August 2023 - RANDOM Challenge

[Cassel]

Here is a challenge to do something that might not be repeated in other months. Just an idea that popped like that (and you can also send me suggestions for occasional random challenges too).

This time, let's count. Create a layout or another project, that will include numbered elements. They could be photos, numbered for their sequence, but they could also be numbered tags for other types of information.

Here is an example to inspire you. This is a layout from Sharon-Dewi Stolp

I will let you simmer that idea in your head a little, and look forward to seeing what you will come up with.

Post your project in the gallery.

[Sue Thomas]

Would this layout count?  I will do another one, more in keeping  with your specs, using numbered labels.

[Sue Thomas]

After some thought when I was outside, I came up with this for  the Random challenge. I created round beads for the numbers, and a label specifically  with a place to put the  numbered beads. After looking at Julie's cut out  page, I decided to  do a cutout for the word Robin.  Scalloped edge is always effective, and simple to do.  I wanted the labels to be together. I thought to pin them, tape them, thread sting though them to keep them together, and thought no, it might look to busy.  Any suggestions would be great, but for now I'll leave the  labels as they are.  This random challenge was ideal for creating a page on the  cycle of the Robin, as I said I was going to do, after doing the Oriole page.  Only the Wrens are left to showcase in a similar fashion. 

Once the Robins have fledged, like many of the  Blackbirds, and some other birds, they spend several days on the ground, before taking to the trees.  They are able to fly short distances, but  when on the ground they aren't to far from  low cover, to dash to when  they feel under threat.  Within 10-13 days they go from hatchlings to fledglings.  I have documented that process too. 

Edited August 26, 2023 by Sue Thomas

[Ann Seeber]

8 hours ago, Sue Thomas said:

I decided to do a cutout for the word Robin.

@Sue Thomas On my screen that word looks puffy rather than cut-out. Maybe it's the shadowing? ?

[Sue Thomas]

3 hours ago, Ann Seeber said:

@Sue Thomas On my screen that word looks puffy rather than cut-out. Maybe it's the shadowing? ?

I used the cut out technique, the direction of the shadowing I used  is cut out. It would be puffy as you put it (raised) if the shadowing was in the other direction. Resizing down doesn't  help.There again, I  may be wrong.

[Sue Thomas]

26 minutes ago, Sue Thomas said:

I used the cut out technique, the direction of the shadowing I used  is cut out. It would be puffy as you put it (raised) if the shadowing was in the other direction. Resizing down doesn't  help.There again, I  may be wrong.

Screen shot, of enlarged cutout.   I think it may be how the eye perceives it.  Look at the curl on the R, and then the rest of the word. 

Edited August 27, 2023 by Sue Thomas

[Rene Marker]

When looking at it up close, it did look puffy but then it looked cutout for me. If I look at the shadowing especially on the R, I can see that it is cutout. But if I look more at the right side of the letters (the B) it appears more puffy. 

Looking back on the full layout, it does look more puffy but it looks great either way!

[Sue Thomas]

1 minute ago, Rene Marker said:

When looking at it up close, it did look puffy but then it looked cutout for me. If I look at the shadowing especially on the R, I can see that it is cutout. But if I look more at the right side of the letters (the B) it appears more puffy. 

Looking back on the full layout, it does look more puffy but it looks great either way!

Thanks Rene, perhaps I could have used a  heavier shadow, but  it was paper, and I wanted it to be in keeping with the other shadows.  The shadowing is the same on all the letters. As I shadowed it as one word using the ' from vector shape tool'   Sizing down does have it's drawbacks.  My brain knows it's a cutout, and that is what I see.  If I hadn't have said anything, on one would be any the wiser, they would see what the eye tells them.  Thank you, I appreciate your comment.

[Cassel]

It is just an optical illusion trick our brain plays. Once you look at it and it is "cut out", but if you want to look at it differently, you can tell your brain that it is lifted with the light from the other side.

[Sue Thomas]

2 minutes ago, Cassel said:

It is just an optical illusion trick our brain plays. Once you look at it and it is "cut out", but if you want to look at it differently, you can tell your brain that it is lifted with the light from the other side.

You explained it perfectly, in only one sentence.  You are awesome!  

[Susan Ewart]

On 8/27/2023 at 7:16 AM, Cassel said:

It is just an optical illusion trick our brain plays. Once you look at it and it is "cut out", but if you want to look at it differently, you can tell your brain that it is lifted with the light from the other side.

