs, and an ottoman, all with hideous fabric on them, for $50 total. I know, right? I rock! I'll post pics when I get them painted and recovered. In the meantime, it's ok to be envious. :)

Hiding the Clutter with Fabric!

2010-05-14T08:28:00.004-04:00

There it is. My mess. I can't believe I'm posting this picture. My only consolation is that my "after" shot somehow redeems me. :)

See? I was inspired to organize all the crap on that counter, which really tends to be a catch-all. We'll see how long that lasts. But I'm loving my fabric in the cabinet doors. What a difference! It's SO much cleaner and neater feeling on that end of the kitchen now!

Yay, me!

P.S. One of these days I'm actually going to SEW that wing chair slipcover, instead of having the fabric draped over it all willy nilly. Whatever. It's on the list.

Florida's Birding and Fotofest 2010

2010-05-05T15:02:00.007-04:00

I'm back from St. Augustine (and have been for a week and a half), and I've finally gotten the time to sit down and get some pictures uploaded for your enjoyment. :)

I went to a number of photography and Photoshop workshops/classes with my father at the Birding and Fotofest, and we had a great time learning, and just being able to do something like that together. It was a very relaxing week, and the weather couldn't have been more perfect...sunny, and not too hot. I was also fed some of the yummiest meals I've had in a LONG time. Dad and Mimi are great cooks, and big foodies. They've inspired me to buy a lot more fresh produce, that's for sure.

Well, without further ado, I give you St. Augustine:
(and PLEASE click the ones you like so you can enlarge them...they're so much better that way!)

This is a wonderful street where the live oaks arch to make a tunnel...so cool. Dad swung me by there on our way to the airport on my last day. What a great photo-op!

I did some playing with shutter speeds after one of my classes...pretty fun!:
(This is a carousel right near Dad's place)

...water looks WAY more fun on a slower shutter speed! This was taken on our ferry ride over to Amelia Island, where we had a lovely day of shopping.

I did a vintagy look with this shot...it looks way better than the original:

The pelicans are so cool!

Below starts my pics from the Alligator Farm during an evening wine and cheese/sunset photo party. The light was incredible, and I took over 340 pics! I'll spare you the nausea, but here are some I like. These are Roseate Spoonbills (of course I had lost the light by the time I got this shot, but they were so cool up there on that dead tree!:

I could swear they were looking right at me!

Mr. Stork, checkin' me out:

Beautiful egret with feathers fanned!

I was the only person at this shin-dig with a point and shoot camera. You would not beLIEVE the sizes of lenses some of these people had. As I was standing next to a guy with a lens pointed right at those babies, I asked him if I could take a gander through his viewfinder. He was right IN the nest! You could see their downy peach fuzz! It was incredible! The best I can do is crop and zoom: :)

I really like this shot:

Spoonbill wings. :)

Aren't they so cute? I love their bills!

Oops...this is a grouper...Dad spotted him in a saltwater pond at the place where they were giving the classes. I couldn't resist:

I may post more at a later date. I may not! :) I just wanted to share some of what I shot. I had a great week (sans kid! :-O), but it's also good to be back home and back in the swing of things, even if it includes cooking, dishes, and laundry. :)

Spring Has Sprung!

2010-04-12T07:59:00.003-04:00

That's a hellebore up there, and down below too. I jammed my camera into the dirt and pointed up to the sky to get those shots. Hellebore blooms face the ground, for the most part, which is really a shame, because they are so beautiful! And the best part is, they bloom in early April!

These cherry blossoms are on my sister's cherry tree. Click to enlarge these...they all look better bigger. Heh. Just sayin'.

I'm pretty sure the below pic is apple blossoms. Or crabapple. Not sure. The tree was on the edge of the town park, and I just pulled over to start snapping pics.

For winter's rains and ruins are over,   And all the season of snows and sins;   The days dividing lover and lover,   The light that loses,  the night that wins;   And time remembered is grief forgotten,   And frosts are slain and flowers begotten,   And in green underwood and cover   Blossom by blossom the spring begins. 
Algernon Charles Swinburne  (1837–1909)
Atalanta in Calydon (1865)

I went to a memorial service this weekend for an old college friend's husband. They were married ten years ago. He took his own life after many tumultuous years battling alcohol addiction, and left two young kids behind. The memorial service was held in the little theater where the two of them had been married (a VERY fun wedding, performed like a play with Act I and Act II and everything...awesome!)

It was a wonderful tribute to him, from all of his acting friends, and friends of friends. His son even put on an impromptu play about a grasshopper and an exterminator, with volunteers from the audience, which was absolutely hilarious. The whole gathering was very casual--people just stood up in their seats to say a few words about their friend. It was a wonderful tribute, and just what a memorial service should be about, IMO. I hope that when I die, people will want to get together and talk about all of their happy memories of me, and not be moping about being somber. Life is short. Get on with it! :)

Oh, and I also got to see my friend Laura, who showed up from Ithaca out of the blue. She's an army wife, and they've been all over the place. I hadn't seen her for 8 years, and it didn't seem like a day had passed. I love having friends like that.

