Recent photographs

In the coming year, I decided to turn this blog into my Project 365 spot.  I recently joined Elements Village and they are launching a Project 365 for 2011.  I first started working on a Project 365 back in April of 2009.  I also began 2010 and was going strong taking photos until I decided to open my digi scrapbook shop at DID.  Since then taking photos kind of got put on the backburnner.  With the past 2 year attempts, I have yet to complete a full year of 365 photos.

I'm looking forward to getting back to taking a photo a day and hope you come back soon to see the photos I take in the coming year.

Here are some recent shots that I really like . . .

Taken November 11th on a walk through the neighborhood . . .

Taken November 12th outside my front window . . .

and this one taken on December 4th in my backyard during our first snowfall of the season . . .

Hope you all  have a Merry Christmas and a Happy and prosperous New Year!

See you all again soon!

~Connie

Where did the week go?

I've been busy creating my monthly SNL kit.  And . . . seeing that it is July . . . there's always the Christmas in July festivities over at DSP.  I made a bow (always good to practice those!) and a background paper for that as well.  I've also been working on another kit of my own.  I found a color palette that I really like . . .

Isn't it pretty??  It definitely has a very bright and summery feel to it and inspires me to create something in bloom!

Speaking of blooms . . . there's lots of things going on in my garden as well.

The mini sunflowers are ready to bloom . . .

and the bee balm and coneflowers are just bursting with color . . .

and even more White Swan coneflowers in another part of the garden are looking great too!

I'm off for now and looking to possibly finish the kit that I am working on . . .

Until next time . . . Happy Creating!

~Connie

Happy Birthday, America!

Have a safe and Happy 4th of July, everyone!

Remember to thank all the soldiers today too!

Until next time . . .

~Connie

Garden Journal

It's been raining off and on for the past 4 or 5 days here so I haven't had much time to get anything done in the garden.  I was able to work on and put together the Garden Journal that I've been wanting to do since last year.  I'm really happy with the results too!

I had a 3 ring binder that I bought last year along with dividers and page protectors for the main pages.  I used 6 x 9 envelopes and punched holes in them to put all the packets of seeds that I have.  I also wrote the name of the seeds on that particular envelope so that they would be easier to find.  I divided the binder and used separate envelopes for the different types of seeds  . . . annuals, perennials, herbs, vegetables, etc. 

I found this website called Homestead Garden that has templates to print for the main pages.  After printing the main template, I then reinserted the pages into the printer and took a number of the many garden and flower photos that I have, set the opacity to about 25 or 30 percent and printed a background on the pages.  I then was able to write any particulars and information on the page and soon my journal is chock full of terrific information and hopes and dreams for my garden!  I'm really happy to have started this and it was a fun way to pass the time.

This morning I had a bit of a surprise while taking my stroll in the garden . . .

At first I thought that it was a slug, but upon closer look and consulting with hubby, we decided that it was a snail!!  That's the first time I've seen one in my garden . . .

Until next time, Happy Gardening and Creating!

~Connie

The Champs!!!

WOW!  What an unbelievable game the Chicago Blackhawks had last night!  Philly put up such a good fight and gave us a run for the money, but this is just so exciting and a tremendous boost for the city!  I had my doubts when the game was tied late in the 3rd period and going into OT, but Edzo called it at the beginning of the series saying that the Hawks would win in 6 and he was right on the money!  I think everyone was stunned at Patrick Kane's game winning goal.  I saw him shoot the puck and was waiting for it to come out the other side and hit the boards.  And when I started asking my hubby where the puck was . . . he was screaming GOAL!  GOAL!  IT'S A GOAL!

The neighborhood here was pumped as well . . . people were blowing off fireworks and we were screaming at the top of our lungs and shouting at the TV.  It was truly an awesome feeling!

Watching the Blackhawks these past 2 years has been a lot of fun and thanks to them for all their hard work for an awesome, memorable year!

Hmmmm . . . let's see . . . I've seen the Bears, Bulls, White Sox and Blackhawks win championships . . . the only one left would be the Cubs . . . wonder when that will be??????

Until next time . . .

~Connie

Another sign and more blooms

I did manage to finish the other sign I was making . . . this time the color scheme is mauve, brown, cream and green.

I just need to find a place to hang it!   Maybe in the front garden this time.  I'll have to see and get hubby to help with that.

Here's a few other things that are now blooming in the garden as well . . .

This clematis is doing well and has been for a couple of years now.  The white Henryi clematis didn't survive so I have to be on the look out for another.  I have one other purple clematis that is supposed to be the same as the one shown above, but it looks more red and is no where near as big as this one.

The delphiniums are just starting to open as well . . .

And here's what the pink climbing rose looks like fully opened.  Definitely more pink and what I was looking for!

Hope to be back again soon!

~Connie

Oh! How my garden grows . . .

