Landscape- Black & White
I’m participating in a Dogwood 52 photography challenge group on Facebook. We’ll be doing a photo from Dogwood Photography’s weekly prompts, to be posted no later than Sunday. He cycles his prompts through 3 categories (portrait, landscape, and artistic) varying his prompts so that you can develop different techniques and familiarize yourself with various camera functions.
Portrait- Headshot
I prefer candids. This is a candid of my older brother as he showed us around the university he works at- taken back in the Spring, since I’m just now getting caught up with posting my pictures and I took a break from the challenge over the summer to spend more focused time with my kids.
I’m participating in a Dogwood 52 photography challenge group on Facebook. We’ll be doing a photo from Dogwood Photography’s weekly prompts, to be posted no later than Sunday. He cycles his prompts through 3 categories (portrait, landscape, and artistic) varying his prompts so that you can develop different techniques and familiarize yourself with various camera functions.
Artistic- Red
I’m participating in a Dogwood 52 photography challenge group on Facebook. We’ll be doing a photo from Dogwood Photography’s weekly prompts, to be posted no later than Sunday. He cycles his prompts through 3 categories (portrait, landscape, and artistic) varying his prompts so that you can develop different techniques and familiarize yourself with various camera functions.
1. Easy access to the nation’s capital
The Cherry Blossoms are coming out in full bloom this week
We love to visit DC. Our original plan had been to go to the National Zoo but all the parking was full by the time we got there 30 minutes after opening so we tossed out those plans and went to the International Spy Museum and had lunch along the National Mall before exploring around some of the memorials.
Taking a rest at the WWII Memorial fountain
We take every oppurtunity we have of climbing trees 🙂
I definitely recommend the International Spy Museum! The kids had so much fun crawling through air ducts, learning about disguises and gadgets, and seeing James Bond’s original Aston Martin. They even got to practice decoding messages with simulated Enigma software. Super cool.
2. Wonderful friends to share our adventures with
Resting at the Reflecting Pool
Exploring around a lake near our house earlier this week
3. Good behavior… Little Warrior has been struggling a lot lately. He’s an extreme introvert and being at school all day really exhausts him. That, and he’s bored stiff in Kindergarten since he’s quite a poppy. So the week off for Spring Break has been amazing for his choices and attitude. ❤ Such a huge blessing!
4. Bible study I am privileged to study the Word of God and walk through this difficult season with an amazing group of women. We each give and take according to our season, and support one another in immeasurable ways. I can’t imagine going through life without these wonderful ladies.
5. Productivity I’ve finished a bunch of projects and been working a lot on decluttering. There’s a big consignment sale coming up so I’m purging clothes the kids have out grown to sell there. I’ve also been making sure to go to bed with my kitchen clean every night and it’s made a world of difference in my attitude when I come downstairs to start my day in the morning.
Every week Susanne hosts Friday Fave Five to share what blessings we’ve found in our weeks. Hop on over and join the gratitude fest. 🙂
Last week’s Make it Monday was a list of projects I want to finish before the end of March. Let’s check in and see how much I got done this week.
(Please excuse the photos of finished projects… I’ve been sick and didn’t have a chance to take anything but some fuzzy phone photos of the finished projects)
1. Hand Lettering
Haven’t finished this project but that’s my main goal for this week since it’s my friend’s birthday week! Everything else is set for the gift, so I’m excited to give it to her!! 🙂
2. The Chalkboard
Nope, haven’t finished this one yet either. 😉 But we DO know the verse for this month so there’s that.
3. Hand Quilting
I worked a lot on the hand quilting this week. It was relaxing to do while sitting and nursing my cold.
I also finished piecing the front of the second quilt and basted it. I’m all set to machine quilt this beauty this week and mail it off! (Oy vey, the photo… o_O) I added a lot more blues to this one and LOVE the butterfly fabric I used for the back. It’s almost as though she’s getting two different quilts, but the colors still go together nicely.
4. The Bunnies
Are done and off to be loved and played with by two very special little girls! 🙂
I made up the pattern for the dress on the fly and am loving the little fabric dress vs the knitted ones I usually do. But I do miss the wee little knit sweaters so I’ll have to knit up a few of those to go with the dresses.
5. The Wreath
Is finished and hung on the door to cheer me up on days of April Showers. But I forgot to snap a pic, so you’ll get one later. 🙂
Bonus: I also sewed up a bunch of flannel receiving blankets. I’m absolutely in love with this coral chevron fabric. ❤
It’s spring break for my kids this week and then my nephew will be with us for his spring break the following week, so I anticipate my productivity declining greatly in the next few weeks… 😉
Week 2- Landscape: Traditional
I liked this shot but not as a ‘traditional landscape’ like the prompt called for. I had planned on getting out to shoot more later in the week, but ended up catching the cold that’s been going around so made do with a shot from a walk around an old, stone church on Wednesday.
I’m participating in a Dogwood 52 photography challenge group on Facebook. We’ll be doing a photo from Dogwood Photography’s weekly prompts, to be posted no later than Sunday. He cycles his prompts through 3 categories (portrait, landscape, and artistic) varying his prompts so that you can develop different techniques and familiarize yourself with various camera functions.
