Serial Crafter

Wheatfield Wild Flowers

noreply@blogger.com (Janice) — Tue, 11 Aug 2015 19:58:00 +0000

Image of the Summer

Living in the country, this photograph sums up an early August summer day. For once the sun was shining, the wheat in the field is just starting to turn from green to gold and a strip of wildflowers runs all the way up the hedgerow. I'm linking this to Truly Madly Kids - Image of the Summer.

Bumble Bee an Image of Summer

noreply@blogger.com (Janice) — Sun, 26 Jul 2015 13:38:00 +0000

It's great to hear bees and bumble bees buzzing around the shrubs in the garden. This morning my variegated privet was covered in bumble bees gathering up the pollen from the tube-like white flowers. All this insect activity is part of the joy of being outdoors in the summer.

Over at Truly Madly Kids, Image of the Week has gone on its summer holidays to be replaced by Image of the Summer, so you will be seeing a few images over the coming weeks representing what summer means to me.

Thistles - Image of the Week #IOTW

noreply@blogger.com (Janice) — Mon, 13 Jul 2015 18:05:00 +0000

This is my Image of the Week #IOTW the one I like best. Thistles are terrible invasive weeds but the bees and butterflies love them and I always try to capture a few in flower before cutting them down in the hope that a few fewer seeds will mean they don't take over our hedgerows and fields and leave room for some of the other lovely wild flowers and plants.

The theme for #IOTW at Truly Madly Kids this week was 'Flash' I tried to take some different flash shots, but wasn't really happy any, here are a few of them. Obviously needing to do more work on this.

Bird nest in hedge, hay rake, lavender, blacksmiths drill

Lavender Blue Dilly Dilly

noreply@blogger.com (Janice) — Mon, 06 Jul 2015 20:10:00 +0000

Lavender Blue Dilly Dilly, Lavender Green, when I am King Dilly Dilly, you shall be Queen.
This is my Image of the Week #22 #IOTW for Truly Madly Kids with the theme of Bokeh - the effect where the image is sharp and the background is blurred often with points of light.

I only have one pot of lavender, but it was looking particularly fine in the sunshine at the weekend when I captured this shot with the sun shining on the leaves of the beech hedge in the background.

Father's Day - Image of the Week #20

noreply@blogger.com (Janice) — Sat, 20 Jun 2015 21:01:00 +0000

It's Father's Day tomorrow and Image of the Week #IOTW at Truly, Madly Kids, is keeping to this theme. My Dad is no longer around and even when he was, we didn't make a big fuss of Father's Day. A card to mark the occasion was all that was required. My dad loved his holidays and even in the 1960s when we had very little money we always went away camping every summer. By the way, that's me with the cool shades and the blow up beach ball in the background.

I searched around to see if I could find an image of my husband, Brian, and our two sons, this was about the best I could do. It was taken in Dublin when we visited there, taking my mother along, the summer after my Dad died. In their teens, music was a real connecting point between Brian and the boys so this is quite an appropriate photograph.

Great Tit Nesting Box - Image of the Week #18

noreply@blogger.com (Janice) — Fri, 05 Jun 2015 20:16:00 +0000

Telling a Story - is the prompt for the Image of the Week at Truly Madly Kids, here is what Penny says: "Sometimes a photograph has many things about it that make it precious. It could be the setting, it could be something in the frame, it could be the reaction on a face to something, or even something lurking in the background of a shot. These are the images that tell a story."

My story is all about a little family of Great Tits who chose to nest in the hollow framework of our tractor bale spike, as you can see it makes the perfect nest box! We enjoyed watching the parent birds flying backwards and forwards carrying insects to feed their young. The birds have now fledged so must have been quite large when I took these photographs.

There were better photographs than the one I have chosen for the Image of the Week, but this is the one I felt was most likely to 'tell the story'. Here are few of the others below:

Landscape: Image of the week #17

noreply@blogger.com (Janice) — Sun, 24 May 2015 18:50:00 +0000

When I saw the theme was Landscape for this week's Image of the Week at Truly Madly Kids, I knew right away which image I would use. I was really pleased with how this turned out.

