My Scrap Mojo is Back, Baby!

It is so true that you have to make time to have a hobby, well, a hobby other than white cheddar popcorn snacking while watching Top Model. In creativity it also takes staying in it, both in your own production of creative material and being inspired by seeing what others are producing, to stay sharp.

So, here is a new production of mine -- a new personal fave -- and a new inspiration, a fantastic photographer who I never knew until today. Interestingly, as I sometimes have happen, I found out about a great photographer through a digiscrapping thread.

Credits: overlay from Shannon Fahrnbach's Make a Paper Scrapbasics
paper from Audra Little's Family Traditions kit

Check out the beautiful photographic artistry of Irene Suchocki:
Irene Suchocki

Maple Syrup Time!

Outside the sugar shack

I love the soft borders between winter and spring that occur where I live: the snow melting into glistening water droplets falling from branches, the first chirps of returning birds, and the reemergence of the best sugar product out there, maple syrup. When I was a child I remember my first trip to the sugar bush and how a simple, delicious treat was created by pouring syrup on fresh snow; better than anything from a store. The tradition has continued with trips back to the bush with my own children: they are run in conservation areas and those are maintained by the sale of maple treats at the end of the educational tour. For kids, and their parents, there is no downside! In this case, I will own up: I used the auto setting on my camera because mother nature provided perfect light and Photoshop let me add the finishing touches once I was back home.

Enjoying maple lollipops

Winter's Beauty

In Toronto we are used to snow (and any Canadians from anywhere else can bite their tongues--I know what you're thinking), but this year has been exceptional. The last time I remember this much was more than a decade ago, pre-digital camera, when I shot beautiful photos of the piles taller than me with my Pentax K1000. It's been a banner year again for both snow and the easy, beautiful photos that come with it. Here is one to share and, later, to scrap; can't wait!

ISO 200, F3.6, 1/320th