• Art - Blog - Creativity

    T Tuesday: randomness abounds edition

    August 26, 2019 - By 

    I’m not going to lie…this post might just give you motion sickness from how all over the place it will be.

    I guess we’ll go with chronological. Mr. G was tasked with creating some trophies that he’d 3D print at work for the company go-kart racing day. He said I could paint them up so we got to go shopping at the craft store!

    These were printed on a resin printer so they are quite smooth and would take spray paint really well.

    They turned out pretty darn cool if you ask me.

    I got this in the mail from my friend, Sandy.  When we were at the cabin in Idaho, we had a few drinks and she said…gosh I better quit cause I’m slurring. To which I said…You’re not slurring, you’re speaking in cursive! 

    On Friday we loaded up the van to bring J to college for his second year. Mr. G picked up the horrible virus mini-me and I brought back from our trip…likely from the airplane. He was completely out of commission for nearly 4 days so Mini-me came with to help out and be my home travel companion.

    Since we were in Duluth with no boys after setting J up at his apartment…we did what we love…look for seaglass.

    We found a very small amount of very tiny glass. It was still fun but bigger pieces are definitely more fun.

    I sat down to do a bit of art journaling yesterday. I was really feeling the need to play with paper, paint, and glue. I’m not in love with this page but it certainly felt good to play.

    Today was yet another step back to the reality that summer is nearly done. I had a work meeting. It was nice to see all those faces again. After my meeting I ran to the grocery store…

    Had my name tag on the whole time…duh. No wonder people kept looking at me somewhat oddly.

     

    T stands for Tuesday
    What are you doing today?
  • Blog

    T Tuesday: girls trip edition

    August 19, 2019 - By 

    We’re home! It was a whirlwind trip to Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming. What a fun and crazy trip!!

    (fair warning…picture heavy post)

    My first time flying in over 25 years started with a full and thorough patdown from TSA and Mini-me getting her backpack searched. Evidently, we looked very dangerous. Our red-eye flight to Montana was otherwise uneventful…thank goodness.

    The next morning I woke early as usual and walked out to greet my friend’s backyard chickens.

    After we packed up the car we headed to pick sweet corn at her Aunt and Uncles farm before heading to Idaho.

    We had a bit of trouble….we spent two hours stuck in the mud before her uncle and cousin came home and yanked us out of the mud with the tractor. For the record…I wasn’t driving.

    Much later than expected we made it to the cabin. It was so inviting…perfect for the 5 of us. 

    Once again I woke early and enjoyed a cup of coffee in the brisk morning. 

    Her Aunt feeds the hummingbirds so I was able to have lots of entertainment with my coffee. 

    They even have these hand feeders…if you sit still enough they will drink from the container on your hand.

    After a late breakfast, we ventured out to do a bit of sightseeing. A waterfall, historic ranch village and tourist shopping in West Yellowstone. Just as we got back to the cabin dark clouds rolled in and we had sideways rain and hail…thankfully the hail was pebble sized and the storm blew through quickly. We ate dinner, played games and went to bed early since we had a really big day ahead of us.

    I highlighted our trip through Yellowstone.

    Obligatory entrance sign photo

    Old Faithful

    Grand Prismatic geyser basin. This photo doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface of the amazing beauty we saw. Or the vast area this covered. I’m sparing you the 35 photos I took at this one site alone.

    Again the obligatory photo at the continental divide. I’m breaking my rule with this post of not showing our faces…but we both have big sunglasses on.

    It was later afternoon by the time we reached the West Thumb of Yellowstone Lake. There is a geyser basin alongside the lake so we stopped to check it out.

    As we continued our drive we got to the area of the park that wildlife is more prevalent. When we saw a massive amount of cars parked along the side of the road and some Park Rangers we knew there must be a bear.

    Yep…a bear eating a bison. Thank goodness for the long lens that I was able to zoom in a bit. Otherwise, it just looked like a brown rock in the distance.

