Inktober 2024 - 08 Desert

Inktober 2024 Challenge

08 Desert

Black Marker & Watercolor

A landscape for today in the form of a desert.

A tall cactus is great for the desert.  A few rises in elevation. To top it off a little bird sitting on the top.

 

Cards - Gallery - B&W photo cards

I brought some new cards to the Art Gallery Gift Shop today.

I created a set of black and white images.  The photos are printed at a local photo developer and mounted to the front of a heavy 110lb card stock base.

The cards are A2 4.25 x 5.5 inches with a white envelope included.

The inside is left blank for a personal message.

In this image are the seashell with a black background and a grass seed head against a black background.

This card features a flower called Astrantia major "Alba".  It features a beautiful bokeh background.

It was photographed at the botanic park.

I brought 2 of each of these 5 designs. 

I also took the opportunity to bring home cards which have been sitting there for a while.

The card on this left in this photograph is dried grass in a snow bank but it could as easily be sand.

The one of the right is a cloud shelf where the clouds are heavier and darker.

It's been so long since I had been through the process of updating stock at the gallery.

Now that I am retired things are a little different in my record keeping.

Everything changes.

Birthday Photo Card

I made this card for my aunt who is celebrating a birthday this week.

The photo is one of grasses that I have added a watercolor filter in order to enhance the shapes.

I mounted it to a 8.5x11 sheet  ivory heavy card stock onto which I printed my credits then trimmed the letter size card stock to 10 x 7 inches.  I then scored it at 5 inches and folded in half.

I decided on a photo card as she is a fellow photographer so she will appreciate a photo rather than a paper crafted card.

Sympathy Card

I prepared this large A7 photo card for my aunt on my Dad's side of the family who lost a son. 

It must breaks a mother's heart to lose a child.  She is in her eighties but that does not matter.

I added Modern Label punchie with a black greeting to this simple Rose Hip and grass still life.  Mounted with 3D foam tape.

Recent Photos

The summer continues to be wet and each morning this is what the grass looks like. 

I love the way this image looks with the few in focus with the far and close ones out of focus.

The water drops create wonderful bokeh in the front.

I had to get down low so my knees got wet but it was worth it.





This is what the vase of yellow flowers looks like now.  When they withered I removed the water and let them dry naturally.

I took this photo in my living room as the sun started appearing through the window.  Of course, it is later in the morning than it used to be as we spin on our axis.

I love how the sun caught the bloom on the left!

The sun highlighted the wonderful art glass vase as well.  Made by artist Robert Held.












I caught this Black Capped Chickadee with very warm light one morning recently.

They are pretty skittish so I have had a hard time getting their photos this summer.

I try to have fermented food regularly in my diet.

I have been eating KimChi for years.  First discovered it at a Korean Restaurant in town.  It was the first spicy food I did not mind eating.

When I think of KimChi and I am reminded of a MASH episode. In the episode, Frank sees the locals were burying something in the field outside the fence.  Of course, he thinks it is a bomb and panics.  Upon the destruction of the underground device it was found to be a KimChi pot.

My sister has been making it for me for a few years.  She has a friend who grew the spicy peppers required to make it.  She started it when I has there and I brought the jar home to babysit until it was ready to put in the fridge.

The nappa cabbage, daikon radish, and green onion has to stay under the liquid at all times.  Everything in the preparation needs to be glass. I was lucky enough to have this glass lid which worked very well.  The liquid will bubble over the rim of the jar so there needs to be bowl under jar to gather that.  It sits on the counter for a few days and it bubbled faster as my house is warmer than my sisters.  Then it is stored in a plastic jar in the fridge. 

I have started working on some still life for greeting cards.  This was a dried bouquet I put together a couple weeks ago.  I had tied it with lace which I thought would work but it did not. I needed something warmer in color.  Raffia would be great. 

I have been cleaning up and getting rid of stuff that I don't use any more.  Mostly card making supplies.  The raffia went a couple weeks ago so No Raffia!   I did not stop to think of the other uses for it.  I came across that same thought with 12x12 scrapbook paper that I may use for photography backgrounds.  I am more aware and will vet the 12x12 paper headed out of the house  more carefully.  Card making supplies are seriously being culled.

I have taken props to the retaining wall of the walking path in the river valley a couple of times to have these wonderful old beams in the background.

They are fabulous but hauling props a several blocks without smashing and breaking them along the way has been the challenge.  For this shot,  I was depending on finding natural elements on my walk and it was not the best. 

I love the feel of the wood.  So, I will continue to work on the process to achieve the results I want.

Sharing with Mosaic Monday #41 hosted by Angie at Letting Go the Bay Leaf and Mersad at Through My Lens #204.

My Walk - Water Drops

I found lots of water drops on my walk yesterday morning.  Beside the fact that the grounds are on automatic sprinkler system it had rained the night before.

The pink Impatiens flower had lovely sprinkling of water drops on it.

The grass had water drops clinging to them as the sun was warming them and soon they would be no more.

The holly plant had its points out and large drops had accumulated on their leaves.

The hibiscus looked a little soaked and not necessarily so happy about it.  The blooms are so fragile.

The plastic bag in the garbage can had condensation drops on it.

Another Impatiens bloom with lovely drops!

Sharing with these for Mosaic Monday #95 hosted by Maggie at Normandy Life.

Spring Tea

My first tea on the balcony!

It was Earl Grey tea with savory tea biscuits served butter and saskatoon jam.

The teacup showed up Tuesday and I paid more than I usually budget but it was the perfect color.

As you can see it fits right in.  It is by Cauldon and it is a marriage of 2 patterns. The cup is pansies and the sauce is leaves but it works.  I bought a yellow one from the same company about 1 year ago. I think it has a tulip pattern.
I served the biscuits on the saucer of my heart tea cup set.  Made tea in the small true blue teapot and used a placemat I made myself which complements these items well.

