random reflections

I {heart} Happy Mail

The mailman arrived early yesterday, and I received a wonderful package from Alexa as part of Sian’s Great Big Swap of Very Small Things. The mailing envelope itself was a piece of art. (No surprise!) 

And what it is about “Royal Mail” that adds something exotic to a package from England.

Inside was a delightful mix of embellishments, papers, frames, stamps, and other bits and pieces. Before I ever read Alexa’s thoughtful note, I knew that the items tucked inside these folders had been chosen specifically with me in mind. (Check out the personalization on the notecard!)

The goodies were enclosed in four handmade folders each with a tiny tag.

The first read: “for your little ones.” Inside were two plastic bags, one with brads that spell CALEB, and another with brads that spell SKYLAR and little bits and pieces for each of them. (There's also a #4 paperclip which somehow I included in another photo.) How cute is this?

The next was “for scrapping your holiday,” with embellishments perfect for our recent trip to Turkey and Greece. I just love that airplane stamp. 

And then some lovely papers and stencils “for your art journaling.” I have two pages on the burner. Hopefully these will be an inspiration to get moving on them.

Finally, a folder stuffed with goodies “for just playing with.” Check out the cute cameras and some camera Washi tape!

Right after dinner, I got busy. Dear friends of ours are celebrating their 60+ anniversary this month. I chose a lovely floral print card from Alexa’s goodies as well as a fabric-covered button as the focal points for their card.

I know you’ll be seeing lots more from this very extravagant gift in the months to come. Thanks, Alexa, it was truly a treasure-filled package!

 

 

 

 

Happy Father's Day & Two Challenges

It's a day to celebrate fatherhood here in the States. Two of my three favorite dads are here with me today, which makes for a good celebration. Matt, Betsy, and Skylar were here for brunch, and later we'll be going out to dinner. It's raining (again), but at least we don't have the flooding that's plaguing the middle of the country.

I think I got Adam's card in the mail just in time. Hopefully, it arrived in Oregon before today. I think it's my favorite.

The dark brown cardstock came from the June Simon Says card kit. The Absolutely die and awesome stamp are also from Simon Says, and the Thickers are Amy Tan for American Craft. I don't often use Thickers on a card, but it worked well here.

The materials for the next card (for Tracy) almost all came from the June kit except for the map paper which was from an old October Afternoon collection called "Boarding Pass." It started with this inspiration card from Kristina Werner, though I ended up in a totally different place.

The card that holds the sentiment (from a Kelly Purkey set called "Dude") is from a collection of cards by Basic Grey. Both the pad of cards and the stamp set were part of the June kit. I forgot to take a photo of the inside of the card, but I used two tickets from Papertrey's set called "Big Ticket Basics." They seemed to fit the theme perfectly. I coated the heart with some Glossy Accents.

I stuck with the same theme for Matt's card, using a different map from the "Boarding Pass" collection. This card was inspired by one of Nicole Heady's cards for a Papertrey release party awhile ago.

The plane which I colored with Copics and cut out came from "Fly Away" and neatly fit over a printed plane in the patterned paper. The sentiment is from the Boy Basics series by the same name. The last two cards meet the CASual Friday Challenge this week:  MAPQUEST.

And the last card also meets this week's Simon Says Challenge:  TRANSPORT.

Heartfelt Thanks

I serve on three Presbytery committees. Our Presbytery serves 60+ churches throughout the Genesee Valley. I've been chair of one of them (Education and Resource) for the last three years. We plan and execute education events for youth and adults in the Presbytery. We host an annual Church Leadership Day with a variety of workshops and speakers, Presbytery-wide youth events and worship services, as well as oversee a resource center at the Presbytery office.

The chairs of the three standing committees also sit (with six other members) on a committee that awards grants to agencies working with congregations in the area.

The last committee is one of several under the "Urban Presbyterians Together" umbrella. Like many churches, most of our urban churches are struggling with decreasing congregations, inadequate budgets, aging buildings, and increased need for mission to the neighborhood. UPT's aim to to help these churches find ways to collaborate and work together to serve God in increasingly difficult circumstances.

