Sisters Under the Sun

Sick. Again. So I took a puzzle break. The bright colors of this image by Holly Sierra became a welcome diversion.

I chose a 750 piece puzzle this time. That's unusual for me. This RoseArt puzzle came in a sturdy box and has a half-size poster with the finished design. It was just hard enough to be a challenge without being so difficult that it stopped being fun. I like puzzles that allow me steady progress.

I picked this puzzle up at a thrift store over the summer. When I was boxing it up after finishing it, I saw that it had two thrift store stickers on it already. Looks like I should have bought it in March from the Goodwill store instead of from St. Vinnie's in June!

The puzzle's in pretty good shape, though. Clean. Some of the print was lifting from the cardboard base on a few pieces. I glued them back down. But as with used puzzles, it's not unusual to have missing pieces. This had one.

So I took some corrugated cardboard, sharp scissors and colored pencils and fashioned a replacement piece. 

It more-or-less works. 

When I pass the puzzle on, I'll include a note about the missing piece. I appreciate it when other puzzlers do the same for me.

:: psssst ::

Did you notice the heart between their fingers? It didn't capture my attention until I was working on the hands.

Simple Pleasures #31 - Cross-stitch

The feel of needle and thread and fabric.

This one's just for me.

Thankful Owls - Part 4

I spent this #PhoneFreeFriday listening to podcasts, having a crafternoon by myself, and completing the stitching on Thankful Owls.

I'm considering using these fabrics when I do the finishing work. I scored the pumpkin fabric at a thrift store a couple weeks ago.

I'd like to have the stitchery ready to display this weekend. I'm ready to clean up this project and make a new kind of mess in my Studio.

First Flowers For You - Part 4

After putting my bunny cross-stitch aside for over a week, I made the decision to fix the color problem. I didn't want to spend more time stitching if I wasn't going to be pleased with the outcome. I took several hours to carefully and painstakingly rip out all the grey/brown stitching. I might have simply started over, but I didn't have any more of this lovely fabric that I'd been saving for just the right project.

After consulting some floss color charts, I put six shades of grey floss side by side so that I could find some substitute colors. This photo shows the floss I previously used and the new grey shades I picked. I find it curious that the "old" floss looks quite grey here, but looks so brown when I stitched it.

Next I checked the "new" colors against the photo on the chart. They look more similar.

Finally I did a "floss toss" to see how these two greys look against the fabric and the other main colors they'll butt up against. Looks good to me.

I've started re-stitching the grey here. Much better.

Here's the before and after. I didn't get the lighting in these two photos exactly the same, but it's close enough to see the difference. The earlier version looks so much more brown. I like the new softer color combination much much better.

I'm glad I took the time and energy to make the change.

23 Goals in 2023 Update

So! The first two months of 2023 have flown by. I'm going great guns working through my goals for the year.

Word of the Year: Flow
I've been taking Phone Free Fridays to give me extra bandwidth. My creativity has returned in force (Hooray!) so I've been doing a lot of crafting and other creative projects. I'm able to get into that space where time and place don't exist ... and be absorbed into my current activity. This is exactly what I was hoping for.

Infuse Fun
I'm a homebody who isn't too into extreme anything, so usually my fun is pretty quiet. But I have been keeping track of my fun activities and realize I partake in enjoyable time quite a bit. I've already had 29 days with fun. Most involve geocaching and crafternoons alone or with one of my kids. Dale and I have gone to a couple performances which was fun because I'm rarely out at night. Dates are a novelty. 

Dale and I had a fun afternoon geocaching with our eldest, Jeanne. That kid is an excellent geocaching partner. We found several that afternoon.

My two most fun times were with Jodie. On one occasion, I gave her a handmade gift that was both "amusing and horrifying." I giggled over that for hours. (I've been given strict orders to refrain from sharing that craft on my blog due to the "horrifying" part). The other fun afternoon involved helping her prep her garage for a big clean-out. We can make nearly anything fun when we're together.

Creative Photo Journey
So far I've read 1-1/2 books written by a Pete Souza, and bought another by him. I'm learning a good amount from his documentary style. 

This week, Jodie helped me learn about lighting for studio photography. I have better knowledge of how to use 3-point lighting. She helped me understand that getting the outcome I'm seeking takes more experimentation than I imagined.

