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Lab 14-9 or Sketch 13, you decide. I started out doing something for the sketch challenge and ended up watching the tutorials for the most recent Lab (14-9). the items are: Striped Ribbon (2) Tight Diagonal The Striped Ribbon turned into the frame around the outer edge. I added a texture (blinds) and some noise and then duplicated and made a frame that I beveled. This is a quick and very easy to do tutorial. I kept my layers separate so I could decide on the background color (dark green looked better than white - it looks like black lines in the frame, but it's actually a dark green). The Tight Diagonal is really cool and easier than I expected. I did graphic of a hawk line drawing I found at Creative Fabrica. Then I used a blend mode and lowered the opacity as it was really busy and dark. Remember this tutorial when you do the Build A Kit next year, it will make for great papers. The hawk flying in and the hawk head are from Creative Fabrica and I changed the color of the feather on the head, used a blend mode, lowered the opacity and used the eraser tool to grunge it up a bit. Fonts are from Creative Fabrica; Gravity Wanders (Title and the journaling) and Gudea (yellow quote), Gudea might not be from CF. Background paper is Brook Gazarek (Digital Scrapbook). The birdbath I had took off the pedestal for a crow that had a bad leg a month ago. It turned out to be the favorite of the birds and squirrel this yr. This hawk flew in and stayed in the bath (it was hot out) for more than 20 minutes. The magpies gathered and watched very intently and then a lone little blue jay flew in to a branch 3 feet above the hawk and gave it a good talking too. All the birds were well behaved as this was big bird. When the Merlin flies in, the magpies endlessly taunt it and nip at the tail feathers. It's a much smaller bird. It was very exciting. I don't know what kind of hawk it is.

Here's what the tile looks like and I colored just the hawks by selecting (magic wand -opacity) the transparent parts and inverting the selection, then flood filled on separate layer with a gradient.

I was fortunate to receive a recent photo of my great-nephew who is about to start his Aviation School training (his long-term dream) at Sault College in Northern Ontario. As always, more challenging to make a "male" layout, but I can live with this version. He has worked so hard and done so much preparation for this venture.

Are you an "adrenaline junky"? Have you done ziplining or other exciting activities? If so, where and when? If not, why not? Share your stories and pictures! Here I am, all geared up.

I am behind, as I've been away trail riding in the Grasslands. I've been back since Monday, but it has taken me a couple of days to get back into the swing of things. Macro shot of a tiny banded grasshopper. It has everything going for it, colour, textures, patterns, even gradients. There isn't anything that can surpass Morther Natures palette.

Hey, Michele! I've always wanted to skydive. Want to go skydiving together? I plan to go ziplining in March when I attend a pickleball clinic in Costa Rico. Looking forward to it. I use to race cars way long ago. It was a race called autocrossing. We used pylons to mark the course and we raced mostly in shopping center parking lots. Races were on Sunday when the centers were closed (blue laws). Totally legal with the shopping center's permission. We raced against the clock, one car at a time. I once held a national drag race record...drag strip, one car at a time, against the clock. I also raced at Summit Point, a road course, right and left turns, hairpin turns, etc. Again, one car at the time against the clock. I had the fastest time of the day once. I also went to I Fly...you may have seen my layouts about that adventure. I would love to go again.

here is the outline version of the what the Tight Diagonal looks like. I would be a very busy paper at that size.

Week thirty five. I pass this old barn on a regualar basis, yet the other day it compelled me to take yet another shot of it. The sky, the golden grass, some of the tree leaves were starting to turn and the majestic barn was begging to be captured in a photo. So I did.

That is my experience too Ann

Great photo! Nice work on the elements too. Whenever a hawk enters the airspace here, every other critter disappears!

I have always wanted to do the zip line adventure. Any time we were somewhere I could do that I didn't because of my Hubby. He has a real problem withe heighths and would have been a nervous wreck by the time I got back down. On one of our jobs there were lights to be changed way up high. There was a old but safe wooden ladder we had to use (it shook a little). I would go up to change the lights and it was his job to hold the ladder and sweat for me. Other than some of the crazy things I did with my horse over the years, I have never done anything particularly adventurous.

I'm in. Skydiving and IFlying for us!

My Week 34 - Sept 1, 2024, TNR rescue cat Brandy, the tortoiseshell teen! It seems she won't stay in the house, so she has resumed outdoor meals. My 2 senior indoor cats are vastly relieved! 😅 UPDATE: She's back inside, quarantined to the bed/bath again. She ran because the seniors were bullying her. We have to work on that.

I am an adrenaline junkie who never had an opportunity to do any of those things. By the time I could afford those activities, I was a single mom and didn't think it would be responsible to do so. I probably wouldn't skydive at my age, which I always wanted to do. However, if given the chance, I would definitely go ziplining. Besides roller coasters (I love heights) and other rides, the most exciting thing I've done is white water rafting.

