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.

Connections Continued

Subtitle: We Get to Choose!

Happy Earth day! 

I thought Earth Day was a good day to share this torn paper rainbow garden I made this for Paul's sister Alyson's birthday back in 2020. It's one of my favorites! 

I offered to pay for the shipping on The Traveling Flowers from Pennsylvania....but Cherie made a counter offer I couldn't refuse: buy something for Maine Needs. So that's what I did. 

I had a little money from other donations so was able to buy two sets of new sheets. And I'm tickled that I found floral sheets as a nod to The Traveling Flowers. Speaking of the flowers....they've been siting on the coffee table for a few days....I think I'll audition them in a new space tomorrow. 

The Connections Continued! 

A few days ago I got an email from Linda who was the recipient of the first blue and white journal giveaway. She sent me several photos of how she is making her journal her own...adding quotes and snippets and I loved seeing what she had done. I especially loved this quote she added: Every moment of every day we get to choose who we will be. 

A few days ago the grounds crew was in our condo association doing some mulching and other spring chores.  As soon as I knew the crew was coming I made a quick trip to the store and scrambled to make chocolate chip cookies....Jane's special recipe with ground oatmeal. There were seven different workers around the condo...and they were so appreciative! 

I told Paul that I really liked being that person who baked cookies for workers taking care of our property. Every moment we get to choose who we want to be.

Julie shared a delightful post about her colorful joy journal and all the ways she is adding to it. It's so much fun to see these journals in action! 

I was tickled to see this image along the side of her blog....I was drawn to the same image when I saw it. I think there are lots of us get sad if we don't make stuff. We get to choose to be makers!

Connecting

Subtitle: My Heart is Full!

Joyful Puttering: Collecting, Creating, Connecting...that's what the banner at the top of my blog says. And all of that brings me joy. 

To the casual observer...my studio is in a constant state of chaos. I'm constantly trying to assess what I have collected over the years and figuring out what I should let go of...and what I should keep. The problem is...I see potential in everything.  When I'm trying to tidy up...I always find some  some bright shiny object so it's more likely that I'm creating something rather than organizing. And when I find myself connecting with someone...THAT is what it's all about.

Dotty was one of the recipients of one of my blue and white journal. She wrote a poem about her journal...and you can read it on her blog here.  

If you check it out.... you'll see her little creation that she tucked inside the yellow envelope that I included in one of the pockets in her journal.

My heart is full.

Julie received her Joy Journal a few days ago...and sent me several photos of things she has already tucked or glued into her journal. It's going to be a wonderful place for her to tuck her favorite things from her grandson. How can you not save his adorable writing! souen is sewing in Connor's four year old world. His grandmother is a quilter.

And now one of Connor's hearts is tucked in the little pocket

My heart is full. 

I made did several journals for Lynn long before the Joy Journal Project including an altered purchased journal with her papers stitched in as inspiration. 

Lynn sent me some photos of a few of her pages in her altered journal and that makes me so happy. You can see just a hint of the inspiration paper on the far left for this spread.

My heart is full. 

And just a few days ago Cherie wrote about The Traveling Flowers and Chuck, her dad, on her blog. 

You can read that post here. 

My heart is full.

And just today....after a 3,000 + mile journey from Chuck's workshop in southern California..The Traveling Flowers arrived at their new home on the east coast in Portland, Maine. 

Ben....our mail carrier humored me....he was part of the journey too!

From Chuck's shop....to Cherie's front door...to my front door....these handmade flowers have connected us! And don't you love how my sweatshirt matches Cherie's door. 

My heart is full! 

The journey isn't over. I will be auditioning them in various places around the condo...inside and out when the weather is better. For a few days....they'll live on the coffee table in the heart of our home. 

Did I mention that my heart is full?

A Guy Named Chuck

Subtitle: The Traveling Flowers

Sometimes joy looks like a guy named Chuck.

This is Cherie's dad...and his doodle was featured on the first page of her joy journal. While she was visiting him in Southern California she shared the journal with him. And just a few days ago...the three of us had a Zoom call because he had something he wanted to share something with me. 

Chuck is a retired metal shop teacher...and he's spending his retirement years repurposing parts of refrigerators....water heaters...and other metal from the junkyard into flower sculptures. 

Yes...you read that right water heaters become flowers....most of them with precious hummingbirds. 

At the end of the zoom call I got a tour of his own backyard junkyard and his shop....it was so impressive. I took a few screenshots along the way.

This water heater was his latest find at the junkyard!

Apparently the skins of water heaters are very useful! Who knew?

Chuck knew!

If he didn't have the right tool or storage unit...he made it. 

This rotating tool holder was impressive giving him two sided storage for his tools! I thought it was brilliant!

I believe he also made this cutting tool he uses to hand cuts the flowers....and he gave a demonstration.  He made another tool to bend them into the shape he wanted and it has interchangeable parts for leaves. I was blown away! 

Here's another one of Chuck's creations:

But the best part of this story Chuck wanted me to have one of his sculptures. They are going to travel by car back to Pennsylvania with Cherie and her husband where she will mail them to me. They are taking the scenic route...so Cherie is going to help me track their progress. They left Chuck's cabin last night near the Sequoia National Forest and spent the night at a spa in Hot Springs CA. Cherie sent photos of the flowers getting a little fresh air at the spa.....and I laughed out loud. What a delightful way to start my day! I'm going to have fun with this. 

It's these kinds of connections and experiences that balance out a chaotic and mixed up world. And I'm going to savor it....and celebrate a guy named Chuck and his devoted and creative daughter!

I'm going to (loosely) track these traveling flowers...just because I can. 

