What are you working on in October (2023)?

[Donna Sillia]

I recently watched a PBS program call "World on Fire" which was about WWII and decided to try to replicate an image that I made several years ago. No matter what I tried, I couldn't remember what I had done, so I made a new one using Balls and Bubbles effect. The earth is from CF Spark. I tried to use it as a Bump map which didn't work and ended up using it for the surface. 

[Corrie Kinkel]

Ladies you make me so envious; to have all that nature at your doorstep. I live in the Netherlands and we are a small country where it is impossible to find a spot without light pollution. Noise is another issue because we have roads and railways almost everywhere and our nature is more like a big park. Of course it isn't all bad and I can hear the little birds sing early in a spring morning. And the sparrows have their evening coming together for spending the night in the trees. I was born and spend my youth in Rotterdam, a big city. Nowadays I live in a nice enough village with the possibility to go for a walk outside in a bit more rural setting of farmland and a small woodland park. But it isn't advisable to go there on your own as soon as it is getting dark or in the twilight. I have been to visit my family in the States 3 times now and while there we did a couple of short roadtrips that at least have given me a glimpse of the vastness, when you are riding for hours without seeing very few cars, only grassland and some farmbuildings in the distance. Hopefully next year I can go there again and if I come somewhere near one of you it would be great to meet in person. At the moment I don't have concrete plans, it depends on my daughter when it will be a good moment to come over and my home situation must allow it too. In the meantime I enjoy all the stories, the photos and layouts that are posted here. 

[Sue Thomas]

16 hours ago, Michele said:

@Sue Thomas and @Susan Ewart I'm lucky right now to live in a small town on Long Island just outside of NYC. It's pretty quiet around here other than the alarm from the fire station around the block (all volunteers out here so when they need the firefighters, the alarm is loud). I love listening to the birds in the morning, especially in the spring when the babies are chirping for breakfast. Even when a train from the LIRR (Long Island Rail Road) passes by, I only hear the whistle which makes me feel like I'm out in the country. Nothing I can do about the light pollution, though. When I lived upstate, we could easily drive over to Lake Ontario and the sky was beautiful. On a clear day, we could see Canada. I even saw the northern lights one night.

Did someone mention Northern Lights!!!!!!!   September and October is the best time of year  to see the Northern lights, although they dance throughout the year. At this time of year  they are  overhead in my area. Only last night, I was out watching the  lights.   They weren't  green,  but white, still  a mesmerizing sight to behold.  Prior to moving here, I had only ever seen them on the telly.   Photo taken 20th September , looking north, out back  amongst the trees.  It's a good idea to take shots with something in the foreground. Manual, F2.8,  aperture mode, shutter speed varies, 1000 plus.  It is  imperative that you use a sturdy tripod, with weights, to  maintain absolute  stillness.  Taking loads  of shots, to get one half tidy one.

Sounds like you live in a lovely area Michele, and happy where you are.  

 

 

[Sue Thomas]

7 hours ago, Julie Magerka said:

Just a simple layout using stuff from my ever-growing stash. I love autumn and want to use the colours as often as I can. Just clipart and several elements, no photo, and nothing I made.

You create delicate, fine pages, they are simply quite exquisite.  You have  rather  a unique  creative style.

[Sue Thomas]

5 hours ago, Corrie Kinkel said:

Ladies you make me so envious; to have all that nature at your doorstep. I live in the Netherlands and we are a small country where it is impossible to find a spot without light pollution. Noise is another issue because we have roads and railways almost everywhere and our nature is more like a big park. Of course it isn't all bad and I can hear the little birds sing early in a spring morning. And the sparrows have their evening coming together for spending the night in the trees. I was born and spend my youth in Rotterdam, a big city. Nowadays I live in a nice enough village with the possibility to go for a walk outside in a bit more rural setting of farmland and a small woodland park. But it isn't advisable to go there on your own as soon as it is getting dark or in the twilight. I have been to visit my family in the States 3 times now and while there we did a couple of short roadtrips that at least have given me a glimpse of the vastness, when you are riding for hours without seeing very few cars, only grassland and some farmbuildings in the distance. Hopefully next year I can go there again and if I come somewhere near one of you it would be great to meet in person. At the moment I don't have concrete plans, it depends on my daughter when it will be a good moment to come over and my home situation must allow it too. In the meantime I enjoy all the stories, the photos and layouts that are posted here. 

