Creativity, Crafts, Books, Movies, Greyhounds & Favorite Things

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Every Friday, I share a poem. Friday is also the day I post a prompt of something you can do to make the world a kinder place. I call this the Kind is Kool challenge.

I offer both the poem and the kindness challenge without any obligation, so “Comments” are turned off every Friday. Enjoy.

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Garden Gossip

Thin, chisel-fine a cricket chipped
The crystal silence into sound;
And where the branches dreamed and dripped
A grasshopper its dagger stripped
And on the humming darkness ground.

A bat, against the gibbous moon,
Danced, imp-like, with its lone delight;
The glow-worm scrawled a golden rune
Upon the dark; and, emerald-strewn,
The firefly hung with lamps the night.

The flowers said their beads in prayer,
Dew-syllables of sighed perfume;
Or talked of two, soft-standing there,
One like a gladiole, straight and fair,
And one like some rich poppy-bloom.

The mignonette and feverfew
Laid their pale brows together: ” See!”
One whispered. “Did their step thrill through
Your roots?” Like rain. ” I touched the two
And a new bud was born in me.”

One rose said to another: “Whose
Is this dim music? song, that parts
My crimson petals like the dews?”
“My blossom trembles with sweet news
It is the love of two young hearts.”

Madison Julius Cawein

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Kind is Kool Challenge

Week 23 Challenge – Try to ask more open-ended questions this week…questions that cannot be answered with one word responses.

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Every Monday, I post a painting “inspiration.” Every Thursday, I post how I interpreted the inspiration. I decided to do this to keep myself painting, to strengthen how I go from an idea to a painting, and to give myself permission to play and try new things. For the next several weeks, I’m taking my inspiration from the great ideas you sent me.

This week’s inspiration comes from my friend, Amy…IF FREEDOM WERE A GIRL.

How to be HAPPY!

Every Thursday, Jay of The Depp Effect, posts something that makes her happy, and I’m playing along. She encourages us to look around and notice the things that make us happy. I enjoy this challenge because it makes me consider the things that make me happy, but are easily overlooked. It’s a wonderful exercise in attention and gratitude. Please grab the badge and join in.

Here’s something that makes me happy…FROGS.

I’m a frog collector…well, kind of. I started collecting frogs when I was a little girl. Back then, frog knick-knacks weren’t plentiful so my collection grew slowly and it was fun to find and receive new ones. Over the years, as many collectors have experienced, I became a frog magnet. I received frogs from everyone, for every gift-giving occasion. At my highest point (or more accurately, my lowest point), I had frog everything. It was getting a little weird. So, I went through my collection and got rid of everything except my most treasured frogs. Today, I have a healthy relationship with my collection. I don’t necessarily consider myself a frog collector anymore; I just tend to like some things that have frogs on them. The picture above is of a letter opener. I picked it up in Virginia when I was there for an Army assignment. Useful item, happy memory, cute frog…the perfect mix.

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Every month, I’m looking around at all the things I use the most, to make sure those are my “best” things. This series was inspired by my friend, Amy, who noticed that some of the ickiest things she owned were the things she used the most. She wanted to change that to make sure that her every day life was filled with beautiful, functional things. This inspired me to take a look around and make sure that I wasn’t saving “the best” for days that rarely come.

This month, the change was small but good…new kitchen sink sponges. A while back I changed from plain sponges to prettier cellulose sponges.

Old Sponge to Cellulose Sponge

Then, I saw these Greener Clean Sponges from Scotch-Brite and thought they might be an even better choice.

New Sponge

What makes these sponges even more environmentally-friendly is the scrubbing fibers are made from 50% agave plant, and the sponges are made from 100% plant-based fibers with 23% of that being recycled materials. A nice change.

I love to see what you’re doing too. Recently, Patty (Joey and Scout’s momma), from Two Greyhound Town, updated her spice containers. I asked her if I could share her new look and she said, “yes.”

Spices Before

Spices After

Another View

Don’t the new jars look lovely! Since Patty is a wonderful cook, this is something she’ll enjoy almost every day. Two Greyhound Town is one of my favorite blogs and chronicles the adventures of Joey and Scout, two Greyhounds who are RV’ing all over the country. Joey and Scout are hilarious, and Patty shares their travel adventures, RV living tips, takes us to places they visit and writes restaurant reviews on her blog That One Restaurant. Check them out.

