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Week 35 is all about the renovation of our (indoor) stairs. We had to remove the old carpet parts and because there was glue on the steps, it was a bit of a problem to get up- or downstairs. We were told it wasn't necessary to remove all of the glue. The guy who came to install the new stairs is a master craftsman and did an awesome job. He came with a small van that was a complete workshop when he opened the doors. Except coffee he didn't want anything else and the stairs were finished in 2 days. We were lucky with the weather though, dry and not too hot; the frontdoor had to stay open and he could do most of the dirty work outside. Of course today we had to do some cleaning, sawdust turned up in the most unexpected places. Now everything is tidy and back where it belongs, and we are a bit tired but very happy how it all turned out.

Week 35 On a walk round Bolam Lake (in Northumberland, UK) my husband spotted this solitary water lily in the midst of a reed bed. I could only have got a better shot if I’d jumped in so this angle had to do.

We've done DIY stuff for years. Lots of house stuff, I guess that's more reno than DIY, still it's stuff we did ourselves. I have done DIY stuff for photo lights and scrims (diffusion screen). I used chicken coup lights for my first lighting set up that I had to add diffusion to it with foam core as the light bulbs stuck out past the dish part of the light. and being the duct tape queen, I taped it all closed and had no way to change out the light bulbs! I also made foam core frames to attach diffusion material to. And I've done the normal kind of stuff, like using picture frames to make a magnet board (still in use in my studio). And when I did craft shows, I made most of the display props because buying the was not in the budget. I'm lucky to have a handy husband who is good with plumbing and electrical (he took a home owners electrical course at the university which helped immensely). But the money saved in car repair has been the best for our finances. His dad was a heavy duty mechanic so my husband was brought up learning how to rebuild engines, which is what he has done for our vehicles in the far past. And being in the tire industry (first in service and now in logistics) we have acquired a tire changing machine and balancer so we don't have book an appt for tire change over when the snow flies and everyone else is trying to do the same. Now, though, it seems like a chore to have to do DIY stuff because getting it done for me(or buying the right thing) is so much more expensive than it used to be.

Wow, what a transformation Corrie. Can you send him to my house too!

Nice use of that sketch! The photos are the star of the layout.

My last Hurrah before the trip! I liked the April 2024 sketch challenge and used it for this layout. The background is a duplicate of the largest picture. I liked the progression from the largest to the smallest and thought of these pictures that Joe and Laurie took on their trip to the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone this summer.

In addition to learning to make a knotted rope, Lab 14, I have been working on a birthday card for my grandson, Thomas. The card is very busy, but I wanted to include most of his activities. The background is an orange pattern (very faint) from FF. I chose orange because he has become an orange belt in TaeKwanDo. The title font is TaeKwanDo from Creative Fabrica. Most of the graphics are from Canva. I guess you could say that I "cardlifted" from my Hallmark Card program, but changed the graphics to accommodate the age 9 and Thomas' particular interests. The inside of the card has lettering from several sources including Canva and some text effects from Photoshop. The pattern and the puzzle for the heart were created using scripts from cass.

I still do some minor repairs around the house, but not as much as I used to do. I have replaced kitchen and bathroom faucets, and drain pipes. About the only electrical stuff I do is replacing a wall switch or outlet, and then only if I have the power turned off. I have put together some things, I guess the biggest project of that kind was my kitchen table and chairs that had to be assembled. My age is catching up with me and I don't have the strength or agility to do anything major anymore. Oh well such is life.

I have a couple of waterlily flowers too and it is always difficult to get a good shot. It seems they are mostly in the middle of the water and never at a good spot to take the photo! Having said that yours is a lovely photo and will remind you of the walk you went on.

Thank you and I can try 😉 but I think he won't come.............🥲

Having been a single mom, I became fairly good at DIY. Hanging shelves, fixing plumbing problems, assembling furniture, etc. I enjoyed every bit of it.

We used to do a lot of DIY in our younger days but my husband is no longer up for it. He does only some small repairs if necessary. The last 2 days we have had the stairs (indoors) renovated and a couple of weeks ago some small parts of the old stairs had to get a lick of paint before the work would start. Very reluctantly he did so and with a lot a pauses, but it was way to little to get someone to do it. And he wouldn't let me do it either. The new stairs turned out very nice, we are happy with it. Tomorrow I'll take some photos, now it is too dark to do so.

Well, three years ago, I fell on the stairs. Over time, they became "off-level". One morning, it was raining slightly, and I was holding my grandson's hand (he was just 12 months old), and my shoe slipped on the uneven step. I had a bad fall. My grandson did too, but he only fell ON the step. I had a nasty bruise for weeks. We added a 2x4 where I could at least hold something and the stairs were leveled within days. My husband also bought that anti-slip paint and painted all the steps with it (it is like paint with sand in it).

Good job! It looks great, and, believe me, as your get older, you will be as glad for the rails as the grandchildren! Lol! Yes, my husband and I were always DIYers. Most often because it was cheaper, but also because of the personal satisfaction.

I took a stab at the Steel Diamond Plate Texture in Lab 11-2 Experiment 3. And a "stab" is about what I would call it LOL. Tough one.

Thanks, Suz. I have officially adopted her into our household. My two senior cats have certainly perked up! They are now doing pretty good with accepting her. Only some growls and, at first, hissing. The tapeworm showed up in her poop, which was conveniently deposited on my bedroom rug, instead of the litter box. I might not have seen the worm if it was buried in cat litter. I'm sure the poor baby feels better and she's still eating "like a horse!" Here's a better photo to which I added a marisa lerin frame from a current mini kit. This shot was in full sun coming from behind Brandy, so I fiddled with my iPhone camera settings and was pleased with this result.

