Amy's Creative Pursuits

Wednesday, December 4, 2024

A Fall Hike in Turkey Run State Park

I am back from fall break and I will be continuing on with my fall travel series. If you missed any of my previous posts you can find them here: Bird Watching at the La Crosse Marsh, A Return to Galena Illinois, A Visit to the Lincoln Home, A Visit to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum, and The Lincoln Tomb and Historic Springfield.

After three days of vacation with just my hubby and I, it was time to meet up with the kids and grandkids. We chose Turkey Run State Park because it was on the way to their place for us, and only an hour and half drive for the kids.

Turkey Run State Park in Indiana has over 14 miles of hiking trails ranging from easy to very rugged trails. We had little kids plus a five month old, so we weren't able to hike very long. We crossed the famous suspension bridge (pictured below) and visited "Rocky Hollow", then we hiked just a little bit of "Turkey Run Trail 10" to see the Crevice Rock and then we had to call a day. I was kinda bummed because I had never been here before and I really wanted to see it all, but with little kids, you have little legs, and they just can't hike as far as adults.

The Suspension Bridge

To get to most of the hiking trails in Turkey Run State Park you need to cross the suspension bridge. It is seventy steps down to just get to the bridge. Once you cross the bridge you will be in the Rocky Hollow Nature Preserve that contains deep sandstone canyons and one of the last remnants of forests that once filled Indiana.

The bridge is a 200 foot long wire suspension bridge originally built more than a century ago.

The bridge hangs over Sugar Creek, but swimming and wading is prohibited in the park, so you can only enjoy the water from above.

Baby Lazarus had it easy that day, taking turns between being carried by Grandpa Todd or snug safe in Mommy's baby's wrap.

The view of Sugar Creek from the bridge.

We were so excited to see a crane in the water below.

Rocky Hollow Nature Preserve

Rocky Hollow Nature Preserve is a well preserved piece of the past. 20,000 years ago the glaciers retreated leaving a barren landscape. Soon, vegetation blanketed the newly exposed bedrock. Tundra turned to forests of spruce, hemlocks, and other evergreens. In Rocky Hollow, the clock stopped about 12,000 years ago. The canyon has kept the temperature and moisture conditions similar to that long time ago. In 1975, Rocky Hollow was awarded status as a National Natural Landmark. It is also a state Nature Preserve.

The trail is very beautiful. You are surrounded by tall sandstone walls and the most fascinating geological formations.

Just look at the height of the rock in comparison to my daughter and new born baby. Wow!

There is a lot of interest on this trail, and lots of rock climbing, so the little ones were also entertained.

I loved the color on the rocks produced by all the moisture.

Depending on what time of year you go, the water levels vary. When we were there it was pretty dry so we were able to hike pretty far, but I heard in spring you may not be able to hike as far because of the water depth. It seems like it is always wet, so be prepared to get your shoes muddy.

At this part, we decided to turn around and go back rather than make the loop. The rocks were getting wetter and slippery, and we worried Ashley was going to fall with the baby. I was kinda bummed because I did want to see the "Punch Bowl".

We spent some time taking fall family photos.

Turkey Run Trail 10

Next, we headed for "Turkey Run Trail 10" to see "Crevice Rock".

This was a cool trail because of the wooden steps going up and through all the interesting rock formations.

This trail is 1.4 miles long and leads you to the "Camel Back Overlook". We just climbed the stairs to the top and then came back down. That was cool enough for the little ones.

Before I leave, I have to mention that there are several historic buildings in this park too, like the "Leiber Cabin" pictured below.

I don't know if I'll ever get back to Turkey Run State Park to explore more; I certainly hope so.

Have A Great Day! Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

Tuesday, December 3, 2024

Stitched Christmas Cards Using Spellbinder's Stitching Dies

I have a couple of Christmas cards to show you that I made with my Spellbinder's Stitching Dies. I belong to the Spellbinder's Stitching Die of the Month club. I get one die a month at a reduced price. I'm really enjoying this club because it combines two of my favorite hobbies, sewing and paper crafting, into one! Plus I think the stitching takes card making to a whole new level.