Visit 23 Parks

It's been so wet that Dale and I haven't gone out much yet. That will change once Spring truly arrives. So far we've scoped out three parks this year.

Alternative/Additional Goals

I've made great progress on several goals and already completed a few!

• Audiobooks and books: Goal of 23. Completed 12.
  
  
• Beaded ornaments: Goal of 23. Completed 36.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Crafternoons: Goal of 23 with a buddy. Completed 9 alone. Completed 5 with my kids.
  
  
• Crafts: Goal of 23 different varieties. Completed 8.
  
  
• Geocaches: Goal of 23. Completed 23 as of last week. I also reached my 600 caches found milestone.
  
  
  
  
  
• Gratitude: Last year I had a hard time listing things to be grateful for. I stopped trying. This year I picked up my gratitude journal again. Goal of 23 short lists. Completed 38.
  
  
• Sending Cards and Letters: Goal 23. Completed 25.
  
  
  
  
  
• Jigsaw Puzzles: Goal of 23. Completed 3.
  
  
• Movies / TV series on my Netflix/Hulu/Amazon Prime lists: Goal of 23. Completed 38.
  
  
• Quilted Hearts: Goal of 23. Completed 19.
  
  
• 
  
  
• Advance Directive: Finished it and had it notarized.
  
  
• Kiva Loans: Goal of 23. 7 Completed.
  
  
• Bicycle: I got a used bike. Now I need to get it tuned up.
  
  
  

I finally feel like I'm part of post-pandemic life. Most of my anxiety is gone. 

Watch out, World. I'm back!

(Mostly)

Watercolor Workshop

I used my #PhoneFreeFriday to spend the entire day in my Studio. In today's crafternoon, I stepped out of my comfort zone and into the land of watercolor.

We're heading into The Month of Love, so I'm making some one-of-a-kind heart cards. I'm inspired by my friend Louise who pointed me to a video on YouTube last year.

It's fun to try, since I don't have anyone looking over my shoulder. I'm such a novice. So it's all about exploration.

 I've got enough card blanks for 28 cards. I managed 9 designs today. I think I'll leave all the ingredients on the table overnight and make more cards tomorrow.

Quilted Heart #1

I found a new community outreach program to take part in for 2023. It fits me to a T. It involves:

• Hearts
• Hiding and finding treasures
• Crafting
• Sewing 
• Quilting

I have the opportunity to use up all kinds of scrap material in my stash. It gives me some handwork to do while watching TV. It gets me outside to place the hearts.

It's called the I Found a Quilted Heart project. How does it work?

Hearts are made of fabric, generally the size of your palm, and can be any shape of heart you choose. Most have a layer of batting or fiberfill and you can embellish with buttons, sequins, ribbon, etc. Have fun with your creative process!

After creating your hearts, print and attach this tag, then place it out in your community for someone to find.

Often the hearts are found by someone that needs a lift in their day.

Much like the painted Kindness Rocks, the Quilted Hearts are another way to leave a bit of sunshine in other folks' lives. 

I hope to make (at least) 23 Quilted Hearts in 2023. My first four all have a red background, some lace, a button, and an appliqued heart. I'm looking forward to incorporating sequins and charms and beads and ribbon and maybe even googly eyes.

For the backs, I'm using some denim fabric from Dale's discarded jeans. 

Reduce. Reuse. Recycle. Get creative. Get outside. Spread some love and joy.

Keeping a Positive Attitude

Well, now! 

I haven't been blogging because I've come down with a case of shingles. That's fun. 

That link takes you to the CDC website. Check out the photos if you dare.

My shingles landed on my back ... right where my bra sits (IF I could wear one ... I can't right now). Considering my body shape, this is a significant development.

But I'm grateful to have excellent health care. We caught the problem early. I have good meds that leave me a little shaky and dopey, but not as itchy and prickly as I am without them.

I slept well last night, so woke up with a positive attitude. I'm keeping the image below in mind today as I look into this Oregon sky. I'm optimistic that I can find the sun behind all these rainclouds. Thank you, Uncle Walt.

Today will be my first #PhoneFreeFriday of 2023. I'm leaving my phone on Do Not Disturb for the day. My intention is to give myself a big block of time to concentrate on a project long enough that I can move into the deep flow state.

Wish me luck.