Christmas Lights Bokeh 2014

Following the tutorial found HERE, I attempted to do another bunch of bokeh pics with the lights.  My smallest paper punch is a heart shape, so I used that.  I also tried a star punch but it didn't look like anything much.  The heart kind of looks like moths!!

 I accidentally left the flash on for this picture which came out looking pretty cool and kind of dreamy.

Kitchen window without the flash.

Some of the lights look like pizza slices.  Love how the star came out.

This is actually one of my fave pictures that I've shot of Christmas lights.

Quest for the Perfect Night Shots

Before my painting class the other night, I went to downtown Sandwich to try and get some shots of the Christmas lights.  I try to shoot every year over there but it's hard to schedule it around bad and cold weather.  Plus I am becoming afraid to drive at night and in fact I had a really hard time navigating around town just to get these, and I know downtown like the back of my hand.

So I started by taking a bunch of pics of the lit tree in Shawme Pond.  Without a tripod and really knowing the settings on my camera, it's hard to get a really decent & clear picture.  Plus I should go down there at blue hour instead of after it's pitch black.  First few attempts were blurry.

Then I walked over to the First Church of Christ to take a pic of this 'giant' (they are all over town now) first without flash.

And with my hand covering the flash to let in less light but speeding up the shutter.

Next to Town Hall.

The iconic Jarves dolphin candlestick giant, at the Glass Museum.

Marsha's sister in law lives here and I would love to get a look inside.  It's a beautiful home and they have lovingly restored it to it's Victorian splendour.  It's one of the showplaces in town too.  It's gorgeous no matter what time of year you see it.

This was taken from the other side of the pond (with my back to the above house).

Was surprised to see this was still up from the summer but they really need to replace all the lights that have burned out!

OK this is the best shot of the tree in the pond.

And I love this house too....I always shoot it at Christmas.  It's across from the pond and next to the First Church of Christ.

I only had a few minutes before meeting up with Mary so I zoomed back to the Sandwich/Sagamore line real quick to take a few shots.  This is without the flash.

And with.  There was so much traffic that kept obstructing my shot plus my car was parked in a bad place and both my car and me ran the risk of getting creamed by other drivers.  

Hoping to get back down there soon to get some more night pics!

Nor'Easter Day....and the Day After

We had a pretty big wind and rain storm...a Nor'easter....a few days ago.  As long as the power stays on, I'm a happy camper, and it did.  I was up super early and was on the fence about doing my errands or sitting home.  At 7:30 I decided to just rip the band aid off and get my groceries and fuel up the car.  It was so stormy that no one was out so I was home by 8:30.  

The whole day was stretched before me and it was just howling out.  I drifted into the craft room and worked on this 3D papercut tree project.  I forgot I bought it last year.  The kit is on white paper so I photocopied it onto green cardstock and went to work.  It was a fairly quick workup.

That's what it looks like from above.

Then I moved onto my next 'gotta do this someday' project, which was a small altered box, using a pretty lighthouse card with beach glass, tiny bottle brush tree and silver pipe cleaner trim.

This is a small 3" x 3" tray from a beaded box I bought years and years ago.  It's been floating around in my craft supplies since at least 2000.  Never knew what to do with it, but I knew I didn't want to throw it out either.  This just totally came together in minutes!

 Then I made another one of these 3D paper snowflakes.

Since I had the step ladder out, I took my life in my hands and managed to get the ball chandelier hung.  I can only hope that the hook....and the knot....stay put or else the carnage is going to be pretty bad.

It's so pretty I'd like to leave it up year round.

By that point I was exhausted and called it quits for the night, after making myself some delish dijon chicken for diner!

The next day, I got back to work.  This is the frame that my friend Robin painted and sold at her craft fair in November.  I knew I was going to make a scene in it but originally I thought I was going to do something beach related.  Then I had the brainstorm to put a white bottle brush tree in it, embellished with silver & light blue pearl beads. 

And another tiny, velvet box I couldn't bear to throw away.  No idea where I got it, but it's so cute.  Added some silver stars to the outside.

And a little scene inside.  I kinda wish that I'd painted under the lid dark blue but I was afraid I would totally ruin it so I left it white.  

While the glue was drying, I also whipped up a half batch of soft glazed pumpkin cookies which are quite yummy. 

The other day I mentioned that I was going to be stepping way out of my artistic comfort zone.  Well, that night I met up with my friend Mary for a painting class.  The latest rage here are one-night painting classes held at bars, wine bars and pubs.  Some of my friends have done them and I am always astonished at how well everyone's paintings come out.  When my mom took us to lunch at Bobby Byrne's in Sandwich, there was an ad for a class being held on December 10th.  Close to my house and on a night when I was alone! Perfect!  I couldn't stop thinking about the picture they were going to teach people to paint.  A snowy night scene with the Northern Lights.  So I signed up and got Mary to sign up too.  We met up at 7:00 and the place was sold out.  The instruction was great and after a little over two hours, we were done with our paintings.  I'm not crazy about my hills but the rest of it came out pretty good!

I'm definitely going to do this again!!!

Super Score!

My craft show at the Legion last week went really well!  The best part is getting to see so many friends from school and town.  One of them told me that he saw a big jar of beach glass for sale, half off, at a shop downtown, if I wanted to check it out.  He told me specifically where in the store it was so after the craft show, I made a beeline over there in the hopes that it was still available.  It was.  And a steal at $12.50!!

I was most excited to see this one red chip down at the bottom of the jar!

Me being...well, me....I had to take everything out and sort by colour to see what we had.  Some amazing pieces!  

Tons of crockery too.  I would love to know who found this and where.

Mostly white.  I can use these for crafts, although some will go into my own collection.

There were also some great shells, rocks and a big sand dollar.

Sweet eh?

Annual Decorations in Town

Our weather temps have been very erratic.  One day it's ice cold, the next it's mild.  We've had dustings of snow and torrential downpours with wind.  Hardly conducive to taking walks!  But I did get downtown one sunny, cold morning to get some snappies of the decorations in the daylight.  Am hoping to take night shots when the lights are on.  

This is at a neighbour's house.

The rotary at my end of town. Hard to see but there's a scrawny little tree between Charlie & Woodstock.

So many pretty lights!

This is at Bay Village service station across from the rotary on Main Street.

In the park at the train bridge.

You can take the gingerbread faces out and put your own face in the holes.  I'm not sure why the dad gingerbread man looks so evil.

I hope to get down to the other end of town soon to shoot their decorations as well as the other rotary.