You can see the digital layout I made with the image in this post Ploughed and Harrowed in the Spring

Bluebell Woods

noreply@blogger.com (Janice) — Tue, 12 May 2015 19:57:00 +0000

Photograph altered with Artistic Filter, Palette Knife
Coppercurls Designs: Paper Blenders and Botanica elements

Image of the Week #15 - Macro

noreply@blogger.com (Janice) — Mon, 11 May 2015 11:33:00 +0000

Moss

Lichen

The theme for Image of the Week #IOTW at Truly Madly Kids this week is MACRO. I love to take Macro shots, particularly of the plants and insects. I was torn as to which of these recent images to share in the Linky but decided on the moss as the lichen is rather more difficult to distinguish.

And here are a couple of older macro photos that I particularly like.

Ploughed and Harrowed in the Spring

noreply@blogger.com (Janice) — Tue, 05 May 2015 21:03:00 +0000

Our fields have been ploughed, harrowed and re-seeded for the first time in over 60 years, so I thought it only right that I recorded this event in a digital page.

PTON Art Mask for Scrapbookgraphics

Paper - PTON add on for Scrapbookgraphics

Butterflies from Outside my Window by Snickerdoodle Designs

Wood Anenome

noreply@blogger.com (Janice) — Sat, 02 May 2015 21:03:00 +0000

I'm hoping to do a little more digital scrapbooking and digital art again. I've joined the Just Art Forum and this layout is for the mini-challenge using overlays created by Robyn who runs the group.

Robyn Littlejohn - Pretty Edgy overlays
Coppercurls - Paper Blender 04
Digital Crea - Golden Sun vine element
Designs by Mozz - Nanum paper 7

Sunshine Images - Seagull in the Sun

noreply@blogger.com (Janice) — Sat, 02 May 2015 20:39:00 +0000

I took this photograph in Funchal, Madeira at the top of a tower overlooking the Marina and captured the seagull against the bright sun and fluffy clouds. I took it on my Sony Cybershot HD, no fancy camera, no complicated settings, just the right moment.

I'm entering this into the Sunshine Images Linky at Truly Madly Kids

Game of Thrones Birthday Card

noreply@blogger.com (Janice) — Mon, 26 Jan 2015 20:32:00 +0000

You can leave your hat on!

I dare you to use any kind of head gear on your card: party hats, helmets, woolly hats, crowns, fascinators etc.

Thanks for the inspiration Daring Cardmakers!

This is a bit of a cheat of a card, a few stick on crystals, honestly, I know you can hardly see them but they are there, and some gold pen around the edge to frame this image from Game of Thrones, the favourite tv series of my eldest son, whose birthday was at the weekend. So much for my huge efforts to locate a suitable image (including some headgear) he didn't even recognise it and only 'got' it when he opened his gift, which was a t-shirt from the same programme.

It doesn't half make you feel old and granny-like when you have no idea about what they are watching, the t-shirt was only right because I consulted my younger son on the details!

January Blues

noreply@blogger.com (Janice) — Mon, 19 Jan 2015 18:35:00 +0000

It's Blue Monday today according to many of the media pundits, when we are all supposed to be at our lowest ebb after Christmas. Over at Daring Cardmakers, they are having the January Blues too, but in a much nicer way - as a prompt or dare for a card design.

January Blues

You are free to use the title however you want; it could be a "just to cheer you up" or "sorry to hear you're feeling blue" card,  a card with shades of blue as the main colour, or something else inspired by the heading.  Lets chase the January Blues away with some quality time spent getting creative!

This simple card is made with a couple of free papers from Simply Homemade magazine (not recent), a butterfly image from a pad of images I've also had so long that the front page has gone, so I know not from where it came, a ribbon from my ribbon box and a Papermaze greeting.

Elemental Inspiration for Daring Cardmakers

noreply@blogger.com (Janice) — Sun, 11 Jan 2015 16:15:00 +0000

It's been a long time since I made a card, but I saw the Elemental Inspiration challenge come up on the Daring Cardmakers Facebook page and I just loved the inspiration piece so decided to see if I can restart my crafting mojo!

