Shades of Green and Brown

View all the way to the East Bay

Growing up in Connecticut, I went on a lot of walks through the woods. With it's crisp fresh air and wide array of colors, no time was better for these walks than autumn. 

The Bay Area has had plenty of crisp, cool days lately so, on Sunday I gathered 2 of my favorite people and went for a hike. We headed off to Mt. Tamalpais. Everything was green and brown instead of the New England color palette but it was beautiful and fairytale-esque none-the-less. Here's a sampling of what we saw.

In Bloom

I haven't had a garden since I was growing up in Connecticut so I was delighted that our new apartment came with a small back yard. We didn't move in until June and didn't get around to planting anything until mid-July. Thinking of the growing seasons in New England, I didn't really expect that much to grow. However, in the Bay area, we see sunny warm weather in October and all my wildflowers are currently in bloom. How lovely!

Kittens!

I couldn't leave Connecticut empty handed, could I? So, when my little brother and his wife said they needed homes for some of their kittens, I figured I could help out and take two home with me. 

The little dude with the white around his neck is Livingston, as in 'Dr. Livingston, I presume?' Because he was the first to start exploring and eating solid food and such. The other guy is Bingley, after Mr. Bingley in Pride and Prejudice. 
They've been home for not quite a week and it's amazing how much they've grown! This evening they even conquered going up and down the stairs in the apartment. I have to admit, I'm very proud!
Please, enjoy these photos, and tomorrow, I promise, I'll take a step back from excessive cuteness.

Making Summary

I had to make a last minute trip back to Connecticut earlier this month and so I haven't been able to blog for a while. Before I left, I took 2 classes on bookmaking. Here's a brief summary of what I did.

First, I took a short course from Jennie Hinchcliff of Red Letter Day Zine on basic bookmaking, so I could brush up on my zine making skills. 

There was shredded money, Michigan map and bingo card paper, so we broke out the stamps and made some single sheet books.

Next, I took an altered board books class with Courtney Cerruti. We started out with regular old children's board books and, with the handy help of gesso, acrylic paint, rubber stamps, washi tape, words and glue, turned them into books of our own creation.

Images from the Constitution State

Roadside daisies

Here is the last round-up of images from my trip east. All of these images are from northwestern Connecticut.

 I spent a lot of time with my niece, which was really fun. She's only 2 though, and doesn't like to sit still for pictures.

 The clouds seemed so different, I guess because they are not fog clouds, which is what I usually see on this coast.