Wishing you a lovely Easter today!
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Posted by Patty Bennett on April 16, 2017 at 12:02 AM in Family, Garden, Photography | Permalink
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If you follow me on Facebook, you probably saw the fun pile of pine wood boards that my neighbor left by my front door. Many of you asked what I was going to do with them? Well, they are for the backgrounds of my blog post projects!!
HOWEVER, I came across a little issue.... the pine is so "yellow" that it fools my camera and it makes all the photos really yellow, which require a ton of photoshoping to make them look better.. so.. I decided to buy some paint and start painting and distressing the yellow-ish pine boards to make them look more interesting and a little bit like they'd been weathered for a long time!
The boards were single left over pine planks from who knows what project.. and my neighbor (handy-dandy woodshop neighbor) glued them together into larger pieces.. he sanded them and did the beveled edges on them too!! It's so great to have handy friends!!!! :)
You can see from the photo below, that the pine boards I found in our garden shed, are quite yellow, and after my "distressing process" I managed to make them all look totally different!
I really should have looked on Youtube before I started this process, but I just dove right in with some bottles of acrylic paint, old paint brushes, an old toothbrush, foam brushes, sand paper and old rags.
It was about a 3 day process as I was trying to get the house decorated for Christmas at the same time, and couldn't devote all my time to this project.
My (totally amateur) process to distress the wood:
Notes:
For the blue ones, I started with white paint and added blue, then added more white
For the light ones, I started with white paint and added hints of gray, black and brown (with a very dry brush)
For the dark ones, I started with brown paint, and added white, gray and black paint
On some of the boards, I dipped my rag into water then into paint and kind of washed over the boards.
I basically experimented with every possible combination I could think of. :)
When I am ready to photograph my craft projects, I place them on a board and take photos, as you can see below:
I experiment with different boards depending on the color and size of the project, then crop the photo and add my watermark as shown below.
Above and below:
Examples of different wood backgrounds for my Merry Medley Christmas gift bag projects.
I stamped the Kraft gift bags with my Merry Medley background stamp and decorated them with some Warmth & Cheer designer paper for easy and fun holiday gift bags!
Thank you for visiting with me today!
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Posted by Patty Bennett on December 05, 2016 at 12:25 AM in 2016 Holiday Catalog Stampin' Up!, 3-D Projects, Background Stamps, Christmas, DIY, Patty's Stamping Space, Photography, Stampin' Up! cards & projects | Permalink
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No tricks this April Fools Day... just some pretty spring flowers from my garden to share with you!
One of the things you mention to me over and over is that you enjoy photos of my garden. I'm so glad you enjoy them and thought I'd show you what's blooming so far this year!
In my garden, I grow mostly roses and alstromeria. You can see the beautiful yellow alstromeria above.. it's one of my faves! I think I have 4 colors of alstromeria. I love to cut it and add it to my bouquets because it lasts a LONG time in a vase!!
Above: This is a Peace rose.. it's very happy in the sunshine... there are dozens of buds ready to bloom on this bush!
Above: A bunch of sunflower seeds planted themselves under the bird feeders.. so this year I just let them grow.. they are already all in bloom!! Why did I think that sunflowers bloomed in the fall?
Above: This is one of my pink alstromeria growing up in amongst one of the rose bushes!
Above: I think this is Star Jasmine.. it sure smells wonderful when it's blooming! It climbs all along one of the back fences.
Above: Another Peace rose silhouetted against the shade...
And more happy alstromeria!
One of my backyard buddies was resting, watching me in the garden.. they are so funny...
Thank you for letting me share a little about me, and my garden. I get asked all the time what my secrets are for gardening and success with roses .. truly I think it's the San Francisco Bay Area climate - perfect mix of warm, cool, rain and sun.. and yes, I do talk to them.. not sure if that helps. I prune them sometime between Christmas and Super Bowl weekend (how's that for a funny schedule) and they are always still blooming so it kills me to cut them back, but boy does it make them come back with a roar of new growth!!
Have a great day my friends!
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Posted by Patty Bennett on April 01, 2016 at 12:02 AM in Family, Garden, Photography | Permalink
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Wishing you a beautiful day as you celebrate Easter!
