I thought this was a fabulous idea...especially given the recent events in the Department of Homeland Security! One can dream!
Let's all spread some kindness and compassion!
The quote was found here: https://www.instagram.com/pamelaandedward/
I potted up a gifted amaryllis bulb on December 30th. I know I was a little slow getting it out of the box...but it seemed to respond to the light and a bit of water and healthy leaves emerged and grew pretty quickly. But then nothing. Just leaves.
I have been lightly watering it once a week and made sure it was in plenty of light. But I had a feeling that it just wasn't going to bloom....I think that happens sometimes. But I remained patient.
Then just today there it was....a bud emerging up from the center. My patience paid off! We have lift off!
Speaking of patience....I have to tell you a story about Dotty. She and I have never met except once on Zoom...but we've gotten to know each other through email and our our blogs. She loyally comments here on this one and cheers me on through all my joyful puttering. I consider her a friend.
Dotty was one of the recipients of a blue and white joy journal and got hers in the mail a few days ago. But she is treating it like an advent calendar...and only looking at one element a day and reaching out to me with her observations and appreciation.
The first day she just pondered the covers. Today she opened it for the first time and took one thing out of the pocket on the inside cover....and pondered that. As I mentioned a few days ago she requested pockets....so there are lots of things tucked in her journal so this could take a while. It makes me chuckle...but it also warms my heart.
I admire Dotty's patience....and I appreciate her savoring the experience of each element. Lots of thought and love goes into these journals....and I feel like it's coming right back at me as Dotty savors the reveal.
Thank you Dotty!
We had three or four inches of snow overnight....it was just lovely when I woke up. But we hit almost 50 degrees this afternoon so the new snow melted quickly. We still have HUGE piles of snow everywhere.....but spring was in the air!
This hydrangea was her own watercolor that she made into cards. It's what she wrote the note on to me...so that handwritten note is on the back. I do love when I have an opportunity to cut something out along one edge....and I think her hydrangea is pretty against the blue and white paper she provided.
The last few days I've been working on Susan's....and it's nearly done.
You know what's attractive? Gallivanting through life like joy is the whole point. Case Kenny
It didn't take long to pull out all the littles from my found object jar...you knew it was coming. The only requirement was that it had a face....with the exception of the soccer player in front of the Pink Panther who is missing an arm and his head.....but I didn't want to hold that against him. These littles can all hang out until I have to move my puzzle up on the table. Taking a few minutes to play today...was good for for me soul. Joy was the whole point!
Today just flew by! After taking two journals to the post office I spent most of the morning in the kitchen doing food prep and a good chunk of the afternoon on the phone with my lifelong friend Becky....with just a bit of this and that in between. ALL of it helped make the world feels more hopeful....despite the news. Tomorrow I'll be back in the studio working on journals!
Thank you to all the thoughtful comments yesterday. I loved hearing what made you feel more hopeful!
I got an email today from Alice in Maryland who stumbled on the blog just a few weeks ago. She was surprised that I was giving my art away....and quite taken with my puzzle gange...which she referred to as littles (she has some too)...and she loved the new Gee's Bend quilt puzzle and wanted more information. If you are reading this Alice....welcome to the Joyful Puttering blog family. You're going to fit right in!
But what Alice might not know is that I've been collecting found objects and littles for years. With the exception of the Pink Panther and the orange cone....everything on my puzzle table is a found object.
I found this photo of a few that aren't on the puzzle table. And I have a feeling I am going to be compelled to go through ALL my objects to find all the littles. That could be fun!
Listen to the birds instead of breaking news and the world feels more hopeful.
This is a version of something I saw on line....and I tried it out all day long. In addition to listening to the birds....
I finished up two more joy journals...and the world felt more hopeful.
I tended to a few household and Condo Association chores...and the world felt more hopeful.
It seemed especially important to be downtown at the protest on a day like this when our out of control President has gotten us into a war without the consent of Congress or support from the American people.
Remember the line from the movie Field of Dreams: If you build it they will come?
My version is: if you say it out loud...it just might happen!
Hope and patience....we did that!
SPRING! I said it out loud...it might just happen!
I can think of a lot more things I'd like to say out loud and just make happen.....
A bit of admin/housekeeping....please bear with me.
For better or worse....I am an over communicator. So if you haven't heard from me about papers you have sent or a note with postage for a journal that you have mailed...it means I haven't gotten it yet. If I've not responded to a comment...or an email it's because it has gotten lost in the shuffle so please reach out again.
I will always reach out and respond. I am an over communicator.
I did receive two more packages of papers today from Debbie C, and Cherie and got two more journals in the mail today to Lily and Debbie L.
I also learned today that a note and postage money from Massachusetts just a few hours away was mailed 9 or 10 days ago and I have not received it. And the winning journal I sent to Maryland...also not that far away...has still not arrived after about 10 days.
Turns out the mailing part of this project is the most difficult part. I guess we all have to be patient and hopeful that things will eventually get where they are going. And sometimes...they might take the long route. And of course I have a story to illustrate that point!
Diane...a friend of mine from college...sent papers on February 2nd from Missouri. She took her small package to the post office....had it weighed...and mailed it regular first class mail without tracking. On February 18th it was returned to her requiring more postage. She mailed it again...this time with tracking.
It arrived here in Maine earlier this week during our snow storm...and we had to laugh at the crazy journey her papers went on. We remained patient and hopeful.
Starting today, I'm going to mail all of the journals Ground Advantage so there is always tracking. It will cost a bit more...but also give me a little piece of mind.
We all need to be patient and hopeful about so many things in our world today! We can do that!
