In addition to creating Altoid tin Nature Boxes, I recently made two driftwood sailboats as a long delayed baby/first birthday Happy Spring gift for a little cutie with a nautical themed nursery.
A great excuse to bust into both my beach collected driftwood stash and my fabric stash. I may have also broken into Ebby's bead stash...
Of course I had to find a way to use cut out book text. It's an addiction.
Ahoy!
Thanks for stopping by,
Yes, you.
{Mussel shell from Nantasket Beach, hand cut text from vintage book}
Thanks for stopping by,
Going to the beach was written on the kitchen chalkboard to-do list last weekend so of course we had to go.
Even if Bobby Law "tweaked his back" and had to stay home. He was grimacing in pain very convincingly as he helped me pack the car...
Ridin' solo, that's me. Solo plus 4 kids: Ebby, Ebby's friend K, Will and Cuyler.
Usually when we go to the beach any foul moods, grumpiness and/or whiny-ness that has surfaced ahead of our departure disipates once we get there. Usually.
This time we had issues right up until we were packing to head home. Then everyone was finally happy all at the same time.
No major meltdowns or anything, just a nagging buzz of discontent (texting drama, wanting to read in the car, Mommy crankiness, etc.). Still, we managed to have a pretty good evening. And I've got the pictures to prove it...
The sand was extra soft and deep. Even the Harbormaster on his ATV stayed clear of the deep ruts.
It wasn't too crowded but it was windy so we set up beside the car.
A variety of amusements were unpacked
The boys unearthed a treasure
Cuyler wanted to take it home so I could use it in my junk garden, but alas, it didn't fit too well in Dad's car. I couldn't imagine how I'd explain that a rusty metal fence post ripped a tear in his leather upholstery...so we left the pole at the beach.
We did bring this rock home. Cuyler found it and it looks like it's been painted with black watercolor. Very cool.
After successfully grilling 4 hamburgers and 2 hotdogs, it was time for s'mores.
I am such a master marshmallow roaster.
I brought along a new addition to the fixins.
The girls approved.
After dinner Cuyler did a scientific demonstration involving rocks inside a sand bucket.
{Spoiler: The rocks didn't fall out of the bucket}
The beach was very rocky and seaweed abounded, likely due to the nor'easter earlier in the week. That meant there wasn't much swimming, although all 4 of them went down to the water at one point.
My peace lasted about 3 minutes before they came back.
Soon afterward, E & K went for a walk. I still can't believe they found and came back with this:
First of all, who leaves a huge bunch of balloons on the beach?? Second of all, what a great photo prop!
Third of all, we're environmentally responsible so we popped all the balloons and picked up all the debris and put it in our trash. No birds will choke because of our negligence.
Ok, all but one balloon. Cuyler took this little one home.
As we packed up and headed out we were treated to the remains of a beautiful sunset.
Until next time DUX,
In Winter, the ocean beach takes on a different mood. Still beautiful but feeling more open and vast...
And yet everything remains comfortably the same. The rocks, the shells, the treasures waiting to be discovered...
Just beyond the seawall, the winter sun illuminates a variety of textures of a beach town in the off-season... In winter, there are fewer distractions and more time to stop and notice the details...
At a nearby harbor, seagulls gather...
Fishing boats sit idle...
And dry docks are stacked high.
Here too, there are details waiting to be noticed...
and captured.
After a week straight of beautiful, sunny skies the clouds have finally returned to Eastern Massachusetts.
Not so on Sunday when I combined Ebby's love of cupcakes with my love of the beach and ended up with a whole bunch of fun photos.
Here's the story...Recently a new cupcake shop, Wicked Good Cupcakes, opened up in nearby Cohasset. I've driven by it several times but restrained myself from stopping--because really, once you walk inside a cupcake shop what else is there to do but indulge? Walking through the door is pretty much the point of no return. This past Sunday I decided it was time to break the ice, so to speak.
It was simple really. I told Ebby and Danielle that I'd buy them cupcakes if they'd pose for some pictures. At the beach. With the cupcakes.
Danielle is highly cooperative.
Ebby really loves cupcakes.
After selecting a Red Velvet (Ebby) and Chocolate and Vanilla Dream (Danielle), we headed for the beach. I must admit, the whole idea of a photo shoot with cupcakes was inspired by this adorable, award-winning shot by my talented friend, North Carolina photographer Candy Howard.
Can you stand the cuteness??
As luck would have it, I just so happened to have a case of vintage books from the 1920s and 30s in the back of my car--sometimes it pays not to unload your Saturday yard sale treasures right away.
Here are the results of our photo shoot--and no, neither one of the cupcakes ended up in the sand :-).
Ebby, Danielle and the cupcakes
Ebby was wearing a headband which made it challenging to balance a cupcake and a book so we just went with the cupcake.
And then this happened
Oh Danielle ;-).
Cupcake and book=success!
Then it was Danielle's turn. She gave me a variety of expressions.
Hilarious!
Finally I gave them to ok to dig in.
What a beautiful sojourn with 2 wonderful girls and 2 great cupcakes!
Today's Pin-spiration comes from my Great Shots pinboard. This board is where I pin ideas for photos I want to {attempt} to take or photos I just think are cool. Or adorable. Or both ☺.
This frame in the sand idea looked both interesting and do-able so I decided to try it out for some photos on Ebby's birthday. I picked a chunky frame from my collection of discards in the garage and spray painted it Krylon's Watermelon pink. Mmmm, juicy...
For her birthday dinner (back in July), Ebby had chosen to go to the beach for pizza, cupcakes and a campfire. I packed a few props and my camera. I must say, she was such a good sport to let me take a whole bunch of pictures on the far-from-deserted beach that evening.
Here's what we ended up with...
First I tried to set it up just like the Pin-spiration photo:
Excellent! That is if I wanted 3 extra people, including Will, in the photo.
I tried again. This time I focused on the frame, experimenting with depth of field.
Clearly, not all experiments succeed.
At that point Will had had enough. Flee, young boy!
I decided the whole downward slope of the beach was working against me so we re-grouped and turned ourselves around. Instead of the ocean in the background, the dunes.
I like dunes.
Just a bit more tweaking...
Finally, a keeper.
I love how this photo evolved from the inspiration shot. Ebby's position on the sand and the addition of the glittery Wish word helped make this our own. Once again, thank you Pinterest!
{Pinterest source here, original source here for Pinspiration photo}
Now go ahead, pin something!
Ebby had cross country practice at the beach this morning, so I tagged along. Not literally of course. The team ran on the access road, I combed the beach and bay for two hours.
A lovely start to the unofficial last weekend of summer.
{ A heart outline collection of found shells, Duxbury Bay, MA}
Have a great weekend!
Heading to the beach tonight for one more cookout before Irene!
{found chalk heart rock, Humarock Beach, Scituate, MA}
Stay safe this weekend!
Better late than never!
{Seaweed and shell, Ridgevale Beach, Chatham, MA}
I can feel summer starting to slip away. We've got a lot to do in the next two weeks!
{Driftwood and fishing net flotsam, Humarock, MA}
Happy Weekend!
