Room With A View

Another great case to solve at CSI! I really liked the colors and thought they'd be perfect for another of my summer hikes. My boss told me about this hike. It's a beautiful trail that leads to a spectacular view of Mt Jefferson, in Oregon. As a bonus, there is a little side trail down to a cave that frames the mountain perfectly. It was rather a goat trail sort of trail, steep and not well marked; I don't think it's an official trail at all, but it's so worth the effort because framing the mountain in the cave mouth is really very cool.

I found these awesome mountains in the Silhouette store.  I just love how they become a focal point and mimic my photo. I used some of The Cut Shoppe's awesome clouds. I just love her clouds! A camera flair from A Flair For Buttons fit the colors perfectly. I love the metal compass that I found in my stash.

Evidence used: dots, weather elements, metal, and circles

Testimony is documenting the outdoors.

Follow Your Feet

A super fun case this week at CSI. The perfect colors to highlight one of the many hikes we took this summer. We really do live in a beautiful state. My husband had gone mountain bike riding on this trail and wanted to take me back for a hike. You hike along a pretty meadow, take a turn and end up on this spit of land overlooking the valley and surrounding mountains. You just sort of pop out of the trees to this spectacular view! I very much enjoyed it.

The Cut Shoppe had a fun new file with some hiking phrases that I, of course, had to get. I paired it with this cute compass cut, which went perfectly with the compass rose button from A Flair For Buttons. I did one of my favorite things, getting inky and messy, having fun with stencils and splatters.

Evidence used: wood grain, wood, trees, metal, something fuzzy

Testimony is from the prompt, what did you do today?

Birds Of Sierpe

We saw so many animals on our day spent in the Sierpe River Delta. I mean SO many animals, of all different varieties! We had a river boat and 2 guides for the day. They know just where to go to get the best chances of seeing as many different animals as possible. AND they have eyes like eagles. It's amazing that they could spot what they spotted, all from a moving boat. there were tons of birds, in all flavors and colors. We had one participant who doesn't do photography, so she had a bird guidebook and was ticking off the photos of what we saw and I am so thankful because I used her book to help identify what I saw later. It was too much to take in at the time. I never knew there were so many varieties of heron. I mean we have the Great Blue Heron here, where I live, but there are so many other kinds and some are down right strange looking! We saw some very rare birds too and it's a wonder because they look just like the tree branch. We even saw some juvenile Macaw, about ready to leave the nest (more on that at the end of October). It was a truly spectacular day.

Evidence used: stripes, stamping, feathers, vellum, watercolor

Testimony is about the huge variety of birds and their personalities. "Traveling through the Sierpe Delta, we saw so many birds! Thanks to our river viewpoint and the sharp eyes of our guides, we got to experience a wide variety of awesome birds and watch all of their antics. Each one is so different. 12.9.15"

Sniiiiif...

One of my favorite moments in Costa Rica was watching the antics of this guy. There was an all out monkey war taking place, just out of sight in the forest, yet this guy was hopping from tree to tree, sniffing the flowers. Ok, he was probably in search of a grubby snack, but it looks like he's taking time to enjoy life.

Evidence used: dots, stripes, clouds, triangles, gold metal

Testimony is about a gathering, or rather eschewing the gathering to be different. "You'd never know it, but there was an all out monkey war going on in the background. Then there is this lone lil guy just hopping from flower to flower. I'm sure he is looking for grubs, but it looks like he's taking the time to stop and smell the flowers. Sierpe, Costa Rica 12.15"

Buenos Noche

I am still working on my Costa Rica album. Nearing the end, but there is still more to share. I did need a back page and I thought these colors were perfect for the photos we took of an amazing sunset in the cloud forest on our last night. We weren't sure we'd get sunset colors as the day had been quite rainy and dreary, but we went up above the clouds and waited. Then, all of a sudden, there was a gap in the clouds, and the yellow of the evening sun broke through. As the sky went through the sunsetting motions, the colors intensified and made for a stunning view. All of the trees and hills became silhouetted, adding cool layers and framing. A great treat for out last night and very appropriate for my ending page; this is good night, not good bye.

Evidence used: dots, grid pattern, scallops

Testimony is a list of all of my takeaways from our trip

As our time closes, I reflect on my favorite things:

Meeting fun people

Adventure

Amazing animals

Learning new things

Great food 

The beautiful land

Noted:

One thing about our household is the humor. You never know what you'll find on something innocent as say....the grocery list. It's a place where you might find the odd item, such as goats; to the philosophical debate, such as what came first, the chicken or the egg; to bizarre admonishments, such as not getting cow's eggs. We just keep a running list so we can add things as we run out, but that lets just anyone add their own flair of humor.

Evidence used: shiny gold, spiral punch, staples, clips, labels

Testimony is about this week's grocery lists.