Day Trippin'

When family and friends came to visit in the early fall of 2008 we took them on a Day Trip to Cedar Breaks National Monument.  What a gorgeous day.  The sky was that intense desert blue with soft white puffy clouds bouncing around which set the backdrop for those fabulous red rock HooDoos.  You just couldn't help but feeling good being in the beautiful outdoors.  I loved this picture of Chrissy and I, she looks so put out.  (Granted she hates having her picture taken but actually the sun was in our eyes as well so that says a lot for the expression, even though she has threatened to break my camera on occasion.)

I used a combo of kits from Cottage Arts, please check my gallery page here for a complete list.

Catalina Island

In the early 60s I took a road trip to California with my Parents and went on a tour boat to Catalina Island (where this photo was snapped).  Daddy had told me for years about growing up in LA and going over to Catalina to ride horses, swim and fish.  I wanted to see a part of his childhood through my eyes.  I wasn’t expecting to fall in love with Avalon, nor for years having daydreams of living there, escaping the pitfalls of teenage life and the woes of the world around me.  Avalon was a setting out of a Romantic novel with the arc of the bay circling swirling around the town.  So many years ago and yet my heart feels like it was only yesterday.


Supplies are from Cottage Arts - Old School Page Pak and Naturals 9 Papers

Here's Lookin' at Ya

Font - Comic Sans

We took the Wildlife Loop Road through Custer State Park in South

Dakota.  How amazing was this?  To drive around a bend and have

Burros staring at you, walking to your car and looking in the window,

not afraid at all, very very curious.  Round another bend and see deer

feeding in the grassland nearby.  Looking but not alarmed because

visitors have stopped to stare yet again.  But the real heart stopper

were the Bison, many many Bison who knew they had the  right of

way down the roads, through the trees, wherever.  When you are the

size of a Bison you rule!

Supplies are from Cottage Arts please check my gallery page here for a complete list of supplies.

Backroads

Driving the backroads on our last trip I snapped pictures as we passed by old buildings from bygone days.  I couldn't help wonder who tended these farms, planted crops, tried to keep animals alive in the brutal winters and fiery summers.  Hearty individuals to be sure.  You wonder how many generations opened that shed door, how many lives tramped across those fields and laughed and played and loved here.  So many lives beating around us each day that we know nothing about.  Traveling, it's a great adventure and truly a time to do a little reflecting on the souls of others around us.

Supplies from Cottage Arts 

Road Trip Page Pak

Scrap Templates 36

Font - Chaparral Pro

Challenge - Travel

I could see the tops of the old buildings of Wallace from the freeway and we both knew I had to get up close to see and take pictures.  All of the downtown buildings are on the National Historical Registry, and rightly so, the architecture is just amazing.  

We had breakfast at the 1313 club, aptly named because when it was established it became the 13th brothel and 13th saloon in this bustling silver mining town.  What it must have been like in it’s hey day.

Supplies from Cottage Arts

Road Trip Page Pak - Scrap Frames 21 Vintage Frames - Grunge Paints 2 Brush and Stamp Set -

Font - Lucida Sans

On The Pier

Eddie wanted to go out on the Pier so bad but Mitch kept yelling at him to 'Wait for Me'.  Next thing I knew he and Paul had joined hands and were off, in hunt of Pelicans and fish I do believe.  Taken at the San Diego Harbor, Shelter Island Pier in November of 2010.  For a list of all supplies used to make this digital page check out my Cottage Arts Gallery. 

Colorado Floral

Loved all the beautiful flowers while visiting Colorado, here's a glimpse of a few. Supplies from Cottage Arts.

Steamboat Springs

Here's the first for our recent trip to Colorado. These pictures were taken at Steamboat Springs Colorado. All Supplies are from Cottage Arts, check out my gallery there for a list.

Corn Fest

Late last summer we heard about a small community about 45 minutes East of St George that hosted a Corn Fest. Fresh corn just sounded too good to pass up so we took off one morning just to see what was what. Enterprise is a very small farming community that produces some of the sweetest most flavorful corn I've had for years. They brought wagons directly from the fields and loaded bags for you as you waited. Several of the neighborhood had lunch for sale including Navajo tacos, a real treat and a first for us both. We can't wait until this August, we'll be there with mouths salivating just thinking of the sweet corn waiting for our table.