The weather has turned and I am looking forward to having tea on the balcony for the next few months.
My Window Sill Art for today.  They are golden yellow grasses stems.  I found this glass cruet a few days ago which provides some variety of shapes I can have on the sill.
The sparrow was doing acrobatics on the bird seed bell in the crabapple tree this morning. 

I am glad I don`t have to stand on my head to get my breakfast.

The neighbour down the lane had some beautiful tulips on the front porch.  It is getting passed their season but the color was a breath of fresh air.

I wish you a happy day!

Sharing with
Bernideen
Ruth

Recent Snapshots

I visited the St. Albert Botanic Park recently.  They have many flowers, plants, trees in their park.

The weather was perfect and I wandered the space for 3 hours!  The sky was overcast so it provided excellent photo taking opportunity.




 








I was totally impressed with the Dahlia Bed.  Wow, what wonderful flowers they had there.  All colors, sizes, and varieties.

I do photo calendars every year.  I want to do a Bird one next year so I have been working on getting some nice bird photos.  I really want a good Chickadee photo but all summer they are so skittish that I have not gotten a good one. Even with stalking bird feeders.  I decided that I would provide a few sun seeds in a great photo location in hopes of attracting one for a photo op.  Beggars can`t be choosers I guess because this pigeon helped himself to all my seeds.  I guess I need to be more discerning tomorrow as to where I put my sunflower seeds.  You can find the calendars for this year thru this link 2018 Calendars.

I finally have yellow tomatoes on my two plants!!!!

It has taken so long!  I bought these on May 29th and on September 5 I have ripe tomatoes.  It turns out that the amount of sun on my balcony is not conducive to growing tomatoes hence the long process to produce and ripen.  The production is only about 18 tomatoes so that is much below what I was expecting.

Sharing with Maggie at Normandy Life who hosts Mosaic Monday #52
and Mersad at Through Your Lens #110

Recent Snapshots

Here's a few photos from my walk this morning.

The white bloom from the sow thistle. 

I found these gorgeous dahlias at the park.  They were very dark pink and the petals were perfect.

The bees were buzzing around the Spiraea in several shades of pink and purple.

The small white purple bloom is some type of clover.  It was very tall rather than the low to the ground I am used to.

These are grasses of some sort but I was not able to identify it.
I used one of my out of focus photos as the background for the mosaic.

This was breakfast this morning.
Featuring nice tomatoes, ham and egg. 

A small dish of fresh raspberries  from a friends patch.  It's great to eat whole food picked by me.

These are my tomato plants.  They are yellow pear plants which I have been warned will grow very tall.  As you can see it had quite a few flowers.  Soon there will be tomatoes. 

I will let it grow to the top of the posts then I will have to cut off the top ends so it can concentrate on fruit.


During my visits to thrift shops, I have been looking for one of these bottles for a while. The prices are usually more than I am willing to pay.  Finally, last week the price was right and the bottle gorgeous.  It is 3.5 inches square with a super round ball stopper.  I am not fussy about the discolored plastic on the stopper.  It may have to go.  I removed the labels which were for Essenza Sweet Pea fragrance diffuser oil.  It was sold with reeds. This is the third in my collection. 

The bottle in the center has a Avon mark on the bottom.  The silver lid is plastic so not quite the same level as the others.  I don't know what it held originally. I loved the swirl pattern on the body of the bottle.

The bottle on the right features alternating clear and frosted bands running vertically along the body.  It has a metal lid with embossed pattern on the top with Doulton embossed on the band.  This was an expensive Eau de Parfum bottle. 

These add some flair to vignettes that I create for photography.

Sharing with Mosaic Monday #48 hosted by Maggie at Normandy Life.

Through my Lens #102 hosted by Mersad.

Pick Up Truck Cards - Exchange

I made a couple more cards with the Stampendous Truck Tidings Stamp & Die set.  I watercolored them this time and I am happier with the look.  I gold embossed the truck and tree then painted them.  I used red, black and grey on the truck. Green, blue, pink and purple on the tree. I designed a road with grass along the edge.  The road is a grey box with a dotted line. I place grass along the edges with a grass clipart from Pixabay.  This layer was color printed and then trimmed. I then watercolored a sky with some blue. I adhered it to a green card front. I stamped the greeting and gold embossed and punched it with the Stampin Up Artisan punch.  I added a bit of holly below the greeting.  It was adhered to the card front with 3D foam tape.  These cards are headed to my card exchange buddies.

Macro - Bubble

One of the challenges I had this week was on Flickr - Macro Bubble.
Of course, I took lots of shots many of which were not good but I had a few good ones.
I took a kid's bubble maker to the park and blew many of them.  This one was quite small attached to a stalk of grass.  It's great to spend time outside.  I really enjoyed myself.
I love the soft background colors.

Submitting to:
Macro Monday 2

June Photo a Day Challenge - Last 2 Days

Here's the last 2 photos for Kati's June Photo a Day Challenge.

Day 29 - Grass

I chose the clump of new sprouted grass.  I like the fact that the grass has variety of colors including red and green. The rock provides a decent background with texture.

Day 30 - Looking Up

I've had this idea from the first time I read the theme for today. I bought myself a large bubble maker and set out. It's taken a while to get a shot I was happy with.  I went out several times in the evening but the wind was just too much.  This time I spent an hour in the morning, less clouds in the sky but also less wind.  Having to blow the bubbles then chase them around was an exercise.  I didn't really know what I had till I got home and looked at the pics.


I would like to thank Kati for this challenge. It's been fun!!!