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Five in Five: August

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When we moved into our house 35 years ago, the patio was surrounded by an evergreen hedge. It provided some privacy, but more importantly it protected folks from falling off the edge of the patio. That might not seem particularly important except our house is built on a hill and our lower yard is a long stairway away. Children and unsteady adults might step off the edge and then tumble some distance before stopping,

This year the hedge finally had seen the end of its time. The last several years it's been less and less attractive, and this year it had become an eyesore. Matt, our landscape artist son, could not come up with any plantings he thought would provide the needed protection and thrive in our very shady back yard. So we took some of our travel money that had been saved for the two big (aborted) trips this year, and had a wrought iron railing installed. Truthfully, I wasn't sure what I'd think of it, but I love it. Here's a photo (not part of the 5 photos in 5 minutes for Sandie's monthly meme) taken after the bushes were removed.

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This fall the area you see to the left of the first steps will need to be landscaped, We're planning to move a large group of  peonies to a sunnier spot in the yard and redo this area. Following are the five photos taken early in the morning showing the new railing,

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Here you can see our lower yard. The little shed is ours and our property line goes back to the tree on the far left.

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Moving to the right from the previous photo, you see one of two gates installed. This one takes you to a series of stone steps down to the lower yard. Our next major expense is to have the stairs and the stone walls on both sides rebuilt. We had
hoped to have that done last year, but we are still looking for a qualified mason to do the work.

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To the left of the first photo is the second gate which leads to the lower patio which Tracy completed two years ago.
You can see the fire pit covered up in front of our two red Adirondack chairs.

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Another view of the shade gardens and the second gate.

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And finally, the view toward our neighbor's home, and a peek at the fence Tracy is building along the property line. It replaces six or seven straggly arborvitae that had foliage only on the top. We have a lot more light on the east side of the house since they've been removed. The other advantage (we hope) is that it will keep the deer from crossing through the backyards. It's a work in progress. Eventually all the posts will be evened out and we'll add solar lights to the tops of them. We've just added several lovely solar lights in the shade garden and on the patio and they add a lot of ambiance at night.

I was afraid that the railing would make us feel closed in, but it actually has had the reverse effect. It feels more open–we can see through the railings, but couldn't see through the bushes! In addition the furniture can be set against the railing so there's actually more room on the patio.

Joining in with Sandie for her monthly meme, 5 in 5.

 

 

Altenew July Challenge

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I love my Altenew stamps and dies, and every month I think I'll join in their monthly challenge, but I think this might be a first. When I saw July's inspiration, I knew just what I wanted to do.

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Then I saw August's inspiration photo, and I thought I'd blown it once again. But, to my surprise, the July challenge is still open, so I made sure to get the card made. My inspiration came from the beautiful wreath, but I also loved how it was hung on the white window frame. I didn't have a die that cut a window, so I used the Skinny Stripes: Horizontal die by My Favorite Things. Bonus: that's another NBUS item in my stash, so my goal of using unused products gets another win.

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The wreath comes from one of my most used Altenew stamp sets, Weekend Doodles. I watercolored the leaves with Daniel Smith watercolors and splattered a bit of white gouache on it before die cutting it. 

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The sentiment is from Altenew's Sentiment strips which I stamped on a banner die cut. 

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Although a bit brighter, The Stamp Market's Teal cardstock seemed a good match for the inspiration color, and having matching enamel dots was a bonus. 

Good-bye July, Hello August

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It's time for the One Little Word recap for July. July was the first month I really didn't track my progress. I'll chalk it up to being away the first week of July so my routines didn't get established. The truth is, however, that July was the month last year that I more or less gave up on my OLW and just let it go. We're halfway through the year and it's been a tough one in so many ways, but I'm still COMMITED to working on the projects I set out for myself in January. Not all of them are calling to me right now, but there are enough to keep me going. Here's July in pictures:

