Stars of the Show

The further north we got...the more fall colors there were. It's a beautiful time of year to be driving in Maine. 

We had a nice lunch stop in Brewer that included a beautiful walk along the Penobscot River. 

But the real stars of the show were the blueberry fields along the way. They colors were absolutely stunning. I wandered through this field...and I couldn't stop looking. 

And the view of the moon over Sipps bay from the balcony at Patsy and Brian's is pretty spectacular too. We'll be just fine here for a few days! 

Cloud of Witnesses

When Paul performs a baptism, he surrounds the person being baptized with a Cloud of Witnesses...a concept straight from Hebrews. The Cloud...is a random group of people representing a community of love support. We are not alone.

I think we all need a Cloud of Witnesses these days. We need love...support...and community more than ever.

Paul found a couple new characters/toys on his bike rides. I thought the rhinoceros block and the triceratops seemed to pair well. 

Maybe these silly little found toys are part of my Cloud of Witnesses. 

They are oddly comforting.

This fabulous fall puzzle is done....and I loved every colorful minute of it.

I'm going to loan it to Patsy and Brian...I think they will enjoy it this fall. Paul and I are heading to Perry to spend a few days with them. We always have such a good time and they live in such a beautiful part of Maine. They are certainly an important part of our  Cloud. As always...while I am away...the timing of my posts will likely be a little off.

Gratitude

Gratitude is how we hold the truth of beauty without pretending pain isn't there. D. Michele Perry

D Michele Perry's 3rd seeds of joy practice is gratitude....and her post was helpful for me....especially during these times when we can't pretend pain isn't there. These are scary times in our country.

We can hold gratitude and grief at the same time. Practicing gratitude helps us expand our capacity for all the ways goodness and joy can show up.

 A month ago I mentioned that I had a major setback in a long term project. That setback was with my stripes project. If you've been following along you might remember that I had been thinking about it for years....and working on it on and off for over a year.

After our new living room furniture arrived...I was more anxious than ever to finish it. I worked on it diligently and finally had it to the point where I was almost ready to start the top stitching. But in a freak accident while it was sitting on the dining room table it suffered significant water damage. The colors in the hand dyed fabrics bled into each other and where there wasn't bleeding...there were water spots. Almost the entire piece was ruined...and I was devastated.

I was ready to just let it go. But instead....after a few days of grieving....I began again. I changed my design...and have been quietly working on it on and off for the past month. I've wanted to blog about it....the process and ALL the steps along the way. It was...after all....one of the only studio projects I've been working on. But I just wasn't ready to share my story.

Just yesterday I had the binding sewn on and was able to wrap it around the canvas so I could audition it in the living room without fusing the binding to the back. 

But it wasn't right. I kept trying to convince myself that it was and looked at it from every angle in the room. But it just didn't work in the space. It was emotional...and I felt defeated. Again.

But today I have some perspective. I am practicing gratitude...and celebrating what I have accomplished.

I still love the stripes with ALL of that stitching where I used two spools of thread and about six bobbins. Stitching changes everything is one of my mottos. I still love the colors and the navy hand dyed border fabric was just perfect and was going to wrap beautifully around the canvas. 

Would the first design have worked? I'll never know. But what I do know is that I will chop this one up and reinvent the pieces and parts for other spaces....and I will begin again.

Today...I'm practicing gratitude for what I have learned and  accomplished. 

In doing that I am expanding my capacity for all the ways that joy can still show up.

"Nature as Church"

Subtitle: Dazzling....and Sacred

Just yesterday as I was reading Dotty Seiter's blog post titled Nature as Church....I got a little emotional. Dotty is an artist and a poet...and she featured Bessie, the hackmatack tree I keep an eye on....and her toddler pinecones in a poem that I wrote about last May. Dotty used the poetic metaphor of nature as church...with the pine cones lined up as church choir. I hope you link to the post to read the entire poem...but it starts like this:

don'tcha just love
how a row of seeds cones
on a branch is a church choir,
ever' sunday mornin'
gettin' ready to give each voice 
a way to rejoice?

https://dottyseiter.com/2025/09/26/nature-as-church/

I spent most of my childhood going to a small church with my mom and siblings.....and most of my adult life active in the churches where Paul was serving as the pastor. But as of late...I find I'm drawn more and more to nature as my church.

After I read Dotty's post yesterday....I walked to church to visit Bessie and her choir. She's kind of scruffy....and the owner of the adjacent driveway keeps lopping off her branches completely unaware of how sacred she is.

