Norwegian Fjord Cruise (Part 3)

Dear Yes,Virginia...blog friends/followers. It's Dr. John here.
 I hope you enjoyed last week's post by guest photographer Stephanie. If you missed it, please click here. I like to think that I taught my daughter everything I know about photography but now she has surpassed me (her camera is fancier than mine!).  Anyway, today's post will be about our third port-of-call: Geirangerfjord, 16km/10miles long and 600m/2000ft deep, is considered by many to be one of the most beautiful scenic panoramas found anywhere in the world. So, on with the tour.

First up: giant David in the foreground with tiny Stephanie and tiny cruise ships in the background.

Next, a crazy tourist. Can you spot him in all four of these pictures? In the upper right photo, you can see the safety fences that he climbed over to get closer to the cliff. In the bottom right photo, you can see the 600m/2000ft cliff he's standing next to.

Views from Flydalsjuvet (a modern viewpoint platform).

Another waterfall.

At the summit of Mount Dalsnibba, high above the tree line at 1500m/5000ft above sea level. The photo on the left shows part of the winding road to the top (with eleven switchbacks).

Glacial lakes.

The floating metal dock that swung out to meet our ship, allowing us to embark/disembark without the need of tenders (small boats, usually the ship's lifeboats, used to send passengers ashore when the ship is too big or there's not enough room at the pier). Tendering is the scourge of cruising as it can waste a lot of time. Thus the big smiles.

"The Bridal Veil" waterfall.

The"Seven Sisters" waterfall (formed by seven separate streams that join at the top of the falls before tumbling down 250m/800ft).

"The Suitor" waterfall.

The Seven Sisters on the left and the Suitor on the right. The positioning of these waterfalls gives the appearance of a brooding suitor proposing to the sisters on the opposite side.

I hope you enjoyed today's fjord tour. Our next stop is Alesund! See you then.

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 From Virginia:
That very morning, the kids and I hiked up to the nearby bakery, farm and Norsk Fyjord center.

Here is the latest classes Craftsy has to offer (with deep discounts, no code needed):

 The Lovely Layered Cards is on sale (half price--->BEST deal ever). I highly recommend it. Regardless of your level, you will learn something new from the talented Shari Carroll.

 If you enjoy this post, please leave us a comment. We love to hear from you! 

 Thanks for stopping by! 

Norwegian Fjord Cruise (Part 2)

Dear Yes,Virginia... friends/followers.
It's Dr. John again. Today's post will be about our second port-of-call: Flam, pronounced "flome". Flam is situated in the innermost part of the Aurlandsfjord, a tributary of the Sognefjord - Norway's longest (200km/120 miles) and deepest (1600m/5280ft) fjord.

Our original excursion was "Norway in a Nutshell" which Rick Steves describes as follows: With
the Nutshell, you'll delve into two offshoots of the Sognefjord, which make an upside-down "U" route: the Aurlandsfjord and the Naeroyfjord. This trip brings you right back to where you started 6.5 hours earlier--after cruising Norway's narrowest fjord, riding a bus along an impossibly twisty and waterfall-lined road, taking the train across the mountainous spine of the country, then dropping back down to sea level on yet another super-scenic train.

Unfortunately, just prior to our arrival, there was a bus fire in one of the tunnels, closing the one and only road available for this excursion. So it was cancelled! A big disappointment. I guess that is just part of the travel experience-no matter how meticulously you plan, sometimes things are out of our control. Fortunately, we were able to book another excursion at the last minute to the Stegastein Viewpoint instead.
So, on with the tour.

The Flam Railway Museum, located in the old train station, has exhibits about the history of the train that connects Flam to the main line up above.

Views form Stegastein Viewpoint, overlooking Aurlandsfjord.

Looking down on the town of Aurland.

One of many waterfalls.

The viewing platform.

Aurland again.

Salmon swimming upstream according to our tour guide (use your imagination).

Sailing away from Flam.

Above, multiple views of Sognefjord, as we head out back to the North Sea.
Hope you enjoyed this amazing scenery.
Our next stop is Geirangerfjord.

