Dignity

It was a snowy/sleety kind of day....and it was nice to have the luxury of staying tucked inside. I was mindful that there are people without adequate housing or shelter. 

I've been thinking about the word dignity. There are just too many examples these days of stripping people of their dignity. And it's shameful. 

The feeling of dignity is a sense of self-worth, respect for oneself, and the belief that one is deserving of respectful treatment from others, essentially feeling valued and important as a human being. It's a feeling of be treated appropriately and not being diminished or disregarded in any situation. 

As I mentioned yesterday...any money I make on my Words on Encouragement project is going to to Maine Needs. But if I donate money...someone still needs to shop...so why don't I do the shopping. 

And after reading this post on the Maine Needs Instagram page a few days ago....I've decided I'm going to buy underwear. 

As I fill orders when I volunteer....and underwear is on the list....there's hardly ever enough. And chances are when someone needs shirts and pants...they also need underwear even if they don't ask for it. 

Having clean underwear....is so basic to our sense of dignity. 

I did a little of everything today I stitched more cards with Margie's coloring, I printed and cut up labels and inserts and made several strip collages into tags. Tonight I'm going to watch TV while I assemble kits.

This particular collage produced 14 tags with just a few tiny snippets left over. 

And...I'm just going to keep going. My goal is to buy 500 pairs of underwear. Why not aim high.

If any of you are interested in supporting my Words of Encouragement project...please contact me at joyfulputtering@gmail.com. I will be happy to send you just tags, or a whole kit. I think I can mail one kit with just one stamp.

When I was a Class Advisor at Deering High School here in Portland...we used to do fundraisers all the time. When we had a car wash....if we charged $5....we only got $5. But if we just took donations we sometimes got $10.

So if you're interested.....I'm not going to set a price...and I'm going to let you decide how much you can donate. Let's start a conversation:  joyfulputtering@gmail.com

I already have at least 8 orders! I need to get busy!

Late-Night Thinking

My wabi-sabi amaryllis photo of the day showcases the beauty of fading petals where the intricuit patterns in the veining become clearly visible.

I often lay awake at night thinking about my projects....both new and old. It's both a blessing and a curse....but seems to be part of my creative process. 

Late-night thinking is what helped me move from just random art tags with Words of Encouragement (which I loved)....to tags that literally weave together cards from the community that encircled Margie and our family. I love the symbolism of these tags!

But what was I going to do with them all?

Late night thinking kicked into gear again a few days ago....and I had an idea largely inspired by the Heather Cox Richardson quote I shared a few days ago. 

"Whatever those things are that you bring to a community, do them, and do them with joy. And don't stop doing them because you are scared."

I came to realize that I wanted to turn this project into something that built community....and it occured to me that maybe I could do something FOR the community at the same time.

So.....I'm starting to put together Words of Encouragement kits that I hope will help others create community and share words of hope and joy. I hope to sell them as a fundraiser at the local Handiwork store and donate ALL of my proceeds to Maine Needs, where I've been volunteering. More on that in another post.

Each kit contains four tags, a treat bag to fill and share, and one handmade card to send to someone who might need it. Until I run out...I'm using pieces of Margie's original coloring to stitch onto the cards. She would be pleased.

I am encouraging people to attach or include the tags to share some Words of Encouragement with someone else.

Using Margie as my inspiration...I am telling the story of how these tags are made and am including the background story in the kit. You know it...but here's what I wrote:

In October of 2024, Margie, my 92 year old mother-in-law fell and broke her hip. I put out a call to her community to shower her with cards with Words of Encouragement for her recovery and upcoming birthday. The cards came...and they just kept coming. Unable to face the long rehab road ahead, Margie passed away peacefully on November 6th, the day after the election, blissfully unaware of the outcome. Then the sympathy cards with words of condolence started coming...and they just kept coming. And I kept them all.

In honor of Margie, I've been turning these cherished cards into Words of Encouragement to share with others. By cutting them into skinny strips and mixing them up, each tag becomes a symbol of her colorful community of hope and joy. Margie was a woman of faith, committed to promoting peace and joy, and she would be pleased that her values continue to be shared through Words of Encouragement.

It took me a couple days to figure out the nitty gritty like the layout and wording. But I'm happy where I landed and now I can just focus on making tags...stitching cards...and assembling kits. 

I have lofty goals...and we'll see if they are realistic. But whatever I can do...no matter how big or small will be a positive result of my late night thinking.

I also hope to offer kits and or just tags here to this blog community.....because so many of you answered my call with beautiful cards and notes. I continue to be so grateful. 

Stay tuned....I'll probably lay awake thinking about it tonight.

Tiny Bit of Hope

No matter how busy my days are...I always find time to sit at the puzzle table. It's always quiet and calm...and I don't have to think about anything else.

