November Color Scheme

When Margie is coloring or when we're watching a Hallmark movie or one of our favorite shows...Rachel Maddow...I've been working on a background for my November Folt Bolt project. The color scheme is unexpected....but pretty fun. I'll fill you in on my progress in the next couple of days....but it involves this lovely variegated floss. It's going to be different and I don't have really any idea if it's going to work. 

A Nest and a Crown

I'm guessing we all have a favorite chair or a spot in our house where we relax, read, watch TV, or do our hobbies. A favorite in our house is the blue chair. Margie's favorite spot is the love seat in her living room where she's created a little nest surrounded by all the fun things she enjoys.

There's a rolling cart that holds all her coloring supplies including all kind of markers, pens, and pencils...and another cart holds other games, her calendar, reading materials, and a traveling office. At a moments notice she can wheel them into her bedroom to use...or out of sight when she wants to tidy up.


Doesn't she look content under her Colorado Rockies blanket coloring her latest work of art?  It just makes me smile.

Along with her daughter Liz and her husband Chuck, we celebrated Margie's birthday today.  My favorite  silly highlights were a repurposed patchwork wrapping job and a crown.  What's not to love about a birthday crown on an awesome woman in her nest.

Wabi-Sabi Gourds

I'm on the second leg of my travels in lovely Colorado visiting Margie, my mother-in-law. I was so tickled when she showed me her wabi-sabi gourds left over from last year. I absolutely love them!  Like Amy and Joan....she also said I was rubbing off on her!

When I visited her last December we bagged up a bunch of gourds that were part of her fall decorating. I wasn't quite sure what they would do...dry slowly...or rot in the bag...but she wasn't worried. Well....they kind of did both. But lucky for both of us they were out of sight or she might have thrown them away in the middle of their transformation.

But they are nice and dry now....precious shriveled perfectly imperfect little gourds.

"Walk Finds"

On a morning walk this morning Becky and I came across 

a gingko tree that had lost its leaves and I felt right at home.

Then later today I got this photo from my friend Amy in Lexington who had been on a walk with our mutual friend Joan.  This is what she said:

"Joan and I saw this lone perfect heart shaped leaf and thought of you....had you been there you would have seen the art of it.  Think you are rubbing off on us! :-)"

And that couldn't make me happier!!!

Thanks Becky...thanks Amy and Joan!

Washing Day

Ten years ago my brother-in-law's brother and his wife collected 150+ white dinner plates from Goodwill stores for their daughter's Wisconsin farm wedding. They were all different and all just lovely.  Since then the plates have been borrowed over and over for different events and weddings including yesterday for my nephew Sam's wedding. Today I helped with washing day and now they're ready for the next event.

I think it was a clever idea 10 years ago....especially in this day and age with our throw-a-way mindset.  If the caterer provided plastic plates yesterday it would have cost $3 a piece....and real plates would have been $6 a piece. It was well worth it for just a couple hours of washing and drying. And yes, we also washed 150+ Goodwill forks and knives.

My sister LaVonn found this picture from 2009 where the same plates were used for our niece's wedding.

Back to the Farm

I'm at my sister LaVonn's farm in Wisconsin....and always love the views.  It's also kind of comforting to be back with the corn. I'm looking forward to her son's wedding today!

Tunnel Colors

You gotta' love the colors in the tunnel at O'Hare.

Color Matching

I love it when my friends know me well enough to hook me up with something they know I'll absolutely love! My first stop on my trip is with one of those friends....Becky.

She sent me this link to an article about Inka Mathew and her "Tiny PMS Match" project where she matched small everyday objects to their Pantone color.  I found it fascinating! I do love all things color!

PMS stands for Pantone Matching System and yes, she thought it would make people curious.

Inka is publishing a book...but you can see many of her matches on her Tumblr blog.

Time Flies

My how time flies! I can't believe it's November and we're heading into the holiday season! A few days ago I delivered 100 Christmas match boxes to Folly 101. I highly recommend checking out this lovely store at 101 Exchange Street in Portland, Maine over the holiday season...it's always a treat!

Starting tomorrow I'll be out of town for a few weeks....planned long before I knew I'd be away helping my sister. I'll spend time with friends and family and attend a nephew's wedding in Wisconsin... then on to Colorado for a week with Margie, my mother- in-law.  I won't be quite so unplugged during this trip so will likely be in and out here on the blog. 

Happy November! Christmas is right around the corner!

Braces

It takes a sense of humor and a little creativity to put braces on a pumpkin! Now if it only had a nice curly stem it would be perfect...but the little scruffy tuft at the top is cute too!  Happy Halloween!

I found this image on Tumblr and it originated here.