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There are a couple of photos of grandchildren sent to me—Caleb on his new 8-speed bicycle (#19). His dad says he can't keep up with him any more; he's way too fast! The three little girls on a bench after they'd been berry picking (#24), and Hannah in her "hiding" place for hide-and-seek (#29). Sarah says Caleb is such a good big brother, he pretends that he can't see her for awhile. On the 6th, you can see the rocks Caleb, Hannah, and I painted with alcohol inks. They came out great and it wasn't anywhere as near messy as I expected it to be. On the 21st, Skylar and Ella came to bake sugar cookies. That was a first for me in the summer, but they disappeared as quickly as they do in December. The photo on the 26th shows our patio without the almost "dead" hedge that has surrounded it since we moved in 35 years ago. The 27th shows the new railing that was installed that day. Our patio sits at the top of a hill, and there needs to be some protection against folks stumbling or running off it and tumbling down the hill. I wasn't sure what I'd think of it, but I really love it. We have a much better view, and the patio actually seems bigger since some of the furniture can be placed right against the railing. I'll have more photos later. There are photos from our walks and bike rides, and the 31st shows some of the cards and images I colored over 115 days.

I did finish the #100DayProject and continued coloring every day until the 30th in order to finish the second of the 30 Day Coloring Challenges that ended on July 3oth. Even more amazing to me than the completing the project was that almost all the projects were posted on Instagram—something I rarely did, but expect to continue to do on a less frequent basis. 

I made NO progress on purging the photos in my Photo Library, so that's high on the list for August. Also on the list is to get back on track with daily walking which fell by the wayside with the travel. By mid-June we'd walked a minimum of 2 miles every day for 57 days. Then we left for Wisconsin, and although we walked while we were there we definitely got out of the daily habit, and I've found it hard to get back to it. The goal for August is 5 days a week—6 would be better! On the crafting side, my goal this month is to use new stamps and dies that have piled up as I worked on coloring projects. I'm off to a good start already finishing two cards this week with unused (though one was hardly new) stamps and dies. 

Reading was not a problem. I read the five books I set out to read, and read two longer books to Caleb over Zoom. I counted them because I loved both novels, as did Caleb. Tomorrow we start Harriet the Spy. It's his request, and I hope I like it more this time than I did the last time I tried to read it. Unlike June, I enjoyed all of the books I read in July.

Lila Afterlife Authenticity Tenderland
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The Authenticity Project was just for fun. It and Liturgy of the Ordinary were part of The Unread Shelf Project. I also went through those shelves with a new question to ask: If I saw this book in a bookstore, would I purchase it? The answer for 12 of them was "no," and they're in a bag to donate to the library once they begin to accept donations. I'm guessing that won't happen until the pandemic is truly over. Fortunately, you can now pick up books curbside by appointment, and just this week you may enter the library after signing a document and getting your temperature taken. 

So now it's August, and today is Sarah's 40th birthday. I wonder if she's as surprised by that fact as I am. Her congregation held a birthday car parade yesterday afternoon through the church parking lot. (FYI: Sarah was wearing a mask for the parade, but took it off for this photo.) Someone made a huge sign, and it was delivered to their front yard this morning. They had a beautiful stained glass window hanging made for her, and brought a cake over as well. When we had our FaceTime call, the house had been decorated by Dad and the kids, so it was as festive an occasion as possible during the pandemic.

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Her birthday card this year featured hedgehogs (a favorite of hers) but I also thought the kids would like it as well. These are about as cute as you can find. I love them rushing up the hill with gifts.

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It's easier to see the "grass" in this photo. I can't remember the last time I pulled out my fringe scissors, but I'm glad they've survived the multiple purges since I bought them years ago.

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Your Light Shines

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There are two new challenges, both for Clean and Simple cards, that inspired me to pull out a never-before-used stamp set from Simon Says "Your Light." The first is CAS on Friday where the challenge is SUMMER. The second is CAS Mix Up and the challenge there is Watercolor/Beach.

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This lighthouse image reminds me of two lighthouses on Nantucket. One, the Brant Point Lighthouse, sits on the beach as you approach the island, so the setting is similar to the stamp. The other is the Sankaty Lighthouse which has a very similar shape, and I watercolored it in red and white to resemble the Sankaty Lighthouse. This is the first summer my daughter-in-law has missed a summer vacation in Nantucket since she was a little girl. Thanks to her and her family, we've enjoyed several vacations there over the last few years. It represents summer for sure, and spending time on its multiple beaches is one of the great pleasures of a vacation there. 