Live the way you want to be remembered. (quote attributed to several different people)
Maine Needs posted this morning that they had 367 requests this month that included towels....so I was even more excited to take in my stack today.
Thank you again to those of you who helped me purchase this big bag of towels.
We didn't get as much snow here in Maine as expected...but we did get big wind all day long. The bluebirds didn't seem to mind. They always get dried mealworms for breakfast...but this afternoon there were several around the feeder...so they got an afternoon snack.
I had blue and white outdoors....and lots of blue and white in the studio too. I'm assembling several joy journals at one time...and hope to have a few to put in the mail this week sometime. I see Anne tomorrow...and I can hand deliver hers.
I thought I would share a few tools I love...and one little trick.
I like the look of a stitched pocket on the inside covers.
My clips and clothespins don't have a very long reach...but this does. It's so useful for holding layers of pages together until I stitch and add the closure.
I also use it to hold my watercolor journal open when I'm painting. Like I said...I couldn't love it more.
It's not just about creativity, it's about the person you're becoming while you're creating. Charlie Peacock
We're expecting 6 to 8 more inches of snow with high winds tomorrow. I actually don't mind because I have so many inside things to keep me joyfully puttering...even if the power goes out.
Aren't these papers going to make a beautiful book! It's such a pretty color scheme and I'm so glad Susan included one of her own cyanotypes.
But these pretty papers will have to wait patiently in line....I have some other journals to finish first!
But it's fun having them in the wings!
There's nothing quite as pretty as fresh snow on the bare trees against the blue sky. We got about 5 inches overnight and are expecting 6 or 8 more inches on Monday! Winter is not over!
I'm plugging away at the blue and white journals in between life things. I do have all the covers done....so now it's time to start assembling the insides.
I have a fun follow up on yesterday's post. On Dotty's cue...I agreed that it couldn't get any better than making these little journals.
But actually...it can.
Now really....it doesn't get better than this!
Just as a reminder, I am not asking for donations for this journal project...just help with postage. But I am very grateful for the chance to buy more needed items.
I finally finished the top two thirds of Philippa's Cheeks and the Shed puzzle and moved it up on the table under my light and puzzle gang. It barely fits...with the top and bottom borders teetering on the edge. But somehow that seems fitting given the state of our world.
I laughed out loud at Dotty's comment on yesterday's post:
MaryAnn, hard imagine how this joy journal project could be any better! And-as I may well have stated on some previous occasion or another, quoting my nephew from a letter he wrote home from camp as a youngster-"that is all I have to say" :)
I laughed out loud because I absolutely love the quote from her nephew's letter....but also because this joy journal project couldn't be any better for me....and I have a story to illustrate that.
Thank you in advance for putting up with my stories....this one makes me smile.
You may remember that I had lunch a few days ago with Marita and Lisa....both were assistants in my special education classrooms over the years...both of them went on to be and are still full time teachers.
My last teaching position was my dream job where I was hired to create and run an educational program at the Falmouth High School for girls living in a transition home in the same town. There were six girls at a time living at the home, some of them transitioning out of corrections, some waiting for foster placement...most of them in crisis. The placement was temporary...so girls came and went....and I loved every single one of them.
It was my dream job because it fully utilized the best of my skills and who I was at my core. I struggled as a student in school and I think that made a better special education teacher....and that served me well in this program. I was a creative type...and we quickly learned that these girls needed to make things...and bake things. They needed to laugh and play and be mothered and nurtured.....all of that was second nature to me. We worked on academics in the morning and in the afternoon we unleashed our creativity. Everyone made something on the sewing machine...everyone worked on puzzles and played games and everyone decorated their notebooks with stickers and tapped into something new. Even the staff.
It was my dream job because it brought out the best in me as a teacher and utilized all of my creative skills.
When Paul and I moved to Wisconsin I had to resign....and that was difficult. But I was able to pass the baton on to Lisa who embraced the program and made it her own. I have not talked about it much with her until just a few days ago...and it was a delight to think back about the special young women I worked with. And I so enjoyed hearing about Lisa's experience in those next years.
I've come to realize that making these joy journals is my dream project because they utilize all of my skills and combine so many things I love. I get to recreate my art experiments.....use the recycled and found paper I've been hoarding and make new gelli prints when I need just the right color. I get to curate....assemble and sew these little journals then add personal touches and tuck in snippets and surprises. Best of all I get to give them away.
Jane and I had a micro adventure today. There's a store in nearby Westbrook called Past and Future Craft Exchange and I've been curious about it for quite some time. They take donations of usable craft and sewing supplies and resell things at low prices.
Long story short....I still have a messy table...but now I have a sweet little page for one of the journals.
I mostly want these journals to be a blank slate for the recipient to do their own thing...but it's hard not to add a little project of my own.
Everyone was a winner......and she sent me some of her blue and white papers to include in hers. There's some fabulous stuff here....enough to share with others!
My head is already spinning with ideas.
I had the most delight long lunch with Marita and Lisa. I see Marita every few months often...but I haven't seen Lisa for at least 20 years. I worked with both of them in my special education classrooms in different schools...and I introduced them to each other years ago. We have so much common ground...and our visit was pure joy!
My phone is too smart for me!
I get excited now when the circulars come in the mail....not for the slick store adds...but the plain black and white single sheet add that holds them all together. I've been saving them for months....and they've come in handy.
The texture is grainy and flat....the paper is thickish and it folds like a dream. Fabric fuses to it perfectly...and paper collage latches right on with a little glue. It works perfectly for the the bones of my journals.
