Comforted

Even the browning is wabi-sabi beautiful!

And the way this bit of red and orange landed on this tiny peace tag is beautiful too. It's just random strips of greeting cards...but it became a precious little art piece.

Sometimes there is magic on the back of the tag....one of you might recognize this handwriting.

And this sentiment landed perfectly on the back of one strip just by chance. There seems to be a lot of loss these days.... 

....but I continue to be comforted by this process.

Moment of Magic

I continue to spend a few minutes every day looking my wabi-sabi amaryllis blooms from every angle. Some of the petals on those first blooms are completely dry...but still very beautiful. 

This 4th bloom on the first stem is just starting to die back. Do you see the little moment of magic? If I hadn't taken the time to look closely....I would have missed it. 

I hope you had a moment of magic today.

Joy Nuggets....

....from some of you.

I've gotten some thoughtful quotes and images from some of you...and I always like to share them forward. So here are some of your nuggets of joy that have been showing up on my screens that brought me some hope.

This was a fun Valentine's Day message from Anne....

....and so very clever! 

Love AND Peace! 

Yes please.

When we were there...and I took a photo of the same view of their winter garden space in the evening light. Pure magic!

Margaret Y. created this beautiful page in her morning journal earlier this week.

I love the notion of "wide sight" and "soft eyes." 

"Don't get fixated on the direct threats. Instead, remind yourself to look toward the edges of your field of vision. What's there? What not immediately obvious? Is there something on the periphery that is helpful, healing or hopeful?" Diana Butler

Yes! 

I loved this quote on a recent post (no name was given)....and I thought it was worth sharing here.

Today as we face the challenges of the world, I urge you to remember that hope is not lost. Cling to it fiercely, with every fiber of your being. It's easy to be consumed by the darkness, and feel small in the face of adversity. but you are not small. You are powerful, strong, and capable of rising to be your best welf. You can find strength in your faith, in your truth, and in the light that shines within you. The world needs that light more than ever. It needs you. Take a moment to reflect on who you are, what you believe in, and what your stand for. Hold onto to hope, stay true to yourself, and never let anyone bury your story. Your voice matters and your story needs to be heard. Today, I implore you to be that light, to shine brightly amid the darkness and never give up on the hope that lives within you. Don't' let them busy our stories.  The quote is from Don't Let them Bury My story by Viola Fletcher 

And Becky sent me this Instagram Masterclass video...here's the message:

With all the darkness that's going on in the world, you can look at the darkness. Don't stare. It will make you crazy. It will make you cross eyed. It will make you what IT is. The solution is to create magic, dance, sing, love, create environments where you can find joy. Because you can create joy.

And her husband David send mt this photo of Becky making a snow angel. 

It seems she is creating a little magic as she dances in the snow!

Tracie sent these photos a week or so ago. Her husband Loon was on a skiing trip and paused to notice this remarkable tree! (pun intended Tracie 😉)

 

Roseanne created this incredible art piece of some of the special doors in her life.

I just love it...and so glad she shared it with me.

Here are a couple of Alyson's photo montages. She loves photographing the snow. 

And a few weeks ago Dotty shared some forsythia branches she forced...infusing a little spring into the winter. 

That prompted me to put a few on my window sill...but they haven't opened up yet. 

Thank you everyone for sharing your hope and joy with me! 

And finally....my wabi-sabi amaryllis photo of the day:

Dignity

It was a snowy/sleety kind of day....and it was nice to have the luxury of staying tucked inside. I was mindful that there are people without adequate housing or shelter. 

I've been thinking about the word dignity. There are just too many examples these days of stripping people of their dignity. And it's shameful. 

The feeling of dignity is a sense of self-worth, respect for oneself, and the belief that one is deserving of respectful treatment from others, essentially feeling valued and important as a human being. It's a feeling of be treated appropriately and not being diminished or disregarded in any situation. 

As I mentioned yesterday...any money I make on my Words on Encouragement project is going to to Maine Needs. But if I donate money...someone still needs to shop...so why don't I do the shopping. 

And after reading this post on the Maine Needs Instagram page a few days ago....I've decided I'm going to buy underwear. 

As I fill orders when I volunteer....and underwear is on the list....there's hardly ever enough. And chances are when someone needs shirts and pants...they also need underwear even if they don't ask for it. 