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After watercoloring the image with Daniel Smith watercolors, I die cut it with an Essentials by Ellen circle. I die cut another piece of watercolor paper with the smaller Gina K Master Layout die, and a piece of Dark Indigo paper with the larger of those dies.

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I adhered both layers to a cream colored card base, after stamping the sentiment in Dark Indigo ink. The focal image was adhered with dimensional tape. It's odd that in the flat layout, the focal image looks inlaid rather than bumped up!

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I decided to leave it all very CAS–no embellishments, no additional images. I'm adding this to the NBUS blog as well–glad to have this set out of the Never Been Used Stuff category.

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Two Cards, Three Challenges

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And the cards–as well as the two main challenges–couldn't be more different. The first is the new Less is More Challenge: Summer Flowers.

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Although I've been to the Gina K Designs retail store a few times when I've visited Sarah in Wisconsin, I didn't really follow her until recently. When I saw her most recent kit offer, I was intrigued, but held off too long and ended up on a wait list. The kit finally came in and about a week ago, it arrived in the mail. I am so impressed not only with the quality but the quantity of product in the kit. This is my first card using one of three stamp sets and I already have plans for both of the other sets. Hopefully, they'll see some love this weekend. 

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This beautiful flower is from "Best Flowers," which also include two larger blossoms and leaves which can be cut with the included dies. This is such an enjoyable flower to color, and you'll probably see it in a variety of colors in the future. The sentiment is from a second stamp set included in the kit, "Hands of Love." The font is different than any other I own, and one I know I'll use frequently.

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I also order the "Master Layout" dies, and have used them for the last several cards I've made (soon to come to the blog!) They die cut the focal image and then the 1/16" mat perfectly. 

The second challenge is The Card Concept's "Christmas in July." I'm happy to be in the season of summer flowers, but I know Christmas will be here before you know it.

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This one gave me an opportunity to use another new stamp set, appropriately named "Poinsettia." This one is by Waffleflower, and it includes enough designs to make multiple holiday cards.

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I also used some of the new cardstock from Concord & 9th–Cranberry and Honeysuckle, and the beautiful oval and frame die cut with Ellen Hutson's "Essential Ovals."

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After embossing the design in gold, I carefully colored the floral with Copic markers. I've read that you must be very careful because embossing powder can ruin the tips of Copic markers. Luckily, I haven't had an issue with it yet. The "Merry" sentiment  (I love the font) came from the "Poinsettia" set, and the "Christmas" from W+9's "Hand Lettered Holiday" set. (Finding that required me to pull out all my Christmas stamps. I considered keeping them out, but although I hope to make a few more cards with this new set, I'm not ready to think about mass producing any cards quite yet.)

One of the requirements for The Card Concept Challenge is to identify your style. In thiscase, I'd call it "Clean and Layered." 

And since both cards use Never Before Used Stuff, I'm entering one in the new challenge which starts today.

We're off in a few minutes to go on a bike ride. Later tonight, rain is forecast and likely to extend into Monday. It's hot and sunny now.

 

Freshly Made Sketches

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This week's challenge at Freshly Made Sketches is pretty wide open—make a slimline card. I made my first slimline card earlier this month. Slimline cards are the rage right now, and I have just two dies for them. The first card used the Lawn Fawn Lift the Flap die and today's card uses a beautiful die from Pinkfresh Studio.

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I started out by ink blending some Distress Inks on white card stock and then die cut it with the Braided Circle die. The butterflies from the Simon Says "Beautiful Butterflies" were colored with Copic markers. This was the set for the June Card Kit, and it's going to see a lot of use. It includes six beautiful butterfly images and twelve sentiments in a variety of lovely fonts. 

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For this card, however, I opted for a sentiment strip from Taylored Expressions. I fussy cut the butterflies since I don't have the dies. On the black card stock behind them, I scored three vertical lines which I could not get to show up in a photograph. I'm off to see what other ideas have shown up for the challenge.

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Happy Anniversary to Us!

