Centerpiece

Our house good friends John and Sue arrived today....and we had an absolutely joy-filled day. 

I wrote the draft of this post this morning before they arrived:
 I could have bought flowers for the dining room table....but instead I'm using some of our found objects as the centerpiece. 

I'm certain there's a rainbow in there!

I can always count on Lynn Giunta for a rainbow...and a little joy.

Rainbows

Tomorrow is Pride Day in Portland....so Patty and I are celebrating the rainbows in our yards. 

I adore her parade of rainbow pigs in her back yard! I grew up on a pig farm in Wisconsin so I have a penchant for pigs. And you know how I feel about rainbows.

And I love the rainbows at my front door. Patty gave me the vintage metal red laundry basket on the right.....it's now one of my favorite planters. 

All are welcome here!

I've been experimenting with lighter weight papers for cyanotype so I can cut things out easier. For this one I used one of my stencils on rice paper. My first try was a failure because it ripped apart when I rinsed it. The second time I treated it like tissue paper and left it on the glass while I CAREFUlLY rinsed the chemicals out...then let it dry right on the glass without touching it. Once it was dry it was easy to handle and cut. 

I mounted it on a page from one of my vintage manuscript books. 
I wondered if I should have fussy the lower part...but I kind of like the dark blue accent. 

Places and Spaces

Sometimes joy looks like dusting and vacuuming places and spaces in the condo that haven't been touched in a while. We have house guests coming Saturday into Sunday....and I using it as an excuse to do a deep  clean. I didn't do any slow doodling today....but I slow cleaned almost all day long on this rainy day.

This rainbow vessel collection on my mother's antique desk in my dining room is one of my favorite spaces...and now it's all dusted. I did the spectrum cross stitch back in 2012 and it still makes me smile....as does my colorful handmade lampshade on Linda's vintage lamp.

There were also places and spaces in the day where I puttered on a few other things....like my puzzle. I thought I would give this view of my puzzle table from the living with the rainbow display in the background. The puzzle table is smack dab in the middle of our large living space...and that seems just right. When I'm sitting at the table I can see out the patio doors and watch the weather and the birds.

And THIS happened late this afternoon. Emily (my goddaughter) finally opened her Joy Journal while we Facetimed. It was pure JOY! You can get a glimpse inside her crazy joy journal here in this post: https://joyfulputtering.blogspot.com/2026/04/a-glimpse-inside.html

A Beauty

What a beautiful and joy-filled day. Home chores in the morning....a downtown shopping trip with Patty this afternoon....then a delightful happy hour and dinner with Paul on the patio. 

And look what I found in my front yard! Isn't it a beauty! 

At first I thought it was some sort of a ball sitting in the grass....but when I tried to kick it...it didn't move. 

I know mushrooms are good for the soil so I really embrace them. But it I left it.... it would eventually end up a slimy brown mess. 

 

So I picked it....appreciated its beauty....and recycled it in the woods. Do you see the heart on the side?

And here's another rainbow from the past as I was getting ready to stitch this batik piece.

It's OK

My morning walk took me by a lovely garden filled with foxglove. 

My photos weren't that great because the sun was too bright....but this closeup made me laugh out loud! Do you know what it reminded me of?

Those dreaded chin hairs! 

 

A week or so ago I started this rainbow puzzle. I sorted the pieces into my box tops and started putting the border together.....and within minutes decided I needed to let this one go.

The pieces didn't fit together easily...making it more or a chore than a joy. So I dumped it all back in the box and added it to my thrift pile. It's OK to stop...and just let it go. 

Someone might like it....so it's in my donation pile.

After that I did these two quick and easy rainbow order puzzles. The first one is a 75 piece mini from Philippa...and second is a 300 Shelfie puzzle from my sister. It's OK to do something easy.

Now I've started this fabulous Pencil Rainbow puzzle from Philippa.

Speaking of Philippa....she posted this photo a week or more ago....doesn't it just ooze joy! And doesn't it look like the artist that assembled this colorful pencil collection! If you want to see what joy looks like in action...check out her video from the same photo shoot: https://www.instagram.com/p/DYnVFelAoO_/

Happy Enough

Oh what a beautiful day it was after the rain....and even the rain was beautiful.

Another rainbow project from the past....gelli print daisies collaged on a book page.

After a slew of morning chores.....I started coloring in the background of the Bowman's root doodle with shades of green colored pencil. I didn't love the look....so tried to enhance it out with light shades of green marker and still didn't like it. I was working on thin drawing paper....so was limited with what the paper could take. 

I looked at the whole page and knew I didn't want to continue...so I cut it up and kept working on just a small section until it made me happy enough. 

The simple line work helps the green be OK enough....and the blooms still shine.

I immediately found a spot in my layered floral joy journal....and I love the way you can see it from the very fist page. Sort of. It's there peeking out in the back...if you look closely. 

I found a page that was pink....so folded it in half and glued it in. 

It's going to be fun using this doodle as a starting point on these couple pages.

Doodling and Coloring

I was excited to come home to my first pink rain lily blooms! The foliage is still filling in...but it always throws up a few teaser blooms early in the season. It's loving the summer weather.

Right behind it...the Bowman's root is in full bloom...and my sweet little yellow day lilies are  starting to bloom. I love my June garden.

Before we had headed to Deer Isle....I did a little slow doodling on the patio. 

I drew the whimsical little Bowman's root stars over and over. It was meditative and relaxing.

I took it with me in the car....and using a few colored pencils colored in the flowers. Not sure what's next with this...but doodling and coloring is good for the soul.

A Little More

I wanted to share just a bit more from our day yesterday in Deer Isle. Paul and I had a good time driving around the island exploring all the nooks and crannies.

We wandered around Stonington...at the southern end of the island. Stonington is the largest lobster port in Maine handling millions of pounds of lobster annually. 

There's a rainbow in these buoys....just not in the right order. 

We happened upon this lupin field....and seeing this many lupin in one spot always makes me pause. 

Anne  recommended we check out Nervous Nellies....and Nellieville. 

Nervous Nellies is known for their unusual jams and jellies...but also for Nellieville....a crazy life size western village made with only recycled and discarded materials. It covers several acres and is beyond your wildest imagination.

There are lots of buildings you can go in like a saloon, a hotel, a garage...and a couple churches. 

There are sculptures and found objects EVERYWHERE! It's where old things can go do die....and they're displayed and embellished in a very creative way.

There's even a school....

inside a school bus of course. It's staged for kids to interact and play.

On our way home we were on the lookout for this lupin patch that we saw on our way up just outside of Belfast. I have never seen this many lupin in the same spot...and in no way does this photo do it justice. Thanks for tagging along....with just a little more of our joy-filled day. 

Sand Beach

After a wonderful breakfast and visit with Dana and Anne....Paul and I headed out to do our own exploring of the nooks and crannies of Deer Isle. Our first stop was Sand Beach...and it did not disappoint....so I thought I would take you along.

The beach had little paths and walkways that took you to such interesting and beautiful nooks and fabulous vistas.

I was tickled to see so many of these sweet Sea Peas along the walkway.

These rocky islands with the pointy pines are so quintessentially Maine. 

More of our exploring to come...but here's a little rainbow for today.