Snow

After a mostly mild winter, we received one of those beautiful early spring snows that sticks to everything and makes the trees look amazing.  I wanted to go to the arboretum to take a few pics, but since this is one of my rare days to stay home, I opted to take a few pics in the yard.  Hope you enjoy!

First is the original macro shot of a lilac bud covered by the snow.  I like the simplicity of it.

Of course I wanted to play with it in Photoshop, so I cropped it, added a layer mask and played with the colors and contrast.                             

 Then I decided to really play and make it as "painterly" as possible.  While you can't see the blanket of snow, I still like the effect.

 And of course, hope does spring eternal, since I see the snow melting already as I look out the window!

Project Pinterest -- Valentine Wreath

Up until a week ago I still had our evergreen wreath on the front door, and it was definitely time for a change.  I found this wreath on Pinterest and decided to try to make it.

I first gathered my supplies:  a coat hanger, some fabric scraps and my rotary cutter.

It took a lot of scraps and a lot of tying.

I finally finished and I like the result, but I think the one on Pinterest is a little fuller.  Maybe I should have only knotted the fabric strips with single knots.

But it's on the front door and looks a lot better than Christmas greenery.  Of course, now that Valentine's Day is over, it's time to start thinking about another project for the front door.  I'll have to search Pinterest for some spring/Easter wreaths!

Another Valentine

Here's another of my attempts to create a Valentine, albeit a little late:

From me to you with love!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Vacation Memories

Back from a wonderful and relaxing week in the Florida Keys and trying to catch up with things here at home.  One priority is to get back up to speed with the Beyond Layers class.  They have been doing some really fun stuff, like making a "time capsule" of daily images.  But since I have about 800 vacation pics, I decided to make a different collage, of the evening we kayaked out into the Florida Bay to enjoy the sunset.

The people in the other kayak are my cousin Barbie and her husband Dannie.  They are the ideal vacation comrades!