Dotty's Dots

Paul and I took our annual field trip to Evergreen Cemetery to soak in the fall color. There is no way my photos did it justice....but it was October at its finest! 

I love dots. And I LOVED Dotty's dots on her blog this morning! Her heart wanted to paint tiny, bright, and playful. She nailed it. 

Inspired by Dotty's dots...I made a tag today. I'm not in love with it...but it was a fun little Dotty inspired project.

Just for fun I put "dots" in the search box in the top left corner of my blog. Dozens and dozens of posts came up...because like I said...I love dots. Here are just a few of my dot projects:

Our Kind of People

Lily introduced me to an Instagram account called twigandtoadfolk saying it was "our kind of people!"
I couldn't love it more. Their page header says Made Well. Kept Wild. Quiet stories, handcrafted goods and small things worth noticing. Their backstory is sweet....and the posts are simple, humorous, and heartwarming. Their lists....prompts and assignments sometimes made me laugh out loud! Mostly because they are spot on with the way I think. Lily was right....they're our kind of people!     

I'm doing really well today with their rules for September! 

1. My windows are wide open with cool breezes coming in and it makes me want to sing. 

2. I actually picked up a leaf this morning and added to the Chinese lantern pods in my wooden bowl on my table. It has no responsibility other than to make me smil.

3. It is too early for a gourd to be sitting on my window sill. It has to last until Thanksgiving....and that still seems like a long way off. I'm still loving the one on my fence.

4. I had iced tea for happy hour today with Patty....and look forward to those September day when I choose hot tea.

5. Ha ha...I DID mention the fabulous cool morning to a neighbor I met in the street.

6. I didn't put an acorn in my pocket today...but I know I will sometime this month.

7. My sweater (actually a jean shirt) has been within reach and on and off all day long.

8. There are no apples in the house at the moment...but that could change any day now. I love apple slices on toast with peanut butter this time of year.

9. I baked homemade seed crackers this morning for happy hour with Patty....and paired with a little Trader Joes Unexpected Cheddar spread it pretty much a dessert for me.  

Can I post too many photos of my first gourd with the curiously long stem? I think not. It's a new rule for September! More gourds and pumpkins to come!

This is The Hollow Assignment post Lily originally sent me....I'm think I'm going to work on it a bit. 

Art Friends

The days have been full and wonderful. Our art group gathered yesterday....and that always brings me joy. Tracie, Brenda, Becky and I have been sharing art trades for several years and we gather as often as we can. It was a good mix of catching up...and had fun painting rocks to send out into th world.

I placed one of mine under Angie's tree in Orton Park....the one Tracie and Loon planted after my sister died. Angie's tree is getting big! 

Tracie gave us each a little hand painted card that stole my heart.

Having art friends in my life is one of my greatest joys.

Dinner With Lynn

Last Evening while Becky was at a prior engagement I had dinner with Lynn. She and I met while Paul was a pastor in a Madison church back in 2008. She is an artist I admire who has taught me a lot!

Lynn and I have stayed in touch over the years and it fun when I get to connect with her while I'm in Madison. I also made her an altered art journal...and I got to see the finished product last evening. 

https://joyfulputtering.blogspot.com/2025/05/depth-and-beauty.html

Several pieces of Lynn's art are hanging all over my condo. I especially love her zentangle work on watercolor. 

Seeing Becky and Lynn's altered art journal has been a real treat for me.

I layered the two pieces of hers on the right....cutting out the leaves so they would layer on the next page. Lynn added the painting on the left making for a beautiful spread. There is so much more....but you get the idea. 

Grown Up

I don't think I could have packed more joy into a day. My heart is full.

Eliza and Barbara stopped in for lunch....Barbara is Paul's successor at Hancock Church in Lexington, MA. This was Eliza's third year at a summer camp in Maine...so they have been stopping in on their way...or their way home from camp each year.

Eliza and I were been art buddies for several years...trading things back and forth including homemade art journals. She's a pretty special young lady and I cherish that time we shared. 

Eliza is much more grown up now....almost as tall as me. Although our relationship has shifted...I still feel a strong connection to her. Maybe I can foster something new....and more grown up.

This is one of my favorite photos. 

I put "Eliza" in the search box in the upper left corner of my blog and all the posts about her and our shared art and time together came up. I loved looking them all over again. Back in 2021 I made us each a little art journal...and we decorated our own covers. We traded them back and forth so each one is filled with both our art. Little did I know at the time that these were actually Joy Journals!

Today was also Lori Austill's open studio....and it was so much fun seeing her beautiful and the space where she creates. Her art for sale was hanging all through her home. I'm going back tomorrow....so more to come. I wrote about a unusual interaction with Lori here in this post.  

250

Happy 250th birthday to our country....it needs us more now than ever! 

Birthday Wish

may we find courage

to seek joy while we resist

and hold onto hope

I chuckled this morning as I got ready to sort this 3rd bag of puzzle pieces. When I put this 1000 piece Marvelous Minerals puzzle away last time I divided into 4 bags of approximately 250 pieces each. Maybe I did it for Margie (my mother-in-law)....but I'm totally taking advantage of it....250 manageable pieces at a time. And I'm falling in love again with these hand drawn minerals by artist Abigale Kramer....an artist I admire. 

