A Good Day

You know it's going to be a good day when first thing in the morning you get text photo from your son celebrating a lovely view from the 19th floor of the Federal Reserve Building in downtown Boston.

To supplement his income Sam is a bike messenger in Boston delivering parcels between law offices and other professional buildings.  He enjoys this unique glimpse of the city through services entrances and back doors and he's very good at capturing and sharing interesting images and unexpected moments.  The juxtaposition of this physical work to teaching writing at Boston University is welcomed and interesting and I'm always grateful when he shares a little bit of it with me.  Joy!

Advent Joy

This is the week of joy during the Advent season and this Santa and I are celebrating the joyful artwork by two amazing artist friends, Lynn and Rob. 

Pencil Puzzle

The pencil puzzle has been done for a few days and I'm enjoying the nice glow from the foil accents.


I loved every minute of this puzzle and I will revisit it again and again over the years.

 

Tis the Season

"Often I simply stop and sit quietly in the hum of everything alive around me and think this is what I'll remember most from this spectacular life."  Brian Andreas

After I posted about the squirrel feasting on the gourd I got a few pictures from Linda of a little guy feasting in her backyard.  Tis the season I guess. 

Needless to say it was a little dose of joy in my day!  Thanks Linda! 

  

  

And he's going in!

Art and Craft

I've made Margie a lot of notecards over the years...many of them from her own coloring pages.  She's such a great note writer....and how special is it for someone to get a card from her with her own artwork...and a little of my craft. We make a good team!

There's something very soothing about outlining the punched inchies in black sharpie...a perfect mindfully mindless evening activity.  The black edge gives each little square a crisp frame...making them ready for card production.

I'm revisiting the angled placement inspired by my friend Lynn because I don't have to worry about keeping the squares so straight.  I'm not sure if I've written about this process before so I thought I'd show how I do it. It's such a simple useful method for using punched squares from photographs, Christmas cards, recycled art...or whatever.

With a glue stick I randomly start glueing the squares on a piece of card stock. The angle doesn't matter and I use the edge of the square to place the next one.  It always works out in the end.

I keep adding squares in the staggered brick pattern until I fill in all the big spaces.

Next I snip off the extras and use these pieces to fill in the smaller spaces.

I give the whole thing a trim with my rotary cutter and outline it again in sharpie.  Again, that black edge gives it a nice finish.

 

I mounted it on green card stock and glued it onto a blank card. 

For this one I used squares from the same coloring page giving it a nice cohesion.

Sometimes there's the tiniest of spaces that just can't be filled in so I just give that side a little extra trim.                                                                                   

I know you're reading this Margie...so there will be something under the tree that won't be a surprise. Merry Christmas coming!

There are so many fun things you can do with punched squares and I've written many posts about them.  You can click here to see those posts.

Digging In

As part of my transition from fall to winter at the condo I put a gourd out on my rock wall a few weeks ago. I enjoyed it and its curly stem all fall in the house and I've enjoyed it sitting here for a while.

Since then it's been snowed and rained on....and the squirrels have knocked it around a bit. I posted this photo a week or so ago...and you can just barely see it peaking out from the snow.

The snow has come and gone and the gourd must have softened up enough because Paul noticed a squirrel had finally started digging in and was having quite a feast this morning.  I posted a video of it here on my Instagram page.  

It was an absolute delight to watch....sitting right next to my orange fuzzy succulent blooms.  Good entertainment for a rainy morning.

Watching and Waiting

I will never grow weary of watching something from nature go through its wabi-sabi cycle.  

I spent a little time over the last couple of days putting my fall found treasures away and getting out the rest of my condo Christmas decorations.  This little crabapple is not quite dry so I'll carry it over into my holiday decor and keep an eye on it. The colors and textures are so interesting and beautiful that I couldn't let it go. Watching and waiting...that's what Advent is all about anyway and this little gem is a good reminder.  

A Little Play Time

Paul and I are in Maine and it was nice to sit at at my craft table for a little while this morning.  I've been working on a shared journal project which I might be able to share more about at another time.  I can sure make a big mess in a really short time but it just felt good to have a little glue on my fingers.

Remember the wrapping paper I just picked up from the toy store?  I coated a piece of it with matte medium to knock down the gloss....and cut some circles to play with.                                                                     

They'll make whimsical berries....

...and they were the perfect way to start my entry in my shared journal with Sam.  He'll recognize them immediately. 

The evening sky out my window was a deep beautiful Advent blue.

All is Calm

I love this simple Christmas corner in my kitchen. There's something calm and quiet about this sweet little caroler and I hear her singing Silent Night.  All is calm...all is bright.

Just as Fun...

...as I thought it would be!

Once the staff Christmas party was over I didn't waste much time before starting the vintage pencil puzzle.  A big thank you to Melodee, Debbie, and the other knitting ladies for the great gift! I'm loving it!

The foil accents catch the light from the window and the Christmas tree making it just a delight to work on!

