Last Days of Summer

September 12th and 13th were the last really warm days here. We made sure to get out for a little birding to soak it up. We encountered quite a few fall migrants in the process including a Hooded Warbler one day and Philadelphia Vireo the next. We saw numbers of Chipping Sparrows and Swainson's Thurshes. Lots of Gray Catbirds were enjoying the berries on pokeweed in Lake View. We didn't see much in a brief tour of the lakefront, but did see a Green Heron, Northern Shovelers and Blue-winged Teal. Lovely memories of warm days and passing birds.

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Designer Credits:
-background: 52 Inspirations {2012} Week 9 by Sue Cummings
-photo mask: 52 Inspirations {2012} Week 22 by Vicki Stegall
-stamp labels: 52 Inspirations {2012} Week 33 by Sue Cummings
-word art: 52 Inspirations {2012} Week 31 by Sue Cummings
-word art: 52 Inspirations {2012} Week 19 by Sue Cummings
-brushes: ArtPlay Viaggio BrushSet by Anna Aspnes
-brown button: Oscraps Collab nOvel
-gray button: Oscraps Collab Homespun
-bow: Sweater Weather by One Little Bird
font: EnviroD

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Designer Credits:
-template: September CopyCat Challenge No. 1 template by Elisa (EHStudios) based on "Sweet Moment" by Kym
-background: 52 Inspirations {2012} Week 31 by Sue Cummings
-frame: 52 Inspirations {2012} Week 23 by Sue Cummings
-gray flower, stitching: Reminisce by Leora Sanford
-yellow flower, patterned papers, paint: Oscraps Collab DandeliOn Days
fonts: Amapola, Lemon Chicken, Corbel

Old Bird Pictures in a New Look

I've recently scrapped new pages for old bird photos and an old drawing. The first is of an Ivory Gull in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1975. My BIL found this arctic species on Lake Erie on the 17th. My photos are from the 18th of December 1975. This is still one of my most special experiences. I've used the photos before, but really like this treatment a lot more.

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Design Credits:
Anna Aspnes
ArtPlay Palette Salty Living
-frames: APP Family
fonts: Koala, Earwig Factory, Engravers MT, Bradley Hand ITC, Cardinal

The next one is of a White-tailed Tropicbird where they nest in Puerto Rico, a photo Dick took in 1996. We've also seen them in Florida. We both think tropicbirds are so fabulous! I called it "poetry in flight."

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Designer Credits:
AnnaLift of 'untitled' by veer 
all Anna Aspnes
-background: ArtPlay Solids Viaggio
-photomask 1: ArtPlay Palette No. 1
-photomask 2: Original FotoBlendz No. 12
-brad: APP Viaggio
-spiral brush, dark brush, texture brush: APP Autumn Haze
-linear brush: APP Salty Living
font: Corbel

Most recently I was inspired by the eyes of a child in an inspiration page to use an old drawing. I settled on this favorite of a Red-headed Woodpecker from a page of them in an old sketchbook from 1984. I got to use this one as the basis of the cover illustration of a local bird publication.

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Designer Credits:
AnnaLift of ‘eyes’ by margeda
all Anna Aspnes:
-background: Layered Tissue Autumn Paperie No. 1
-frame: Torn FotoFrames No. 2
-elements: ArtPlay Palette Ablaze
fonts: KG Skinny Latte, Minya Nouvelle

Favorite Teachers

There's a special topic just now on school days. One question asked was about favorite teachers. I did pages for my top two favorites and just have to post them here as they went away with the former site.

Here is my current post: I've done pages for two favorites teachers. One was my 2nd grade teacher who was so kind but still got us to work. Then there was my math teacher who taught three of my four years of high school math. He encouraged me and pushed me to apply to a summer math program & I got in. It was wonderful. One other teacher stands out as special. She taught 9th grade general science. She made everything so very interesting.

Panoramas, another make-over

The camera challenge this month at Oscraps is to create a panorama with at least two photos. I did one with new photos, but wanted to tackle a makeover of an old one too. In part I wanted to tell more of the story on the page. As a result, you'll really have to click on its image to read the text. Here is the new version.

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Designer Credits:
-graph paper: Oscraps Collab Tango
-brown paper, screw, dots: Oscraps Collab Homespun
-stitching: Aero Toni by Maya de Groot
-transfer under map: ArtPlay Palette Family by Anna Aspnes
-brush: ArtPlay Palette Great Outdoors by Anna Aspnes
-silver splash: Paint Silver No. 1 by Anna Aspnes
fonts: Chalk, Boopee, Pea Beth

And then the original which I did in 2007 with designs of my own.

Also, here is another from Lake View from the very hot 4th of July that I did for the challenge.

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Designer Credits:
-papers, elements: Oscraps Collab DandeliOn Days
-photo assembly: FotoTransfers No. 1 by Anna Aspnes
fonts: Enchanted Prairie Dog, Pea Anderson, Lithograph

Stop to smell the roses

Tonight instead of looking at the roses outside the parking garage as we went by I stopped to smell them and take their picture to celebrate a birthday for an online friend.

Summer Sail Redone

This week there is another makeover challenge with a summer theme. For some reason I really wanted to work on a page from four years ago of a sailboat on a July evening. At the time this is what I said about it: "After working hard all day we took off for the lake this evening and saw lots of interesting birds and this sailboat heading into the reflected sun on the water." The new version slightly reminds me of Turner watercolors and their "tinted steam." Here are the before and after versions.
Before:

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Designer Credits:
-background: Pam Lefors - Rustic Orange Paper Pack
-bracket shapes: Dana Conditt - A Little Independence Bracket Album
-flower doodles, staples: Fran - Euphorbia mini kit
-cord: Kalina - Adventurine mini kit
fonts: HansHand, Bahamas, Mystical, Alte Caps
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After:

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Designer Credits:
all Anna Aspnes
-background, fish button, overlay stretch: ArtPlay Palette Vitality
-photo mask: ArtPlay Vitality FotoBlendz
-overlay, brush: Oscraps Collab DandeliOn
-map: Travel USA No. 1 BrushSet
-overlay lines: SkinnyLined Overlays No. 2
fonts: HansHand, Lemon Chicken, GoudyOlSt BT

Loving Butterflies

Last month's copycat challenge was a beautiful inspiration and template. I did it with photos of a Mourning Cloak butterfly that was very cooperative. Everyone did beautiful things with this one.

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Designer Credits:
-template: May Copycat Challenge by Elisa (EHDesigns) based on "sail away" by ViVre http://ozone.oscraps.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=258300
-papers: ArtPlay Palette Wild Paperie by Anna Aspnes
-button: Life As I Know It by Vera Lim Designs
fonts: LoosieScript, Blue Highway