So...all in all...a great weekend. OH! And Kathleen arrived home safe and sound yesterday too! She has a few extra freckles from her trip to Florida, and I'm SO happy to have her back!

I've Been Reading....

2010-04-05T09:18:00.005-04:00

....and of course I've also been playing with Lightroom and Photoshop. I went for a drive a couple of weeks ago, and drove right by this horse with his head poking out of a small barn. I turned around and went back, and got this shot:

It's like Mr. Ed, right? Too funny. I then took a picture of the clouds in the sky, because I knew it might come in handy with some of my PSE8 editing:

...and I snapped a few pictures of this great old barn not far from me. The sky was all blown out in all the shots:

....so with the magic of Photoshop, I merged the two, and came out with my final image, which looks sort of vintage, doesn't it?:

So like I said, I have been reading. It all started back in January with "The Mermaid's Chair" by Sue Monk Kidd. I absolutely adore that woman's writing. My friend Jennifer had let me borrow it. Then when I finished that, I was looking for another book. An old friend of mine suggested "The Road" by Cormack McCarthy. I had never read any of his stuff before, although I had seen the movie "No Country for Old Men" and was a little apprehensive to say the least.

Well, let me tell you, that book is something else! This excerpt from a review in the Sydney Morning Herald explains it best, I think: "McCarthy maintains the pace by keeping each scene barely more than a paragraph long. This accentuates The Road's impressionistic power, adding to its rhythm, as if the book were not composed of sections but stanzas in a poem, the metaphysical footsteps of his characters, beat by beat in a terrible dream." It's a story about a father and son in a post-apocalyptic world. The writing is beautiful, the story intense, and there really is a rhythm to it. It has stayed with me all this time. My sister Marjorie couldn't even read it....it was too much for her...too sad, I guess. I enjoy a book that can really reach down and grab me where it counts, and "The Road" definitely did that.

So after I read the road, I thought, "Gee, maybe I should read another book by Cormack McCarthy!" So I borrowed "Blood Meridian" from the library, thinking "Ok, maybe I'll learn something about our American history that I haven't read in a text book." Uh, yeah. I ALMOST got through it, but I just couldn't finish--lots of blood and gore, no regard for human life, that sort of thing. The writing was amazing, but I really couldn't stomach the story, and it seemed to be never-ending. I hate not finishing a book, but I had to give that one back.

As a reprieve, I read "The White Queen" by Phillipa Gregory, because I had heard a review and interview on WAMC. I love stories about England's monarchy, so this one was a good choice. It's about the Pantagenets, who came before the Tudors. Have any of you watched "The Tudors"? I've rented every season from Netflix. I just love that Jonathan Rhys Meyers--he's perfect for Henry VIII--sexy and SCARY...lol. Great series. I ordered "The Other Boleyn Girl" and "The Boleyn Inheritance" from the library, and have them on queue. I may save them for my Florida trip.

In between, though, I ordered "Lies My Teacher Told Me" by James Loewen. (Thanks, Mark.) I'm reading it now. I think you should all go out and get it. Read it. You'll be amazed. I always knew that I was missing huge chunks of knowledge about our country's history, and of course this book proves it. (It also helps me justify why I was practically asleep in my history classes as a kid.) Its subtitle is "Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong." And let me tell you, you will be astounded. I'm going to make Kathleen read it before her junior year American History class. It'll be interesting to see if one of the textbooks they use in her class is one of the ones Loewen lambasts. I think it's a must-read for everyone. I got sunburned yesterday while reading it outside. :) The weather in NY has been incredible.

So there you have it! If anyone has any good book recommendations for me for summer reading, let me know!

Portrait Before and After PSE8

2010-03-25T10:06:00.003-04:00

My friend Anna sent me this picture of her son yesterday. They had just gotten back from a carribean cruise, and she wanted to share this adorable photo with me. This kid is about as cute as they get, IMO. Look at those eyes!!

Anyway, I couldn't just leave well enough alone....I had to mess with it. I had created this texture the other day, using a few layers of my own painting, blurring, then adding another texture from Shadowhouse Creations on top and blending it all up into this:

I had played around with it on some flower shots I had taken last year, and really liked the effect it gave. I wish I could remember what I did here with Harry, but I'm pretty sure I just used the texture with the overlay blend mode. I may have added it again in linear light mode, but I can't remember. (Like I said, at some point, I'm going to start taking notes.) Then I added a layer mask and took the texture off of his face...most of all his eyes and his lips. Oh, and I also cropped the photo in closer to eliminate distracting background. What do you think? Anna thought it was great! I am very pleased with the result. I told her I want more pictures of Harry to play with. He's a great subject!

So...is it really going to snow tonight? WTF? I thought spring was here. **big sigh**

Using Lightroom and PS Elements

2010-03-23T21:03:00.009-04:00

I'm playing around with uploading some larger pics, so bear with me while I figure out what's going on with the resolution. I don't know what I'm doing wrong. The bottom picture of Kathleen looks fine, but all the rest look a little blurry to me.