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Posted by Patty Bennett on March 27, 2016 at 12:02 AM in Easter Ideas, Garden, Photography | Permalink
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Wishing you all a Blessed Easter.
This Easter Weekend, I am just sharing some photos from the beautiful trees in our neighborhood and some flowers from my garden... enjoy, rejoice, be thankful, smile, and spread some cheer this weekend...
I love to take photos of the Cherry Blossoms each March in our neighborhood.
Aren't they gorgeous!!?? I am thankful for God's beauty in nature!
And here is a quick collage of flowers blooming in my garden as of March 19th.
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Posted by Patty Bennett on April 04, 2015 at 12:01 AM in Garden, Photography | Permalink
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Today we are taking a break from crafting so I can share a fun day I had last week... one of the things I constantly hear from you is to please share more of my rose garden with you .. so today, we're talkin' flowers, roses, florists, lunch and more! :)
Last week I met some friends for lunch at the Powder Keg here in Hercules, CA. It's been open for many years and we've never been there.. so it was a fun experience! It is on the corner in a neat building that was built down at the waterfront .. made to look old but it's a fairly new building!
My friend Joy and I both tried the grilled crab sandwich... it was like grilled cheese for grown ups... grilled cheese and crab on the perfectly grilled sourdough bread!! I could seriously eat this every day!! (but then I'd have to walk about 10 miles a day!)
After lunch,I walked with my camera down to the waterfront (just at the end of the building) and took some photos... the fog was just clearing and it was still hazy.. but the bay is there in the haze.. ya.. hard to see. . but that's the Bay.. we are across the bay from San Francisco and Marin County.
On my way back up the street, I walked past a florist, turned around and decided to go in and see if I could buy some "filler" to go with my roses from my garden... boy am I glad I stopped in, because I met 2 of the nicest people EVER!!!
Meet Chance and Anna of Anna's Flowers of Hercules!!
Chance and Anna were prepping for a wedding the next day and I was just awestruck with the beautiful arrangements they were creating!! Oh my gosh.. so gorgeous! I asked if I could take photos.. then I mentioned I might just have to blog about them, and then before you know it Anna and I were posting photos of each other on Instagram and we felt like old friends by the time we parted ways that day!
Aren't these fall wedding centerpieces just amazing!? I am normally not an "orange person" but wow.. I loved these!
This was another one of the centerpieces:
Thank you Chance and Anna for a delightful visit!!!
So after we chatted for about a hour and a half (!!) :) I bought some filler for my roses and went home to cut roses from my garden.
These are some photos from my garden..
After cutting about 3 dozen roses, I brought them inside and made 2 bouquets.
Flowers make me HAPPY... just Happy.. that's all.
I'm just hoping that nobody tells my garden that it's November, because there are still about 50 roses out there.. I need to cut more.. maybe it's time to deliver some to the neighbors!
So we'll get back to stamping tomorrow.. thanks for letting me share my day with you.. hope you enjoyed the "detour".
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Posted by Patty Bennett on November 13, 2014 at 12:00 AM in Family, Garden, Photography | Permalink
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As part of our family traditions, we try to go to 1 or 2 Oakland A's Baseball games each season, and we really try to include a fireworks night. We went on July 3rd and the game was super exciting AND they won! Whohooo!! Can't beat that!! And we walked all the way around the entire stadium and found new food booths and found a corn dog for Eric.. so that was super exciting too! :) (ok, I'll admit it.. for me, it's mostly about the FOOD, and not the game) :)
I hope your 4th of July celebration was fabulous!
Enjoy our fireworks photos from the Oakland A's stadium!
I love my Nikon P510 camera.. it's a point n shoot and I put it on Fireworks mode and I think these snaps turned out great!!
Yep, that's the famous corn dog... it's a DOUBLE corn dog.. 2 dogs on the stick!!
I think it's so fun that they allow fans on the field for the fireworks show!
Have a great weekend everyone!!
Thank you for stopping by!
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Posted by Patty Bennett on July 05, 2014 at 12:01 AM in Family, Photography | Permalink
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Afternoon Birthday Trip to San Francisco
Several times each year we try to make a trip over the bridge to San Francisco.. we love "playing tourist" and taking photos, eating at a fun restaurant on Pier 39 or on Fisherman's Wharf, and doing a little shopping or at least window shopping!
