Making Memories

Hi Friends!

I’ve been looking forward to this quiet, cozy day at home to sit at my laptop, with a cup of green tea, and say “Hi!” It’s time to share one of the projects that has been keeping me so busy (in a good way!)… 😊

One of my Christmas gifts to my sweet dad was something impossible to wrap with pretty paper and ribbons. It was a promise and a project! I wanted to work with Dad to create his Memoir. Dad was happy when he opened a special card with my plan for our project. Throughout his 91 years, Dad has been living his best life. Now is the time to capture those memories and preserve them!

My dad is busy enjoying his days in his sunny apartment in a lovely Senior Living community. I enjoy visiting Dad and helping out, in small and big ways, several times each week. Recently when I arrived at his door, Dad surprised me with plans for a Movie Morning! 😊 He had already set up his vintage movie projector and had a stack of old movie reels just waiting to be cherished once again. Together we watched home movies from Dad’s childhood, his family vacations to Door County, Mom’s bridal shower, their wedding day, their honeymoon on Mackinac Island, and scenes from Dad’s military service in Korea. Those home movies were such a poignant look back in time. It was such a wonderful blessing to watch them together!

We were getting excited to begin our Memoir project! Two books from my bookshelf were especially helpful as I planned some interesting questions for our Memoir project. I’ve been videoing Dad for a few weeks, as we enjoy our conversations about his life.

Dad is a wonderful storyteller and it is important for him to reflect back on a life well-lived. I truly love hearing the old stories and learning so much more of my family history. I am asking so many questions and Dad’s answers are all being preserved in our videos.

We have both been savoring stories about Dad’s childhood and his teenage years. It feels like traveling back in time to hear how teenagers in Chicago, in the 1940’s, enjoyed their Saturday night dates. Dad often invited his dates to roller rinks and big ballrooms with live big band music. The teenage boys wore suits and their dates wore pretty dresses for these Saturday night dances. On their first date, my dad invited my mom to an elegant movie theatre, with live swans swimming in the theatre lobby. Dad saved his pennies from his after-school job to buy his first car. It was the beginning of his lifelong passion for cars!

Oh, how I love the stories about how my mom and dad watched one another across the playground in elementary school. Both quietly began to talk together in their youth group at church as teenagers. 💕After high school graduation, both Mom and Dad worked hard at their jobs. Dad surprised Mom with a marriage proposal and an engagement ring just weeks before he was drafted into the Army.

Once Dad entered the Army, life changed very quickly in so many ways for my parents. Separated by distance, Mom wrote a long letter to Dad every night while he was stationed at Camp Breckenridge, Kentucky. They planned their wedding through her letters and his weekly phone call. Dad arrived back home, on leave, the night before their wedding. Mom and Dad had a beautiful, candlelight wedding, took their honeymoon, and Dad reported to Texas for the next part of his Army service… all within ten days! Just two weeks later, Mom moved to Texas to join him. Living so far away from family helped them to build a strong marriage right from the start. It was the first of many adventures for my dear parents!

Next week, Dad and I will video his memories from Army life and his wartime service in Korea. We are already planning our future videos, sharing his special memories from the 1950’s, 1960’s, 1970’s… through the 2020’s.

Each video has become a heartwarming treasure ~ rich with small, everyday moments and the big, life-changing moments that make a fulfilling, inspiring life. In our own quiet way, Dad and I are documenting the treasure of a life well-lived! There are sentimental moments, hard times, funny memories, and life lessons that teach me about quiet strength, hope, dreams, and resilience during the 1930’s, 1940’s, and 1950’s. Lessons learned during those challenging times, when the world faced so many problems of all kinds, are just as important today during our unsettled times.

I’m so very grateful to share these special hours with my sweet dad! I can tell that he feels the same sense of gratitude. Dad is also sharing lots of tender stories of loved ones who aren’t sitting there with us, especially my beloved mother, Darlene, and my cherished, younger brothers, Johnny and Jeff. We know they are smiling in Heaven because their stories are also being shared in such a personal way.

What began as a Christmas gift for my dad has become an irreplaceable gift of love to me, as well! While we are focused on preserving Dad’s lifetime of memories, we are making cherished, new memories!! Dad and I are both truly enjoying the blessings of our time together making memories!

💗 💗 💗 💗 💗

Hope you will share some of the special ways that your family has preserved memories!

I would love to hear your thoughts and ideas!!