I used Alessandra Designs darling action LadyBug Action Bundle for the little red ladybugs and then two of her papers (blended) from her Four Seasons: Autumn

New Designs at Cottage Arts!

Cottage Arts has released some neat new products. I've made several pages here using a lot of them. I love the looks of the papers and elements, they work so well for blending and masking. Great effects.

This first is called Evening sky, it's some of the photos I have on my Reflections of My Year blog that I took the other night of the evening sky and the approaching storm.

The journaling reads: My Blessing for today
It's so easy to take for granted each day I'm given.
To overlook the simple beauty that surrounds me.
Today I am thankful for the glorious sunset that turned
the skies around me these vibrant shades of amber
constantly moving
spreading their threads open
and upward
embracing the whisper from the heavens.

Supplies all from Cottage Arts
Nature's Sketchbook Elements 1 Botanical Imprints - Word Art - Mat Old Paper - Border Cluster 1 Naturals 12 Paper Pak - Paper 03 Nature's Sketchbook Journals 1 - Journal 02
Nature's Sketchbook Papers 1 Botanical Imprints - Paper 01 Fall a Flutter Element Pak - Fall Swirl Let There Be Peace Page Pak - Folded Fabric Frame

Font - Lucida Handwriting



For this I used Nature's Sketchbook Ivy League - and Font Americana


I used my photo of the road (taken at Navajo Lake Utah this last fall) and blended it with Ivy Paper number 4 using the Hard Light blend mode in Photoshop (I use PS CS3). I then added a mask and erased with a feather brush (13) set at 75% Opacity and Flow. I kept erasing the outer edges to get rid on any hint of hard edge, blending it into the background.


I also used a blend mode, Soft Light, on the text, which gave me the effect I wanted but then it was too light to show properly so I duplicated the text layer and reduced it's opacity to 28%, which gave it just enough depth to be able to read and still look like it was part of the road.


This is just so fun to do, the possibilities are endless, you just need some imagination and keep playing until you hit the effect that says yes to you!

These last two are a 2-page spread about our trip this summer to Wyoming.


Journaling Reads:
This was way more than an adventure!
At over 9,000 feet the cabin presented
itself with some unique problems to
our breathing! We really hadn't given
it much thought when booking but
soon realized when we tried to trek
around anywhere. It was especially
fun when the power went out, it's
mighty dark in the middle of the
Wyoming woods!

I used these supplies from Cottage Arts -
Ragged Delights Element Pak - Twine Sewn Cardboard

Life Journey 12x12 Album Pak - QP 08- Frame 024 and
Natures Sketchbook Elements 1 - Botanical Imprints - Dog Tag - Pearl Old - Border Stitches - Tag w/String Overlayed and blended with Mat Old Paper
Font Rodeo King



And here's the last great photos of the four legged friends we saw along the way. In this page I used Ragged Delights - Twine Sewn Cardboard Positive Metal Attitudes Elements Pak - Rusty Spring Life Journey 12x12 Album Pak - QP 25 - Frame Trio
Font - Rodeo King

Rogue River - Using Masking

Joyce de Jonge has just released this new kit called Paint Your Picture which allows you to lay your photo over a choice of masks and 'clip' them together to get this painted effect here, I just love how easy it was and the results. Joyce sells at Digitals, please check her out!


Here's the journaling on my page, I dated it because years from now when hopefully my 3rd or 4th generations (or later) to follow me will get a little feel for the financial turmoil our country is in right now:

In the summer of 2005 after we finished visiting the family in Washington we spent a few days before returning home to Fresno in Grants Pass Oregon. Staying right on the river our balcony overlooked the Rogue and we could watch the jet boats as they headed down the River. We took this ride ourselves, a little disappointed that we couldn't enjoy the white water trip since the water that summer was too low. But the scenery, the water, the beauty was worth the ride. This little community captured out hearts, I loved it because it was the Pacific Northwest, just a little warmer than up north in Washington. Paul loved it because it had water and green like the New England of his youth. If we hadn't already purchased our 'retirement' home in Utah this would have been the spot we seriously considered. Now economic times are on the fritz and we may have to leave this idea as a dream instead of a reality at least until the world becomes a more settled place to live and our money once again is worth something.
Written 10-7-2008

Utah Fall Foliage

Yesterday we took a ride so I could shoot some pics of the fall foliage up near the canyons. Wow talk about pretty! The contrast between the colors of the leaves and the formations of the rocks were really something! We also stopped at Navajo Lake. We drove by it (from above) last time we were out driving around, this time we actually drove down to the lake. Beautiful and such a surprise amongst all the dryness. Can't wait to go back next year and rent a boat so we can go out on it. Most everything was already closed, I imagine the season ends the last day of September.

