Rows of Cats

Today I'm celebrating the second card from round two of our 4 x 6 exchange....which has likely been sitting in the mailbox at the condo since Saturday.  I just arrived back up here today....and this delightful herd of cats from Becky was waiting for me.  

Becky's theme for round two was "rows of something." For my rows of cats she used opaque watercolor and fine line pen....and of course a couple sizes of round punches.  Each one has a different personality....and several have already captured my heart.  What a delight!  Thanks Becky!

In and Around Town

I couldn't help but put yesterday's photo into the cartoon view of the "clips" app on my phone.  

Now I love this color combo more than ever!!!  Somewhere...I have some quilt parts and pieces in this scheme.  I'll get back to them some day.  

They were easier to find on the blog...than they will be in person in the studio:

http://joyfulputtering.blogspot.com/2019/10/one-cup-of-coffee.html

 Have I mentioned that I'm a new board member for our condo association in Portland?  Still questioning the wisdom of the that decision....but I'm all in now. In addition to being in charge of the new website (which I developed from scratch) I will be helping with a semi-regular newsletter from the board and I'm calling it "In And Around Parsons Pond."  I borrowed the title for today's blog post because.....

Janet and I had a delightful walk this morning....in and around town....

and I'm taking you along for some of it.

We wondered what tree this was....we loved the seed pods.  Anyone know? They looked like those childhood beads you could snap together. 

Lincoln Park was one of our destinations.

 We spent some time enjoying the beautiful trees in Hastings Park.

It was good to be in and around town today.

Learning to Juggle

From my morning walk with Janet.....the mix of colors in these leaves was incredible!

I have a lot of balls in the air right now...but I always try and pause at the end of the day and focus on something fun, interesting, or creative....something that brought me joy. 

I am celebrating the fact that I was about 20th in line yesterday morning for free shredding at our recycling center in Lexington. It wasn't very glamorous....but it was most certainly one of those QOL (Quality Of Life) activites. It's been bugging me for years...and now it's caught up for a while.

As I've mentioned...my son Sam and I are sharing these little QOL moments with each other....and this is the photo I texted him yesterday. He responded with one of his today.

And as I was leaving the facility I was compelled to turn the opposite direction out of the parking lot....because this is what I wanted to drive through on Hartwell Ave.

But way more fun and creative is an illustration and note from my my friend Lynne....who happens to know I'm currently learning to juggle.

Lynne created Petitia the Prayer Juggler at a time in her life when she was dealing with major changes.  Petitia was playful and loose....a good reminder to Lynne to keep things in perspective. And now she's a good reminder for me too.  

Everything will get done and  everything will be OK...one way or another. 

Lynne also sent this little card with these adorable stitched and painted houses....I'm guessing inspired by some experimenting I did recently with stitched paintings.  I'm going to "borrow" this loose stitched border idea. I'm not very good at loose...but I love the charm it adds.

And while I'm sharing Lynne's work.....a few weeks ago she sent me photos of these delightful collages she made as part of a series highlighting different stages of her life.  I love the way she used pattern pieces as the jumping off place and incorporated and other vintage elements.....and I think they're wonderful.  Thank you Lynne for sharing....and being such an inspiration!

Another Reader Calendar

Yesterday was my sister-in-law Liz's birthday.  Happy Birthday Liz!

I've been making a reader calendar for Liz since 2015.  All year long I collect images of readers and using my Pages program make a little 4 x 6 desktop calendar that I print on my home printer. I enjoy making them...and Liz enjoys getting them so it's a win win.  Here are a few of my favorites.

I used this image on a simple birthday card.  It's a photograph

of a painting in the hallway on Margie's (Liz's mom) floor of her independent living facility.  How perfect is that!

I'm generally very good about giving credit to artists...and I apologize for not keeping track of where these images came from...I know I need to do better.  I'm appreciative of the talented artists who illustrate these delightful readers for Liz to enjoy.

