Picture of the Day: Purple Door in Dublin

Dublin, Ireland
6.2004 

Project Life: Outback Bowl

This past weekend I made my first layout for my 2013 scrapbook album chronicling our New Year's Day watching Michigan play in the Outback Bowl in Tampa. I had a lot of fun making this layout and hope to keep it up over the year. 

On the left page I enlarged a photo from the game, trimmed it to 12" x 12" and used a corner rounder on the corners. I made a title block with cardstock and letter stickers and printed the box score on white patterned paper to put underneath the title.

On the right page I just used a corner rounder on my photos and tucked them into the Design A pockets. Using some letter stickers and cardstock I added "Go Blue" in the top right corner. I also added a 6"x12" protector in between the pages. On the front I added my ticket and added my journaling.

On the back I made a map of our drive home (we went straight through after the game!). To make the map I drew a rectangle that was 6"x12" in PowerPoint. I did a screen shot of the Google Maps directions and then resized it behind the rectangle to fit the space. I then added captions with times for the points along our trip. I printed everything, then deleted the map and rectangle and printed it again.

I layered the copy with just the captions over the map copy and then traced the state lines with a black marker and the route with a red marker. I then used chalk to color in the map adding extra shading around the state lines.

Journaling
Frank is a huge Michigan football fan so there was no question about where we would be on New Year's Day - of course we would be in Tampa watching the Wolverines take on South Carolina in the Outback Bowl. Honestly speaking the Gamecocks were a better team than us but we had more heart and a lot of luck on our side so we were able to pull ahead in the fourth quarter for a second time with just a few minutes left on the clock. With just seconds left Carolina scored again and we lost the game. It was an emotional game and quite a heartbreaker since it looked like we could have beat the odds and won. January 1, 2013

Supply List
Blue letter stickers: Little Yellow Bicycle, Fresh Print Traveller
Large red letter stickers: Creative Imaginations, Be Merry ABC
Small red letter stickers: lily bee design, Picket Fence Collection ABC Stickers
White patterned paper: Basic Grey, Basics White Paper Pack
Blue and yellow cardstock: Bazzill

Are you making a 2013 scrapbook? What approach are you taking?

Picture of the Day: Fern at Melba Gully

Melba Gully State Park
Victoria, Australia
12.29.2008 

Making Masala Chai

I love drinking my tea sweet with lots of milk so when I discovered masala chai back when I was in college I was instantly hooked. It is such a lovely sweet and spicy drink and is definitely among my favorite beverages, especially when it is chilly outside.

Masala chai originates from South Asia and literally means "mixed spice tea." It is often referred to as chai tea in the West, but since chai actually means tea calling it chai tea is redundant.

Two years ago my friend, Pam, who spent time living in India, gave me a lovely present of some spices, black tea, a tea strainer and instructions for making masala chai. I had never realized how easy making your own was until receiving that thoughtful gift. As an added benefit it makes your home smell wonderful while you are boiling the spices.

There are about a million different ways to make masala chai (varying the spices, changing the ratio of water and milk, what step in the process you add the milk, steeping or boiling the tea, etc.) but I thought I would share a simple recipe that I enjoy which makes enough for about two cups. If you have never made masala chai at home before you can use this as a starting point and experiment to find what recipe fits your tastes.

Ingredients List
- 4 whole cloves
- 4 green cardamom pods, crushed
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 2 thin slices of fresh ginger
- 1 star anise pod
- 2 cups milk
- 2 cups water
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 2 tablespoons loose black tea (Assam, Ceylon) 

Directions
- Place spices, water, milk and sugar in a small sauce pan and simmer for 10 minutes

- Remove from heat, add tea leaves and allow tea to steep for 4 minutes 

- Pour masala chai into cups through tea strainer, straining out the spices and tea leaves

Tips and Tricks
- If you plan to make chai masala often I recommend buying spices in bulk at an Indian grocery which is much cheaper than buying small jars at the regular grocery (If you are in Ann Arbor I like Bombay Grocers)
- Have fun experimenting to find what recipe you like best! 

