iPhở Friday

Hello, Sunshine.

iPhone Camera Apps

These are the photo apps I have been playing with on the iPhone for the past two Fridays. There's a link to check them out and the price they were when I purchased them last week. Each app can be purchased/downloaded from the App Store right on your iPhone and is ready to use before you even get the bill! How cool is that?! Click away and let me know if you have any favorites that I don't have.

1) Best Camera ($2.99) This one is simple to use with a great interface. Lots of cool filters and the ability to send to a long list of places: Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, Email and Camera Roll.

2) CameraBag ($1.99) You can shoot right from this app or select a photo already on your iPhone. I like that you can select full resolution for larger photos with this app.

3) Hipstamatic ($1.99) You pick the lens, film and flash then shoot to your heart's content. I bought a couple extra lens packages but I forget to switch over and use them!

4) Lo-Mob ($1.99) This is a fun one, too! You can shoot from the app or select a photo already on your iPhone. LOTS of cool old timey filters for borders, exposures, fades, etc...

5) TiltShiftGen ($0.99) This is how you make your photos look like they are from a miniature toy town. You can shoot from the app or select a photo you already have on your iPhone.

6) ToyCamera ($1.99) I love the random feature on this app! It's one of my favorites.

Snow on The Pharm!

iPhone Friday coincides nicely with our snow day and I am loving the randomness of the Toyphone app. Will have to report back with a list of favorite photo apps for the iPhone after my fingers thaw a bit more. It's tea time!

iPhone Photo Friday

I didn't leave the house today other than to sit on the back porch and listen to the rain. I'm just learning to use this new iPhone, so I can't be for certain which filters or apps I used but I promise I didn't edit the photos on my computer. Each shot was taken from my spiffy new iPhone today.

I'm still trying to figure out how to upload to here from the iPhone so I am typing this on my laptop but I did manage to sync my iPhone and laptop in the process. See ya next Friday if not sooner. Dang, I've missed you. iPhone. I just had to say it once more.

Thanks, LK. Once again, you have inspired me to try new things.

New Year / New South

Here's a twist on the traditional southern New Year's Day dish Hoppin' John. We had a late breakfast and Marty wanted to go out for the afternoon. I wouldn't let him leave the house until he'd eaten some black eyed peas, rice and greens for good luck. I sauteed fresh mustard greens from our CSA (can you believe we are STILL getting food from their garden this late in the season??) then threw together some black eyed peas, tomatoes, jalapenos and rice. Nice splash of Louisiana Hot Sauce on top and a glass of iced tea - sweet tea, as they call it down here. If we never do anything else on New Year's Day, we will at the very least always eat Hoppin' John.

Here's to a happy, healthy and creative New Year!

Anyone there?

I've been going through photos from trips to Artfest, Montreal, The World's Longest Yard Sale, Maine, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, South Carolina, Nashville and a recent trip to the North GA mountains for a short hike on the Appalachian Trail. Way too many stories and photos to sort through before we head off to Montana and Idaho for more camping and hiking.

I've missed my friends in blogland and hope you haven't forgotten me! I'm itching to catch up but the weeds are tall, the lists are long and there's packing to be done. If I survive backcountry camping in -30° weather then I'll be back to catch up when I can. Are you still there? I hope so.

P.S. That's not -30° weather, it's supposed to be <30°. Less than, colder than, way colder than I'm used to in Georgia! Oh, and the picture is of a photo transfer I made on a piece of wood. It's from a photo booth photo while we were in Montreal. All made by hand, you know...wood, photocopy, gel medium, sandpaper. No Photoshop trickery on this baby! :-)

She Dreams Deep

My hands have been covered in paint and gel medium for the past couple of weeks and I have LOVED it! Here's a sneak peek at a few of the 75 (YES! SEVENTY FIVE!) ATCs I made for ArtFest trades. I leave on Wednesday for Seattle and will meet up with other ArtFesters to take the shuttle to Port Townsend/Fort Worden. I've still got lots to do before I leave. Just wanted to share a quick photo before I give all of these away.

I know we are all busy right now but if you haven't already done so, fly over to Mary Ann Moss' blog (Dispatch from LA) and sign up for her online Stencilry class! She's one of my all time favorite journaling bloggers and I know the class will be fab. At least pop in and leave a comment to put your name in the hat for a freebie! Do it now 'cause it ends tomorrow.

Ok, I'm off to pack for a camping trip, gesso about 6 more pages for LK Ludwig's class and try to find a 3/8" hole punch! Happy Spring to you all!

Thing-Finder

Last night as I was reading LK Ludwig's inspirational book called True Vision: Authentic Art Journaling, I sat up in the bed and said to my husband: "That's it! I finally know what I am. I'm a THING-FINDER!" I then went on to read him the quoted passage from Pippi Longstocking where she explains to her friends what a Thing-finder does, they find things. When asked what kind of things, Pippi explains "Oh, all kinds...lumps of gold, ostrich feathers, dead rats, candy snap crackers, and tiny little screws, and things like that." If you looked in my art room right now, you'd find everything from that list except the dead rats.

It's taken a long time to realize there really are others like me. I suppose you can say that I've finally found my tribe. Which gets me to thinking about ArtFest! It's almost time to get on the plane with my big girl suitcase all packed with warm clothes and art supplies. I need to start thinking about trades. I don't think I'll make the PMC charms like I did last year. I'll need something fresh and new for my 2nd ArtFest. No need to be an over-achiever. Ha! Famous last words.