Summer has made it's presence known and it shows throughout the garden.  The weather has been hot and muggy with lots of sunshine.  Yesterday was rainy for a bit, but all in all we have nothing to complain about here.  Things are really taking off in the garden . . .

The Snow in Summer is in bloom and looks just beautiful!

. . . and the pink Oriental Poppy that I started from seed last year and moved to a new location last fall made a come back as well.  It has about 5 or 6 buds total this year where as last year it had only 2 flowers.  The first flower has opened and I can't wait to see the rest . . .

My pink climbing rose is looking good as well.  I was afraid that it would get the black spot as it wasn't looking good last fall so I treated it with Bayer Advance for roses and it's doing great!  I think it's called Eden . . . the flowers open up as white with a hint of pink on the edges and as they mature they turn more pink . . .

I still have some other pictures to upload and organize so I'll have more from the garden again soon!  I've also been working on another sign to hang up in the garden as well and should have that done later today.  Hope to be back again soon.

Until then . . . Happy Gardening!

~Connie

Finally warming up outside

and trying to get back to normal around here.  The birthday party for my son was a big success although the weather could have been a little warmer . . . still everyone had a great time.

Now that the weather has warmed up this week, I once again have been spending time in the garden.  The fountain is finally up and running and the wisteria is in bloom and smells just heavenly!

I even started my herb garden!  I've got rosemary, oregano, thyme, basil and tarragon . . . just to name a few . . .

I was feeling creative and made a sign for the garden too . . . I started with a scrap piece of wood and base coated it with gesso.  I then glued a layer of some tissue paper that had a pretty rose floral motif to it (it's kind of hard to see it from this photo) along with a crumpled piece of paper that says "5c per bunch" that I generated and printed through Photoshop.  I then penciled the outline of the "HERBS" lettering and painted that in with 2 coats of green.  I painted the edges with a dark brown and then stenciled a few vines around the inner edges in a sandy colored acrylic paint.  I dry brushed some areas with the sandy color acrylic paint and inked the inner edges with brown.  Copper wire attached to some cup hooks and some rafia tied in a bow and I'm all set.  I just love the way it turned out!  It's still drying and probably could use a coat or 2 of sealant on it.  I'll hang it up tomorrow since it's starting to rain right now and complete my herb garden theme.

Until next time . . . enjoy and Happy Creating!

~Connie

I’ve been a terrible blogger lately . . .

Been spending most of my time in the garden, doing a lot of cleaning around the house and driving back and forth to baseball practices and games. The new storm door is up and so is the new vinyl fence! The house is spic and span and we’re ready for a party!

My older son is turning 21 so we decided to throw him a party and invited the whole family. We haven’t done one of those for quite a number of years so we thought that being a significant one, he deserved it. He’s been studying really hard and will be done with finals tomorrow. I’m sure he’s looking forward to start his summer vacation too!

I haven’t done much creating of late. I did my monthly SNL kit that was a bit of a challenge for me this time. The theme is Art Journaling and the color palette was beautiful, but I seemed to have a hard time thinking of things to put in the kit and putting elements together. All in all, I think it turned out pretty cute!

I bought some new little decorative bird houses at Michael’s that I found in the $1 bin. I did manage to prime them but I have to pick a day to paint them. It seems my color scheme in the garden is turning more towards yellow, white and blue with touches of red here and there. I have a red Astilbe which is just starting to send up some shoots, but the red clematis didn’t make it through the winter. The red chrysanthemum I bought a couple of years ago has sent up new shoots so now I have about 5 of those. I’ll probably also sow some red Nicotina.

My white azalea started to bloom this past week too and looks beautiful!

I’m sure I’ll post more pictures of the garden in the weeks to come.

It’s Blackhawks fever over here at my house! With Chicago’s 5-1 victory over Vancouver last night . . . . we’re advancing to the final 4 and anxiously awaiting word on when the series against San Jose will start.

Hope to be back again soon.

Until then . . . Go Blackhawks! (and Happy Gardening and Creating too!)

Still in the garden . . .

and enjoying my time there!  Bought some impatiens to fill in some areas at the front of the border.  They are a pretty mix of white, pale pink, pale lilac and a deep pink.

Anemone are popping up all over the garden right now as well.  I moved clumps here and there and even to the front garden last fall and they look fabulous!  I just love these little white flowers!

The Snow Maiden Iris are looking good too!

It's been raining off and on these past couple of days so I've been in the mood to read more as my creative spark seems to be limited to figuring out what else I want to plant and do in the garden.  I started Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy the other day and am hoping to read some more today.

Hope to be back again soon!

~Connie

In the garden . . .