I finished my winter stamp puzzle several days ago and have been sorting the new one from Philippa into my album boxes. 

I'm pretty excited about this one of a kind "Colour Collection" puzzle! The stamp puzzle is all put away so I'm ready to go. 

Here's my wabi-sabi photo of the day. I just decided at this very moment that it's going to be a thing for a little while as I watch this fascinating process of decay.

I'm still plugging along on my Words of Encouragement tags...and as promised here are some of the things I've learned.

So those you who aren't interested in the nitty gritty can just move on with your day. 

I do like sharing my process...and I know of a couple people who were interested. 

After I slice up the front of the cards...I try to use the other 1/2 as my substrate leaving almost no waste. But what I found is that some of the cards have a glossy finish to the strips don't stick as well.  So I'm only using the cards that have a matte finish for the base. 

I've been using just a UHU glue stick...applying a generous amount. I've tried using gel medium...which is probably stronger...but it's messy and takes longer. The glue stick is just so easy.

I use a soft clot to burnish down the strips  really well so they lay flat and get good contact with the glue. 

I still noticed that some of the little strips fall off like the one here and that could be because some of the fronts of the cards I'm using are glossy on the back. Does that make sense? 

So I've started top coating the each collage with matte medium hoping it sink into the cracks seal things up. And before I glue on the words I check each strip so see if any little piece needs a bit more glue. 

I have white glue in a fineline applicator...so I can get it into tiny places.

Once the matte medium starts to dry a little bit I add some gold swirls with a fineline applicator to give them a little bling and texture. I'm actually trying to have more of a light touch than you see here. It doesn't take much.

Once they are good and dry...usually overnight I slice them up using my big guillotine paper cutter. Each of these little collages can make about 12 to 14 tags. If the words are short....I can get two tags from one strip.

I dust the edges of both the words and the tag with some distress ink and a sponge applicator. I've created a document of the words...fitting as many as I can on the page and printing them on cream resume paper.

I think it really makes a difference getting rid of that white edge. Can you see the difference between these two? It's subtle.

I've tried all kinds of things for the tie...but for these skinny little tags I've settled on this cotton string. 

It's not as bulky as ribbon or the skinny strips of fabric I used for the bigger tags. And the best part is I have a huge spool of it. 

I'm having to dig deep to find much hope these days....but this project has been a good distraction so maybe there's a tiny bit of hope for me.

Full Circle

The very first bloom on my amaryllis was fully open on February 1st.....and just today...it's showing the first sign of shriveling. I'm going to enjoy watching the full circle of life process.....finding wabi-sabi beauty in imperfection.

I never shared this photo....but Colleen gifted us this bulb before Christmas...and I was slow to get it planted. When I finally pulled it out of the box at the end of December I had a little oops moment...and wondered if it would be OK.

Turns out it was just fine...and the second stem of blooms is just as amazing as the first with two flowers fully open and two more coming.

It's not getting as much attention...but it's just as fun and just as robust and beautiful as the first.

It took me back to just a year ago when Margie was gifted a bulb....she's not really a plant person so needed a little help. I got it started at the condo and took it to her apartment when it started to bud. It sat in the window by her chair and she watched it every single day...bringing her more joy that she expected.

I wrote about it here: 

I know I said I would write about what I've learned during this tag making process....I'll do that another day. It can't be all tags all the time. But I did make good progress on the project today including an idea of a way to start sending them out into the world. I'll catch you up soon.

I do have to say that I love the way the these greeting card strips are coming together...and you never know what will show up on the back. Every single one is unique.

A Place to Settle

I've found a wonderful place to settle with my Words of Encouragement tags....and this latest version seems just right on so many levels. 

Way back in October when Margie had her fall...I reached out to this blog community.....my friends and family...and my facebook community to send her cards. A Call for Community I called it...because I wanted Margie to know just how big her caring community actually was.

And you responded.....so many people responded. Margie got get well cards and birthday cards. Some of them homemade....all of them with thoughtful notes and words of encouragement. And they just kept coming.

Then...after her death the sympathy and words of condolence came. And they also just kept coming. And I kept every single one.

Just a few days ago I was revisiting the cards....and I was overcome with joy. Then I wondered if these very special cards could be worked into my project. 

Turns out they could! 

So for the past two days I've been cutting up your cards...or at least the ones my cutter can handle....

and glueing the strips onto other pieces of the very same cards.

I love the way the colors blend....just like our diverse community. I'm looking forward to making them into tags and getting them out into the world. I'll share a few things I've learned about the process tomorrow...but I'm pretty excited about where I've landed.