Heartfelt thanks for stopping to visit today!

Perennially yours,

💗 Dawn

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A Fresh Start

Hi Friends!

It felt so good to open the door to a brand new year! Our January days have been milder than usual, so the weeks are flying by quickly. I have enjoyed some winter walks in the park with friends and several walks through our yard to check on the garden. Gentle rains have been kind to my perennials and herbs. When the garden is happy, it makes the gardener happy, too!

How do you prepare for a fresh start in the new year? Sharing inspiration and our traditions among friends is one of the special pleasures that I look forward to on the blog every January! I hope that you will share with us, too…

Heartfelt words, from poet Morgan Harper Nichols, are a meaningful welcome in my 2023 Self-Care bullet journal.

For me, the new year always means a brand new, dot-grid, bullet journal overflowing with blank pages… and new possibilities! As the month began, I spent many hours setting up new pages in my 2023 Self-Care journal. It always feels like I am truly creating a fresh start!

For the new year, I have begun stenciling soft, colorful backgrounds with Distress Oxide inks. Adding artwork just makes it more fun!

This year, I’m celebrating my sixth year of keeping a Self-Care bullet journal. Adding bits of color and artwork help to keep it interesting! Each month, I create pages to track my daily sleep, workouts and number of steps. There is something very powerful about transferring the data (in ink, in analog form) from the app on my phone and my Fitbit onto the pages of my journal every evening. It really helps to keep me accountable when it comes to healthy habits! Each evening, I also add to my Gratitude page (so very important, especially during life’s stressful times), list a daily Creative Step, and a daily Small Joy. This nightly bedtime routine only takes a few moments and is such a peaceful way to end each day.

For the past two years, I have also enjoyed a lovely morning routine at my journaling desk. My Morning Pages journal holds my thoughts on creativity, my worries, and my creative plans for the day. Inspiration from walks in nature and my weekly Artist Date are often a topic in my Morning Pages, as well.

‘Dutch Door’ pages hold my growing list of Creative Affirmations

My Morning Pages always end with creative affirmations (from my Self-Care bullet journal, shown above). Over the past two years, I have discovered just how valuable these strong, positive statements can be! In her book, The Artist’s Way, Julia Cameron reminds us that, “Affirmations help achieve a sense of safety and hope.” As I close my journal and watch the sun rise from our kitchen window, I feel centered and ready to face another busy day. Julia Cameron’s words are so true, “Morning Pages allow you to happen to your day, instead of your day happening to you.” When I must miss a day of Morning Pages, I can definitely feel the difference all day long!

Choosing a ‘word’ to guide me through the new year is one of the most powerful ways that I welcome each year! Every Fall, I begin listening for “One Little Word” that will help me grow in powerful, new ways. Throughout our home and garden, there are visible reminders to focus on my ‘word.’ This year celebrates my twelfth ”One Little Word.” I can already tell that this will be a very important year of growth as I focus on my new ‘word’ and continue to mindfully practice all eleven previous words!

My 2023 ‘word’ is surrounded by all of the other words that continue to help me live my best life.

There are visible reminders to simplify as I move forward.

Some definitions of simplify in my Self-Care journal

My reading stack is filled with inspiration to help me move forward throughout the year ahead. I read two of these books several years ago, however my life became much too complicated to undertake such an ambitious lifestyle change. So, this ‘word’ has been waiting for me for a while. I am taking a BIG step as I begin this long-awaited journey toward minimalism!

I am also finding wonderful inspiration to guide me in You Tube videos from Dawn Madsen, The Minimal Mom. Her tips feel very practical and encouraging. Of course, everyone’s journey is unique! I am seeing my world through new eyes as I take steps to approach life as a “cozy minimalist.” My end goal is to own “just the right amount of things” to focus my priorities on my passions!

This month, I am off to a good start. Following the “onion method,” I have worked my way through all of the kitchen drawers and cabinets. I have already made many trips to a nearby donation center. Yet I am mindful that this is only the first “layer” of things that I will remove from our home. Each time I go through the kitchen, I will find more things to declutter. At some point, it will feel like I have “just the right amount of things.” Things that I actually love and use!

When I packed away our Christmas decorations, I carefully curated my collection of Christmas ornaments and my folk art Santa collection. Now there are “just the right amount” of the most special ones packed away until next Christmas. I hope that others who discover them at the donation center will enjoy them as much as I did over the years!