Anywho, below is a before picture of an old house I took the other day while out for a drive:

I added some texture to it in Photoshop, and came up with this vintage look below.
I think it suits the state of the house, don't you?

Here's a before pic of Kathleen from NYC at the zoo:

I used a Lightroom preset to get this effect. I want to say it was from Jerry at Shadowhouse Creations (see link on right). I'm going to start keeping track of what I do to get each effect so
that these blog posts might be of some help to someone trying to learn PSE and LR, instead of
just making me happy to post pictures which are no good to anyone. lol.

Trip to NYC

2010-03-21T17:45:00.007-04:00

Kathleen and I went to NYC last Wednesday (yes, St. Pat's Day) to see the Tim Burton exhibit at MoMA. Lucky for us, (most likely because we're Irish) the crowds weren't too bad, the weather was fantastic, and we had a great time.

Kathleen liked these slanty buildings:

I liked this store window:

Here she is in front of MoMA. Does she look happy to be there or what?

Central Park Zoo:

There was a line of about 15 hansom cabs right by the park. I was feeling poor, so we didn't take a ride. Maybe next time! ($35!--plus tip!)

This little guy was in the clock tower at the zoo.

Snow leopard. He was cool:

First NY crocus of 2010? Happy day!

Bagpipes! Kathleen heard them playing March on an Irish Air while we were in the zoo. She had just played that in her concert last week. Serendipity!

....and I had to take some sunset shots from my seat on the train on the way home:

Not bad for taking them through a dirty window at 80mph or so! :)

Fix It Friday

2010-03-06T08:27:00.004-05:00

It't Fix-It Friday over at I Heart Faces, and I thought I'd play along this week. Here is the "before" shot, taken by Sarah Halstead who blogs at "Loving My Life." This is her son Dustyn. Isn't he cute? Before:

I punched up his eyes, brightened up some other colors, and softened his skin and blemishes with some layer masks in Photoshop Elements 8. I also added a faux lens flare, because the light coming from that top left corner was just screaming for some follow-through. :)

My second "after" is where I really zoomed in on his eyes, which are the best part of this photo! Well, that, and his cute little mouth. Here I added a little texture from Shadowhouse Creations, and again the lens flare, but with a little lighter hand.

...and finally, my favorite, with lots of texture.

If you want to see what other folks have done with this photo, both professionals and amateurs, you can check them out HERE, over at I Heart Faces.

Minutia

2010-03-05T08:04:00.005-05:00

I think I've decided that it's ALL minutia--all this blogging I do (or don't do, in recent history). But I like to put stuff out there, because I know some of you are interested, and I know my father reads, so that's something. :) *Hi Dad!*

So...since the last time I blogged, I won a giveaway at artist Catherine Nolin's blog. I discovered her through some blog surfing, posted a comment, and lo and behold, I won a print! I then promptly ran over to her Etsy shop to buy another one. She paints mostly interiors, and I love the colors and the vibe of her work. It's just my kind of art! Please check out her blog and give her some bloggy love! Below is the one I bought for Kathleen's room:

Oops...I got inspired by the tulips in the print (and the ones I got for Valentine's day from my very best friend Kelly), and had to take some pics:

...and of course I couldn't just leave the pic alone...had to make it vintagey in Photoshop:

...and this is the print that I won. I framed it and hung it in the kitchen:

Another tulip:

...and more play time:

Then, my bloggy friend Leslie from Country Contemporary will be happy to know that I grabbed a friend a few weeks ago and ran over to Chatham to Classic Country, a great little shop that I had known nothing about until she mentioned it here on my blog!

I asked the owner if I could take some pictures, and she said go for it!

Apparently this barn is hopping in the warmer months...they have potting classes, and sell plants and things. My friend Faith had been there last year for a potting event.

As you can see, the owner has a great eye for vignettes.

My favorite part of the barn--the dresser mirror frame hung over the window. Clever!

...and I love this cow painting. I want it. I would hang it right over my couch.

So...what else? Well, Kathleen's high school production of The Wizard of Oz was a great success. I loved playing my flute in the pit band. I can't wait to do it again next year! Of course, I hardly got to see any of the play for all of the flute playing, but we ordered the DVD. :) BF took some great pictures, and I'll try to get a few posted so you can see the great costumes they had. The snow really threw a wrench into rehearsals, but it all came together in the end. I am amazed at the dedication and hard work of many teachers and parents, which made the whole thing possible. Sometimes I just love this town!

Kathleen will be headed to Florida for Easter break with my sister's family. They'll be driving down. Suckers. (I drove to FL with my ex many years ago, and swore I wouldn't do it again!)

I, on the other hand, will be flying down a couple of weeks after Easter, to join my father for Foto Fest, which is happening in St. Augustine. I can't wait! There will be lots of workshops to take part in, and plenty of photo-ops at the Alligator Farm and other state parks.