Picture of the Day: Cable Car View From Pão de Açúcar

Pão de Açúcar (Sugarloaf Mountain)
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
6.02.2007

Picture of the Day: Woman Selling Jewelry in Panjiayuan Market

Panjiayuan Market (潘家园)
Beijing, China
11.2008 

White Bay & My New Camera

I have a new camera: a Canon PowerShot G15. If you've seen my post about my cameras you might be wondering why I needed a new point and shoot since I already had a Canon PowerShot G12. Well the operative word here is "had".

My journey to my new camera began while I was visiting my sister in the Virgin Islands at the end of November. As part of an excursion we made to the BVI we stopped at White Bay on the island of Jost Van Dyke. Jost Van Dyke is relaxed and relatively untouched with only a few hundred residents on the island. In fact the island has only had electricity since the nineteen nineties.

White Bay is gorgeous. The sand is pristine white and the beach is lined with low palm trees and sea grapes. There is one catch, however; there is no dock. It's a wet landing so in order to get to the beach you have to swim in from your boat.

My sister had been to White Bay several times and I had been once before as well so we both knew the drill. On a previous trip I had swum to shore with my old Canon Digital Rebel over my head so I didn't think much of swimming to shore with my smaller G12 over my head. Below is the last picture I took with my G12 from the boat before disaster struck. I zoomed in and got this shot of my sister swimming to shore with our clothes in a bag over her head with Soggy Dollar Bar in the background.

I got in the water and started swimming a backstroke with one arm and my camera over my head to keep it dry. I had two issues, however. First, all of the spots to moor that were close to shore were taken so our boat was pretty far out making for a fairly long swim. Secondly, soon after I got in the water a wave caught me and I swallowed a bunch of water. If I had been swimming with two arms it wouldn't have been a problem but with just one arm and trying to get my breath while coughing up the water I was struggling a bit. One of the staff from the boat had fins on and was towing people to shore with a buoy. She saw that I was having a tough time and towed me in the rest of the way in. I was embarrassed but happy for the help.

When I got to shore I was feeling really sick from the salt water I had swallowed so I tried to throw it up in the bathroom with no luck. I ended up grabbing a soda and sipping on it to settle my stomach. I tried turning on my camera at this point and found out it was dead. When the wave caught me it must have also gotten my camera which was a big bummer. Luckily the shop behind Soggy Dollar Bar had some disposable cameras for sale so I bought one and my sister and I took a walk along the beach. The pictures aren't the best quality but not bad for a disposable camera.

In the middle of the beach where we came to shore is the famous Soggy Dollar Bar. It got its name because due to the wet landing the money that people use to pay at the bar is usually wet. Many of the people that come ashore stop here so my sister and I decided to head further down the beach where it was less crowded.

The walk along the beach was amazing. It was a perfect day with a brilliant blue sky and turquoise waves gently breaking on the shore.

Halfway down the beach we decided to sit down and relax at Gertrude's Beach Bar & Grill, a quiet little place with only a handful of people which was a nice change of pace from Soggy Dollar's hustle and bustle. I had a few more sips of soda and we watched the waves roll in.

We continued down the beach soaking up the sun and enjoying the beautiful views.

At the west end of the beach is a cute place called One Love Bar and Grill. We didn't have much time to stop, but I loved all of the buoys decorating the outside and couldn't resist snapping a few pictures.

At this point we headed back towards Soggy Dollar, meandering up the beach while I used up the rest of the film on the disposable camera.

We got a dry bag at Soggy Dollar to put the cameras and clothes in for the trip back which my sister swam with. Using two arms and having my lungs clear I had no problem getting back to the boat. I used the camera on my phone to snap a few more pictures from the boat before we pulled away.

Despite my camera mishap we had a lovely time at White Bay and if you are in the BVI I would definitely recommend stopping there. There is nothing like relaxing in one of the hammocks there under a palm tree. I might suggest getting a dry bag prior to your visit, however, to make bringing any cameras or clothes to shore easier. I definitely will next time!

As for my poor little G12, well, it was toast. Back at my sister's apartment we covered it in rice to try to dry it out but it didn't fix it. I think that it might be because I had tried turning it on earlier. Luckily my SD card was fine so I still had the pictures from my trip.

