T Tuesday: two months of updates

Wowsers, it’s been a while. I have no real excuse for not posting. Let’s just say that I haven’t been good at doing anything from start to finish. Maybe that’s why I don’t feel as if it should be documented. I have so many projects going in various stages. Some of them aren’t even a project per say…just an idea I had to dive into at the moment. My mind is a whirl of ideas during the day but often, by the time I get home from work and do the household things, I’m out of steam to be creative. 

This past weekend I was continuing my slow process of sorting through my supplies. I pulled out two bins of jewelry supplies. I really want to get things more organized so I don’t waste time looking for something when my time is limited.  I wish I had a brain for organizing…I just don’t. I’m also very frugal (cheap) and don’t want to buy a bunch of new bins in which to organize plus I’m not even sure what I would want or need since my brain doesn’t work that way.

Other things I’ve been working on in no particular order are the seemingly never ending sorting, purging and attempting to organize my vast craft supply. This includes paper sorting, old cards, harvesting images, label making for future projects. 

Making journal cards, tags and pockets for journals

More journals and covers

Seed starting…even though I’m really late this year.

But Spring is playing tricks this year. Marvin was not very happy about the snow that day.

I do have some life updates as well. I am happy to say that I am in complete remission from Lymphoma. I just had scans this past week and will have them again in 6 months. From there the scans will go out to a year.  What a relief!

J’s roommate decided to adopt a cat but the cat seems to have claimed J.

Meet Marshall. Mini-me and I went over to their house to met him in person last weekend. He’s a tiny little cat with a very loud voice.

Speaking of Mini-me…she had 4 pieces of art in the senior show this spring. She got a purchase award for on of her monoprints.

The university bought it to become part of the permanent collection. Isn’t that cool!!! She also just got word that she’ll be receiving an academic award from the art history dept at graduation. Yes that girl is graduating college next month.

Last month I had the opportunity to go to Orchestra Hall with our 6th graders. It was a really fun performance.

Mr. G and I went on a weekend trip to Wisconsin last month as well. We visited his Aunt and Uncle. We always have fun hanging out with them. I did a bit of thrifting while there.

I found this fun batch of weaving swatches and instructions at an antique shop.

As well as this pink ruby ring. Excuse the dry hands…I wash them constantly at school…kids are gross. LOL

Speaking of school…I couldn’t get through my day without my giant water bottle.

It also serves as my ticket to T stands for Tuesday this week. Yay I remembered for once.

T stands for Tuesday

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My style notebook

I am a prolific list maker and idea jotter. I am constantly grabbing a sheet of notebook paper to quickly write my ideas. It gets a bit chaotic with some many pages of half crossed lists laying about. I started thinking that if I could have a smallish notebook with me that I could keep everything in one place.

This idea, like so many others, has been rattling around in my head for a while. Lately I was inspired by an image of a stack of small pamphlet stitched notebooks on Pinterest. That in combination with a Readers Digest Condensed book cover I had in my stash and thinking of the function of a travelers notebook I put the three together to create my own version to better suit my needs.

As I said before, I constantly have papers to jot ideas or work things out visually. Such as this drawing on how I wanted the elastics to work in the spine. Originally I was going to have 3 signatures to my book but after drawing it out I realized that I’d need 4 to have the elastics at the same end of the book.

I used my new book cradle to assist in the binding process. 

Mr. G 3D printed and assembled this very sturdy tool for my bookmaking. In the past I’d used an old phonebook for this process with very mixed results.

This book cradle makes it a breeze to accurately make holes in the spine with an awl. The results are perfect.

I added a but of reinforcement to the spine of my gutted Readers Digest Condensed book.

Then used eyelets to reinforce the holes for the elastic cording.

A bit of lace covered the unsightly bits quite nicely. All that was left was assembly.  And the glamor shots.

Anyone remember Glamor Shots at the mall circa 1990s? Oh yeah… I have some cringe worthy photos from that place. Faux fur stole and white gloves…geesh. Sorry…ADHD squirrel moment!

The glamor shots…

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January Journal embellishments

Since the cold weather finally found Minnesota, I’ve been doing a bit of lap crafting. It’s too cold in my basement craft space to spend any length of time. I had yesterday off for Martin Luther King Jr day so I spent a bit of afternoon time by the fireplace re-watching a series. Re-watching something lets me craft while still getting a bit of entertainment value simultaneously.

I’ve definitely been more inspired by junk journaling lately. I watched a YouTube video the other day that talked about using those 6×6 paper pads for an easy and practical embellishment. A full page pocket.

They were super simple yet slightly boring on their own. I decided to add clusters to them to jazz things up a bit.

As you can see they are kind of like chips…can’t have just one.

Here I grabbed an ATC to show the pocket part. When the pocket get glued to the journal page it will be adhered only on three sides creating another pocket behind.