Now I just need to figure out how to display my pics on my TV. I bet it would be awesome! I love my big a$$ TV, my surround sound , AND the PS3 that BF got us for Valentine's Day. He said he was vacillating between jewelry for me, or the Play Station 3...I think he made the BEST decision! Have y'all seen movies in high def? Hellloooo! You'll never want to go back! What's next? 3-D movies at home? And of course now Kathleen wants all the new PS3 games. Ugh.
Why are they all $50 or more?
I'm also loving that I can download movies from Netflix right through the PS3.
Very cool! I'm a Netflix junkie for sure.

I guess that's enough minutia for now. I'll be heading out to see Alice in Wonderland in 3-D IMAX tonight with Kathleen and three of her friends. I'm really looking forward to it! Y'all enjoy your weekend!

Hudson-Athens Lighthouse

2010-02-09T11:16:00.005-05:00

You would think that after an almost three week hiatus from blogging, that I'd have some really great stuff to share with you, wouldn't ya'? Sorry to disappoint. I feel like I've been running around like a chicken without a head lately, and then when I DO sit down to the computer, I don't feel like blogging! I just play around on Facebook instead!

I still can't get over how great it is to be chatting with old high school buddies after all these years. (And yes, it's been a LOT of years, people!) The other great thing about Facebook is that I've got friends from every corner of my life on there....high school, college, family, neighborhood friends, internet decorating friends, internet dating friends from back in my Match days (I know! It's silly!), and even some friends of friends whom I've met through that glorious thing we call social networking. If you haven't gotten your arse over there yet, do it. But only do it if you WANT to be in touch with all of those people in your life. :)

I have, however, been playing around in Photoshop as well, and ended up with this gorgeous shot of the Hudson-Athens lighthouse. This is the same lighthouse I had shared with you a while ago from the Athens side of the river. This shot was taken from Mt. Merino road over on the Hudson side of the river. Click it to enlarge. I used some texture and other enhancements to get the brick to show up nicely:

Also, while I was missing in action, there was a full moon! I love the full moon. It's just incredible. The shadows it cast in my back yard were pretty cool too:

And one morning, at just the right moment, with the door at just the right angle, I discovered this light extravaganza. Every doorknob in my house is made of glass, and I just love them. I've been here for a year and a half, though, and this is the first time I have witnessed this in action:

Way cool, right?!

And as silently as it had arrived, the sun dipped, and the fractals were gone.

In other news, how 'bout that Bachelor, eh?

That Jake is one hunk-0-hot man, who says and does all of the right things, and I can't wait to see who he picks! BF pretends to hate the show, while watching it with a smile on his face,

Kathleen wants Jake and whoever he picks to adopt her (! LOL!) , and I want him to pick ME! LOL!

Peace out, y'all!

Fun with Photoshop Part 2 (or is it 7? whatever.)

2010-01-22T08:51:00.003-05:00

Ok, well, this first pic is just Kathleen with her new bangs. I cut 'em. She loves 'em. :) I think they make her look older, which makes me a little crazy inside, but I try not to let it show. :-/

This is a straight out of the camera shot that Kathleen took of Madeline. Madeline is wearing one of Kathleen's dresses, because they were shooting a video that day. Let me tell you, I think my kid has a future in film production. Or singing. Whichever.

So...I cropped the heck out of that dress, added a bunch of film grain, linear light, and other stuff, and voila! Isn't she precious?

Yesterday, on my way home from an appointment, I took a picture of this barn, which is right down the road from me. I've always loved it, and have been meaning to take a picture of it at some point. Yesterday was the day! This is SOOC (straight out of camera):

And here it is with some color, depth, and mood:

This old house is also on one of my alternate routes home, and I finally got some pictures of it yesterday, right from the driver's seat of my car. This is the SOOC shot, which isn't bad at all:

...but I wanted it to look older and vintagy-er (nice word, eh?), so I added a bunch of stuff and tweaked some more, and burned a little here and there, and this is what I ended up with:

There you have it! Some day I'm going to figure out a way to make money with all of this stuff.

In other news, I'll be playing in the pit band for Kathleen's school play this year (The Wizard of Oz). Our first practice is Tuesday afternoon. I haven't played my flute in public since my flute quartet class in college, and I'm not telling you how many years THAT has been! Yowsa!

Breaking News!

2010-01-21T08:22:00.003-05:00

Hee! My "First Snow" sunrise picture made it to the Pioneer Woman's finals in her sunrise/sunset photo contest! I swear, she is my new hero--I've been cooking her recipes, reading all of her photography and Photoshop tutorials, and admiring her AMAZING horse/ranch photos for a few weeks now, and just on a whim the other day, thought I'd enter her "contest." I don't think it's so much a contest, as a "share-your-best-photo" thing, but I'm honored that she chose my photo from the dizzying array she had to choose from! (At last count, I think there were about 2,000 entries!) You can go look at the group HERE. And you can see my awesome photo (for the second time...lol) at The Pioneer Woman's blog HERE. (Mine's at the bottom--she calls it "magical"! I can't tell you how excited I am to have been included! Yay, me!