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Today is our 47th anniversary. So hard to believe—it's gone by pretty fast! But there's no one I'd rather spend time with than my husband, and after all these years we're still very compatible—though, different, for sure! The pandemic has really emphasized how important compatibility is; we're spending WAY. MORE. TIME. TOGETHER! And, fortunately, enjoying it tremendously.

We didn't expect to do anything special today, but a new restaurant with an outdoor patio opened up just a few weeks ago on Canandaigua Lake. Two sets of friends have already been there for dinner, and said it was wonderful, and every safety precaution has been observed. 

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It is, for sure, a beautiful setting, and it was a gorgeous warm evening. The food was good, and our waitress was charming. There were, however, some details about the occasion which were less than ideal so it's unlikely we'll make the drive to eat there again any time soon. Nonetheless, neither of us regretted the trip tonight, and it definitely was a setting for a celebration. Here's an unobstructed view of Canandaigua Lake.

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And our version of a selfie:

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During one of the OCC Spring Card Camps, one of the techniques was Faux Dip Dye. I originally created this card for that class, and decided right then it would make a great anniversary card, given the sentiments. We're not regular bike-riders, but we do enjoy it. When I pulled the card out a few weeks ago, I realized the stamping of the bike was not as accurate as it should have been, so this is a recreated version of the first card. I'm not as happy with the faux dipping, but the bike is much improved. 

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The bike and the sentiment (I love the font!) are both from an older Papertrey Ink set, "Pedal Pusher." Here's the inside sentiment, which was the deciding factor in making this our anniversary card:

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Here's hoping the next anniversary isn't celebrated with masks on!

In My Thoughts

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I seem to need many more "thinking of you" cards during the pandemic. I have several friends who live alone, and don't have much (or any) family nearby. I try to get cards out every now and then in addition to checking in with the phone or email. Among my many blessings during this difficult time is to live with my best friend!

The current challenge at AAA Cards is for a CAS design:

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I decided on a window card this time, using one of my favorite dies by My Favorite Things, the "Rectangle Peek-a-Boo Window." I love the stitched lines around it. 

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This time, I'm playing along with the optional challenge of including flowers. These are from Pinkfresh Studio's "Fancy Blooms" set. I colored them with Copics, and fussy cut them since I don't own the dies.

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I added a few clear drops to the inside of the card surrounding the sentiment from Papertrey Ink's "It's the Thought." 

It's been an almost ideal weekend in terms of weather, sunny, breezy, and warm. Well, today would qualify as hot, but we got a lovely walk in earlier this morning before the temperature got too high. Even now, though, on the patio it's very comfortable in the shade, thanks to the breeze. Yesterday we took our bikes to the Lehigh Valley Trail and did one section of the trail we hadn't covered walking. Just one more section, and we'll have covered all 25 miles (times 2.) 

 

Color Throwdown

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I'm not sure I've ever managed to make a card for a challenge on the day the challenge went live, but today I did. As soon as I saw the colors, I knew what I wanted to do. Here's the new Color Throwdown inspiration.

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I have a lovely stash of colored images from the #100DayProject, and knew there were some bright yellow and orange flowers, and spring green leaves. They're all from Simon Says "Spring Flowers" line. I have two of the sets, but I think there may be four or five now. 

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I die cut the front of the card with an oval die cut and backed it with a piece of patterned paper from the Papertrey Ink "Lovely Lace" pack. It went with one of their Make It Market kits. I never owned the kit, but purchased one of the paper packs when there was a huge sale. I was actually looking for something else when I found this which is much better than my original idea. 

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The sentiment strip is from Taylored Expressions "Simple Strips." I resisted purchasing that for a long time, but so glad I decided to buy it as I reach for one of them over and over again.

The Flower Challenge-Summer Flowers

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The current challenge at The Flower Challenge is just too good to pass up so here's another entry. I colored this floral design early in the #100DayChallenge, but didn't make it into a card until recently. It was in a pile of previously stamped images, and once I colored it I rescued the stamp from the "donate pile." It ended up in that pile because I hadn't used it in so long. But I loved coloring it, and was glad it hadn't gotten out of the house yet. It's going to be back in rotation now.

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The stamp is an older Hero Arts cling stamp, "Large Blossom." The rubber stamps do stamp beautifully, and I love the black background. 

