Catch-Up

I joined Kim Klassen's 2nd Beyond Layers or Beyond Beyond or Beyond II....I am not sure how to refer to this, but you know what I mean, 2nd class in her Beyond Layers series.  The first one was a year long, and I do believe this 2nd one is the same length.  I started out with a bang the first time around, but then slowly began to skip a week here or there...shame on me.  I always have such good intentions, but somehow I always get off-track.  Kim gives such great instructions, I encourage anyone that wants to know anything about layers/textures in Photoshop/Elements to take one of her classes.  I think she even has a couple of freebies to get you started.

Well, this time around I didn't even get started with a bang, again...shame on me.  But I am catching up and here was our 2nd assignment.  To take multiple pictures of the same subject at different angles, points of view and then pick 3 of my favs and make them into a collage.  She even provided the template for the collage and ofcourse instructions on how to do it.  Here is mine...remember my little jar with the chalkboard label from Anthropologie....so many ways to use this sweet thing.  And by the way, I totally blame Kim for all my purchases from Anthropologie (I dropped a few dollars there last Saturday) with all her talk and beautiful cups she tempts us with.  And now it is on my radar.

OK....you haven't seen one of my selfies lately.  I pooped out on the last 2 weeks...the 1st one was a silly pose (I don't do silly well) and the 2nd one was in the dark...I just never came up with anything showing me in the dark.  I just seem to be in the dark most of the time anyway, shoulda just taken any ole pic...but that's not what they were going for.  So this week it is a dyptic...2 photos that make up a whole in other words 2 parts of your body...any part or parts.  That I could relate to...so here is mine. I know, silly me.  I probably could have used this one for the silly too....whatever!!

And today is the 2nd week in Madge's Rurality...a new link-up that she started last week due to a couple blog sites dropping their weekly memes.  It seems like many of us enjoy the rural parts of our lives even if we do live in the city.

This rather plain white barn was again in DeKalb County...don't ask me exactly where, I never know, I just drive and shoot, shoot the camera that is.  I have never gotten lost in any of my wanderings, the roads all seem to be squared, follow one, turn left, turn left again and you end up on the same road you started on.  Life is so much simpler in the country, at least roads are anyway.

And because yesterday was Abe Lincoln's birthday another Abe quote....

"Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt."  ~ Abraham Lincoln

Until next time,

Day 5 - Pieces of Me

Ok, I know I am late in posting this...but I really do have a good excuse.  Yesterday I was busy all day, from morn til night.  I'll tell you about my day later but first let me finish my week of "Pieces of Me - Scavenger Hunt" for Beyond Layers.  Today or I should say, yesterday, our prompts were View from our Window and Favorite Drink.

I love this view...this is my living room that looks out over the front yard and across the street to a wide-open field.  It's always a pleasant sight until the boys across the street park their trucks right in front of my pretty view.  There are 4 drivers in their house and 5 trucks.  They are one truck lovin' family.

And the 2nd prompt is favorite drink....well this was way too hard for me to pick just one.  And it all depends on the time of day.

And I have to add this sweet, sweet image.  I did another photo shoot yesterday for a good friend's granddaughter....here is a little preview of Dad and Daughter in a sweet (very quick kiss) .....

Oh we had a good time...hope you ended your week on a high note.

"I'm a big believer in just saying yes if someone asks you if you can do something."  ~  Piper Perabo

Until next time....

Day 4 - Pieces of Me

Ahh..day 4 of the Beyond Layer's Pieces of Me Prompts is already almost over.  I've been gone all day so this is the first chance I have had to post. Today's prompts are (1) what I am currently reading  and (2) a light fixture....

I seem to be reading a multitude of things right now.  I have started 4 books and need to start a 5th & 6th for book clubs in September and October.  It's not that I don't like the books I have started, I am like the kid in the "proverbial" candy store when it comes to books.  There are just so many, it is hard to choose which one to read so I try and read multiple books and then end up having a hard time finishing them.  Pretty dumb huh?? Right now my started ones are:

1. The School of Essential Ingredients by Erica Bauermeister - a sweet lovely little book about a cooking school and those that attend.  
2. The Soldier's Wife by Margaret Leroy - Our bookclub book for August.  Didn't finish it, but still reading.  Interesting story that takes place on the isle of Guernsey during the war.  Beautifully written.
3. A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkenss - this received so much press and the author has just released the sequel that I thought I would see what all the hype is about.  Well written story of a modern day witch in Oxford, England along with her vampire, soon to be love.  
4. Sister by Rosamund Lupton another English setting with a twin sister that has been murdered and the remaining twin desperate to find how and why.

And the two I need to get started are:

1. The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh
2. Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake by Anna Quindlen

Looking forward to reading both of those.  Any good books you are reading??

And the 2nd prompt is "a light fixture".  Well, I have to post this.  It is my 3rd and final bathroom re-do. I bought this little chandelier at the flea market a couple of months ago in anticipation of putting it in my new re-done bathroom.  

The color of the paint looks different in these two pics....I am sure it was the lighting.  But it is a lavender purple.  I love it.  Will show more pics later.  