Another Solo for Kathleen

2010-01-20T23:26:00.004-05:00

How indulgent is it that all I do is post pictures and videos of my kid? Oh well. Some day I'll get a life. Like maybe when she moves out. Heh. Maybe.

P.S. Kathleen is the second solo. A bunch of my friends had a hard time finding her last night until she stepped forward for the solo--they hadn't seen her new stylin' bangs!

Well Hello There, Bambi!

2010-01-15T13:33:00.002-05:00

Now if this isn't the cutest thing you've seen all week, I expect a link to whatever it is that was cuter! These pictures are the reason I take the roads less traveled when I'm out and about. This little fella' (or is it a girl?) was all alone in this field....just staring at me before he ran away. I have pictures of more deer in the next field over (which I saw first), who were probably his parents. Just LOOK at that face!

...and those awkward little baby giraffe legs...hee!

This is exactly how I came upon him...just standing there, staring at me in my car:

...and when I didn't leave right away...

...he turned slowly...

...and made a dash to safety.

...and just stood there staring at me from the edge of the woods for a while.

Down the road a piece were these adorable guinea hens in front of a farmer's barn....at least that's what I think they are. I didn't Google them, so if I'm wrong, feel free to call me on it.

I wanted to pluck some of those feathers, they were so pretty!

And last but not least, a side trip down to my uncle's place on the river, just in time to see a barge go by. It was chomping its way through the ice, no problem at all.

Anybody else take any side trips lately that landed you someplace interesting? (I could go back and make that sentence more grammatically sound....in fact, I could do that with my entire post, but I don't feel like it. You guys can handle it, right?) :)

Party Invitation

2010-01-09T23:04:00.002-05:00

Click to enlarge for detail:

My niece Madeline will be turning 12 in a couple of weeks, and she's having a party where they will be sledding for a couple of hours, then heading to a local hotel with an indoor swimming pool for pizza and swimming and a sleepover. Fun, right? Well, as is the case almost every year, I was enlisted by my sister to create an invitation for the event. Forty Photoshop layers and many hours later, and the above is what I ended up with. I don't know the details as yet, so I'm going to have to redo the date/time info, but this was my mock-up for them to see. I think I used every Photoshop trick I've learned in the past few months with layer masks, adjustment layers, painting, shadows, etc. I'm pretty pleased!

Kathleen has had a couple of friends over all day and they produced a music video for her friend Shannon's brother's birthday. It is hilarious. It took them 5.5 hours to do, but it really is great. Kathleen is really getting the most out of the new camera my father got her for Christmas! (Thanks, Dad!) When I figure out how to upload the video here, I will. I think they put it on YouTube.

For now, I'm heading off to cuddle up under the covers and watch Saturday Night Live after the game. Go Eagles! :)

Road Trips and Photoshop

2010-01-04T17:23:00.003-05:00

I was out driving the other day, camera in tow, and came across these beautiful work horses. I did a little research, and I think they are Suffolk Draft horses. I love their blonde manes.

That one in the middle was looking right at me! This grazing field is right in front of a GE or Corning plant, so I took some liberties with the background to morph it right out of there, and make it look pastoral instead. Not bad, eh? I love photographing horses.

...and maybe some day I'll be a little less heavy-handed with the Photoshop. You'll just have to bear with me as I experiment, OK?

You'll all be happy to hear that I accomplished yesterday's goals of showering (!) and making the cranberry upside-down cake to bring to BF's mother's house. It was SO yummy! I also managed to get three estimates and one bill out yesterday as well. The biggest job is a "go" as of this morning, so I can breathe a sigh of relief for January. :) I just love it when that whole "working" thing pays off!

Next on my list is a huge window seat cushion and two chair cushions that I need to cover. I need to get on that, and get that cushion OUT of my sewing room.

Fait Accompli!

2010-01-03T11:46:00.004-05:00

I made my pillows!

I'm thinking I should post MORE of my goals on my blog!
Then some stuff might actually get done around here!

I'm very happy with them. I even washed my slipcover
so they'd look purty! Of course, BF and Kathleen are already sitting on it,
wrinkling it, and otherwise LIVING on the couch. The nerve.
It WAS pretty funny when I made them get up so I could fluff and puff for photos.
I got some "looks" if you know what I mean.
Some people just don't understand blogging. :)

My goal for today is to shower (!) and make a cranberry upside down cake for dinner at BF's mother's house. It's Christmas there today.

2010 Goal #1: Sew These Pillows!

2010-01-02T11:37:00.003-05:00

I bought this fabric MONTHS ago, and today is the day I'm going to sew up some pillows for my couch. I figure since I put this all "out there" on the web 'n stuff, I'll have to follow through,
or I'll look like a lazykins! :)

It's a velvet flocked linen, and I love it!

