Wordless Wednesday: Zentangles

      Recently I have discovered the joy of drawing zentangles and in the process reawakened the artist that I have kept hidden for years.  It seems only fitting to share one of my first zentangles with all of you.  A special thank you to Laurel at Alphabet Salad for inspiring me to dust off my artistic skills and rediscover why I used to be so passionate about my art and how much I truly enjoyed it.  I just couldn't resist giving this art form a whirl.  It called me like no other has in years and I am glad I answered the call.  Needless to say, there will be more drawings where this one came from!

7 Favorite Photos

I am taking part in “The Write Tribe Festival of Words 1st to 7th September 2013". 

      Over the last year or so I have become more fascinated with photography and getting the perfect shot.  Last Christmas I got a new camera and since then I have been compelled to capture the perfect shot.  I have shared many of these as Wordless Wednesday submissions and carefully sifted through my files to select some of my favorites for today's post.

     I was especially excited to test out my new camera when the 4th of July celebrations rolled around this summer as there was a special setting for fireworks and was thrilled when I captured this burst of color that lit up the night sky.

     I enjoy zooming in on the world around me and nearly fell on my face while bending over this little guy gathering nectar from this purple flower.  This picture is one of my favorites because of the exquisite details.

     I captured this bunch of blooms one day when the kids and I walked to the neighboring elementary school's playground so the kids could play.  I took my camera and zoomed into the blooms on one of the trees.  Then I used the focal zoom tool in Picasa to achieve the amazing effects you see here.  I simply love the end results!

     One evening the sky was so orange.  It looked straight out of a science fiction movie and I had to get the picture.  I was even more thrilled with the results because it reminded me of that scene in "Gone with the Wind" where Rhett and Scarlett are fleeing Atlanta.

    One day I was out taking pictures in the floral department at Meijer and I captured this beauty of a bouquet of carnations.  What made this photo unique and one of my personal favorites was the focal black and white effect I used in Picasa to create this effect.

     Last but certainly not least is a photo I took last fall.  I simply love how this shot captures the beauty of the fall colors and how the leaves are gathered together at random on the sidewalk.  Still, the boldest most vibrant and most beautiful leaf stands alone.  I love the composition of this shot!

   Oh my, I need to learn how to count!! I forgot the 7th one!!  So here it is with my apologies to those who stopped in before I realized my goof!!  This final photo I almost fell flat on my butt trying to focus on the moon.  I got a lot of blurry shots, but somehow I got lucky and captured this one!!



    I hope you all have enjoyed this wordy Wednesday full of favorite shots from all seasons!

   

Wordless Wednesday with More Words!!

     It is the 10^th day into the Ultimate Blogging Challenge and just look at this girl go!  True I usually wait till the end of the day for inspiration to post, but hey!!  I am posting and I am still in the game!  Normally I would just get all slap happy and slap up some photos for Wordless Wednesday and be done with it.  Unfortunately the whole point of the challenge is to “WRITE” each day so being a lazy ass will never do!  Besides last week’s wordless Wednesday with words seemed to be quite the hit so here we go again!!

     I will have to admit that my 4^th of July was one top night.  I had all the ingredients for a great holiday.  My little family was all together, we had awesome food to fill our guts to the brim, and we even had fireworks to blow up.  Of course, I was outside with my camera focused on the sky catching any stray fireworks and then catching candid shots of my kids acting nuts and having a complete blast.

     
 
    Remember how fun sparklers were?  We bought enough boxes of those things to fill my kids with glee.  As the night progressed, mixing fire with pleasure and then documenting the moment provided some crazy shots!!  My kids were in top form trying to look as demonic and nuts as they possibly could.  From directing an imaginary symphony to acting out a full blown wizard duel, my kids had a blast!   I laughed so hard at their antics I almost peed my pants!!

       One of the wildest pictures was this one of my son.  It almost appears as if a paranormal figure is in the picture right beside him!!  Talk about freaky!!  We all love watching paranormal investigation shows around here so the appearance of this in one of the photos really sparks our imaginations.  Some of those shows are total rubbish being more hilarious than serious, but I still can’t stop watching.  I love them!!  I believe in the possibility of ghosts so this picture really intrigues me!

   
     Of course, I also managed to capture some amazing shots of the pyrotechnics and couldn’t resist sharing some of those too!!  Another blog in the books!