May Note Card Party

By day the goldfinches dip in yellow flight, by night the frogs sing that song that never goes out of favor.

~E.B. White

A Report in Spring 

The collage reveals a secret or two and a cheat or two. (Secrets and cheats revealed: The flowers were all taken in the wee patch of garden shown on my box top. I used the macro setting and thereby tricked some into thinking I had a lovely clematis when what I really have is a patch of lavender and pink phlox with tiny blossoms. The lilac bud was, by a few days, a former photo and the new single lilac bloom peeking through the leaves is shown on the box top with my big fingers in there pulling the leaves away so I could get the shot. The final cheat is that I showed the coral bells on the box top, but not in the set of four. The color didn't quite work, though the plant does live in that same small patch of garden.)

Couldn't resist the call of the springtime garden even though that was not my first choice.

Trying Something New~April Note Card Party

Yes, I am so excited about trying something new that I nearly forgot to add the formerly used photo. 

Maybe I'll try it again and get good at it. Currently, it's something of a red hot mess. I think that you can best tell what I did in the "Thinking of You" card where you can see the horizon line. I didn't like that look and so my experiments took me to blotting that line, which is how I wound up with shadows and blotches and a generally muddled look. Ahhhh...the joy of trying something new.
Looking forward to seeing your note cards this evening!
P.S. If you visit the directions page *here,* you will find new buttons added at the bottom. Perhaps there is finally something for everyone.
 

Humble Offerings~Note Card Party

These days, life has slowed to that which must be done and I'm afraid that my note cards reflect it this month. Each is a former offering from 2011. My intent had been to look for photos taken around this date; however, I shouldn't have been surprised to learn that March is typically a slow month where I take few photos. 
Perhaps it is the teacher in me that leans toward seasonal offerings —— a rut if ever I've known one. That and to carry through on a theme is challenging for me.

~doily wreath and tulips~

~spring wreath~

~first spring visit to the garden~

~new maple syrup~

The photo above is my personal favorite because there's always something comforting about a pancake and syrup. John and I are hoping that one day soon there'll be the proper weather for the sap to flow. Our supply of maple syrup needs replenishing. Is the sap flowing in your corner?

Hope that you've had an easier time gathering photos. Though I tout this party as easy-peasy, sometimes it ain't. ☺

February Note Card Party

Certainly we are out of touch with the world here in snowtime. But many of our happiest memories are winter memories. Each day is a sort of triumph. It takes so much effort and planning merely to exist and keep warm. But see, we have been comfortable, we have been content! And each night we go to our beds with a sense of having truly lived that day.

~Elizabeth Coatsworth 

Guess that you can see what might be on my mind these days. Now to see what's on yours!

*Please review rules prior to linking by clicking on the Note Card Party button or the date reminder. Thank you!*

January Note Card Party

Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire; it is the time for home. 

~Edith Sitwell

Knowing that I am in need of comforts this week, I thought perhaps you might enjoy some, too. Comforts too often equals food for me. Wish that, like so many of you, I could get away with a bit of tea, a book, and a blankie. At least, thus far, I'm getting away with virtual food.☺

 ~banana bread~

 ~Kim's Lemon Crisps~

 ~ Sock-it-to-me Cake~

~salad preps~ With the exception of the box top sample cover, all photos have been shown before. 
And here we go heading into 2014 with this first Note Card Party of the year. Let's enjoy it!

December Note Card Party

Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful. 

~Norman Vincent Peale

~photo from 2011~

A package all the way from the UK brought the wee banner above and the Christmas ornament below. Someone has been crafting. I love them! Thank you, Linds ♥!

This calendar is a recent win at Donna's Cottage Days and Journeys. What a wonderful way to use one's own photography. Donna, you continue to amaze me!
And I'm so looking forward to your photography. The storm isn't coming in until later this afternoon so all will be well with the Note Card Party world.  

November Note Card Party

My note cards today are too seasonal by a lot, though this is where my mind is these days. Here it is after noon and I am just now composing this post. My original direction didn't work out so I started over this morning. Now I'm in the thick of Thanksgiving USA style. Please forgive me!