For my birthday, I decided I wanted to take the afternoon off work and the 3 of us ventured over to the city.. stopping at the north end of the Golden Gate Bridge to take photos and then heading on to Pier 39 to walk around and have birthday dinner at Bubba Gumps! Thought you'd like to see some photos of our delightful day!
Thank you to the kind couple from Venezuela who took our photo!
I can never get enough of this bridge, or any bridge.. with my 19 years of experience in the architectural and structural engineering field, I developed a real love and appreciation for amazing structures and design.. bridges are one thing that fascinate me and I could look at them and photograph them forever!
There are tons of great photo opps on Pier 39 in San Francisco.. I love the marina and all the colorful boats!
Jason had a GREAT idea.. to get a little bag of the hot fresh donuts as an appetizer before dinner... did I raise this kid right or what!? LOL
We celebrated with my birthday dinner at Bubba Gumps, one of our long-standing birthday traditions.
Do you think we have enough shrimp between the 3 of us!? wow!! YUMMMO!
At the end of the pier there is a super clear view of Alcatraz... I probably have 50 photos like this but I still take this photo every time we are there!
We caught the setting sun just at the right moment.. thank you for a beautiful day!
On our way to the city we went over the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge and Golden Gate Bridge, and on the way home we went over the Oakland-San Francisco Bay Bridge.. I snapped this bridge photo with my camera phone so it's not very clear.. but I love this new bridge.. it just opened last year (replaced the section that was damaged and fell in our 1989 big quake).
Thank you San Francisco for yet another lovely visit! We will be back soon.
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Posted by Patty Bennett on June 07, 2014 at 12:15 AM in Family, Photography | Permalink
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Did you see the Lunar Eclipse on Monday night? It was really fascinating!! Since we live about a mile from the San Francisco Bay, we are often shrouded in fog, as was the case Monday night.. so my photos from the first hour or so of the eclipse were pretty "foggy"... but it cleared up in time for the full eclipse and the blood moon. It's soooo cool that this happens.. and of course what really blows my mind is the fact that scientists know when this will happen.. that's just sort of beyond my realm of thinking.. ya know?
I took this with my Nikon P510 point n shoot camera on a tripod. Isn't this just beyond amazing? LOVE it!!
I tried taking some pix with Jason's new dSLR but it doesn't have nearly the zoom that my point n shoot does (wish list: zoom lens for the Canon!), so these photos are pretty much from my Nikon point n shoot.. enjoy!
Pretty cool, right?
I documented the December 2010 Lunar Eclipse here if you want to see more pix.
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Posted by Patty Bennett on April 16, 2014 at 12:01 AM in Photography | Permalink
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From the Bennett home to your home, wishing you
Thank you to each and every one of you for your kindness throughout the year
and for visiting me here at PattyStamps.com
Wishing you a wonderful Christmas as you celebrate with family and friends!
Above.. some of our sweet Penguin Collection - do you love Penguins? check out my Pinterest board
I learned about this photography technique called bokeh a few years ago and always love to take photos of some of our ornaments every year like this..
May your Christmas be filled with
family,
friends,
love,
good health
and the sweet memory of the babe in the manger!
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Posted by Patty Bennett on December 23, 2013 at 11:00 PM in Christmas, Family, Photography | Permalink
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I hope you don't mind a little break from stamping projects today.. I wanted to share a fun part of our lives with you .. For about 15 years we have been feeding the birds and squirrels in our backyard. We thoroughly enjoy buying seeds and peanuts for them and watching them as they visit us all day long.
They have us trained, mind you... they come to the back sliding glass door and look in ... "hey you.. toss out the peanuts".... :)
They have come really close to walking right in the back door, but we have not let them.. it scares me to think of them going and hiding under the couch or something!
Collectively, Jason and I have taken over 500 photos of our backyard friends... I've made calendars and cards using the photos, and I always thought it would be fun to put funny captions to the photos.. so if you have suggestions for funny captions, leave me comments below my blog post.. who knows.. I might just end up using your comment on an upcoming funny squirrel project :)
Enjoy this fun photo blog post today featuring Jason's Squirrel photos... and a couple of mine, too.
When it gets hot, they love to do their spread eagle thing... too funny...
um ya... busted.. they sit in the bird feeders... a lot!