I do an “Every Day Ugly” post on the second Wednesday of every month. I would love to have you join me. If you have some horrible thing that you make beautiful, send me a picture or pictures and tell me about it at whatremainsnow@gmail.com.

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In our last episode of Mini-Me Theatre, we found out there was a new member in our mini-me family…Mini-me Twinkie, the kitty. The story continues…

Now the mini-me houndies, being amiable sorts, wanted to get to know Mini-me Twinkie. So, they decided to tell Mini-me Twinkie about themselves and ask her about herself.

“Hello, Mini-me Twinkie. Welcome. Perhaps we should get to know each other. We are mini-me dogs, and we are happy, obedient and playful. We try our best to do what we’re told. How about you?”

“I am a mini-me cat, and I am smug, disobedient and unrepentant. I don’t do as I’m told; I do as I please.”

The mini-me houndies were confused, but pressed on.

“This is our family. We love them so much. They are perfect.”

“I know these people,” said Mini-me Twinkie, “and sometimes they’re okay. Because they feed me, I only occasionally pee on their stuff.”

Even more confused, the mini-me houndies decided on a more philosophical approach in order to get to know the inner Twinkie.

“In a past life, we and mommy and daddy were all best friends. We were always together and we shared everything.”

“In a past life, I was a panther, and I ate every single one of you.”

“You for breakfast.”

“You for lunch.”

“You for dinner.”

“What about daddy and mommy!?!

“Snacks.”

The mini-me houndies knew immediately that Mini-Me Twinkie needed to be signed up for charm school.

To be continued…

The mini-me’s are custom handmade by Lynne of  Dip-Dip and the Bridge. She also has an Etsy shop called Handmade Gifts By L with even more of her lovely crocheted creations. Want a mini-me of your own? Contact Lynne at chi-chigirls86@hotmail.com and she’ll give you the details.

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Here’s what’s been happening in my studio…

One of my Stampin’ Up! cardmaking clubs met this past Thursday, so I made two new cards.

The texture on the background of this card was done with an embossing folder and a Sizzix machine. The medallions and tag were done with stamps and matching paper punches (punches are one of my favorite things).

This card’s background was stamped, then embossed with a matching embossing folder. The flowers were made using paper punches and layered to add dimension.

This Week’s Inspiration

In 2013, I’m doing Inspiration Mondays and Results Thursdays. Every Monday, I’ll post a painting “inspiration” and then on Thursdays, I’ll post how I’m interpreting that inspiration.

Last week’s inspiration was from Fern of Animal Lover, Quilt Lover…CAT OR DOG. I changed it up a bit and made it CAT & DOG. Here’s the girl I started, based on that inspiration.

This week’s inspiration comes from my friend, Amy…IF FREEDOM WERE A GIRL.

Freedom: This better be good.

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You may have been expecting to see Snowy Lady Quilt – Part 2, but I’m in a slump…stuck. There are extra stresses in our family right now…employment, illness with family & friends, aging parents, a daughter who has graduated and is embarking on her life after college. Currently, nothing especially horrible, just changing and uncertain. These things tend to come in clumps, and taken together, they’ve thrown me.

This past week I was in my basement, disgusted with myself and thinking “what’s wrong with me,” when I stumbled upon this book, SHED Your Stuff, Change Your Life by Julie Morgenstern. I went through this book very thoughtfully several years ago after my daughter left for college, and I was in the throes of empty nest syndrome.

The idea behind the book is that “SHED is a transformative process for letting go of things that represent the past so you can grow and move forward. The four steps of SHED (Separate the Treasures, Heave the Trash, Embrace Your Identity, Drive Yourself Forward) provide a framework for proactively managing change, transition, and the feeling of being stuck and unsure. By releasing the defunct, extraneous, and burdensome objects and obligations that are weighing you down, you create the space to discover what’s next and gather the energy and courage to move forward.”

After I went through this book the first time, I was able to start finding a new life after my “mommy” days. That’s when I started my blog and began to embrace the idea that I was an artistic person. That’s not what I intended; it’s what happened when I SHED my old roles and opened myself up for new ones.

Let’s see if it works a second time.

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Every Saturday, I share my weekly Artist Date.

This week’s Artist Date is appropriate to the season…a visit to a nursery.

I went to a local nursery, Ginger Valley. We’re fortunate to have many fabulous independent garden centers in our area.

Whether you garden or not, nurseries, particularly this time of year, are beautiful and inspiring.

Ginger Valley has many different areas…indoor plants, outdoor plants, ponds, gardening tools, decorations, bird feeding supplies and on and on.