I expected to see full grown pine cones....singing like a chancel choir....but only found a few tucked  here and there. Where did they go?

But what I found instead was a million tiny little beads of light from the dew and  raindrops. It was dazzling....and sacred. 

And as a punctuation point on this post....late this afternoon Paul and I went to a concert actually IN a church. 

It wasn't a church choir...but four incredibly talented faculty members from Berklee College of Music playing jazz and Americana. 

It was dazzling....and sacred.

Seeing and Celebrating

On this very day back in 2017, I assembled this rainbow wreath.

I was a few weeks into my first Conscious Creativity class with Philippa Stanton...and I was collecting a rainbow of nature colors and textures. 

Little did I know how this one class would change the way I see the world.

It was a beautiful day in September day on the porch in Lexington....and I remember feeling such a sense of excitement as I started this new way of seeing and celebrating.

And it was during this class...when I started picking up found objects on a regular basis. 

This was my first grouping in rainbow order of grungy objects I found for the class. I'm pretty sure I still have them all. 

Here's another favorite wabi-sabi rainbow arrangement during that same fall. Seeing...and celebrating is one of my favorite things to do.

Progression

Subtitle: Images That Make Me Happy

Way back when I started up my Pinterest account...one of my first boards was called images that make me happy. I have always adored beautiful and interesting images.

Just today....Cindy....from right here in Auburn, Maine sent me some images that made me happy: this progression from bloom to wabi-sabi wonderful of her Gazania flowers that she started from seed. It think they're just fabulous...especially on this much needed day of rain. Thank you Cindy!

And I stumbled on this montage of images that make me happy from one of my autumn visits to my sister LaVonn and her husband Tim's farm in Wisconsin. I believe I was collecting images with texture

I haven't looked at my old Pinterest boards in a long time....and I had to chuckle at the progression of my images titles starting with images that make me happy.....more images that make me happy....even more images that make me happy...and finally still more images that make me happy. I guess I didn't want the boards to get too full.

I may have to wander through them again one of these next few days....because beautiful images always make me happy. I still use Pinterest on a regular basis...but I will admit that most of my boards are private now...as a creative resource...just for me.

Reinvented

I spent quite a bit of time savoring a patch or sunflowers this morning...but this was my favorite photo. I texted it to Alyson as I was walking...and we traded thoughts about our shared fondness for fall. 

Thank you for your kind words and support after yesterday's post. With time...she will be OK. Time and space...is what she needs.

Sometimes I have an idea that tickles me right down to my toes. (If the photos are distorted in the email version as they often are...I hope you link to the blog.)

I sent Becky a card several years ago that made just for her. I wish I had a photograph of the original card...but it was an artist's rendering of a grid of whimsical cats on chairs.  Becky loves both cats and chairs...so it was perfect in every way. When I was visiting this past April she had it displayed and commented how much she still loved it after all these years.

Knowing right at that moment what I wanted to do with it....I snuck the card into my bag. I know her well enough to know that she wouldn't mind.... hopefully.

So for Becky's birthday....I reinvented that fabulous card into a tiny accordion book. Today is her actual birthday....so this is the perfect day to share her little book.

I cut out all the cats and chairs and glued them onto the pages.

I chose some hefty cream paper that I used for printing quotes for my tag project because it folds well while working small. I had to glue two sheets together to make it long enough.

I dabbed all the folded edges with a distress ink from an almost dried up stamp pad to frame the pages.

I made the covers out of mat board and covered them with  cyanotype tissue prints using just a glue stick. It worked like a dream!

After some experimenting I ended up with a belly band from another cyanotype for a closure. This cyanotype is on paper that is hard to tear...so will hold up well while Becky slides it on and off.

Did I say I was tickled right down to my toes? 

I love this little reinvented book of joy....and Becky does too.

Happy Birthday Becky! Here's to another year to reinvent yourself!

Just the Two of Them

There is no joy without sorrow. it is in fact the pain and the suffering that allows us to experience and appreciate the joy. 
The Book of Joy

I need to pause my joy for today and lean into my sadness. My sister-in-law's husband died this morning after a long and difficult illness. Alyson and Steve were high school sweethearts. Although they married other people first...they eventually found each other again and had many happy years together. They were each other's best friend.

One of my favorite stories is they had a book club. Just the two of them. They would listen to books on tape together and then discuss. 

In their last home....Alyson set up a theater room so they could go to the movies. Just the two of them.

The only way to not grieve loss...is not to love. That wasn't an option for Alyson. And likely that is not an option for any of us either.

