I was thinking about my girl this morning and out came a journal page.
Tag : journal
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Whoa…that sounds deeper than intended. I did find myself sitting down to create today and without even realizing it I uncovered something I hadn’t been thinking about…or at least admitting to thinking about.
I only intended to do the end of the first signature but there was too much and it spilled onto the next. Honestly I really like how it looks.
I’m thrilled with how this part turned out. It has a soft, vintage quality. I used my middle finger to paint the teal butterfly wings. Not too shabby for that occasionally naughty digit.
I used a bit of French grammar text to partially cover the Behr paint brochure then continued with the layers until I finally was happy and had said my piece.
Overlapping fold-outs are new for me but I really felt I wanted to add a bit of found text.
It about sums up my emotions. I know that this is the way of things…the next step…and I am so incredibly happy for both kids. But at the same time, I am mourning my time as a parent of “kids”. I guess empty nester syndrome was sneaking on in while I wasn’t looking.
EDIT: Linking up with AJJ for the Butterfly theme…thanks for the heads up Erika!
I feel like I should have a virtual loading bar on my activities. I have many things in progress and I’m excited about all of them!
Journal progress
I gutted a book from the 50s that I knew would never hold up to the abuse that I would put it through. I liked the orange cover and mid-century motif but it was a bit damaged on the back. I decided to cover it with some Tim Holtz tissue and go from there.
I used some transparent pink paint over top of the tissue for a little better color once I had picked out the inner spine fabric and end pages. Pink is a favorite of mine. I’m so not a girlie girl but I do love pink.
I stitched in my signatures….
and now I need to take it back apart…ugh. The book no longer sits nicely. Is it fine? It would work but it would bug me every single time I used it. I should have left more space between the signatures.
Plant babies
My seedlings are doing quite well. I’m just about ready to transplant the tomatoes into larger pots.
The nasturtium seeds I saved last summer are baby plants now! I started a few more plants just last week. So excited for those. I’m planning to try the leaves and flowers in salads this year. I’m also going to save some of the blossoms for tea. I have no idea if I’ll like it but I’ve heard it good.
Maybe I’ll use these fancy little cups that I can’t seem to part with. They are so pretty.
My radishes have sprouted…unfortunately its been cold and there is snow in the forecast.
They are all tucked into bed now…so punny.
I also had to share my thrift store score. I got all of this paper for under $5. Stacks and stacks of good sized scraps and three paper pads. Crazy! I’m looking forward to making a bunch more cards.
Fan favorite- Marvin
This picture was just too cute not to share. He is laying on his “security bag”. It’s a reusable shopping bag that he immediately claimed. He gets upset when I move it to vacuum. So we have a bag that permanently lives on our living room floor. He’s not spoiled at all. But who could say no to that face.
What are you doing today?
Well, that month went by really quickly. I had planned to blog several times, even wrote down an outline during my lunch one day. Never happened. Such is life some times.
There is no way I’ll be able to keep this in chronological order so I’m going to be random like my brain works.
I have been creating a bit…not as much as I have been thinking about creating. Dumb, right!?!?
There are days when all I can get myself to do is look at art and think about what I’d like to do instead of going downstairs and actually doing it.
Like this piece I saved from the trash. I keep thinking about what I want to do with it. Journal covers most likely but I can’t get myself to commit.
One day that I did make it to the craft room, I made these little fairy chairs. They are both fun and frustrating to create. The champagne cage wire is stiff and uncooperative.
This week is my spring break. I’m using my time to tackle some projects such as sorting through all of my fabric and sewing supplies. I want to get them organized in a way that makes sense and makes it easy to find and use.
I’m cutting small pieces into usable scraps that are ready to go. Yes, this is an ongoing project. I think I started it in February. Truth be told…I haven’t touched it in a few weeks.
I did get some of my seeds started which makes me so happy. I still have more seeds to start this week. I feel like I need to put a shelf in my cart and add another light. Hmmm…another potential project.