I have been to Rotterdam, only the once,  over 40 yrs ago.  I suspect it has change a lot since then.  From what I can remember it's a beautiful city.  I have  also flown over the Netherlands countless times, at various times of year, to land at Schiphol airport, to catch the  sky hopper for Caerdydd airport.  My favourite time of year is when the rows and rows of  every colour imaginable of  Tulips are in flower, waiting to be harvested.  It's certainly a spectacular splash of colour, looking down from above.

I think I may  be  just a little to far north for you to pop in for a cuppa,  when you are over next.  We shall never say never will we  meet in person one day.

[Susan Ewart]

2 hours ago, Sue Thomas said:

Did someone mention Northern Lights!!!!!!!   September and October is the best time of year  to see the Northern lights, although they dance throughout the year. At this time of year  they are  overhead in my area. Only last night, I was out watching the  lights.   They weren't  green,  but white, still  a mesmerizing sight to behold.  Prior to moving here, I had only ever seen them on the telly.   Photo taken 20th September , looking north, out back  amongst the trees.  It's a good idea to take shots with something in the foreground. Manual, F2.8,  aperture mode, shutter speed varies, 1000 plus.  It is  imperative that you use a sturdy tripod, with weights, to  maintain absolute  stillness.  Taking loads  of shots, to get one half tidy one.

Sounds like you live in a lovely area Michele, and happy where you are.  

 

 

Fabulous shot!  Thanks for the settings.  I've never tried shooting them before.  

[kasany]

12 hours ago, Sue Thomas said:

Did someone mention Northern Lights!!!!!!!   September and October is the best time of year  to see the Northern lights, although they dance throughout the year. At this time of year  they are  overhead in my area. Only last night, I was out watching the  lights.   They weren't  green,  but white, still  a mesmerizing sight to behold.  Prior to moving here, I had only ever seen them on the telly.   Photo taken 20th September , looking north, out back  amongst the trees.  It's a good idea to take shots with something in the foreground. Manual, F2.8,  aperture mode, shutter speed varies, 1000 plus.  It is  imperative that you use a sturdy tripod, with weights, to  maintain absolute  stillness.  Taking loads  of shots, to get one half tidy one.

Sounds like you live in a lovely area Michele, and happy where you are.  

 

 

Great shot. I love photos taken of Northen Light:)

[Sue Thomas]

10 hours ago, Susan Ewart said:

Fabulous shot!  Thanks for the settings.  I've never tried shooting them before.  

Should you ever get the opportunity, take it.  For more detailed  info on shooting, use the widest lens you have.(for better colour)  For crisper shots of the sky, focus  on something in the foreground, in manual.  I have trees, or  buildings around the yard.  Use the lowest aperture number you have. For  more crisp shots  use 3-15 seconds shutter speed.  It's important to remember that the  night sky is moving at a fast rate, which the naked eye can not see.   Keep your ISO as low as possible, by adjusting it.  Adjust the settings to suit your camera.  At this time of year, and on into winter, the sky has less debris, producing sharper images.   I also recommend you wrap up warm, take extra batteries, as the cold weather drains batteries quickly, especially when it's 20 or 30 below.

 

PS.   Woke to a blanket of snow this morning.  -8c  Winter has arrived!

Edited October 24, 2023 by Sue Thomas

[Julie Magerka]

On 10/24/2023 at 10:42 AM, Sue Thomas said:

Should you ever get the opportunity, take it.  For more detailed  info on shooting, use the widest lens you have.(for better colour)  For crisper shots of the sky, focus  on something in the foreground, in manual.  I have trees, or  buildings around the yard.  Use the lowest aperture number you have. For  more crisp shots  use 3-15 seconds shutter speed.  It's important to remember that the  night sky is moving at a fast rate, which the naked eye can not see.   Keep your ISO as low as possible, by adjusting it.  Adjust the settings to suit your camera.  At this time of year, and on into winter, the sky has less debris, producing sharper images.   I also recommend you wrap up warm, take extra batteries, as the cold weather drains batteries quickly, especially when it's 20 or 30 below.

 

PS.   Woke to a blanket of snow this morning.  -8c  Winter has arrived!

Now we'll see more of your winter pix of the critters around you. Winter photography is often more beautiful than summertime. It captures the "weather vibe" more clearly.

[Sue Thomas]

On 10/25/2023 at 2:55 PM, Julie Magerka said:

Now we'll see more of your winter pix of the critters around you. Winter photography is often more beautiful than summertime. It captures the "weather vibe" more clearly.

