I’ve added in a few of the 7 Gypsies Postale  Index Cards and decided to add in some Yellowstone Note cards I have that are by artist Linda Lillegraven at Big Horn Galleries. I love the idea of looking specifically for artist works in card format to add in to a travel journal.  To make them work, I punched the holes and then used a rectangular punch to make them work with the binder. I’m definitely going to keep my eye out for more artwork to include.

The next item in my album is the printout of the reservation confirmation from Xanterra. It’s folded almost in half. By doing this, it’s easy to include full 8.5×11 sheets of paper in the journal. I simply ripped out their logo from a brochure I picked up a couple of years back and just tore out the part I wanted to use. To tape it to the page, I used 7 Gypsies paper tape.

And I added in a chunk of the Field Journaling Notebook Paper (to be available for purchase right here at Field Journaling .com by the end of this month!) to round out the section. As I put all of it together, these pages will be mixed in with the other items entered. Right now they’re just sort of there in general order, but I’ll pull whatever works for wherever it seems to fit.

And another section – again using Marcee Duggar’s Designs to create the digital files for the tabbed divider sections. I have to say her designs print out reliably well and always look great!

Another 7 Gypsies Postale Index Cards – it’s likely more of these will find their way into this travel journal.

I have a couple of stickers I may use, but am waiting to see what other stickers I find on this next trip before deciding which one will find its home here in the center of this Hambly Herringbone Overlay.

I do like the way the colors work with the Old Faithful sticker – and the bears one with the hand out every car entering the park receives with the map and Park newspaper. The oranges work together pretty well, but if I find another sticker I like better, I have no problem moving that warning sheet to elsewhere in the travel journal.

And this section is also rounded out with sheets of Field Journaling Notebook Paper.

Part three to come next week…

I started with the base product of chipboard binder and field journal paper (photo shows the 125 sheet pack that will come with the base binder/paper set). The paper was inspired by the Grinnell method for Field Journals and is a nice weight. It has slightly distressed lines on one side, and is blank on the other – and is 6 1/4″ wide – making it feel roomy to work and write on. Because the lines are a light warm gray, writing in any color of ink really stands out. Also, the paper fits snugly to comfortably in other half sheet binders I’ve found.

The binder itself is 8 1/2″ x 9 1/8″ with a 1 1/2″ D ring binder clip that uses standard half sheet hole placement. I designed this to be small enough to be portable and yet roomy enough to fit the larger paper as well as some of the latest products that I’ve fallen in love with and want to include in this travel album. There’s no debossed logo on this deliberately, so it can truly become yours. Sign up over at the right there for news and discounts…you’ll need to come to the blog if you read this in a feed reader.

This is really my first mini album that feels like it’s coming together well. In the past I’ve scrapped mostly digitally, so this is my first attempt at more of a paper style. Not sure how I’ll like it, but there’s no way to really know unless I give it a full trial run. I already have a good collection of ephemera from Yellowstone which I gathered together. Many shops and stores in the gateway communities and in the Park have stickers that I need to keep an eye out for this time around as well.

I decided to cover the binder with a map, but wanted to soften if a bit. Digitally, I could do this in just a few clicks, but had to think a bit of how to do this with paper. I ended up buying some Martha Stewart paint at Michaels when it was on sale – for this project, I chose Summer Linen as a color.

And I added the numbers from Amy Tangerine’s Goodness Chipboard Stickers/Thickers. I also used some Paper Tape from 7 Gypsies to trim the edges. Not sure yet what will go on the back side of the binder. It’ll show itself soon enough, I’m sure.

Honestly, I’m NOT thrilled with the inside. Well, at least not with the top two stickers. Those may get covered up with something else, but it’s there for the moment. I suppose that’s just the learning curve with new stuff, so if it doesn’t change, that’s how it goes.

The bottom part, though, I LOVE. The quote is on a plaque up in the Old Faithful Visitor Center (actually many of the Visitor Centers in the park have quotes as word art – need to keep an eye out for more). I took a photo of it, straightened it in Photoshop and printed it out on my laser printer. Then transferred it to packing tape. You just stick the packing tape to the image – on this one it took three strips – then run the whole thing under water and rub off the paper. Simple. Once the paper is gone, just let it dry and the tackiness returns.  Underneath it, I put a couple of Clear Cut Shapes, Saturdays Collection from Little Yellow Bicycle – not tacked down in any way, and the transfer holds them down well.