I've been spending most of my time this past week in the garden.  Dividing plants that I didn't take care of in the fall, moving things around here or there and scrutinizing what goodies are coming up where.  I try to mark most of the perennials and bulbs, but sometimes the markers get faded or they get moved from trying to clear debris in the flowerbed.  LOL.  Makes me laugh . . . hubby and I go for a stroll in the garden every morning trying to decipher what plant this is or what plant that is . . . and looking for open space so we can plant some annuals or something new.  We've got quite a bit going on with the grape hyacinths in full bloom already . . .

and Tete a Tete daffodils . . .

I even found some white hyacinths at Home Depot.  They just smelled so good!!

All in all things are looking really great so far.  Hubby even agreed to get some phlox as well . . . said he really liked the blue in this one . . .

I'm certainly looking forward to spending more time out in the garden and can't wait until the new privacy fence is up!  Hopefully, it will be up later this month or early in May.

I was having some bad luck with a certain lilac bush that I purchased a couple of years back so I had to purchase another.  I'm happy to say that this new one did survive the winter and came back this year.  It's still too young to produce any flowers though.   I had a lilac at the other house and it just filled the yard with a wonderful fragrance all through Spring.  As I was coming home today and parking the car in the garage, my neighbor gave me cuttings from his lilac.  He happened to be out cutting some for his daughter's birthday and decided to give me some as well.  What a sweetie!  I've always thought it was unusual that half of the bush has white flowers and the other half has purple . . . and they smell so good too!

Hope you're all enjoying Spring and taking advantage of the beautiful weather.  It's such a wonderfully promising time of the year!  Maybe that's why both my boys were born in the Spring . . .

Well then . . . until next time . . . Happy Gardening and Happy Creating!

~Connie

It's been too long!

I can't believe how time is flying!  Been terribly busy with work being done on the house over here . . . and the little guy starting baseball.  We had to have our chimney fixed and since the masons were gonna be here already, we had them redo the front of the house as well.  That really wasn't fun with 4 or so hours of them grinding all the old mortar out, but the results are fantastic.  Now we're getting estimates for a new fence and the storm door in the front is really rickety so we've been looking into that as well.  It's been raining the past couple of days now so the fields are too wet for the kids to get any practice in.  They'll probably resume again on Friday.

Hope you all had a Happy Easter!  Ours started with watching The Ten Commandments on Saturday evening . . . one of those classics that I remember watching every Easter as a kid myself.  We went to a wonderful mass Easter morning and then over to my in-laws for dinner.  The day seemed to fly by, but the weather was just perfect!

I was able to finish my SNL kit for April . . . berry blossoms is the theme and overlays are the focus.  Here's a preview of my kit . . .

I was having so much fun with the overlays and the tutorials that I came across that I made some other digital art with some of my own landscape and cityscape photographs.  Here's what I came up with . . .

  

I'm supposed to be designing the redress of the SNL site this month and hope to get that done in the next couple of days.  I still have some more cleaning in the garden to finish as well.

There's daffodils and magnolias and hyacinths starting to bloom throughout the neighborhood right now!  I really need to start getting pictures of all those before they're gone.  Enjoy Spring wherever you may be!  Hope to be back again soon!

~Connie

First day of Spring??

The calendar may say that it is officially the first day of Spring, but I don't think Mother Nature got the message . . . at least not here in Chicago.  Yesterday, hubby and I spent some time raking up the grass and pulling out the last bit of dead vegetation in the front garden.  Last night I captured this beautiful sunset out my front window . . .

This morning . . . this is what we woke up to!

We were warned about this, but I was praying that it would be mostly rain.  As I'm writing this, it seems to be coming down even more and it's pretty windy as well.  Hopefully this won't last too long and we can get back to being out in the garden again.

Last night, while reading through the blogs I'm following, I caught a video on how to make a crocheted necklace.  I just grabbed the first set of supplies that I could find and here's what I came up with . . .

I think it turned out cute. It's very light-weight and I love the colors!  Julia from Vintage with Laces posted the necklace she made with a link to the video on her blog.  This is definitely an easy project to do and didn't take much time either.

I'm thinking of pinks and greens for the next one . . .

Until next time . . . Happy Creating!

~Connie

In the mail today . . .

I received my OWOH prize of the crow that Jennifer Conway made . . .

Isn't he adorable?!  I just love that glitter tophat too!  Thank you, Jennifer!

Been busy trying to come up with papers and elements for my SNL kit for this month.  It was a little tough, but once I made the colors more pastel . . . the ideas started to flow.  I think I'm done with it . . . just tweeking a few things here and there and then I should be ready to move on to my next creative endeavor.  Anyway . . . here's a preview of the kit . . .

Hope to be back again soon . . . spring fever has kind of hit me and I've been trying to clean out and organize my studio since I haven't been able to locate the supplies that I know that I have but just can't seem to find . . . LOL . . . I'm sure alot of you know what I mean!!

Until next time!

~Connie