I must be brain deficient, I only see it as a cut out.  Maybe because It's on my second monitor and i'm at an angle to it.  I tried to see it puffy.  What I see that is puffy is the really cool moon tonight.  I went outside....did you know mosquitos fly around at night. Why arent they in bed like the rest of the critters.  Only moths should be allowed out after dark. In 6-7 minutes I got over 10 bites.  

[Ann Seeber]

3 hours ago, Susan Ewart said:

I must be brain deficient, I only see it as a cut out.  Maybe because It's on my second monitor and i'm at an angle to it.  I tried to see it puffy.  What I see that is puffy is the really cool moon tonight.  I went outside....did you know mosquitos fly around at night. Why arent they in bed like the rest of the critters.  Only moths should be allowed out after dark. In 6-7 minutes I got over 10 bites.  

Yes, nighttime is traditional mosquito time, buzzing my ear when I'm trying to sleep. The optical illusion of puffiness may be me trying to get used to new glasses..... hah! I worked on Lesson 7 yesterday and, even doing in myself, it still looked wrong. Aarrgghh! 

[Susan Ewart]

6 hours ago, Ann Seeber said:

Yes, nighttime is traditional mosquito time, buzzing my ear when I'm trying to sleep. The optical illusion of puffiness may be me trying to get used to new glasses..... hah! I worked on Lesson 7 yesterday and, even doing in myself, it still looked wrong. Aarrgghh! 

ugh, I hate getting used to new glasses.  My eyes get so tired.  When I first got progressive lenses my head was moving all over the place trying to find the right focus point to look through.  Even after 10 yrs of progressive lenses, I still cant tell if the photo I took is blurry or in focus.  I'm about to delete it and I move my head a bit and it's clear.  I need AI in my glasses. Some things look wonky to me when I first look at them.  Like my eyes and my brain arent communicating and it just looks odd and I dont know why...at first.  

[Suzy]

That’s interesting , Sue.  Robin goes back and forth when I look at it. A few seconds, maybe 3-5 seconds it’s a cutout always a cutout first, then for 5 seconds it's puffy, then a cutout again, just back and forth.. It finally ends up being puffy, 8 look away for a minute or two and like magic! it's a cutout again. ?
 

Progressive lenses….. I go through about 25 pairs of glasses a year.  Those cheap blue light magnifiers.  Just random things break them, really, except the following which happen kind of a lot.  getting into a car, I hit the ones sitting on top of my head (I do this a LOT). I bend over to pull a weed, they fall off and I step on them. (or more likely cannot find them at all in the flowers because they flip and land 5 feet away). I lower my head and lose them on a bike ride and the rider behind me rolls over them. Or a car. I clean them with the edge of my tee shirt and the lens ends up in one hand and the frame in the other.   I can’t afford anything better than the magnifying readers I get at QVC where I buy in bulk. I have an appointment later this year to see if I need a prescription, but fingers crossed I don’t or I’ll have to wear a sports band at all times or wear the with a little chain neckless around my neck instead of as a headband.

.

[Corrie Kinkel]

5 hours ago, Susan Ewart said:

ugh, I hate getting used to new glasses.  My eyes get so tired.  When I first got progressive lenses my head was moving all over the place trying to find the right focus point to look through.  Even after 10 yrs of progressive lenses, I still cant tell if the photo I took is blurry or in focus.  I'm about to delete it and I move my head a bit and it's clear.  I need AI in my glasses. Some things look wonky to me when I first look at them.  Like my eyes and my brain arent communicating and it just looks odd and I dont know why...at first.  

Susan, it is so irritating not be able to see clearly. I have an eye condition that makes me see the vertical lines all wobbly and never straight. Not only in a photo but in real life like a  door-post. I had an eye operation on each eye, not to remedy this, but only to stop the proces doing that. As an eye OP is a tricky OP it inevitably leaves a little scar and have side effects too. It is a costly affair as well because I almost every year need new lenses! It is 7 years ago now and I got more or less used to it; my brain knows that door-posts are straight and I "see" them as straight now. But this trick doesn't work for objects that are new to me and those are wobbly until my brain learns that they are suppoost to be straight. It causes headaches...but without the OPs I would become very partially sighted, so I don't complain '(at least not to much!)

