• Blog

    T Tuesday: many hats, one place edition

    Welcome to yet another rousing edition of T stands for Tuesday.

    This week finds most of us in the same place as last…at home, still at home. The difference for me is now my job has started back up after an extended spring break. I find myself in a very strange place much like hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions of people. Trying to figure out how to work from home.

    I had two laptops set up on opposite sides of the table yesterday. My work one was the only one that actually saw any work. I had thought I’d get this post written but navigating through day 1 of distance learning proved to be more intense than I had expected. Honestly, I think it’s easier to just go to school. Likely because there is also no distractions.

    When I’m at home I tend to wear those other hats; chef, nutritional consultant, household manager, inventory specialist, artist, garden and landscape architect, blogger, chief procurement officer, mom, seamstress, and wife. All these titles…and likely a few I missed…I’m used to at home…it’s the new one, the one that is my actual paying job that needs to be my focus. So weird. Such uncharted territory.  I am thankful for the opportunity to continue to work since with so many folks now unemployed. I am determined to do my absolute best to support my students during this confusing time.

    Speaking of the artist hat. I have been neglectful in posting this journal page. 

    It’s a very simple page. The striped background is an artist page from an old Stampington & Company magazine. After adhering bits of scraps, I was at a loss as to what I wanted as a focal image. I decided on drawing simple greenery. I used watercolor crayons over my pencil marks until achieving the look I wanted.

    The green plant provided hope for spring. We are definitely in need of a little greening up out there. Everything is brown, matted grass and depressing. It is warming up though, so it’s coming!!

    Last week I was also sewing masks. I had seen repeated calls for help with providing masks for health systems that are running low. Ones that aren’t used on the front lines of the fight against COVID-19. Since I had materials to create the specific ones shown in this video tutorial.


    masks

    I made 28 and a friend stopped by to pick them up from the front step to deliver with all of hers. I had posted this image on Instagram. Shortly after a woman private messaged me asking if I’d be willing to sell her a couple of masks. I told her no but I would send a couple to her. She wanted to pay me so instead I told her to Pay It Forward.
     

     

    View this post on Instagram

     

    Hello everyone.. the picture of the bandanna face mask were made by @halleshobbies and she is donating them to a medical facility. She also sent one to me ( I have IPF) I offered to pay and she asked me to Pay it Forward. The Respironic Nebulizer machines are mine. I contacted Lifespan and a home nurse is picking them up. They will be given to two families that are going to be healing at home with the Covid- 19. Lifespan hospital will thoroughly clean the first of course. It is my way of paying it forward. With my illness these machines were almost in every room of my house. They actually have saved my life many times. If any of you can find a way of donating anything to help out in our current situation look around the house see what you can do. Even if it’s giving your neighbor some toilet paper. A huge thanks to Halle. Please everyone go check out her channel!

    A post shared by June Basiliere (@thriftedinapeartree) on

    I love that! I’m so happy that our little exchange has the potential to save lives!!

    Today is day 2 of distance learning. My own children seem to be doing just fine. I talked to a neighbor last evening…at the proper social distance…her girls are early elementary age and in Spanish immersion. Her day was not so easy. Hopefully, we will all settle into this new normal quickly and keep on learning each day. Perhaps discovering something deep inside ourselves that we weren’t able to see before.

    empty halls

    This lonely hallway photo I snapped gives me pause. So quiet, so lonely. Yet look…there is light at the end, just as there is light at the end of this journey for all of us.

     

    What are you doing today?
  • Art - Blog - Creativity

    Junk Journal November challenge

    I did it. I committed to a new challenge. Even knowing I’d be behind in the beginning.

    I’m over halfway to being caught up.  Not too shabby.

    Time Travel 1/30

    All the pieces fell right into place for this one. I had the tag premade from another scrap busting project. The clock face is vellum. I have no idea where I got it…I have a small baggie of clock faces and gauges in vellum.

    Collage 2/30

    I wasn’t sure where I was going with this one…I didn’t really think, just started layering papers. I knew I’d end up with a focal image or words. The fussy cut elephant told me she belonged on the page. I love elephants. One Saturday I spent the afternoon watching documentaries on elephants while cutting fabric. Such a great way to spend a couple of hours.

    Old-fashioned 3/30

    I’m sure this prompt was meant to be old -fashioned as in a period in time and all that went along with it. My mind went in another direction entirely. I immediately thought about Don Draper of Mad Men. The character had a drink of choice…an Old-Fashioned.

    I did my best to mimic a low ball glass with whiskey. I even added ice cubes.

    Reduce 4/30

    I didn’t particularly care for this prompt so this is what I came up with to get it over with.

    Fox 5/30

    This one feels a bit too scrapbooky. I journaled about the time we had a sick fox under our deck. It was really gross…we could smell it before we could see it. The police and animal control were in the area looking for it as they feared it had rabies. It ran away before they caught it. I never heard the end of the tale but I have to assume they got it or it crawled in a hole somewhere and died.

    Stay tuned for more pages as I get caught up. You can also see them on Instagram if you can’t wait for them to post here.

  • Art - Blog - Creativity

    Junk Journal July part 3

    So far so good with #junkjournaljuly. I’ve been keeping up each day. I was only late in posting once on my Instagram. I call that a win!

    In previous posts, I shared the concept and prompts list as well as days 1-5. So I guess that makes this post part 3.

    I knew I needed to add a couple of pages to make this journal last the full 31 days of July.  The page was quite flimsy so when I found a greeting card that I liked it seemed the perfect thing to glue straight down to add stability to the page.

    I also wanted to add the list of prompts somewhere. This blank white page was the perfect canvas. I dug out my typewriter and crossed my fingers that the ribbon still had some ink.

    The ribbon was decent but there was something else funky with the carriage. I had to really fuss with it each line. As you can see some lines I was more successful than others. Oh well…that’s what makes it eclectic and unique.

    Day 6: Note to self

    Fairly self-explanatory. I ended up covering the entire card on this one since it was pretty boring white.

    Day 7: Florals

    I covered the top of this page with a vintage look floral paper. I added a calendar cut out stamped with the date in proper placement.  Next, I stamped flowers with Staz-on ink. I loosely watercolored the blossoms with my used but new to me watercolor set. This really helped set the calendar back into the page. The words felt perfect.

    This is what the fold out looks like both open.

    I know I’ll definitely need to make another fold out perhaps two since I am still a few pages shy of completion with the journal.

     

    I could have used the front of the card but those bunnies were just too darn cute.