When I accepted a position on Resource and Education four years ago, I had no idea where that would lead. All of it is rewarding work, but meetings are just one part of it. Next week, I'll be attending a workshop on violence in the city, a mission day at an inner city store-front mission, and a meeting with folks who are trying to figure out how to help feed the hungry in our urban areas where little good food is available. (Most grocery stores have moved out of the inner city.) 

Last night, two of the committees met back-to-back. (Fortunately that doesn't happen often.) I was asked to make a thank you card that one of the committees could send to a group of Presbyterian women who turned over a lovely sum of money for us to use for our work. It caused me to finally break out the card-making supplies after nearly a month away from them. 

It was fun to get back into the crafting mode. I also got my Father's Day cards done which you'll be seeing on Sunday. I started with "Lovely Layers" by Papertrey Ink. No matter what color combination you choose, it always seems to come together nicely. It's hard to tell fromt the photo, but the circle and darker ink on the card are Royal Velvet, a beautiful dark purple. The front of the card was embossed with the Diamond Impression Plate, and the sentiment and frame are from the "Mat Stack 3 Collection."

 

Just Wonderful

We've been back from our trip for about ten days now. Aside from difficulty sleeping, jet lag hasn't affected us much. It's a good thing because there has been so much to do. Since we've been back, I've served on jury duty (luckily only one day required); we've planted vegetables in our plot at the Community Garden; we've cleaned and refreshed the perennial bed, and potted the plants for the patio; we've replaced the patio table after the glass top shattered in high winds last weekend; and I've edited and purged (about half) of the some 1200 photographs I took on the trip. (I've yet to go through some of my iPhone photographs, or any of Tracy's!) Getting back into the swing of blogging and creating has proven much more difficult than I imagined. I think this is the longest break from blogland I've ever taken. It was certainly a good choice for the trip as we didn't have very consistent internet access.  I've caught up with some of your blogs, but not quite all of them, and I'm trying to stay current. 

So how was the trip? In one word: WONDERFUL! We were lucky in so many ways, and all our pre-trip planning meant we saw nearly everything we hoped to see in all three destinations. Here's a sneak preview of some posts to come.

We loved Istanbul, and are so sorry that such civil unrest has erupted there since we left. Our friends, Rachel and Juan, are safe and can travel back and forth to their jobs, but the demonstrations certainly would have impacted our time there. The hospitality extended to us by Rachel and Juan, and all the Turks we met was fabulous. Everywhere we went, people went out of their way to be helpful and friendly. Istanbul hasn't lost its old-world feel despite the crowded streets and insane traffic. Hearing the call to prayer from the mosques several times a day was a frequent reminder that I was in a different culture.

We loved walking the streets of Istanbul (and we did a LOT of walking). 

We managed to see all but a few of the major historical sites. This is one of the many ferries transporting people from Asia to Europe (and back) across the Bosphorus and up the Golden Horn. In the background is Topkapi Palace. 

From Istanbul we traveled to Athens and spent a day and a half there before leaving for Santorini. We also snagged another half day and evening there before heading home. We were awed by the architecture in Istanbul, some of it dating back to the early 500's. Nothing in Athens is as preserved as the Aya Sofya (completed in 537) in Istanbul, but one forgets how very far back the ruins of the Parthenon and the Agora date.

Here's one of the few photos of the two of us we actually managed to get while we were traveling.

The island of Santorini has been on my bucket list for many years. It did not disappoint. We were in need of some rest when we got there, and although we were busier than we expected to be on the island, the first day we just hung out at our beautiful hotel overlooking the Caldera.

As in Istanbul, everyone we met in Santorini (Greeks and fellow tourists) were warm, friendly, and helpful. We had extended conversations with people throughout the whole trip from all over the world. It's interesting to me how easy that seemed on this trip, but that it almost never happens when we're traveling in the States.

This is another view from the hotel, looking up to the nearest town, Imerovigli. It's at the very tip of the point in the photograph. We walked up there for dinner the first night, and to pick up some wine another day.

