Stars and Tags

Thanks to my friend Adam, I've been folding paper stars from strips of paper for years and years....and back in 2019 I taught Ellen how to make them after she saw them on the blog. I made her a video and she was off and running...then she taught her niece spreading the joy even further.

This past year I taught Jane how to make them. Her granddaughter plays with them in her toddler kitchen making star soup. 

When Ellen saw the skinny strips I posted a few days ago I cut with the wool cutter she wondered if they were wide enough to fold into a stars. The strips are only 3/8 of an inch....so I didn't think so.

But I took it as a challenge and gave it a try. 

It's tedious...but it can be done. The 3/8 inch strip folded into a 1/4 of an inch star! 

Question asked...and answered! 

I was pretty tickled to see one of my little tags attached to card Dotty sent to a friend on some of her handmade paper.

I saw it in a lovely post on her blog about the inflow and outflow of her art in her community of friends.

And just today I got these photos from Tracie.  I made her this small wall hanging many many years ago and it hung on her front door until it nearly faded away. I can't even remember what color it was but I'm guessing it was colorful and I think the colors formed a peace sign. 

Tracie repurposed the backside as a backdrop for the tags I sent her. 

 

Tiny Bits of Hope

Although I still have faith that ultimately the arc of the moral universe will bend towards justice.....on a day to day basis there are only tiny bits of hope in the news. 

In many of my Words of Encouragement kits I sent along tiny hope tags.

Once I attach a phrase to a tag...I cut it to fit and am using up the short cut-offs for just one word: hope, love, joy or peace.

I sent several of them to Dotty...and this one hangs on her husband Dave's pen holder on his desk.

And these two little cut-offs were too small to punch a hole...but big enough for a tiny hope. 

They live on the laps of these little replicas of Dotty's mom and dad sitting on an adorable little bench. 

And just look at that adorable itty bitty bird! 

In between things today I added this tiny hope on a tag I created for my old tag project.  Other tags can be seen here. The ring is actually kind of full...so I'm calling this project complete! 

Ending my old tag project with a tiny bit of hope from my new tag project seems just right.

Light

Tonight's the night we lose an hour and spring ahead. It always takes me a few days to acclimate....and I find myself saying it's really 3:00....when the clock says 4:00...or it's really 9:00 when it says 10:00. I do this for days and I'm guessing hoping some of you do too.

But one thing is certain....every day there's a little more daylight....and now there will be more light after dinner for an evening walk walk....and easier to catch the sunrise in the morning.  

This fabulous one of a kind puzzle from Philippa Stanton is complete. And that little burst of yellow in the middle is like sunshine between the fall and winter colors in the upper left....and spring and summer colors in the bottom right. 

It was colorful enough...challenging enough...and fun enough to be in my top 10 favorites! 

Thank you Phillipa! 

Pure joy from start to finish!

And thanks to Judy H....I have a little bit of sunshine and joy 

hanging on my puzzle light for a while. 

It's double sided joy reminding me to celebrate the light!

Joy! 

My Words of Encouragement project got a shoutout on the Maine Needs Instagram and Facebook pages! And they are using it as a call for stories about what inspires us....how we build community...and honor people we love.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DG8GCDtTvDa/?img_index=1

https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=978739354367015&set=pcb.978739534366997

It's Official

It's Official....I reached my goal of buying 500 pairs of underwear for Maine Needs  by offering Words of Encouragement. With money that just came in I was able to go back to Marden's and buy enough to get me to 500 including 5 extra pairs and get them delivered! 

What now? 

I'm going to slow down a bit and focus on some other things. 

But I'm ALSO going to keep making tags in between things and offer them individually or in kits. I want to continue to use my art as a way for me to purchase things for those in need.

Thank you to everyone who supported my project. I know of few donations that are still coming in the mail....and I will buy more underwear or something else that is desperately needed. It's heartwarming knowing that a simple idea can rally a community.

It was heartwarming when the cards came pouring in for Margie...and equally heartwarming when others supported a cause she would have been proud of.

From the bottom of my joyful heart.....Thank You! 

And it seems fitting that I used a few of my scraps for the last card for the Tiny Pages Art Exchange that I did with Brenda, Becky and Tracie. The last card got a little lost in the shuffle last fall...we all had major life events happening that rolled right into the holidays. 

The theme was patterns...and this last card was one to keep. I do love the pattern created by this mosaic bits of Margie's cards.

I had wondered if the scraps would be useful...and it's official...they are!

You can see all the cards in our Tiny Pages Art Exchange here using this link.

So for now...this last card will be displayed with this 

sweet little photo of Margie that I found in her stash.

Many Uses

The patterns in this ice puddle caught my eye on our morning. I do love nature art!

I played a bit with it digitally for a photo montage to send to Alyson....and share with you.

Happy Birthday to my friend Patty! I tied this tag around a little treat bag and took it down the street a few days ago.

I'm not sure I'm going to stop making these tags anytime soon. There are so many uses for them.

The words may change....the size may change...but they'll still spread just as much joy!

