Experimenting . . .

I saw a photo quilt on another site and admired it a lot. I wondered how to do it. Then, I experimented in my PAINT program in Appleworks and came up with these two you see above. I know I have to refine it and figure a way to make strips through to differentiate the individual photos. That's the next challenge for me.



Well, I did it for one -- now to get the other one finished.



I think they turned out well and it was fun to do it. Look for different ones at a later date.

PHOTO HUNTERS #9 -- CREATIVE

Click on photo to enlarge to see all the details. I spotted this garden art on one of my walks in a former neighborhood.

This art was painted by local artists on the trestle of a railroad track crossing over the road.


Some local artists painted a long section in panels depicting the military history of our country along the retaining wall of the railroad tracks above it. This is just one sectin of their long mural.

My Kindergarten class and their families created these turkey disguises one year. I thought they were pretty creative!




PHOTO HUNTERS HOME

"The Coats"

Our city has FREE summer event called "Concerts in the Park." It is downtown and tonight "The Coats" entertained us. I don't always rememebr to go to hear them so this concert was a nice diversion.

A local bank sponsors different musical groups each Thursday night during July and August. People bring their lawn chairs or blankets and spread them out on the lawn in front of the bandstand in anticipation of the concert. young children are allowed to come close to the bandstand and there is a place for the handicapped in front also. The whole park gets filled up with people. They also have food vendors on the sidewalk path winding through the park. I had some strawberry shortcake that was to die for!

The schedule of who's going to be playing and/or singing or both is posted near the bell tower. (That's another story.) I had no idea who this group was but I like music and it was free. . . and best of all, I was already downtown for a free workshop on stampin' and die cutting for use in making cards.

This group is from Seattle and they sing acappella. They were good, no they were great!! You can read more about them here; The Coats I wish I had extra funds right now so I could have bought one of their CD's. Maybe someday. . .


To see large photo, click directly on the photo above. (I know it isn't great photo but at least you can see them.)

And I said . . . "no thanks."

Can you believe I turned down a ride today? Well . . . I DID! I was hot and sweaty and uncomfortable walking home with just thongs on my feet. No! I did not wear thongs to church. I wore my fancy red shoes to church that I bought to wear to my granddaughter's wedding last month and they certainly are not hiking shoes so I brought something I could slip on after church. Never again! Not thongs anyway. . .


Let me back up. The bus stop is about a half mile from church but I chose to go a longer route today because I wanted to get some photos of some orange Gladiolas that i had seen a week ago but couldn't locate after church that day. I saw them again today, riding with friend in her car to church. i get a ride in the early mornings because there is no bus and it is far too long a walk to go somewhere where i need to look presentable. I should have just asked her to stop for a minute on the way. lol THIS TIME, i knew my hunt for them when going home would be fruitful because I made sure I saw exactly what street they were on. I had walked that street many times subbing at Marion Elementary.

Well, i was just about a block and a half away from my impending "photo shoot" when a lady, driving her car down that street towards me, stopped and asked if she could give me a ride. I was very hot, sweating profusely and those thongs were not meant for any hike, no matter how short it was but I said, 'No, but thanks anyway.' You see, i was so close to getting some photos of those Gladiolas. . . I had a mission and i was determined to follow through with it!

As I watched her car meander down the road, I neared my destination. Soon, i would have what escaped me on my hunt for them last week. I was pleasantly surprised to see a few other photo opportunities so for a short time, the grueling temperature and my impending continued walk to the bus stop --about a half mile MORE away-- were forgotten.









Here's a couple more interesting photos i took before i got home:



My happiness in seeing that bus arrive was soon forgotten with the short ride when I had to get off at my stop because it reminded me I had a couple more miles of walking to do! I kept reminding myself that if I wasn't such a nut for photography, i could have been home, cooling off in front of two fans by now AND eating some of that raspberry Jello pie I made.
Oh well, now I get two rewards. . . the pie AND new photos.

Experimenting. . .

