Shadow shots

Just hanging out in the backyard with the camera. Nothing in particular I want to take a picture of. Then I saw the tree. I liked the way the shadow looked very long.

 It got me to thinking, I've always wanted to be a long legged beauty and here was my opportunity.

One more, shooting from the hip.

A couple of cards

Just a couple of card I recently made

More tea bag folding. Sometimes I like to sit and do these because they are so easy to do while you're watching tv.

A day in the life

Of a day lily

We all do foolish things, but make sure you do them with enthusiasm.
                                                                                   Nina Waters

Arranging a bowl of flowers in the morning can give a sense of quiet in a crowded day - like writing a poem or saying a prayer.            Anne Morrow Lindbergh

When you have only two pennies left in the world, buy a loaf of bread with one, and a lily with the other. Chinese Proverb

for my desk

I've had a very ugly pencil/pen holder on my desk for quite a while and I've been wanting to replace it.  I've seen some very pretty ones on Creative Carmelina that she crochets and slips over an empty can. I decided I would see if I could figure something similar out and this is what I ended up with

I don't have a picture of the old one but believe me this looks much nicer

Yoga, Duke style

Today Duke would like you all to join him as he does his yoga
To begin, lay on the floor and stretch your whole body out

Gently curve to the left

Breathe and relax

Now if you will excuse me I must go take a bath because my feets are really dirty

I give you the bird

I've been on a bit of a creative streak lately. Some of it with craft projects and some of it with pictures and editing.
Today I combine the two and give you the bird.

I think this one would like nice either on a card or framed.

Gather the flock

Ann Martin recently featured some paper birds on her blog and I immediately fell in love with them. I wasted no time in going to the tutorial on Under The Table and Dreaming.
The original tutorial is for an ornament but I chose to insert a paper clip and then slide that into a small wooden spool for a stand. On this one I added a touch of blue ink, used some distressing ink and added a bit of glitter glue

This one I used a crystal glitter glue, and distressing ink. I also put a wing on both sides instead of just the front.

These are pretty quick and easy to put together and I'm sure the flock will be growing before long. I wonder what kind of seed these guys eat?

Goodbye sweet Sadie

It is with great sadness that we say farewell to our friend Sadie who crossed the Rainbow Bridge. Although she was across the country and we had never met her, she touched our hearts and made us smile.
Goodbye Sadie

Sadie from Beaded Tail

No words that I can pen will ease the pain and the feeling of hopelessness that is the unavoidable companion to the death of a friend. And yet he hasn't gone away forever, for he will always live in your thoughts and your mind and be one of the best parts of the past. Earnest H. Hart

Knee deep

I recently showed you my redneck wine glasses that I made. Well it seems that I found myself knee deep in redneck country. Wade took one of the glasses to work and one to a friend of his who owns one of the bars in town. I've had tons of orders for them.

Looks like I'll be making another trip to the store for more supplies. These are already sold (plus several others) and waiting to be delivered.

Hotter than Hadies

It's been very hot here the last few days. We've reached the 90's.  Why is it that when it gets that hot dogs always want to lay right next to you. Nothing worse than having a fur coat laying on you when you're already sweating your butt off.
Of course it's not quite so bad if it's a pool lounge you're sharing.

By the way, this is NOT a picture of Wade in the pool. This is a picture of Duke in the pool. I wouldn't put a picture of Wade on here because I know how much he hates to have his picture taken.

McDuff

When I was in my favorite second hand store last weekend. I found something I just couldn't resist.
He goes by the name of McDuff in the book but I looked at it and I saw Duke.

Duke and I sat under the tree in the back yard and read the book. 

I found this on the shelf marked $1.00 and when I went to pay they said the books were all on sale that day. I'm not quite sure how much I ended up paying but it was worth it. Not sure what I'm going to do with it just yet. It may end up being a gift or it may just sit on my shelf and come out for little guests who want to read.

Doodles

Sometimes when Wade and I are sitting around doing nothing but chatting I'll pick up some paper and a pen and just start to doodle.
It ends up looking something like this. I'm not sure why my initials are always included. In case you are wondering what that thing is supposed to be on the top right corner, I was trying to draw a little plastic lantern that was sitting on the table.

Oh look, I know my a b c's or at least up to the letter e.

In the middle of the page I must have been doing a family portrait. Me Wade and Duke.

what a blur

Wade used to work with a guy who every Monday morning would ask "Was there a weekend in that blur?" Every Monday evening Wade would tell me Dave had to start the day with "Was there a blur in that weekend?" Dave made an excellent point although I admit hearing it every single Monday morning could get a bit annoying.
My weekend did feel like a big blur. I didn't forget about yesterday being father's day but when I was scheduling my posts I did forget to write about it. Duke however didn't forget to get Wade a really cool gift.
Actually Duke stayed home and sent me out to pick something up since I was out running errands any way. One of my stops was Hobby Lobby and I found so much cool stuff that was perfect for the man cave. This is what Wade got from Duke.