And after reading that post from way back in October it helped me settle on keeping the name...with an added subtitle:

Words of Encouragement

A Call for Community

I Can't Stop

Becky sent me a link to a video message from Heather Cox Richardson....a political historian I greatly admire. I read her newsletter, Letters from an American every single morning. 

Here's Heather's message about joy from the video:

“One of the really important things to remember going forward as we fear the rise of authoritarianism in the United States is that authoritarians cannot rise if there are strong communities and people are acting with joy. That is, you need despair and anger in order for an authoritarian to rise. Whatever those things are that you bring to the community, do them, and do them with joy. And don’t stop doing them because you are scared, because that is actually a form of resistance. Showing up and doing things you love says to an authoritarian you have no place to root here, and that’s going to be really important going forward.” Heather Cox Richardson 

Inspired by Ricki Midbrod and a Fodder School 2 lesson...I'm now making very simple skinny tags. 

I actually can't stop making them...and pretty soon I'm going to have enough to actually do something with. And it DOES feel like an act of resistance. And right now....that feels like joy.

I'm sticking with the simple collage backgrounds from strips of various papers...and I'm embellishing them with a bit of gold paint for texture and bling. This background is a combination of gelli prints and a little scrapbook paper....

and makes a very pretty and simple tag. And I had another idea for backgrounds today that I'm pretty excited about...I'll share that tomorrow. 

 

And just in case anyone was wondering.....I have two blooms open on the second amaryllis stem...and they're just as spectacular as the first ones. 

It's kind of like the second child...less photos...but just as much joy.

And...Paul came home with a found object....just the earpiece thingamajig from a pair of glasses. I think it's going to be a useful scraping tool for gelli plate printing....or...just look good in the found object jar! 

Found objects are few and far between in the winter with the snow....and we can't stop picking them up! (I knew I could fit the title back in here at the end!)

To Be

I read somewhere this morning that it's better to have a to be list......than a to do list...and it's been rolling around in my head all day long. I had chores and tasks I wanted to do today.....but spent most of my time just playing around with things that brought me joy. That's who I want to be.

I've made several shifts in the way I am approaching my Words of Encouragement tags. I was excited about what I worked on yesterday....and as excited about what I worked on today. I'll report on yesterday today...and today tomorrow. Got that?

Yesterday I made some simple background collages and continued to layer things up.  The layers aren't glued together...they dangle freely so a second message could be tucked underneath.

I also typed out some of my own words and phrases giving me more control over the size. I love found words...and will continue to use them...but for now I'm using the typed messages.

I'm also shopping my stash for interesting papers to mount the quotes on. 

I printed this kaleidoscope paper years and years ago from a CD Rom program (showing you how long ago it was) that turned my photos into beautiful patterns. This original photo was probably a pink floral...I love the way it turned out. I wish I still had that program...but I'm sure there are newer versions out there.

I think it works well with the collage and sets the quote off nicely.

For this tag I glued the quote on a chunk of a 2023 desktop calendar gifted to me from Roseanne. 

I couldn't lay my hand on the calendar page I used....but all 12 months have beautiful colors that will make great mounts!  

I may take out that middle green layer....I'm not sure it's necessary. Or maybe slim it up a bit so more of the collage is showing. Or just leave it alone.  

And for this one...I used a cyanotype print strip as a middle layer. I've got lots of those laying around too. It's a nice dark contrast to the collage layer.

I used gelli print scraps and cutoffs that I couldn't bare to throw away. The prints don't have to be great...as a matter of fact the grungier...the better.

Yesterday was a great day...just BEing.

Snow Day!

Joy Day!

I've always loved a snow day! We got about 8 inches overnight...so it was a winter wonderland when we woke up. Church was cancelled...I was glad Paul didn't have to get out. I did get out for a little snow walk...but mostly we both stayed tucked inside doing things we love. My Sunday snow day was chocked full of joy nuggets.

These are my tracks to feed the bluebirds.....and the minute I got back inside...two birds showed up.

Next winter I'm going to move the feeder closer to the patio so I have a better view.

I often make a chopped crunchy salad with whatever veggies are in the fridge.

As I was cutting into the cabbage and red onion.......I was struck by how colorful...and beautiful the scene was on my counter.

My first stem of amaryllis blooms is still going strong in the water....

.....and the second set of buds are starting to open.

And I'm loving revisiting this winter stamp puzzle. It's enough of a challenge...and has plenty of color and interest. It's a fun one!

It was the perfect in between activity with a cup of tea on a snow day.

I spent quite a bit of time working on more Words of Encouragement tags today.

I'm trying to get a simple process I'm happy with that will be easy to teach others and that uses things in my stash. I'll share more about that tomorrow...today it's all about snow day joy nuggets.

Like this delicata squash I baked until crispy with a drizzle of olive oil....seasonings and a little parmesan cheese. It was fantastic!