BE KIND RAIN OR SHINE!  Good advise!

Full Circle Inspiration

Lynne and I connected through this blog and she and I have been exchanging ideas, supplies, and inspiration pieces for almost 2 years.  We have no time frame, no expectations, and no pressure....we just share something when the creative spirit moves us. 

Today when I opened a box from Lynne I got tears in my eyes. Inside was a beautiful improvisational art quilt that took my breath away.  It's colorful, whimsical, and right up my alley.  How lucky am I!

There are wonderful full circle connections about this quilt. 

1.  Lynne made this quilt in an improv class with Cindy Grisdela who has been a huge inspiration for me.  I have been following Cindy for quite some time and finally met her at an art show in Boston a few years ago and purchased a small art quilt that hangs in my living room.  I have her book and use her techniques and tricks often in my art quilts. I have written about Cindy several times on this blog....and those posts can be found here.

2.  Cindy steered me to the hand dyed Cherrywood Fabrics and over time I have built up a nice stash. A while back I put together a little collection of precious hand dyed fabrics and sent them to Lynne for inspiration.  She used some of those fabrics during this improv class to create this beautiful piece and now have made the full circle back to me.

3.  Lynne's quilt...inspired by Cindy...will now become an inspiration to me making a nice little creative circle.

Here are a few close-ups of some of the wonderful little moments in Lynne's quilt:

I follow Cindy on Facebook and her blog....so scrolled back and sure enough I found the post on the improv class that Lynne took. I'm sure I studied them at the time certainly not making the connection.  You can see Lynne's quilt and the other class products here on Cindy's post.  You know these kinds of connections just make me giddy!  Thanks Lynne! 

Quiet Moments...

...simple joys.

There were a couple quiet moments yesterday that captured my heart and sharing them here is just what I have to do.

One of the stores Anita and I wandered into was Treehouse Toys on Exchange Street in Portland.  My son Sam worked there for several years during high school and college helping him to hang on to the kid that to this day remains in his heart.  I reaped the rewards of that job getting toys and trinkets he knew I would love always wrapped in the same colorful polka dotted wrapping paper.



I saved and used every inch of that paper cutting out the whimsical dots for various projects including a few on this little watercolor I did a few months ago.....

....and this 100 day index card. My supply was pretty much depleted.

But....I bought a little trinket for Sam's stocking while I was at the toy store and as I was checking out I noticed the same precious wrapping paper on a big roll behind the counter. 

I didn't need anything wrapped....but played my "Sam used to work here card" and asked for a little bit of paper for nostalgia's sake.  The clerk happily and generously obliged. 

I was a block away from the store when I thought to take this photo and texted it to Sam. We had a quiet little mom/son technology bonding moment...simple joy!

The "Art on the Hill" show is held in the cafeteria of the East End Community School along the Eastern Promenade of Portland.  There along the bright orang/yellow wall above one of the serving windows was a scruffy garland that caught my eye.

Much to my delight it was dried ginkgo leaves tied along a string.  A quiet moment....pure and simple joy!  

"Splashes of Color"

Anita and I took a field trip to Portland today....we went to a few craft shows, stopped in a few shops, and had a nice visit with Margie. A delightful and festive way to spend a day!

A highlight was a stop at Lauren Ostis' booth at "Art on the Hill"....The Society for East End Arts holiday sale. Several years ago I bought one of her felt garlands....and have been slowly adding to my collection ever since.  Today I came home with one in citrus colors. 

Lauren AND her booth just ooze joy! 

"The process of combining color, line, shape, pattern & texture in my work is of great significance.  Of even greater importance to me, though, is offering moments of simple joy for others by creating splashes of color in a sometimes gray world." Lauren's Facebook Page 

Merry and Bright

The house was merry and bright filled with laughter and a festive spirit!  The church staff party was a big success!

I do love having kids in the house....Elisa and Hugh made good use of my puzzle table.  

Unwrapping Our Stories

I made a quick overnight trip to Portland last night for a condo meeting and it was fun to check on the succulent blooms.  The first one is still going strong, the second one is about halfway open, and a third one will be coming right behind it. What a treat during Advent....the season of waiting.

And it was nice to see a blanket of white snow in the woods....and a little blue sky.

And I loved getting notes today from a couple of friends sharing their special Christmas treasures with me. Sharing and connecting....two of my favorite things!

Lynn found some felt ball garland that goes perfectly with her prized felt ornaments made by a neighbor when she was growing up...and Melodee shared some her favorite Christmas characters.



Linda sent me this quote a few days ago:
"I've grown to realize over the years that the things we choose to bring into our homes for the holidays - whether it be ornaments, garland, wreaths or stockings - serve a greater purpose than mere decoration.  It's really our family's history that we get to unwrap every year." Joanna Gaines

Even the new things we bring into our home become part of the story we get to unwrap next year.  Here's a couple little guys I love to unwrap every year!