I had a postcard purchased a few years back of some of the Mammoth Hot Springs – love the colors in it – which go well with the map. Together they inspired the color scheme I picked out – though I’m also fine if I find cool things that don’t quite match. I look at the color theme as not a requirement, but as a base to visually help hold things together.

Behind it, I punched holes to use one of the envelopes from the Ditto line by Hampton Arts.

Then it was back to Photoshop to create the Tabbed Divider pages (which will be a downloadable blank layered template for sale when the binders go on sale). I used Marcee Duggar’s products here (LOVE her work!) – mainly Bright Skies, but I think I also used her Gray Skies and perhaps one digital background from her Saturday Afternoon kits – This is my current favorite digital set I’m using in a lot of things.

More to come in part 2…

15 May 2012

Across the road I hear the ruckus made by the juvenile Clark’s Nutcrackers (aka Camp Robbers). The adults have been bringing them to various feeding stations in the area for a couple of weeks now. The adults are obviously good parents and have taken pains to show the kids how to live. For a few days at least they’ve been seen looking pathetic when an adult pays attention, yet manage to feed themselves fine when there isn’t attention. But today there’s a definite shift. The youngsters suddenly find no more assistance while eating. The response is a classic Extinction Burst – which typically happens right  at the start of the process, meaning this is an unusual bit of behavior I’m witnessing for this species. If the adult gives in, it actually reinforces bad behavior and makes the launching process even more difficult.

They try what worked in the past – a lowering of wings, a cry, an open mouth. The adult, distinguished with a white eye ring, doesn’t even notice or move for that matter. Maybe he didn’t do it right. Wings lowered further and shake them a bit, give a slightly louder cry, open the beak wider. Nothing. Again. Nothing. AGAIN! This time the cry is a shriek feathers are puffed out and the wings aren’t just shaking, but rather flail around – almost giving the perfect imitation of a wet dog shaking off water.

The adult flies off without a glance.

She’s good. Or maybe he’s good.

The cries actually increase in pitch and volume momentarily until the youngster follows and the adult turns to attack him. He pauses and yet follows again, but with a much more respectful request for food.

Thinking of all the graduates out there…and their parents.

Happy Tuesday!

The White-Breasted Nuthatches are still feeding the babies and still competing with me to be the first to get to the moths in the morning. The pace of feeding has picked up considerably this week. I can hear at least one baby in there, and possibly more.

We had snow again this week – bringing wonderful moisture and greening things up at a rapid pace. The spring snows melt at a pace the ground can usually soak up, making them welcome pauses in the speeding up to summer. The power did go out for a few hours – likely a tree or branch fell on the lines somewhere. At least it’s not the days like it used to be when we moved out here in the late 1980s. The aspen leaves continue to open during warm days and pause when it’s cold. The snow hasn’t damaged them at all. In fact, the temperatures hover right around freezing or slightly above. The hummingbirds – mainly male broad tailed hummingbirds – have enjoyed the warm (not hot) fresh food I put out for them on the colder mornings. Their numbers have increased, but not dramatically yet.

We know the Clark’s Nutcrackers (AKA Camp Robbers) successfully nested this year as they brought two fledgelings around that we and the neighbors have chuckled at. The youngsters don’t yet have white rings around their eyes and are comical to say the least – acting helpless when adults are around, begging to be fed and squawking up a storm, yet managing fine on their own when the adults fly off. On Thursday, one of them sat on the deck railing opposite the window I look out while at the computer – just watching me for quite some time. A juvenile squirrel does the same when zooming along the top rail toward the feeder. In both cases, we regard each other for a bit, then get on to the business at hand.

On the warm nights, the frogs can be heard even louder than they were before, and combine with the crickets to make the most delicious white noise to drift off to sleep by. One ridge over is about the perfect distance.

Mike saw a group of four bull elk on the way to work one day this week. He said they were all in velvet, but one had brow tines already almost a foot long and the main antler stems still growing out sideways almost two feet with no sign of being ready to curve upward yet – that’s a big boy!  Mike said it’s one of the largest ones he’s seen in this area excluding the herd on the Fossil Beds. One of the other three was also a nice size, with antlers going out about as wide, but his were already starting to curve upward. The other two were quite a bit smaller. Unfortunately, he didn’t have a camera with him at the time. With the deer, nobody in the neighborhood has seen any fawns yet, but all of them look pretty ragged as they shed their winter fur.