October Scheme

I'm going to repeat a quote I've used before from the book Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert...

"Allow what you do to be stupendously imperfect....done is better than perfect!"

I do love Folt Bolt's October color scheme....but I'm a little iffy on my outcome. I squeezed it in here and there this month so it feels a little scattered. I can see so many things I would have done differently....but that's part of the learning process. I'm a life-long learner.

I have loved so many things about this year long project. It has pushed me to be creative every month and has challenged me to work with a scheme that might be a little out of my box. 

Now I just have to remember to apply some of the lessons I keep learning....I missed some of them on this one....but there's always next time!  And it's OK if it's "stupendously imperfect!"

Beautiful Process

"I love getting older. My understanding deepens. I can see what connects. I can weave stories of experience and apply them. I can integrate the lessons. Things simply become more and more fascinating. Beauty reveals itself in thousands of forms."
Victoria Erickson

I absolutely love this line-up of leaves....you can so clearly see the progression of the chlorophyll retreating....such a beautiful process.

Splash of Color

Speaking of the whole box of crayons....I stopped in one of my favorite stores today...Artist and Craftsman Supply in Portland, ME and they most certainly used the whole box on the back side of their building. What an inviting splash of color!

Whole Box

Life is too short not to use the whole box of crayons!

Nesting

Paul and I enjoy watching the squirrels in the woods from the back patio in Maine....climbing, chasing and foraging. Silly? Yes. It doesn't take much to entertain us.

This photograph is by Peeblespair can be found here.

This sweet image caught my eye on Tumblr and reminded me of the nesting mode I feel this time of year.  The temperature may say summer...but shorter days, falling leaves, and putting the gardens to bed remind me it's time for fall nesting.

I'm quite fond of the colorful mosaic of images on my Tumblr archive page. You can check it out here:
http://putteringaround.tumblr.com/archive

Bigger images can be found here:
http://putteringaround.tumblr.com/

Stitching...

...makes a big difference.

   

This scheme reminded me of the ginkgo leaves. We'll see if my tree performs this year.

Gardening In Her Shoes

Today was a garden clean up day...dumping tired plant pots, repotting plants to bring in, and cutting perennials back. I had a car load of yard trash to dump so headed to the city transfer facility....I actually find these places fascinating. 

What I had forgotten is that sometimes it's a gold mine for evergreens and other clipped treasures. Someone had just dumped large branches from a crabapple tree and the colors of the fruit were spectacular. So of course some came home with me....I want to watch them shrivel.  I also found some marigold blossoms to dry and a little bittersweet.

I have to tell you about my shoes.  One of my requests after Connie's passing was to have her barely worn clogs....there were several pairs. Her daughters thought I was crazy...but I wanted to use them as my gardening shoes. They slip on and off easily as I go in and out of the house...and somehow I find them comforting. You've heard of walking in someone else's shoes....well I'm loving gardening in Connie's shoes!

Autumn

"I am made for autumn. Summer and I have a fickle relationship, but everything about autumn is perfect to me. Wooly jumpers, scarves, thin first, then thick socks. The low slanting light, the crisp mornings, the chill in the my fingers, those last warm sunny days before the rain and the wind. The moody hues and subdued palette punctuated every now and again by a brilliant orange, scarlet or copper goodbye." 
Alys Fowler

When I left for Missouri at the end of September it still looked like the end of summer.  When I came home it most certainly looked like fall.  The reflection of the trees on the pond at the condo in Maine was just beautiful.

When you have a new place every season brings something new.  The complex is fairly woodsy....and I'm enjoying watching all the trees.

The maple outside my window is still mostly green...I wonder if it will turn...or go straight to brown. 

Morning Coffee....

....and a sweet little puzzle....again.

Long before the Consciously Creative class I purchased a couple puzzles from Philippa and this morning was the perfect time to put together this sweet fall one. You can see the other one in this post.

Her shop: http://5ftinf.bigcartel.com/products
I just purchased her 2018 calendar for my kitchen...her photographs will be inspiring me all through the year.

I'm pretty sure I'll be picking stuff up and watching them shrivel and  decay for the rest of my life.  

Falls in the Fall

Paul and I walked to Penobscott Falls this morning....it was a perfect fall day.

Ha ha...that's a pun!

The sky was blue...the air was cool and crisp and the company was outstanding!  Oh yes....and the views were so bad either!

On our way we walked past this little gray house with the yellow door....perfect segue into how I spent part of my afternoon.... sitting in my studio with my lovely view figuring out my October gray and yellow color scheme project.

I have the basic idea in my head....now I need to top stitch the background and start placing the components. Then I have a hand stitching embellishment I want to try. 

It was a wonderful day!