Photography By Cynthia Mackowick

Part of what Cynthia likes to capture in her photography is what she and her father started doing when she was a wee little one.  They would travel around the countryside in southwest MN looking for abandoned houses and farmsteads.  To this day, the excitement of seeing these abandoned or neglected properties is beyond any words that could be written.  He would remind Cynthia that there are stories behind these places and sometimes, they would even make up their own.

In her words

I am fortunate to have found someone who can share the excitement of back-roading and photography with me; we tied the knot last November.  Dan always has a way to make me smile.  We share our home with two adorable, stubborn, and mischievous Dachshunds – Tindra and Audrey.  They become very excited, and somehow know, when they get to go on a photography outing with us.  We are proud to be owned by a Dachshund or two 🙂

Photography allows me to view the world differently as there is beauty all around us.  With creativity, beauty is in the eye of the beholder and sometimes this allows us to turn any ordinary item into a piece of art.  I encourage you to open your eyes and see the beauty around you in everything and everyone.  

To read the stories behind the photographs and photographer visit Cynthia’s blog or website.

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DIY Basic Watercolor Flower

i Recently, I was thinking about how important details are in artwork. For my most recent DIY projects, I’ve give you an overview tutorial on how to make each craft. What I’m going to show you for this one is the details for a watercolor flower. It didn’t take long and you could add so many more flowers to this one to turn it into something lovely. The flower is very basic so there are no excuses here!

Things You Will Need:
Cardstock*
Paintbrush
Paper towel
Watercolor paint

*Watercolor paper is preferable, but cardstock is more common. Either will work. You can find them at craft stores like Michael’s.

Step 1
Wet your paint and dip you brush back in the water. Then, lightly dry it on the paper towel.

 

Step 2
Paint the petal. The color should be very light like in the image above.

Step 3
Dip the brush back in the paint, then lightly dry it on the towel again. Paint your second layer like in the above image.

Step 4
Dip your brush back in the paint. This time, don’t dry it. Just paint a thin line around the edge of the petal to create a shadow effect.

Step 5
Repeat steps 1-4 for the remaining petals.

If you’ve had enough, you can start painting some accent elements like vines or leaves.

If you think it looks a little rough, you can outline it with a black sharpie. This helps to clean up the lines and give some detail.

Let me know what you think! Did you like this tutorial? Would you like to see more of these types of tutorials?

 

Trip to Phipps Conservatory in Pittsburgh

Phipps Conservatory in Pittsburgh

My mom’s birthday was last week so my family and I decided to take a trip to Phipps Conservatory in Pittsburgh. My mom LOVES plants (that is no understatement). They are all over my parents’ house, so I knew she would thoroughly enjoy the 17 botanical gardens at Phipps. I had never been there, but I have seen picture that friends taken. It looked beautiful, but was nothing compared to the real thing.

There was an artist exhibition while we were there as well, and you know I wasn’t going to miss taking pictures of that. All of the pieces were glass sculpture variations created by artist Dale Chihuly. Check out his work, it is fantastic. You can check out more of his art in the botanical gardens as well.

Below are some cool shots I got while we were walking through, but if you ever make it into the area, you have to check it out for yourself. Pictures don’t do it justice. I apologize for the lack of descriptions in some of the captions. I’m really not a flower person and don’t know the name of some of the plants, so “pink flower” had to suffice.

Spiral glass sculpture by Dale Chihuly

Red tulips

Orange tulips

Instrument fountain in gardens

Daffodil

Hand painted instrument. I think it’s a cello. It was larger than a violin but smaller than a bass.

Flower garden close up

Flower garden

Close up of instrument fountain. It actually lit up and sprayed water out of each instrument. Pretty neat!

Glass sun sculpture by Dale Chihuly

A tequila plant. Yes, this is the actual plant we get tequila from.

Sausage spurge cactus

I don’t remember what kind of cactus this is, but the arms looked pretty cool.

Golden barrel cactus. Supposedly, you can cut this open and get water from them.

Americana cactus. This is probably the coolest looking plant I’ve ever seen. It looks prehistoric or something.

More of the americana cactus.

Some type of cactus

Rock fountain with fish

Outdoor garden. It looks like something out of the movie the Secret Garden.

Another phenomenal sculpture by Dale Chihuly

Banana tree

In the train room, there were set ups like this where dinosaurs were taking over. Made me laugh.

Train Room

Train room, again

Glass reed sculpture by Dale Chihuly

I have no idea what this is. So I’m just going to call it an orange and pink flower.