That's OK Susan. We can't be good at everything, and there are many things you're good at. At least that's what I tell myself when I flub something.😉

Sharon, I use a flavored hummus with roasted pine nuts and spices. (and garlic!) I offered some to my daughter who was visiting overnight but she refused anything with garlic for breakfast. *wimp! 😄

Template 6 by Lady 22. She has started sharing some of her templates at Digital Scrapbooking. She also shares on her own web site. Word art, paw prints and paw print heart from Creative Fabrica. This is Poppy as a kitten. She is now 12.

Only you could make a brown bird look so magical and arresting!

I have only sporadically worked with PSP over the last couple of weeks. And I was not satisfied with anything I attempted to do. Watching yesterday's Master Class made me feel more connected again. Then, in one of those moments that sometimes happens, I came across some info and pix of the "Galapagos Island" of the Indian Ocean with its rare botanical specimens found no where else. Of course, as is the case everywhere, this unique place is under threat due to many factors, including its location in a geopolitical hotspot. I had never heard of this island before. There must be some fortunate and intrepid travellers in the world who have gone there. I won't be going, but it's dazzling to see the many images available. The trees alone are worth looking at. Dragon's Blood and Desert Rose to name just two unusual ones (pictured in layout). And I know my shadow on the tag is a bit wonky. But I did what I could to make it appear a little lifted.

I've asked about this problem previously. I download a PNG, use Open as New Layer, and it comes in with a white (or dark) background. Today, I tried using OPEN, and it came in as a proper transparent background! Go figure! But that makes me happy!

I had a lot of pictures from our recent stairs renovation and wanted to do something with them. I tried different templates and in the end decided on cass-Hanging Photos 2 template because it had the number of photos that I wanted. The background is made from 2 "wood" papers from 2 different kits by Jessica Dunn and blended together just as the journal card. The stairs and the carpenter sticker I found on kisspng; the glue bottle is from a DIY-kit by Chantahlia Design. I like the Lab 14-09 tutorials and made a tight diagonal with the € sign instead of the $ sign, not all fonts have that €! I think that are probably older fonts and the euro currency is only since 1999 in existence. Our new stairs didn't came cheap and therefore I wanted that € for this layout. But in the end it was way to overpowering and I made a flairbutton out of it. Last I made a striped ribbon, also Lab 14-09 with a very faint blinds texture and used it for a frame. It has become a whole list.....

Sue I missed you here, but knew you would be outside probably riding. But these couple of photos are lovely and the grasshopper is fantastic, I can see all the details!

Even the pigeons stayed up on the power lines. the hawk was look around and up at his audience. All birds except the blue jay were just chillin' . I thought it was weird. The merlin flew in the next day and the it had 6 magpies in tow and they kept darting at it and picking at it's tail feathers until it left, about 1 minute later. The merlin is quite small but a real power house hunter and if it's flying around the school field the my house backs onto, the magpies are on high alert (Merlins eat the magpies chicks).

I love heights, but l[ving in the Netherlands which is flat there wasn't much of an opportunity to do anything that adventurous. But whenever visiting in Switzerland I loved to take the cable cars or chairlifts that are crossing a deep valley below. I have never come across the chance to do ziplining, but I think I will love it. A helicopter ride and hot air balloon are the most adventurous I did. Some steep mountain trails in my younger years as well and that is it!

Very nice way to use the tutorial Tight Diagonal and so different from the one that was in the tut. Love your photo of the hawk taking a bath to cool off!

Didn't know there was such a thing! Likely only in USA? Would sure like to try them.

I find the supplies offered as transparent PNGs don't always deliver the goods. I always test the checkered background with my eraser tool because many times I've found that they've been faked. Usually can be fixed easily, though.

I have it every morning with sliced banana for dipping.

Girls' Day Out...after playing 4 hours of pickleball we headed to Culpepper, VA to the Ole Country Store. We enjoyed incredible sandwiches and wonderful ice cream. Visits to the Ole Country Store usually include a stroll by the lake but as you can see, it was a rainy day. Looks kind of stormy doesn't it? The flowers on the big photo are in place of the squares. Wonderful funfilled day with the greatest friends.

Here's my monthly Wild Cat Calendar for September featuring the Iberian Lynx. The text is small so I'm posting it here, also: "The Iberian lynx, a wild cat that used to be common across the whole of the Iberian Peninsula which includes Portugal and Spain, but from the 1960s its numbers plummeted. Habitat loss, poaching and road accidents all helped to push the species to the brink of extinction. "Now, the cat is coming back according to a report by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The increase is largely thanks to conservation efforts that have focused on increasing the abundance of its main food source - the also endangered wild rabbit, known as European rabbit. Programs to free hundreds of captive lynxes and restoring scrublands and forests have also played an important role in ensuring the lynx is no longer endangered. "Francisco Javier Salcedo Ortiz, a coordinator responsible for leading the conservation action, described it as the "greatest recovery of a cat species ever achieved through conservation." Arial font used throughout. Photo of lynx modified by Art Media Pencil behind calendar grid. Information from BBC News. I posted this full size (8.5x11) on Scrapbooking with PaintShop Pro on Facebook if you want to print it.

me too! But I'm a disaster when it comes to baking.