Lynn F sliced up some free greeting cards she got from the American Heart association to make bookmarks. She included words of inspiration and encouragement on the back and is going to offer them at her HOA lending library. Great idea Lynn! Thanks for sharing! 

They reminded me of this little pack of undies. And lo and behold there's some big pink polka dots Martha! 

I'm Nearly There!

I've got another story. I know I'm kind of a broken record lately...but this is my life right now. This is my joy.

I didn't have pink polka dotted underwear on...but I did have a little pep in my step and $225 burning in my pocket. 

Tracy Verdugo

I've done all my underwear shopping online so far...but I decided to head out to some local stores in search of quality, but reasonable priced underwear. And I really wanted to find some polka dots. After three stops and a short time in the mall...I was a bit discouraged. I was clearly in the wrong places. 

Then I remembered Marden's...a local surplus and salvage store. I was ready to be home and just get back online...but I rallied and decided to make this one last stop. 

When I first walked in I thought oh no...I can't do this. It's a big warehouse type store and always seems a bit chaotic. I also had my prescription sunglasses still on...and didn't take the time to go back to the car for my regular glasses. But I got a cart and headed out on my mission looking through my rose colored glasses....and I hit the jackpot!

The prices were great...and the brands familiar. I tried to get something for everyone: girls, boys, men and women. I piled things up by price so I could have a rough estimate of how much I was spending....but I really had no idea. I wish I would have taken a photo of my cart.

I got to the check out and Jeannette was a little surprised at my cart full of underwear...with a few polka dots here and there.

I briefly explained my story and we had a good chat as we bagged everything up in bright red Marden's bags and she gave me permission to take her photo. 

You will NOT believe what my total was.

$224.38! 62 cents to spare!!! 

Jeanette and I celebrated!

I knew how much I spent...but not how many pairs I got. So the first thing I did when I got home was tally it all up. 

205 pairs of underwear today.

Putting my total at 461!

I'm nearly there!

I'm tickled pink!

"Sacred Lingering"

My friend Dana turned a walk in closet into an art studio....and she's thinks about it as her special space for sacred lingering. I love that concept.

I have a few other fun projects in the works...and dozens in my head. But mostly I've been doing a lot of sacred lingering with my Words of Encouragement project/fundraiser. In case you're new to this space.....I describe the project in detail in this post.

It's been an overwhelmingly powerful and joyful experience for me during this very dark and difficult period in our country. And it's been a labor of love.

The second shipment of underwear arrived today....106 pairs of men's and women's this time.

With this shipment I got to the 256 pair I reported a few days ago. I currently have enough money to possibly purchase another 75 or so and I still hope to reach my goal of 500 pairs. We'll see.

If anyone has any interest in tags or kits, please reach out. I will send a few tags at no cost, and for a small donation I will send a kit and few extra tags. And to clarify...the kits are not to make tags, but to promote creating community by paying the tags forward. See the link above for more information about the contents.

Comment Update:

Connecting with others brings me tremendous joy. I love hearing your stories, seeing your projects, and learning about the joy that lands in your day. I just learned today that Ellen buys and donates socks to her local agency that helps those in need....and her last donation was 104 pairs! Way to go Ellen!

You can reach me by email (joyfulputtering@gmail.com)...or by commenting at the bottom of the blog. Starting with yesterday's post, I added an extra recommended layer of security and now can screen comments before they are published. So when you make a comment on the blog...I will get an email and will publish the comment as soon as I give it a quick check. So there might be a bit of a delay before you see you comment displayed.

I don't mind criticism and constructive feedback, but I cannot tolerate hate and violent speech. So only offensive and unproductive comments will not published and deleted.

If you follow this blog by email and want to make a comment....I would love to hear from you. At the bottom of the email....click "link to blog" taking you directly to online version of the post. Scroll down to the comment section at the bottom.

Thank you for making it to the end of this one!

Human Hands

I did a volunteer shift at Maine Needs this afternoon....and that always feels good. One of the things they tell us as we are shopping for individuals is to always try and include something extra. If they asked for kids clothes or boots...be sure and include a few books and toys too. If it's a man or woman asking for warm clothes...maybe include a new toothbrush and toothpaste. The little extras remind the recipient that the bag was packed with human hands.

I was excited to deliver the first 150 pairs of underwear. They just fit into a shopping bag that can be used to fill a small order....because they are always in the need of bags.  

I didn't shop for any children today...so only went into the kids room to get water. It was so nice to see them taking such care with their human hands to repackage the underwear in packs of seven....enough for a week. 

Now they're ready to go directly to kids in need.   

Each of my Words of Encouragement kits contain a card that I've carefully stitched on a piece of Margie's coloring...with my human hands.

Sometimes joy looks like loving one another doing things with our human hands. 

Parade of Stamps

I'm guessing I'm not the only one with a stockpile of out of date stamps from before the Forever Stamps. And I have plenty of 1 cent...and 2 cent that we used to need to fill in the gaps.

I was so excited when I came up with the idea of puzzling these odd stamps together for my tag mailings. In some ways it's going to feel like the mailings are free!       

