Clutter Clearing

Look who I had the pleasure of spending a day with! My Jodie!

[In her honor, every sentence will end in an exclamation point!]

She invited me over to her house to do what she terms, clearing out "small hoards!" I usually call these boxes of indecision!! It's a box used to temporarily move things out of sight when there is some other pressing matter at hand, and you just need to conceal and containerize the stuff to have some breathing room! Unfortunately, it's not unusual for these boxes to succumb to "Out of sight, out of mind!" Jodie has several of these boxes to process!

This kind of activity may sound like work to some, but we turn almost any kind of task into a game! To assist, I took along my sorting bins! The idea is to do a quick sort into one of these three bins, trying not to think too hard about it! Once a bin gets full, you deal with its contents before sorting any more! Then return to the quick sort!

We filled the "Give Away" bin twice, and the others once in the morning! After a yummy lunch prepared by son-in-law Kenny, Jodie and I took time to put everything away immediately, exactly where it belonged (or at least one step closer to its final home)! The "Throw Away" bin is the easiest! Then we took a road trip to give away the other items! Some small kitchen appliances found a great new home in an after-school program where kids learn to cook!

In the process of finding places for the "Put Away" items, we washed some vintage Pyrex bakeware, cleared out three shelves in the kitchen pantry, and two large storage shelves in the garage! By the end of the day, we'd cleared two boxes of items that had previously lost their homes!

My sorting bins are a nice size: 22 inches high x 14.5" wide x 14.5" deep and a true extravagance!!  They are pretty and bright, and using them helps the job feel less like drudgery and more like an adventure! But plain ol' boxes with the same labels will do for a quick sort!

Job well done!!!!!

With work done, we spent the rest of the afternoon planning a family gathering! More fun to come soon! 

It was a fantastic way to spend one-on-one time with my daughter!!! It happens all too rarely during this pandemic!!!!!

Valentines for My Little Bugs

With Valentine's Day around the corner, I've got hearts on my mind (again ... still!) I saw this sweet idea on nontoygifts' Instagram account this week. The Valentines totally captured my attention. Know what that means?

Flash Craft!

I made the bee for Melody, and the ladybug for Annie. Each bug has a personal message under their wings, along with a hidden heart on their chest.

And googly eyes, of course!

The construction paper valentines are oversized, so I made custom envelopes for them. Each envelope measures 8.5" x 6.75" and was made from two pieces of printer paper cut to size and adhered together with double-sided tape.

I even found these 1/2" square heart stickers in my stash that look like tiny postage stamps.

These cards will be added to our grandkids' Valentine gift box and mailed to Idaho at the beginning of February.

With Flash Crafts, I need to remind myself that "done is better than good." I can take some shortcuts to get to the end so that my brain can get a blast of serotonin. Perfection is not the name of the game.

I got to have a happy dance, and the entire project -- from idea to clean-up -- took about two hours. I had all the supplies on hand, so there was no out-of-pocket costs.

The Pirates of St. Augustine

This is the last of the puzzles I completed in August. (Dale was in Idaho. I had a lot of time on my hands).

I enjoy putting puzzles together that have so many fun details.

This wonderful illustration is by Anthony Kleem.

Let's check out some of the details. The pirate cat sail:

The fire-breathing dragon sail:

A pirate skull-and-crossbones hot air balloon!

Ah, for swarthy pirates, they do look like a happy bunch of young 'uns.

Sweet, too. Check out the hearts on either side of the skull.

Together

A finish! A finish!

It appears that I started this stitchery last February. Maybe earlier. I wanted to finish it by April 13th to give it to Dale for our 30th wedding anniversary. That came and went.

Then I wanted to finish it for Dale's birthday in May. That came and went. 

Then I just wanted to get it finished. The stitching has been completed for ages. I even had the background fabric picked out, washed, and pressed. But it sat around for month because I lost my creativity mojo last year.

But look! I got it done and gave it to him for Christmas!

I just love it.

"Together" by Heart in Hand
copyright 2010

Red-breasted Sapsucker

Jodie and I saw this pretty woodpecker while we were out geocaching last Fall. We were allowed to get fairly close -- this with my phone's camera.

Tissue Paper Heart Collage

A couple weekends ago daughter Jeanne stopped by for a Crafternoon. I wanted to try this neat idea I'd found on TikToc. It's a craft that's good for preschoolers, so I figured we could handle it.

We first cut 7 different heart shapes out of cardboard. Then we cut about six of each shape from tissue paper: red, yellow, blue, green, purple, and pink.

For the backing, we tried two different surfaces. One is a canvas on a board. The other is a canvas stretched on a frame. All three are 8" x 10".

We made two on the board pieces, one for each of our grandkids/nieces. We made one with the frame for me to keep. (Jeanne said she doesn't decorate for Valentine's Day).