After embellishing the pockets with clusters I decided that my stash of clusters needed a bit more interest. I grabbed a container of paper flowers and set to work.

I had so much fun working with this limited palette of flowers.

As you can see I went a bit crazy, but I used up the whole container of flowers from my stash. I’ve been think a lot about all the stuff I have for crafting and how meaningless it is to have around if I’m not using it. I made a pledge to myself to use things. Even if I don’t have a specific plan at the moment. Moving forward with creating. Not everything has to a a plan. I’m being BRAVE and using the stuff. Creating without an end goal in mind per say.

While I crafted, my buddy Marvin kept me company. He’s sweet like that.

This is a poor picture taken as the sun was setting but look at the blossoms! This plant has never bloomed for me. I’m so pleased that it finally did!

Over the long weekend I had plans to have Bloody Mary’s with the neighbors but they came down with a cold. I wasn’t too sad since it was so frigid outside. I didn’t relish the idea of walking across the street. Instead we all had our own and shared a photo in our group chat. :) I suppose we could have done a zoom call but that really would have been overkill.

It was back to reality for me today. The end of semester is Friday so suddenly all the kiddos want to get some work done! Imagine that! Keeps me busy and makes the day go by really fast.

Linking up with Elizabeth and friends for T Tuesday where we share a beverage and whatever else comes to mind.

T stands for Tuesday

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December in review

My creative actively during December was limited to my sewing room. Not purposefully but it just worked out that way.

I made a bunch of fabric clusters from scraps like these.

As well as adding a handful more scrappy blocks to my ever growing stack.

This past December was very un-December-like for Minnesota. Warm temps, barely any snow…definitely not the norm.  But having the soft glow of the Christmas tree lights helped make it a bit more festive.

Marvin is always a fan of the tree…and bows. Bows are his favorite.

My mother-in-law gave me her Dicken’s Village collection. I chose a few favorites to set up on top of my lawyers bookcase. The photo is really poor but you get the idea.  I was very sparse in my decorating this year to be honest. Without Mini-me home for Thanksgiving to help and get me in the spirit, I took a more minimalist approach.

She did return home on one of our worst weather days…and as you can see, it wasn’t an uneventful trip. She went off the interstate into the median. Thankfully the safety cables caught her from heading into oncoming traffic. She was able to put the Jeep in 4 wheel drive and get out on her own. After accessing the damage, she drove the additional hour or so home. Mr. G was able to fix it up with new and used parts. I did a little spray painting…it’s good enough for the kids we hang out with.

J surprised me at the high school holiday concert. He didn’t think he’d get out of work in time but was able to get there just a bit late. At the end of every holiday concert, all the choirs combine to sing Sussex Carol. The alumni attending are invited to come on stage and sing. J and a friend were two of many that went up to sing. It brought me so much joy!!!

My second batch of lefse for the season was made just before my winter break. I had shared with some co-workers with the previous batch and was asked if I’d sell some for Christmas. My mom used to do that every year but I had never even considered it…until now.

I had to document this…grilling steak on Christmas Eve is absolutely crazy to me. What a treat to have in the middle of winter!

I bought myself a little gift at a local craft fair. I have no skill or patience with needlework. I love the look but I’m never going to do it so when I saw this, I had to have it.

We are in our second week back to school. I keep my favorite water bottle with me throughout my day. I usually end up drinking 2 of these 32oz bottles. I definitely drink more water at school than when I am home.

Linking up with my friend Elizabeth for T Tuesday once again.

T stands for Tuesday

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Old and New Words of the Year

Happy New Year!!

With the end of 2023, I am looking back at the word I chose for last year.

I refreshed my new sewing space in J’s old bedroom. (It’s currently a bit of a disaster but that happens.)

We refreshed our deck and front steps…two projects that have needed to be done for several years.

I refreshed my commitment to a more healthy lifestyle; walking more, mindful not mindless eating, stretching and taking my vitamins. This became especially important to me once I got my cancer diagnosis.

All in all I think I did pretty well with refreshing things in my life.

2024 Word of the Year

I have thought about using this word a few times over the years but this year it really spoke to me. I actually learned how brave I could be last year when I heard Lymphoma and radiation treatment. My health is looking good but I will bravely face whatever life may throw at me next.

While talking with my BFF this morning she brought up how sometimes in life you have to endure hard things to grow. It’s funny that she had said this at that very moment. One of the definitions of BRAVE is to endure or face unpleasant things without fear.

More than a dozen years ago, I was brave enough to start a blog, putting myself out there artistically. Brave enough to send in my art to publications for review. Brave enough to write articles for magazines. I feel like I have forgotten how to be brave creatively. This is yet another reason for choosing brave.