I'm not entirely pleased with this card, however it does meet the criteria for the challenge which is to include elements from the original inspiration, pop over the the site to see the original. Here are the elements I used:

Colours
Hearts
Vintage woman image
Vertical lines

I haven't made any resolutions this year, but I would like to do a little more crafting, so this is a good place to start.

My World - in a box

noreply@blogger.com (Janice) — Sat, 25 Jan 2014 22:24:00 +0000

The Lucky 7s theme this week is My World. Well, some of my world went into storage this week, packed up in boxes into a hired van. We have dry rot in our kitchen walls and the bedroom above and the work starts tomorrow to take our my lovely kitchen (only put in 3 years ago) take down the ceiling and treat the dry rot, then it all has to be rebuilt.

We've known about it since October but the work starts next week, so it's been rather busy with packing and organising over the last month. I'll keep you posted as the work progresses.

Colours

noreply@blogger.com (Janice) — Mon, 06 Jan 2014 20:22:00 +0000

Feeling rather virtuous as I went to the gym after work! As I was packing up my stuff to come away I realised that there were lots of colours, so perfect for the prompt. There was no one around so I snapped this with my phone.

As one challenge ends...

noreply@blogger.com (Janice) — Fri, 03 Jan 2014 10:51:00 +0000

Another begins! Lucky Snapping in 2013 has finished but KathiJo, one of the contributors to Lucky Snapping is carrying on with photo prompts and I am going to try to do at least one each week. Now it's Friday already and I haven't managed a single one - not a good omen!

As it's a funny sort of week we are starting on Wednesday.

Your word for this week will be : Resolutions
with added daily prompts :

Wednesday : Food
Thursday : Drink
Friday : Clothes
Saturday : Travel
Sunday : Family

I don't do resolutions so here are my first three daily prompts:

Hope everyone is staying safe in the storms, it's wild, wet and windy here.

The final view - Lucky Snapping in 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Janice) — Mon, 02 Dec 2013 20:36:00 +0000

And so we come to the end of a year of 'The View' at Lucky Snapping in 2013. In many ways the view doesn't change very much, we were just commenting on how green the grass is in December. Let's see just how the View has changed.


January 2013

February 2013


March 2013


April 2013


May 2013

June 2013

July 2013

August 2013

September 2013

October 2013

November 2013

December 2013

Thank you for staying with me through the year and watching my view change through the seasons.

Frosty Day

noreply@blogger.com (Janice) — Sun, 10 Nov 2013 18:44:00 +0000

We woke up this morning to a white world, there had been a really hard frost and everything was tinged with sparkly white frost - so pretty!

Even my little plastic fox had frosty ears, he is supposed to keep the rabbits out of the garden, but they are just not that stupid!

This little bird was hopping around in the shade of the Ash tree, you can see that the frost never really went away in the shaded areas, hard going for birds.

This little robin (on top of the post) looks a little bit thin, possibly a young robin.

Some birds are getting fed though, if the hips on my Rosa Rugosa are anything to go by! Many of the hips have been eaten but there are still plenty left as well as quite a few holly berries.

It was actually really warm when you found a sheltered spot in the sun, and the frost soon began to thaw and drip.

Have a good week everyone.

The view and a walk by the river

noreply@blogger.com (Janice) — Mon, 04 Nov 2013 06:30:00 +0000

The sky was blue and even though there was a cold north east wind blowing, I decided it was time I went out for a walk down to the river at the bottom of our fields. I've posted this photograph of the flying ducks (just like the little ornaments your gran had on the wall) as it is my favourite photograph from today. I took my DSLR today and was glad that I did, the compact is great and nice and light to carry but you don't get this kind of shot with a compact!

More ducks, they were all swimming about at the edge of the river, but took off when they noticed me. I think they are more used to a different kind of shooting and are wary of people.

Here they are minding their own business until I pitched up!

And here are the sheep, studiously ignoring me in favour of a bit of autumn grazing. I love that tree, it is such good shape, proper tree shape, if you know what I mean.

And here is The View in November. I had to take it from the back kitchen window rather than from upstairs as we are using that room as a bedroom at the moment as we have had to evacuate our bedroom due to dry rot, it's a long story and the work won't be compelted until February. Anyway, my dressing table is in front of the window so I can't get close enough to take my usual View photo.