We started by "painting" water on a spot on the canvas, then placing a heart on top. Then dab on a little more water to help it stay in place. Once the hearts are where we wanted them, we painted on some Mod Podge. Watered-down glue also works. Then let it dry on a wire rack. We speeded up the drying process by using a heat gun.

Here are the two board pieces, finished and framed for the Littles. We signed and dated the artwork on the back. Jeanne was the primary crafter on Melody's art. I was the primary crafter on Annie's. But we both worked on each other's.

This is the piece made on the canvas frame. It's hanging near our front door as our first Valentine decoration of the year.

The entire three piece project -- all the supplies, including the frames -- cost a total of $7.00!

Camping Adventure

This is a puzzle I put together w-a-y back in early August 2021. It's different from most other jigsaw puzzles I've constructed, starting with the box.

Oooo! Fancy!

The pieces are quite unusual. The sizes vary greatly and there are very few "usual" puzzle shapes. They're all squiggly!

The colors are bright. The illustration has a lot going on in it. There are so many vignettes to enjoy. Here's what the entire puzzle looks like put together.

The cardboard is nice and thick, so the pieces lock together well. When it's done, you can pick it up in a single piece without it falling apart. Oooo! Fancy!

Enough talk. Here are several of the mini scenes. I'll point out my favorite bits ... like the flamingo.

Even the musicians are getting a kick out for the scary snake.

Yikes! A bear! (It's about the only living thing with its eyes open).

The master fisherman

This dog is looking for some s'mores.

A chicken in a mailbox? Wait. A mailbox on a camping trip?

Quick! Look behind you! A stag!!

... and a fireside rooster.

I've never been on such a unique and puzzling camping adventure.

Flash Craft: Cupid's Arrow

My primary creative intention for 2022 is to make what I call Flash Crafts. I'm continually bombarded with great crafting ideas. Last year, when I was in my creative slump, I completed very few projects. 

Now that I'm emerging from that slump, I've decided that if I see a project that catches my attention, I will drop whatever I'm doing and make that project within five days. A Flash Craft!

Here's my first. Some Cupid's Arrows for our granddaughters.

I found this idea on the Happiness is Homemade blog. Adorable! So I gathered my supplies:

• glittery foam hearts
• red pencils
• red duct tape
• a wooden heart shape

I used the wooden heart shape to cut smaller hearts from the big ones I had on hand. I used hot glue to adhere the two sides of the hearts together, leaving a hole at the top of the heart shape.

Figuring out how to make the duct tape "feathers" was a little tricky. Mine didn't come out the same, but that's OK. 

I sharpened the pencils because they fit into the point of the arrow better.

All in all, it took less than two hours from seeing the idea to having a finished craft.

Flash!

---

Inspired by Happiness is Homemade

Eugene Park Tour -- Awbrey Park

Dale and I started out the year by visiting another city park on New Year's Day. Awbrey Park sits on the north side of town, just before River Road starts feeling like the countryside. It's named after Lane County pioneer, Milton T. Awbrey.

It's got some big moss-covered trees around the border.

This must be the north side, yes?

Spring Creek runs through the wooded northeastern corner of the park. If you're lucky, you'll see some wildlife and native plants. But watch out for the poison oak!

There's a pretty bridge on that end of the park, connecting the park to the nearby neighborhood.

A plaque show that it was an Eagle Scout project. Well done!

This is the downstream view. Picturesque!

There are two playgrounds. One is for tiny tots. The other for bigger kids. Like Dale.

We've now visited all the Eugene parks beginning with the letter "A."

Our joint goal for 2022 is to visit 22 city, county, state, and national parks. January 1st, one park -- for the Win!

Blue Sky, White Hill

 

2021 Year in Review

Well, that was a year!

On January 1st last year, I had lots of plans. Unfortunately, most of the ideas and goals didn't pan out. My creativity went dormant, so trying 21 new artforms was a no-go. A  few months in, I switched things up and revised my goal to re-create 21 photographs that I found online. I got a gold star for that.

My Word of the Year was Explore. The pandemic kept me inside most of the year, so I didn't go out much to learn more about my new town and state. Two years into living in Eugene, I still am a bit confounded as I try to find my way around. Thank you, GPS!

But here are the stats for what I did manage to complete in 2021:

Word of the Year - Explore: 16 new places

Artforms: 4 tried

Books/Audiobooks: 44 consumed

Online classes: 3 completed

Crafts: 29 completed (This surprises me since I've felt so creatively depleted!)

Geocaches: 27 found

Keto recipes: 1 tried

Letters/Cards: 0 (A huge sign of my mental health status. It's so unlike me to not reach out to others.)

Minor holidays: 1 celebrated

Movies & Series: 100 watched

Podcasts: 28 series

Puzzles: 47 completed

21 Goals for 2021: 21 #tryittoosday photo recreations. Here they are:

Happy New Year!