more of the blur...

I know that none of these pictures are examples of great photography, but I get such a kick out of watching Bisbee and Prescott play in the backyard thatI keep trying to capture it on film. Even with the composition and focus problems (or maybe because of them), hopefully I've at least captured the "essence" of their joy and exuberance-- what do you think?

(they remind me of a shampoo commercial, with their hair blowing in the breeze!)

^^^ I really like this one!!

Below is Krista, being her usual smiley self!

It was sunnier out Wednesday afternoon, so the photos below were shot with the sunlight as a backdrop-- most of them didn't turn out very good at all, but I got a few that I think worked; it's sort of a neat effect.

Their playing only goes in spurts, though-- they flop down on the ground exhausted pretty quickly... I'm exhausted myself sometimes, just watching them!! (it's still fun, though.)

scrap! or what I did with all that stuff... part 1

so, on Friday night when I got to the Scrapbook Cottage, I was kinda frazzled, what with work, packing, driving, and unpacking... So I didn't feel up to designing any scrapbook pages-- a little too much pressure for me right off the bat, I guess. So I'm really glad I took my art journaling supplies with me! Cutting, pasting, and doodling randomly is a great way to ease into a creative mindset, but with no pressure... (plus, my art journal had been feeling kind of neglected since I got back into scrapbooking!) Below are a few of the pages I worked on; some are finished, and a couple aren't. my current journal is a vintage gardening book, and I've kept some of the pages from the book-- this page is one of the chapter dividers. Details doodled on with gel and souffle pens, plus a bit of fun pink pom-pom trim.

the flip side of the page above. The motorcycle policeman came out of a vintage 1950s National Geographic magazine, I think.

an unfinished journal page-- gray cardstock, Asian newspaper, rubons and scrapbook paper, and a snippet from a vintage atlas page. I really like this vintage gardening book for journaling, because of the 3-ring binder mechanism. I can take pages out of the book to work on them, and rearrange pages as I want. (I've already found my next journal; it's a vintage 3-ring binder reservation book from a restaurant; I found it at one of the local thrift stores.)

another partly-finished journal page-- the card on the page is the valentine my sister sent me this year, which featured a vintage valentine card. It's so cute, I had to keep it!

I stayed up till about 1:30 am, then read a bit before finally getting to sleep about 2 am (!!! seriously, I can't remember the last time I stayed up that late!) Saturday I slept in (no dogs or cats to feed- it was a nice break from my regular schedule, I have to say...) till about 9 am, then put away my art journal and got out the scrapbook paper and photographs... (the photo above was a reference so I could remember the photo arrangement for the page I was working on... I don't think I ended up using this arrangement after all, but the digital camera is a nice tool for doing this.)

yes, it is a bit embarassing...

...but this is actually the "before" picture:

This picture is of my workspace after finally getting unpacked and set up for a weekend at the Scrapbook Cottage, in Phoenix. (yay!! I've been waiting for this since I was first here back in May!) After a busy (and very long!) day at work, I drove home to pick up my supplies and give the pets their dinner, then zipped back up into Phoenix to get my scrapping mojo going. I decided to start with a bit of art journaling tonight to get warmed up, then I can hit the scrapbooking hard tomorrow. After some good sleep, that is. More pics to come!! (and by the way, in my defense, I literally "threw" my supplies together last night, at about 9:30 pm. Since I didn't really have a "plan" for the weekend, I just brought everything-- lol!!)

it's all a blur...

Shelties in motion.

Bisbee and Prescott playing; Krista safely on the sidelines. It's a well-choreographed dance, and loads of fun to watch.

(Just difficult to capture on film.)

labor day weekend (so far) in pictures

hanging out at the Honda dealership, getting new tires put on my car.

(it was sort of an emergency- this was not how I was planning on spending Saturday afternoon!)

Sunday afternoon: Labor Day barbecue with our dear friends Mike and Billie Nejedly.

Roasting vegetables on the grill- yum! Tom cooling off by hanging out in the pool . (approx 88 degrees: bathwater!)

barbecued ribs, corn, and roasted potatoes-- tasty!!

our gracious hosts-- hanging out by the pool, talking, at the end of the evening.

quick trip to the grocery store on Monday afternoon

(check out the letter "O" in the word Patio)

closeup of the O: they're almost out of room!!

roasting chile peppers: this is one of the best smells in the world!

waiting to be peeled, then added to grilled chicken-- a great way to finish off the weekend.

Hope you're all having an enjoyable long weekend!