A set of coasters in a deer antler stand and the outlet cover. These were both 50% off too. I wish I would have bought more of the outlet covers and a couple of the switch plate covers though. Then he could have had these in the whole room.

Driving

Driving around here isn't so bad. I live in a more rural area and traffic isn't an issue. It's nice to take in the scenery while I'm driving and sometimes I can just stop the car and snap some pictures.

Oh and remember yesterday I said traffic wasn't an issue? Well it isn't unless you get stuck behind one of these guys.

Now you are going so slow that it's possible to take a picture while you're driving. Of course I'm not admitting to anything here I'm just showing you a picture.

Sale

I don't know about you but I like going to sales on the weekend. This one though, I'm not too sure about. I doubt that they would have anything  I would want.

I was sitting at a red light when I looked over and saw this sign I had to do a double take. Of course I had to pick up my camera that was sitting on the front seat. This is a bar that recently closed and is up for sale.

Drive

Last weekend while I was out running errands I had to go to a little town called Cambridge Springs. I don't know why but I've never taken pictures there before. I only took a few this time but I really need to go back for the sole purpose of getting some shots.

The end of this building is where my favorite second hand store is. Three floors packed with all kinds of things.

This bar is across the street. I saw the for sale sign on the side so I don't know if they are open anymore but if they are they have home made turtle soup daily. Loved the painting on the side of the building.

You might be a redneck

You might be a redneck if you drink wine from a mason jar.

You might be an even bigger redneck if you make your own wine glasses and they look like these

I had seen "redneck wine glasses a while back when I was in a little shop. I thought they were really cool but knew I could make them a whole lot cheaper than $10.00 each.
I bought a case of mason jars for $7.90 (case of 12) and the glass candle sticks from the dollar store for $1.00 each. Then I just glued the two together with E-6000.  Now all I need is a bottle of wine

Only the shadow knows.

The shadow knows who the instigator is. I'm going to tell all of you though that the guilty party is Sandra a.k.a. Madsnapper. She sent me a link to some photoshop tutorials. Some of the things were techniques I've already been using but I had to try everything out.
Duke was kind enough to lend his photo for my play time.
My original picture

and my over edited fun picture.

Don't you just love it when you have friends who feed your addictions?

Softer than....

A lambs ear.
I have these growing in my front yard.

I suppose I could have pulled the weeds out of them before I took the shot but it was an afterthought. Oh well maybe next time

Owl tell you all about it

The other day I said that I had made some crocheted owls and today "Owl" show them to you. I've had these pinned to one of my boards for a while and when I was going through to find something to make I chose these.
The original pattern came from Crafty is Cool I like hers a whole lot better but they're still kind of cute.

That's it for today, I guess Owl be seeing you tomorrow

Know what today is?

Yes, today is Sunday. It is also June 10th. 29 years ago today I was spending the day in the hospital and that was the day that my first child came in to the world.
This is her first day at home. 

I've always loved this picture of her. I think she was about 5 here. Love that devilish grin.

Happy Birthday Amanda

It's been too long

It has been far too long since I have done anything crafty. Thanks to a new blog I found (actually I think she found me and I returned the visit and liked it) I have broken the dry spell. The blog I'm referring to is I like to cut and paste and I do, I really do like to cut and paste. She recently posted a challenge to create 4th of July cards.
Here's what I came up with. Not one but four cards. Since Duke is one of the three patriotic colors it was only fitting that he should do the initial presentation.

After I finished with these I also made a birthday card and started on some little crocheted owls. Both will be another blog post though.
It's going to be a busy day today, so many things to get done. But first I need coffee.

Flowers for my friends

It's Friday and I'm feeling rather generous today. I have flowers for all my wonderful friends.

Earth laughs in flowers.  ~Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Hamatreya"

Flowers are the sweetest things God ever made, and forgot to put a soul into.  ~Henry Beecher, Life Thoughts, 1858

 I will be the gladdest thing
Under the sun!
I will touch a hundred flowers
And not pick one.
~Edna St. Vincent Millay, "Afternoon on a Hill"

And finally, this last one made me laugh.
Why do people give each other flowers?  To celebrate various important occasions, they're killing living creatures?  Why restrict it to plants?  "Sweetheart, let's make up.  Have this deceased squirrel."  ~The Washington Post

Experimenting

I don't remember where but I came across a link recently that I found interesting. It was Advanced Tips for tack sharp images. I read the article and naturally had to go out and play. I don't know if my images were any better or not but I had fun. My camera doesn't appear to be set up the same way as the one used in the article so I just winged it and set out to see what I would get.
On that particular day I chose my white iris as my subject

Good thing I did my experiment when I did because these guys are now all shriveled up and done for the year.