Santorini is known for its white and blue architecture. It's truly stunning against the clear blue skies.

There'll be lots more to come about the trip once I get all the photos and notes organized enough to write some blog posts. Thanks for all the welcome home messages, and your good thoughts while we were away.

Happy Anniversary!

Today is Sarah and Adam's anniversary. When this goes live, we'll be at the end of our vacation, and I know that one of the things I'll enjoy when we return is being in closer contact with my kids! Happy Anniversary to two very special people! I hope you have a great day!

Here's the card I sent:

Just a simple card with an old wooden stamp from Uptown Designs, a piece of Paper Source ribbon, and a sentiment from Papertrey's Fillable Frames #4.

Before I left I needed to make a couple other anniversary cards as well.

This one was for my brother-in-law and sister-in-law's anniversary, based on a card Cristina posted. Very similar stamps to the ones she used arrived in the May Simon Says kit so I was anxious to give it a try. The chipboard heart was also in the kit, and I colored it with a Krylon Gold Leafing pen. The sentiment is from Papertrey's Round and Round set. 

Good friends of ours were married on my birthday (30 years ago), and this was sent to them. Nearly everything on this card came from the February Simon Says kit. I used a Simon Says die for the larger heart (embossed with a Cuttlebug embossing folder), a small punch for the patterned paper hearts, and a sentiment again from Round and Round.

I'll soon be back to check out what all of you have been up to. I know I'll be amazed that it's nearly June already!

We're Off!!

Today is my birthday, and I'm celebrating in airports! We leave at noon for JFK, and fly to Istanbul around dinner time. We've been preparing for this trip for several months, and we're as ready as we could possibly be. I've read some great books, and realize that five days in Istanbul is not nearly enough time to see everything I'd love to see. By the time we reach Santorini, I'm quite sure we'll be ready for a few restful days hiking and staring out at the Mediterranean.

Nearly a month ago I made a travel journal for the trip. I started with a small Five Star notebook and with just one Flair button, a label maker and some Washi tape transformed it into a travel journal.

I have a pre-trip section where I've taken notes from my reading, pasted in some pages from some travel books, and stored some maps in the pockets inside the front cover. It's nice and small and easily fits into my carry-on bag, but it has lots of pages for keeping track of what we see and do. I edged each section with a piece of Washi Tape. I got that idea while blog hopping, but I can't remember where.

It will be easy to carry this with us as we explore, and I'll have lots of information right at hand.

Because I'll be away for my birthday, I've been celebrating with some friends ahead of time. I thought I'd share some fun photos. My friend, Karen, and I team-taught for four years. (The best four years of my teaching career.) We got a reputation for being incredibly alike, often coming to school dressed nearly identically, ie. a khaki skirt and a black tee-shirt. One day, a fifth-grader raised her hand and asked if we called one another at night to plan our outfits! Our three initials are the same, our anniversaries are both the the 28th of the month, and we both have son-in-laws named Adam. So we were amused when we opened gifts at dinner last week. Check out the color combination on Karen's gift to me, and my card for her.

Her card, opened AFTER we ordered our wine.

Our gifts:

Before I sign off, I thought I'd also share my crafty friend, Mary's, gift and card to me. Couldn't be more coordinated.

I've given a lot of thought about blogging on this trip. I've loved Alexa's tutorials about scrapping on the road, but I'm just not confident enough in my skills to do that in a time-efficient way. So I've decided to let go of the internet while we're gone, and concentrate on the experience which I'm sure is a once-in-a-lifetime trip. I'll be checking email so I'm not overwhelmed by a stuffed inbox when I return, but beyond that I'll be checking in with all of you on my return.  Here's hoping for sunny skies and amazing sights!

Weekend Recap

I had originally planned for this to be at least a two-part blog post, but the weekend proved busier than I expected. Friday our niece, Grace, graduated from the University of Buffalo. She is a fabulous artist, and spent one semester in Florence, Italy studying art, but her major is accounting. She's ready now to start studying for her CPA license which turns out to be quite an involved process. This summer she'll be interning here in Rochester with a large accounting firm. We celebrated with a party in Buffalo Friday night.

