11/24/13

Thanksgiving

Happy Sunday everyone!
It's that time again to bring out the cameras and join us at Our Beautiful World
The prompt this week is Thanksgiving.
Here in Puerto Rico, by our association with the United States, we have adopted this Holiday.
We celebrate it the same Thursday they do and we gather together as families united in giving thanks to the Lord for our years blessings.
We also inherited eating turkey, although there isn't bread stuffing for us...we had to give it our own cuisine touch.
For us it's a concoction of ground meat along with raisins, grapes, potatoes and our own "sofrito"
which is our way of adding cilantro, onions, garlic, peppers, ajies all freshly cut into the mix.
Sometimes we stuff it with "mofongo" a mashed plantains or cassava heaven!
For my family room is always reserved for this

home made pecan pie, crust and all, it is my husband's favorite dessert since he spent several years living is the south of the US while going to school there.
Notice the poinsettia? well this day also marks the day when we start decorating for Christmas,
for many of us it is the night we officially light the tree.

nothing better than eating fried food just off the pan...

but the best of it is sharing it with your family
I do hope you have a blessed day on Thanksgiving.
And maybe adopt our tradition of spending time together and give thanks to the All Mighty!
This week we will start missing Shahrul from the team, her thoughtful stories, breathtaking photos and commentaries were all something I looked for. So please know I will continue to follow and miss you
Thanks for stopping by!
 
 
Milagros
PS there is something else for which I am thankful and honored.  This past week the Puerto Rico Tourism Company had a ceremony to celebrate the winners of the photography competition "PuertoRico by puertoticans".  Among the 2,500+ entries I had the honor of being chosen!!!
Here are the winners
it was only a handful of them and the site was shock full of beautiful photography of the island so being chosen is humbling to say the least...
Here we are along with the Tourism Secretary in the center
to the far right is Mr. Ricardo Jusino a very accomplished photographer I was dying to meet!
He has 3000+ photos on Panoramio and they are all gorgeous!

And here's my winning entry!!!
 


11/22/13

CSI 99 Click

Happy Friday everyone!
we have a new case file for you today over at CSI
my 2

part of my evidence was using 6 of something, the click word and the camera all popped
in a scalloped circle along with a floral pattern

TESTIMONY

For my testimony I went with:
 
    It Takes Two - Use two types of writing on your layout, e.g.  mix handwriting with typed journaling.
    
    Hope you make some time and come along to play with us!
    your
     
    

11/17/13

Mucarito de Puerto Rico

Hi everyone!
It's a beautiful Sunday here in Puerto Rico and our prompt for today was given to us by Kirsty,
eyes is the word for you this week at Our Beautiful World.
Recently this little fellow was brought to my husbands care at the Clinic
he is an endemic species of the island
The Puerto Rican Screech Owl or MĂșcaro is a nocturnal endemic owl of the archipelago of Puerto Rico belonging to the Megascops genus of the Strigidae family.
Scientific name: Megascops nudipes
 
isn't it adorable!!!


and just so you know how small he is take a look at the proportions of its beak and the pen

now here's the science info, if you want to learn more
 
The Puerto Rican Screech Owl is a small owl poseessing a brown upperside, a light-brown to white underside white brown lines and white eyebrows. Sexual dimorphism is minor in this species with females being slightly larger than males. On average, males weigh 137 g and females 143 g. The species measures from 23 to 25 cm in length.
The species is common in the island of Puerto Rico but is extirpated at the nearby islands of Vieques and Culebra. As with the majority of birds in Puerto Rico it is believed to have been more abundant before the clearing of forests for agricultural development in the early 20th century. It inhabits forests with large hollowed trees such as the Caribbean National Forest.
The breeding season spans from April to June. It nests in hollowed trunks and 1 or 2 eggs are deposited in each nest.
The main diet of the species consists of large insects and is complemented with small birds, geckos and small rodents.
The species calls throughout the year while hidden in thick foliage, typically at dawn. The species makes a loud coo-coo call which is the reason for its common name in the Virgin Islands.
I can't wait to see your eyes...
don't forget to share them with us at
Milagros

 
 

11/15/13

CSI 98 Prima BAP November "Joy"

Hi everyone it's Friday night and you know that means a new release over at CSI
it is a lovely case, gorgeous greens, blues and lavenders
Plus November brings a new sketch over at Prima
 
98 Joy

For my scheme I used all colors focused on the light blue. For my evidence I went with polka dots on my pp, I suspended the ballet slippers, used a ribbon to do so, used wood on my title, frames on my photo. For my testimony I documented a dream. You see I always wanted a little girl, I also wanted her to have a chance at stuff I never tried. Ballet was one of them, but I waited and gave her the choice. Turns out she loves it on her own right so I now get to watch her perform, secretly happy that my dream came true!
Although you know I am not a big fan of purple I think it looks great I painted some watercolor hearts in purple and made some splatters with Dylusions in purple

 
    here are all the accents


     
    a few behind the scenes



    here's the awesome case for you to be inspired
    and the sketch
    2013 November BAP Lene Bjornerud
    your
     
     

     

11/12/13

City Crafter Guest Designer, Hold it!

