All In One

I won't loose a word about how behind I'm with everything - I've accepted that I won't be able to finish my Christmas preparations as I would have loved to.  And so I'm really proud of the fact that I at least made it here to Lisa's Creative Exchange to wish you all a wonderful holiday!

I used Kim Klassen's textures Zuzu and Wonderfulmagic_Stars on my photo, textures Kim is giving us for free in her "12 Days of Textures".

Happy Holidays to all of you - have a Merry Christmas!

Christmas Time?

Before I start complaining that I don't feel Christmassy at all with all the rain we are having and that I haven't found the time to bake Christmas cookies or even put up my Christmas decoration, let alone look around for Christmas gifts, I'll just link up this photo of my Christmas baubles that are waiting to embellish my chaos here to Lisa's Creative Exchange.

Kim Klassen started her 12 Days of Textures today and I used today's texture "Lilly" on the photo.

I'm afraid it will take some time to get around to everyone but I promise I'll do my best.

Have a wonderful week everyone!

November Bokeh

Yes, I know it's December already...! Originally, I had planned to show you this photo last Monday, but then the internet decided to join our heating, so they were off together...

And when I had thought that the weeks in October and November had been busy at work I had no idea there was room for escalation...

So here I am, exhausted, tired and a bit out of breath, but with a working heating and internet again (yay!), linking this November photo to Lisa's Creative Exchange today.

Thank you all so much for your kind, wonderful and warming comments on my last post! I hope to visit you all over the next days to catch up on your news.

Have a wonderful week everyone!

Something Warm

Our heating is still down, so I decided to light a few candles - I hope they warm up things a bit here...!

I added a layer of Kim's Stained Linen and two layers of KK2 and will link this up to Texture Tuesday. Do have a look there - not only are there amazing photos, I just discovered there is also a give-away today!

Now I'm off to move around a bit in my apartment - despite hot tea and layers of sweaters and blankets sitting around is not so enjoyable...!

I hope you are all good and warm!

A Bit Odd

I'm so used to getting in close to my photography subjects that taking and putting up a photo like this feels rather strange and uncomfortable.

There was really nothing interesting or exciting for a close-up shot yesterday on my photo walk. I was, however, absolutely excited by the light when I saw the above scene through a fence. I'm not so sure whether this photo does really justice to what I had seen with my eyes, but maybe it's only a matter of getting used to it.

I'm off to link this up to Lisa's Creative Exchange and see what's up there already!

Have a wonderful week!

Solitary Rose

It's Mid-November, but I still found a single rose on a walk these days  - unbelievable, isn't it?

As I liked the brown tones in the photo, I added two layers of Kim Klassen's free texture "Phoebe" (multiply at 100 % and soft light at 65 %) to emphasize those. Now I'll hop over to Kim's Café to link this up to today's Texture Tuesday.

Have a wonderful day!

Golden

As bad as our summer was (weatherwise), I can't complain about our autumn so far!

These last weeks, the sun has won over fog and clouds for at least an hour almost every day and surprised us with the most beautiful colours. There aren't many leaves left on the trees now, but I hope to be lucky for another few days.

See you at Lisa's Creative Exchange and have a wonderful week!

Autumn Colours

You all know that I'm a "summer girl" and that I dread the cold and dreary days, but I must admit that I enjoy these wonderful colours the changing of the seasons brings about.

I'll link this up to Lisa's Creative Exchange - don't forget to have a look there with the new link.

Have a wonderful and colourful week!

And Then Some...

Texture: Kim Klassen ("And Then Some)

Linking up to Texture Tuesday

As some of you were asking: here they are - the muffins I made yesterday. So, please grab one and enjoy - I hope you'll like them!

Have a great day!

New Home

Lisa has a new home for her wonderful Creative Exchange. Originally, I had planned to bring muffins as a welcome gift... - but the muffins are still in the oven and an unfortunately tight time schedule leaves no time to upload and link when they are ready.

So I decided to bring flowers to the "blog-warming" party instead. Roses, with traces of brown, but beautiful nevertheless - well, at least in my eyes. Lisa, have a fantastic start with your new Creative Exchange!

Happy Halloween everyone and have a wonderful week!

Expectations

This cold but sunny weekend saw me heading over to a public garden where I expected to find all sorts of autumn flowers. I couldn't have been more wrong... - not a single mum, dahlia, Chinese lantern or Japanese Anemone to be found, but a rose garden with rows of wonderful roses, still blooming!

As this might be one of the last roses for this year I thought it to be just perfect for Lisa's Creative Exchange. I can't wait to see all the interesting photos being linked up over at  Lisa's, I'll meet you there!

Have a wonderful week!

Photographer's Weal And Woe

Can you believe it's Monday again? Time for Lisa's Creative Exchange!

Yesterday was a cold but sunny Autumn day and I was out and about with my camera. At one spot some trees were beautifully highlighted in the afternoon sun, a must-have photo, or so I thought.

I was playing with my camera settings while waiting for several people to "walk out of my picture", when suddenly a man yelled at me "stop taking pictures of me". I was absolutely shocked at his tone and tried to explain that I didn't take any pictures of him, that in fact I was waiting for an "empty" scenery, but he went on ranting. In the end, I just ignored him, took my picture - which then was totally uninspired - and walked on.

No wonder I love taking pictures of flowers and berries so much...

