Tagged!

I was tagged by Amanda to reveal 6 random things about myself. I don't think I'm terribly interesting, but I'll play along anyway.

1. I have an insatiable sweet tooth. I would rather have dessert than any other part of a meal (except maybe bread), and I use any excuse I can come up with to bake cookies and cakes. It is absolutely astounding that I'm not big.

2. I think maybe I'm a cat whisperer. No, really! Although I'm extremely allergic to cats, they do love me, and when I walk through my yard there's usually a trail of kitties right behind me. They tell me lengthy stories. And they hang on my every word. Great conversation, for sure!

3. I am one of the most stubborn people you will ever meet. I hate to give up. It's not my fault -- I inherited this from multiple family members.

4. I have the ability to tune out almost anything (including D's high-volume trumpet-playing) - my mind will travel far, far away and I'll be completely oblivious to everything that's going on around me. This isn't my fault either - I inherited the gift from Daddy.

5. I have extremely vivid dreams, and I usually remember them because they're so bizarre. I'm afraid to know what this says about me.

6. I take at least one photograph every day, but I'm so picky that I delete a lot of them.

I don't have many blogging friends, so I'll have to think about who I'll pass this tag along to.

And speaking of my sweet tooth, I thought you'd all like to know that tomorrow is National Chocolate Cupcake Day.

Fall Blooms

Plumbago

Hibiscus

Mexican Petunia

Passion Flower

I'm still working on setting up my work space after the move, so I haven't had a chance to sew, stamp, paint, or otherwise put much of my creative energy to good use. I did, however, find some time today to take a few photos of what's currently blooming in my backyard, and I'm sharing them here with you for some color inspiration.

Today we also managed to plant some lettuce and broccoli, and are hoping that the mild fall and winter here will be kind to our cool-weather crops. We're planning some extreme container gardening for the spring, in the hopes of not only reducing our food bill, but eating better stuff as well.

I should have most of my supplies put away by tomorrow, and will soon have a few things to show you. I see moo cards and some projects with gel medium in my immediate future...

Purple and Orange - Inspire Me Thursday

The current challenge at Inspire Me Thursday is purple and orange. No orange here, but this is one of my favorite botanical photos, mainly because of the purple edges on the leaves (a little hard to see at this resolution). I think coneflowers are at their best in this stage of their development - so many interesting textures!

Inspiration from Nature

I'm always inspired by nature this time of year, and usually can't get enough of my camera. I'm completely infatuated with all the new growth that is popping out everywhere, but I also love to see what was left behind last season. I have no idea what that is in the top photo, but I've been watching a number of these in the yard all winter, sitting atop stalks that are taller than me, and thinking what great photos they would make. I'm glad there were still a few left when I finally brought out the camera. The bottom photo is from a low branch of a pine tree in my back yard. I guess this is an "out with the old, in with new" sort of photo set.

And speaking of in with the new, we will be relocating one more time, in less than 2 weeks. Making a living here in Southern Illinois has been a tough road, so we are moving to Little Rock, where I have a job waiting for me and Dan has some good potential opportunities. I'm extremely excited about the new job. I'm going to be-- wait for it! -- a technical writer/blogger. I keep hearing the question, "People get paid to do that?" Well, yes, they do! And I'm so looking forward to it!

I've set up a bunch of automatic posts for the next two weeks (love that new Blogger feature!), so I'll be auto-publishing at least every couple of days, although I may not be available to quickly respond to comments for that period, or to comment on all of your wonderful blogs.

I'll be back "in the flesh" as soon as we get to Little Rock. Creative wishes to everyone!

Summer's End

Sadly, summer is coming to an end here in South Alabama. Granted, we probably still have several weeks of high heat and humidity to deal with, but the air feels fresher the past couple of days. The nights are a little bit cooler too, and the water in the pool is almost too brisk for a comfortable swim. This subtle change of seasons should be a good thing, but my allergies are now in full swing and I'd like to take a backscratcher to my itching eyes. It's not just the hayfever, though. When it's time to cut back my coneflowers, I know that the year will soon be drawing to a close, and I wonder why I didn't accomplish more throughout the summer, when my energy levels should be high. At least this summer, I managed to get back on track with my art, and that's a very good thing. I may not complete something every day, but I do manage to work on something creative, even if it's just prepping a background or tearing interesting textures or phrases out of magazines.

