My husband and I have had some photographic luck lately (remember you can click the photos for bigger images).
Red Shouldered Hawk:
Green Heron:
If you look closely, you'll notice a dragonfly about midway up the photo on the very left edge:
Now if you look closely at this one, you'll notice the dragonfly in the Heron's beak:
Mother Alligator:
Baby Alligators hiding in the leaves (look for the yellow stripes):
And finally, a Bald Eagle:
Hope you had a great weekend!Today's Farktogrpahy contest theme is butterflies. Here's the link. Enjoy, there are some beautiful photos!
Layout - "Thanks Dad"
Journaling reads:
I remember the first day that I remember you asking me my opinion about something real. I was eleven or twelve years old at the time. I mean, who cares about the opinion of a twelve-year-old. You did. You asked me what I thought about the war in Iraq (the first one) which had just recently started. While I mulled my answer over, I realized I didn't really have an opinion. No one had ever asked me my opinion before then so it had never really occurred to me to form one. I think I gave you a rather simplistic answer like "it's kind of scary", but the real result of that conversation was you making me realize that maybe I should have opinions and they maybe someone should care what they were. You made me start thinking about some of the things that I learned in school or heard on the radio. You made me start thinking. And I think that's 90% why I'm the intelligent, self-assured, rather opinionated person I am now. Although I have my own opinions, the ability to think through a problem and develop my own opinions has led to the unique ability to be able to see an argument, and its merits and demerits, from both sides. Thanks Dad.
Layout - "One"
Journaling reads:
I love fall. It invigorates me. I count down to it, anticipating, every year. Unfortunately, I have lived in Southern California and Central Florida for the last six years. Places without a real fall. So, I have to appreciate what fall I get, usually one piece at a time.
Layout - "Both Worlds"
Journaling reads:
I am an engineer and an artist. I am these two seemingly disparate and opposite things. I am grateful for the diverse abilities I have been born with. How boring life would be to be limited to one or the other...
Layout - "Imagine"
Journaling reads:
"Imagine how beautiful the world would be if we saw it through grateful eyes"
Layout - "It No Longer Rains"
Journaling reads:
for more than ten years, I suffered from inexplicable depression. I tried to manage it with medication, diet, exercise, therapy, you name it, I tried it. But the depression always came back. Then, in my late 20's and early 30's I tried something different. I started eliminating food allergens from my diet. Turns out that all along, the depression was a symptom. Turns out that all along, I was allergic to wheat. Now, ...
Happy humpday!Ali Edwards has been doing a post series on creating a December daily album. You can see part of the post series on her blog, here. I liked the concept behind the mixed-up album and recording the holidays, so I thought I'd create a similar album. The main difference is that my album will not be a "daily" album. Instead, I will be recording holiday events as they occur, starting in November and going through New Years. This type of album simply fits my creative process better.
For example, I already have entries to make on the first three page. 1) Christmas tree comparison shopping as we are in the market for a new one, 2) creating the December daily album, and 3) starting to practice Christmas carols on the piano.
The covers of my album are 8x10 acrylic purchased at Lowe's and punched with the Crop-a-dile (see this post for instructions on how to punch thick acrylic). I am planning (what I hope is) a cool technique for the covers, so watch for a future post!
Currently, my album has 30 pages, but I know I may need to add more as I go or remove some at the end, depending on how many entries I decide to make. I may also move the pages around as I go to match the size or mood of the story I want to tell. Here is my album as it stands so far, don't forget you can click on the pictures for bigger versions:
Page 1: Scenic Route tabbed chipboard covered with graph paper.
Page 2: Die-cut paper trimmed to 6x6 and adhered back-to-back.
Page 3: Die-cut paper trimmed to 6x10 and adhered back-to-back.
Page 4: KI Memories scalloped sheer trimmed to 6x10.
Page 5: Two different Basic Grey solids adhered back-to-back.
Page 6: Printed transparency trimmed to 6x10.
Page 7: Making memories die-cut paper trimmed to 6x8. A Basic Grey solid is adhered to the back.
Page 8. Tabbed cardstock.
Page 9. Dot paper.
Page 10: Envelope from one of the CK KOTMs.
Page 11: Heidi Swapp clock trimmed to 6x10.
Page 12: Die-cut paper trimmed to 6x6 and adhered back-to-back.
Page 13. Double-sided paper from Little Yellow Bicycle.
Page 14. Two pages from a Charlie Brown coloring book adhered back-to-back (purchased at Target in the $1 spot). I think this page is my favorite.
Page 15. A Fancy Pants journaling card.
Page 16. Two pieces of green corduroy with craft fuse adhered to the back. Once I sew pictures on I will adhere the two pieces together to form one page.
Page 17. Die-cut Christmas tree paper from KI Memories adhered (using Mod Podge) to the back of Making Memories paper, all trimmed to 8x8.
Page 18. Some old Christmas paper I had in my stash. No idea where it came from, but it's several years old.
Page 19. Tabbed acrylic by Zutter.
Page 20. Die-cut paper trimmed to 6x10 and adhered back-to-back. 
Page 21. Red velvet from SEI trimmed to 6x6 and adhered back-to-back.
Page 22. An envelope and card from one of the CK KOTMs.
Page 23. A hand-cut transparency with painted edge.
Page 24. Double-sided paper trimmed to 8x10.
Page 25. A Basic Grey solid is adhered to a Making memories die-cut paper trimmed to 6x8.
Page 26. An accounting ledger page (potentially useful for recording all those Christmas purchases).
Page 27. Corrugated paper trimmed to 6x8 and adhered back-to-back.
Page 28. A printed transparency trimmed to 6x10. Here's where I envision starting to get into New Year's related pages.
Page 29. A Heidi Swapp clock trimmed to 6x10.
Page 30. Tabbed cardstock.
Here's the altered item I created using the Maya Road chipboard "Key" album which you can see in the previous post or here.
I covered the chipboard keys with patterned paper and turned them into the turkey's "feathers". The rest of the turkey I improvised with chipboard and paper from the kit. I'm using him as a Thanksgiving sign, but you could easily turn the circular body of the turkey into a mini-book and use him as an album or cover the other side of the "feathers" as well and create a two-sided turkey to use as a table center piece.
Here's the layout I created for Method Playground's Challenge #30. The gist of the challenge is to create a dimensional layout using layered dimensional materials. The explanation of the challenge can be read here.
This layout is called "Just Imagine" and the journaling is a portion of "The Walrus and the Carpenter" by Lewis Carroll.
Journaling:
"The time has come, the walrus said, the speak of many things. Of shoes and ships and sealing wax, of cabbages and kings. - Lewis Carroll"
And here are some detail shots to show some of the dimension of the layout.
Here's the layered title.
This butterfly was created by peeling off the upper layer of a piece of cardboard. The center of the stacked flowers consists of two gears and a wire spiral. 
This chipboard butterfly was created by separating a single chipboard butterfly into three layers that were still connected in the middle. I painted each layer (front and back) with a purple base coat and the covered the top and bottom layers with purple patterned paper and the middle layer with a purple pattered fabric.
This butterfly was cut from cork.
And I hid a fairy in the chipboard spiral.
This shot just shows the dimension of the page.
Thanks for looking!November's SFTIO kit theme is Gratitude. This is one of my favorite kits so far, and the first kit where I have used EVERY SINGLE PIECE OF PAPER. Here's a look at the kit and I'll be posting my Design Team submissions using the kit over the next few days:
Remember to be GRATEFUL!
