Coast Trip

Last week I drove the two hours to Bandon where I had not been in two years. It's really ridiculous that I had not taken the time to go in so long, but life just seemed to get in the way. I love this part of the Oregon coast. Willie and I loved to wander through the shops in Old Town, eat fresh seafood at one of the local restaurants, and scour the beach for stones and shells. Perhaps I had put this trip off because it was such a part of our lives together that it is difficult to go alone now.

This trip I stopped at the local quilt shop to see what they might have of interest. It's a nice little shop with lots of 'coast' fabrics as well as a good selection of holiday, batiks, and general fabrics. I found a few fat quarters that may work in a project I have planned for later this year. Since high tide was around noon, I then headed to the harbor to browse the boardwalk and the shops in Old Town. I love the book store and the cranberry candy store. Indulged in a small package of cranberry treats.

Then it was on to the Crab Shack for a lunch of fresh crab in the Famous Crab sandwich, which I ate while sitting in the sun facing the harbor. A sunny day at the coast is to be relished as much as the fresh crab.

I hit the Table Rock Wayside at the perfect time as the tide was going out. There was plenty of beach to walk on and only two other people off in the distance. The surf was LOUD just like I love. There is something about it that just changes my focus and lets all the stress drain out of me. I wandered about a 1/2 mile down the beach and back, getting my feet (OK, up to my knees) wet, picking up rocks that struck my fancy and taking tons of photos. Then it was time to head back home. One last photo from the top of the hill and I said my good-bye.

The drive home is lovely and the road is pretty good most of the way. I can still hear the sea in my head and recapture the calm when I look at my photos. I vow to be back there sooner next time.

Greece

Ten days in Greece was fabulous. If I had to pick just one photo to remember it by, that photo would be this one. This was one of four old windmills on a hill above Mykonos town. It was quite a hike up there and the wind blew really hard - easy to see why they were built up there. The white cement building with the blue door is very common in this part of Greece. And the rocks at the base cover the island. I think I'll use this as the title page for me album about my trip.

Thank you, Karen

The nine hours of class and practice under Karen Russell's tutalage has really paid off for me as shown in this photo. I now know how to adjust my white balance for the lighting. I now know how to adjust my ISO and aperture so I get a good expose most of the time (still practicing this one). And I can get catch lights in my little Eli's eyes. She had just finished eating (and smearing herself) with a peanut butter English muffin. What a sweetie she is! And I'm now able to catch those special moments. So, a big thank you, Karen.

Scrapping Old Photos

Since I'm an alumni of Library of Memories, I have joined an on-line group that receives a weekly challenge and has a gallery for us to post our layouts. So, when the challenge was to scrap a school related photo, it was a good time to go through some of the older photos and try to find a 'first day of school' photo. While I remember taking them most years, I couldn't find very many of them. This was the best of the lot. I think I'll add some journaling at the bottom right about how Sara loved having these photos taken and Eric hated it and only did it because I asked. Perhaps that's why there are so few.....he left early on the first day.

Backpack Love

I've had this photo of Sara on my scrapbook desk for a couple months. I must have taken it out for something and then not used it. In any case, when I printed out the photo of Eli, I had an inspiration. Two little girls, two backpacks. Mother/daughter. Definitely fodder for a layout.
These papers came in a kit from Cocoa Daisy sometime this summer. Yesterday I was doing some organizing in my craft room and found the kit. These papers were perfect for the photos. The rest went together rather easily. I love when that happens.

Tutu Cute

It's been quite a while since I've done any scrapbooking. The summer seems to be centered on the garden, not indoor activities.

But, I did a bit of straightening up in my craft room yesterday and found this sheet of Hambly paper and it seemed perfect for this photo of my grand-daughter, Eliana. The other supplies were part of a kit from Cocoa Daisy and were perfect with the photo.

Eli has a neighbor who is just crazy about her, and frequently stops by with little gifts. This particular weekend I was visiting when Gramma Linda delivered this swimsuit. We had to try it on her immediately to see if it fit. Eli was only too happy to show off in her tutu suit.

It's not hard to create layouts with such a cutie to be the main attraction. :)

Better later than Never

It was a vacation for both of us. Sara had just graduated from high school and I was recently divorced. It was 1993. WOW, that was 17 years ago. So why is this album just being finished? Good question.

That crazy photo on the top of the first page? I did that at a CM party in about 1994. It was the first I'd heard about scrapbooking. I was intrigued, but couldn't afford to even think about buying any supplies. Sara was in college and I was working three jobs, and she was working one to help pay for the wonderful school she was attending. So the page about the Hawaii vacation sat in amongst the photos, waiting for me to do something with it.

Life got seriously in the way during the next few years. Fast forward to 2000 and another CM party. I created another crazy page about a trip to Alaska. This time I had the time and money to get started with the basics. In no time at all I was hooked. Completely.

The photos of this trip languished in a box along with other poor quality photos while I scrapped tons of other ones that were more recent and much more fun to use. The thought of creating lots of pages with them was daunting. Then along came Stacy Julian and her fast photo two up album scrapbooking. Ah... a perfect solution to my quandry of what to do with these photos. Finding the negatives and developing another non-heart cropped photo of Sara and me was out of the question....so it was cut from the page and mounted like all the other photos. The circle photo of our first view of the ocean received the same treatment.

This album is not my finest work, but all the photos are in one place where they can be enjoyed and where the story has been told. DONE!