My guy Creating one of his Unique birdhouses......

Happy April 1st everyone.... we have more snow coming this afternoon!

City Park on Siesta Bay has local school children's artist work blown up billboard size and placed around the park celebrating diversity.  Here are a few shots. Connected Face Paint Vistors  

how to make a birdhouse gourd birdhouse.

buy birdhouse gourd seeds and plant in exactly the right spot...and wait
water every so often...and wait
watch the tiny gourds grow...and wait
leave them on the vine till they cure...and wait
hang them up to dry...and wait
on the perfect spring day, cut a hole in the side with an xacto knife, (be careful) and remove the dry seeds. save these seeds to replant later. fashion a roof with the cutout piece using a coathanger. also, a landing and a hanger should be fashioned out of a coathanger. lastly, hang the newly made birdhouse gourd birdhouse. up and spray paint it the color or design of your choice or leave it plain...and wait
after a day or two hang it out in the perfect place ...and wait
very soon someone will move in.
at least that's how i did it. it took me just about a year from start to finish. that reminds me where did i put those seeds? gotta go.
love,
d

For the challenge I have a crocus photo that I used Photoshop Elements on to make it look like a painting.
Blue Crocus Painted

Then doing my usual thing I have a crocus that is fresh and done in macro.
Blue Crocus Fresh

Then a shot of my son's kitten that we are watching over Spring Break.
I am Perky

Arts and craft in town.
A Flower bed, I liked this one cause the walls look parallel, but aren’t.

Around the house.  
A I was able to capture this butterfly and some High kickers

My mother and i often do an arts and crafts night at her house as we sip a glass of wine together ... Here is one of her own designs that she made. A beautiful bird crocheted Window dressing for her living room ....

Beware: more to come.....  ;)

I was asked to make up a card for our first family reunion camping trip which is going to be at Harris Beach on the Oregon coast.
These are the choices that I gave my mom.  Can you guess which one she liked?

reunion_card_1
Reunion_Card2
reunion_Card3
reunion_card_4
REUNION_Card5
REUNION_Card6

These were all made up out of pics that I had taken on the coast.

my 16 yr old is the artsy one, my mom is the crafty one, so I thought i'd have lots to photo, however, only 1 turned out.  these are notecards my mom made by photocopying vintage lace patterns on card stock, then cutting and coloring:
notecard
the rest are of roy, so if you are NOT an animal fan, just pick a number between 1-5 and open that one.
roy1 roy2 roy3 roy4 roy5

Crocus 1
Crocus 2
Spring is Here

For the past two weeks my Mom has been sick and in the hospital.  Today seems to be a turning point and she is starting to be herself again.  We praise God for that.
Flowers are Mom's favorite things along with birds, so these are dedicated to her.

My husband is into making bowls which could possibly be classified as either art or craft--the bowls have not been done justice by me but to see them they are beautiful (to me anyway)..

   WoodenBowls

A slight Orton effect
~~

Have a good weekend!

Who was apparently well-loved and much mourned by her husband. New graveyards cannot compare to the old ones for the artistry and craftsmanship of the monuments to the dead. This mausoleum was one man's tribute to his lost wife. mausoleum 1 mausoleum 2 The two figures you see here are sculptures of her as a bride and at the age of her death. mausoleum 3 Behind these doors are the family crypts that hold both the wife and her husband. There are shelves with photographs of her and some small possessions (like her gloves)mausoleum 4

traditional Jewish method of making jewelry
Pottery painter
colorful shawls

Canada Goose Tending To Her Eggs - Mother Goose

There are few things better than a warm kitchen smelling of fresh raisin bread with orange marmalade  ~~Bread and jam

... Carve...

          Wood U

I'm brand new to this -- posting a story about photos I've taken.  In fact, I'm bewildered by the photos on this website.  They are all so fantastic!  How do you guys do this?!? I'd like to learn to take cool pictures like the ones I've seen on photographica so I'm here...posting a couple of shots...waiting to see what happens.

Arts and Crafts is one of my great loves (right up there with critters and sunflowers) so I'm taking the plunge with a couple photos of paper bookmarks I've made out of recycled paper.  

Crafts Crafts    
The thumbnail is of a plastic jar I covered with the paper mush/mash/slop/whatever.  

I wonder as I look at my own photos how you all decide whether to go for contast (like I did on these) or balance or background or position or style or -- I mean, where do you start?  How do you start?  Does it take a key or can you hot-wire it?

If you get a chance, please give me a chance and get me started on the road to become a fantastic photographer like you.  :)  I'd appreciate it.

Begins With Your Hands!

When I went into Joe's room this morning, this was on his floorscience he apparently got bored in the middle of the night.
we went to the park this evening, and found thesechalk  drawings then this turtle tried to eat spotty's head. Then this little  guy was barking hub a hub a at spotty.
Then saw this nice reflection  

I have never built or flown a kite but I have to imagine the satisfaction of creating, building, and flying one must be exhilarating.  Every year Washington DC hosts the kite festival to coincide with the blooming of the cherry_blossoms .  I kid you not, there are kites everywhere_

You can find everything from traditional kites to dragons  and purple_sharks

...Pretty In Pink
Charming
From The Shores of Tripoli