    Later we saw hundreds of bison…some in the distance and some up close and personal.

    After leaving the park we got on the Beartooth highway. It is not for the faint of heart…let me tell you. This was just one of maybe dozens of switchbacks. 

    The elevation was high enough that there was still snow on the mountains. …oh yeah…notice the lack of guard rails…yikes!!

    We made it safely back to Billings Montana after 12 hours in the car. It was along but truly memorable day. Memorable three days really! Our girls got along. We enjoyed some actual facetime. We laughed until I was crying and snorting…so ladylike. So. Much. Fun!!!

    This week is back to reality…high school orientation for mini-me, college move-in for J, mini-vacation in Wisconsin, etc. Gosh, I’m tired already!!

    T stands for Tuesday
    What are you doing today?
  • Blog

    T Tuesday: creative overload edition

    August 6, 2019 - By 

    I have been so focused on creating that I completely forgot about blogging. I tend to do that. My focus shifts and I have tunnel vision. Of course, it’s always hard for me to complete each project. That’s a whole other issue of mine. Many UFOs aka unfinished projects. Amid this creative explosion, I’m trying to devote a bit of time daily to cleaning, organizing and purging unused or unwanted “crafty crap” as Mr. G calls it.

    Let start here with yesterdays crafty diversion. It started with me finding a bunch of small styrofoam balls that I’d used to make knitting Christmas ornaments. I thought it might be a good starting point for a yarn ball wreath.  I dug out my bin of yarn and gathered my other tote bags and came up with my color scheme. While I had all of it out I made the executive decision to toss 3 UFOs. I just wasn’t interested in finishing them anymore. How freeing!!!

    My fabric stash and sewing supply hoard are much further out of control.  I love fabric. I have gotten rid of a bit. I gave it to a co-worker whose girls learned to sew this summer. They started a scrunchie making business. They’ve earned enough to buy themselves the trampoline they were begging for. Isn’t that amazing!?! Anyway, Mini-me and I have been following their progress. Mini-me loves scrunchies too. They are not cheap to buy. Once she found some pink velvet in my stash, I knew I’d been making some scrunchies too.

    We picked out some fun fabrics…now her hair accessory bin is overflowing! I don’t envy the girls at all. Those scrunchies are kind of a pain in the you-know-what. Digging through my fabric did get some other ideas going. Once J goes back to college in a couple of weeks,  I’ll set my sewing machine up in his room again.

    Yesterday was HOT and HUMID! We had two rounds of severe storms…thankfully the worst of it missed us. About a 30 min minute drive from here had tennis ball size hail. YIKES! Before the storms came I was going outside to secure anything that might blow away and I saw this in the backyard…

    A turkey hen and her chicks…or whatever they are called. She was much bigger than I thought one would be. And very protective. She chased a grey squirrel that happened to jump from the tree…it was pretty comical. Do you see my compost “garden” in the far left middle of the photo? The plants are still thriving. LOL

    With the weather so gross I decided to have a refreshing beverage. It’s almost like drinking a mimosa to me. Pretty tasty.

    The weekend was really hot as well. I decided to do a bit of work on the computer where it was nice and cool.

    I’m creating some printable pages for junk journals. I’m thinking about reopening my Etsy store with digital downloads for some passive income…all to support my crafty habits.

    I also got this in the mail last week. I ordered it when they had a 20% off sale. I’m super excited about this project. I have until February to complete and send it back.

    So as you can see, I have been busy…just not in the blogging world. I think part of it may be the fact that I have been slack on using my planner. I was definitely more on track when I used it daily. I know I need structure in my life but willy-nilly suits me.

    Next week will be a scheduled post if I am disciplined enough to get it done. I have training on Tuesday all day and them Mini-me and I are taking the red-eye to Montana! I’m so excited. I’ll have lots to share about that the following week.

    T stands for Tuesday
    What are you doing today?