I’m also going to be brave and accept the challenge to “walk the year” meaning I am going to walk 2024 miles this year. I didn’t do the official sign-up since I don’t think I need to pay a fee to get an app and t-shirt. I have my Fitbit to keep track.

This is where I am at at the start of my challenge. To meet my challenge I need to hit 12365.36 miles by the end of 2024.

Do you have a word of the year? A motto? Even a resolution? I’d love to hear about it.

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November in review

Once a month blogging seems to be my new benchmark. Times have changed. I remember when I was posting 3-5 times a week…oh, the good old days!

November has flown by with the exception of the past week when I was so very sick with a wicked virus (not COVID) that eventually turned into a sinus infection. I missed work last week…of course, we only had two days. I missed Turkey Bingo which is pretty much the most fun event we do as a staff. We postponed Thanksgiving until Saturday. GAH! What a lame week!!

Ok I’m done whining…on with the month in review.

I’ll start with a little lap crafting I’ve been doing. I saw a tutorial on YouTube making ephemera for junk journals using 6×6 scrapbook paper. I didn’t want to make ephemera but I knew this technique would lend itself very well to small size envelopes if I tweaked the process slightly. They are the perfect size for gift cards, small jewelry, stickers or anything else you’d want to gift inside. I got a little carried away when I was pulling out papers but now I have enough small envelopes to last for years!

I’ve been doing a lot of cooking and preserving this month as well.

My red cabbage sauerkraut is finally ready to consume. I’ve never tried making this before nor have I eaten red kraut. I like it and will definitely do it again.

My pressure canner is getting its use after a long time of me being too scared to use it. I canned up 13 pints of broth. Previously I’d just freeze the broth but that takes up valuable real estate in the freezer plus if you forget to take it out ahead of time, that’s a pain too.

The first batch of lefse is complete for the season.

I know I’ll make at least one more batch around Christmas. I’m going to have to try out my new griddle for the next round. I noticed that this one wasn’t heating evenly anymore. She’s 25 yrs old so I think I can forgive.

Since I was off today as well I had time to make personal turkey pot pies for us to have for dinner. They aren’t the prettiest but they are so yummy but so filling!!

Our school put on its annual Veterans Day celebration on Nov 10th. It’s always a fantastic event and I was actually able to sit in the bleachers this year to get a different view of the ceremony.

Marvin turned 9 on Nov. 11th. He had a couple extra treats and some special attention for his birthday.

My neighbor and I went on a little road trip to her son and daughter-in-law’s house who happen to live only about 35 minutes from where Mini-me goes to college. We met them for lunch in town then Mini-me headed back to college.

The rest of us went to a local winery. Its was super busy so we took a seat in the production room.

And what does this girl choose to have at a winery…a beer. It was a Minnesota craft beer. I don’t drink wine much anymore. It makes my joints hurt. Weird side effect that makes it not worth it to have any.

I went on a field trip the Monday before I got sick…I’m thinking either the bus ride or lunch facilities was the culprit of the germs. It was a beautiful day for a walk in the woods though.

The weather has definitely shifted so I am thankful the dome is back up from my morning walks. I’m thinking about signing up for a challenge that has you “walk the year”. Meaning, I’d have to walk 2024 miles next year. I think I can do it. I’d just have to push myself a little more on the weekends. So far this year without pushing myself, I’ve walked just shy of 1400 miles so far.

Back to work for me tomorrow morning. I’m looking forward to being back in a routine. Although, I can’t say that I didn’t enjoy today. I crafted, cooked, cleaned up and still had energy to blog and still feel like I had a somewhat leisurely day.

T stands for Tuesday

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Fall favorites

Fall is my favorite season. The crisp mornings. The gorgeous colors. The rustle of leaves. I really do love it all.

I love my morning walks. However this morning was pretty cold. It was 22°F and I’m sure the wind chill made it feel even colder. My face was stinging a bit after only a mile.

I have been trying to get back in the groove of being creative on a more regular basis.

I made this wreath using much neglected supplies. It turned out really cute…of course, you know what a sucker I am for those fall colors.

I also made a junk journal for a dear friend. I have several more in various states of completion waiting for the inspiration or motivation to finish them.

Mr. G and I went to the arboretum one afternoon and enjoyed the walking trails. Most of the flowers were past their prime with the exception of these beauties. The bees were loving them as well.

The cool evenings also give way to having toasty bonfires with the neighbors. A few adult beverages were consumed around this mesmerizing fire.

I couldn’t leave you without a picture of my buddy Marvin.

I also wanted to share that my 3 month follow up tests are looking great. My oncologist is very pleased. Another set of tests in 6 months. I’m thrilled that things are going so well. My eyelashes are growing back, my eye isn’t nearly as dry as it was, things seem to be healing really well!

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