Arizona Highways

This is my first page of our recent trip to Northern Arizona. We left last Monday and drove to Flagstaff bypassing the North Rim this time. We arrived early in the day and headed to Sedona where the pictures in this page were taken. Throughout the week we've been to Jerome, Prescott, Payson, the South Rim and Flagstaff, plus miles and miles and miles in between. It was a super fun trip with lots of new memories, a brand new friend, well actually we've been digi friends for a long time but we finally got to meet in real time and tons and tons of new pictures to scrap. Isn't retirement great?

I used a kit from Cottage Arts called Tuscan Memories for this page, I just loved the rich ambers in it and it was a perfect fit for my pictures of the church in Sedona.

The journaling reads: When I was young one summer my Mom and Dad drove the whole California coastline for me so we could stop at the Missions along the way.
When Paul and I visited Sedona Arizona we came across this church tucked amongst the shops and eateries.
I wandered inside to take a few photos and was instantly taken to those past years of Daddy stopping so I could see inside yet another Mission.
This wasn’t California, and it surely wasn’t the coast, but the beauty, the peace, the serenity was there and touched my heart and gave me the peace it did years ago as a little girl.
I guess I was in love with the book Ramona and those early days of our country growing with the strong Spanish influence.
I was sure glad we’d turned this cobblestone corner and saw this lovely sight just inviting us to stop, stand still and just appreciate how precious it is to be.

I'll be posting more pages and photos of the trip soon. So stop back by if you'd like to see!

Wyoming Wildlife

Here are a few of the pages I've gotten done about our recent trip to Yellowstone and the animals there. We had a few glitches in our travel plans, I guess that's what makes the memories more special huh? But all in all it was a wonderful time and a place we would return to in a heartbeat. I've a couple more pages to do on the animals and I'll post them as soon as I'm done. There's just so many fabulous shots that I want to scrap it could fill a book all on this trip alone!

For these pages I've used Maddy Fernandez's As The Deer Page Set, Maddy sells at Digitals, please check out her store!

Journaling on the Deer page reads:
The animals of Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons were in abundance when we visited. We saw these deer on three different occasions.

The top photo was taken in the fields and marsh directly in front of Jackson Lake Lodge. At first I saw two ‘somethings’ off in the distance. I was trying to point them out to Paul, thinking they were some type of signs, but why signs way out there? About the time this thought crossed my mind they moved! After refocusing my eyes I realized what I was looking at were Elk. Scanning the fields we spotted this herd to the East. Just munching their way through the grasses. I’ve grown up with deer and Elk in our backyard in Washington State, but this was like a stage production just put on for our benefit, although I’m sure these guys would beg to differ.

The middle photo was taken on the day we took the tour through Yellowstone. Actually this guy was across the stream but with the wonder of telephoto lens he came full to life in print. He was so beautiful, just like a picture postcard just oblivious to all us tourists angling for just the right shot of him.

The bottom photo was taken on our way to Jackson, just past the airport. The mule deer were right alongside the roadway. I wonder if the people of Jackson Hole ever get used to animals always within their view, I can’t imagine not being struck by their beauty each time you see them. I loved these guys, with their soft floppy ears they looked like they could be a best friend, not animals of nature.

Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons
exactly the right spot to see nature at it’s best!

Journaling on Bison page:
On Tour in Yellowstone we stopped to see the Thermal hot spots. Just as we got off the van and rounded the corner here was this Bison taking an afternoon siesta! They are huge animals, close to six feet at the shoulder and easily close to or over 2000 lbs.

This one looks peaceful doesn’t he? Well the ranger was close at hand with hand on the pepper spray strapped to her leg. We stopped and chatted with her a while. She said it makes her real uneasy when the Bison decide to venture so close. Mind you there were lots and lots of people, including a lot of small children, wandering around.