I am now officially tired and need to go to bed...tomorrow is another busy day.  Be sure and hop over to my collaborative blog on Friday (Focusing on Life) to ride along with me as I go on another adventure.  

"Unlock your natural desires by doing what you enjoy."  ~  Hans Selye

Until next time....

Pieces of Me - Day 3

Oh boy...today's Scavenger Hunt items are (1) front door and (2) kitchen faucet.  Wouldn't you know it's the kitchen faucet after I just put in 3 brand-new faucets in my bathrooms.  Oh well, maybe it's time to get a new kitchen faucet too.  Ooops no can do, have officially run out of money.

OK now how many times have you taken a picture of your kitchen faucet??  Looking at this closely it definitely could use a little clean-up around the ridges.  Should have done that before I took the picture.  Oh well.....

Next the front door....

Just kidding...did I have you there for a minute...did you go "oh my"?  Actually got this off of pinterest, love beautiful old doors and windows, but this is definitely not my front door.  Here is mine....

Or at least a snippet of it anyway.  Actually this is inside looking out and it is the "storm" door, not the real front door.  But it's prettier than my front door so this is what I am showing.  Plus I love all that pretty bokeh in the background.

Today's newspaper had some interesting news....did you know that "50 Shades of Grey" has saved B&N from going bankrupt??  Well, I don't know if it is the primary reason, but according to the newspaper the sales of this book has brought their profits way up.  So I guess this novel has brought delight to not only a gazillion women but also to the CFO of B&N.  Maybe if they changed the name of the book to "The Book That Saved B&N" I might consider reading it but as of today I have not.

And just because this is all about "pieces of me" I am posting pics of Bathroom #2 that is finally finished.  In this bathroom, the wallpaper was stripped and the walls were painted.  New bathroom sink & faucet installed, new curtains & shower-curtain, new overhead light fixture, new blinds, new toilet seat cover, and new "stuff".  It is very difficult to find "gold" stuff these days.  Everything is now burnished bronze or brushed nickel or shiny silver, not so much gold.  But if I wait long enough, gold will return.

So that's it for day #3 in this Pieces of Me Scavenger Hunt Week at Beyond Layers.  Been kinda fun. See you tomorrow for day #4.

"Boredom arises from routine.  Joy, wonder, rapture, arise from surprise."  ~ Leo Buscaglia

Until next time.....

Pieces of Me #2

Continuing on with our Beyond Layer's Scavenger Hunt Week today is (1) breakfast and (2) mailbox.  Oh dear, now I have to confess that many times I do skip right over breakfast.  I just get so busy with drinking coffee, reading the newspaper, catching up on blogs, writing posts, taking pictures in my PJ's that there just doesn't seem to be room for breakfast in that line-up.  I know..."most important meal of the day"...gotta get better at it.  I do enjoy vanilla yogurt on granola, but right now I am out of both, so no pics of that.  But I did manage a little something for the sake of art today....

I did enjoy a softboiled egg altho by the time I broke it open it had almost hardboiled, but it was still tasty.

Earlier in the summer my mailbox was covered with beautiful purple clematis, but not now.  I'll admit I did try to go back in my archives and search for those pics with the flowers covering the mailbox, but after awhile, decided...what the heck, this is pieces of me, right now, not a couple of months ago. As you can see, the mailbox is currently empty which sometimes is a good thing....no bills, no junk mail.

OK, now is where I try and attempt the proverbial 2 birds with one stone trick....I missed posting in Trisha's Barn Charm yesterday and today is Kim Klassen's Texture Tuesday, using her new texture "dreamit" which by the way, I absolutely love, so here goes the 2 birds trick....actually I did cheat a little here...I took this pic earlier in the spring, but the texture is brand new.

Oops, just hopped over to Tricia's blog and found out that her modem is down so no barn-charm this week.  So those 2 birds are now one...

And just because, I am posting a couple of pics of my "thank God it's over" bathroom redo.  This is the downstairs powder room.  All that really happened in this room was stripping off the wallpaper and painting.  The bathroom vanity had been updated a couple of years ago with a new faucet and new hardware and a new toilet was added at that time.  This has now become a mini art gallery for a lot of my photography work.  The extra things on the wall all have special meanings...I will post on that in the future.  The color was changed from a dark forest green to this soft golden tan which matches colors in the family room.  I love it...with only a change in the color it made a huge difference.

And today, in honor of the death of Phyllis Diller (I know some of you probably don't remember her, but she was a terrific comedian who was always telling jokes about her age and her marriage) I want to close with just a few of her laugh out loud "quotes".   She lived to the age of 95, probably laughing all the way.

"I love to go the doctor. Where else would a man look at me and say, 'Take off your clothes?'

"You know you're getting old when your blood type's been discontinued."

"I realized on our first wedding anniversary that our marriage was in trouble.  Fang (the name she gave her husband) gave me luggage.  It was packed.  My mother darn near suffocated."

"Whatever you may look like, marry a man your own age - as your beauty fades, so will his eyesight."

So on that note...Until next time....

