inthemoment

Valentine creations - part one

I spent some time this past weekend making a few Valentine's Day trinkets. This is a little tag book I made for Stacy. These are so easy to put together and can pretty much be done with whatever one has on hand. I am very proud of myself that I was able to use just product I had in my stash. (For credits, see this entry in the My Art - 2009 photo album.)

Love these photos from Christmas Eve. Stacy dressed in black is a sight to behold as the color really plays up her gorgeous golden- and platinum-blonde hair. This was my first use of Pioneer Woman's Pretty B&W action. Just a little overlay - nothing too major. Tried the Boost action with it, and it was too much. (I don't know about anyone else, but I seriously have to sit on my hands not to go overboard sometimes with Photoshop magic.)

The first little envelope will contain a Starbucks gift card. The second one is slit open to hold a two-sided tag.

It's always amazing to me how a little project like this can help me work through stress or tension. There's definitely something soothing about the tactile process of paper arts. While I'm primarily a digi girl now, I can appreciate why the paste-eaters won't give this up.

I have another Valentine's Day project in the works. Doesn't look like I'll finish it before the holiday but it's not a gift, just something for me to enjoy in my studio. I'll post photos when I finish it.

 

Leadville - the rest of the story

Not feeling so great tonight as I've come down with some kind of flu bug making its rounds at the office but realize the calendar page has turned and have not posted for some time - hate that! I simply need to see a February post on my blog so I'm going to borrow from the Colorado photo book I made Scott for Christmas and share the story of Baby Doe Tabor and the Matchless Mine.

We awakened to a Leadville blanketed with fresh snow and drove up into the foothills to Baby Doe’s cabin for what turned out to be a private tour. The story is a fascinating but sad one. Twenty-five-year-old Elizabeth Bonduel McCourt Doe met Colorado silver baron Horace Austin Warner Tabor, 24 years her senior, and was determined to make him hers. They scandalized Colorado and D.C. society alike with his divorce and their subsequent marriage, and then went on to spend millions in extravagant living. The Silver Panic of 1893 wiped out the Tabor fortune and Horace died in 1899. Baby Doe clung to their last mine, the Matchless, at all costs and died in abject poverty when she froze to death in the mine cabin in 1935.

 

Our tour guide told us that knowing of her pride and absolute refusal to accept charity, the town fathers ensured that the local train periodically "tipped over" one of the coal cars so as to spill coal into the area around her cabin. Similarly, the mercantile owner made sure a box of food fell off a wagon every now and again when going by the Matchless. Otherwise, she likely would have perished much sooner.

The cabin is maintained by the Leadville Historical Society and still holds many of her possessions. Except for the addition of a few exhibits (including the photographs), the room is pretty much as it was when she died. Note the walls covered with newspaper, a poor attempt at insulating the cabin from the bitter 10,000-foot temperatures.

 

Editor's note: On occasion I'll include thumbnails of my photos, rather than full-sized ones, so the copy can better flow in the page layout. Sorry, it's just the communicator in me! If you click on the thumbnail, you'll get a pop-up window with the full-size photo.