 

On 10/25/2023 at 2:55 PM, Julie Magerka said:

Now we'll see more of your winter pix of the critters around you. Winter photography is often more beautiful than summertime. It captures the "weather vibe" more clearly.

We have had our first snowfall, and yes, I have been out shooting snow scenes.  I totally agree, it does capture the winter vibe.  I have to adjust  my camera settings to accommodate the stark contrast of summer colours, to the  brilliant white of  the snow  and browns of  winter. 

[Mary Solaas]

Just fooling around.  Made a pillow.  Used the Vector Paint script with Cass' embroidery stitch (2 separate layers) and then the eraser tool on each of those layers to achieve the look I wanted.  Playing with the inner bevel, the outer bevel, and drop shadow (puffy flower setting given by Cassel in one of our classes, but adjusting it somewhat).

[kasany]

My recent work with Jacek's recent trip 

 

[Bonnie Ballentine]

My friend, Jo, owns this plant and celebrates every year when it blooms.

Template 003: @Sas_templates_wintertime Kit by Saskia Veldhoen at Digital Scrapbooking.

Font in rectangle: Raccoon; title font: Kristen ITC

The text in the rectangle reads:

Night-blooming cereus is the common name referring to a

large number of flowering ceroid cacti that bloom at night. The

flowers are short lived, and some of these species, bloom only once

a year, for a single night, though most put out multiple flowers over

a period of several weeks, each of which opens for only a single night.

[Jannette Nieuwboer]

Nevertheless very good pics Bonnie. 

[Bonnie Ballentine]

Template 203 of Lady 22, AKA Bourico Casper, Digital Scrapbooking.

Font: Raccoon

Cookie Alpha from Creative Fabricia.

[Bonnie Ballentine]

3 minutes ago, Jannette Nieuwboer said:

Nevertheless very good pics Bonnie. 

Thank you, Jannette! Jo took them.

[Sue Thomas]

14 minutes ago, Bonnie Ballentine said:

Template 203 of Lady 22, AKA Bourico Casper, Digital Scrapbooking.

Font: Raccoon

Cookie Alpha from Creative Fabricia.

I have a few ground squirrels that will come and take food out of my hand.  It's a wonderful feeling, when they trust you enough to do so.

[Susan Ewart]

40 minutes ago, Bonnie Ballentine said:

Template 203 of Lady 22, AKA Bourico Casper, Digital Scrapbooking.

Font: Raccoon

Cookie Alpha from Creative Fabricia.

What a wonderful experience.  Interacting with wildlife (the kinda that doesnt kill you in one swipe of paw I'm talking about) makes you want to protect them more and more.  For me it was walking amongs 100's and 100's of Canada geese on my daily walks around the tiny pond in Chilliwack where I used to live.  One time my hubby and I and a stranger attempted to loosely count the geese as they took off from the pond to spend the nights in the farm fields, we stopped at 800, the pond was still 1/4 full of geese, ducks and other waterfowl.  they would all come up on the grass and lay down and we'd have to step around them.  I loved it.  

[Susan Ewart]

28 minutes ago, Sue Thomas said:

I have a few ground squirrels that will come and take food out of my hand.  It's a wonderful feeling, when they trust you enough to do so.

I would love that.  we had one that was enamoured with my husband.  she'd scamper along the outside walls of the house to get as close to where he was outside.  She'd come and look in the dining room window for him...drove the cats crazy.  I'd love to feel their little paw on my hand.  What does it feel like? Delicate or scratchy because they have long nails.

[Ann Seeber]

22 minutes ago, Susan Ewart said:

What a wonderful experience.  Interacting with wildlife (the kinda that doesnt kill you in one swipe of paw I'm talking about) makes you want to protect them more and more.  For me it was walking amongs 100's and 100's of Canada geese on my daily walks around the tiny pond in Chilliwack where I used to live.  One time my hubby and I and a stranger attempted to loosely count the geese as they took off from the pond to spend the nights in the farm fields, we stopped at 800, the pond was still 1/4 full of geese, ducks and other waterfowl.  they would all come up on the grass and lay down and we'd have to step around them.  I loved it.  

