Bluebirds and Birthdays!

There's another Becky birthday coming tomorrow....September 24th.  Becky and I have been friends for most of our lives.....and we've supported each other through a lot of challenges and celebrated a boat load of joys.

So Becky, if you're reading this on Saturday...Happy Birthday my friend!     

Back in 2015.....Becky and I tried to take a selfie...and we kept going until we got one we I liked. We never got there. Becky looked great in all of them....but I was 25 pounds heavier and generally hated any photo of me. But we laughed and laughed....and I've never had the heart to delete them.  It's such a good memory.  And FYI....this isn't even all of them.

I spotted a little pop of orange on our walk this morning....do you see it in?

I was pretty ticked to discover what a treasure it was.  Could this mushroom be any cuter?

Wondering how the bluebirds fit in?

Patty informed me that September 24th is also Bluebird of Happiness Day. Who knew!  Paul and I had a regular bluebird family all summer long....and we became quite attached.  Bluebirds are associated with joy, luck and happiness.....and we all could use some of that!

So just for fun....I digitally perched a little bluebird on my toadstool.  

Happy Birthday Becky! 

and 

Happy Bluebird of Happiness Day to the rest of you!

Equinox

"Ah, September! You are the doorway to the season that awakens my soul."  Peggy Toney Horton

Today is the autumnal equinox......the day when there are equal amounts of day and night. It rained all day here in Maine....but as I'm writing this the clouds are clearing and the beautiful evening sky seems to be saying "welcome fall!"

And the beginning of fall means a string of friends and family birthdays. Tomorrow, September 23rd, would have been my sister Becky's 70th birthday.

This photo was from the last time Becky visited in November of 2012....I think she was a little unsure about the lobster. She died just a few months later.

Things weren't always easy for Becky....but she always faced whatever was in front of her with courage and a positive attitude.  She had a zest for life and generous heart....and she loved to celebrate. I'm sure she celebrated the autumnal equinox!

Happy Birthday Becky!

Paul's sister Liz's birthday is coming up too....and every September since 2015 I've made her a reader desktop calendar. So this the 9th one!

Since there is a chance she will read this...I won't share all the images until after her birthday.  But this is where a bit of my creative energy has gone in the last few days. It's really just cutting and pasting on my computer....but I do have fun with them. This year I used a more neutral theme.....just black and white or sepia toned images I found online.

Happy Joyful Equinox!

Pops Of Orange

There's nothing quite like a pop of orange to add some interest....especially this time of year.  

I thought this monarch butterfly was a nice focal point on my collage card. And...it covered up a trouble spot. 

I bought a couple small rolls of leftover monarch butterfly wallpaper at a thrift shop for $1 a couple months ago....I knew they would come in handy someday. 

There are three sheets...all different sizes and views.....

and the paper is nice and thick.

Here's another pop of orange here....but mostly I wanted to share that I have more white rain lily blooms at one time than I have all summer.....and there are still more coming.  

There is one maple tree in the backyard that always has a couple of branches that turn early.  This one is down in the middle....the other one is way on top. 

Lots of green still....but I do love that tiny pop of orange.

And...one tiny pop of yellow/orange in the woods.

Paul and I took a picnic to Fort Williams State Park to celebrate the last day of summer. 

And of course we had to stop at the Bug Light Park....

the evening sky was lovely over the water.

 

Casco Bay was busy!

Joyful Puttering

This beautiful bloom from our morning walk is another match for yesterday's post!

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by what you didn't do than by what you did." Mark Twain

Paul's cousin Caren tagged me on this social media post....and it made me laugh out loud!

Yes....I do dozens of little chores projects that no one ever knows about or sees....and have no other purpose than my Joyful Puttering.  

Life might be simpler....and certainly tidier around the Shupe household if I did more chore puttering than projects puttering. I AM an expert at avoiding chores.