I think I'm just going to do some simple self-flanged pillows. Trim would get wrecked in this house, what with the cats, and my train wreck of a boyfriend.

So...hold me to it, y'all! If I'm not back with pictures of these pillows tomorrow,
somebody needs to slap me.

There Is a Season

2010-01-01T20:13:00.004-05:00

As always, click to enlarge the photos for your viewing pleasure.

Winter (Jan '09)

Spring (May '09)

Summer (June '09)

Fall (October '09)

Winter (December '09)

Not only is it from Pete Seger, but the Bible too! What do you know? ;)

3:1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
3:2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
3:3 A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
3:4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
3:5 A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
3:6 A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
3:7 A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
3:8 A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

My 2009 was filled with all of the above (except maybe the "hate" part--I've never been good at hate) and I'm betting that 2010 will be filled with more of the same. The world keeps spinning, and I keep spinning with it! Funny how that works.

Above is my year in pictures, with much artistic liberty taken with Photoshop. :) I wish you all a very Happy New Year, and as Oprah said: "Cheers to a new year, and another chance for us to get it right."

Coxsackie Christmas by the River 2009

2009-12-18T08:44:00.005-05:00

I made these burlap pillows and stenciled them with fleur-de-lis and crowns. When I took this picture, I had already sold three! I'm going to be bringing what I have left over to a gift shop in Delmar, NY, called Chancery Lane, so she can sell the rest.

See my portable little electric fireplace? It was a big hit--as were the burlap stockings. I believe I sold three of those as well. I didn't get these pictures taken until after the initial rush, so I didn't even get a pic of my bunch of felted candy canes. A woman came right in at 10am and snapped up five of them! I had one left at the end of the day, and I gave it to my sister.

Kathleen and I made these yummy pretzels. I made more that week, and brought them to my sister's cookie exchange. Again--big hit! :)

I just love my birds...

...and of course my jewelry! I did very well this year. One repeat customer (she's bought from me the previous two years) spent almost $200 in one shot! Yay!

Do you like my earring cards?

I snapped some pictures of the downtown area, because it's so quaint:

I was in the Heartland Realty building.

This is another vendor...she had some great felted wool purses.

...and someone's lovely soap display...

....and my friend Donna's primitives shop. She sets up a little mini-shop every year and runs it for about a month for Christmas shoppers. I spent WAY too much money in there this year. She has lots of fun stuff.

And that's all she wrote!

Flying Squirrels In My Walls

2009-12-15T08:14:00.003-05:00

Cute, right?

They have been in my walls making all kinds of noise for a couple of weeks now. BF decided the other night (while I was out) that he would try and catch one. So he rigged up this glass bowl with a stick and some peanut butter, and lo and behold, about 5 minutes later, this is what he had!

Kathleen took the pictures. Apparently the little guy was so scared, he pooped himself!

So I get home from the movies and BF is telling me the whole story of the bowl up in my bedroom ceiling, etc. , and I'm looking at these pictures that Kathleen has posted on Facebook, and I manage to ask "Well, what did you DO with it?" And BF says "I brought him across the street and let him go over in the woods."

Hellllloooo!

I said "So........you don't think a flying squirrel is going to find his way back across the street?" *Sigh* His heart was in the right place, right? Actually, I think the thrill of trapping something was too much to resist for him. He used to do trapping with his father as a kid. So I'm sure our little furry friend will be back to join his brethren in the eaves of my house, until we can patch up whatever entry point they have up there on the roof.
But he IS adorable.
I'm glad I didn't put out the rat poison like I had planned.

Photo into Painting

2009-12-11T09:41:00.002-05:00

I can't seem to stop playing around with textures. Here is the before shot:

...and here it is after I added a canvas texture to it:

...and then another layer of something...I forget...that made it a little darker.

It's interesting to me that I can take a simple photo, which was pretty "eh" and turn it into something with a mood, you know? Pretty cool stuff.

Braces Off!

2009-12-08T12:38:00.004-05:00

Kathleen got her braces off today! She's had them on for two years, nine months! Phew!
Here she is on the way to the orthodontist this morning:

...et voila! All gone! How 'bout that "before" mold?!

She is SO happy!

Yay! I swear she looks three years older. *sigh* My baby is growin' up!

I would like to send a big shout-out to my mother, God rest her soul...she paid for those braces! Thanks, Mom! :)

First Snow in NY

2009-12-07T07:28:00.004-05:00

I woke up yesterday morning to the most beautiful snowfall! Above is my edited version of the original photo, which you can see below. I enhanced the saturation, and added a parchment filter layer on top, using the "multiply" layer style, I think. What's interesting to me is that the feeling

I got yesterday when I was looking out my window was the feeling I get when I look at my doctored photo. It truly was that beautiful and ethereal with the morning sun just peeking at the tips of those trees. My basic photo just doesn't cut it.

I played around with some other filters and brushes to make a fantasy type scene too:

This one's just a little paler:

Be sure to click to see the larger versions...it makes all the difference. Tell me if you prefer the raw photography, or my altered versions....I'd be interested to hear your opinions!

