Good Weather!

So the weather was good for

For studying photography 

[which is a great hobby with

no creative boundaries]

Thursday morning was filled with fog and rain as the afternoon wore on, the temperatures started to drop quickly.

They went from 40 to 30 in two hours with winds gusting to 50 mph. Thankfully, we are in a hollow here so we are getting the wind but not to the extent those on the ridge are getting. 

Oddly enough, my shovels, and skis blew down on the porch. A water bucket I had out there took off for parts unknown.

I assume I'll find it in a few days.

So I decided to work with High key photos before returning to experimenting with macro images.

I saw a photographer I follow on Flickr use a broken ornament as her subject for a macro shot. The shot was so beautiful and so well done, that I stopped and studied it. 

Instead of breaking anything, I picked some weeds when I did chores to practice macro while avoiding the cruel weather.

Wednesday while hiking I picked up 'Old Man's Beard' seeds. Okay they are actually a wild Clematis that grows in the forests not an old man's beard.

The shape has always fascinated me, so I put it in a plastic bag and brought it home to study.

Old Man's Beard aka
Clematis vitalba

Here is a piece of Yarrow I got from the garden next to the porch. I can't believe that the dried flowers held up with the snowfall and all the weather we've had.

I placed the dried yarrow on top of a wooden block on my laptop keyboard and brought up a fractal I'd made years ago as the back drop.

Behind the scenes, it looked like this.

I don't have an iPad, but I do know of folks who place their flowers on top of or use an iPad photo to make a backdrop for macro photography. Ingenious really as you can control the brightness behind the flower.

I don't have anything like that. It worked for this shot and was handy as an experiment. I've done this with toys and had great results.

The shot below is the remnants of the Flea Bane flower in the winter. I put crinkled up foil behind the plant and a red ribbon below it.

Meanwhile in the Christmas Village, Mini-Me and Charlie spot something going on. Looks like a couple of Boo Monsters grabbed a snow mobile and 'eye' spy the Grinch hiding behind a tree and the Vampire Lady from Halloween on the balcony.

Huh. The Christmas Village has so much to see and so much going on!

Taking a Moment to live in the moment

This is how I can live in the Moment. For whatever reason the other day, I opened up my video stuff and this came up. 'Wisdom at 96: Life Advice'. 

I thought, why the heck not? I decided to watch it. The lady was calm and interesting. No advice on living the right way but living in the moment. I just liked what she had to say and I found her so calming and so inspirational in a quiet way. 

The next morning, the winds howled the rain slashed the windows and it was cold. I thought "What a horribly yucky dismal day."

But after chores and cleaning and getting stuff out for supper, I decided to go live in the moment and do something that would use up all my brains cells. Something that wouldn't allow for outside world distractions and worry.

Can you make something out of nothing? 

And so the toilet paper tree began.

So in truth, it all started with an empty TP roll and some cheap foil.

Hubby walked into the room and gave me the side eye. 

'And what are you doing?'

Obvious! I am building a tree!

He shook his head, 'And I am the one they say has dementia and mental health problems.'

Well with twisting and shaping pieces of foil and a bit of hot glue, I made this odd looking tree with curly cue roots. I was/am hoping to make it into a fantasy tree that is small enough to use with Lego People.

And she seems to fit in there just fine. Since the top of the tree doesn't matter, I didn't put branches on it.

Now, how to make it look -- tree-ish. I wanted it to be a dead tree. So the first thing I should have done was spray paint it black.

But with howling winds and driving rain, I opted to just paint it with a mix of Modge Podge and black paint.

Hmm. What now? I know! Try to add some color and texture with some brownish, orangish, reddish mixed paints.

Ewww, it looks nasty and ugly.

The cool thing is, I can bend the foil a bit to reposition it. 

And perhaps with the right lighting and background it may even look cool instead of butt ugly.

However, Wanda seems to like it.

Later in the afternoon when the sun came out, hubby had placed her on a spot at the top of the tree. 
Actually this looked really cool in the bright sunlight.

Well now. She needed to have this tree in a haunted forest.

What do witches need? A pot to boil stuff in. A creepy forest. A creepy tree. Magic crystals.

What? Magic Crystals???

Back to the thinking box.

Wanda needed magic crystals. [See how this mind works? It isn't ADHD. I have flights of ideas....I prefer to call it: positive constructive daydreaming]

If Magic Crystals are involved, then dragons must be involved, if dragons are involved, sorceresses must be involved...if good is involved, then evil must be involved...if....then there must be wizards too, right?

Phew. I had to put on the brakes and prioritize.

The Old Creepy Tree, a weird forest. Crystals... 

Did you know you can 'make' crystals with Borax and water? 

The smaller ones are coiled pipe cleaners. The large one is an actual rock.

Maybe the forest needs a couple of crystalized trees?

Stay tuned! 

Wanda is really quite happy!

Keeping busy

Not the best of photos, but here is the peanut butter jar house after I painted it. The tree came from Amazon and I'll use that in a summer project. I'm considering trying my hand at making a 'fairy garden'.
I'm not sure about the little house, I will most likely have to spray it with a fixative to see if it can withstand the weather.

The little 'hut' is perfect for the toy dachshund that Allison gave me!
And there is Mr. Morris too.

I have this over my kitchen sink at the moment. Just to make me smile while I do dishes.

So I watched a few more videos and decided to try some more projects.

I put a bottom on a 'mushroom' I'd made with a toothpick in it...

Then I thought I'd try using foil to make a gnarly tree.

I know the clay I was using would crack but I didn't mind as I'd use Elmer's Glue and repair it with a bit of more clay. I think the little cracks make it more interesting.

This is after I patched it in places. Now I have to let it dry and do some magic with moss and paint!

These were experimental mushrooms. When the material is not put over cardboard or foil, it doesn't seem to crack!

Those same little mushrooms now with the bottoms and the tops attached with some glue and clay. I set them upside down in a 'possum skull to dry for the day.

I decided to try another form of Fairy House...made out of things I could find in the woods.

Allison and I gathered some branches and cardboard. Then we had a bit of fun spreading everything over the floor first and then picking out pieces to 'do' something with.

Since I didn't know what I was really doing ... I just winged it. Allison said she kept having new ideas and I let her flow with it.

I was aiming for some sort of little wooden house/hut.
It certainly wasn't as cute as what I'd seen on line.

But.

It is sort of fun and cute!

I have a bit more work to do with some moss and final touches.

On these dreary days, I love to try new things.