Driving up Ute Pass the other day, I noticed the lilacs and chokecherry bushes were all in bloom as high up as Cascade. That’s nice to know that they both bloom around the same time – at least this year – I’ll have to pay attention to that in coming years to see if that combination continues to happen. It’s nice to know when to start scouting for chokecherry bushes to note for harvest later on in the summer. It makes the best jelly!

The Douglas Fir trees are in bloom, sporting either magenta or chartreuse blooms. And the Ponderosa trees have the blooms starting to form – they are the ones that make my hayfever so miserable, but that’s still a few weeks away.

Have a great weekend! No formal link share this week – but do share your observations (and links to any posts you might have made) on what’s happening in your neck of the woods.

Base Binder & Notepaper to be for sale later on this month! Sign up for the Field Journaling News over there on the right for the latest as well as a special introductory price just for subscribers!

This week didn’t see me outside a whole lot as I had many deadlines to meet (or shift) that meant I was sitting here at the computer for a larger chunk of time than normal, but even busy, I managed to make a few observations. Some days I only headed out for 5 minutes or so, but that’s enough time to find something happening.

The nights are slowly getting warmer and we often can have the window open at least part of the night – and the other night I put my head close to the screen and listened carefully – and heard them. Frogs. Western Chorus Frogs. They’re in some ponds over one ridge from us, but their sounds echo all the way up to the bedroom window on these first warm nights. I’m always amazed at how much volume they can produce out of their tiny bodies. Those and the crickets singing are some of the sweetest night sounds of the spring.

Mike headed to some work up by Leadville for a couple of days and also heard these loud frogs up there. Also, the guys out that way said they’ve been seeing Moose in the upper Eagle valley on a fairly regular basis.  We have a few moose that have showed up this far south before – a couple of years back, a neighbor of ours saw the three that stopped traffic on Highway 24 just outside of Divide. I would be nice to have them show up around here more often – a nice compliment to the ecosystem here, I would think.

The White Breasted Nuthatches are still at work with the babies. However, I did see one of them yesterday evening sweeping something along the side of the birdhouse – but it finished before I could get the binoculars out to take a closer look. I read somewhere that they ‘sweep’ their home’s entry with nasty smelling beetles to keep predators at bay. I wondered if that was what it was doing. They still often beat me to the moths under the shop light in the mornings – or we’re out there at the same time. They show almost zero fear of me at this point and often come within inches of me as I quickly work to document who landed there overnight…and I suppose who will be their breakfast as soon as I leave. I do look on the bark of the tree next to the shop light for bugs where they start their breakfast foraging and haven’t yet seen anything, but they invariably come up with a few tidbits that my eyes missed. I’ll keep looking, though, as that’s the only way to train myself to see better.

Robins are out hopping along the ground many mornings, pausing to listen, then snagging whatever they do find on the ground to eat. I suspect they’re nesting again somewhere in the small valley or draw down on the shop side of our property, but I have yet to find a nest.

The carpenter ants are out and about and found often on the new aspen leaves which most of the aspens are now wearing – I’m amazed at how many insects can be found here in the spring.

The chipmunks are THICK as are the rabbits. One morning this week I counted 9 rabbits hopping about – well, it may have been the same one nine times, but seeing them that often means we’ve got to have predators find this cache sometime soon.

The deer move through every few days – it’s a group of 7 or 8 does and the largest, the ‘matriarch,’ is definitely looking pregnant as are a couple of others. We are looking at various places to move the trail cam to be more likely to catch them as we still are only getting domestic house cats who prowl the area for chipmunks and ground squirrels.

Last night something was on the deck sniffing at the trash can we’ve used for birdseed over the winter. I forgot to bring it in overnight last night and Taylor woke me up around 1 AM to let me know she was hearing something. By the time we got downstairs, whatever it was had left, but the dogs spent a good minute or so sniffing the deck and trash can. It was likely the raccoon as the lid was still on. I guess it’s time to wash that one out and move it to the shop and shift to something else for the feed that I still put out 1/2 C or so at a time. A few Evening Grosbeaks, Pine Siskens, the nuthatches (of all varieties) and the Clark’s Nutcracker usually come in the morning and eat most of it and finish it off throughout the day.

It’s bear season, and a neighbor of ours reported that a bear opened his garage door and got into their trash stored there. So, they’ll need to lock the garage door from now on as that one jackpot will remain in the bear’s memory for a long time.  We’re back on ‘bear time’ for the trash here – we have a dumpster, but won’t put anything that smells in until a couple of hours before the trash truck is due.

