Valentines for Preschool - ideas

It's another holiday where Mom's everywhere are trying to figure out what to get/make with/for your child to bring to school to celebrate. Do we purchase those boxed cards? Add a piece of Candy? Temporary Tattoo?

This year I saw some really cute small puzzles at Hobby Lobby and thought those would be fun, but then I had to figure out a way to package them. With the help of my 4 year old we put together a clear bag with the puzzle and a piece of candy in it. Then, we stamped out hearts and "Happy Valentines" on cut and folded card stock and attached it with staples. Lastly, my daughter wrote her name on the back of each one so the other children knew who it was from.

I think they turned out pretty cute.


If your reading this and just realizing that you need valentines for school on Friday, or Sundays school, then check out Etsy for Printable Valentines. You just download them and print them on your color printer. There are so many different and clever designs by etsy artists.

You can also find free printable and great ideas from sites like Disney's Family Fun and Kaboose.

Thanks for reading and Happy Valentines Day (just a bit early)!
Lorissa

Cherry Blossom Trio

Spring Cherry Blossom III

Spring Cherry Blossom II

Spring Cherry Blossom I

Spring Cherry Blossom Trio is now available in my Etsy Fine Art Photography shop as a 10 x 10 set of three prints for only $60. I also have them listed as separate 12 x 12 prints listed in my 1000Markets LJDesignphoto shop for $40 each. You can also contact me to special order them in larger or smaller sizes.
This beautiful print set is done with a vintage feel in toned down colors and a soft but grainy background, allowing each blossom to stand out beautifully.

Thank your for your interest in my work.
Lorissa

Family Hiking in Canyonlands - Needles District

This past fall my husband, daughter, and I went on a little RV adventure to Canyonlands National Park in the Needles District. There is nothing much to do there except enjoy the beauty of the the area. Really, in the needles district there are no cell phone service, no showers, but a lot of trails. Backpacking, hiking, and some truly 4 wheel driving roads are the only way to explore this beauty. There are easy trails like one to an ancestral Puebloan granary and another takes you a historic cowboy line camp and prehistoric pictographs. Then there are long trails (about 60 miles of interconnected trails) to fantastic views, colorful sandstone spires, arches, and archaeological sites. The best way to explore these long trails is to go backpacking overnight with lots of water. Basically there is something in Canyonlands for every skill level and it makes a wonderful place to visit with the family.

During our visit we hiked a few of the shorter trails, along with a small section of the larger trail called the Squaw Flat Loop that was near the campgrounds. They do tell you that the longer trails are especially rough and require negotiating steep passes with drop-offs, narrow spots, or ladders, but we thought we would be safe close to the campground on a short loop between the two. LOL - We were so wrong. I didn't take my camera, because we thought we were going on a flat trail with not much to spot but cactus and lizards. The trail looped around and up and over the formation that sat right behind our campsite. It was amazingly beautiful, but I was a little worried as we were walking on the top of the sandstone structure with only five feet of rock between drops off on each side. The rock rose in a way that made it difficlut to judge what might come next and we kept just pushing ahead thinking it would be easier then turning back. We "scrambled" a lot and I even tore a large hole in my jeans from shuffling over the rock with my daughter in my arms. The photo above shows the formation we hiked over. It was just the lower part on the left, but we walked on the top of that and came down the steep slopes and sandstone rims to get back to the campground with a 4 year old in tow. Looking back it was beautiful, but I don't think I would have taken a 4 year old up there to hike if I had known. She did wonderfully though and it is a memory and accomplishment I don't' think she will ever forget.

The next day we hiked the Slickrock Trail. This is the longest of the short trails and is about 2.4 miles round trip. It was listed as having uneven surfaces, viewpoints, and sometimes bighorn sheep. We didn't see many sheep that day, but lots of beautiful views. This is actually a great trail for kids. Enough "scrambling" over the rocks to satisfy them (really very little for those who have long adult legs) and a few shady places to stop and rest when needed.

The panoramas from my blog post Hiking at Canyonlands National Park were taken while we were on this hike, but I thought I would share some more personal photos that show my hubby and daughter actually hiking.





As you can see they have the trail marked with cairns (small rock piles) which really helps you not get lost when the trail is mostly sandstone. Though, we did get off trail a couple of times and had to go back to the last cairn we were at and then scout around for the next.

The viewpoints were well marked. One you had to go out on a long thin rock formation that had a major drop off on both sides. This was the one viewpoint we didn't go all the way out to (because we had enough of our heart popping out of our chests the day before with our four year old so close to the edge of drop offs). Then, once we thought we found the view point:

Only to find this sign at the bottom once we figure out the way down:


You can actually see the sign in the last photo. I thought it seemed kind of a funny place to have the sign laying, but it worked and we found our way.

While this isn't the Grand Canyon, it is just as beautiful and a lot less crowded. It is a place that everyone should try to visit at least once.

Thanks for letting me share this adventure with you.
Lorissa

PS. I thought about being Wordless today for "Wordless Wednesday" but decided I had to much to share with these photos. Maybe next week.

New ACEO's inspired

For some reason when it comes to my Artist Cards I feel the need to do something more then to add to the edition of a popular print. I feel they should take on a life of there own and often are a result of inspiration from others or just experimentation. This time it was a bit of both.
I recently joined ILP (I love Photography dot com), a website primarily for Child Portrait Photographers. It is a group of photographers that talk about and share their craft. One of the post, a tutorial about how to get an Ice Grunge look by photographer Andrea Joki, inspired me to play with layers more.
The results are four new limited Edition ACEOs. Each one as a different reason. The first was inspired by Valentines day and my love of bleeding heart flowers.
This card is limited to an edition of 14. The next image, Desert Dancer, was inspired by the many beautiful photos from this shoot that I have yet to process and list. It is a personal favorite because of my love of dance and the desert.

This card is also available in a limited edition of 14. and the image will not be offered in any other size.
I was also inspired by Mothers day and did a small edition of 6 of a beautiful ACEO titled "Love & Joy: Motherhood".

And last but not least, (Actually, this is my personal favorite,) is "Lost in Enchantment: Dreaming" Inspired by Route 66 and New Mexico's beautiful night sky. The original image was actually taken during the day, but the sky came out so dark in the original photo that it lent itself to becoming an evening sky. For those that don't know too much about New Mexico, it is the Land of Enchantment. The Whiting Brothers sign is just off of I-40, and on an old stretch of Route 66. Not much left but the sign these days.


All of these ACEO are or will be available for sale starting this week in both my LJDesignphoto etsy shop and my fine art photography 1000 Markets shop. Each is printed on archive Endora Professional paper and then backed with acid free watercolor paper. They are signed, titled, and numbered.

Hiking at Canyonlands National Park.

Canyonland National Park, originally uploaded by ljdesignphoto.

I just thought I would share with you a few panoramas from our hike in Canyonlands National Park, the Needles district. This is one of my most favorite of the National Parks. We visited in Fall and I can't wait to go back.

Canyonlands National Park, originally uploaded by ljdesignphoto.

In this last one you can see the spires that give the Needles district there name.

Canyonlands NP, originally uploaded by ljdesignphoto.

I'm thinking of offering these in one of my shops, maybe as a canvas print so they don't need to be framed. Any suggestions?

Thanks for stopping by,
Lorissa