Yellow flower

A butterfly in the gardens

Wart fern

Dedrobium anosmum plant

Pink flower

Speckled pink flower

White flower

Phipps Conservatory right side

Phipps Conservatory right side

The Hemloft: The Ultimate Tree House

Who doesn’t love a tree house? You can’t honestly say that you didn’t make a tree house as a kid, right? I hope not. I was always climbing around when I was little and making tree houses was one of my favorite past times. This tree house is waaaaay beyond anything I could’ve dreamed up though. this is just proof that you should never let go of your childhood hobbies. As an adult you can make them so much greater.

This tree house is better know as the Hemloft. It is a “secret” (and I put that in quotes because it can’t be a secret if there are pictures on the internet) tree house deep in the woods of Whistler, Canada. The maker used plywood ribs to make the frame and scavenged wood to fill in the rest. To learn more about the Hemloft, check out the original post on My Modern Met.

DIY Beaded Wire-Wrapped Earrings

I haven’t made earrings in a while so, I made some wire wrapped earrings for this weeks DIY project. These are really easy to make, and only took me about 20 minutes. Please ignore my chipped nails…

Things You Will Need:
Wire
Pliers
Beads
Earring clasps
Earring hooks
Thing-a-ma-jig*

If you’ve used a Things-A-Ma-Jig, you can find them at Michaels. They’re great for any type of wire wrapping or beading.

Step 1
Using your rounded pliers, form a loop in the top of the wire.
(Please ignore my horrible nails.)

Step 2
Set up your Thing-A-Ma-Jig like the above image. You can leave the large bottom peg off the board. I just forgot to take it off.

Step 3
Wrap your wire around the pegs so it looks like this. When you’re done with this part, take off the wire and flatten it a bit.

Step 4
Add the bead and put a small downward bend in the wire.

Step 5
Put another look in the bottom of what is soon to be your earring.
If there’s extra wire, clip it off at the top of your loop.

Add on your earring clasps and hooks, and you’ve got yourself some cute earrings! They’re so much better when you make them yourself.

Hope you like them! Happy crafting 🙂

Weekend Vacation in Cook Forest

If you live in or around PA, you should spend a weekend in Cook Forest. It is one of the most relaxing, non-commercialized areas I’ve ever visited. It is a national park with plenty of camping areas, bed and breakfasts, and a few hotels. I guess I should preface this with, if you don’t like being outdoors, maybe don’t try vacationing here.

What is Cook Forest
Cook Forest is a great place just to get away, even if it’s just for the weekend. There’s no cell phone reception so, even if you want to reconnect with the world, you can’t (unless you need it so badly that you’re willing to drive about 15 miles to get it).

My Experience
My boyfriend and I spent the weekend up there at a lodge called Clarion River Woodland Lodge and it was awesome. The lodge is a combination bed and breakfast with a restaurant and bar. The chef there made the some of the best food I’ve ever tasted (including pork belly mac and cheese, Dr, Pepper braised beef short ribs, Carmel Apple pork chops, bacon or duck fat fries, etc. not to mention the fantastic Easter buffet). Breakfast was included in our stay, and it was within a few miles from some great hiking trails.

The best part? We were in great company. We met some very nice people (some of which stayed at the Clarion River Woodland Lodge, all who worked there, and some nice people on the trails) while we were up there that really made the whole trip for us.

I really wish I could share pictures of the lodge, but I didn’t take any. I know, shame on me 😦 but we will be going again so I’ll be sure to take some then. Here’s some shots from a 7 mile hike we took yesterday.

Garden Party DIY Roundup

Check out these great summer garden-inspired DIY projects!
They range from grassy coasters to mood lighting. All are very crafty and look pretty easy to make. Let me know what you think!

M&J Blog

The early spring flowers have finally emerged in all of their glory, making us forget all about our love of comfy, cozy socks and hot soup. Now we want to play in the great outdoors! We’re ready to entertain outdoors, and happen to have beautiful spring flowers on the brain. Here are a few ways to make your next gathering into a garden party that can’t be missed!

These coasters from Sincerely Kinsey are a simple way to add some garden greenness to your day when the April showers are still in full effect.

Make a big balloon even MORE magical by wrapping the string with floral trim. It’s a simple, but effective way to make any fairy princess smile.

These napkin rings from Scissors and Spatulas are great for Easter, and for your garden party!

Mood lighting is essential to any good party. These floral votives from Hello…

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