Category : Outdoors

117 posts

I can’t even remember the last time I sat down to art journal. But I finally did! It felt so good, so natural, like I have been doing it all along. So why haven’t I been??

I used my wonky junky journal to step back into the game. I love that it is so random…no expectations…no limits. If I want to exclusively write…fine. If I want to only paint…fine. If I feel in love with glue and paper…that’s fine too. With the variety of papers as pages I have endless possibilities.

I didn’t think at all. Just let it happen.

I made this little journal flip the my words would be hidden. Not that they are so very private but I didn’t want to clutter up the simplicity.

Since I didn’t share any garden photos last week I thought I should snap a couple to show some progress.

I ‘ve been battling a pest problem in the shed garden. We have a vole living under the shed or in the compost pile. It is getting in the garden and nipping off my plants. The little bugger doesn’t even eat them!! Just cuts them down like its a lumberjack felling trees. I have reinforced the fence…still I found more nibbled plants today. UGH!!! So frustrating. Short of poison, I’m at a loss as to the solution to my pest issue.

Notice the condensation on my pint? That means it actually rained and we have some humidity in the air. We are still super dry but at least there was some precipitation. I never thought I’d be thankful for humid air.

Lastly I have to share the haul I got from a garage sale last Thursday. As I walked up the driveway I saw this box filled with papers and such. I had to ask…is the box really free…as in all of it? Yes. Yes it was. I snapped that up like it was gold. I actually got a bunch of things from the sale…this was the only crafty related item.

Monday was an errand day for me…Tuesday is an at home day. I really need to knock some items off my ever present list since it just keeps getting longer!

I finally got my garden planted. Seeds are in the ground, plants in pots. I still want a few herbs but that is just an after thought at this point.

I’m growing all of my tomatoes and peppers in containers on the deck this year. I’m hoping this will help with the blight  my plants have struggled with over the past few years.

Of course this doesn’t look like much at this point but very soon little sprouts will emerge bring me great joy!

The interplanted radishes and carrots seem to be doing ok. This was a trick my dad used to do…carrot, radish, carrot, radish and so forth. The radishes are harvested much earlier than the carrots therefore giving them the room they need to continue to grow with having a bare row in the garden. Time will tell if this works out for me.

Mini-me had another of her lasts…her last choir concert.

It looked very different but it happened so I am happy for them.

We snapped a quick picture up on stage before clearing out. I’m also sharing this photo because Mini-me donated her hair to Locks of Love again. She had 12 inches(30cm) cut off! This was her third donation.

Yesterday was a hot one…after I got done with work, dinner and watering the garden I treated myself to a cold one.

I’m not sure if I like this beer or not but it was wet and I was overheated so it worked!

 

Eleven days of school left…I think I can, I think I can…

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?

My spring break was spent quietly at home catching up on projects and knocking items off the perpetual to-do list. Not very exciting but that’s ok.

My first major accomplishment was tackling all the scraps that had been piling up. Truth be told there are still more but these were the ones that were really bugging me as well as the ones that required no ironing before cutting.

I also went through my wardrobe and got rid of two grocery bags of clothes that no longer fit. This is a nice problem to have. I’ve lost over 25 lbs now and decided it was time to purge the old to make room for a few new things I’ve purchased.

As I mentioned last week I’m super excited about gardening season. The garlic I planted last fall is poking through the leaf mulch. My seedlings are doing well. I even planted carrots, radishes and beets straight into my garden box since they are cool weather crops. I’m hoping they do better this way…although it was 87°F today…crazy! We had snow flakes in the air just last week. 

I was inspired to create a little diorama with a coworker in mind after finding some of her favorite characters at the dollar store. I’ll share the completed piece along with process photos in another post after I give it to her.

Today’s hot weather and the first day back to school called for a nice cold one after dinner.

I’ll leave you with Marvin making sure the newly delivered box of toilet paper didn’t get up and walk away.

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.

It appears that this is how things may be for a while…slow to update…such is life these days. Time keeps ticking away and I’m finding less and less time to be creative. So many fall projects to tackle before its too late.

I’m scrounging for canning lids as I keep getting more green beans. What do you think of my carrots? LOL  I had to pull them up because the squirrels were trying to do it for me.

I also have a couple other canning projects I’d like to try but I either need more regular lids or more wide mouth jars…neither of which I can find anywhere.

