Dreamy Evening

As I walked by our bedroom window this evening, I glanced outside and saw this truly dream-like scene.  There was a layer of clouds that seemed to serve as a dividing line between some sort of hazy rosy glow.  Above it, the sky was turning the clear blue that seems to happen just before night falls. It was just so pretty, calm and peaceful, I had to stop dead in my tracks and I just stood and looked at it for a few minutes before I thought about grabbing my camera to capture it.  Hope you enjoy these images as much as I enjoyed the reality.

Enjoy your evening!

Another Chunky Book Swap - Houses!

I just finished my second chunky book swap pages. These were to be in the shape of a house, so they are actually larger than the 4" x 4" chunky book page size.  They end up being 4" by 6".

 

This first book page is one I call "Romantic House".  I tried something a bit different.  I took a page of text (in this case a dictionary page) and printed an image on it.  I really like the dreamy quality to this, and will probably use it on future  projects!  The background is actually fabric that I found at our local quilt shop.  

 

I thought this was a fun page.  The background, which makes up most of the page, is a napkin.  The 3 "dots" are the edges of some wine corks that I have. I added the rose in the wine glass, so I'm calling this - what else? - Wine and Roses.  Go ahead, groan!

Isn't this a fun page?  I used raffeta (is that how it's spelled?) for the "roof" area, added some shells, and the image on the piece is a sort of Monet-like image of a surfer guy coming back from the beach.  I like the whimsy of this piece!

Here's an image of the loveliness of a nice warm house with a couple of books to read while it's winter weather outside - as evidenced by the glimpse out the window of the 2 girls attempting to skate!  And, a personal note - the photo of the girls are my Mom & Aunt Helen when they were young girls!

Isn't this a fun piece?  I guess I'm ready for spring!  The bird is a fun lighthearted harbinger of what's to come.  I just love the bright colors - and the flowers are actually something I did freehand.  I know, not much, but for someone who thinks she can't draw, I thought they came out pretty good!

Enjoy!

After the Snow

Last night, we had a bit of snow (part of the big storm that hit the Midwest).  I wasn't sure what we were going to wake up to this morning, but it was a beautiful start to the day.  Come enjoy it with me -

I thought the above image was really neat, especially the effect the wind had on the clouds!  Check out the wind sock in the lower right corner of the image - let's you know how windy it really was!

I just loved the color of the sky in this image!  That blue was really unbelievable, and it is all nature, no enhancements by me!  I also love the way the clouds are hugging the mountains.

When I looked down, I saw this wonderful intimate landscape made by the snow that fell, the wind, rocks and a piece of dried tumbleweed.  I loved the lines of the snow, and how it feels like it's really a bigger type of landscape.

The final shot is another image of the great sky this morning.  I love the 2 layers of clouds as they moved on.  The upper level is sort of wispy and seems to be moving quick.  The lower level seems somewhat attached to the mountains.

Enjoy!

Cloudscape

This morning, as I was getting ready to go into the office, I looked out the window and saw a really pretty sunrise happening, even tho it was a rather cloudy, sort of overcast, morning.  It ended up being a beautiful sunrise.  Check it out -

The above photo is a bit of an abstract, but I just had to take a photo of how the clouds seem to weave in and out of the sunrise pink and blue colors.

This photo sort of drove home the point of how big and lovely the sky is.  I had to include it, just for the perspective!

                                 

I really liked this photo because of the vivid colors of the sunrise against the clouds which were wisping around the mountain.  I especially like the way the clouds seem to hug the mountain on the right, even tho they don't share that same sunrise color.

And, finally, another abstract cloud photo.  Again, I just love the effect of sky in the background, sunrise colors and the clouds in the foreground.  So peaceful. 

Enjoy!

Renewed Spirit on Sandia Mountains

After doing battle with Windows 8 (HORRIBLE!!) this morning, my spirit was pretty beaten down.  I just felt like I needed to visit my mountains, the Sandias.  Jeff & Miki went with me for a drive and these are some of the photos I was able to capture.  Needless to say, my spirit was renewed after this drive.  I will somehow come to terms with the sucky technology - I am determined!

The above image is from the crest of the Sandias, looking out on the East Mountain area where we live.  Our little town is actually off to the right of this photo - of course, you wouldn't be able to see it anyway!  Still, what a wonderful view!

There is snow up on the mountain and I just loved the shadows of the bare trees on the snow.  There's a peaceful feeling to this.  Thanks to Jeff for pulling off to the side of the road so I could run back and capture this!

Here are some pines in the snow with the beautiful blue sky above on the road toward the crest.  This sort of sums up the fabulous brisk air that was up high on the mountains!  The elevation of these mountains are 10,500 feet!  It was 50 down at home, and in the 30's up the mountain.

This last image is of the snow that was melting along the roadside.  As the ice melts, it forms this sort of icy art.  I just love the lacy feel of it!

Enjoy! 



New Art - Chunky Book Pages!

Here's a new type of art swap that I found called "chunky book pages".  Basically, each page is 4" x 4" and made according to a theme that (in this case) that the host of the swap decides upon.  This swap had the theme of "Nature" and called for text or music to be part of the foundation of the piece.  Then, one can add whatever one wants to the page, including some bulky embellishments that causes the page to become "chunky"!  I found this to be quite fun - a little bit larger piece of art than an ATC, but nothing super big.  Since this is a swap, I'm to send 4 pages into the host , and then I'll get 4 pages back from 4 different artists.  I can then bind the book together however I want - regular book binding technique, binder rings, or even create a wall hanging from the pages!  I'm thinking this could also be an interesting way to create a travel journal, or any type of journal!  For my pages, I created a small envelope or slip out of vellum that a tag can fit into.  On one side of the tag, there is a design and the other contains a quote relating to nature.  I also included a photo that I took on each page.  I've put the quote for each page below the image.  Oh, and yes, there are 6 pages here.  I've included an extra page as a thank you to the host and one for myself!

"Nature's rules.....have no exceptions."

Herbert Spencer

 

"We all look at Nature too much, and live with her too little."

Oscar Wilde 

" "Nature is the Art of God."

Dante 

"Man masters nature, not by force, but by understanding."

Jacob Bronowsky 

"The Amen! of Nature is always a flower."

Oliver Wendell Holmes 

"Art is nature as seen through a temperament."

Jean-Baptiste Camille-Cordot

Enjoy!