I’m fully vaccinated! Technically they say you aren’t totally covered until two weeks after the second shot but I’m so excited. The side effects I got from each shot were very manageable. Nothing major and nothing to take me completely out of commission like some people. Mr G gets his second shot next week and Mini-me gets her first this week. J hasn’t lucked out yet on getting his shot. He’ll likely have to wait until he comes back home for summer.
Mini-me had yet another of her “lasts” a couple weeks ago. She had her last archery tournament. And technically her only one this season. It was a virtual tournament meaning they shot at “home” and turned their scores in. They were lucky enough to be able to continue with the tournament because they are Varsity. All non-varsity sports were paused due to an outbreak of a new COVID variant linked to some of the sports teams (not archery).
I usually only brag about my kids but this really made my day. A slideshow was created at school with each of our names on a slide. The directions were to take 10 mins and let some of the people you work with know why they matter. Its cool that its anonymous but not going to lie…I wish I knew who wrote these wonderful things.
I’ll leave you with two of my four new mugs. They were part of a silent auction at school to benefit LLS. There were actually 8 mugs in the set. The gal who won them thought for sure I was going to outbid her. She lamented that she really didn’t need 8 mugs. I suggested that we split them. Perfect! We each get a set of these beautiful mugs.
The potters name is Peter Potter…which just makes me smile.
Before sitting down to write this post, I was pulling out papers to make a new journal. I have been squirreling away all kids of bits of paper and treasures that I want to add to a more personal journal. The last one I created like this filled up super quickly. I’m going to try my best not to put too many pages in each signature so that there is still room to add bulky things to the pages. More to come on that.
Hello! I totally missed last Tuesday. I had intentions of posting but alas, it never happened. Unfortunately, that has happened more often than I’d like to admit. Instead of dwelling on failures… let us move on to something more celebratory.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t thank the lot of you for all the birthday wishes. It amazes me how much a tiny gesture, a word from a friend, Facebook friend, or even a casual acquaintance can put a smile on my face on my birthday…especially during this crazy time. So, thank you!
I received a text from a friend and former coworker the morning of my birthday telling me she may or may not have left something on my steps out front.
Clearly she did…a fun little basket of goodies for me.
Now fast forward to Friday of last week… Mr. G came home a bit early and tilled the garden for me. The forecast said a rainy weekend ahead so we were in a time crunch. While he tilled, I mowed the lawn…except for the patch of creeping charlie…ugh…allergies stink.
The shed garden or big garden is fully planted.
Like the new top on the gate that Mr. G installed last weekend? Much better than the crummy one I bashed together last year after a deer jumped the short gate. The crabapple trees were stunning this year.
So much so that I had to use the smaller one as a backdrop to my trio of containers on the deck.
I’m so excited that everything seems to be sprouting.
It was a super busy day. I had taken a walk before I started work for the day too since all the sitting I do isn’t doing my body any good.
Check this out!! Almost 20,000 steps in one day! That is just crazy to me. Remarkably I was hardly sore at all on Saturday morning. I even got up at 6am and went for a walk to loosen up…which I think really helped too. Now if only I could do that every day!!
I can’t remember if I had mentioned this in a previous post but this year I am taking a cue from my MIL who always had lovely, prolific gardens. Both veggie and flower. I am keeping a record of what and when I planted, harvest dates, etc.
I’ve added the potential first harvest dates to my calendar so I’m aware of those as they come. I am hopeful this will help me in the long run. I plan to note what did and didn’t work. Throw out any old seeds that didn’t germinate or that we didn’t like the product. Every stinking year I forget the kind of green beans that we like vs don’t like. I hate the green beans that are “fuzzy”..ick. It’s a texture thing. I feel as if they get stuck in my throat. Gross.
After all the seeds have sprouted I’ll share another overview of the garden. Right now it’s a little boring if I’m honest. I still have a few containers I want to plant but I simply ran out of time and energy. And then the rain came…we got over 5inches. Not sure how much more than 5 because that’s all our rain gauge holds.