I did can some bloody Mary mix and somewhat appropriate sized containers.  It is a homemade, never be able to reproduce since I didn’t measure anything, type of mix. Hopefully its not the best ever. (Please excuse the poor photography and chaotic pantry.)

School is going well. We all seem to be finding a rhythm…although I really should not have said that since I’m likely jinxing myself.

One crafty thing that I actually completed during the past week was this paper garland. Our resource room is tiny…white cinder block walls with 6 doors but no windows…I can’t even make that up. It was originally a storage space of band instruments almost half a century ago.

I really want to dress it up a bit without spending money since we certainly don’t have a budget. I’m hoping that between the 4 of us that current use the space throughout the day, we can make it a like happier. Brighter. A place the kids actually want to come for extra help without being distracted or over-stimulated.

Last week, (I think…it’s a blur) we had some really interesting sunrise and sunsets. A high veil of smoke gave the sky a sort of post-apocalyptic look.

I’ve been suffering with a sore hip or sciatica this past week. Its so frustrating! Hurts to do anything for any length of time. Whether its sitting, standing, walking or laying…it all hurts. I’m sure it came about from my abrupt change in activity when I returned to work. I’d been used to walking 2-3 miles most mornings then puttering around the house and garden. Being barefoot on soft surfaces. Nothing like life now. More sitting, hard floors, shoes, standing, leaning over. When I spell it all out like that, it makes complete sense but it doesn’t make the pain any less.

I did get out for a walk Sunday morning. The trees are so beautiful. There was a slight crisp in the air. I love this time of year. Jeans and hoodies…my perfect outfit.

I’ve made a few more masks as well. I decided when this is all over I’m going to cut apart all the masks I’ve made and make a COVID quilt.

I have done a bit of art journaling as well….this is a current WIP. Of course this was what I should have been doing…but since I cleaned up my space it just had to be done.

As many of you know my art space is in the laundry/utility room. My crafty chaos tends to overflow my actual space and I end up putting things on the washer and drier.

But look…they are clean. Unfortunately there is a really lame reason for my sudden cleanup. The rubber gasket that keeps the water from leaking out the door of my front load washer ripped. Mr. G ordered a new gasket but the washing machine has to be taken half apart of replace the it. While waiting for that part Mr. G came across a video showing a potential hack to “rebuild the gasket with roofing sealant. We are giving it a go since…if it fails…we are right back where we started. I’ll update you next week as it takes a couple days of cure time.

I’m so thankful that he is able to tackle these projects. In the meantime, I had to clean and make a trip to the laundromat.

It’s certainly not perfect but trust me…much better. I tend to end up creating in a one foot square space. So dumb but I can’t seem to break myself of the habit.

This is also madness. All of the scrap papers I had laying about. Ok truth be told…half of this was in the bin to start but seriously. I have a problem.

What are you doing today?

I was thinking about what I wanted to post about for the T stands for Tuesday, I suddenly realized that I never have posted a couple of journal pages I made early this month. I guess that would be part of the August acceleration I talked about last week.

I know I gave a sneak peek of this page several weeks ago. It was my first page in my Ivanhoe journal.

I can’t get enough of looking at the texture… The gold and bronze are UTEE. The white is your basic embossing powder.

I chose these words after thinking about the Paris image I had used…dancing and wine seemed fitting.

This next page had me again playing with some metallic colors.

I used so many layers! This book will be another chunky one… The words I used reflected my mood. Things it seems will never be the same. Its sad really.

Moving on to more pleasant things.

I am attempting to make apple cider vinegar again. My last attempt did not turn out. I think I used tap water which killed off the fermenting bacteria plus I never feed them any sugar in the beginning. These apples were heading for the compost pile since they were getting soft and shriveled. Blech. Hopefully in 6 weeks I’ll have some lovely ACV to show off.

My second crop of beans is continuing to impress me with how quickly they are growing. There are even some tiny blossoms beginning to form.

The deck box garden is nearing the end stages. Several green tomatoes, beets and summer squash will all hopefully make it to harvest.

My pole bean plant is definitely determined…it is reaching out to whatever it can find to continue to grow. I’m thinking I really need to grow more of these next year. And bonus…no fuzz!! Nice smooth green beans like they should be!!!!

I’m posting Monday evening since I have my first back to school work meeting tomorrow. Thankfully its a remote meeting…unfortunately its FOUR HOURS LONG!!

What are you doing today?
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