[Susan Ewart]

34 minutes ago, Corrie Kinkel said:

Susan, it is so irritating not be able to see clearly. I have an eye condition that makes me see the vertical lines all wobbly and never straight. Not only in a photo but in real life like a  door-post. I had an eye operation on each eye, not to remedy this, but only to stop the proces doing that. As an eye OP is a tricky OP it inevitably leaves a little scar and have side effects too. It is a costly affair as well because I almost every year need new lenses! It is 7 years ago now and I got more or less used to it; my brain knows that door-posts are straight and I "see" them as straight now. But this trick doesn't work for objects that are new to me and those are wobbly until my brain learns that they are suppoost to be straight. It causes headaches...but without the OPs I would become very partially sighted, so I don't complain '(at least not to much!)

Wow, Corrie, that is quite a condition.  Isnt it amazing what the brain can do, let you see something familiar straight again.  I know, there are times in life where I've had to alter what I do, and still do.  I'm just grateful I can still do the stuff I like, even with a few alterations.  Having any surgery on or near the eye is scary.  All the hobbies I do require use of hands and eyes and body (if I count working out/being active) as a hobby.  I dont know what I would do if something permanent happened to me eyes.  Good luck with lesson 5.  Looks like we will tackling it around the same time.  Now I get ready for work.  I dont know if I'll be home after 9pm or midnight.  They dont tell me if I have to stay until the end of the one job.  It's a bit annoying, do i bring a meal or a snack.  Would love a job with a proper start and end time. 

Edited August 30, 2023 by Susan Ewart

[Ann Seeber]

28 minutes ago, Corrie Kinkel said:

Susan, it is so irritating not be able to see clearly. I have an eye condition that makes me see the vertical lines all wobbly and never straight. Not only in a photo but in real life like a  door-post. I had an eye operation on each eye, not to remedy this, but only to stop the proces doing that. As an eye OP is a tricky OP it inevitably leaves a little scar and have side effects too. It is a costly affair as well because I almost every year need new lenses! It is 7 years ago now and I got more or less used to it; my brain knows that door-posts are straight and I "see" them as straight now. But this trick doesn't work for objects that are new to me and those are wobbly until my brain learns that they are suppoost to be straight. It causes headaches...but without the OPs I would become very partially sighted, so I don't complain '(at least not to much!)

I had cataract surgery last year and, in the process, suggested he also do the correction on the astigmatism in my left eye at the same time. Surgeon said at the time I'd only need readers after the surgery. HAH! I need really strong progressives but what I think happened is my left eye was bad from birth, the so-called "lazy eye" that appeared crossed. So at age 3 or so I had to wear a patch over my good eye to train the bad one to focus, plus I had eye exercises. This technique worked well. I was stupid to tell the current doctor to "fix" my left eye, which he agreed had astigmatism (not truly round). I think my early training is now working against the "fixed" left eye. It wants to pull it to the outside. ?

[Susan Ewart]

1 hour ago, Suzy said:

That’s interesting , Sue.  Robin goes back and forth when I look at it. A few seconds, maybe 3-5 seconds it’s a cutout always a cutout first, then for 5 seconds it's puffy, then a cutout again, just back and forth.. It finally ends up being puffy, 8 look away for a minute or two and like magic! it's a cutout again. ?
 

Progressive lenses….. I go through about 25 pairs of glasses a year.  Those cheap blue light magnifiers.  Just random things break them, really, except the following which happen kind of a lot.  getting into a car, I hit the ones sitting on top of my head (I do this a LOT). I bend over to pull a weed, they fall off and I step on them. (or more likely cannot find them at all in the flowers because they flip and land 5 feet away). I lower my head and lose them on a bike ride and the rider behind me rolls over them. Or a car. I clean them with the edge of my tee shirt and the lens ends up in one hand and the frame in the other.   I can’t afford anything better than the magnifying readers I get at QVC where I buy in bulk. I have an appointment later this year to see if I need a prescription, but fingers crossed I don’t or I’ll have to wear a sports band at all times or wear the with a little chain neckless around my neck instead of as a headband.

.

I'd like to see some of this in action.  If I took off my glasses and you were 6 feet away from me, you'd look like a blob of color.  I have pretty bad eyes.  Perfect for picking photography as a hobby ?.