Just a little bit of coffee before starting the day…13 days left of distance learning for the school year.
What are you doing today?
This past weekend was beautiful for weather. Just perfect temperature, no humidity and no bugs! Amazing!!! I spent a good share of time outside getting my hands in the dirt. Still not the full garden but more containers and prep for the in ground planting.
I transplanted my tomatoes into larger pots to further develop a strong root system before planting in the ground. I’ve been setting the tomatoes along with the pepper and cucumber plants outside in the shade each day to acclimate them to the wind and fluctuating temperatures. Fingers crossed that they do well. 
I have my ever watchful supervisor while I’m outside. 
I planted a few containers as well plus the bare root rhubarb plants that came in the mail. It says that it takes two year before you can harvest anything. Bummer…I was really looking forward to some rhubarb goodies. (the bottle greenhouses will be serving as my drink reference this week)
What do you think of my bamboo trellis? I was just planning on a standard tepee like structure but then I got the idea to plant some radishes in the pot as well as snow peas. I came up with this design so the climbers should stay in the center and the radishes can be on the outside edges…in theory at least. I wanted to plant snow peas but then realized I didn’t have any…they are still in transit so I went with pole beans. The next morning I found the stupid snow pea seeds. So I planted a couple of those as well. I figure I’ll keep whatever flourishes the most.
You know how I’m always repurposing things, saving stuff forever, trying to live a greener life. Well Mr G gave me a challenge. He wanted his “garage shoes” repaired since the back seam had completely come part. Other than that, they are still decent especially for outside working shoes.
Look at me….I’m a cobbler. The repair turned out WAY BETTER than I had ever hoped.
This year I decided to buy myself a little something for my birthday. Have been wanting a dot grid notebook for a while. I love making daily lists and wanted a little something prettier than the kids leftover spiral notebooks. Plus this is about half the size.
I started using it right away. I will likely make it a bit of a hybrid notebook/journal. Such as the page with the cupcake. I cut it from the birthday card my in-laws sent me. I wanted to remember the card but didn’t need the entire thing…plus my to-do list will be pretty short that day. Something needs to take up that space. ;)
I also ordered these washi stickers just because they were so cute. I’m sure they will make their way into my journal, cards and art.
We are getting takeout for my birthday. I do have to work (from home) and wash a load of clothes but other than that…I’m calling in lazy.
What are you doing today?
I’m sure most of you are in the same position we are here. Adjusting to the new normal. Everyone home trying to do school and work. We had a family meeting on Sunday to set some ground rules and expectations.
So far it’s just J that has specific class times. Mini-me and I are still on spring break. Next week will be an even bigger adjustment. Mini-me and I will most likely be in “distance learning” mode. She will have online classes and I will be…well they aren’t really sure what our role will be at this time. Perhaps making videos to support learning, reading, typing curriculum…what ever is needed really.
I quickly whipped up a couple of these signs for when the kids are working in there bedrooms. It’s not pretty but it is effective.
Mr. G is still working but in a remote location for now. There are just two of them getting an industrial printer running. I think it’s only a matter of days before he’ll be working from home as well. 
Marvin is confused. His routine of morning snack, morning nap, bird watching, more napping and so on is really getting messed up by his humans constantly going from room to room making noise.
All this time at home has had me using my dehydrator and even attempting to make hamburger buns. The key word there is attempting. They are a little dense…ok a lot dense. Not too bad cut in half and toasted though.
I’ve been doing a bit more journaling as well. Both just writing and art journaling. This writing journal sometimes gets a bit of both.
This page started as a mind dump. Grievances and complaints but then something shifted. Maybe it was because I was able to rid my mind of all the clutter and garbage floating around in there. I became more mindful of things to celebrate and be thankful for.
I continued onto the next page. I was able to go to bed and actually sleep after all of this. Perhaps this mind dump will become a habit that will help me be more mindful each day.
Today has three of us home working on chores and little projects. Trying to stay active. Keeping physically distant from others while maintaining social connections.
What are you doing today?