Powerful Connections

I met my friend Marita for a walk this morning....it had been way too long. Our friendship goes WAY back to our early days of teaching and we've seen each other through some tough stuff. We lost touch for a stretch of time...but reconnected back in 2019. No matter how much time passes between visits...we pick up right where we left off. We have a powerful connection. 

We came across a small sunflower patch on our walk...and Marita was patient while I paused to take a few photos. That's what friends do.

I could leave this post at that....because that it enough. But connections are a powerful source of joy for me...and there is much more to this connection story. So if you have the patience...and interest...read on. If not...that's just fine and I hope you have a wonderful day.

Back in 2019 during our reconnection years, I talked Marita in to starting a shared journal project. Marta is a poet...and I am an artist/crafter...so why not combine the two. We each would pick a journal/notebook for our work...and trade them back and forth each working in the other's journal. I would do art...and she would write. Sounds perfect...right?

I chose a beautiful handmade art journal from a local artist...and she chose a composition book. Perfect choices.

I did a few pages in my journal and she shared a work in progress poem at the beginning of hers...then we traded. 

Here are my first couple of pages.

I should add that Marita is also a full time English teacher...as well as an accomplished poet...so her creative time is limited and precious.

Marita chose the working draft of her poem called In One Scenario to start her journal. It's not always easy for me to interpret poetry...but it helped to read the finished poem...and it's powerful. Marita writes about her experiences and connections with others and the world and uses her poetry as a way to work through the tough stuff in her life including a difficult and complicated marriage and divorce.

The last line of the finished poem goes like this. 

Forgive me

for not accepting you

for the yellow 

balloon

you were.

In that scenario

I stand in my kitchen 

alone,

imagining.

(The full finished poem is below.)

I started my response by quoting one of my favorite poems...The Journey by Mary Oliver which seemed just right for Marita who finally knew what she had to do and had the strength to save herself from a difficult situation. I wrote out the poem around a yellow balloon cut out...making visual connection between Mary's poem and Marita's. 

When she flipped the page....another quote got framed by the balloon cutout.

Respect yourself enough to walk away from anyone or anything that no longer serves you, grows you, or makes you happy.

My next page was more Mary Oliver quotes...and some doodles and paper collage stitching....all the things I love to do. Then I waited for Marita to tell me she was ready to trade.

But life was too overwhelming and Marita finally admitted to me that this was not something she felt like she could do. And that was just fine. I respected the fact that she could be honest with me. We kept our own journals and just moved on. 

Side note: That journal of mine has sat untouched since then...although I have tucked some things in I thought I might add. And funny thing is...Becky, who was just visiting, picked it up and I briefly told her the story. I knew then that I should just embrace it and start working in it again. 

Marita tried to give her composition journal to me today because of my artwork that was in it. But I told it was hers...and she should just use it however she wanted. She thought she might use it to take notes from her writing group...and we agreed that both journals should be used. 

The more we talked....she thought maybe she would pass it to me for sometime...and I would add a little art. THAT....would be fun. And maybe...just maybe she will write a poem in mine. 

At the end of our conversation....she made the connection that her In One Scenario poem made it into her recently published book, Wild Nest No Prison. 

I attended a poetry reading a few months ago...and bought one of her books. It's a treasure. 

Here's Marita's completed and published poem, In One Scenario. Pardon the terrible photos...but I was afraid that if I typed it out I would screw it up.

Our lives are full of connections....many of them powerful. Sometimes they're clear...and sometimes they're subtle...we just have to be open to them.

If you are interested in a couple more great Marita stories and connections you can read these posts. 

This post showcases Marita as a poet:

https://joyfulputtering.blogspot.com/2022/10/beyond-words.html

And this one showcases her as a teacher and my connection to a project in her poetry class:

https://joyfulputtering.blogspot.com/2024/01/sentimental-supplies.html

Connections

"I can almost feel it, beneath my parka. Not quite, but almost: burgeoning, blossoming, a murmur of springtime." Jason Fargo, One Painting Got Me Through Winter

Happy Spring Solstice!

At the top of my blog there are three words: Collecting, Creating, and Connecting. All of these things deeply feed my soul....and these days I seem to need to embrace them more than ever. 

I still have the dried blooms that I collected from my amaryllis on my dining room table reminding me that there is beauty in imperfection. And I am hip deep in creating several projects for Becky out of the ephemera she sent me reminding me how I love to be generous sharing my skills and my craft.  And I have re-connected with people that I love....and have had delightful email conversations connecting with readers of this blog and supporters of my tag project. 

THESE are the things that keep me grounded during these chaotic and scarry times.

Lynn K from Maryland (I know a Lynn K from Wisconsin too!) gifted me an article from the New York Times called One Painting Got Me Through Winter by Jason Fargo. It's a beautifully written article about the impact that one painting had on the author. And as a bonus it was very beautifully presented in such a unique way. If you read it...be sure to read to the end scrolling past the advertisements.

I'm not sure if the gifted link will work...but I'm going to try: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/03/18/arts/design/mondrian-flowers.html?unlocked_article_code=1.5E4.RkRD.jhUFkN2nvJpM&smid=em-share#

Thank you Lynn!

And Dotty just shared a photo of the bonus bookmark I sent her from my tag project...and the book she is paring it with. She celebrated the fact that she was starting a book from a good friend and pairing it with a bookmark made by a good friend. 

And Dotty might be tickled to know that I'm using one of her bookmarks in the Daily Joy book that was gifted to me by another blog reader...Louise. 

And it pairs especially well with today's entry. 

And how could I not love Tracie's collection of Richard Scarry books she shared with me.

It is not lost on me that this is a connection about a collection in response to my creating the little Busytown book for Max. 

Which by the way....tracking tells me arrived in Madison today. 

Collecting • Creating • Connecting = JOY!