Road Trip 2013 My Favorite Moments

The Play of Light in the Forrest

Ceanothes (Mountain Lilac) that are 20 feet tall

Lupines of every size and shade of purple and blue

Madrone Tree Along the South Fork of the American River

Look at Those Textures!

Boy Love!

Double Dutch Oven Cooking...Delicious Biscuits and Chicken!

A New Family Picture!

Another Family Picture!

This one just makes me giggle every time!

Summer Road Trip Part 3

Mineral King Valley

We took another hike the next day out of Mineral King Valley, Eagle Lake Trail.  It was stunning, but also steep.

Pretty sage covered hills were dotted with butterflies everywhere.

The following day we hiked about 3 miles on the Farewell Gap Trail towards Franklin Lakes. 

This provided beautiful views over the valley.

 

We also forged this stream and followed it up the mountain.
Along the way, gorgeous wildflowers covered the mountain sides. 

Western Columbine

Sulfur Buckwheat, I think

Blue Flax

Indian Paintbrush Mixed with Buckwheat

Scarlett Bugler

Blue-Eyed Grass

Too Many Beautiful Flowers to Name

I will say that Mineral King was originally set out to become a ski resort, developed by Disney. However, this was the first time that the Sierra Club was able to prove that time out in the great outdoors has an intrinsic value. 
Our trip would have been very different if Disney had come into the valley.
I think I like it better now...
Really and truly
America the Beautiful

Where we turned around. The distant V of the trees in the valley, is where we started the hike.

Summer Road Trip 2013 Part 2

Atwell Mill Camping and Atwell Hockett Trail

Mineral King Road, Sequoia National Park

We headed out for a shorter trip this year than most, but I ended up with more pictures than usual.  I think that says it all.  Mineral King, although difficult to get to, is truly nature's masterpiece.
We drove up Mineral King Road 10 miles to Atwell Mill Campground.  Along the hundreds of turns along the dirt road, we had somehow managed to get a flat tire.  This is, of course, miles from plumbing, much less road assistance.  Thankfully, we traveled with my sister and her family this year.  The guys were able to drive down the crazy winding road, get the tire fixed, and make it back just after lunch.


Just One of the Many Stumps to Climb at Camp

Oh Yea, Gotta Jump!





Meanwhile, my sister and our kids enjoyed exploring the campground.  Atwell Mill was logged, so there are Giant Sequoia stumps littering the camp sites.  What could be better for a morning of exploration, climbing, and hiking?  The beauty and fun of it all filled our time so much so that we were surprised to find the guys back so quickly.


Saw Deer Everyday at Camp



Saw the Bear One Evening
 (sorry, it was pretty dark)

 We encountered wildlife at camp, a deer visiting every morning, sporting fuzzy velvety antlers. We also had a visit from a large Black bear one evening...thankfully he was more interested in the local vegetation than the visiting campers. The bear did stand up on his hind legs once and I don't want to see it again...
it really gets the heart pumping!

Hiking
At our first moment, we hiked part of the Atwell Hockett Trail.  It is a long loop (too long for my 5 year old nephew), but we ventured out about 2.5 or 3 miles down the trail through the downed Sequoias.  Along the way we found a few of the giants still standing...some even had tunnels all the way through them...






We also crossed over four cascading streams along our journey. 

Could a hike be any better with a view like that?

The cascading falls went on, pool after pool.  They went on as far as you could see up the mountain and as far as you could see down the mountain.  So beautiful!

Summer Road Trip 2013, Part 1

Coloma, CA  (Marshall Gold Discovery Park)  

Coloma, CA a Historic Town Filled with History

Our road trip this year is too good to fit in one posting, so I have written three.  Hope you will indulge me...

We first visited the Foothills of Tahoe to visit my BIL and SIL, visit the Marshall Gold Discovery Site, and do a little panning for gold ourselves...


No lobster dinners bought with our findings, but the treasures of time with the family were priceless...


Replica of Sutter Mill, where gold was discovered in CA



South Fork of the American River

Baby Boy Card

Not so Baby-ish Baby Card

The recipients of this baby card are not the "cute baby card" type of people.  The card needs to be edgier and more hip.  So I opted for using a paper designed for older boys, somehow it is perfect for this family.  I chose a Simple Stories Awesome 6 x 6 pad for the patterned paper.  The cardstock is from scraps.  There is some Bazzil (cream and brown), there is some Stampin' Up (Orange).  Not sure about the teal.  The ribbons are both from Stampin' Up.  The letter stickers are from Prima.

To add a gift card, there is an envelope on the inside of the card.  I made it over sized because gift cards are such varied shapes and sizes these days.

The ribbon makes it a bit thick to send through the mail, but this one is to be delivered by hand.

There are many layers on this card.  The flags on the front of the card are cut from My Favorite Thing's First Place Award Ribbon Die-namics.  I love how versatile that set is.  I have made flowers from it, pendants, flags, and, of course, first place ribbons.

I even decorated the envelope!

Peony Fairy Box

Purple Fairy's Home

In Progress

Overall, the Purple Fairy is going to be living in a wooden wine box that I am converting into a perfect habitat for a fairy.  Think whimsically creepy...coining a new turn of phrase here, but it does describe the aesthetic I want. I am making a bunch of paper flowers and layers of grasses.  Adding to the creepy part, the box will be embellished with doll arms and legs and clock cogs.  In the vein of being true art, I am addressing issues of being feminine in the modern age. 

Okay, enough of philosophy, back to color and fun!

Work in progress...nothing is glued down yet..
I'm adding tons more layers and backgrounds to bring in the creepy elements

I used Studio 490 Alphabetically Art stamp set to make both the large peony and the smaller peonies.   

    

Each of the smaller peonies are five of the small flowers from the Alpha set, layered up and curled to make the flower shape.  I love these little flowers!  I even made a couple flower buds using a single flower stamp.

The daisies were stamped in Memento from Studio 490 set Funky Flower Art.  I hand cut each one and layered up four of them to make each daisy.  

There are four layers of grass that I will glue into the box to make several dimensions.  And it will make a little pocket for the fairy to stand in, as well.  Each of these layers is made of three different green colors of cardstock.  I hand cut out each one!

 

Look to future posts as I am still in search of all the embellishments I need to make that whimsically creepy vibe I want.  Plus, I think Secret Garden from Graphic 45 (I think available after CHA) will have some patterned papers that would make an ideal background for the box.

Peony Fairy for Me

Purple Peony Fairy

I love these little paper dolls that I had to make one for myself.  If you remember, my niece got the other three that I had made.

This little lady is made in my favorite color, purple.  I used some scraps, so I am not sure of the brand of paper, but think it is Stampin' Up Eggplant Envy.  She is made up of nine layers 9 of the peony flower stamp from Studio 490 Alphabetically Art.  I added a small amount of highlights from my Copics.

Adding her clip art wings, face, arms, and legs.  I got these from my favorite library of clip art.  Here is the link.  It is for teachers and is free for use if not making the items for sale.

http://etc.usf.edu/clipart/sitemap/sitemap.php

 I added Copics to her face, because it was black and white, while the arms and legs were skin color. I used the Copics to match the two.  For the wings, I have a couple of wing stamps, but I like the ability to re-size them to perfectly fit my little paper fairy doll. 

She is just so fun...

but where can she go? 

She needs a little home....