Bird on lamp post

Not a hummingbird or a hawk, but still, a fun bird to photograph. Too bad the VR setting on my camera wasn't set right, so all my pictures were slightly blurry. Thankfully, this one came out clearly.

Experimenting with background stamps

After enrolling in the Stretch Your Stamps class, I dug through my background stamps and made a couple cards:

Cards using DeNami stamps

I recently won a blog contest over at the Denami Design Blog, which gave me a $50 gift certificate for their online store. I bought a few stamps with my winnings, and this is what I made with them:






I couldn't resist the fruit stamps, seeing as it's summertime. And aren't the Chickies so cute?

Visit from a hawk

Another bird of prey visited my yard again. It looks about the same shape/size as the previous one, but with different coloration. I hope to see this bird again, because it was quite the magnificent sight.

More hummingbirds

This particular hummingbird was quite patient with me, allowing me to take many pictures of it in my backyard. It helps that the yard has so many African lilies, which do a wonderful job of attracting (and distracting) birds.

July 4th Moon

The moon looked stunning the night of (America's) Independence Day.

Fireworks (July 4th)

Here are some more pictures from my family's fireworks celebration. All of these were from fireworks that have been sitting in our garage for about a year now. (We had a lot of stuff leftover from last year.) I'm surprised how potent they still are.

Light Painting (July 4th)

For July 4th, my parents and I had fun setting off fireworks in our yard. Somehow, it's legal in our city, and it has been for the last couple of years. However, we had the most fun with sparklers, because of the ability to do light painting with them.

My dad made a heart for my sister, who is studying abroad and thus can't celebrate American holidays here with us.



My mom and I did some light painting together. For those who watch Avatar: The Last Airbender/The Legend of Korra, this looks a bit like fire-bending.



The three of us went crazy, making all the shapes we could, in the time the shutter stayed open. This was the result.

Backyard buddies

I found more glorious creatures in my yard.







After spending so much time photographing quick-moving bees and hummingbirds, I needed a break, a way to relax. This snail didn't seem like he was in much of a hurry, so I got this photo of it moving on its merry way.

Apples

Apples, a photo by jupigare on Flickr.

I took a lot of pictures in my backyard yesterday (i.e., July 2nd), but I haven't had the chance to sort through them all yet.

So, I just picked out this picture to share: a pair of apples. They're either gala or Fuji apples (I can't remember), and they haven't fully ripened yet. I can't wait to eat them!

Beautiful Birds

I always find beautiful things in my parents' yard here in Northern California. Sometimes I see hummingbirds delight in the nectar of our flowers:



And other times, I see a bird of prey (a hawk, I think?) soaring around:

A Thing a Day

I've had this blog sitting around for a while now, but I haven't bothered to add content to it. Since I tend to be too lazy or busy to keep up with blogs (I've been trying for a decade now, and none last more than a year before I give up), I thought I'd wait on this one until I had a plan of attack: How can I regularly contribute to this blog with minimal fuss?

For the next six months, I'll try to contribute a thing a day, with each "thing" being something creative, typically a craft project or a photograph. I might add a bunch of things one day, or I might schedule things to spread them out to fulfill my 1 thing/day quota, but regardless, I'll try not to skip any days.

I haven't figured anything out for today yet, but when I do, I'll be sure to post it here.