Joy June 9

My main joy is I painted this weekend - made a few note cards & gift tags, made a painting journal and then painted in it - a scene of my garage & garden in the back yard. Unfortunately, the picture I took of it would not attach to an email so I'll have to try again if I want to share it.

High on the joy list - the poppies & roses are blooming in the yard and the weather has been great (in my opinion - some people think it's too cold). Cool & breezy and night time rain. Couldn't be better.

Watching Little Girl prance from window to window to view the outdoors has brought me lots of joy - both because I know how much she loves this and because she's so fun to watch!

Quotable quotes; in the category What Could Be Better? Or Simpler?

"Simple pleasures are best." Alan Bradley, The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie

Joy June 5

Today's joy is a list to tide over until I can get back online.

!  Whomever planted the little marigolds & flowers under the tree outside my office has planted them under every tree in our block and the trees around the corner! How sweet! Joy whenever I pass them!

!  At home, my spider wort is blooming - deep purple in the  sunny backyard and paler lilac in the shady front yard.

!  The weather is cool & breezy - my absolute favorite - and with all the windows in the house open, Little Girl gets to view the great outdoors from every vantage point - she's fun to watch.

!  I have "painting time" scheduled for this weekend and vow to open the paintbox and just go, no matter what happens.

!  The robin that kept me awake from 2 to 4 a.m. this morning was finally silenced by the cardinal, who was quiet himself once his work was done.

Quotable quotes; in the category Who Knew Beautiful Could Be So Much Fun?

"Earth laughs in flowers."  Ralph Waldo Emerson

Joy June 4

I have two joys to post - although both happened yesterday, I'm still happy about them today.

Yesterday I saw one of my neighbors outside my office.  I thought it was the tea lady next door but it must have been the flower lady farther down the street.

When I left work I found "someone" had planted a marigold and another little flowering plant at the base of the tree outside my office door.  From my desk I can see them if I move a little to the right. It cheers me to see them.

And when I got home yesterday Mr. & Mrs. Robin were in the neighbor's front yard making a chipping noise which could only mean they were calling to Junior, telling him it was time to fly and they would watch out for him.  Although baby was not visible I sure could hear him, clearly saying "I don't wanna!"

I love it when the parents teach the kids to fly. And I'm sure the kids feel joy, too, when they finally take off.

Quotable quotes; in the category It's Not Enough To Know It, You Have To Use It!

"Intelligence without ambition is a bird without wings."  Salvador Dali

June Days of Joy

Inspired by another blog I am accepting the challenge to post daily joys.  Of course, I won't make it every day as I have limited access to the internet - but I'll make a real effort to post a joy each day that I am able.

To make up for my late start, I'll post something that happened a couple days ago - the in-laws sent me a potted orchid.  I was leery about its health and fully expected the several buds on it to drop off, as had happened with past experiments.

Imagine my surprise when it bloomed this past weekend!  The two lovely blooms in the picture - and a third opened yesterday.

If I manage to keep this one alive (I had one, bought on a clearance rack, that bloomed again and again for several years, and another that is still alive but has not bloomed since the first time) it will be an extra joy!

Quotable quotes; in the category You'll Feel Better Tomorrow.

"Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning."  Psalm 30:5

Doin' Revisited

Another item I have made recently is this little pouch.  I think it's supposed to resemble a strawberry and it certainly does!  It's one of those things I fell in love with at first sight and could not wait to make.  While making the first one (the red & dark green) I decided I had to have a second one.

I knew I had a ball of bright pink yarn and a neon lime green that would make a good top - I searched all my knitting bags for the pink yarn but could not find it. Alas, a week or so later I was clearing things off the coffee table and there it was! Mom was right, clean your room!

I like both these bags and can't tell if I favor one over the other.  I don't want either one to feel left out so I won't play favorites.  They're both darling.

If you would like to knit these little pouches follow this link which will take you to the original pattern. Enjoy!

Quotable quotes; in the category You're Not Getting Older, You're Getting Better . . . At Knitting!

"As I get older, I just prefer to knit."  Tracy Ullman

What 'Ya Doin'?

I recently posted a travelling interview & discussed what & why I craft.  I'm posting today about a few recently completed projects.

A couple years ago I knitted a blanket for a niece who was getting married.  The yarn was chocolate brown (did I mention niece adores chocolate?) and ultra soft.  So soft that when I tossed the finished blanket on the floor to photograph it, in the time it took me to pick up my camera, the cat had bounded onto the center of the blanket WITH a toy and was all set to play on it.  I felt guilty for shooing her off but couldn't have her getting cat hair on the new blanket.  I probably needn't have bothered as niece has several cats of her own and is crazy about them all.

About a year later, the niece's sister asked if I would knit her a headband/ear warmer.  I agreed and found a pattern similar to the design she liked, and used the leftover brown yarn.  As I worked on the ear warmer I kept the yarn next to me on the sofa.  The cat decided I had obviously put it there just for her and each time it was unprotected, jumped up next to me on the couch, kneaded the yarn into a mess of spaghetti and curled up on it for a nap.  She did this even if the yarn was in a protective plastic bag.  She loves the crinkle of a plastic bag . . .

Headband finished, I presented it to niece and wondered what to do with the little bit of soft brown yarn remaining.  I decided a cushion for the cat's favorite bed was in order. 