Her brother was here from Oregon, and her sister from Vermont, so I thought a family photo was in order.

Here's the card I made to celebrate this big event. It's a close copy to one Nicole Heady created for the release of this stamp set.

UB's colors are gray and blue. I tried to make it a bit more feminine by adding a couple of rhinestone starrs. All the stamps are from Papertrey Ink's For the Graduate. Once every year or so I'm very glad to have a nice graduation set. 

Unexpectedly, we got a break in the rainy weather Saturday afternoon. It was chilly, but sunny, so we headed to the Lilac Festival to grab a sandwich for our dinner. I was wrong in my earlier post, there aren't 500 bushes, but 500 varieties of lilacs on over 1200 bushes! Here are a couple more shots now that the lilacs are at peak.

While we were at the graduation party Matt arrived for the weekend. We had a nice visit on Saturday. Sunday I hosted a brunch after church for Tracy's mom and sister and her family. Matt, Skylar, and Betsy came to visit as well.

I served Deb's Egg Boats---always a big hit.

And Hummingbird Cupcakes for dessert.

Here's Miss Skylar.

And with Betsy.

I had a lot of fun making Mother's Day cards, and used a template from Rebecca Cooper at Simple As That to make some bookmarks for Sarah and Betsy. I don't think Betsy is a big reader, but Sarah certainly is, and they were too cute not to do. Both women loved them.

I recently acquired a few Gelatoes from Faber-Castell that I wanted to try out. The flowers & leaves on Betsy's card was colored with some of the metallic Gelatoes with shading done with the Faber-Castell markers. I'm not a convert yet, but I'll be giving them another try or two soon. I couldn't get a photo that showed the sheen of the metallic Gelatoes.

The flower and leaves are from Papertrey's "Friends Til the End" set, and the sentiment from the stamp set included with May's card kit from Simon Says. The ribbon is ages old from my stash.

My mother-in-law's card was made with a fun product from the card kit as well.

This embossed card front panel came with the kit. I backed it with a dotted paper by A Muse, and added more flowers from Papertrey's "Rosie Posie." A bottle of pink Perfect Pearls was also in the kit, and I used it to add centers to the embossed flowers.

Sarah's more a fan of clean and simple, but all the stamps for her card also came in the May kit. I love the sketched banner, and have seen several cards around blogland where stamps like these are overlapped. The papers are all from Papertrey Ink.

One of the things I like about the Simon Says kits is how versatile they are. These are all quite different cards, and yet many of the supplies came from the one kit.

I hope you had a fabulous Mother's Day! Betsy celebrated later in the day with her family, and Matt, Tracy, and I had dinner on Consesus Lake. When we made the reservations, we were hoping to eat outside, but there was actually snow in the air for a few minutes yesterday. But I got my required mother and son photo after dinner before the weather turned nasty again.

Thanks for sticking with me on a rather long, photo-heavy post. I have one more post to go up before we leave tomorrow, and one scheduled while we're away, but it's likely to be very quiet here for the next two weeks.

 

 

Liberate Your Art Blog Hop

Kat Sloma has hosted a Liberate Your Art postcard swap for several years now. This year there were over 200 people signed up for the swap. This is my second year to participate, and I've enjoyed it more than ever this year. Not only is it fun to send your work out in the world, it's great fun to find out where it landed as well as receiving postcards from others. This year I've made several nice connections with folks who sent me art, and folks who received mine. 

Here are the two postcards I sent out to the world. The top is a photograph of the benches at the Pentagon Memorial and the quote I wrote on the back was "Lest we forget." The second one was taken at the Oregon Sand Dunes State Park, and the quote was, "When you stand alone, you realize what you have in you."  I know two of my cards ended up in the UK and one in Texas. I hope I'll find out more today on the blog hop.

The first postcard to arrive came from Cathy in Arkansas with the quote "Let the rays of your heart shine on all who pass by." Her beautiful flower with a bee certainly shines brightly.

