A part of me died tonight. . .

Ever since Jenny Mcb told me about PHOTO HUNTERS, I have been eager for each weekend to roll around. I love a challenge and I enjoy seeing other photographer enthusiasts' entries. The last month or so I have been struggling, trying to get to everyone's entry over the weekend and it is just consuming me. The blogroll just keeps getting bigger. It is impossible for me to keep participating. I have to admit that I invited two people to participate and added to this. . .

Believe it or not, I didn't quit because of next week's theme. . . "smelly." I had decided on onion rings and a hot dog with sauerkraut photo. I had one and knew a hot dog stand downtown where I could take the other.

It's just a chore now and not fun like it used to be when I first started. I am sad about my decision but I will be happy to have some time back. TNChick had a great idea but I feel there needed to be some control on participants. . . well, I am helping by making it one less.

PHOTO HUNT #17 -- ORIGINAL

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This was a hard one because I could post someone's else's ORIGINAL items or my own. Finally I decided to do my own BUT then I had lots to choose from and couldn't decide on just a few so I chose to post many this time.

First of all, this is last year's Christmas wreath. I made the wreath myself and tied the bow too. The metal words, Christmas balls and frame are bought items. It was definitely an original.


This silly snowman is original -- I know as I made it last winter!


I made this felt Christmas ornament 40 years ago for our first Christmas tree after I was married.


The rest of these are a few of the cards I have made. I have been stampin' just a few years now and it is one of my favorite hobbies. Some of the cards are made from photos I took instead of stampin'.

PHOTO HUNTERS #16- PAPER

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The theme this week is PAPER. I thought of all kinds of things. I even considered photos that showed something that was "paper thin." BUT then, I decided to use a paper memory instead.

These are Girl Scout membership cards of my twin sister and I -- and Mom's -- who was the Troop Leader "way back when" in Idaho.

This is the front of the original Brownie cards.

The next photo -- the original really is white but camera wasn't cooperating --is of one of the cards I bothered to save from when I was a Girl Scout leader for my own daughter back in Idaho where I originally started in Girl Scouting. I had been a leader in Hawaii before that. For privacy, I took off my present last name. Unfortunately, I am stuck with my real first name on the card. Ü Did you notice how close the numbers of troops were when I was a child and an adult?

If I had realized that fact when I became a leader in Idaho, I would have asked for the old troop number (22) so I could come full circle! I didn't find these three cards until my Mom was cleaning out some stuff at her home and she asked if I wanted her old Girl Scout Leader's Guide. The three cards from when my twin and I were Brownies and Mom was our leader were tucked inside it! They're quite old! Ü

PHOTO HUNTERS #15 -- PLASTIC

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I have one simple and one unique PLASTIC entry for this week. I was hoping to find a big plastic thing like the kid the BIG BOY restaurant used to have but now that I am looking, there is nothing. I was pretty busy this week so maybe I didn’t look hard enough. . . So I have to be satisfied with these:
These are cinnamon ornament gingerbread men wrappped in PLASTIC! Ü

This one is going to be an antique one day. Do you remember when Dairy Queen always had these spoons that looked like an ice cream cone at the tip? Now a days, they are just boring red, plain, plastic spoons. I don’t know what reason I saved this one for -- maybe it was because I wrote an ICE CREAM unit for teaching about the history of ice cream to elementary kids when I was in college. . .

Oops! I lied -- found another “plastic” photo when looking for something else. This is a Xmas ornament that I "made" at a freebie workshop at Craft Warehouse.

PHOTO HUNTERS #11 --TWO

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This week, I am late because I have been moving to my new apartment but I am finally here. I have several things to share for "two."

First of all, I have this photo of my twin and I at 5 years of age because we are two! Ü


The second one I have for this theme of two is an old photo I took of two ducks and reflections in a small pond alongside a hiking trail on the Padden Parkway, here in Vancouver.



Lastly, well, I have two that are sorta the same theme. . .one is a bicycle rack -- it has 2 posts, , 2 horizontal bars, 2 circles, 2 base plates, two bicycle wheels and 2 shadows!


And last but not least, another style of our bicycle racks -- this one is TWO because it is a bike rack and it's shadow, making TWO.