I've been spending a lot of time in my art studio lately. First to clear a path to my art table and then to actually sit at the table and be able to experiment with soldering. I'm getting better with each piece I make but I'm still not convinced I'll be able to s0lder a jump ring onto a soldered piece of glass any time soon. Even with two 3rd arms, a couple anvils, a steel block, a c-clamp, self-locking tweezers and a drawer full of pliers it's still difficult for me to manage. I'll keep trying until I can at least feel confident enough to make something to send to a friend. That's usually my benchmark. If I can feel good about giving it to a friend then I'm heading in the right direction.

I've had lots of time to work on things indoors because in case you hadn't noticed it's been COLD down here! I'm talking single digit, pipe freezing, 3 quilt and 2 cat sleeping cold. Today was the first warm day we've had in weeks. It was beautiful, sunny and warm. I sat on the back deck with my feet in the sun for the first time in months. I do believe I'm almost thawed out now.

Lots of excitement around here lately: A 700+lbs. cow in the front yard that my husband had to wrangle back into the pasture across the busy street with our 90 year old neighbor. Frozen water pipes due to the extreme cold followed by a broken water pipe from the house down to the barn. Luckily our friend Farmer Sue was over visiting when we noticed the leak that was pouring water into the crawlspace under the house. She told me not to panic - she knew all about the cutoff valve under the house and draining the pipe until spring. Just another thing to add to the "To Do When it Warms Up" list.

I realize it's already February and I haven't posted the photos from the rest of our trip to Coastal Georgia! It was such a wonderful trip. Very relaxing with lots of exploring, seafood eating, Geocaching and general low key goodness. We stayed in a great little cottage called Oaks of Eden that was definitely off the beaten path and very peaceful. I often found myself getting up early and sneaking to the observation deck to watch the sunrise over the marsh or packing a thermos of coffee and going with Marty down the dirt road on the bicycles to a place we called "The Green Lagoon" to watch the wildlife. We couldn't have asked for a better place.The owners were great! There were yummy muffins, fresh wild caught Georgia boiled shrimp and organic green salad from their garden waiting on us in the 'fridge when we arrived. We were so spoiled with all the good seafood we ate on this trip that we ended up bringing back 25lbs. of IQF (individually quick frozen) fresh wild caught Georgia shrimp. Of course, this lead to the purchase of a new freezer for the garage when we returned but it's packed with shrimp now and there should be room for vegetables about late spring!












For those of you who have never seen cotton growing - this is it! I've seen it all my life but it still amazes me when I look at it up close.

Southern Charm

"Savannah is better for ya. You'd just get in trouble in Atlanta."
—Mammy in Gone with the Wind

We took a little road trip (only 5 hour drive) to the Georgia Coastal Marshlands. Since Savannah was on the way, we spent a night there and enjoyed a day of exploring before heading down the coast. We arrived late in the evening and had dinner and drinks at a great little microbrewery called Moon River Brewing Company. I can highly recommend the Savannah Fest Bier if you like a good German style beer!

One of the great things about Savannah, if you don't finish your drink and you're ready to mosey down the street to the next place, you can just take it with you! That's exactly what we did as we strolled along the riverfront by moonlight enjoying our beverage from Moon River Brewing Company. Slowly making our way back to our hotel for the night, we ran into some very friendly fellows who invited us into a nearby pub to listen to some friends of theirs who were playing live music. No cover charge and we could take our beer in...sure! Why not? As it turns out, we really enjoyed the music and stayed for a couple of sets chatting with Jason and Eric (the duo) of The Train Wrecks in between their sets. Great guys, we got on the subject of Hank Williams and I told them some of the stories of my family ties with Hank Williams, Sr. and Alabama (the state, not the group). They played songs the last set that all tied into things we had talked about. Really nice guys.

The next morning we decided to let the GPS tell us where to go. I punched in The Mercer House (of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil fame) and we ended up at Monterey Square in the historic district. Walking around the square, admiring the old oak trees dripping with spanish moss and the charm of the southern architecture, we noticed an open door in the basement of one of the houses. It was an antique shop! Needless to say, we ventured inside and had a nice chat with Alex Raskin (owner of Alex Raskin Antiques) located in the historic Noble Hardee Mansion. He told us that it was the largest house in the Savannah Historic District and we were welcome to wander around all 15,000 square feet of it. There was so much to take in, Marty and I split up, both admiring the contents as much as the house itself. We crossed paths a few times and just looked at each other in total amazement. It was technically only a two story house but with a basement and attic it seemed to go on forever. Crystal chandeliers hung high above furniture that was piled up in rooms where you could almost hear the music and feel the dancing in what were once two stately ballrooms.

If you're ever in Savannah and enjoy antiques, old homes with southern charm, and a slight chill on the back of your neck as you wonder if there really are ghosts in this world, then this is definitely a place for you to visit.

Alex Raskin Antiques located in the Noble Hardee Mansion

441 Bull Street (the corner of Bull and Gordon at Monterey Square)

Savannah, Georgia (USA) 31401

Incidentally, that is The Mercer House in background of the top photo with the garden view. I've got more photos and tales to tell of the rest of our trip but I'll stop for now. Photo overload - I'll give it a rest.