I think because of their appearance you have the feeling they are slow and dumb. Quite the contrary. We were told they can jump a 4 to 6’ high fence with barely any running distance. And are equal competitors to short distance Olympic sprinters. It upped our respect of them a lot!

Journaling on the Moose Page:
On the back of Jackson Lake Lodge is a viewing area. You can sit and have breakfast or coffee in the morning or wander out any time of the day to sit on the benches and see if you spot animals in the grass and marshlands leading up to the Lake. On this particular morning we spotted this moose just running across. It’s the first time I’d ever seen a moose up close or far away. I was excited!

The day we took the raft trip down the Snake River the youngest guy aboard (he was 7) spotted the Moose in the upper photo just grazing beside the River as we floated by. He was much much closer than the first. I think I was struck by how large he was! We were told by several of the guides that they have ‘strong’ personalities! I’m glad we weren’t any closer!

Las Vegas Getaway

We took a couple days, cashed in some comps and rolled into Vegas on Wednesday, by that night Paul had hit a jackpot and had a smile from ear to ear. The winds were fierce and by Thursday night the skies looked ominous framing the Eiffel Tower directly in front our of hotel window. It was a fun trip, we took in Hats and had our photo taken, ate at Margaretiaville which is always a blast and even walked the strip! Next time we'll cut it to one day and night of play and stay and then wander on home happy campers. Unfortunately, as always, my pockets were empty and lonely by the time we pulled in the driveway, but more memories for our book and a nice break from unpacking. 5-21/22-2008

I used Beth Rimmer's newest kit Board Shorts! at Digitals. I'm sure it's not what she had in mind when she designed it but the colors and patterns were perfect to go with our Paris Paris photos. That's the joy of working with digital it is so versatile and can just be used a multitude of ways!

I also used a tip from Linda Sattgast's newsletter about duplicating your photo, adding a stroke and then tilting them. I loved this photo I shot of the wicked sky behind the Eiffel Tower but it just didn't have much punch until I followed her suggestions. Then tucking our photo between the layers gave it the dimension the page needed. Check out Scrappers Guide and sign up for her newsletter (or better still Premier) if you haven't already, great tools to add to your bag of tricks!

Zion's Tunnels

This is my second page on our trip to Zion, I had so many people comment on the tunnel and it's window view from outside the tunnel I decided I'd like to remember this in a page. Here's the journaling:

We approached this first tunnel and were through it in a blink, but further along Zion's winding road was the second tunnel and this is the one I remembered from before. There is no place to stop as you go through, which is a shame because pictures from the inside looking out would speak volumes. The top photo is a shot of one of the carved arched windows within the tunnel, I'm not sure how many there are but several. We had made a couple of the switchbacks after exiting the tunnel and by the time I could pull off on a turnout this is what I saw. Looking up I could make out the outside of the window (shown by the magnifying glass in the middle photo), enlarged so you can get the feel for the beauty of the design in the top photo. The bottom is the first, shorter tunnel we went through. The Zion Mt Carmel tunnel (the actual name) is 1.1 miles long. In the early 1900's Navajo Sandstone was blasted and cut (2000' thick) to form the tunnel. Impressive to say the least. The drop off on the south side was 800', it's just beyond my comprehension doing something of this magnitude at this period of time.
I used Spellweaver's Harmony kit, it's at Digitals if you'd like to check it out.

Perched on Zion's Rim

Wow here's the first page I've done since the move. It seems like forever!! And it's great to be back creating! Yesterday we started out in the morning to go to Colorado City, ended up going on to Kanab then on to Glen Canyon Dam, Page and Lake Powell. Paul wanted to come back a different way so when we got back to Kanab around 3:30 we headed up on to the East side of Zion and came through the canyon. I had only been once before and it was late when we went through, dusk and past so I hardly got to see anything past the entrance on the west end. Today was glorious. So little traffic, such wonderful weather. We could stop whenever we wanted and take pictures (or I could - smiles, he was a real good sport about stopping every few feet, lol). Soon it will be packed with people this was so great, like having the park more to a small group of visitors. It is the best way to see the park - East to West - when people visit this is how we will take them, the heavy traffic flows from I-15 West through the park. Now, you aren't able to go to the Lodge unless you have a certain pass. You must park and take a shuttle (free). We had traveled over 325 miles by this time so opted to skip this until the next trip, when I think we'll go up and stay overnight. You can pick up the shuttle from anywhere on either side, get on and off as much as you want and it stops at all the spots in Springdale and then at all the spots within the park that you cannot drive to. I wish they would do this at all the parks, Yosemite would be so much better if there were only shuttles on the inside instead of so many cars, super super idea!

