See the Magic

I saw this pop of red from a distance on a morning walk....and HAD to see it up close. I was gobsmacked. Mother Nature's magic blows me away sometimes.

Marita came over for breakfast this morning. We had a wonderful visit on the patio...a nice little walk...and just enough time for a quick cyanotype.

I have given her a couple of cards/prints over the years and she paid one of her fern prints forward to a friend and asked me if I would make her another one. I absolutely love that she passed it on to someone who loved it....AND wanted to replace it.

Rather than make one for her I offered to help her make her own so she could see the magic first hand. There is nothing like experiencing the process in person. I will do this with ANYONE.....even on Zoom. 

While I was at Becky's I was in awe of a small set of stencils in her stash....so many geometric patterns and so many ways to use them. Little did I know that she ordered me a set and they were waiting for me when I got home. Thank you Becky for picking up on my joy and being so generous!

The stencils are translucent (until they have acrylic paint on them) so they work for cyanotype.....but some sun gets through the stencil leaving a light blue design rather than crisp white. Once I've used them for gelli prints....they will be opaque so the sun prints will be crisp white...if I want that. I did a quick experiment with a few....and will certainly do more. I'm going to have fun experimenting with ALL the ways I can use these fabulous gifted stencils. Thanks Becky!

This was the montage I sent to Alyson this morning...a nice mix of just some of the magic that landed in my last few days. I hope you saw some magic in your day today!

For those of you new to the blog....Alyson is my sister-in-law and we trade photos every day. They are often these montages that we make on an app called Unfold. These photos exchanges are a great way for us to connect and celebrate some the magic that is around us. 

Here are a couple of recent montages from Alyson in Colorado.

I love our daily photo trades.

NO Words Needed

I've been working on the last section of my mineral puzzle....and it's all words.

The artist listed all her hand drawn minerals...making it educational and interesting. 

I've been taking my time on finishing this one. 

But there are NO words needed for this fabulous specimen. You can't make this stuff up.....Mother Nature had a sense of humor on this one.

Everyday Art

Hang on to people who find joy in your joy! Case Kenny

And I would add....find joy in other people's joy...and maybe they'll hang on to you!

Tracie sent me this photo calling it a fun found object! She knew I would love it...and I do!

It seems odd to find things like this at the very beginning of summer....but they remind us that nature is constantly in motion.

Don't just scroll by the photo. Zoom in. Look at the colors and patterns in the leaf. It's a work of art!

Then notice the placement of the leaf and the shadows and backgrounds. Did you notice the stark shadow of the stem? Everyday art! 

Well done Tracie. I'm celebrating your joy and I'm hanging on to you! 

 Caught this bee on the foxglove on my walk...natures everyday art!

Hard Frost

November at its best has a sort of delightful menace in the air. Anne Bosworth Greene

We've been just a bit frosty in the past few weeks...but last night was the first noticeable hard frost. Delightfully menacing. 

It's time for Mother Nature to rest for the winter. 

 

I See

The question is now what you look at, but what you see. Henry David Thoreau

I just love when Mother Nature gives me an unexpected splash of color. This one is right by our front door on a small chokecherry shrub. 

I see mother nature with a smirk on her face.

I see complementary colors.

I see rounding the corner on the summer season.

I see the scientific circle of life in motion. 

I see beauty in change.

I see joy.

And look what's blooming on the patio...

my first white rain lily!  I really love the white ones...and there's a second bud coming.

Thank you to those of you who have emailed me or commented on my give-a-way. for my Swirl 2.0 project. I will draw a name on Tuesday evening so there is still time to put your name in the hat!

joyfulputtering@gmail.com

Fascinating Fungi!

Mother Nature sure knows how to keep things interesting.

Here comes one of her strangest plants in the woods: ghost plants...also known as corpse plants. They have no chlorophyll and do not require sunlight. They live off the fungi in the soil.

I share them every year...because every year they fascinate me even more. And they also creep me out just a bit.

And this odd pink fungi appeared in my garden surrounding one of my tiny hostas. 

I always panic a little bit when I see something like this...but after doing a little research I found that this helotiaceae is harmless and is just feeding off the decaying matter in the soil helping to break it down. Some studies even show that it can actually inhibit other harmful fungi.

It's also known as jelly drops...or jelly discs....and I can see why.

I'm going to be watching it closely every day to see how it changes. It's actually very cool.

It's a nice little pop of color in my texture garden. 

I didn't spend time looking...I might have even missed it. 

A Few Finishes

Subtitle: Joy Journal

Today I'm celebrating a few finishes....but first....a few Mother Nature moments.

This is one of the first butterflies I've seen...and it played around on the lilac for while.

And this morning the ducklings were more visible. They still didn't scoot into the water....but mom was keeping an eye on me. 

And now for the finishes! I'm all done with an order of 300 Christmas matches with a few winter blue snowflake ones thrown in. That was a lot of cutting...folding...and glueing. 