This is my Tortoiseshell cat, Brandy, who has been living in quarantine with us for 3 weeks until she had her final vaccination, microchip and de-wormer. I have kept her confined to my bedroom and Tuesday, Aug 20, Robyn Stuart from Dumped/Stray Animal Rescue came to the house, gave her the necessary treatments and said I could introduce Brandy to my other two cats on Friday Aug 23. Robyn said the vet estimated her age at about one year. I know she only weighs 5 pounds now and when she started here she was only 3 pounds so I've been stuffing her. Luckily, she's a good eater. She presented me with a large tapeworm so I know the treatment worked. She is rather exotic looking, with those intense yellow eyes and mottled coloring. I tell her she's ready for fall. She was one of the strays I was feeding so you can see her ear has been clipped for TNR when she was spayed but I wanted to keep her inside with me. She's not at all feral.

Week 34 I was lucky to see two herons on a recent walk. One flew down the stream, the other kindly stayed in place so I could take a photo.

I didn't have to think long which photo would be my photo of this week. This is an extremely lucky shot which I took last Sunday when I was staying with our son and daughter in law. It was taken during a walk in our National Park "Hoge Veluwe" where the heath is in bloom at the moment. I didn't even realize there was a bee in this much bigger photo, only at home when I looked at my photos of the weekend on the PC I noticed it. I was taking a photo of a nice clump of blue harebells (grasklokje) and found a little bee too.

from Basic Scrap Course Modul 3 kits by CarolWdesigns , font Arnold Story

This is pure scraplift from a layout I saw on Katie Pertiet. That one included a long shot of sailing in a mask, and I happened to have a pic of a friend with his dog doing the same. Just fun with brushes.

I wear hats, but not fashionable ones. Always cover my head/face in the summer and even in winter

Dapper Dan, that works great!

Wow Michele, lovely for a gentleman! I have the same "problem" in designing a card for the men in my life, it just takes more thinking in advance.

here's the button close up, I made heart shaped holes.

Week 33 Tiny little T-pot, only about 7-8" tall, but oh so cute. Gradient background, with no texture because I just realized I forgot. I was so into playing with the netting! From the new book; Digital Scrapbooking Made Easy with PaintShop Pro. In the Scrap With Me - Scraplifting section, Project 2. The netting is really easy to do and tackling the warp brush is easy with the instructions in the book. I added a tiny bevel and the shadowing settings from the book (which I now saved in the shadow presets). Fonts are Neug Asia and Neuton from CF. I also added a small bevel to the three Vectors (should've made the outline thicker first) and a drop shadow. Forgot to add, there is a gradient on the netting, I think next time I wont do that as it looks like shadowy spots, it's distracting.

Week 32 This was the pattern my mom's t-set was, although this is not from her set. I got this many years later when I realized t-cups were little pieces of art I could afford. Fonts are Mea Culpa and Medina from Creative Fabrica Background is a PSP pattern that I added a very subtle round dot halftone effect to. The three vectors got a tiny outer glow layer style for a bit of contrast around them. It and the texture might not show up here.

Week 31 Slipped in corners technique from the book (Digital Scrapbooking Made Easy with PaintShop Pro) Scrap With Me - From Scratch section, Project 2. Lifted Corners from the script. Button, again from the tutorial called "Button". Background is a Background-Foreground gradient. I added a halftone (squares) to the gradient and a texture on top of that and I think a wee bit of noise. Fonts are Winter Story (CF) and Sorts Mill Goudy, which sounds more like a Google font, but I'm not sure. A pretty little delicate cup that I am keeping.

Week 33 This was the moon in the middle of last week. I love the fact that my little camera picks up some detail on the moon surface.

A constant stream of in and out!

I took the last photos for this year of the Wrens feeding their young yesterday afternoon. What goes in one end must come out the other end. When I saw the nestlings pop their heads out, I knew it was hours or at the most a day before they fledged. And that is exactly what they did. This morning the nest was empty. The last of the Wrens have fledged.

And here's my Week 32 - The full 2024 performance of the Italian Frecce Tricolori in New York's Hudson Valley. They appeared at the Orange County Airport last weekend. It's their first American tour in more than 30 years. I will also post this on our Facebook page so I can also post the video.

I'm a bit early with my week 33 but I was very lucky with this shot of my oleander in full bloom. After all the rain we had it enjoyed the warm and sunny weather and had a lot of flowers. I took the photo on Tuesday morning and in the evening we had a sudden downpour and a lot of the flowers were destroyed and on the floor the next morning. Most of the buds survived on the plant so it will continue to flower but maybe not so abundant; we are already half way in August and that means less hours of daylight over here.

Here's the original Bevier House on Huguenot Street in the center photo in this June layout.

This week I visited the Textile Museum in Tilburg with my cousin. The museum is in the original factory from 1870 and most of the more modern looms are in working order and produce cloth for tea-towels, napkins, tablecloth etc. You can see and hear them when they are working; the noise of 1 or 2 machines already is deafening and in those days the workers had no noise protection. It was an interesting day; we learned about the whole process from wool, cotton or silk to the end product. We both had been there 30 to40 years ago with our children but it was nice to see all the new exhibits that has been added over the years. Luckily there was a coffee corner too.