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Norwegian Fjord Cruise (Part 1)

Dear Yes,Virginia...blog friends/followers.
This is Dr. John again. Today I will be sharing some photos taken on our cruise to Norway.
 
 So, why visit Norway? On a cruise we took two years ago, we met a fellow passenger who had been on over 100 cruises! We asked her which one was her favorite. Without hesitation, she replied: the Norwegian Fjords, for its amazing scenery, friendly people, and relaxed pace.
After fighting traffic for 3 hours to get from London to Southampton (a distance of 130 km/80 miles), we finally arrived at the cruise port terminal. Our ship was the Celebrity Eclipse. Although I usually prefer mid-size ships (around 2,000 passengers), the Eclipse, with almost 3,000 passengers, is very well designed and rarely felt crowded. Plus the food and service were excellent. Anyways, on with the tour.

First stop: Bergen, Norway's capital in the 12th and 13th centuries. 

We were dropped off by the shuttle bus after a 5-minute ride from the cruise port. Immediately, we were greeted by this beautiful fountain in Lille Lake. From there, we walked to the city center.

The most famous Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg (see statue) was born and buried in Bergen. You may have recognized Grieg's music (see You Tube video: Peer Gent) as it is still widely played to this day.

The Floibanen Funicular climbs 300m (1000ft) in seven minutes to the top of Mount Floyen for the best view of the town. It was a pleasant and smooth ride even though it was a bit busy at the time.

Views from the top. 

 The harbor and Fish Market (double row of red roofs).

Our ship (top), my uncooperative children, and the Floien Folkerestaurant atop Mount Floyen. Virginia had fun browsing through the gift shop and got ourselves a Norwegian cheese slicer.

David found himself a T-shirt that says "Norway"--surprise!

The Fish Market, located here since the 1500s. We had very expensive but tasty scallops.

On the left above, the wooden old town. Upper right," Lego architecture".

The old town is on the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites.

Colorful wooden warehouses, originally part of the Hanseatic League, a free-trade zone established by German merchants (c. 1250-1750), where dried cod and fish oil was exported and grain, cloth, beer, wine, and ceramics were imported. 
Hope you enjoyed this charming city. 

Please leave me a comment if you would like more of Norway from Dr. John.

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To Russia with Love

Yes, Virginia has gone to Russia..

...to a Russian blog, that is.

It brings me great joy to share my Russian guest feature with you today. Daria over Memories Blog was so sweet to invite me to do some guest design for the Russian scrapbooking /card-making blog.

The theme is "Create with Distress Inks"

 

 I shared a photo tutorial of  "How to Create a Scene card with Distress Inks"

I also did an interview. Daria had some great questions for me and I thought I would share some of them here. For the full interview, please go to Memories Blog.

Daria: Hi Virginia, welcome to our living room.
Please make yourself at home. Tea or Coffee?
Virginia: Coffee is my go-to drink in the morning! I will drink tea throughout the day after that first cup though.

Daria: I didn't want to use a standard set of questions for this interview such as "what is your favorite brand or what is you scrap-dream". But there is one question that I cannot ignore - Will you please tell us about yourself?
Virginia: I am a Mom with two college aged children and a wife of a supportive husband. Previously, I managed my husband’s medical office for over 25 years. These days, I have the luxury of spending all my free time in pursuing my hobby: card-making. I started to make cards when my son was a baby. (He’s 19 now!) Because he was very fussy, I needed a creative outlet. I would carry him as a baby with me to shop/browse the local craft store. After being introduced to stamping by a local stamping expert, I was hooked! I started my blog (Yes, Virginia… ) after my daughter settled into university in 2009 and I have loved every minute of it since.

Daria: Virginia, I know you as a crafter of your own style :) that is more related to CAS. Have you ever tried other styles as well? I can see that you definitely enjoy playing with paints.

Virginia: I like to try new things - new products and new techniques. To me, that’s what makes stamping so appealing. I have been playing with Gelato, paint, and watercolors lately. I have tried to create all sorts of styles: shabby chic, graphic, fun and cute, etc. But in the end, I find myself creating more clean and simple cards than anything else, and always with lots of impact and details.