With my camera dead I decided to replace it. Since the newer Canon PowerShot G15 was fifty dollars less than the G12 I thought I would get the G15. It is a nice little camera and perfect for my needs of having a small point and shoot when I don't want to take my SLR with me. 

I've had it for about a month now so I thought I would share how I feel it stacks up with my old G12. Both have the capability to shoot in RAW format and have the ability to change settings manually to have more control over the camera than a typical point and shoot.

I really like that the G15 has a larger aperture lens (f/1.8–2.8) than the G12 so that I can take better pictures in low light. Since I take a lot of photos in dimly lit restaurants with my point and shoot this is great for me. The G15 has a 12.1 Megapixel sensor compared to a 10 Megapixel sensor for the G12 and the continuous shooting speed on the G15 is also a little faster which is nice.

The only downside for me is that the G15 has a fixed screen and I loved my articulating screen on my G12. As someone who is short and travels alone a lot the articulating screen was an awesome feature. In crowds I could hold the camera above my head but swivel the screen down so I could still see what I was shooting. Also, when taking my own picture by holding the camera out in front of me I could flip the screen so that I could see that I was actually in the picture and not cutting off my head. It is definitely something that I miss about my G12, but all in all the G15 seems like a great camera and I have enjoyed using it so far.

This has turned into a pretty long post so I will wrap things up with a quick summary: White Bay = gorgeous, sea water + camera = bad news and G15 = great point and shoot.

Have you ever had any camera disasters? Were you ever any place gorgeous with only a disposable camera to take pictures? 

Picture of the Day: Mountain Reflections at Grand Teton

Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming
9.26.2005

Scrapbooking for 2013

It has been years since I have done any scrapbooking on a regular basis. Once every few months or so I will try to motivate myself to make a layout or I will make a mini album for a gift but that is about where it ends. I used to love scrapbooking. It was a wonderful creative outlet for me and it makes me sad that I no longer keep up with my albums.

I stopped scrapboking for a variety of reasons. Initially I starting losing my motivation when I got divorced six years ago because I was depressed and struggling to figure out my life. Not long after that I moved to Japan, which was not conducive to scrapbooking with supplies not so readily available locally and shipping from the US very expensive. When I came home I struggled with adjusting to life back in the US and my living circumstances were different. In my scrapbooking heyday I was a small apartment dweller with no maintenance, but today I own a 1800s home that I have been working on remodeling. It is a ton of work which doesn't leave me with as much time as I once had when I used to scrapbook a few times a week. 

So what to do? I want to do more scrapbooking but I need something that fits better into my life as it is today. I decided to look into trying to make a Project Life Album this year. It seems like a lot of people use the Design A Photo Pocket Pages (page protectors with 4 horizontal 4"x6" pockets and 4 vertical 3"x4" pockets) and make a spread for every week but this approach didn't seem ideal for me for two reasons.

First, my life is not scrapworthy on a weekly basis in an even way. Some weeks when I am on vacation I would probably want to have more than one spread. When I am not traveling, my life is pretty boring and routine since I work a lot and live alone. Somehow, repeat weekly spreads consisting of me working 60 hours and eating spaghetti for dinner don't seem so interesting.

Secondly, while I like the idea of just slipping my 4"x6" photos into the pockets I have always loved using photo enlargements for my scrapbooking so using only the Design A Photo Pocket Pages seems like it wouldn't be ideal for my personal scrapbooking style.

I thought about it for awhile and decided to order a pack of the Design A Photo Pocket Pages and a pack of 12 x 12 Page Protectors. My plan is to have each spread consist of a pocket page on one side and a plain protector on the other side. I think this will give me the best of both worlds allowing me the simplicity of just slipping my photos in on one side and while also having the ability to use an enlargement with some traditional scrapbooking techniques on the other side. I'm also going to make spreads over the year as things come, not limiting myself when fun things are going on and not forcing myself to scrap every week. I'm looking forward to trying to some scrapbooking this year and am hopefully that this approach will help me do it.

Do you have any scrapbooking goals this upcoming year? Have you ever used Project Life for scrapbooking? If so, how do you use it?

Picture of the Day: Side View of the Temple of Heaven

Temple of Heaven (天坛)
Beijing, China
11.21.2008