I Thought It Was Spring?

It’s snowing again
I thought it was spring?

The birds are confused
Although they do sing

36 degrees
Not warm enough

We should just head south
Till spring decides to get rid of this “stuff”

Natural Filters and Light

I wanted to play around with natural light and natural filters I had in the house. I found both red and yellow clear plastic eggs – my first thought was to put the eggs inside and filter that way – after playing around I opened the egg up and filtered the light through the plastic onto various eggs – several wooden and marble eggs. I love the shadowing effects and the coloring that was created by my “filter.” What do you think?

Excellent Fruit

While Christopher Columbus's first voyage to the New World is the most celebrated in the annals of American history, subsequent voyages also were "fruitful," particularly his second trip.
In 1493, Columbus made a stop at the island of Guadeloupe in the West Indies where he found a marvelously sweet and juicy fruit, completely unknown in Europe. The Guarani Indians, who inhabited the isle, cultivated their ananas - or "excellent fruit" for food and wine-making.














Columbus presented the strange fruit to Queen Isabella and the popularity of ananas spread quickly among the European aristocracy. The English later renamed them "pineapples" due to their resemblance to pine cones.

Bamboo

Picking Flowers

Image Creation and Use

I have been recently researching the use of created images and clip art for use in my published material. I have come to the realization that there seems to be four options available.

1. Hand draw my own illustrations and images
2. Hire an illustrator to create illustrations and images
3. Draw images and illustrations using a computer program
4. Purchase the rights of illustrations and images

After hand drawing many images, I came to the realization that I was looking for a more professional look to accompany my work. Hiring an illustrator did not seem cost effective for the amount and variety of images needed.

This led me to numbers 3 & 4. I purchased the health edition of SmartDraw and began using it last week. I am amazed at the ease of the program and the amount of images available for creative use. I was able to download the program and try it out first – a wonderful hook that lead me to purchase the full rights to the program. I have been easily able to draw various science diagrams and images.

However, I will be looking for additional science illustrations and images which I can purchase the rights to use in my own creative work. I am wondering if anyone has any suggestions as far as additional computer drawing programs and science illustrations that can be purchased having full creative rights.

Photo Contest Results!

I know you all have been just waiting to hear about the photo contest…

http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474976948451

I won ! and I’m thrilled!



We have decided to give the entire camera package to Mike’s mom (don’t tell her – we would like to surprise her with it). You can see the prize package on this page – it has a camera, photo printer, docking station for the camera, and photo paper package. She love to take pictures… I’m sure she will really enjoy this.




















Thanks for your support!