I'm working on a bigger project that involves a lot of ephemera....but today I used some of the scraps to make a card using the fusible interfacing technique again.  I tacked the scraps on the fusible backing with my iron....it's such an easy technique to create a background. There were a few pieces on top I used just a touch of glue to keep them in place....but stitching was absolutely needed to secure everything.

This time I stitched a grid.  I'm not sure I love it...but it's what I did.

I auditioned a few focal points.....

....and landed on these hand cut painted circles.  I wish I put them a little higher.

Like many of my puttering projects...it's only marginally successful. Maybe it needs a bird. 

I do regret those bold words being right in the middle....I'll have to mull this one over. 

Maybe it looks better this way.

After getting a text this evening from Roseanne with a link to cute project....it got me thinking about knocking some of the bright papers down with a little distress ink from a stamp pad. 

I should have done this...and some other embellishing before I stitched it into the card.....but I'm getting ideas....and learning lessons that will help me with my bigger project. More on that coming in the next few weeks....it's part of our next shared art project. 

I do have an idea for a pop of color that might pull this card together....but that needs to wait for the light of another joyful puttering day.

Colorful Stuff

You know it's been a busy day when the best thing I have to share is that Patty pointed out that I matched my begonia.

And the ripening dogwood berries match too.  Sometimes you just have to celebrate the small colorful stuff!

The other colorful thing I have to celebrate is that after dinner while I was waiting to go to our Condo Board meeting.....I finished this fabulous puzzle! I loved every minute of it!

Views

My garden is still thriving....and as you already know....all the textures in this particular view make me so happy. You've seen it a time or two....almost always with a view of my toes. 

 

Lynn, Massachusetts has a reputation of being a little rough around the edges.  But when we visited yesterday, I found it to be colorful, diverse, and full of charm and possibilities. 

There were big bright murals everywhere....many of them honoring their shoe manufacturing history. 

This particular one was massive on the side of a multi story building.  The detail was so life-like.

As a matter of fact....Sam has a view of a mural right out his window over his desk.

 

And this colorful sculpture is right down the street.

This is the side view of City Hall.

But this mural....which included 528 portraits...moved me the most and

brightened up the view down a dingy walkway to the MBTA station.

Each portrait was done by a young artist between the ages of 7 and 18 to honor and thank the faces of Lynn who make the city thrive. I wanted to study each one....but there just wasn't enough time.  See the description below.

I was so impressed with the "RAW" organization....it made my heart sing.

"Even when if feels like there is nothing there is raw." 

  https://www.rawartworks.org/

Possiblities

"If you ever forget how much is possible, consider that inside every acorn is the possibility of an oak tree."   Curly Girl Design

It's been a few days since I've had time in the studio....so I'm celebrating some of my felted acorns today.

The acorn caps around the heart came from Florida....by way of Janice.  Thinking of you today Janice!

Paul and I headed south this afternoon to visit our son Sam and see his new apartment in Lynn, Massachusetts.  Things are going well for him.....and life seems full of possibilities.

His new place is a loft apartment in an old warehouse....

...and the space is perfect for him.

After a nice dinner....we took a side trip out to the island of Nahant and got a little dose of coast.  It's just a few minutes from his apartment....Sam loves being near the water with easy access on his bike.

The sun was setting over the bay....with the skyline of Boston on the horizon. 

What a fabulous day!

Surprises

This morning I was trying to take a photo that captured my pumpkin....the white blossoms on my seven-sons-flower tree...and the red branch in my neighbors maple tree....

...but what I actually captured was a rainbow.  What a nice surpise.

The tree is just loaded with blooms....and the bees are loving it.  

When the white blooms fade....the base of the flower will transition to pink....a nice pop of color for late summer early fall.  For now....I'll enjoy the pretty white blooms!

 

I took a trip to L.L. Bean in Freeport this morning....

and I was quite taken with this interesting canopy. 

It was an interesting little surprise on my shopping trip.  

And Paul texted me this little surprise from his bike ride.....

the beautiful morning sky over Casco Bay. 

I hope you had a few surprises today.