"Merry and Bright Cloche"

My first Christmas card uses the Spellbinder's die "Merry and Bright Cloche". I had to admit I had no idea what a cloche was until I looked it up. 😁. I really like this set because it has so many possibilities. For my first card, I used the card exactly as it was meant to be used, but I can see just making a forest of trees, or constructing a shaker card with the cloche; the possibilities are endless.

To create the card I cut all the individual pieces out, ink blended the cloche, tree, and stand, and then stitched everything with metallic gold floss. I then glued everything together, and popped the tree up on dimensionals. The dark blue card base was embossed with a snowflake Cuttlebug embossing folder.

"All Wrapped Up"

My next card works great for many occasions, not just Christmas. I could just change the colors and make a birthday card, graduation card, etc.

This card uses the Spellbinder's Stitching Die "All Wrapped Up". On the inside of the card, I used a retired Stampin' Up! sentiment from "Star Studded Season". I highlighted the word "gift" by stamping it separately on white card stock and cutting it out and gluing it onto the card.

To make this card, I cut all the pieces in two shades of red, then did the stitching with metallic gold embroidery floss. I used a Cuttlebug embossing folder to create a Christmas design on white card stock. I glued the bow to the white card stock and added a sentiment tag from "Flourishes".

Have A Great Day! Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

Thursday, November 21, 2024

How to Style This Season's Hottest Color Combo: Brown & Cream with Ageless Style

Ageless Style is a monthly style challenge and link up for women of all ages. Each month we pick a different theme and style an outfit based on that theme. This month's theme is a color challenge of "Chocolate Brown and/or Cream" and was picked by ME!

This month it was my turn to pick the challenge theme. Generally, when I pick a challenge, I try to choose a trending fashion because I think most women who are interested in fashion are also interested in what is trending in fashion. I picked this color challenge because when I went shopping recently everything, and I mean EVERYTHING I saw in the stores was chocolate brown paired with cream or "winter white". I saw a little bit of green in the stores too, but I didn't see anything red, which I found humorous because red is being labeled this fall's "it" color. But, as I've said for years, it seems to always take a year or more when a color picked by fashion experts as "this season's 'it' color" makes it down to the stores; so I expect to see a lot more red in the years to come.

I have heard a lot of women say they just don't like the color Chocolate Brown. That's ok. You can skip a trend if you don't like it. For me, I have always loved wearing brown, perhaps it is my coloring, but I think it looks better on me than black, so I couldn't be happier this color is trending.

In this post, I am showing you two different outfits and multiple ways to wear the color so even if you don't like the color, or think it doesn't flatter you, you can still find a way to incorporate the trend into your daily looks.

Outfit #1

Chocolate Brown Pants

For my first outfit I'm showing how you can wear chocolate brown away from your face if you don't think it is a color that compliments you. By wearing chocolate brown pants the trending color is on the lower half of my body and the cream color is on top.

My pants are new from TJMaxx; they are by D.JEANS. It's hard to see in the photos, but they have a cuffed bottom which is also super-trending in jeans and pants. The cream sweater, suede booties, and plaid shacket are all old.

Although I purchased the shacket back in 2021, it is still available on Amazon.

Outfit #2

Chocolate Brown Cardigan and Boots

Another way to incorporate this trending color is in small doses like your footwear, or even a handbag. My booties are new this season from DSW.

Here I'm wearing Chocolate Brown close to my face with the Chocolate Brown cardigan. I actually think this color is very flattering on me, so I can wear it top or bottom.

I purchased my Chocolate Brown cropped cardigan from Amazon. I really like it, it's not too thick and the buttons are so cute! Cropped cardigans as still so "in" this year. My wide leg cream pants are also new this year. These were purchased from a local boutique; I showed you these pants in last month's Ageless Style post, they are by Kut by the Kloth. I've been wearing them a lot this fall, and I get so many compliments on them.

So what about you? What do you think of Chocolate Brown or the Chocolate Brown/Cream Color Combo? Do you see yourself incorporating this color trend this year, or are you going to skip it? I'd love to hear from you!

Next month's theme is "Holiday Wear" and was chosen by Bo! If you want to join us, just email me before December 18th, (email address located on my "contacts/follow" page in the side bar) and I'll include you in next month's post.

Have A Great Day! Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

And now be sure to check out how the rest of the ladies in our group our styling this color and link up with us as well!