Malibu Pier

I'm beginning to appreciate the many moods of the ocean as I make my way up and down the coast each day. I'm always surprised at how different each trip is- some days the waves are crashing, and the color of the water is dark and angry. Other times the sea seems to melt into the gray sky. Often in the mornings the sun is dancing on the water, and the dazzling diamond surface hurts my eyes. One particular day in early May, I stopped by the Malibu Pier on my way home in the early evening. The water was calm, and the sky was a million colors of gray and silver and palest pink. The pier is a busy place- there are a couple of restaurants at the near end, and diners were gathering to meet their reservation time so they could eat out on the patio and enjoy the dusky sky. But the pier itself was quiet. Only a couple of fishermen were there, and a plump pigeon. Now that summer is here, I've noticed that the pier is bustling each evening. But I was glad to have enjoyed a little solitude and beauty that particular evening. I hope you enjoy my photos. Click on the layout for a closer view of some of the details.

Another Great Dad...

Alec, who is soon to be a father, spent quite a bit of time practicing his fatherhood skills with his little cousin Brady. Alec is definitely destined for greatness as a Dad- he's always loved children and babies. And they adore him! I love that look on Alicia's face- that says it all! Photos taken on Father's Day, as we all gathered for a family dinner.

The Great Dad!

Here's my gift to the Great Dad Himself, and the father of our children, Bruce.
I had to dig waaaaaaaaay back into the dark recesses of my photo boxes. Our oldest son is about to turn 30, so Bruce has been a Dad for 30 years now. He's done a great job, and I wanted to honor him by creating a layout/ card with some visual reminders of tender times with the kids, especially when they were very little. As we are enjoying grandparenthood and another grandchild soon to come, I also added a photo of Bruce and our little grandson Aidan.
Happy Father's Day, Sweetie!

While In Search of Junk....

.... I came across the cute Santa Susana Depot & Railroad Museum in Simi Valley. I'm surprised I'd never seen this before. If it's old, generally I know about it! But not only was I pleasantly surprised by the interesting museum and all the cool artifacts, but the docent was quite expert on another one of my interests: nearby Corriganville. (Corriganville was a re-created western town, where movie and tv westerns were filmed in the 40s and 50s. Named after Crash Corrigan, onetime cowboy movie star who developed it.. ok, that's another story. I'll stop now).

Anyway, back to the Depot, it was a perfect day for photography, and all of the historic memorabilia at the museum held very still for my camera.
Actually, the depot was moved to this location in the mid '70s, and it's so much more picturesque than the original drab location. Glad those big rocks are nearby- it makes you feel like you've gone back to the old west. (click on the photo for a closer look)

Robot Love

Last Saturday I roamed the canyons near our house, in search of junk. I had a vision of a layout I wanted to do, I just needed the ingredients to mix together to come out with the proper digital stew. I'm not sure this turned out quite how I had envisioned it, but I did have fun trying to see something that wasn't really in the photos, but existed only in my mind. I found a great junkyard, complete with junkyard dog. I happily snapped a couple of dozen photos, hoping to come up with the parts I needed to create some robots. I've been working on this for the better part of a week. It's not quite as realistic as I hoped it would be, but it was fun, and I think our grandson Aidan will get a kick out of his new friends, the Robot Family. I also included some of the original photos. See if you can pick out any of the Robot parts!

The Last in Line....

Our youngest, Annie age 17, graduated from high school on Wednesday. It's always a bittersweet day for Mom & Dad when the baby reaches such a monumental milestone. I see an empty nest looming large ahead. (I am full of alliterations today!) Annie attended Somis Academy Charter High School- a quasi-homeschool/ independent study program. It really suited her free spirited ways! High School with Annie has been a challenge- from the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts, to Moorpark High School, to Somis. Annie loved LACHSA, everything but the studying part. But she needed a bit more of a stress-free environment. We were so happy she liked Somis & their wonderful program.
The graduation was held at the Camarillo Ranch- a beautiful historic Queen Anne style home built in 1892, and restored to its original, breathtaking glory. There were only 34 graduating seniors, which meant a much more personal and intimate ceremony. I had to create 2 full two-page spreads, because there was so much to see & photograph there. (You can click on the images for a closer look).

Watch This Space!

From time to time, I tell Bruce I've had a vision...not in the spiritual sense, but in the creative sense. I get these random ideas, and until I get it out of my system, I'm like a crazy person. I have had such a vision, and I'm in the middle of a creative process that is unfortunately putting a few other much more urgent matters on the back burner. Don't I have a graphic design project due that's more important? Don't I have a book I'm working on that I PROMISED was going to take top priority? Don't I have housework to do? Aren't the missionaries coming over for dinner tonight? What's wrong with me? But my creative muse will not be stilled.
So. I. Must. Discipline. Myself. It's time to tidy up the dining room and get ready for church. But I wanted to put a little teaser up on my blog, because this is the inspiration for my creative vision. I have no idea how it will all turn out, but watch this space. It will be coming along soon!

Shapes of Things

This hasn't been a very good week for blogging... I've been putting in a lot of extra hours at work, and I guess my energy levels are a bit depleted for extracurricular creative projects. But I did manage to do one layout this week, a challenge at 2 Peas. It was to do a layout using a photo within a shape. I created a brush out of a drawing I did of a leaf, and then used this shape to 'cut out' my photos, arranging them kind of organically. The event in question was our recent visit to Texas, and some special hours we spent with our little grandson Aidan. We explored the wilds of Ian's backyard with Aidan, looking at butterflies, wildflowers, and other interesting treasures. The cute photo of Aidan on the right was actually taken by Bruce with his cellphone. Of all the photos we took of Aidan on the trip, this is by far my favorite. Who knew that the iPhone camera could capture such a precious face?