Creative Excursion

One of the things that Becky and I have been doing for years is a creative excursion to the book store. 

We wander around for a while on our own and end up back at the coffee shop with books and magazines to flip through.  We look for ideas, inspirations, or just something fun to share with each other.  It's relaxing....and very enjoyable! And...this time we each came home with a keeper.

It led us into a good conversation last evening about how we can continue to motivate each other with our creative projects and goals, and a renewed energy for shared art and journaling.  Let's see where this takes us?

There's nothing like a good friend to joyfully putter with!

Thanks for coming Becky...it's been a blast!

Words and Pictures

IT'S ALMOST FALL!  Becky and I enjoyed the last surge of summer while we were in Maine...but the weather has turned and all of a sudden it's fall...and we both love it.  We grabbed what we could last night for our cold feet and this is what we ended up with.  A match made in heaven don't you think?

I love playing around with digital art!!!  The possibilities are endless!

The Mosquito...

....in its new home in Maine.  All my sisters bought one during our last reunion.

Searching for Marigolds

Our friend Tracie charged Becky and me to keep an eye out for marigolds.  She and Becky have a friend who is having a birthday soon....and the October birth flower is the marigold. I loved the challenge...and saw marigolds in places that I hadn't noticed before.  Thanks Tracie!

On our way to Two Lights State Park yesterday we came across this flower bed filled with lots of flowers including marigolds. And to my delight it was the same field that was filled with lupin earlier this spring.  What a wonderful connection. Happy Birthday Deb!

Today There Was Coast!

We started off in Ocean Park....known to us as Jane's beach...home for a nap...then Two Lights State Park, Kettle Cove, Willard Beach, and finally The Bug light at dusk to watch a couple of cruise ships leaving the harbor. We ended the day with fresh lobster for the second night in a row. Yes, life is good.

10,000

I have said before that this blog is really good for me. It has become a part of my day that I look forward to and it motivates me to look at and be in the world a little more intentionally and creatively.

But....I would be lying if I said I wasn't motivated by the numbers as well. Blogspot keeps track of page views and today I reached 10,000 views....10,007 to be exact as of right now.  I guess it works for a few others too.  Thanks for stopping by!

Today There Was Art...

Becky played around with watercolors.

I used some pages from a catalog to create some pebbles....

...and it was vastly improved when I added a little watercolor pencil shading. It has more texture...but it still needs some work.  

Squares from the catalog...great colors and textures!

Plenty to Share!

Just before Becky arrived my friend Carol walked through my yard in Lexington with me.  We dug up several hostas of all sizes and a few other shady perennials for the garden at their new home.  Like I said before....I have plenty to share!

I just got an e-mail from Carol saying they were all planted and the yard is on its way to be transformed! Someday these will be big enough to divide and share with someone else. That brings me joy!

Splashes of Colors....

....at Folly 101.  Notice the lovely jars of Adam's stars....and the jar of his teeny tiny stars.

Becky and I had a delightful day out and about today.  A little beach and a little shopping on Exchange Street...which included Folly 101. The day was topped off with a perfect evening on the deck.  Life is good.

Tomorrow there will be art.

We were excited to catch Adam (in the blue shirt) working today at Folly 101.

A Splash of Color

Becky's dog Macy in her purple flip flops.

McFarland, Wisconsin

Connecting!

My childhood fiend Becky arrived last evening. She is a newly retired teacher and this is her first September since we met when we were five years old that she has not gone to school in September. We share a lot of common interests and of course our common past...both growing up on farms in Wisconsin. We are going to have a good time...visiting, exploring, relaxing, crafting and puttering. What a way to embrace the end of summer!

This was taken way back in 2006 during one of her visits....you can be sure we will be going to the beach again!  

Paper Mobiles

I recently got an e-mail from Wayne, a good friend from Maine that made my day.  I used to babysit for his daughter Addie...we had the best time together. At some point during her growing up I made her a paper mobile for her room. Wayne wanted to let me know that Addie went off to college this fall and the only decoration she took for her dorm room was her paper mobile. I was touched...and honored.                                                                                                                  

It all started with the one on the right that I bought at a gift store...somewhere...a long time ago. It's made from strips of colored velum and it lives in my craft room....I just love it!

When I first got started I didn't have access to colorful velum...but I did have an abundance of wonderful card stock that came in a nice gradation of colors.  So I started with that...making them by the dozen in the rainbow spectrum and other combinations such as sea glass colors and just black and white for a baby's room.  I sold them at Folly 101 and I gave them to friends and family. I made a whole bunch of them in whites one year for the Folly 101 Christmas window...I wish I had a picture.

A few years ago I was asked to help out with decorations for a baby shower for Paul's colleague Dana and her husband Sean.  I kept it simple...making a series of mobiles in soft colors that I hung from a dowel suspended from the ceiling over the food table.

Recently Paul and I visited Dana and Sean in their new home and those mobiles from the shower are now hanging in her son, Leighton's room.

I finally stumbled on colored velum at Hobby Lobby in Madison and a few other places since...so I shifted to velum.  I cut my strips using a slide cutter and sort them in paper cups that I have glued into a box top.

I have several of these cutters and use them for so many things.  

I feed the strips into my sewing machine one by one with a little space in between.  That's it....pretty easy!  I leave a long piece of lead thread at the start....for hanging and I often put a bead and the top and the bottom.  

The one I made today is quite long and was hard to photograph.  It was fun getting these colorful little strips back out....I may have to make some more.                                                                                                         

Moonflower

I have written about Connie's balcony garden before and I probably will again.  I spend three evenings a week with her and last night was a real treat....we watched three moonflowers bloom!

The moonflowers grow from one end of the balcony railing and the fall clematis grows from the other end...which is also just starting to bloom. They meet and mix in the middle.

I was happy to catch Connie from this angle enjoying the view!

You can see that the clematis is wrapping around...giving Connie a nice view from her project room window.



The coleus and the Persian Shield plants are also exploding!

As it grew darker...I took a few more photos.