This next one is my before looking out my kitchen window....you saw this view just a few weeks ago in its autumn glory:

...and here I've cropped it and filtered it a bit for your enjoyment. :)

Um...have I mentioned lately how much I love my Photoshop? :) Now I just need Photoshop Elements 8.0 and Elements Premier 8. Anybody looking for a Christmas idea for me? *snicker*

Giving Thanks

2009-12-01T13:32:00.007-05:00

Finally! I'm here to post some Thanksgiving photos. Of course, the first thing I'm thankful for is my amazing daughter, and her fabulous little cousin Madeline. I say "little" but she's actually turning 12 in February. So she's little of stature, with a mature little mind to go with it!

This picture of them is one of my early attempts at morphing two pics together to get one good one. Can you tell I swapped out Kathleen's face in this one? I combined two so that both girls would have some semblance of a smile. Have I mentioned how much I love Photoshop? No? lol

My sister Marjorie made a delicious pumpkin pie (pretty, too!)...

...and a really yummy apple pie.

The girls put on a little concert for us, which is always nice....

...and Kathleen took some good shots of the table all set up in the living room. My cousins are big guys (over 6' 4" tall!), so there was no way I was going to try to cram 10 people into my dining room. It worked out quite nicely in the living room. In fact, the dining room has now become a cozy little den/office for me. :)

This was my grandmother's china. It's perfect for Thanksgiving and autumn parties! I used it for the birthday party I had last Tuesday too. It's called "Friendly Village."

There's BF in the kitchen (wearing MY slippers), pretending to cook. LOL. Actually, I had him peel and chop all of the potatoes and yams. He made the mashed potatoes, too....so I didn't have to do EVERYthing. ;) Come to think of it, he carved the turkey, too. Now if I could only get him to do dishes....ah, well...

I set up my skaters...sort of. My sister gave me these guys for my birthday (in June) and I had to wait until now to display them! I just bought a mirror for the "rink" and I need to get some fake snow goin' on there. I'll post a pic when I get that accomplished.

Pretty, right? :) I love my house.

Oh yeah! I made cranberry bread from scratch too! Yummy!

Now here is another of my Photoshop projects. Kathleen had taken this photo of Tess on Thanksgiving. It's cute, but it's a little blurry....so....

I've been learning about adding textures and adjusting layers, and I came up with this. I'm quite happy with it. It's interesting, isn't it? Oh, and I did my signature with my new Wacom tablet, which is a whole other wonder of its own. I love that thing!

Coxsackie Christmas by the River

2009-11-24T09:47:00.003-05:00

I'll be showing again this year at Coxsackie's 14th Annual Christmas by the River. I made a quick website for it, in case people are searching the web for details this year. It's www.christmasbytheriver.com. I hate that GoDaddy put ads on the top, but I didn't feel like shelling out $60 for a year of hosting! C'est la vie.

I've got a birthday dinner party for 9 to host tonight, and Thanksgiving for 10 to host on Thursday. AND I have to finish some window treatments for a customer to be installed tomorrow at 11am. Can you guess I'm a little stressed? I'm actually just on here to grab some recipes, and figured I'd post. I got my Wacom tablet, but I haven't had much time to play. I'll probably have time to show you some of my creations next week.

In the mean time, if I don't post before then, Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!

Blog Makeover

2009-11-19T22:00:00.000-05:00

So...what do you think? :)

More Fun with Photoshop

2009-11-18T08:28:00.003-05:00

I know I posted that picture of Kathleen in a tree on here before. I think it was around one of her birthdays. Anyway, I broke it out of the archives to put it in that little frame on the wall. I can't get over how little my little girl has really changed, in the whole scheme of things. You can see the little smirky glint in her eyes and in her smile at the tender age of three! (I think that's how old she is in the pic...three or four.) And she's got the same smile NOW, at 14! She cracks me up. I took the bigger pic of her this fall on a picnic table at a fall festival. I snipped her out of that picture, and put her in this layout (that I made from the kit I bought the other day....see my post from two days ago for a link to her blog and store.)

I've had a Wacom tablet on my Amazon wishlist for a while now, and I finally broke down the other day and bought this one. I got the least expensive factory refurbished one, because I don't even know if I'm going to be able to USE the thing. If I love it, I'll upgrade.
I'm waiting for it to arrive. I can't wait!

Shipping Pallet Plate Rack

2009-11-16T21:25:00.003-05:00

For the last month or two, BF has been bringing home shipping pallet wood from work, to burn in the outdoor fireplace. It's been nice. They use these pallets all the time, then break them down to get rid of them. Then last week he came home with a whole one, undamaged. SO.....my mind went racing....and then I let my fingers do the walking right on over to Google...and would you look what I found?!

How cool is that? I love it! BF thinks it's too rustic, and weird. But I think it's the most clever thing EVER. I even love the bent up rusty nails, holding the plates in. Am I crazy?

