Jeni Simpson

Card 3, I am slowly catching up after days with visitors. 
I still have the extra card to complete for Day 2, I have not decided how to do that one, yet.
We have a wonderful garden planted by a woman on farmland about 8 kilometres from here. Muriel was pregnant with her son, now in his 40s, I think, and she and her husband were on a huge farm. She decided to begin planting, now her gardens are visited by people from all over the world.
The font is Lemon Milk, the butterfly is a brush from Danetta. Flower photography is mine.
Jeni

1 hour ago, Wendy Sanders said:

WOW...great shot!  Gotta love NZ...I've been to Milford Sound and thought it was the most awe inspiring thing I've ever seen...I am only over the ditch in Melbourne.

Thank you, Wendy.
I have spent some time in Milford, having lived and worked in Te Anau for years. I was sent to Milford Sound to set up an office, on the wharf, for my employer many years ago.
I lived there for 1 month and went on the last boat trip out on the Sound each day, which was so cool.
Jeni

Day 2 Card
This card looked like a door, so I added windows with a view towards snow-covered paddocks.
I used some ric-rac I created a few years ago in a digi-scrapbooking group.
The fonts used were Always Black and Always Light.
The holly came from an exchange in one of my graphics groups. It had a shadow already, so I turned it upside-down.
Jeni

Extra card Day 1
The Remarkables is a mountain range and skifield about 2 hours from me, in Queenstown.
It is called the Remarkables because the range lies directly north-south, one of only two mountain ranges in the world to do so.
I was lucky to get this pic, taking it in the early evening in the middle of winter [July], as the sun went down.

I took the snowflakes from something I created years ago, 2009, and I don't remember where they came from, possibly a brush.
The fonts are Adelia and Gill Sans MT.
Jeni

Card 1 - I received the image in one of my graphic groups yesterday, it appealed to me. 
The brad is from Jessica Dunn's Vintage Blooms mini kit from Curio Pantry.

Jeni
 

7 hours ago, Bonnie Ballentine said:

We have had rain and clouds for most of 2 weeks. I would love to see the Northern Lights but with rain and clouds and the fact I live too far south for this event...I guess I'll have to wait until another time. 

We have had similar weather in the south of New Zealand, coming up to winter here, so we haven't seen the lights this time. We do, however, enjoy them regularly during the season when everything is right for viewing. I belong to the Southern Hemisphere Aurora Facebook group and some in Australia have enjoyed great viewing. Hopefully, you manage another time, Bonnie, the lights are well worth seeing.

On 5/3/2024 at 3:58 AM, Julie Magerka said:

I used to be a thrift store junkie at one time. Had to give it up because I kept buying doodads and other things I didn't need to bring into my already cluttered home. The bargains are too good to pass up. I should be donating, not buying.

I'm a thrift store junkie, too, I love buying kitchen items there,  My clothes also come from thrift stores and I have a rule, for every item I purchase, I drop one item at the store, so I don't clutter my wardrobe. I'm bad at buying books there also.

16 hours ago, Susan Ewart said:

#5

You can see I didnt quite nail the backgrounds.  To much light contamination and different colors in the flowers and glass reflecting.  even with a custom white balance in-camera.  I've just started to experiment with using Kelvin settings instead to see if that helps.  (I'm using constant light so light contamination from my yellows walls and a window in the room can be an issue since I'm shooting at a slower shutter speed - one day i'll have strobes (studio flashes) and that wont be an issue as much)

They are really beautiful flowers, Susan. I love the way you have showcased each one.

16 hours ago, Susan Ewart said:

I really love the rose photos, I do hope to see more from you.  

Thank you, Susan, I appreciate the comment.

In Invercargill, Southland, New Zealand, we have a beautiful large space for all to enjoy, children, sportspeople, gardeners.
The park is a mecca for those who enjoy the natural and the planned. Its numerous gardens and botanical attractions provide vibrant displays whatever the season.