We have a flock of about 20 Canada Geese that arrive next door on their large lawn and then end up under my bird feeders outside my kitchen window and on my patio in the front (another bird feeder) and I have a hard time not stepping in their numerous "deposits" all over my patio, the grass and the road. We really don't admire them much for that reason. I only have to walk out the patio door and they flee! I even speak to them from inside the house and they stop eating and drift away. I'm the CG bully, you see. 😉 

[Ann Seeber]

After Bootcamp, I took Cassel's suggestion and continued on with the Basic Scrap Course. Here is Modular 1 - a scrap page for my daughter, Debbie, who came East to attend her high school reunion. She was apprehensive but came away delighted with the party. Now they want to do one EVERY year. I used the kit Cassel offered with the Mod 1 video, "HeatherT-ScrapbookCampusSpecial-LoveSpokenHere" - I did change the color of the background with the Luminance layer effect. I created the circular brads at the bottom (Cassel used buttons) and changed the colors of the title alpha from the kit. The font for the journaling is labeled "TW CEN MT CONDENSED"

[Sue Thomas]

1 hour ago, Ann Seeber said:

We have a flock of about 20 Canada Geese that arrive next door on their large lawn and then end up under my bird feeders outside my kitchen window and on my patio in the front (another bird feeder) and I have a hard time not stepping in their numerous "deposits" all over my patio, the grass and the road. We really don't admire them much for that reason. I only have to walk out the patio door and they flee! I even speak to them from inside the house and they stop eating and drift away. I'm the CG bully, you see. 😉 

This is a shot I took   on the 20th  September this year.   I live on their flight path, between Luck Lake and Lake Diefenbaker.  Morning and evening, they will descend onto  the  vast stubble fields, to clean up what the combines have left behind.  Over 6 million water birds will congregate on Luck Luck,  stopping off for a while before continuing their migratory journey.   As they fly over on mass they blacken the sky, and the sound is  deafening.    Sights like this isn't isolated either. At this time of year, where ever you travel, the fields are full of them.  Sandhill cranes also flock in their thousands, soaring high in the  sky.  You'll have to pardon me if  I don't get excited  over the 20 you have on your patio.  

[Sue Thomas]

1 hour ago, Susan Ewart said:

I would love that.  we had one that was enamoured with my husband.  she'd scamper along the outside walls of the house to get as close to where he was outside.  She'd come and look in the dining room window for him...drove the cats crazy.  I'd love to feel their little paw on my hand.  What does it feel like? Delicate or scratchy because they have long nails.

They are soft and gentle, which is quite surprising, when you see how  powerful their teeth and claws are.  Unlike cats they aren't able to  contract their claws.  I've had them run over my bare legs, and one   took a nibble at my toe,  which gave quite a pinch, made me jump, which in turn scared the squirrel, making it scarper,  fortunately no blood was drawn.  

[Jannette Nieuwboer]

1 hour ago, Sue Thomas said:

This is a shot I took   on the 20th  September this year.   I live on their flight path, between Luck Lake and Lake Diefenbaker.  Morning and evening, they will descend onto  the  vast stubble fields, to clean up what the combines have left behind.  Over 6 million water birds will congregate on Luck Luck,  stopping off for a while before continuing their migratory journey.   As they fly over on mass they blacken the sky, and the sound is  deafening.    Sights like this isn't isolated either. At this time of year, where ever you travel, the fields are full of them.  Sandhill cranes also flock in their thousands, soaring high in the  sky.  You'll have to pardon me if  I don't get excited  over the 20 you have on your patio.  

The peak of starling migration is usually at the end of October here. The starlings that are in the Netherlands or Belgium in the summer fly south in the winter. Usually, starlings are in number the winners of the bird migration. Barn swallows are mostly second but the numbers are growing. We are now living in late October, but I have not seen many leave yet, probably due to the heavy rain. Normally they sit on the roofs in their thousands and then gather for the migration to the warmer south of Europe. Not that we will be without birds because plenty of them come here from Scandinavia. And other colder countries. 

[Jannette Nieuwboer]

1 hour ago, Ann Seeber said:

After Bootcamp, I took Cassel's suggestion and continued on with the Basic Scrap Course. Here is Modular 1 - a scrap page for my daughter, Debbie, who came East to attend her high school reunion. She was apprehensive but came away delighted with the party. Now they want to do one EVERY year. I used the kit Cassel offered with the Mod 1 video, "HeatherT-ScrapbookCampusSpecial-LoveSpokenHere" - I did change the color of the background with the Luminance layer effect. I created the circular brads at the bottom (Cassel used buttons) and changed the colors of the title alpha from the kit. The font for the journaling is labeled "TW CEN MT CONDENSED"

Nice Ann, you did a slight rehearsal of the Bootcamp in your today's project.