New Respect!

Subtitle: Little Did She Know

My last yellow daylily of the season just bloomed and that reminded me that it was time for an update on the Traveling Flowers. If you are new to the blog...it's a little hard to explain the WHOLE story...but this is a good place to start: https://joyfulputtering.blogspot.com/search?q=Chuck

I have new respect for Cherrie and Dale as they carted The Traveling Flowers to all the sites as they made their way from California to Pennsylvania. They're a bit heavy because they sit on a solid rock...and they're a bit awkward to carry. So kudos to them as the played along and had fun with that wonderful adventure. 

Here is a little bit of the journey they made around Parsons Pond. After spending several weeks in the TV room...they did a little more traveling. 

(Hang in there...this ended up being a long post.)

They were in the dining room for a while on Connies fabulous hutch. I enjoyed them for a few weeks...but it wasn't quite right. Too much going on.

Early this spring I put them out on the patio....thinking this is where they would be for the summer. But there was too much going on in that corner...and that's where Paul has to pull the grill...so I need to keep it really simple.

Just for fun.....a couple weeks ago I took them to the pool with me. While I was swimming they sat in the corner getting a little sun.

And don't they look pretty against the catmint.

They sat in the shade on a lounge chair next to me while I drip dried a bit.

A week or so ago Patty suggested we take the flowers down to the pond. She has enjoyed the journey of The Traveling Flowers as much as I did and liked the idea of them touring around Parsons Pond.

My photo isn't that great...but it was a beautiful day and the flowers were pretty sitting up on the railing.

I continued around the pond  to talk to another neighbor and Patty offered to drop them by my front door. They would have been a bit cumbersome to carry around the pond.

Little did I know that Patty had a little photo shoot of her own before she dropped them off.  She posed them in the little rock garden at the end of the street.

Here they are by the vintage metal laundry basket she gave me that I've filled with begonias. They are sitting on my precious granite heart rock that I've had for years.

And she took one more shot by the pots on the other side of the door.

I had a great idea earlier today that I thought Patty would enjoy.  Little did she know...that while I knew she was gone...I took them down the street and photographed them with her rainbow parade of pigs. Perfect for winding down Pride Month! 

In the end....they have landed back in the TV room where I spend almost every early evening writing these blog posts. I love them here....and it's where I appreciate them the most. Cherie and I have stayed in touch...and these fabulous Traveling Flowers have given us a very special connection...and I am grateful. And a shout out again to her dad Chuck...who made it all possible. I have a huge amount of respect for his handiwork...and his generosity. 

Unusual Request

You can paint a world where humans treat each other and the planet with love, respect, and the creative passion and brilliance we were all born with. Lori Austill

Today's rainbow is brought to you by Philippa Stanton. I just finished her Rainbow Pencils puzzle and I loved every minute. I'm missing two edge pieces....but I'm OK with that because there is beauty in imperfection. And if I'm lucky...they might even turn up. 

I belong to a local Buy Nothing group where people give away things they no longer need and ask for things they do need. Things changing hands without exchanging money is a wonderful thing. I love when a post starts: "Before I buy it new...I'm wondering...."

I've found new homes for several things of my things...and I've responded to several posts with things I had and wasn't using: a space heater, artwork, fabric and craft supplies. Today there was unusual request: pine needles.

Hmmmm we have pine needles in the neighborhood...and I was certain that the condo owners would be thrilled to have some of them raked up. 

I actually recognized the name....Lori Austill, an encaustic artist I met several years ago when I visited her open studio right around the corner. Long story short...I responded to her post...we talked on the phone...I talked to my neighbors and this afternoon I worked with Lori filling a garbage can full of pine needles for her to use as mulch.

Turns out Lori is having another open house in July...and I'm looking forward to stopping by. I absolutely love that this unusual request led to connecting with an artist I admire.

Lori's encaustic work includes a lot of  yummy colors....I was especially drawn to this piece on on her Instagram Page. It's like a dreamy rainbow landscape.

https://www.instagram.com/loriaustill_wax_painting_art/

And because yesterday was the only day in June I forgot to post a rainbow...this second one is brought to you by Ann B. from Lexington. She is in Rome...and these little rainbow prisms are reflecting off the crystals that are hanging in the lobby of her hotel.

Blue

Subtitle: That's Exactly What I'll Do! 

It rained most of the day today...but I'm celebrating blue. 

This blue sky was from a few days ago...but what an amazing cloud formation it was! 

And while Sue and John were visiting....Sue and I played around with a few cyanotypes....this one of a fern with some vinegar spots

Here's the fern at the bottom which is growing like crazy...and there's a lot of new growth on my foxtail fern. 

I spent most of the afternoon in the studio. I came across this sunflower stencil cyanotype and decided it would make a nice cut out journal cover. Here's the front and back.

I used a mix of papers and pockets...mostly in shades of blue. I hope to make a handful of these for the free little art library in Falmouth and I will include snippets and collage fodder.

Today rainbow is a Dotty collage inspired by my rainbow collage I posted yesterday. I couldn't love it more and seeing it again inspires me to try something a little more organic like this. Maybe I'll make a small one for a joy journal cover! Yes...that's exactly what I'll do.