~old photo~

~recent photo~

~old photo~

~new photo~

The last note card I'd like to say more about — I love Pilgrims and have not been able to find any similar to the turkey or pumpkin seen here. I think I need to send John into the wood carving business. ☺ Anyway, I discovered this representation of John and Priscilla Alden done by George H. Boughton who was a New Englander who was born in England in 1833, grew up in Albany, New York, and at some point returned to England for the rest of his life. He painted many images of Pilgrims and Puritans. I love them! You'll be seeing more here in a day or two. They are quite highly romanticized, I'm sure, as Boughton lived from 1833 – 1905. I like how George thinks for no one knows what John and Priscilla really looked like. I'm sure that they were beautiful people. ☺

I'm very excited about the party today and will be visiting once I'm not the first to comment. I always appear so eager. I am!

October Note Card Party

*Printable Source*

Welcome to October's Note Card Party! All my photos are former and recent postings with the exception of the final photo taken this morning. Our autumn is fading fast depending upon the view. 

So looking forward to your offerings today!

Glass Bottles and Jars~August Note Card Party

Edited to Add: *BJ of Sweet Nothings* also has a post, which, through no fault of her own, she was unable to add. Wish I could sweet talk Mr. Linky, but since I can't...

If I could save time in a bottle

The first thing that I'd like to do...

~Jim Croce

The next best thing to saving time in a bottle is to take a photo. Photos usually bring back sweet memories.

 ~johnny jump-ups in a vintage perfume bottle~

 ~daisies and johnny jump-ups in a honey jar~

~spider lilies in vintage medicine bottles~

~drift roses in vintage canning jars~

With the exception of the first, which takes one back to June 30, 2011, all my photos are recent additions. I really enjoy re-tweaking my photos in one of the many photo edit programs. Eventually they'll become mud, I suppose. I added two frames in PhotoScape: Cali 7 and Note 3.

Looking forward to all the creativity I know that I'll find today! ♥I am very fond of my happy little group of Note Card Peeps.♥ 

Enchanted Garden Meets The Twilight Zone ~ July NoteCard Party

This month's party took me in a completely different direction from my norm. Perhaps being fresh from Donna's Personal Photo Challenge (see sidebar button) and Diane's black swan in particular, I was inspired to try something new.

These photos were first featured as a mosaic on a post called Enchanted Place. 

One thing that slightly annoyed me about the original photos was the way the light blew out because I had zoomed on my grandsons as they walked farther and farther away. PicMonkey helped me remedy that by filling in the white patches with a twilight sky.

Now the grands are walking in a twilight garden. I thought that John would say that it looks like The Twilight Zone (he uses that line a lot), but instead he teared up and said, "They are walking ahead of us into the future." Okay. That's about enough of the sappy stuff. *Sniff*

Inside each card, I'd print the poem stanza:

To See

To see a world in a grain of sand

And a heaven in a wild flower

Hold infinity in the palm of your hand

An eternity in an hour ~William Blake

Okay then, off we go!

Note Card Party~June

Won't you come into the garden? I would like my roses to see you.

~Richard Brinsley Sheridan 

~June 2010 as a header photo~

~June 14, 2013~

~June 7, 2013~

~June 14, 2013~

Make that lilies, roses, columbine, and peonies [to see you]. Three note cards came from this month alone. This means that I haven't been posting enough. I could tell you why, but it would be an exercise in exhaustion for us all. ☺

Our next party will be July 17. It's time to mark my calendar! Please mark yours because, obviously, I can not be counted upon.

Note Card Party~May

Welcome to May's Note Card Party!

This month, I decided to challenge myself by going way back to 2007 and 2008, back when my photography skills were even worse than they are now. I took each photo to both Photoshop and Photoscape. I hope I haven't made a bad thing worse. Let me show you the difference with the first one.

Owls Head, Maine

See a difference? By using effects in Photoscape, I was able to bring back definition to the trees. The original photo directly above makes the trees look all black. The first note card shows some trunks and boughs and even that little spot where one can see through the trees to the water beyond. 

Owls Head, Maine

Owls Head, Maine

Pemaquid, Maine

Now I feel that I've chosen all the fuzzy photos that I can handle for a while and so I'll be loading up photos as fast as I can for next month. ☺

Anyone who wishes to know more about the party and the rules (there aren't many), please click on the icon in my sidebar. It will take you to the particulars.

Looking forward to visiting you!