Kinnikinnik

As for the flowers, the first of the pasque flowers that have so far survived the deer are going to seed, looking very much like Dr. Seuss’ tuftula trees. The cacti are all in full bloom  as are the Kinnikinnik flowers, but the candy tuft is fading. I spotted my first ‘Pussy Toes’ in bloom this morning and have seen quite a few wild strawberry blossoms around this week – saw the first ones last Sunday or Monday.

That’s the nature news from this neck of the Colorado woods – what’s happening where you are? Not sure, head out and see!

Share a comment or link to what your observations!

This post also shared with the Rural Thursday Blog Hop.

Yes, Swimsuit season is around the corner and today while reading blogs, I yet again read another post about body image issues and I’m want to scream. Over the years I’ve had my fair share of body image issues as well – and now, my body doesn’t quite match where I am mentally, but I’m ok with it, because I realize the size and shape of my body isn’t the issue.

I swear that having Fibromyalgia has cured me of a lot of oddities in life – like I’ve always felt like I’m 90, so getting older hasn’t changed things much except other people accepting and understanding my limitations a bit better. And if they choose to not understand, then it’s their issue, not mine. But the pace I’ve lead my whole life is the same – so I’m not struggling as much as others I see who are now having their bodies force them to live differently. It’s taught me to pace myself gently. To shift and change things gradually. To expect results in months or years rather than days or weeks. To focus on the energy I have rather than the size or shape of my body. It’s taught me that attitude is everything. Focus on what you can do, not what you can’t. Find what works now and know it may not work tomorrow, but it does work today. Yes, it’s a bit Pollyannaish, but that’s the only attitude I can choose to function as fully as possible.

I’ve lost some pounds, and my clothes feel a whole lot better. But that’s not nearly as important as the fact that I feel better. I have more energy most days. I look forward to losing a bit more because I look forward to stepping into a pair of shorts this summer and having energy to get out and do more in those shorts. A swimsuit would work, too – if I had a place to swim.

When you first see someone, you do see the physical. But at least for me, after I get to know them, looks disappear and their character and personality quickly become the main focus. A gorgeous person is just that – surface. They will either become beautiful or ugly depending on their actions and attitudes. So when you find yourself tut tutting at yourself for the shape of your body, or how you move, what part of your personality are you helping and encouraging to flourish?  Attitude is a choice.

Audrey Hepburn had it right:

                             Happy girls are the prettiest.

So are nice ones – the generous ones – the honest ones – the ones overflowing with gratitude for the life they lead – the ones who laugh deeply at their awkwardness as they keep at it. Yes, get healthy. Exercise. Eat well. But don’t spend more time and mental energy on that than on your attitude. Find what makes you smile. Surround yourself with those things and fill your thoughts with things that lighten your heart. That will let you shine your authentic self to the world.  Stop hiding who you are under a blanket of self doubt and negativity. Those aspects of our personalities are strong enough as it is. Stop encouraging them to become stronger in your life. They need to sit down and be quiet. Encourage the aspects that need encouraging. Help those aspects step out of their comfort zone and enter life as fully as you can today.

Best example of late: (watch it again even if you’ve seen it)

Items used in these layouts (you may need to come to this post to see them if you’re reading this in a feed):

Monday’s Field Notes:

- alarm went off – much too early. We both slept well, but we both wished there was another hour or two of it to get.

- Lunch made, downloads of newspapers to the Kindle for Mike done, coffee in thermos – journal for a bit.

- blogs surfed, the streaming for the Old Faithful webcam was down. Breakfast of banana bread and milk. Hayfever is bad this morning.

- blog post written

- dressed and onto chores: trail cam, laundry, 10 min room rescue

- plan out the week as much as possible

- phone calls with mom and a neighbor – good to chat

- Blog post done, blog work (dashboard type stuff) done.

- surfing again – found out there’s going to be a firearms exhibit in Cody this summer: Winchester & Savage rifles. Emailed that to Mike.

- UPS shipment arriving today

- spent time catching up with the geyser activity over the weekend in Yellowstone – and watching the live streaming webcam that came back up

- shopped for digital kits for WITL layouts.

- UPS shipment arrived!

- FIRST HUMMINGBIRD HEARD (and seen!)!!!