Daria: Also you are known as a creator of your own challenge blog which currently consists of 240 members.
Why did you decide to open one? Can anybody can enter it?

Virginia: I started it just for fun. The first challenge, which was on my personal blog, took place in March. The theme was “watercolor.” It got to be very popular in just a few days. More popular than I expected! Because of that, I decided to host the challenge on a separate site. And that’s how the Virginia’s View Challenge site came to be.

Daria: In your challenge blog you have to look through a lot of projects of different crafters. Some of them are beginners. Can you tell us about the most common mistakes? And also can you give beginners one major piece of advice?
Virginia: That is a great question. No matter what level we are at, there is ALWAYS room for improvement. They can be in skill, design, or execution. I think there are definitely a few things to take note of for beginners:

1.      Make sure your card is well photographed. Watch out for the lighting (not too dark, not too bright) and white balance (not too blue, not too yellow). Is your card nicely represented in the photo? Can the details be seen? Are the colors sharp and close to your original work? This is no easy task and I still struggle to get the white balance right.

2.      Try to keep a good balance of design elements. We often want to include all the latest embellishments and use the latest supplies we like in one card. I am a frequent offender of this myself! But it’s important to look at the overall design and how cohesive everything fits together. You do not want to pile on too many elements on to one card.

3.      Be observant of the color scheme. The colors you use have to be purposeful. Even if you like two colours a lot, they may not work well together. Pay attention to what colors work (use a colour wheel, or look for inspiration online). Ask yourself which colour schemes excite you and which ones make you feel calm and serene. Then you can decide what “mood” is most appropriate!

4.      Execution is key. We may often think we have the BEST design ideas, but we fall short in translating that idea on to a card. This is always a challenge for me. Sometimes I find it helpful to make a few rough samples to see what works best, before making a decision.

5.      There is an old saying: “Practice makes perfect”. I must say that this is also true in card making. The more you make, the more passion for it and skills you will gain. In the process, you can only become a better card maker.

Daria: Every crafter has her own favorite project/work. Can you show us yours? And tell why it is “the one”?

Virginia: I’ve chosen my latest favorite (“thank you so very much”) as an example. This card prompted me to be creative and to step out of my comfort zone. It made me realize that I should do a YouTube video to share the creative process. My very first tutorial video was the result - Create a Collage Card with Alcohol Inks.  This card shows my growth as I used some skills I didn’t have when I first started making cards!

Daria: Everybody finds their inspiration in so many places. Which one is your usual one?
Virginia: I like to look at fashion sites and I subscribe to some color websites, such as Designer Seeds and Fresh Hues. And of course, the ever popular Pinterest is another great source to find inspiration. I often find inspiration when I least expect it. Sometimes I find it in magazines when I am waiting at the dentist’s office. Other times I get inspired by shop window displays or even TV commercials!

Daria: And in the end of the interview...Can you tell us a scary/funny/amazing scrap-story from your life?

Virginia: There are so many amazing moments in my card making life. Here’s a summary of a few…

The most amazing: Competing in the Top 5 Gallery Idol 2013 was the most intense and exciting moment that I have experienced in card making. I went through a lot in that short 4-week period.

The most fun: I am known for meeting online card makers from all over the world when I travel, from Denmark, Netherlands, UK, US, Canada, and Taiwan.  I have made numerous friends throughout the years. I am looking forward to meeting more friends in Europe later this summer.

The most scary: Thankfully there are no scary moments that I can think of. The only time I found it scary is when I made ugly cards! Often my blog followers are so kind; they never say harsh words about them. And it’s the same for my first YouTube video. Even though I spilled some ink while I made the video, the responses have been amazing!

Daria: Thank you Virginia! We are lucky to have you in our living room (we all know how busy you are). And now let's play? 

 Thank you, Daria, for this special feature! I am thrilled to share my love of card-making with Russian paper-crafters. I would love it if you can stop by Memories blog to see the complete interview and tutorial.
Lastly, I am sharing photos of me and my family in Hermitage Museum (left) and Peterhof Palace
in St. Petersburg in 2012.

 To Russia with love!