Pick-up Sticks

"I don't have to chase extraordinary moments to find happiness...it's right in front of me if I'm paying attention and practicing gratitude."  Brene Brown

Paul found a wabi-sabi baseball on his walk. I'm tickled he paid attention and grateful he shared it with me. And...he left it there for someone else to discover.

Sets of three are a bit of a theme these days for my cards...so I tapped into a container of fusible skinny strips for #55. I've mentioned before that even the smallest fused fabric scrap is valuable....they never lose their fusibility.

I randomly laid the strips on release paper like pick-up sticks lightly fusing as I went along.

Once I gave it a good pressing I was able to pick it up as a unit.

After I fused it on the card I added a few more strips and trimmed it up.

A bright and colorful fused trio.

Found Objects

Janet loves found objects as much as I do....maybe even more.  After our walk this morning (it was beastly hot, by the way) we toured her newly organized shed....and it did not disappoint.

It's the perfect mix of form and function and holds some of her precious finds including part of an old dock she's using as a shelf. And who doesn't want a set of brass candelabras in their shed.  I do! First....I need to find a shed.

Perfectly placed old bottles and other found treasures were everywhere you looked....even beautiful peels of birch bark adorned the walls.  I loved it all!

It was fun seeing that rainbow chair I included in my texture Steller Story several years ago when I took the Consciously Creative class.  It's old school....and colorfully simply.

I'm going to be working on our tiny garage in Maine over the next month/years....and this treasure trove of found objects as decoration will be part of my inspiration.

I walked by this picket fence on the way home from Janet's.  I used to grow cosmos all the time and have always loved its airy wispiness.  

The flowers are all different shades of pink and white including this variegated variety.  They just ooze summer.

But just as delightful is all that potential packed into the bud with the spider legs....and the spent blossom with all its texture and awesomeness.  Found objects of a different sort.

Back to Fusing

"I hate it when people accuse me of lolly gagging when I'm quite clearly dilly dallying."

In addition to the container of fusible circles I also had a container of fusible triangles.  I wrote about my hopes for them back in 2016.

I also found some scraps from my stripe stack projects.

#53 and #54.....a colorful fused pair.

Point of View

I bought this puzzle for my sister Marilyn for her birthday last December....I almost kept it for myself. Then a friend gave it to me knowing I loved marbles and things in rainbow order and today was the perfect day to start.

I sorted the pieces by color  based only on the orientation of the "500 piece puzzle" label on the box. But it just didn't seem to make sense to approach it this way.

...so I rotated the box and started working from the bottom up. Duh!

I started with the dark reds, next will be the orange reds...then the orange...then the yellow orange...etc etc.  It's going to be like doing 7 or 8 smaller puzzles making it very doable and enjoyable....simply because I changed the point of view.

Simple Pleasures

Some of the first petals are going by....but lots of buds still coming on the meadow rue.  Simple pleasures....over and over and over.  

Old rain lily blossoms turning pale...bright new ones coming...simple pleasures....over and over and over.

Almost every piece of paper that comes in the mail....or anywhere near me gets assessed to see if it might be useful.  I saved this lovely notecard from Melodee because I loved the colors, the paper. and the simple design. Using a gridded index card I doodled a little background design mimicking the flower on the card....complete with a tiny gold dot in the center.  It was quite meditative, actually.

Doodling....cutting...glueing....simple pleasures.


I found a couple of pages in a sketchbook of experimental scribbly handwriting....which by the way will never be a strength.  I punched it up and glued the squares on as a background for card #52.


 

I wanted something simple as a focal point...so chose fabric I had gotten from Janet with beautiful circular designs.  Something old...something new....simple cards....simple pleasures.

Do You See It?

As Paul and I were walking to Presumpscot Falls this morning it stuck out like a sore thumb amongst all the green and brown. And ironically enough was no bigger than my thumb.

Do you see it? You might have to zoom in.

It's one of the prettiest places around and I appreciate it when Paul nudges me to go.  See and hear it in action  here on my Instagram page.

"Curiosity....
not certainty."

Half Way!

Paul and I are in Maine for a few days....and the first thing I did was check on things in the garden.  I mentioned I pinched off all the blossoms on my verbena before I left last time....and just like I hoped it was in full bloom again today.  I also did some selective pinching back of the fan flower and it's better and more beautiful than ever!

And the rain lily pots are just bursting....with more buds on the way.  Nature just keep giving and giving.  

My doodle and a Gudrun's World sale flyer were the perfect pairing for card #48. My favorite part is the little "psst" peaking out of the corner.

Card #49 was inspired by the scraps from an evening of star making.  I wove some of the left over strips and added this little image from the same catalog.  And...committing to using things from the past I added a little image from the doodle under the model's hand.  Simple and fun.

Then yesterday I was supposed to be cleaning my sewing room in Lexington when I found a container of pre-cut fusible circles. Within seconds the cleaning stopped and I started ironing them onto the next card. At the time I hadn't connected that the previous card's paper strips were also dots so made for a nice flow. Coincidence?  I think not.

In the morning I thought it needed a few more circles.  I love this one.

I'm half way there! Yay! You can check out a little time lapse video I did of the first 1/2 of my project here on my instagram page.

Rainbow Chard

Philippa, better known as 5ftinf, recently posted this picture of rainbow chard on her instagram page a few days ago and I was smitten. Nature is a beautiful thing!

Then....as I was getting groceries....I found my own version.  I'm not quite sure what to do with chard....so I just admired it on the stand.  

The color scheme flows very nicely into my next set of cards I've been working on that started with this doodle I did back in 2016.  At the time I played around with it digitally....but that's all. Now I've incorporated parts of it into a few cards I'll report on tomorrow.

Here's my digital creation from three years ago and the blog post that goes along with it.

One of the things that this blog does for me is that it sometimes takes me places I might not have gone. Today I googled rainbow chard....just because I was interested and wanted to see and know more.

I came across these colorful photographs by Aliza J Sokolow, photographer and food stylist.  Once again....nature is a beautiful thing.                                                                                                    

Connection

Becky's been sending me some amazing photographs while she's in Norway visiting friends and family. She knows I appreciate beautiful places....and it's nice to have this connection with her while she's there.

My favorite is this little arrangement she did while staying at a mountain cabin.  I'm seeing a little of my influence here....and that makes me smile.

Don't you love that table!

Now if she was going to be at the cabin long enough to watch it shrivel up....that would be the cherry on top of the cake.

What a beautiful setting to play with flower petals!  Thanks for connecting with me Becky!  I just realized this is the perfect blog post...Collecting...Creating...Connecting!  That's what it's all about.

Speaking of petals....when I left Maine a few days ago my freesia petals were completely dry and still a beautiful purple color.  The red begonia lost all its color...but the little yellow center was still there. Fascinating!