Focus on Life 20 - Look Up

I was determined to actually have new pictures for this week's post, so grabbed my camera as we headed out for Emma's soccer practice.  Michael and I dropped her off and then headed to the other end of the park, where there was a play ground and an elevated walkway out into the woods.  Michael, my art director, said, "You should go down there and take a picture looking up at me - that would be a good picture!"  He was right :-) I used my wide angle lens to capture him and all of the green of the woods.

See lots of great "up" pictures over on Sally's blog,

The Studio Sublime

Focus on Life 19 - Hope

I think the point of Sally's Focus on Life series is to actually to get out there with my camera and stretch myself, you know, by actually taking some pictures. But the week days speed by and next thing you know it's late Friday night and I haven't picked up my camera at all.  Well, I did a little bit this week on Michael's Field Trip, but it was raining so hard I only got a couple pictures.

Luckily, I have a trusty backup - the Auld Family Photo Files.  It's got thousands of pictures - that we more or less file by date and year - which made it easy to find pictures of my babies on their very first day of life.  Really, these two are the very embodiment of all that I hope for.  They are why I strive to be better and maybe even, slightly cooler, every day.

January 23rd, 2000, Emma:

August 8th, 2002, Michael:

And from last summer:

Enjoy how other's have captured hope over on Sally's blog,

The Studio Sublime.

What I Learned on Today's 5th Grade Field Trip

No matter how hard you push in one direction, sometimes it's just best to turn around and head in the opposite direction.  There are a couple tragic-funny travel stories with me in the lead saying, "Come on, just a little further this way and then we'll be there..." 

These two will be BFFs for life.  This is totally their MO...slightly outside of the fray but right next to each other.

That's not algae, it's duck weed.  And Mother Nature does now how to "do" green in the spring, doesn't she?

That water's not boiling - it's actually raining that hard on our nature walk.  

And an already well learned lesson...I would follow this little man anywhere.  He winks at me and calls me awesome, what can I say, I'm a complete goner.

Fun with Enamel - Thank You ArtBliss!

I received a very special package in the mail this weekend - a huge box of enamel that I won for registering early for ArtBliss!  Yay! Thanks Cindy and Jeanette!

I had been wanting to play with some enamel when I bought the long copper pieces I bought from Dia Designs when I went to the Greater Washington Bead Society bead show a couple weeks ago.

The first colors I grabbed were a kelly green and a deep purple blue.  I wanted it to look like the copper had been dipped in paint and I love how they came out.  I plan to bend the non-enamel end in a loop to make them pendents.  

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