Another lovely flower arrived next. The quote read, " Beauty surrounds us." Sadly there was no other message so I don't know where it came from or who sent it. Perhaps I'll find out today.

This stunning image came from Andrea. You can find more of her photography here. The quote on the back reads, "In the end, it is not going to matter how many breaths you took, but how many moments took your breath away." How true!

The fourth beautiful postcard to arrive came from Shannon in Richmond, VA.

The final postcard arrived from Helga in the Netherlands. I love how unique it is.  The quote by Twyla Tharp reads, "Art is the only way to run away without leaving home." 

And last, but certainly not least is the beautiful piece of art from Kat.

You can find a list of all those participating in the blog hop here. It's sure to be inspiring and interesting!

 

 

More photos - 52/50: Week 19

There's a lot happening here this weekend so I knew I needed to get my link up to Kent's Project 52 earlier than usual.

Although I expect to love my new lens, my 50mm/1.4 will always be my favorite lens. This project gets me out there using it, and finding new ways to use it. I was surprised at what great landscape shots it took in Oregon. My favorite shot with the 50mm is to open it up wide and shoot in close. It's almost always sharp and pretty. (Although this week the two shots I took of a beautiful magnolia blossom were both too soft.)

I walked to Highland Park early in the week. I knew the lilacs were starting to bloom, and the annual Lilac Festival begins tomorrow. If you want some peace and quiet in the part, that's not the time to visit. We love to go over at least one night to grab dinner from one of the food carts or tents, listen to some music, and admire the lilacs, but it's not great for photography. All but one shot this week came from the park.

Every year there's a pansy bed, always planted in some kind of pattern. This year's is the most unusual; it's planted to create a large white arrow!

A shot of the park. It's even more beautiful now than it was earlier in the week. My friend and I drove by after dinner last night, and it was stunning. There are over 500 lilac bushes. You can smell them from the car.

This is my pick for the week. Not a lilace after all, and worse yet, I'm not sure what kind of tree it is.

Here's one last photo. This one is of our street at the far end that goes into the Colgate Divinity School property.

It seemed like a long wait for spring this year, but it's always worth waiting for.

 

 

 

A Road Trip

Last week I received an email from Tamron with quite a nice rebate available on their highly rated 18-270 lens. I've been debating and debating about what lenses to take with me on our trip next week, and decided to investigate. The folks at my local camera shop (who are very reliable) rated this one highly, and so I splurged and bought it. I'm quite sure I'll sell my older zoom lens when we return. It's been a wonderful lens but it is a bit larger, quite a bit heavier, and does not include such a nice wide angle. My "friend" at the camera shop suggested I try it out and be sure it was working properly before I cut off the UPC code for the rebate. I didn't have to ask Tracy twice if he'd be willing to go on a road trip to see what the lens could do. But I did treat him to breakfast out before we took off.

We headed toward the Finger Lakes. Tracy know all the odd roads to wander down so I got some nice shots before we got to Canandaigua Lake. The first stop was at the Erie Canal park in Pittsford. There's a lovely pond as well as the canal.

18mm

100mm

170 mm

And a shot of the canal because it was so pretty.

18mm

Tracy spotted the great light on these silos. I took several shots at different focal lengths, but this is my favorite.

270mm

By chance we happened upon a place called Upland Blog. 

18mm

I was pleased to discover that by zooming in with the lens I could get a very shallow depth of field as well.

270 mm

Another favorite shot from the trip is this one of the Canandice Methodist Church Bell Tower.

92 mm

Our destination was Canandaigua Lake. These shots were all taken from about the same spot.

18 mm

50mm

76 mm

This lens has gotten a lot of testimonials about being a great all-around lens, especially for travel. I think it will do just fine. I'll take my 50mm lens as well, as I never travel with just one lens in case something goes wrong. But now I won't need to take my wide-angle as well. We're packing light--just a carry-on suitcase and a tote/messager bag for each of us for a two week trip, so I'm glad to have one less thing to add to my bag!