Seascape

"There is a machine that's supposed to make people good & true & kind & the funny thing it works best when it's completely broken down so everyone has to stop what they're doing & get together & figure out how to fix it."  Brian Andreas  

Continuing with the fusing theme for round 2 of our 4 x 6 exchange I knew I wanted to do some sort of seascape for Brenda's Card this week.  She told me she loved blues and aquas....so a seascape seemed like an good choice.

Just like Becky's card...I built my fused project on a piece of release paper starting with the sky.

Using a sliver of soap I marked excess fabric to trim off before I ironed it down....not only to save precious fused fabric but to keep the bulk down.

Then I kept layering.

As I worked I auditioned it under a 4 x 6 matt to see what it would look like cropped down.

I second guessed this next step when I added some white text fabric to represent the white foam along the shore. I think I liked it better in the previous photo....but I knew I was going to add fibers. It would be OK.

Once the fusing was done I peeled it off the release paper and ironed it onto a piece of interfacing so it would be more stable for stitching.

Using invisible thread....I started adding fibers.....

....and a bit of lace for the shoreline.

I trimmed it to size...and sewed a tight zigzag stitch around the edges for binding.

Before I glued it onto the card I added a little bit of beading and sequins to suggest pebbles along the beach. Maybe...just maybe I should have added a little more. I NEVER say that.

And...a real life seascape from Kettle Cove a few days ago.....

...and of course a visit to the Bug Light on the way home.

Color and Light

"It was a day filled with the glow of ordinary things." Brian Andreas

Today I'm celebrating color and light around our neighborhood over the last couple of days in Maine. 

 There's a pop of red peeking over our condo unit....and you can just barely see the seven-sons flower tree in nearly full bloom on the corner in the back. After the white petals fall off...the base of the flower...called the sepal...will will turn a bright rosy pink. What fun that is going to be!

Almost every night Paul and I go for a stroll around our little neighborhood and we always start by with a loop around the pond.  The sky was lovely last night....and the leaves are starting to turn. I always look forward to the reflection of the fall trees on the pond.

The hazy 1/2 moon....mimicked the light from the half moon shaped window of our neighbor.

 I'm enjoying this little solar light sitting on my fence.....

...and the little fall candle that flickers in the kitchen window. 

 It's on a timer...so is on from 4 to 10 every evening.

There's some beautiful fall color at Margie's place....

....and it's popping up more and more on our morning walks.

There are some magnificent trees in our neighborhood....they seem to change by the minute. 

Color and light.....totally worth celebrating!

Happy Birthday Becky!

"Everyone has a friend during each stage of life....but only lucky ones have the same friend in all stages of life."

I'm celebrating my dear friend Becky's birthday today....we've known each other for 56 years. We've leaned on and lifted each other up in every stage...and I don't think there is anyone else except maybe Paul....who knows me as well as she does.

Becky has a little collection going of 4 inch photos of some of my rainbow projects. So this daisy wreath made from my painted papers seemed like the perfect 3D birthday card...and a nice addition to her collection.

I used a piece of wrapping paper I had on hand as the background rather than a collage...not much was going to show and I like this simple and subtle old school text pattern. I have a whole roll of this paper. I used matte medium as the glue and as a topcoat to knock down the glossy finish. I glued it on the cardstock to give it stability.

I often outline my design space with pencil....but forgot that once I covered it with medium I wouldn't be able to erase the pencil line....giving me no leeway.  And I wished I would have drawn a guide circle...but instead I just started randomly and had to keep adding to try and get it nice and round. You can see in the photo below the top is kind of flat....so I added one more red flower...and kept tweaking.

I filled in with this grassy paper I love....and it will be a sad day when it's gone. I've only seen it at one store which has gone out of business.  I keep my eyes open for it anytime I'm someplace artsy (which isn't very often these days) hoping it will turn up somewhere.

Becky has a long narrow wall in her project room where she displays these little rainbows. This photo is from last summer when I was visiting...and I actually think I've given her two more between then and now.  So I'm thinking there are 7 now? Is that right Becky? Are you running out of room? 

Here are all the others....I do love things in rainbow order!  

Happy Birthday Becky!  🌈