• Around home - Blog - Crafts - Creativity - Kitchen - Outdoors

    T Tuesday: another two weeks edition

    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?
  • Art - Blog - Creativity

    Beautiful morning

    A few days ago I was very inspired to make art. I actually had two pages that I was working on simultaneously in different journals.

    This is the one I started and finished first. Once again…lots of texture going on…which has been an overarching theme of my Ivanhoe journal.

    I’m not in love with the colors on this one, with the exception of this pop of teal on a citrasolv paper. The teal made it work for me when I was feeling the page too muddy. I added a couple other pops of color such as the gold to try and draw the eye to a more pleasing color. Not sure if it worked as planned.

    I added so many textures on this side of the spread. Fabric, wallpaper, paint, book page, washi sticker…all layered up. I do really enjoy the look of this…especially the cut lemon on the wall paper. It makes me smile.

    When I was nearly done with my page I decided to add a bit of dark green to anchor the spread. I’m not sure if I am entirely pleased with the result but that’s ok. Art journals are a great place to play and experiment…learn from mistakes…grow as an artist.

    Linking up with Art Journal Journey for Jo‘s theme of Texture.

    Art Journal Journey
  • Around home - Art - Blog - Creativity - Kitchen - Outdoors

    T Tuesday: Ivanhoe journal pages edition

    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?