Here are my current stats:

256 pairs of underwear ordered.

30 kits mailed or delivered as of today.

Approximately 150 tags distributed.

I'm so pleased.

This little parade of stamps on these envelopes tickle me pink.

Do you know what else tickles me? I cut off the blooms from the first amaryllis stem today. They are as dry as they're going to get...and just look how beautiful they still are. 

As is the color combo that landed on this tiny hope tag. They just make me happy!

Joy Stuff

 "Our purpose is hidden in our joy, our inspiration, our excitement. As we act on what shows up in our life our purpose shows up." James King

Yes! 

This project showed up in my life at just the right time....and was hidden in my joy. 

Speaking of joy....looked what showed up at my door yesterday. Cinnamon was literally on my grocery list...and Becky had me covered.

And it came with Tasty Tips for Joy. My favorites were: 

Understand what connects us is far more important than what separates us. 

Through cooking, we discovered real strength comes from welcoming others in. Through cooking we discovered the JOY found in caring about others. 

Thanks Becky!

And....Becky shopped her stash for a couple projects I'm going to do for her. 

This is just the top layer...there's a whole lot of goodies in this stack of ephemera and you'll have to stay tuned for what's to come. It may take me awhile...but I'm excited about getting my hands on this joy stuff. 

Rattled....

 ....but not broken.

I am excited to report that with the money that I have raised so far I was able to order 150 pairs of children's underwear today in all sizes for both boys and girls. I can't wait to deliver them to Maine Needs next week.

Inspired by Dotty...I clipped a small branch from one of the forsythia bushes in the neighborhood and it's been sitting on my kitchen window sill for a few weeks. It opened up today....just the sign of hope and joy I needed. 

I got a scam email late yesterday that rattled me to my core. I've gotten them before so I mostly know how to identify them....delete...and report them as a scam. But at first this one seemed like it could have been a genuine request for Words of Encouragement.

At the top was a short and somewhat awkwardly written note telling me my kind words brought him joy followed by an address in Minnesota....also awkwardly written. But something about it felt off.  

I looked at it several times before finally scrolling down a little further finding clear evidence of scam linking my tag project to a charge that was going to be made to my Paypal account unless I immediately took action. I deleted and reported.

I cried for a bit...and was ready to just throw in the towel on everything last night. With so much chatter about people having access to our personal information out there right now....this felt more of a real threat than usual. And this time it also felt very personal. It felt like a low blow to a simple project of a woman with a glue stick trying to spread some words of hope and joy while doing something good for people in need,

I went to bed rattled...but with Paul's help...I gained perspective this morning. And after checking my accounts several times I know that everything is OK.

I am not broken....and I am not throwing in the towel. 

And speaking of towels...I do want to find a couple of brand new towels I have tucked somewhere that I want to donate. Towels are always in need...and we have more than we need.

Here is an excerpt from a powerful essay I read today by Rebecca Solnit called THIS IS REALLY HARD (BUT WE ARE NOT QUITTING): REFLECTIONS ON KINDNESS AND RESOLUTENESS. where she talks about the distinction between feelings and commitments.

"Emotions are the weather that swirls around and changes and changes again. Commitment, principles, are the mountain on which the sun and the rainstorm fall, and it remains a mountain. Pay attention to your storms and rays of light and pay attention to the mountain on which all those things fall."

There were dozens of passages I could have chosen to share from Rebecca's essay including her reflection on kindness....and comfort. So if you are interested....I encourage you to read her whole essay to see if there is anything that might resonate with you. 

https://www.meditationsinanemergency.com/this-is-really-hard-but-we-are-not-quitting-reflections-on-kindness-and-resoluteness/

And Dotty shared this powerful poem with me today reminding me to stay open.

Self Talk

by Rosemary Wahtola Trommer

Because I know in my body
the power of spaciousness,
I command my heart, Stay open.
Stay open, I growl,
as it clenches and hardens
and granites and steels,
but my terrified heart
keeps clenching anyway,
tighter and smaller and stuck.
I said, Stay open,
my voice a demand,
as if with intensity
I could force a release.
And the heart curls in,
intent on survival, like a pill bug,
like an armadillo, like a heart
that has learned before
it is not safe to love.
And it hurts to be small.
And it takes so much energy
to clench, that finally
it’s exhaustion that helps me
to hear the softer voice
beneath the command,
the quiet voice that arrives
like the slightest of waves, the voice
that arrives like low morning sun,
and the voice enters the clench of me
like gentle rain meeting dry earth,
and it says, Of course, you’re afraid.
For now it’s enough to remember
the possibility of opening.

Tickled

I've had the second amaryllis stem in water for a week or so now....and the first stem is nearby in all its wabi-sabi glory. You can see how much smaller it has gotten compared to the fresh one.

They both sit on the dining room table along with the leaves from the bulb where I can keep an eye on them while working on my tag mailings. 

This is the pile of tags on my table right now!

And I got this fun photo while Paul was on an early morning walk.

I'm tickled that he noticed...and tickled he sent it to me. 💖

Do people say tickled pink anymore?