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It was colored with Copic markers. The sentiment is from one of The Greetery's Sentiment Suite sets: Birthday. I love all the different fonts Betsy includes on these sentiment sets.

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Hope you're having a good start to your week!

 

Five in Five: July Edition

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I'm late this month in joining Sandie in her 5 in 5 minutes meme. Seems that travel knocked my schedule out of whack! Yesterday, however, I was in our front yard admiring our hydrangeas, and took 5 minutes to walk around and photograph some of them. They're blooming later than usual this summer, but are also more prolific than they've been. We have seven in our front yard, several in the back yard and around the patio, and one new one that somehow we planted in my cutting garden. It's one of my favorite, and I cut the two blossoms and brought them inside before I decide on this theme for 5 in 5. But although inside it, too, was taken in the 5 minute time limit. We'll start with that one.

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I absolutely love the color of this one. We're doing some major renovations around our patio, and next year I'll move this one up there—hopefully with a few others.

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When Matt redesigned the landscaping in our front yard a few years ago, he planted this hydrangea tree. It starts out pure white, and you can see it changing to pink in this photo.

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Also in the front yard are six hydrangeas that don't grow quite as tall as many of the others. They are just beginning to bloom, and usually produce blooms in pinks, purples, and blues.

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For the last several years we've only had 1-3 blooms on this hydrangea which is just outside our dining room door. These make a wonderful bouquet,
and I have a pitcher full of them inside.

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This hydrangea is behind the previous one, and is probably close to 5 ft. tall.

These are my favorite summer flowers because they bloom all summer, make wonderful bouquets, and some of them dry beautifully as well. For the last two winters, I've had a vase or two filled with the dried hydrangeas from our front yard. 

A Second Two Challenge Card

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This might be one of my favorite birthday cards—so clean and simple—and yet classy enough for a very special birthday!

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A very good friend turned 90 while we were away, and I made sure this card arrived on time. I started with the navy blue shimmer card and then die cut the numbers from a scrap of silver metallic cardstock with The Stamp Market's "Skinny Upper Numbers." 

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The sentiment is from a Papertrey Ink set I've used over and over again, "Big Birthday Wishes." It has all kinds of great sentiments designed to accompany whatever year is being celebrated. 

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And I must say, that if I had a photo of my friend, you would never know that he was 90 years old!!!

This card is for the CAS on Friday Challenge: Anything But White, and the Seize the Birthday Challenge: A Non-neutral Card Base.

 

 

 

 

One Little Word: A Very Late Update for June

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Our trip to Racine to see Sarah, Adam, Caleb, and Hannah spanned two weeks from the end of June to the beginning of July. It threw me off totally in terms of evaluating my OLW intentions and setting some new ones for July. 

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I did keep up with a photo every day, although I took some liberty with this collage, inserting the three little girls' "last day of home school" photos over the course of three days. Betsy had them get dressed up as if it were the last day of school and they were happy to oblige. Had school been in session it would have ended for the elementary students on the 17th. Skylar "finished" third grade; Ella, kindergarten, and Maddy is still in preschool. There's no word here, yet, of whether schools will open in September and, if they do, what they might look like. Then, of course, parents have to make a decision whether or not they feel the options available are safe. I don't envy any parents that decision. Sarah and Adam are already wrestling with it. Caleb's Montessori school is set to reopen for five days a week. Wisconsin, however, continues to see a surge in Covid-19 cases, and there is a general unwillingness of folks to wear masks. We didn't enter any stores while we were away, but Sarah and Adam have taken to ordering almost everything online to be delivered or picked up curbside. Many other photos are from our hikes, and some of the fun we had in Racine. You can see Caleb taking one of his Tae Kwan Do classes via Zoom on the 26th. Dad is helping out as he practices his kicks. I documented our daily lunch at home on the 12th. If the weather permits, we eat on the patio and play a game of cribbage while we eat.

I also kept up with the #100DayProject, doing two coloring pieces a day when I missed a day due to travel. 

There was lots of reading time in June, both on the patio, in the morning, and in Racine. I read seven books:

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I'm Still Here Pull SuchAFunAge

(There was an issue with Typepad formatting these books this time. It's never been a problem before. I couldn't get to left-justified margins without these sentences. Who knows?)

