focus...

i took a little break this afternoon from making books and made myself a nice cup of tea.  this tea is called "focus".  it has a strange chocolatey-citrus flavor that is kind of nice.

i pulled out my current journal which is always close at hand.

i've been filling this one up rather quickly.  you can see the finished parts if you look closely.  i like it when threads and bits of glued stuff spill out of the book.

i hate that dreaded first page, so white and fresh.  i grabbed some walnut ink spray to start it off.  i really like how that turned out.  so i did the same to the next few pages.  and somehow i just kept going with that theme.  that's why the finished part of the book is brownish.  

i always include some tea bags.  and stitching.

a lot of stitching in this book.  i love stitching on paper.  i have a whole book of thick lokta paper just for that...i think i may have showed you some of that a while back. 

no great secrets to be found in this book.  i've mostly been writing interesting things that i have read.

and making little collages with bits of paper...

wonderful scraps that i can't bear to part with.  i have a whole bin of these.

and paint experiments.  some unfinished...

some finished. 

oh, on a really random note...

i made this yesterday.  i'm not much of a food photographer and this is the only photo i got as it disappeared quickly.  it was so, so good.  my kiddos have been working hard in school and this was like a note of appreciation for that.  warm bread = love.

i'm feeling fall in the air...are you?  going to a football game tonight.  don't tell anyone, but i really hate football.  i'm just going to see the band.  hope you have something fun planned...

little rainbows...

i found this string in my closet this morning.

and i've been making little rainbows with it.  my kiddos went back to school today.  it was dark when they left and the night bugs were still making their music.

the house is quiet and dull.  even the dog seems a bit droopy.  i wrote them each a little note telling them i am proud of them.  they got up on time.  they made it out the door.  they remembered their pencils and notebooks.  i am going to do that more.  celebrate the small moments that make up each day.

vacation was nice.  we visited a lake with calm, green water and a beautiful forest all around.

i got rowed around by two very handsome young men.

we visited another lake, this one with clear, blue water and magical houses stacked up by the pier.  my daughter and i debated about which one we would like to live in.  

the water was very cold.  or so i was told.

i snapped one with all three smiling.  not an easy feat.  although it seems incomplete.  our college girl had to stay behind and work and we really missed her.

seems like the rest of the summer flew by once we got home.  i think that happens when you're having fun.

but, autumn can be so lovely too...

these lazy summer days...

it's been an interesting summer so far.  we had more unexpected guests this past few days and that has made life a bit more fun than usual.  it has really forced me to slow down and relax some.  i've been spending lots of time reading, book after book it seems...and i've found so many beautiful words to write out into my new journal.  words for later...words to remind and inspire.

at times the weather has cooperated, meaning it was not too hot to sit out on the deck and soak up the brilliant rays of sunshine...warming my toes some and looking out over our forest.  i did that for so long one day...the forest turned black at the edges.  the last rays of light coming through were so beautiful...the sight of it filled my soul with peace and calm, a feeling i will try to keep with me for a while.

  soon i will be taking a break from my little forest to do some traveling.  it's always good to get a fresh perspective.  look for new adventures.  i hope you all have some nice adventures ahead of you as well...

mixed emotions...

"One day many years ago a man walked along and stood in the sound of the ocean on a cold sunless shore and said, "We need a voice to call across the water, to warn ships; I'll make one. I'll make a voice like all of time and all of the fog that ever was; I'll make a voice that is like an empty bed beside you all night long, and like an empty house when you open the door, and like trees in autumn with no leaves. A sound like the birds flying south, crying, and a sound like November wind and the sea on the hard, cold shore. I'll make a sound that's so alone that no one can miss it, that whoever hears it will weep in their souls, and hearths will seem warmer, and being inside will seem better to all who hear it in the distant towns. I'll make me a sound and an apparatus and they'll call it a Fog Horn and whoever hears it will know the sadness of eternity and the briefness of life."

"The Fog Horn blew."

-Ray Bradbury, The Fog Horn

no. 668, 669, 670...

and

no. 671

and for fun, here's a whole flock.

slooooowly getting closer to 1000, which was my original goal when i started this way back when...2011 maybe?  just because.  because it is supposed to be good luck.  and i don't know about you, but i can always use some good luck. 

oh, isn't our forest lush and green?  it has rained so much, it's getting quite jungle-y back there.  think mosquitoes and lots of them.  i took just a few minutes to snap these pictures and i almost got eaten alive.  really.

hope you are enjoying your summer so far...

go barefoot in the rain more...

the other day i found myself unexpectedly alone.  that doesn't happen too often these days, now that school is out.  i pondered my possible activities for a few minutes.  it was such a beautiful, sunny day.  and we have a new umbrella for our deck - something i've wanted for a while, but it was never quite in the budget (never mind that it has a large pepsi logo on it - it was practically free).  so i gathered up some supplies and a large icy drink and my journal with just a few pages left.  i spent three blissful hours out there.  writing.  splashing paint around.  thinking.  enjoying the warmth and the shade from my umbrella simultaneously.

  and i thought...

i should do this more.

long time, no see...

hi there!  my goodness, it's been awhile hasn't it?  this time of year is always so busy...with the end of school festivities and getting ready for summer.  plus, i was surprised with some unexpected visitors.  my mom-in-law and my mom made the trip south together and stayed a week and that was so much fun.  my mom has never been down here for a visit and it gave me such joy to show her around our beautiful city and our home.  i set up her bed in my studio so she could be surrounded by all of my art and creative endeavors.

it's cloudy and humid here today with rain and thunderstorms threatening.  we've had such storms lately!  here's a nice stormy spread.  i thought it was a good day to work on a new journal...one just for me.  i'm nearly to the end of this one which i've had for about a year. 

i took some time to flip through the pages that are filled with the meanderings of my soul, along with favorite quotes and poetry, pictures i've taken, treasured scraps of paper and little flowers and feathers carefully sewn in.  just looking at the messy, painty, pasted pages...well, it really makes my heart so happy.

my new one is going to be different, but just as wonderful.  a nice fat journal using a piece of my favorite leather.  i have the pages torn and ready and a little pocket sewn to the last page (for keeping all of my bits for collage).  i'm just thinking about the cover a bit.  maybe something like this one...with the contrasting thread and a nice wide closure.

or maybe more like this...with the strap a bit thinner and woven into the cover.  this one has a bookmark too, which is handy.

but, no matter how it turns out, the most important thing is what goes inside it.  i'm not big on spilling all of my deepest secrets onto the pages.  i kind of like to write in code or paint what i'm feeling.  that makes it feel kind of magical to me.  like secret messages to myself and only i can decipher them.

i hope you are all doing well and enjoying summer so far.  the world is really so beautiful right now.  don't forget to take some time to go outside and soak in some sun, smell some flowers, talk to the bees...that sort of thing.  i'll see you soon...