'
I think this is an award winning photo... what a silly squirrel!!!
yep, Jason feeds them by hand, too...
their favorite treat.. peanuts in the shell...
and busted again... sneaking seeds from one of the birdfeeders!
Do you have backyard friends? They sure do bring hours of pleasure and lots of smiles for all 3 of us. Thank You Lord for creating such adorable creatures to entertain us!
Have a wonderful weekend everyone!
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Posted by Patty Bennett on September 07, 2013 at 12:35 AM in Family, Garden, Photography | Permalink
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We always enjoy going to 1 or 2 Oakland A's Baseball games each season and usually try to pick a "fireworks night"... hope you enjoy these photos I took at a June A's game!
JUST ADDED after watering my roses and garden today... I thought my George Burns Rose Bush looked a bit like Fireworks! :)
Stay safe.. enjoy the holiday!
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Posted by Patty Bennett on July 04, 2013 at 12:06 AM in Family, Photography | Permalink
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You already know that my flower garden brings me SO much happiness,
and I am excited to share 3 bouquets of happiness today!
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Posted by Patty Bennett on June 29, 2013 at 12:31 AM in Garden, Photography | Permalink
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I have a few fun things to share with you today!
FLOWERS:
Thought you might like to see the bouquet I picked from my garden last week.. I think it's the prettiest one yet!!
I feel so blessed that I got my mom's love for the garden, AND I'm very lucky that we live in a great climate here in the San Francisco Bay area and that my plants are usually VERY happy! :)
I wish my mom were here to celebrate my birthday with me yesterday.. but I know she's smiling down from Heaven!
25 FREE EMBOSSING FOLDERS:
I challenged my Luv 2 Stamp Group to MAKE and SEND 10 cards to 10 special people in May. We are in the business of making cards and making people smile by sharing those stamped cards! I wanted everyone in my group to participate and told them I'd draw 25 names to recieve a FREE Embossing folder of their choice!! 56 participated and here are the names of the 25 winners!
I challenged my group to keep sending 10 cards a month - if all 225+ of us do this for the rest of the year, we will have blessed over 15,700 people with handmade cards!!!
FUN DAY ON THE BAY:
Last week we had the opportunity to board the Grand Princess cruise ship .. she was in port in San Francisco on her way to Alaska... we had friends who were sailing to Alaska, so we were able to do the "Bon Voyage Experience" that Princess offers and board the ship for the day and enjoy the superb service at lunch in the dining room and then spend a few hours on the ship! Here are some of the highlights from our 1/2 day on the ship.
Below: Grand Princess from the Bay Bridge, with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background
Below: Eric, Patty and Jason at Pier 39 with the Grand Princess in the background
Below: lunch in the dining room
best shrimp and avacado appetizer EVER!! and I mean EVER!!!
orange souffle for dessert... wow would I love that every day!
Views of the Golden Gate Bridge, Pier 39, Fisherman's Wharf and downtown San Francisco from the Grand Princess
Below.. this is the bridge we come over to go in to San Francisco.
In 1989 this was the bridge that was damaged in the quake - remember when a section of it collapsed? .. they are FINALLY building a new bridge! I think bridges are beautiful.. I can't wait to see the new span open and the old one demolished.
Below: After our short 4 hour visit on the ship, we walked up and down Pier 39 and watched the Grand Princess sail out of San Francisco bay and under the Golden Gate Bridge, on her way to Alaska!
Bon Voyage, Grand Princess!
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Posted by Patty Bennett on May 29, 2013 at 12:07 AM in Family, Garden, Luv 2 Stamp Group events, Photography | Permalink
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Wishing a Happy Mother's Day to all the amazing moms today!
Sending my warmest wishes and blessings to all the amazing Mothers in my life.. and a special greeting to my aunt Mary Jo and to my sweet guardian angel mom #2 here on earth.. Shirley. My Love and Thanks for all you do!
I loved the sunset lighting on these roses in my garden the other night.. this is my Nancy Reagan rosebush.. aren't they gorgeous!?
More Mother's Day flowers from my garden for you!
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Shop the Clearance Rack! Posted by Patty Bennett on May 11, 2013 at 12:48 AM in Garden, Photography | Permalink
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