I really enjoyed both Marilynne Robinson books. I'd read Gilead years ago, but was glad to have reread it. It's the first of three linked books about two ministers and their families during the 1950's in Gilead, Iowa. Not a lot happens, but both books are beautifully written and the NYTimes described Gilead as having a "spiritual force that's rare in contemporary fiction," and indeed, I wished at the end that I had underlined major portions of it. Sarah was reading I'm Still Here . . . while we were there, and I picked it up as soon as she finished it. I've since ordered my own copy, and our church is sponsoring an online book group about it that starts Sunday evening. The Pull of the Moon was my book for The Unread Shelf. It was a quick read, but not particularly satisfying. I wasn't a huge fan of The Bookshop, our couples' book group choice, but most of our group seemed to like it a lot. Such a Fun Age wasn't as engaging as I expected it to be. Tracy always says that movies and books that get rave reviews rarely live up to the expectation. In this case, that was true. I also loved Rebecca Solnit's memoir. Memoir is one of my favorite genres, and this one has a very unique take on the genre, but one I really enjoyed. Solnit is a historian and activist who writes extensively on feminine issues and the environment. She's had a fascinating history.

I'm not planning any big changes for July. The #100DayProject ended a few days ago, but I had already started my second 30 Day Coloring Challenge hosted by Kathy Racoosin so I'll finish that up. There's the usual stack of books, many more photos to purge, and some online classes I'd like to take.

Mostly, I'm trying to stay as positive as I can as the virus spirals out of control without any serious leadership from the federal government. Fortunately, our county has remained pretty stable, and in NY everyone is required to wear a mask before entering any indoor establishment. I've read of instances where folks have refused, but in the few places I've been I've not seen anyone without a mask. We returned from Wisconsin just a week before rates there went up enough that anyone coming into NY from Wisconsin must quarantine for two weeks. The list of states for which that is true is updated almost daily. Now people coming to NY on public transportation are met by officials and must complete a written document so that contact tracing can take place if necessary. I hope it helps contain the virus, which is beginning to rise statewide again. There doesn't seem to be any end in sight, and I find it incredible that there are still people who believe it's a hoax, and won't take it seriously. 

Ah, well, here's to the health and safety of all of us during the rest of the summer. I'm so grateful to be secure, safe, and have access to beautiful outdoor spaces during this lovely time of year. May the same be true for you.

 

 

One Card; Two Challenges

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I have a card for two challenges: AAA Cards: Made in Minutes and The Flower Challenge: Summer Flowers.

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It's not often I can make a card in just a few minutes, but this one came together very quickly, and is one of my CAS faves. I should have made multiples in different colors!

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It's a simple watercolored flower from Altenew's "Sketched Flowers" die cut, attached to white card cut with a "Stitched Rectangle" from Simon Says, and then to a Lovely Lady (Papertrey Ink) card base.

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I wish I had more sentiments with this font, which is a favorite of mine. It's from Papertrey Ink's "Never Enough Thanks" set.

 

The Flower Challenge: Summer Flowers

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The Flower Challenge is for summer or winter flowers, depending on which hemisphere you live in. It's definitely summer here, and I am grateful. The stay-in-place restrictions are so much easier to endure if you can be outside in your garden or on your patio. 

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I made this card for a friend who now has possession of it, so it can be shared on the blog. I used a newer Pinkfresh Studio set "Keep Going," which I've used several times during the #100DayProject. Today was Day 100, and I have a stack of cards, and an even bigger stack of colored images ready to be made into cards. I enjoyed the challenge, and have 15 more days of coloring ahead of me in order to finish Kathy Racoosin's current 30 Day Coloring Challenge. This is the second one she's hosted since the pandemic started. 

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I colored the beautiful flowers with Copic markers and trimmed down the left side of the panel. I added a strip of black and white striped paper from My Favorite Things and a narrow strip of black cardstock to the white card base.

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The sentiment is from Altenew's "Floral Frame" stamp set. There are still a few days left for this challenge, so I'll most likely be back again more quickly than usual.