I love Demolition World in Invercargill.
Although the business sells pieces from demolished buildings, windows, doors, lighting, corrugated iron, etc, Lee and Dave have created a wonderful retro village.
For years I have used an image I grunged up as my avatar online, and the mannequins are a delight, as are the gorgeous plastic clothes hangers found in the village, 2nd and 3rd from the left in my image below. 

I had a few photographs that might have gone in this no-scrap image, however, I thought they would all compete against each other, so I used alternate spaces with scrap paper instead. The area is on the Southern Scenic Highway, through Tautuku [pronounced similar to toe-too-koo] and on towards Owaka and onward to Dunedin, Otago.
Through the bush are some beautiful sights, the magnificent Tautuky Beach and McLeans Falls, and Cathedral Caves where there is a slim chance of wandering along the beach to walk to the caves. They are only open for a short time each day. I used hue saturation and lightness to match the colours of the photographs used.

These quick pages have been fun to create.
Thanks, Carole, and everyone, I've loved the creations of everyone.
Jeni

Kittens are such a delight, these kittens belonged to friends.

Photographs of roses. I do love the scent of roses.
I'm unsure how to re-colour some elements, so I just did the piece I could easily change.

Photos of friends taken back in the 80's. 

5 hours ago, Sue Thomas said:

All haylage and silage bales have to be wrapped, due to the higher  moisture content to keep the air out otherwise the feed can be contaminated with botulism, which is a bacteria that likes the higher moisture, which can kill live stock and horses.  Haylage is  dryer than  silage, ideal for horses.  We did both, round and square  bales and  silage pits, which  would be compressed down with heavy equipment, and covered.  Unwrapped bales would be  straight forward hay.  Just thought I'd tell you.

Thank you, Sue. I didn't know that.

I lived for about 19 years in Christchurch and travel up there at New Year to housesit for friends.
The photo on the left is taken from the Port Hills looking towards the Southern Alps, The photo on the right is a cottage we stay in other times we travel to Christchurch.

In January, 2018 and 2020, I travelled with a group of friends to Tamworth in New South Wales, Australia for 12 days of the Tamworth Country Music Festival.
We travel to Tamworth by train from Sydney, a journey of 6 to 8 hours, depending on how hot the day is.
The train travels much slower in hot weather due to tracks possibly buckling in the heat.

Ruby came into the family in January this year, sister to 3-year-old Poppy.
Poppy happily moved out of her bedroom to make way for her baby sister, she was so looking forward to the new baby.

Jeni

7 hours ago, Cassel said:

@Jeni Simpson are those white packages some harvested crops? It is funny that they are square. Here, they are round.

Carole, the packages are round and is balage covered in a light-green plastic. Balage, is baled silage. Some more eco-friendly farmers leave them uncovered. 

12 hours ago, Mary Solaas said:

@Jeni Simpson Thank you for all the wonderful pictures and stories about New Zealand.  I had read and viewed stories and pictures about Australia, but not New Zealand.  A beautiful country.

Oh, by the way - have you been to the places where they made Lord of the Rings?  Peter Jackson left Hobitton there and it is a tourist attraction now.

Mary, many Lord of the Rings scenes were filmed around Fiordland, although I am not sure where exactly. There is a guide book available.
Fiordland is an area where I lived and worked and I have travelled over quite a bit of the places tourists go. One of my jobs in the off-season, was to guide travel agents to the various destinations available. Much of Fiordland is only accessible by boat or helicopter. There are few roads, the most travelled would be the Milford Road taking people to Milford Sound.
I have not been to Hobbiton.

Doubtful Sound in Fiordland is accessible by boating across Lake Manapouri, then travelling by bus across the Wilmot Pass to Deep Cove.
It is a popular tourist destination and somewhere I worked on the first overnight launch trip to the Tasman Sea in 1992.
On the overnight journey passengers have the opportunity to either take a kayak onto the Sound, or to enjoy being taken out on board a tender.

I spent my 70th birthday in Riverton, about an hour away from my home in Eastern Southland.
It is a beautiful fishing village on the south coast where my great-grandparents lived, and mu grandfather was born.