Pieces of Me

In Kim Klassen's Beyond Layers Class she is challenging us this week with a kinda Scavenger Hunt in capturing images of stuff around me.  Each day M-F we will get 2 prompts and our challenge is to take pictures of those "finds".  Today, the first day, our scavenger hunt items are (1) favorite chair and (2) on our feet.

The first one is easy peasy...in the summertime you can find me in the rocker on the back porch, my favorite place during the warm weather months.

And the second one "on my feet"  well, not exactly "on" my feet, but most of the times "at" my feet is my sweet, sweet Toby.  He really doesn't like getting his picture taken, so naturally he didn't smile. Note to self...Toby needs to go to the beauty shop for a trim.

Before I sign off for today I wanted to share a few more pics from the Arboretum yesterday.  It was such a lovely afternoon and I did take a few pics.....

When I first drove up to the Educational Center where they have several lovely gardens planted I noticed quite a few people walking to their cars in the parking lot and they were all dressed to the nines.  You do know what dressed to the nines means don't you, or have I just dated myself again? The women all were wearing nice dresses and the men were in suits.  Ofcourse I had to ask "what's going on?"  A wedding....oh that explains it.  And then I saw the bride walking toward me, all smiles since she was now a Mrs.  I really wanted to take her picture but since the "official Photographer" was walking with her I thought perhaps not...!!  But I did get one of the bridesmaids...look at her hair!!

Doesn't this look like a lovely place for an outdoor wedding??

And a couple more....

Loved the light on these berries...!!

"Do not be too timid and squeamish about your actions.  All life is an experience"  ~  Ralph Waldo Emerson

Until next time....

It's Texture Tuesday and More

Out watering the front yard flowers for about the umpteenth trillionth time this summer I saw Aaron and his Dad walking home.  Aaron stays at a small day-care here in our neighborhood so every evening Dad walks to pick up Aaron and then the two walk home together, slowly but surely.  I quickly grabbed my camera again, and began to snap away...how could one resist a charmer like this, especially with his little cap.  He steals my heart he is so darn cute.  

Busy gathering fallen berries...important work.

Look out ladies, here comes gorgeous!!

After spending the day inside, again, I did manage to make some progress on finishing my bathroom projects.  Today I put the final coat of primer on all the drawers, cabinet and doors of the vanity that will be painted black, changed out the hardware on the yellow bathroom vanity, hung curtains in yellow bathroom and washed a couple of loads of laundry.  So this slouch got a little something accomplished today.  Not as much as I wanted, something always pulls me to grab my camera and take a walk around the garden.  And then ofcourse I have to come back inside, download the pictures and then begin to edit them, oh my I do get distracted....

A little distraction....I have never seen a bug like this, it is a wowzer!! I wouldn't mind having a piece of jewelry or a scarf with these colors and patterns.  Nature is amazing.

And another ball jar, this one smaller than my other two.  Picked it up at the same place I bought the others, a little antique store in Elburn, IL.  It's a hoppin' place, pieces going in and out all the time.  Saw several items there I could easily have brought home, but resisted.  I used my new Ball Jar on this week's challenge at Texture Tuesday.  Kim challenged is to use 2 or more of her wonderful textures on one image.  And that I did...1st layer Linen Look at linear burn 58% opacity, 2nd layer French Market at color burn 62%.  Erased the first layer around the flower at 11% opacity, desaturated and lightened the whole image after adding the layers.

And finally, again with Kim in her Beyond Layers class, she has challenged us with fence week, fences all week long.  I have always had a place in my heart for fences, any kind, any shape so this will be fun for me.  I was really glad there was a fence separating me from this bull, he definitely had his eyes on me.

"If you always do what interests you, then at least one person is pleased."  ~  Katherine Hepburn

Until next time.....

Happiness with Aaron

Happiness.  Can that word really be defined?  What makes me happy wouldn't necessarily make you happy.  I can look back and recall the times that I was really happy and I can also look back and remember the times that I wasn't.  But basically overall, I consider myself a happy person.  Little things make me happy, I don't have to have the big-blow-up kind.  Maybe aging has taught me what is important in my world of happiness, but I also think that photography has brought me a new level of happiness.  


Yesterday evening as I looked out the front window I saw my little neighbor, Aaron and his Dad walking, Aaron pushing his little lawn-mower and Dad walking beside him.  I grabbed my camera and rushed out first asking permission to photograph Aaron and then snap away I did.  He is such a cutie and as you can see was willing to smile for me after a little get-to-know-you time.  What made Aaron happy was pushing his lawn mower, seeing and pointing to the airplanes in the sky, and checking out my toenails with bright red polish.  The little things.  What made me happy was being able to photograph Aaron and the delight I found in his smile and the dazzle in his eyes.  

Last week at Beyond Layers, Kim encouraged us to create a color palette.  I have been doing this with The Coffee Shop Blog's Palette template for awhile, but Kim instructed us on how to create our own.  Easy Peasy... Linking to Kim's Beyond Layers Rebecca at The Simple Things and Rosie at Leaves in Bloom.

"Chose to be happy.  It is a way of being wise."  ~  Colette


Until next time