She brings her camera...

Unbeknownst to me,

while I was totally absorbed taking pictures

my sweet friends 

were

quietly taking photos of me.

The virtue of the camera is not the power it has to transform the photographer into an artist, but the impulse it gives him to keep on looking.

                                                                                                  - Brooks Atkinson - 1951, Once Around the Sun

xoxo

Catherine

Photos taken by Vicki Brazil and Andrea Colacchia

Tiptoe Through The Tulips With Me...

One little word:  Snapshot

A few months ago I had never taken my DSLR camera off of AUTO and it seemed so very scary to think in terms of F-stops and Shutter Speeds and exposure compensations, oh my...

Well, happy to say camera is no longer on AUTO and is most often on Aperture Priority these days with a fixed lens, 50mm.

Lots and lots of awful photos, failures and throwaways...

But every once in awhile a tiny little miracle occurs and I am able to capture a small slice of life, which gives me hope and encourages me to continue this quest. My constant "mantra" is progress not perfection.

Yes, my word for 2011 is Snapshot and my exciting journey of change and growth continues.



Happy Easter dear blongland friends

And may your view include beautiful spring flowers

xoxo

Catherine



How to celebrate a birthday...



Pick up your iPhone, call sweet daughter, and invite her out to play.

Sign up for, The Heirloom Collection, Series VII..."Bon Voyage", so graciously offered by Carol Wingert

Carol is the most amazing, creative hostess and offered an event unlike any other I have attended.

Arrive Phoenix International Airport, rent car, and hit the road, it's time to "power shop"

Oh the treasures to be found...

Presents for Mama, handmade by daughter, sigh

A lovely day indeed, time for sleep, yawn

Part deux, soon to come, our wonderful day at Carol's home

I see skies of blue, and clouds of white

The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night

And I think to myself, what a wonderful world.

Catherine



Spring skiing....

Packing check list,

The perfect outfit, check

Car's tuned up and  road trip ready, check

The perfect ski outfit, oh did I mention that already?

Back soon,

Catherine

The finale...

And so we come to the end of our Flea Market adventure.  The third and final Match Box was created for my sweet daughter, Cristina...

I used a vintage patter instruction sheet to cover the outside of the box and applied some glitter for pop.

Vintage pattern tissue was used to create the rosette, with a vintage flower placed atop the tissue.

Three little pink buttons adorn the end of the box.

And finally, I stamped an old Tim Holtz design onto tissue paper and afixed it to the inside of the box

Thanks for spending some time with me today, hope you enjoyed, My {View}

Catherine

Petite Inspiration Box Swap continues...

Flea Market Edition, part deux



Sweet Jennie, The Pretty Pekingese, was my second swap partner. She likes anything miniature, lace and ribbon, odd labels, bits of china and her favorite colors are blue, green and brown.

I enjoy vintage wallpaper and was so pleased when I was looking through my stash and found this "old" brown paper with green and white flowers.  Perfect.

Afixed a vintage velvet blossom and wrapped  baker's twine to finish.

Vintage "Flea Market" lovlies tucked carefully inside.

The inside is lined with vintage magazine and newspaper ads with a Hambly transparency over this layer.

Stay tuned...

XOXO

Catherine

Sneak peeks...

Spoiler alert

Once again I signed up to participate in Heather's Match Box Swap, Flea Market Edition.

My first partner is Kana and she loves robin's egg blue, pale pink and cream.

I covered her box in pale pink vintage floral wallpaper, attached a paper rose i glittered and attached with vintage pink seam binding.

On one end of the box I added a sweet vintage pink button with rhinestone center and wrapped seam binding around the outside of the inner box.  I wanted it to look like an old fashioned dresser drawer.

Here is a little peek at some of the treasures tucked away inside the box.

And finally the inside bottom.  I used an old victorian sticker, attached it to sheet music, tissue paper and some paper lace.

These little boxes are such a delight to create and I hope sweet Kana will enjoy...

Stay tuned for part "deux"

Catherine

Love notes in the air....

"Can miles truly separate us?

If we want to be with someone we love,

aren't we already there?"

~ Richard Bach

Today I sent off some sweet little love notes to my three grandchildren who live on the east coast, 

 while I am way far away on the west coast...sigh

Litttle bits of vintage this and that for the princess.

And a simple sentiment of love for the oldest.

Hearts, buttons and baker's twine for the middle munchkin.

Each card is made with Grandma's love and a little extra surprise as well.

Happy Valentine's Day!

There is only one happiness in life: to love and be loved.

George Sand 

                                                                                          

I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...

The 52 Week Project continues...

When you photograph a face, you photograph the soul behind it...

-Jean Luc Godard

One photo out of focus is a mistake, ten photo out of focus are an experimentation, one hundred photo out of focus are a style. 

 ~Author Unknown

52WP is proving to be more of a challenge than I expected.  I was surprised when I realized that placing a self portrait in a photo pool with other wonderful photographers is quite daunting.  Oh my, did my inner critical voice become active with self doubt statements...."you are not_______ or you can't __________

So I find I must stop, breathe and step out with courage and gentleness to self.  I am a beginner, I am learning, it is the journey not perfection.

And so I shall continue and honor My One Little Word...

 Snapshot

Catherine

A fresh new look...

It's time for change

Hope you enjoy the {View}

My daughter was sweet enough to create the blog design for me.
Want to see a little more of Cristina's design style?  Just visit her website which will direct you to her beautiful blog, which has been featured in "Artful Blogger" and her sweet etsy shops.

...................................................................................................................................................

One Little Word update

It is amazing how once I put my one little word out to the universie it seems to have shown up in so many areas of my daily life and how it seems to be leading my creative direction.

Many bloggers like to participate in the 365 photo challenge but I knew that this was not for me. I knew I would fail.  However, I just stumbled upon "52 Weeks Project" and I have choosen to hop on board and play along. 

This little project will force/encourage me to get my tripod out of the garage and read my camera manual on how to take a self portrait using the camera timer...

I am looking forward to this new learning adventure and am sure I will have a good laugh at the end of 52 weeks.

Have a wonderful day and enjoy the "snapshots" of your life.

Catherine

PS

A little secret, the little girl on the swing in my blog header is me  

One little word...

.snapshot
1:  a casual photograph made typically by an amateur with a small handheld camera
2:  an impression or view of something brief or transitory

Like many, I have participated with Ali Edward's "One Little Word" for several years.  Choosing a word this year required some thought and was not immediately obvious to me.  But one word seemed to continually come to me even after I had rejected it several times, thinking it not profound enough.  Finally I stopped pushing and was quiet and listened...One Little Word: SNAPSHOT

My {View}

Sunrise

January 01, 2011

At the end of January I will begin Karen Russel's "The Photographer's Workshop".  I met Karen while in Mykonos and had an opportunity to be one of her students for a day.  I fell in love with her teaching style but knew I needed more and needed a longer period of time to learn.  So watch out world the time has come for Catherine, yes me, to take my camera off of auto.  I heard someone say that she is an excellent scrapbooker and now she also wants excellent photos for her pages.  That so expresses how I feel...

How about you?  Do you have one little word for 2011 and what are your plans to incorporate and keep it present in your busy lives?  Would luv to hear your thoughts.

Here's to an amazing 2011 filled with creativity.

XOXO

Catherine