Travelling down from Venlaw Forest, near where I live, one gets a great view across farmland in Eastern Southland, New Zealand.

Jeni

3 hours ago, Susan Ewart said:

Oh Jeni, you are so lucky to live where you do.  I have loved Australia since I first saw "The Man from Snowy River" and "Pharlap" many many years ago.  And New Zealand, so rich and green and so many interesting animals and birds, that I've only seen on nature shows.  I'm looking forward to more of your showcasing.

Susan, thank you. I, too, love Australia, the country has so much beauty, yet I believe we all can become immune to our surroundings. I found, that in Australia, many would tell me how lucky I am to have been born in New Zealand, yet there is so much beauty in their backyard, and they don't notice. 

10 hours ago, Susan Ewart said:

Jeni, I am really enjoying your pages.  The scenery and critters are so wildly different than in Western Canada where I am. That water dragon is so cute, are they as big as iguanas.  

Thank you, Susan.
Because I am in the Southern Hemisphere, so far away from most others, I enjoy showcasing our beautiful region, both Australia where I lived for a while, and still enjoy travelling to, and New Zealand where I live.  The water dragon in those photos is about the size of a small cat. My housemates and I used to take a salad and a loaf of bread across to the Manly Dam in Sydney, Australia for our breakfast on weekends, and I remember seeing a small iguana sitting on a log close by.
Jeni

An old run-down building in St Bathans, Central Otago, New Zealand.

The owner of Ohinetahi, an historic homestead on Lyttelton Harbour at Governors Bay, Christchurch, New Zealand hosted a garden party yearly on behalf of Save the Children.
I loved to attend partly because of the scenery, and partly because of the gardens.

An Australian Water Dragon, posing while enjoying the sun at Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary in Brisbane, Australia

Jeni

6 hours ago, Cassel said:

@Jeni Simpson I see that it didn't take much time to complete three projects!

 

Thank you, Carole, I find once I am on a roll, I try to complete everything concerning that project. I also decided to enjoy all three, rather than do just one or two projects. I'm no longer doing scrapbooking, although did enjoy making various bits and pieces to make kits, etc years ago, it was for learning purposes, finding out what PaintShop Pro can do, more than anything. I have always loved to create.

This first Quick Page uses a photograph of a statue of a crocodile. This photo was taken at Gethsemene Gardens in Christchurch. Sadly, these garden are no longer.

My next Quick Page shows a cruise ship docked in Circular Quay on Sydney Harbour, Australia.

For the non-scrap page, I chose a photograph taken of my parents on the occasion of their engagement, probably in 1946.

Jeni

My first Quick Page has an image of the TSS Earnslaw on Lake Wakatipu, coming in to drop off passengers at Walter Peak Station,

across the lake from Queenstown, New Zealand.

.

My second Quick Page shows my friend, Joan, and me at Circular Quay, Sydney, Australia.

My Facebook Quick Page has a photograph of a tiny lighthouse in Coopers Creek, Otatara, Invercargill, New Zealand.

I found a tube of some flip flops, called jandals here, in New Zealand.

Jeni

Thank you for this course, Carole, I have enjoyed it very much.

I've been using PSP for many years, although started with Photoshop back in my work days, and I have still learned things I probably should have known, and didn't. 

The drop shadows have always been hit or miss with me, and now I have the explanations, it helps to know what to do there.

I also found a few great tips and have typed them all up in Word for future use, and I find it is better to remember that way, especially that ctrl l for copying to a new layer,

I've always gone the long way to get that result.

I'd love to do the BootCamp again, and I will keep looking at any others you have created.

Jeni

Day 11 Project 5

Travelling along the lakeside highway from Queenstown, we chanced upon this scene.

Sheep were being moved from one area of the farm to another. This happens often in country areas.

Jeni

12 hours ago, Ann Seeber said:

I see you used a loopy stitching element to show the bee's flight path. What a good idea! Thank you!!

Ann, thank you.

The Bees flight path came from Marisa Lerin at Digital Scrapbook. I searched their pages for anything bee-related, and a few different flight paths are available.

Jeni