Hi everyone! Today I have the pleasure of being a guest DT at one of my favorite challenge blogs
City Crafter.  Ros challenge for you this week is to make or decorate a container ... 
This can be anything from a bag, box, card holder to a household container
We are really looking forward to seeing what you can come up with so get your thinking caps on and come and join us!


Here's the inspiration photo
 
and here's what I made
I found a candle set in a box that I though would be perfect for transforming into a Christmas gift.
I know my recipient is going to love this!!!
this palette from TCR is so perfect for Christmas!
Picture
I used a Simple Stories line in Kraft that would work beautifully with a piece of Maya Road linen

I used the same linen to wrap around my candles and tied it up with a brad

this is how it looks once opened!
to finish my packaging I hand cut some holy leaves and did some backstitching to them and did a couple of French knots in the center for the berries.
Pretty simple and quite effective!
 
I thanks so much the gals at CCCB for having me this week and I hope my container has given you some ideas for the coming Holiday season!
 
Hugs
 
 
 
Milagros
 
 


11/10/13

Ethereal

This weeks prompt at Our Beautiful World is brought to us by Bonita!
You know in order for this to work we need to get our photos in time for the post real life,
but life, real life sometimes give you this surprises...
I was looking for something ethereal in my garden, I knew the orchid I wanted only blooms every other year.  So I went with lilies instead.  These fragrant majestic blooms that fragrant the night and bring so many nightlife creatures to my garden.  So I sent my second best
they had just opened, as you can see by the fresh pollen, they only last the night...
And then today {blogpost, yesterday} I come home and lo and behold
my ethereal HAD bloomed... seriously, this plant blooms every other year...
It was a Mothers Day present from my son when he was little, the orchid was so tiny in order for him to be able to afford it.  So it took more than 5 years to reach the blooming age and one day it surprised me with its blooms.  I love tiny orchids and I remember the day we went into the orchid festival and I loved the sample plant and he said he would get it for me.
now this is ethereal for me, just what I wanted you to see...

tons of the tiniest orchids all clustered together, its petals a flowing mass for the wind
perfect nature


the bokeh effect is for real, no editing, just the way the light filtered from the tree

and this is just so you can compare the size with my hand

above a sea of bromeliads, beginning its fiery red blooming season
topic for another entry.
Now I can't wait to see your ethereal, please do share it with us at
http://www.our--beautiful--world--365.blogspot.com/
 
Milagros
 
 
 


11/8/13

Tunel de Guajataka, Puerto Rico

Hi everyone, another lovely palette from CSI this time with Em's fabulous sketch!
I did a bit of research into the old railway that was used to transport people around the islands up until 1950.  Sadly the train is no longer in use, and just bits of railways remain.  I remember my grandma telling me from memory all the towns the train covered and the places she had been aboard the train.  How I wish I had been in one of those trips.
This past Easter vacation I took the kids in one of my famous fieldtrips and we went to the Guajataka Tunnel.  Going towards the tunnel is one of the most spectacular views of the Atlantic Coast of Puerto Rico.  The sea is rough, the rock formations are fantastic, nothing quite as dramatic as seeing the waves crash on this formations!
The Kraft it up challenge for November is to : create a layout using Kraft Cardstock or Kraft Patterned Paper showcasing one of these trending products...
* Flair's
* Wood Veneer's
* Enamel Dot's
I decided to go with the Kraft Patterned Paper (by Crate Paper)
and the wood venner's
 
 
I did a bit of research into the old railway that was used to transport people around the island up until 1950.  Sadly the train is no longer in use, and just bits of railways remain.  I remember my grandma telling me from memory all the towns the train covered and the places she had been aboard the train.  How I wish I had been in one of those trips.
This past Easter vacation I took the kids in one of my famous fieldtrips and we went to the Guajataka Tunnel.  Going towards the tunnel is one of the most spectacular views of the Atlantic Coast of Puerto Rico.  The sea is rough, the rock formations are fantastic, nothing quite as dramatic as seeing the waves crash on this formations! Here's one of those formations

and here's a picture of the kids getting off the tunnel

I had a lot of fun embellishing this one!

patterned background, fabric and wood veneers in evidence, chevron pattern

one of the pieces of evidence called for dry embossing, which I gladly did using a hexagon pattern from Tim Holtz and a hammer!!!!

also in evidence was to use something shiny, I chose sequins and to highlight my dry embossed background I used a dash of Inca Gold.  Let me tell you it SHINES!!!


leaves in evidence

and for my testimony I went with repeating "Lovely Day"!
 
Here's the case and sketch!


And here's some of the history in pictures!
under construction in 1906




circa 1920
can you see the rock formation from my LO???







can you spot the tunnel down there?


source sociedad ferroviaria


sociedad ferroviaria






circa 1924
 
 
Hope you had fun looking at all the old photos and history of the railroad in Puerto Rico
 
 
hugs your
!