[Susan Ewart]

4 minutes ago, Ann Seeber said:

I had cataract surgery last year and, in the process, suggested he also do the correction on the astigmatism in my left eye at the same time. Surgeon said at the time I'd only need readers after the surgery. HAH! I need really strong progressives but what I think happened is my left eye was bad from birth, the so-called "lazy eye" that appeared crossed. So at age 3 or so I had to wear a patch over my good eye to train the bad one to focus, plus I had eye exercises. This technique worked well. I was stupid to tell the current doctor to "fix" my left eye, which he agreed had astigmatism (not truly round). I think my early training is now working against the "fixed" left eye. It wants to pull it to the outside. ?

Yikes!  I also have an astigmatism, so i'll say no to the fix in the future.  I have had this really weird somthing in the back of my eye that my (now retired) eye doctor tracked for almost 25 years that I went to him.  It hasnt changed but I have to have visual field tests every 2 yrs, which I fail everytime.  Arent genetics fun.  I'm adopted so I have no idea what's in store for me.  

[Corrie Kinkel]

1 hour ago, Susan Ewart said:

Wow, Corrie, that is quite a condition.  Isnt it amazing what the brain can do, let you see something familiar straight again.  I know, there are times in life where I've had to alter what I do, and still do.  I'm just grateful I can still do the stuff I like, even with a few alterations.  Having any surgery on or near the eye is scary.  All the hobbies I do require use of hands and eyes and body (if I count working out/being active) as a hobby.  I dont know what I would do if something permanent happened to me eyes.  Good luck with lesson 5.  Looks like we will tackling it around the same time.  Now I get ready for work.  I dont know if I'll be home after 9pm or midnight.  They dont tell me if I have to stay until the end of the one job.  It's a bit annoying, do i bring a meal or a snack.  Would love a job with a proper start and end time. 

And to think that I have arthrosis in both hands and the first OP for that was when I was 45! My hobbies have always required good use of hands and eyes, so I had to say goodbye to lacemaking, embroidery and papercrafts to name a few. But when one door closes another one will be opened eventually. In my case the computer was that door and that allowed me to use my photos and that's why you find me here and it saved me from being bored!

[Dorothy Donn]

I, too had cataract surgery last October and then the other eye this year. I asked him if he could make me either near sighted or far sighted at the same time. He said no and he could also not fix an astigmatism.  That was the first time I ever heard that I had such a thing,

To make a long story short I go for what is a last visit next month.  I so want new glasses but had to wait for the last visit with the surgeon. Keep your finger crossed that it will be the last visit with him!

[Sue Thomas]

This is a page I started back in June, when  I saw the first Ambush bug of the season. It's still a work in progress.  I thought I'd post it anyway.  It had recently merged.  At the time of shooting the  Ambush bug,  little  did I know that there was  also a  male mosquito in the frame, until I downloaded the photo onto the computer.  (Macro shot) .  Did you know that only the females feed on blood, requiring the protein to produce eggs. The males feed strictly on pollen, which is what this one is doing. Humans are generally a host of the females as a last resort.  Most mosquitoes feed on other animals like birds, and my horses. If you want to cut down on the mosquitoes around you,  dispose of all  water collecting objects.  I change the water in the birds baths twice a day, to prevent any larvae from  developing.  They are more active at night because the sun dehydrates and kills them, that is why they  select shady wet areas.  As for the Ambush bugs, I find them adorable prehistoric  looking creatures.  The top pic is a handsome male, and the bottom pic is  a beautiful  female.  I used the original photo for the  background paper. Edited.  I've posted an  uncompressed layout on Facebook, for those that are interested.

Edited August 31, 2023 by Sue Thomas

[Sue Thomas]

In case the label isn't legible in the layout , due to  compression.

[Natalie Spooner]

Here's my page for the Random Challenge "Numbers". Photos are mine, the blankets I made as each was born, and the little girls had fun being babies again like their new cousin. Apparently there is an unhappy baby! lol. Not a spelling mistake his last name really is Kidd!  Hence the tongue in cheek! ? Oh how fast they grow!

The papers I made from the Mask WS lessons, those were a lot of fun! I couldn't stop playing around with the new knowledge! The leaf /petals from the recent vector Class, the number brads I created from inspiration from  @SueThomas  beautiful and so neatly done Robin LO.

Fonts used are Hello Honey from Fontspace and Schadow BT  already on my computer ??,  picture tube was a freebie from PSP with one of the versions.

Cheers for now...

Edited August 31, 2023 by Natalie Spooner

[Ann Seeber]

8 hours ago, Sue Thomas said:

In case the label isn't legible in the layout , due to  compression.

Extraordinary, Sue! Is that elegant swirl at the bottom a font or a brush?