Journaling on this page reads:
As we approached the entrance to Zion National Park we stopped to take the first of
many photos of this magnificent area. There was this charming little fellow sitting in
the tree near me. As I started to snap his photo he darted off only to land on the edge
of the railing. Perched on the rim, taking in the beauty of the scenery around him,
just like me, but this is his home, an everyday place, but to me, it’s amazing, awe-
inspiring, just breathtaking. So majestic al, the day was perfect, a beautiful May day
with sparse cars and cooler weather. I’m so glad we decided to go for a drive.

All supplies were from Cottage Arts - please check them out, you'll be so glad you did!

Hearst Castle Bedrooms

Journaling Reads:
We took Tour One since we’d never visited the castle before. This was Casa Grande which houses 38 bedrooms 41 bathrooms and has over 60,000 square feet. I loved the ornate ceiling in this one bedroom and the wonderful antiques. The whole place was absolutely amazing as was the guest list of who’s who that stayed in these very rooms, Winston Churchill, Lindberg, Greta Garbo to name just a few.

I also discovered that PS CS2 has a built in photo-merge. I'd probably heard about it before but there is just so much stuff to learn and glean that I was surprised and delighted when
I stumbled upon it doing this page. I had taken this photo in one of the bedrooms. I originally took the lower part of the room because I couldn't get an angle to get the whole thing. But then upon looking up was so taken with the ceiling that I decided I must have a photo of that as well. When I started to scrap them I discovered neither really showed enough of the other to show what I wanted. That's when I started looking for a filter or something and discovered the photo-merge. I opened photo-merge, the two photos, said go and here is the end result, pretty cool huh? I left the funny edges because it just added character to the page.


Joyce deJonge just created this great kit for Fall called Joyce's Fall Garden, sorry Joyce I did it again. I'm sure she didn't have this in mind but the colors of her papers are so rich that they were the perfect choice for these photos. I also took her lariats from her Joyce's Mini Elements. Now that was an absolutely perfect find. Great kits, I'm sure I'll be using lots of the other stuff in them. Check out Joyce's designs at Digitals you'll sure be glad you did.

Bagby

We took a road trip one Sunday up the backroads from Fresno on Hwy 49. Stopping at this wayside was a treat, the air was fresh and smelled clean like my Pacific NW.

I snapped a shot of this gorgeous tree overhanging water, this feeds into Lake McClur which is what the smaller photo is. I loved the way the rock had been piled around the Bagby monument and was so tickled when I got home to discover you could read the whole plaque. A great 'get out of the house' day.

I hope there are hundreds more of these that lie ahead of us, just waiting to be discovered.

















I used the Destinations Pak - and the frame for my photo from the Destinations Album - both from Cottage Arts by - Doris Castle. I love these paks, they have so much neat stuff in them it was just a cinch to put the page together. Oh gotta use them again!

Road to Nowhere!

We were traveling from Washington to Southern Utah in the summer of 2004. North of Salt Lake City we stopped at a cool rest stop that had this wonderful Visitor Center. The volunteer there told us we "Must" see Antelope Island State Park. We were told about all the antelope, bison and other animals that inhabited the Island. We were sold it was a 'must see'. Antelope Island is the largest of the Great Salt Lake's 10 islands. By going on the causeway you cross the lake to the Island, it seemed to stretch forever. Now mind you this was late July, the lake was low and the scenery not as lush as I'm sure it would have been had we stopped in the fall months.

Well needless to say this guy here in the photo was about the only almost-live animal we saw! I can't say I regret going because I'd never seen the Great Salt Lake and it was amazing to me to think that it could be so big, be actually saltwater and be totally surrounded by land.

We found this bison with the hands painted on him and were both in hysterics posing with him. You can't see it in this picture but right next to him was a sign that said 'The Road to Nowhere'. Well I think they got that one just about right.

Get this kit

FREE

RICH TAPESTRY MEMORIES
Beth Rimmer is to be the featured designer at Digitals October 5-19 and you will be able to download a few pieces of this fabulous kit each day. It is sooooo worth it. I just love the colors and elements.