We spent the day today traveling throughout Yellowstone National Park. Plenty of opportunities for taking photos!! The theme for today's challenge are clouds. I caught a great reflection of the clouds at The Great Prismatic mineral pool.

Beautiful!

This is 3/42 of the Summer Photography Challenge. Follow along here or on Instagram

I had fun fiddling around with this self portrait. Haven't done one in awhile.

As we toured Theodore Roosevelt National park today, we certainly saw our share of bison dung. But something unusual that we came across was this mushroom growing out of it.

This challenge is going to be fun.

This is 2/42 day summer photography challenge.

Follow along here and on Instagram

I've been missing in action on this blog for some time. Since December as a matter of fact! I admit I got caught in life but now that vacation is approaching, I am looking forward to getting back into the swing of things.

As I think about how to get back to my blog (because I have missed it), I took a few moments to figure out what exactly I use it for. I started it for art purposes but I have come to realize that my creativity goes beyond what product comes out of my studio. Creativity is something that happens on a daily basis, even if it is the quick snapshot that I tweak on my iPhone. This made me realize that the blog is just a means of sharing who I am and things I love/ like with others. And in those simple terms, I no longer am thinking of blogging as a chore, but rather a social media extension of who I am, what makes me create the things I do and everything around me that I enjoy.

So that brings me to tomorrow.

Tomorrow is the first day of my 6 week Summer Vacation Photography Challenge

6 week= 42 days

Everyday I am going to challenge myself to use my iPhone to capture something new or look at something not so new in a different way.

42 days of no schedules. 42 days away from my studio. 42 days of getting down and dirty with the kids. 42 days to try new things.

I'm looking forward to the fun! Tomorrow's challenge: Self-Portrait

If at anytime you want to join in, just post your picture on my art Facebook page.

www.facebook.com/Kathartsis

I started preparing for the arrival of our elf Freddie. The boys ask when he's coming everyday and I am a little excited myself!
After all, the look on their faces is just great.

He will make his arrival on Dec. 1 and will deliver little notes most days but every once in a while, they get a treat!

Most notes are simple thing telling them to put up the tree, eat dinner by candlelight or drive around and see the holiday lights. Some days Fredie pulls a little prank like the battle of Lego men vs. Toy Story stuffed animals.

For the treats, they usually get around 2. This year I bought a Brugger's Bagels
gift card and I haven't figure out the other one yet.

All in all, it's worth it all to have ink stained fingers for a little good behavior. :)

I won!  I won!  Bead World has a monthly bead challenge in which you buy a bag of pre-selected beads and create something with it.  AND I WON!

What a fun way to wake up and find out that you now have a gift certificate to spend on beads.  I know I'm excited! 

You can find the full blog article here.

I took my firt metal smith torch class today. I'm so excited with all the possibilities of metal! I got to make a few headpins and this cool ring. Can't wait to experiment some more.