The color is incredible.

You could wander around for hours.

I can’t even imagine how crazed I would be if I had a green thumb.

Fortunately, since I’m not much of a gardener, I was able to keep my wits about me…but just barely.

I had an ulterior motive for taking my Artist Date at a nursery. I wanted to put together a porch pot.

As I’ve mentioned many times, I’m not a gardener, so I was incredibly pleased with myself for putting this together. I used Hort Couture Under The Sea ‘Electric Coral’ Coleus in the back, Hort Couture ‘Gold Nuggets’ Lamium in the front, two Kimono Red Celosia one on either side of the coleus and four Bravo White Petunias running through the center of the pot. I will probably have killed it this three or four weeks time, but today, it looks stunning.

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Every Friday, I share a poem. Friday is also the day I post a prompt of something you can do to make the world a kinder place. I call this the Kind is Kool challenge.

I offer both the poem and the kindness challenge without any obligation, so “Comments” are turned off every Friday. Enjoy.

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Lovers

They sit within a woodland place,
Trellised with rustling light and shade;
So like a spirit is her face
That he is half afraid
To speak – lest she should fade.

Mysterious, beneath the boughs,
Like two enchanted shapes, they are,
Whom Love hath builded them a house
Of little leaf and star,
And the brown evening jar.

So lovely and so strange a thing
Each is to each to look upon,
They dare not hearken a bird sing,
Or from the other one
Take eyes – lest they be gone.

So still – the watching woodland peers
And pecks about them, butterflies
Light on her hand – a flower; eve hears
Two questions, two replies –
O love that never dies!

Richard Le Gallienne

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Kind is Kool Challenge

Week 22 Challenge – Next time you go out to eat, decide on a generous tip percentage ahead of time and leave it for the server regardless of how you perceive the service.

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Every Monday, I post a painting “inspiration.” Every Thursday, I post how I interpreted the inspiration. I decided to do this to keep myself painting, to strengthen how I go from an idea to a painting, and to give myself permission to play and try new things. For the next several weeks, I’m taking my inspiration from the great ideas you sent me.

This week’s inspiration comes from Fern of Animal Lover, Quilt Lover…CAT OR DOG.

I changed it a bit and made it CAT & DOG.

How to be HAPPY!

Every Thursday, Jay of The Depp Effect, posts something that makes her happy, and I’m playing along. She encourages us to look around and notice the things that make us happy. I enjoy this challenge because it makes me consider the things that make me happy, but are easily overlooked. It’s a wonderful exercise in attention and gratitude. Please grab the badge and join in.

Here’s something that makes me happy…A BRAND NEW CALENDAR.

I’m one of those odd ducks that start a new calendar in July. It started several years ago. I found a calendar I liked that ran July through June; I bought it and now I’m a July-June calendar person. I love a new calendar. So fresh and full of potential. This one is pretty too. Bonus.

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Last Friday, we headed to Louisville, Kentucky, for a wedding.

Driving over the Ohio River

The wedding was held at MillaNova Winery, and the entire experience was lovely and very touching. Do you ever attend an event and wonder, “Why do we do that?” Here are a few bits of wedding trivia.

MillaNova Winery, Mt. Washington, Kentucky

White Wedding Dress

This tradition comes from Queen Victoria whose reign lasted from 1837-1901. She wore a pale gown with handmade Honiton lace for her 1840 wedding to Prince Albert.

The Wedding Party

Bridesmaids’ Dresses

In the earliest tradition, bridesmaids were dressed exactly like the bride in order to distract and confuse any troublesome spirits who might focus on the bride and cause the new couple bad fortune.

The Bridal Veil

The veil was helpful in several ways. It disguised the bride from evil spirits and, in the case of an arranged marriage, disguised the bride from the prospective groom until the marriage was complete.

The Wedding Cake

Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue, and a silver sixpence in her shoe.

This good luck saying dates back to the Victorian era. Something old represents the link with the bride’s family and the past. Something new represents good fortune and success in the bride’s new life. Something borrowed is to remind the bride that friends and family will be there for her when help is needed. Something blue is the symbol of faithfulness and loyalty. A silver sixpence in her shoe is to wish the bride wealth.

Table Decoration

Carrying the bride over the threshold

Generations ago it was considered lady-like for the new bride to appear hesitant to enter the bridal chamber with her new husband, so the husband would carry the bride over to encourage her to go in.