Having clean underwear....is so basic to our sense of dignity. 

I did a little of everything today I stitched more cards with Margie's coloring, I printed and cut up labels and inserts and made several strip collages into tags. Tonight I'm going to watch TV while I assemble kits.

This particular collage produced 14 tags with just a few tiny snippets left over. 

And...I'm just going to keep going. My goal is to buy 500 pairs of underwear. Why not aim high.

If any of you are interested in supporting my Words of Encouragement project...please contact me at joyfulputtering@gmail.com. I will be happy to send you just tags, or a whole kit. I think I can mail one kit with just one stamp.

When I was a Class Advisor at Deering High School here in Portland...we used to do fundraisers all the time. When we had a car wash....if we charged $5....we only got $5. But if we just took donations we sometimes got $10.

So if you're interested.....I'm not going to set a price...and I'm going to let you decide how much you can donate. Let's start a conversation:  joyfulputtering@gmail.com

I already have at least 8 orders! I need to get busy!

Late-Night Thinking

My wabi-sabi amaryllis photo of the day showcases the beauty of fading petals where the intricuit patterns in the veining become clearly visible.

I often lay awake at night thinking about my projects....both new and old. It's both a blessing and a curse....but seems to be part of my creative process. 

Late-night thinking is what helped me move from just random art tags with Words of Encouragement (which I loved)....to tags that literally weave together cards from the community that encircled Margie and our family. I love the symbolism of these tags!

But what was I going to do with them all?

Late night thinking kicked into gear again a few days ago....and I had an idea largely inspired by the Heather Cox Richardson quote I shared a few days ago. 

"Whatever those things are that you bring to a community, do them, and do them with joy. And don't stop doing them because you are scared."

I came to realize that I wanted to turn this project into something that built community....and it occured to me that maybe I could do something FOR the community at the same time.

So.....I'm starting to put together Words of Encouragement kits that I hope will help others create community and share words of hope and joy. I hope to sell them as a fundraiser at the local Handiwork store and donate ALL of my proceeds to Maine Needs, where I've been volunteering. More on that in another post.

Each kit contains four tags, a treat bag to fill and share, and one handmade card to send to someone who might need it. Until I run out...I'm using pieces of Margie's original coloring to stitch onto the cards. She would be pleased.

I am encouraging people to attach or include the tags to share some Words of Encouragement with someone else.

Using Margie as my inspiration...I am telling the story of how these tags are made and am including the background story in the kit. You know it...but here's what I wrote:

In October of 2024, Margie, my 92 year old mother-in-law fell and broke her hip. I put out a call to her community to shower her with cards with Words of Encouragement for her recovery and upcoming birthday. The cards came...and they just kept coming. Unable to face the long rehab road ahead, Margie passed away peacefully on November 6th, the day after the election, blissfully unaware of the outcome. Then the sympathy cards with words of condolence started coming...and they just kept coming. And I kept them all.

In honor of Margie, I've been turning these cherished cards into Words of Encouragement to share with others. By cutting them into skinny strips and mixing them up, each tag becomes a symbol of her colorful community of hope and joy. Margie was a woman of faith, committed to promoting peace and joy, and she would be pleased that her values continue to be shared through Words of Encouragement.

It took me a couple days to figure out the nitty gritty like the layout and wording. But I'm happy where I landed and now I can just focus on making tags...stitching cards...and assembling kits. 

I have lofty goals...and we'll see if they are realistic. But whatever I can do...no matter how big or small will be a positive result of my late night thinking.

I also hope to offer kits and or just tags here to this blog community.....because so many of you answered my call with beautiful cards and notes. I continue to be so grateful. 

Stay tuned....I'll probably lay awake thinking about it tonight.

Tiny Bit of Hope

No matter how busy my days are...I always find time to sit at the puzzle table. It's always quiet and calm...and I don't have to think about anything else.

I finished my winter stamp puzzle several days ago and have been sorting the new one from Philippa into my album boxes. 

I'm pretty excited about this one of a kind "Colour Collection" puzzle! The stamp puzzle is all put away so I'm ready to go. 

Here's my wabi-sabi photo of the day. I just decided at this very moment that it's going to be a thing for a little while as I watch this fascinating process of decay.

I'm still plugging along on my Words of Encouragement tags...and as promised here are some of the things I've learned.