I have no place to put such a thing in MY house...but I could always gift it to someone. It might even look cool painted...whitewashed...or even black. What do you think?

Kitty Cat Christmas Card

2009-11-15T16:01:00.002-05:00

I'm not in total love with this one either, but I'm having a heck of a fun time playin'!

Christmas Card?

2009-11-15T03:03:00.002-05:00

Note my time of publishing this, and you will see how obsessed I have become with creating things with Photoshop. I downloaded the most amazing scrapbooking kits today from this fantastic digital artist, Irene Alexeeva. I created this layout below, and I'm liking it for this year's Christmas card. What do you think? I'm sure I'll be doing more tweaking. Click it to enlarge, so you can get a good luck at that adorable little chickadee! :)

Fun, right?!

Substantive Post. Well, sort of.

2009-11-10T20:23:00.005-05:00

Gee, what am I going to do when Kathleen goes to college? I'll have to find something else to take pictures of! lol. I was playing with Photoshop for a friend, and threw this together. I cut her out of another pic, created the damask background, and popped her back in front of it. I like the modern look it has. Pretty cool.

So Saturday, I went for another of my drives. I've been doing that a lot lately. It's good for clearing my head. And people, my head needs some serious cleaning! Anyway....I ended up across the river at Olana again. I just love it there. The views are amazing at any time of year, and the architecture is incredible.

Love the copper gutters...wish I could afford some o' those!

This fence always begs me to take a picture:

I tried to make this picture of the Rip Van Winkle bridge look like it was taken sometime in the 60's. Not bad, eh? I took this pic from the back side of Olana. There are views in every direction, pretty much.

....and on my way home, I pulled over to get a picture (or seven) of the Athens Lighthouse.
I adore this little brick beauty.

So Diane, was that good enough? Do you wish I would ruminate more about the meaning of life, or are these pics good enough? ;)

Pardon My Dust!

2009-11-09T20:05:00.003-05:00

I'm trying to get my background image to load properly, and I'm having a devil of a time. I'll get it right at some point. Sorry if it's giving you googly eyes. :)

Edit: OK. I think I've got it! Now maybe I can upload a post with substance! (Don't hold your breath.)

Fall--A Poem

2009-11-03T17:09:00.003-05:00

shadows

light

blustery breezes

carrying leaves

in tiny tornadoes

swishing

turning

new paths

discovered

rejected

surfacing

searching

lifting

embracing

shadows

and

light

and the

moon

full as

faces

filled

with smiles

and laughter

on lips

for

fall is

here

singing

glory

to all

who will

listen.

Autumn in NY

2009-10-29T15:23:00.004-04:00

Kathleen, and my dear niece, being good kids and raking for me.

*Note Madeline with the heavy garden rake...lol. They did trade off, so Kathleen's not ALL bad. ;)

This picture was taken from the road in front of my house, looking out to the main road.
Don't forget, you can click to enlarge!

I took this out my rear kitchen window the other morning. This picture doesn't begin to do justice to how pretty it really was in the early morning light:

I took these on a back road near Athens the other day
on my way home from an installation in Catskill. So pretty!
I just had to pull over and pull out my camera!

Homecoming Dance

2009-10-22T17:12:00.002-04:00

Well, no dancing with boys yet, but they had a fun time at the dance, and stayed until it ended at 11pm! Kathleen's feet were killing her--she left her heels on all night, and danced like the crazy kid she is! This was her first homecoming. They went to the football game on Friday night, slept in a friend's camper, and then the dance was Saturday night. Needless to say, she was exhausted on Sunday!

Fall Festivals

2009-10-08T12:27:00.008-04:00

Last weekend we went to two fall festivals. On Saturday, we drove over to Lee, MA and went to the Berkshire Botanical Gardens fall festival. There were lots of crafters, a flea market, food vendors, and gardens to explore. We met up with an old high school friend of mine who just bought a house in Lee. They live in the city, and wanted a place to escape to. So, I'm going to help them decorate a little bit. I wish I had taken pictures. The house is gorgeous, and old, and beautifully kept. And the grasscloth wallpapaper is to DIE for. *Sigh*
I'll take pics the next time I'm over there.
On Sunday, we went to the Bronck House Museum fall festival in Coxsackie, NY. I posted pics from this festival in 2007, if you'd care to check the archives. It wasn't that different this year, but it's nice to go and meet up with neighborhood friends and people we don't see often enough. You've gotta' love small towns!

There were horse and cart rides:

And what really had us excited was the old Dutch kitchen and all the hand-forged Dutch hardware:

This is the building that houses that awesome dutch fireplace above:

Cute, right?!

These trellises were over at the Botanical Gardens in Lee. They look simple enough to make. I should get BF on that right away. Maybe he can use all the branches that have fallen off the tree into the yard over the last day or so: :-P

I especially love this one. It would be a wonderful centerpiece for a garden.

Oh, and I love this too....my gorgeous kid. She actually posed for me willingly! I love that!

Again, Happy Fall, Y'all! :)