Hug someone you love today.

Savoring the Sights and Sounds

A week or so ago I savored the end of my muted fall puzzle...stretching it out as long as I could.  When I was done...my tiny Jesus spent a little time in the tiny church. 

This one took me by surprise at how much I enjoyed it...and once it was done I let it sit on the table several days while I slowly sorted pieces in the next one.   

The next one is new...with bright fall colors this time. 

It's just 500 pieces...and I'm savoring every colorful minute. I'm well on my way...and totally engaged.

Just for fun...I started with the brown pinecones. Did you know that state flower of Maine is the pinecone?

Several dozen ducks have gathered on our pond like they do every late summer.. We're lucky that Parsons Pond is one of their stopping places during their migration. When I walk around the pond...which I do several times a day...I can't help but stop to look and listen. So I just linger. I savor the moment...and this fabulous gathering of travelers in this beautiful setting.

Here's Michele's tips for savoring in her Growing Joy Garden series. 

Yes...let's do these things! Let's savor...and linger long over the lovely!

Step by Step

One of my favorite ferns is the maidenhair fern. I found this photo of a robust patch of it at our back door in Lexington...it thrived in that spot! 

I brought some of it with me to the condo 5 years ago....and it's been doing pretty well here too.

Today I dug up a few plants...and spread pieces of them all over the back garden. I want it peeking through everywhere!  

I just love the delicate and wispy tops...on the long skinny stems.

Remember the stacked Christmas tree boxes I posted about a few days ago. The ones in the post were made by Anita....but were inspired by ones we made for a church fair many many years ago. Melodee told me that she still has that set of tree boxes....and that made me smile.

I made a little box out of one of my cyanotypes so I could give step by step directions here. One person asked...so all of you get it. Read on if you're interested.

The top paper was a 4 1/2 inch square and the cyanotype was done on lightweight mixed media paper. I used lightweight white cardstock for the bottom and it was 4 1/4 inches. 

As a general rule the difference between the top and the bottom should be 1/4 inch. If the paper is thin...the difference could be a little less for a tighter fit.

The first thing you need to do is find the middle of your square. 

Many online directions I've seen have you fold the paper diagonally both ways to to find the middle. But that gives you creases on the top of your box...and I don't like that. So I place a ruler from corner to corner both ways and draw a light X in the middle.

When choosing paper...be mindful that much of the square gets folded into the box. The motif that is right in the middle will be the top of your box.

Fold the corner of the paper to the middle and crease with a bone folder....the back of a spoon or your fingernail.  Then fold that edge to the middle again being sure to hold that first fold in place. This where that pencil line comes in handy.

Open it back up and repeat this on every corner. 

The better your creases are....the easier the box will go together. I sometimes go back and crease them all again individually.

There is no need to draw the dots and lines...but I did to more easily show this next step. Identify the middle square which will be the top of the box....I put a dot at the corners of the square. On just two opposite sides...cut the paper to the middle/corner dot....along where I drew the dashed line.

It should look like this. 

You can see that two corners are kind of straight and two of them have what I call wings. 

Starting with the sides that have wings and fold the sides up bending the wings around to the side. 

The point will lay down covering the bottom of the box. The tendency is to fold the wings...but keep them out straight reducing the bulk under the next folds.

Do the same thing on the opposite wing side.

Keep in mind that all of the points will meet in the middle to cover the inside bottom of the box.

While holding the overlapped wings....

fold the straight sides up and over securing the point down to the bottom of the box.  It should look like this.

And finally...it should look like this. Sometimes it's necessary to put a dot of glue to hole the points down. You can also swish a glue stick around the inside bottom before you fold the pieces down.

My last recommendation is to use a spoon or a bone folder to give that last folded edge that came up and over a good pressing. There are several layers there...and nice crisp edges made for a nicer box. 

Boxes can be made from any foldable paper....and artwork. To make them nest...you just keep adding or subtracting 1/4 of inch to the next one.....depending whether you're starting with the biggest or the smallest.

If the largest box top is 5 inches....the bottom would be 4 3/4

The second nesting box top would be 4 1/2 and the bottom would be 4 1/4.

The third nesting box top would be 4 and the bottom would be 3 3/4.

And so on.

If I'm nesting boxes...I make myself a chart...and I often start with the largest one and go smaller. Keep in mind that small boxes generally need thinner paper like scrapbook paper or lightweight calendars...and some thicker papers don't fold well.

Phew! Congratulations for making it to the end of my step by step!