Photo A Day Challenge

A couple of years ago, I discovered a photo a day challenge from Chantelle of Fat Mum Slim. I tried it for a couple of months but couldn't keep up on a daily basis. However, I enjoyed seeing the pictures everyone else posted each day on Facebook and Instagram.

On the first of January this year, I decided to try it again. I'm already finding it difficult to keep up daily and have missed a handful of days. On the days I wasn't inspired or didn't have time, I would go to the archives and find a photo for the prompt. I don't like making a commitment and not being able to keep it, even if the commitment was just to myself.

Chantelle posts the daily prompts a month at a time. I'm thinking I'll do this as a photo a week challenge. I can pick a prompt that interests me from each week and not feel stressed or pressured to come up with something creative every day. I'm always working on improving my photography and this challenge helps with that, which is why I'm not ready to completely give it up.

Here are a few of the pictures so far.

Photo prompt: Circle...this was looking up through a basketball hoop

Prompt: Time...time to play in the first snow of the season

Photo prompt: Path...from our trip to Denver in fall of 2015

Photo prompt: Where I Sleep

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful weekend!

Lace and Fabric Book

I've been collecting vintage lace for many years. I can't resist it, and on the rare occasion that I do resist, I always regret it. And it's not just lace, but also doilies, trims and ribbons. They just beg to be reused and made into something new and pretty and feminine. Something I've always wanted to do is make a lace collage but didn't know how to go about it. I have a Pinterest board that I look at daily for inspiration.

Last summer, Suzy from Suziqu's Threadworks, offered a discount on her lace book making workshop. I have followed her blog and admired her work for such a long time. I didn't hesitate to sign up for the online workshop and learn from the best.

Usually, you see the lace collages with old pictures of women or children from different eras. I chose a flower theme. The images I used came out looking bright and new, so I used distressing ink to age them. That was something I had never done before, but I liked the way they turned out. There were many "firsts" with this project!

The next step was choosing the lace and fabric to arrange around the photo. This was quite the process for me. It was very time consuming, sometimes taking days to get just the right lace together. I was surprised to find that all laces don't necessarily look good together. There was a lot of auditioning of lace, fabric and trim. I found it annoying at first, but by the end I was really enjoying coming up with different looks.

When I had the page looking the way I wanted it, it was time to sew and glue it together. Then it was time to audition the embellishments. That was fun! I used vintage buttons, scrapbooking flowers, and little bows.

The journal pages were fun too. I chose a flower quote for each one that I distressed the same way as the photos. And of course there is some lace on each page.

All the pages are done. The only thing left to do is make the cover and back and then bind it together. I'll finish it eventually. I'm so happy to have gotten this far and look forward to doing more of the lace collages. I think it was more enjoyable and satisfying than anything I've done in a very long time.

Have you attempted anything new recently?


Continuing my thankful list
     ~ creative fulfillment
     ~ springlike weather
     ~ cinnamon orange tea with cream ~ tastes like a creamsicle
     ~ aha moments when something clicks

   

It's Been A While

Patuxent River

Chesapeake Bay

Thomas Johnson Bridge ~ Patuxent River

How I have missed this space. The last few months have been a struggle in so many areas of my life that I just didn't have the desire or energy to keep up with it anymore. It had become just one more thing to do. 

I started this blog in 2009. I had no idea what I was doing. I had opened my Etsy shop and my daughter suggested blogging as a way to get my name and handmade items out there. It never occurred to me that I would enjoy it so much. Blogging has sure changed since then. Most of the bloggers I followed have either quit blogging altogether or moved on to social media. I get it that it's quicker to just post a picture or 140 characters and be done (I'm guilty of hanging out on Instagram and Facebook a lot), or that life just becomes too busy, or you get burned out. But I miss the connections that were made through blogging. I miss reading the trials and triumphs and getting to know people through the stories and pictures they shared. It was something special and I've truly missed it.

This is me starting over here. I have changed a lot in the last 8 years and especially in the last few months. I view life differently and I think that will show up in my posts. I hope to meet up with old blog friends and make some new ones. And if I don't, that's ok too. This is my space to journal my days and express myself through photos, art, and whatever else strikes my fancy!

Thank you for stopping by!

Continuing my thankful list

     ~ the calm soothing effect of the water

     ~ alone time

     ~ good wine and good chocolate...together

     ~ weekend getaways

     ~ the beauty all around