Pictured above -- the last of the coneflowers, photographed and manipulated in Photoshop. Today's heavy rain has saved them from a brutal pruning, and tomorrow they'll probably look fresh again. I just may have to give them another couple of weeks after all.

Sunday - Pink

Andrea's Color Week wraps up with pink, so here's my final photo. Hope everyone has another colorful, creative week!

Saturday - Red

As "color week" winds down, here's a solitary photo for today's color - red.

Friday - Orange

Lots of flowers here, but hey, that's what I'm about sometimes!

Create a Connection - Photo Thursday: Cool Ideas

Katherine is hosting Photo Thursday for the month of July over at Create a Connection, and she has asked how the rest of us are staying cool this summer. Well, we're used to sweating it out with 90+ temperatures here on the Gulf Coast, but the heat still takes its toll. Thank goodness for central air conditioning, lots of ice, and our pool!

Thursday - White, Brown, & Black

My "color week" photos for Thursday...

Wednesday - Green

Today's color is green. Green is plentiful here, as long as you're willing to photograph plants. But why not, it's summer, after all!

Tuesday - Blue & Turquoise

Blue & turquoise are the colors of the day, so here you go... I was surprised at how easy it was for me to find blue in and around my house, and it was hard to choose what to post here.

Monday - Yellow

Over at hula seventy, the very talented Andrea is having a "color week". This looks like fun, not to mention a bit challenging, so I'll play along. The colors will be as follows:

monday: yellows
tuesday: blues/turquoises
wednesday: greens
thursday: whites/browns/blacks
friday: oranges
saturday: reds
sunday: pinks

I got a late start on this, so I'm offering a solitary yellow photo today.

Inspire Me Thursday - Light

This week's prompt for Inspire Me Thursday is light. I didn't expect to participate this week, but last night I was noticing how bright the moon was, and I was thinking about all the things that happen by the light of the moon, right here in my own yard. Like the armadillo who comes out occasionally, only to scurry off when she realizes I'm watching her; the frog who sits by my front door, as if watching for it to open; the night calls of birds all about the neighborhood; my fat cat Charley carefully patting the grass, trying to capture something; and the sounds of the nocturnal insects. So much artistic inspiration, but where do I start? Then I remembered a bland, boring photo of the moon I had snapped a while back, and decided to have a go at it in Photoshop. The result -- my digital painting of the moon.

Market in the Park

Today we went to Mobile to run some errands, and we stopped by the Mobile Museum of Art for Market in the Park, where we met several artisans, listened to some free music, and admired some of the biggest blackberries I've ever seen. We had a nice chat with Theresa Collins-McPherson, who is a relaxation specialist and also sells handmade natural bath and beauty products, candles, and home fragrances. I'm signed up for one of her classes at the University of South Alabama, where she'll be teaching us how to make organic soap, bath salts, sugar scrubs and more. It was nice to meet the teacher and have an opportunity to ask a few questions before next week's class. We also met Mary Bower, who makes baskets from pine needles. She also weaves with marine rope and does a lot of embellishment with beads and colorful fibers. Beautiful!

I had not seen a gingko tree since I lived near Valley Forge a few years back, so I was pleased to see that some small gingkos had been planted at the museum. I love the way the veins of the gingko leaf radiate out from the stem, and have always seen some design possibilities with the unusual leaf shape. Maybe now I'll act on that inspiration.

We also went to the University of South Alabama library to see an art exhibit, which included some amazing batiks and watercolors by Jean Schulman and photographs by B.J. Ray. Definitely worth the trip!

While in Mobile we also stopped by B&B Pet Stop, which is my favorite pet store ever. They don't sell dogs and cats, but they do host a pet adoption event every Thursday afternoon, so I got to admire all the little kittens and puppies that were looking for new homes. Unfortunately, there's no more room at the inn -- we have all the dogs and cats we can handle now -- so I had to mightily resist temptation and be satisfied with buying 3 harlequin rasboras for my freshwater aquarium.

Circles

This is my very first submission for Inspire Me Thursday. The creative prompt this week is circles. I love circles, so I thought this was the perfect time to join this challenge. This is a photo collage of two images -- a huge,industrial sculpture I saw on a roadside in Pensacola, and coreopsis from my garden. I liked the idea of combining nature with a hard, man-made surface. I may have to take this natural vs. industrial concept a little further.