It was pretty frosty yesterday morning, the first time we have had a white frost this autumn, later it turned out to be a horrible wet, windy day.

In my garden in October

noreply@blogger.com (Janice) — Sun, 27 Oct 2013 19:08:00 +0000

Between the showers today, I popped outside to take a few quick photos. The one above is of my 'Beauty Bush', I've had this shrub for about 15 years and although it has occasionally decided to flower, I have never had berries on it. Aren't they an amazing colour? I'm sure it's in the wrong place but I don't think I'll be moving it now.

The leaves are falling from the trees now, particularly as it has been really windy today. Here in the south west of Scotland we are missing the worst of the storms predicted for the south of England, however we did have 50mph gusts and lots of leaves had gathered between the path and the grass.

Lovely Gentian, still blooming despite the weather.

This Polyanthus also provides a splash of colour.

The glorious blue skies make this look like a summer day but the brief spells of sunshine were interspersed with very heavy showers and sometimes the sky in front of the house was blue and the behind the house it was very, very dark! You can see that our field is full of water, the usual 'pond' is about a third of the size of this, fortunately it is far enough away from the house not to cause any alarm.

Stay safe everyone.

Friday Fruit

noreply@blogger.com (Janice) — Fri, 11 Oct 2013 19:30:00 +0000

Fruit

I can't claim to have taken this photograph today, being back at work rather limits my photo opportunities. But I wanted to finish the week with another 'Things we Eat' photograph for Lucky Snapping in 2013. These were the fruits I used to make my Summer Falls into Autumn Pudding a couple of weeks ago, I love the way the look and can imagine again the sweet and sharp flavours

Happy Birthday Daring Cardmakers

noreply@blogger.com (Janice) — Wed, 09 Oct 2013 13:02:00 +0000

It's the 7th Birthday of the original card making challenge blog, Daring Cardmakers. I used to be a regualar card maker for this challenge and have also been a guest host. As I had a few days off, I thought it would be rude not to join in the celebrations. Take a look over at the Daring Cardmakers blog to find out more about the Birthday Celebrations and the lovely prizes up for grabls.

W is for Walnuts and Wednesday

The Lucky Snapping in 2013 photo prompt this week is Things We Can Eat featuring the letters of the days of the week. I enjoy eating a few nuts as a snack and also love to bake with nuts which was what I was doing when I snapped these walnuts.

Irresistible

noreply@blogger.com (Janice) — Tue, 08 Oct 2013 15:28:00 +0000

The word for this month's 'Let's Reflect' at Lucky Snapping is IRRESISTIBLE and it's supposed to be about things that are irresistible for me. One of the things I never tire of, is taking photographs of the wildlife around the farm and this morning there was an irresistible opportunity right in front of me.

Two swans had come to visit our flooded field, remember how irresistible it was to the cattle? They were paddling about in it last week and still are, although the water has gone down a bit now. There are often swans down at the river but they rarely come onto our little bit of flooded field so this was a bit of a treat and totally IRRESISTIBLE!

It looks like they were finding something irresistible to eat under the water.

The ducks were pretty happy with whatever they were feeding on too.

Now back to the photo prompt for this week 'Things we can eat' Yesterday was Mince Monday and today is Tomato Tuesday.


Sliced Tomato

And here is the Bagel BLT that I made for our lunch. It's so much easier to do these challenges when I am not at work and lunches are so much more fun. I'm sure you don't need a recipe to make this, but here is how I made this 'irresistible' sandwich.

Bagel BLT

1 Bagel, split and toasted

2 tsp mayonnaise

3 rashers bacon

1 tomato

2 leaves of cos/romaine lettuce

Cucumber (Bread and Butter) pickle, or other relish

1. Grill or fry the bacon until crisp.

2. Spread the mayonnaise onto to both sides of the toasted bagel

3. Top the base of the bagel with the bacon, then lettuce and tomato.

4. Add the pickle or relish.

5. Top with the bagel lid

You will need a napkin or piece of kitchen roll when you eat it as it oozes out!