I have the problem of being interested in waaaaay too many creative endeavors. It can get expensive quickly and I’m always working on a dozen things so nothing gets finished up.
I have a number of works in progress that need to be finished by the end of the month, most of which use a different creative process- all of which are requiring some form of learning curve.
Here’s the list of things that MUST be done by the end of March…
1. Present for a sweet friend
For this one I’m learning how to hand letter different things. I’ve never had good handwriting and this has been a challenge. But a lot of fun. My go-to for learning this has been YouTube tutorials like this one by MadeByMarzipan. The SakuraColorProductions channel also had a lot of great tips. This isn’t an art form I’ll probably ever excel at, but it’s fun to learn and I do use the skills a little for our bible verse chalk board.
2. Speaking of the Chalk Board…
Every month our church has the children and adults learn the same scripture passage. I like to put portions of it up on the chalkboard in our dining room. Unfortunately, I haven’t gotten around to updating it recently so I’m excited to add part of Psalm 119 to it this month.
Forever, O Lord, you word is firmly fixed in the heavens
3. Hand Quilting
I’m working on a quilt for one of my dearest friends. This particular one I am hand quilting for the first time and I’ve fallen in love with it. Hand quilting will definitely be a life long craft. I LOVE it. I liked the fabrics so much that I got some more, with a few extra ones to add more blue, to make a quilt (NOT hand quilted due to time constraints) for a friend whose baby is due in March. I probably won’t finish the hand quilting one, but will definitely hope to mail the other one by the end of the month.
4. The bunnies…
Still finishing up the clothes for the bunnies from last week’s Make it Monday, but I’m nearly done. I am taking dinner to the family on Friday and hope to have the bunnies wrapped and ready for the girls then.
5. A Springtime Wreath
I love to decorate my house, which means always having a seasonal wreath on the door. The only season I didn’t have something for was spring, so I’m in the process of making a yarn-wrapped wreath with burlap flowers. It’s easy and fun… and mindless so I can do it when I’m exhausted.
That’s what’s on the docket for this week’s Make It Monday… a long line of projects to finish up! 🙂
What projects do you have lurking in the basket, waiting to be finished?
I’m participating in a Dogwood 52 photography challenge group on Facebook. We’ll be doing a photo from Dogwood Photography’s weekly prompts, to be posted no later than Sunday. He cycles his prompts through 3 categories (portrait, landscape, and artistic) varying his prompts so that you can develop different techniques and familiarize yourself with various camera functions.
Week 1- Portrait: Self Portrait
Oh hey! This is my 50th post! 🙂
Every Friday, Susanne over at Living to Tell the Story hosts Friday Fave Five. Participants share five favorites from the week in an effort to focus our thoughts on our blessings.
1. Spring Weather We had one last snow last Friday and it was lovely.
I took the pups out for a hike along the river and got some lovely pictures. But now it’s sunny and in the 60s & 70s and we’ve been to the park nearly every day this week. Absolutely wonderful.
2. Sewing My friend’s daughter is learning to make a quilt and she came over this week to baste her backing-batting-front together. It looks so lovely and I’m so proud of her for working so hard on it. Unfortunately I didn’t snag a photo but will try to get a good one when we finish up the binding.
3. Audio Books I’m not much of an auditory learner but in all the craziness of life I haven’t been able to keep up with my reading like I’d like to. So I started borrowing audio books from the library (you can even download them to your phone/tablet via the OverDrive app) and even purchased a few on my iBooks account. This way I can ‘read’ a book while doing dishes or driving to and from appointments. I love it! And the kidlets love it too- they’ve already listened to Paddington and an unabridged version of Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book. I’ve borrowed Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone from the library to listen to next.
4. Swimming A friend invited me to swim at a local aquatic center with her. The moment I hit the water my soul was refreshed. Swimming is the only sport I’ve ever been any good at and it’s the one exercise that makes me feel invigorated WHILE I’m doing it. So grateful to have been reintroduced to it.
5. Sweet Puppies They bring so much joy to our life, despite their constant need to be taken to the bathroom and their propensity to chew ev.ree.thing. Par for the course for a 100+ pound puppy, I suppose. Each month they seem to get better, so that’s progress. 🙂 Ape will be 9 months old this week!
Ape (8 months) & Shep (1 year)
Does anyone know where our puppies’ names come from? (HINT: the kids named them)
What are some favorites from your week?
Kicking off Wellness Wednesdays with a 3-Day Refresh from Beachbody. I’m not a Beachbody rep or coach– just a customer who really loves their products.
I did the 3-Day Refresh last January and really enjoyed it. Definitely a good thing to use to break through those pesky weightless plateaus and kick-start your healthy eating routines.
It’s a really easy program to follow. I started yesterday and felt super full all afternoon– couldn’t even eat my afternoon snack. So, yay. Day 2 is usually the hardest for me on these things so I’m focusing to push through today, knowing that how great I will feel when I wake up Friday morning will be totally worth the self discipline needed today.
Little Warrior’s OT got cancelled for today so that means an extra 2-3 hours of time for me to be productive! Whoo hoo! I’ll be using those extra hours to plan all the food for the 21 Day Fix I’ll be starting on Monday. And also, you know… doing dishes and laundry. 😉
Love Tree 