I used to get gift baskets delivered to our department at work.  After sharing all the goodies the basket either languished in a closet or was tossed in the trash.  Since I planned the annual golf outing, I decided to keep the baskets and fill them with donated items for our door prizes & drawings.  But when I left that job nobody was interested in the remaining basket so I brought it home rather than contribute it to landfill.  It spent some time on an ottoman waiting for a home until the cat found it and claimed it as her own.  I rescued the shredded paper for another use and filled her "bed" with wadded up plastic bags, stuffed into a small cover.  She loved it.

I decided a soft brown cover would be more comfy than her existing accommodations and set out to knit one from the remaining brown yarn.  Alas, I ran out before it was big enough.  I substituted some similar brown yarn (it was on the bottom so the color change did not show nor would the less soft texture be an issue.

I stuffed the cushion into the new cover and placed it lovingly in the basket . . . and waited.  Kitty was not interested in sleeping just yet.

But a few days later she discovered the newly soft cushion and has hardly left the bed since except for meal time and play time.  A job well done.

Quotable quotes; in the category Waste Not Want Not!

"Time spent with cats is never wasted."  Sigmund Freud

A Travelling Interview

A post at this blog (one of my favorites) issued an open invitation to participate in this interview.  I find this blog particularly inspiring so I decided to accept the invitation and conduct my interview.  Here goes.

1:  What am I working on?  I'm actually working on several things at once, which is my usual modus operandi.  I'm knitting a baby blanket for a niece who is expecting her first baby, I'm knitting socks for myself (2 pair) and little pouches that may become gifts or maybe not, it depends.  I'm working on a crocheted tote bag that is quite slow going but I hope to finish soon.  And I'm working on Artist Trading Cards and Altered Rolodex Cards for a swap group I belong to.

2:  How does my work differ from others of its genre?  I really don't know.  Every artist develops their own particular style.  Given the same instructions and materials, each person will create something uniquely their own.  That's why you can always tell a Beatles song or a Bob Marley song - not just the sound of the voice, the the structure and style of the music.  That's why a Renoir is different from a Monet.

In my paper collage I tend to use plainer materials and fewer techniques, where others might use ribbons, buttons, papers, cards, ink stamps and die cuts, I might limit my choices to a background paper, a few cut out images, a little paint or ink, and leave it at that.

My knitting may differ from others in that I tend to read the instructions then pretty much ignore them.  Not exactly, but rather than try to achieve a certain stitch count to achieve an exact copy of the original, I'll work with whatever gauge I get naturally then modify the pattern to fit what I am doing.  In this way I avoid a lot of frustration.  As a famous knitter once said, you are the boss of your knitting.  I like feeling that I am in control and that I am creating something unique even though I'm using a recommended pattern yarn and needle.

3:  Why do I create what I do?  Well, why not?  I knit because I know how and because I like it. There is something about the plain old knit stitch that just fascinates me.  I like its texture, the way it drapes, the feel of the growing project in my lap as I knit.  I guess I create because I can!

Same with the Artist Trading Cards.  When I first found out about them I was blown away.  And although I loved the work of others and hoped to emulate it, I soon found I preferred my own style.  I create these things because I always have.   I have a good friend with whom I used to exchange Christmas gifts each year - always something small & simple, always something handmade.  It's so gratifying to give a gift knowing it came from the heart and to give it to someone who recognizes that and appreciates it.

4:  How does my creative process work?  This one makes me laugh!  I remember a scene in the old "Will & Grace" TV show.  Grace was an interior designer who hired a young intern who quickly proved to be more interested in vodka and clothes than in design - but at the beginning of the episode she said "I'd love to get a sense of what your process is."  Some years later my sister, who really IS an artist, was visiting.  I was making a gift card for someone and asked her to give me a few minutes.  She said to go ahead, she would watch me to observe my process. I laughed out loud.  I didn't view myself as an artist and didn't realize I had a process.  But I guess I do.

It's pretty haphazard.  Based on artist sister's advice I now take a little more time in laying out my collage, moving things around and paying attention to things like negative & positive space, color, spacing, layout etc.  I have also started to implement some of the techniques she has told me about but I'm still a little timid as I still have trouble thinking of myself as an artist.  But my brother (also a very talented artist/painter) says anyone who makes anything is an artist whether it's a loaf of bread, a painting, a building or a sculpture.  I try to believe them.

In knitting it's a little easier, more straight forward.  I start the pattern.  If I don't like it I might start over a few times using a different needle size or stitch pattern.   If I still don't like it I might eventually rip it out and start on something different.

Don't ask me about painting.  I haven't mentioned it yet because it's still a mystery and a struggle to me.  But I still try.  I mix paint, wet my brush and force myself to get something down on paper.  I usually give up pretty quickly but the desire to paint is so strong I keep the paints & brushes near so I can try again.

I haven't mentioned writing.  I write whenever I think of something.  I completed a novel several years ago but it has not been published.  I also wrote a picture book story and just sent it to a publisher a week ago.  We'll see if they respond. What's my process?  Write when I remember to I guess.

Wow!  Even if nobody reads this blog post I feel it was a good exercise.  It got me to think about myself in a way I maybe haven't before.  If you did read, please leave a comment and let me know what you thought - and like my inspiration I invite you to conduct your own interview!

Quotable quotes; in the category Who Am I To Argue With An Expert?

"If you hear a voice within you say 'you cannot paint,' then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced."  Vincent Van Gogh.