The colors of fall here in Michigan can often be amazing and breath-taking. After we have had a hard frost, the trees begin their transformation, and the peak color only lasts 7-10 days. Weather and the amount of rainfall come into play to determine how much actual color we see in the fall. This has been one of those years... beautiful.
I actually waited too long to take these photos. They should have been taken a few days ago, but life gets in the way. I took a walk this afternoon, breezy, cool, with the musky scent of fall in the air. Definitely a day to remember til spring comes next year. I picked up a few leaves along the way...
...and made a card for a friend.
Do you have seasons where you live? I've always felt that the cold we have to endure during the winters are probably worth the changing of the seasons.

The background for this card was created by using a stencil and water color crayons. I had seen similar type flowers on the web somewhere and tried to recreate them from memory. I cut a circle and just started playing around with folding them. I think these are wonderful fall colors, dark teal and a reddish brown.
What are some of your favorite fall color combination's?
We've had a hard frost on the ground here in Michigan the last two mornings. It's time to go out and clean out the flower beds, they look so sad. Winter is right around the corner.

Since I've returned home, my mojo has been in hiding. I've tried on three different occasions to make a card, and haven't even been able to do that successfully. What do I do? Throw it in a pile of started but uncompleted projects and hope to be able to return to it.
 I know we all suffer from this mysterious malady now and then. So what do I do? Clean/organize my craft area, shop for more supplies, read a variety of blogs hoping to be inspired. I really needed to make a birthday card for a man, and was feeling desperate. I did finally come across a card on the Bo Bunny blog that inspired me. Thank you Irene Tan for the inspiration.
I found this card to be very stimulating visually, loved the elements and colors. Very manly, don't you think? So, I'm mulling this card around while doing mundane household chores, and then had an aha moment. I started digging through my stash, and this is what I came up with...

It was difficult the first few days to unwind, slow down and relax. But it didn't take long. This is a pic of me snorkeling.



 Local food was in abundance, very rich and delicious. A traditional Greek Salad or Moussaka?

I've returned from 2 weeks in Greece. We spent 10 days on the island of Naxos and 4 days in Athens. We did change our itinerary once we arrived to include more days on Naxos, what does that tell you? The trip was an amazing, beautiful, breath-taking, soul searching and humbling experience.

I'm sure I won't have time for art any time soon, so I thought I would spend the next week or so giving you a little photo tour of the trip. I think you'll enjoy them.
We arrived from the mainland to the island of Naxos by ferry.

Our host was Ionis from Castello Studios in Agi Anna. After we got off the ferry in Naxos we took a bus to Agi Anna to arrive at our accommodations on the Aegean Sea. The coast line on this island has many small towns with the main port town of Naxos, also known as Chora. This island is the largest of the Cyclades islands, but not as developed as some of the better known islands, such as Santorini and Mykonos.

This is the street view from where we were lodged.

We were steadily climbing upward toward a square at the top of this hillside.

By now, I'm sure I'm relaxing and enjoying myself by the sea. Wish you all were here.
 I had purchased these stamps from Inkadinkadoo just before I left town, inspired by my upcoming vacation. I thought I would give them a whirl and leave you a post while I'm gone. I used a Technique Junkie technique called Level Up. Basically, you raise one or two of the images.
I used one of Mel's techniques, Gesso paper, for the background and then water colored them with Twinkling H20's.
This will be my last post till I return from my trip on the 21st. I look forward to 'seeing' you then. I'm sure I'll have some wonderful stories to share.

I'm leaving tomorrow for my trip to Greece. Thought I would show a few photos of the island Hydra. This is a non-motorized island,  The mules have been reserved to carry our luggage to our accommodations.

Hydra is one of  the Saronic islands, closest to Athens. The first week we'll be in the Cyclades.

When I return, I'm sure I'll have wonderful photos to share with you.