- worked on setting up an online shop (lots to do there still)

- finished the cover for WITL

- Mike home

- Fed dogs, but Taylor refused to eat and looked miserable. Something’s wrong.

- Called the vet, regular one not in for after hours. Called another.

- Dinner – a quick one of just leftovers in the fridge.

- Met the vet at the clinic, x-rays showed TONS of gas – likely the stress of getting in the car helped push it through. No food for her tonight, but there were pills to help settle her stomach and ease the gas issue. Need to get her in sometime for a full blood workup and dental.

- Home. Clean  up a bit.

- Bed – the crickets are out! YAY!

- Something below the deck eating seeds – either a bear or raccoon??? Gone when checked. Back to bed.

Reflections on this process so far:

Today I’m done. I was going to do nine days, but life is zipping along at rocket speed and I want to get the week finished up and ready to print and assemble. This has been a huge boost to my project life process. Most of this will get duplicated in some way for it. It’s also a great way to get myself back in the habit of taking good field notes throughout the day. That will continue as it really helps me to identify the stories that call to me to be told. Those, when recognized, also get a photo taken somehow. I’ve also gotten more used to using the self-timer to take photos. This week and next will help solidify how I plan to work layouts and photos into my new Memory Keeping system.

This week, the week the aspens pop is always joyful, yet hard. I realized it’s when I need to make a shift to summer mode where I need to rearrange my routines to include all the outdoor things I want to add. Normally I get another few weeks, but this year, it’s here, and I find myself looking forward to the rainy/snowy weather this weekend to sort of regroup and get a few smaller projects done and out of the way.

The biggest thing this week of extra recording has reminded me is that documenting life (or anything else) must be intentional. That means scheduling in enough time to get it done. It’s a priority for me, so my schedule needs to reflect it. I need to stop trying to convince myself I’ll have time tomorrow or later or whenever…and to commit to making it happen.

Items used in the layout (you may need to come to my site to see the links if you’re reading this in a feed):

This is the weekend – for those of us who live in the mountains, it’s as lovely and wonderful as the peak weekend for watching the aspens turn in the fall. But since it’s not the same each year, depending on weather and such, it’s really almost a locals only affair. But if you’re around, this is the weekend to head to the hills to see all the brand new tiny leaves on the aspen trees. Yesterday, I kept an eye on a tree across the road throughout the day. It started looking pretty bare, but then dots of what might be green appeared, and then grew. This morning the leaves are definitely out. We had rain last night, so I’m writing fast to get this out so I can grab the camera and waterproof shoes and get out there.

Seven deer wandered by earlier this morning – each day I’ve seen them, their coats get more and more of that ‘morning hair’ look to them – the winter coats are letting go and starting to shed…as is the coat on our Samoyed. We passed four bull elk near the road last night and two still had antlers – both smaller ones. Mike mentioned he’s been seeing more elk lately out here closer to the house. And, one of the larger old ranches that the elk frequent is up for sale – sure hope someone buys it and keeps it as a large chunk of land rather than subdividing it.

In Bloom: Pasque Flowers still keep popping up, these later ones are a much deeper purple than the earlier ones. The ball cacti are all sporting pink flowers with yellow centers to them that attract nearly all insects around. Watching them even for five minutes brings a wide variety of insects in to feed. Candy Tuft give little white dots on the bare road cuts in the area and show up throughout pretty much anywhere you wander. The Kinnikinnik blooms are almost all fully developed. The showy loco weed has leaves up, and buds just starting to show. It’s dandelion season – you know, if you don’t keep deadheading them through the summer, they stop blooming. Ah, the advantages of NOT having a formal lawn.

The White Breasted Nuthatches are starting to compete with me in the mornings to check out the moths under the shop light. They know me and aren’t easily intimidated by me, and seem to notice when I’m out with the camera and come over and join me. On Wednesday, they pulled a few really quite large moths off of the Ponderosa Tree next to the shop while I took photos about a foot away. Once I finished, they zoomed in to gather the breakfast feast waiting there for them. This time all three were out, the eggs obviously warm enough given the bounty there on the tree and shop.

Over 50 of these were under the shop light on Wednesday morning

This type of moth has been the most numerous each morning. Sometimes seven or twenty, but on Wednesday there were over 50 of them. It was the first night that the low stayed above the 40′s and it must have been perfect conditions for them.

And we had this pretty one there as well – only one of its kind that morning:

So what’s happening in your neck of the woods? Share a link or leave a comment!