So those you who aren't interested in the nitty gritty can just move on with your day. 

I do like sharing my process...and I know of a couple people who were interested. 

After I slice up the front of the cards...I try to use the other 1/2 as my substrate leaving almost no waste. But what I found is that some of the cards have a glossy finish to the strips don't stick as well.  So I'm only using the cards that have a matte finish for the base. 

I've been using just a UHU glue stick...applying a generous amount. I've tried using gel medium...which is probably stronger...but it's messy and takes longer. The glue stick is just so easy.

I use a soft clot to burnish down the strips  really well so they lay flat and get good contact with the glue. 

I still noticed that some of the little strips fall off like the one here and that could be because some of the fronts of the cards I'm using are glossy on the back. Does that make sense? 

So I've started top coating the each collage with matte medium hoping it sink into the cracks seal things up. And before I glue on the words I check each strip so see if any little piece needs a bit more glue. 

I have white glue in a fineline applicator...so I can get it into tiny places.

Once the matte medium starts to dry a little bit I add some gold swirls with a fineline applicator to give them a little bling and texture. I'm actually trying to have more of a light touch than you see here. It doesn't take much.

Once they are good and dry...usually overnight I slice them up using my big guillotine paper cutter. Each of these little collages can make about 12 to 14 tags. If the words are short....I can get two tags from one strip.

I dust the edges of both the words and the tag with some distress ink and a sponge applicator. I've created a document of the words...fitting as many as I can on the page and printing them on cream resume paper.

I think it really makes a difference getting rid of that white edge. Can you see the difference between these two? It's subtle.

I've tried all kinds of things for the tie...but for these skinny little tags I've settled on this cotton string. 

It's not as bulky as ribbon or the skinny strips of fabric I used for the bigger tags. And the best part is I have a huge spool of it. 

I'm having to dig deep to find much hope these days....but this project has been a good distraction so maybe there's a tiny bit of hope for me.

Full Circle

The very first bloom on my amaryllis was fully open on February 1st.....and just today...it's showing the first sign of shriveling. I'm going to enjoy watching the full circle of life process.....finding wabi-sabi beauty in imperfection.

I never shared this photo....but Colleen gifted us this bulb before Christmas...and I was slow to get it planted. When I finally pulled it out of the box at the end of December I had a little oops moment...and wondered if it would be OK.

Turns out it was just fine...and the second stem of blooms is just as amazing as the first with two flowers fully open and two more coming.

It's not getting as much attention...but it's just as fun and just as robust and beautiful as the first.

It took me back to just a year ago when Margie was gifted a bulb....she's not really a plant person so needed a little help. I got it started at the condo and took it to her apartment when it started to bud. It sat in the window by her chair and she watched it every single day...bringing her more joy that she expected.

I wrote about it here: 

I know I said I would write about what I've learned during this tag making process....I'll do that another day. It can't be all tags all the time. But I did make good progress on the project today including an idea of a way to start sending them out into the world. I'll catch you up soon.

I do have to say that I love the way the these greeting card strips are coming together...and you never know what will show up on the back. Every single one is unique.

A Place to Settle

I've found a wonderful place to settle with my Words of Encouragement tags....and this latest version seems just right on so many levels. 

Way back in October when Margie had her fall...I reached out to this blog community.....my friends and family...and my facebook community to send her cards. A Call for Community I called it...because I wanted Margie to know just how big her caring community actually was.

And you responded.....so many people responded. Margie got get well cards and birthday cards. Some of them homemade....all of them with thoughtful notes and words of encouragement. And they just kept coming.

Then...after her death the sympathy and words of condolence came. And they also just kept coming. And I kept every single one.

Just a few days ago I was revisiting the cards....and I was overcome with joy. Then I wondered if these very special cards could be worked into my project. 

Turns out they could! 

So for the past two days I've been cutting up your cards...or at least the ones my cutter can handle....

and glueing the strips onto other pieces of the very same cards.

I love the way the colors blend....just like our diverse community. I'm looking forward to making them into tags and getting them out into the world. I'll share a few things I've learned about the process tomorrow...but I'm pretty excited about where I've landed.

And after reading that post from way back in October it helped me settle on keeping the name...with an added subtitle:

Words of Encouragement

A Call for Community