Have a wonderful week!

Red on Wednesday

Texture by Kim Klassen

So it's Wednesday already and I missed Kim Klassen's Texture Tuesday...

The challenge was to present something red, processed with one of her textures. As I have this beautiful red dahlia here ready, I thought I'd put it up nevertheless, even with a one day delay. Sometimes time just flies...!

Have a great day!

Back Again

I'm back again and ready for Lisa's wonderful Creative Exchange. I can't wait to catch up with you and hope you've all had a good time.

Have a wonderful start into the week!

A Tough Decision

So much is coming my way at the moment - things that need my full attention - that I have to accept I can't handle it all. That's why I've come to the decision that I will sign off for a few weeks here to take care of things and then also to take a vacation.

This photo is one of my August sunshine photos and I'll link it up to Lisa's wonderful Creative Exchange, which I will miss just as much as I miss you all already!

Have a good time everyone! And I hope you won't forget me in the meantime...

August Break 2011 - The End

I can't believe it's August 31 already! 

Not Ready

No, I'm not ready for autumn yet (let alone for Christmas, in case you were wondering at yesterday's post)! Seeing the signs around me, however, I think I have to get used to the idea that summer is over.

A part of me says I should simply accept that summer wasn't so good this year and look forward to autumn, but a part of me still hopes for a few more summer days. And what's life without a little bit of hope...?!

Have a wonderful day!

9 Days of Summer

We had 9 days of summer - hot, just as I love it - and I enjoyed every minute of it.

Saturday the cold and the rain came back again. Time to catch up with all your blogs and flickr, and laundry and cleaning, too. Somehow I have the feeling that the 12 Days of Christmas are just around the corner...

I'll link this up to Lisa's Creative Exchange today - can't wait to see all the entries there.

Have a wonderful week!

Liberate Your Art Postcard Swap

Over the summer Kat organized a - what she called - Liberate Your Art Postcard Swap. You can read all about it here. I can't even begin to imagine how she handled that swap even in the midst of her moving from Italy to the USA, but, honestly, I'm so glad she did.

I received the most beautiful cards and it really was such a joy to come home after a busy day in the office to find those treasures in the mail. So let me introduce you to the wonderful artists in the sequence of the arrival of their cards:

This wonderful work of art was made by Tia from The Inspired Life. It is a mixed media painting and is called "You are Marvellous". The texture of this card, which was made of several layers, is really amazing!

 This card is also a wonderful painting - it's so unbelievably dimensional with all those details and shadows. I'm not sure if I read the name correctly, but this work of art was made by Lea from the Beaufort Art Center. 

 This wonderful postcard was was made by Lorraine Lewis from Paper Bird. There are so many details in this work of art that I notice something new every time I look at it.

 Next was this card with lucky wishes for me from Tarijune at the Studio Mailbox. I wish you could feel the texture of this wonderful card! She also painted pretzels on the back of the card and I wonder how she knew how much I love pretzels!

 You all know of course, who the sender of this beautiful card is - Kat, who not only organized the swap but also sent out a card of her own! I love not only Vespas but also the tones of this photography.

 This wonderful card shows a photography of Caesarea, Israel, taken by Alison from My Life - An Adventure. The patterns and shapes and shadows are simply amazing.

This postcard swap was a wonderful experience and so much fun! Thank you all for your wonderful work of arts and thank you, Kat, for making this happen!

It feels so different...

... when the sun is shining. I don't want to sound like a broken record but after all that rain this summer I seem to soak up every little ray of sunlight... it makes so happy!

Have a happy day, too!

It's Raining Again...

At least we had two days of sunshine... Have a wonderful week everyone!

Summer Colours (continued)

Just hopped in to share some sunshine (finally!!!) and colours with you. Have a wonderful day!

Summer Colours

 Have a wonderful day! 

Minutes before the Rain...

... there was a glimpse of blue.

Grey skies

Yay for colourful window displays on a grey and dreary day! I'll also link this up to Lisa's Creative Exchange.

Have a colourful week!

At The Farmers' Market

Waiting for Summer

Summer Flowers

Polaroid Frame by Katie Lloyd Photography

August Break 2011

About a year ago I opened a flickr account and almost immediately discovered Justine and her wonderful photos. I started following her blog and found out about Susannah Conway's August Break 2010, decided to participate and became a member of the flickr group (I didn't have a blog at that time). There I met Lisa - who encouraged me to set up a blog, by the way - and I enjoyed August Break with my two new friends and a wonderful flickr group.

August Break 2011 is starting today and yes, I'm taking part in it. I look forward to connecting with old friends again and meeting new ones, to sharing photos and getting inspired. I also hope that August Break brings back a bit of my photographing/uploading/blogging routine I've somehow lost since the beginning of this year.

I'm off now to put this up to Lisa's Creative Exchange and I'll be visiting your blogs over the next few days (I'm afraid I won't get araound to do that today).

Have a wonderful August!

Little Pleasures

Two days in a row without rain - and even the sun came out a bit and said hello!That's really all it takes to persuade me to enjoy a little photo walk.

Photography really slows me down - I take the time to look up and notice tiny details

and I also take the time to stop and look down to see what's at my feet

and then I admire all those lovely flowers with their wonderful colours

Did I mention that I love photography...

Have a wonderful day everyone!