Some people have special programs like Photoshop or Photo Elements to "play with" their photos. i don't. . . i just have Appleworks which wasn't even on my new G5 iMac computer. . .

Today, I felt like doing something different so I made this photo by enlarging it first, then inverting the colors and finally adding another smaller copy in the center. I kinda like the effect.

When i get a bit more time, I plan to try some other things with it and will post here. Here's some.

PHOTO HUNTERS #8 --tiny

Photo Hunters Website



The theme this week is tiny and one definition of tiny is minature or “mini.” As I was perusing my photo collection, searching for something tiny, I couldn’t find or think of anything. so, off I went with my trusty Olympus for a photo hunt walk. The first thing I found was this sign that advertised a “mini” preschool through its name.

*I knew that wasn’t what I wanted but if I got desperate, it would do in a pinch. Ü

Walking a few blocks more, I saw this ‘tiny’ Mustang. . . well, it is a lot smaller than the car it depicts!

OK, OK ---- I know I am acting desperate. I couldn’t find a thing besides those two sleazy entries. I walked back home sulking.

BUT WAIT! Here I am home and staring at the wall, wondering if I should just decline this week’s challenge. The rules state you can do that occasionally and still be considered a participant.

But wait!!!!!!

THERE IT WAS right in front of my eyes ---- I probably have a 100 or so minatures in my 2 printers trays!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok, I did it!!!!!!!!!!!! See all those mini (tiny) items? I know, you need a magnifying glass to make some of them out. That qualifies me for this week's entry of MINI.

Alright, I will chose a few to focus on which represent my interests.

Starting at the top left; I weaved the mini palm and it reminds me of what Jesus did for me; the tiny starfish is from the ocean that I love so much; the cookie sheet with mini cookies represents my cookie cutter collection and years of memories making cookies with my children and grandchildren; the bottle of sand represents my love of the beach; the sled represents that I LOVE SNOW; back to the top - my pin from the Oregon Marathon in which I finished walking the whole distance two years ago; the mini sampler of counted cross stitch represents one of my hobbies; the mini flag represents my love of country; and last but not least is the Jade bear with a Salmon in its mouth that represents the 19 day trip to Alaska that I was privileged to take one summer.

All these mini/tiny things from my printer’s trays represent ME!

I do indeed have tiny things for a photo for my entry this week!

My walking view

I was hungry for some fresh fruit so I decided to walk to the grocery store early last evening. Well, anyone knows when you go shopping, you can't leave with just the thing you went into the store for. . . so I ended up with two heavy bags, one in each hand and one in my cloth bag on my back like a backpack. I forgot my bus schedule and presumed I had missed the bus that I could have used for a mile or so of my trek. just before I got to the last mile and a half walk home, a bus roared past me! Murphy's law!!!!!!! Oh well, I got home with some wonderful fruit and some good exercise in the 14 plus miles I walked. Was grateful that the uphill part was going and not returning!

BUT the best part of my walk, other than getting some fresh fruit and yummy ice cream to eat was the view I had. . . rainy clouds in sunsets, sky view through weeds and a few Dahlias! We are predicted to have rain for at least 4 more days so I may get a few more photos like them if I venture out but I know for sure that I have a source for more Dahlia photos for the next month. You see, there is a corner lot where a lady has over 300 Dahlias planted, so her fellow tells me. (He asked if I would like a bouquet to take home but I had to decline it since I had no way to carry them . . . but told him next time!)

What do you think? Was the view worth the hike for groceries?

Weeds or wildflowers. . .

Growing up as a Girl Scout, i remember studying outdoors about wildflowers but i only remember two of them and those were Indian Paint Brush and Bluebells. Presently, i don't think i could readily identify either but i would say, "Oh, i knew that!" if someone were to tell me what wildflower it was when naming the two above.

Having a digital camera, i take lots of photos and therefore i have taken a number of them of weeds and wildflowers. In fact, i picked some of these last Sunday and hauled them home to put in my clear wide vase that has dried rose petals in the bottom.



The rest of the wildflower/weed photos below are just neat memories of my recent walking journeys.