Folly 101 puts hostess bags together with things like napkins, a candle and a box of matches. They like to get this done well in advance of the hustle and bustle of Christmas so I've got that covered....pun intended. I've been working on them here and there for a few weeks in the evenings....after having cut most of the papers on our road trip to Perry a few months ago.      

Nice to have this project finished and off the dining room table. 

   

And ALL of my journals projects got mailed today! Thank you Paul for doing that on your bike...which makes parking so much easier. Enclosed is an altered art journal and 3 junk journals for Lynn, an altered journal and a junk journal for Brenda, and Becky's junk journal is on it's way to Tracie for her to add to for our Junk Journal Journey. 

I'll be getting Brenda's to work on when Becky is ready to send it. I've loved this new art exchange so far! Each journal will be so unique.

Remember my art paper Kawandi quilt project? It became a cover for a junk journal that I made for Brenda with all the leftover papers she gave me for her altered journal. 

I tore off a strip of a rainbow hand dyed fabric for the closure. It's a little long but I didn't want to give up any of the colors. It coordinates so well with the papers.

Brenda can decide if she wants to shorten it. 

Traditional Kawandi quilts often have a colorful floating patch called tikeli. 

I added one under the button for stability...and a bright one on the back.

 

Here's a little glimpse inside....a lot of this and that.

There are a couple of these little cat paintings in Brenda's altered art journal...

and now there's one here.

At the other end of this tiny page are a couple of photographs of her dog from a Christmas photo card she had in her pile. 

I really enjoyed working on these projects...they've been a labor of love. I actually have a junk journal of my own that now I can start working in. And I was tickled to hear from Ellen today....she is inspired to create what she is going to call a joy journal. She found a book of handmade papers at an estate sale and she will include things from An Ounce of Joy I sent out several years ago. That makes me so happy! I think joy journal is a much better name than junk journal...and I told her I may have to adopt if for my own. 

Let's hear it for fabulous finishes....and fresh starts with joy journals! 

Ducklings

I feel blessed that we live on a property with a pond.

And I'm tickled that we have two families of ducklings on the pond

They're so much fun to watch. 

Just this morning as I was walking around the path one of the moms caught my eye. Generally when someone walks by she scoots right in the water with the babies behind her. But she just sat still. I got a little closer...but not too close to see if the babies were there. I was able to zoom in and sure enough....the babies were all huddled under her and you could seem the squirming about.

I was pleased that she was comfortable enough knowing I wasn't a threat. 

Every few days they waddle through the backyard...and it's always a treat! 

Awestruck

I can't help but share this live webcam of an eagle's nest in Big Bear Valley in southern California. Paul and I are just awestruck....and we'll be following along now and then as these baby eagles grow up.

Yesterday was a pristine clear day...and today it's snowy and blustery. 

During happy hour we watched Jackie relieve Shadow (or maybe the other way around) to keep their babies warm and safe. 

The whole thing is just breathtaking. I hope you check it out. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4-L2nfGcuE

It was fun watching Jackie nestle in....145 feet in the air. I am absolutely awestruck! 

I just learned that you can slide the red dot on the video to rewind....so you can catch things you might have missed. 

Did I say I was awestruck?

Pep in My Step!

Blessed are those who see beautiful things in humble places.

Alyson sent me this sunburst in ice a few nights ago...and I don't think I could love it or the name she gave it more. Nature art at its best! 

Martha, from North Carolina just sent a generous donation to my tag project...and had a request that is right up my alley. I'm going to quote her directly: 

"Please buy some polka dot undies if they're available. I have a pair with big pink polka dots that I only wear on Fridays to celebrate the weekend. They always put a pep in my step and a smile on my face." 

Both Paul and I laughed out loud...and he said "she's one of you!"  I'm a polka dot fan too...and you can bet I'm going to find some for Maine Needs! 

THIS...was actually a post for Maine Needs around Valentine's day. Martha is on to something! 

I've heard from several of you that are inspired to start projects of your own, and look for ways to do something for others. And THAT puts a pep in my step and a smile on my face for sure! 

This and That

There were animal tracks here and there on the pond this morning...and Paul and I got a kick out the curved paths that the creatures took. 

You have to look closely because they don't show up well in the photo.

And some little creature walked all the way across.....thank goodness the ice was solid. And how do they know? 

It was fun to run into Anne at Maine Needs today...she was just finishing a shift as I was starting one. Anne is the one who clued me into the good work of Maine Needs.....and I'm so glad she did.  

As I was shopping for a family with young children I was looking for age appropriate books to add to the bag. I found this little art piece/bookmark in one of them and it made me smile thinking about who might have painted it. It looks like it's part of a larger piece...and I wonder how many other bookmarks there are out there tucked in books. I included this book in the bag and I hope this little art piece makes someone else smile too.

I was so excited to finish the upside down top of my puzzle after dinner.

And the best part is I got to spin it back around....

and now I get to work on other colors again. Woo Hoo!