The winter months feel like the perfect time to begin working toward my goal of having “just the right amount” of things in our home.

Less is… more!

Less is more… time to focus on what matters most today.

Less is more… breathing space.

Less is more… blessings to share with others.

Less is more… freedom to create art.

Less is a more… relaxing, nurturing “Home Sweet Home.”

Less is more… room to blossom in unexpected ways.

Less is more… freedom for adventures of all kinds.

Less is more… time to savor life’s possibilities!

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I’m curious to know what special ways you welcome in the new year.

Are you working toward any new goals in 2023?

Would you like to join me on the journey as I “right-size” the things that fill our home?

If you have worked to declutter, do you have any “words of wisdom” to share with us?

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I would love to hear your thoughts in the Comments below!

May your fresh start be a nice one!

Warmly,

💗 Dawn

The Week Between

Hi Friends!

Warm greetings from our cozy, little home to yours! I hope you are feeling healthy, warm, and safe on this final day of 2022.

Our family enjoyed a quiet Christmas celebration this year, spending lots of time together ~ time for reminiscing, sharing favorite Christmas memories, and exchanging heartfelt cards and gifts. We are a small family now, just my sweet dad, my loving husband, and me. This is our second Christmas without my dear mom, Darlene, and my brothers, Johnny and Jeff. We all agreed that although it looked like Christmas, sounded like Christmas, and tasted like Christmas… it just didn’t feel like Christmas for any of us this year. We could all deeply feel the presence of their absence. They will always live on in our hearts. Love is like that…

My heart was telling me to add some new holiday traditions this December. So, this year, I embraced an old-fashioned holiday tradition for the very first time ~ drying orange and apple slices.

As the fruit dried slowly in the oven, I savored lots creative time, die cutting and ink blending some dried citrus slices to use on handmade cards. Hot cocoa and Christmas cookies also inspired some special greeting cards. (It always tickles my fancy when art imitates life!)

Such simple pleasures! It was such fun to hang dried orange slices on our kitchen wreath, fill bowls with dried fruit, and to make a dried citrus garland for our pantry.

The ‘week between’ has always been one of my favorite weeks of the year. I cherish the time between Christmas and the New Year to make space in my days for quiet reflection and writing letters to faraway friends. I love adding birthdays and anniversaries to our special Celebrations wall calendar! I also spent many hours creating the pages in my new 2023 Self-Care bullet journal.

My husband had vacation time this week, so we enjoyed some walks in pretty places and a visit to the Christmas flower display at our nearby conservatory. The ‘week between’ is just perfect for walking hand-in-hand, dreaming together, and reminiscing!

Many years ago, my husband and I celebrated the Christmas season together in Paris. Many, many years ago, I celebrated Christmas and New Year’s with dear friends in Germany. The ‘week between’ is a wonderful time to share such special memories of faraway friends who have become our German family. For the past 45 years, I have always celebrated the New Year twice! With a video call at 5pm (Central Time), we can ring in the New Year in Germany with our dear friend. We sing Happy Birthday, as we enjoy the German fireworks celebration at midnight together from her balcony! “Same procedure as every year!”

Tonight we will honor our Irish roots in a new way! My husband and I will try a special New Year’s tradition from Ireland. Just before midnight, we will open our back door to ‘let the Old Year out.” Then we will open our front door at midnight to “let the New Year in.” It will be so nice to welcome 2023 from our front porch, greeting any neighbors we see outside!

Perhaps you might also be feeling ready to “Let the Old Year out.”

We can hold on to all of the blessings and precious memories…

as we open our hearts wide

for a more gentle, peaceful, New Year!

Throughout the year, I enjoy the wonderful words of the Irish poet, John O’Donohue.

His words during the ‘week between’ always call to my heart.

“As this year draws to its end,
We give thanks for the gifts it brought
And how they became inlaid within
Where neither time nor tide can touch them.”

John O’Donohue

from: Bless the Space Between Us

John O’Donohue

from: To Bless the Space Between Us

Wishing you a good start to the New Year, friends!

Be well,

explore new possibilities,

and open your heart!

Warmest hugs,

Dawn

Scatter Kindness… Like Autumn Leaves

Hi Friends!

It’s the perfect time to turn our hearts to cozy afternoons, enjoying the changing colors, soft snuggly sweaters, a generous mug of hot spiced tea, and thoughts of special loved ones! Can you feel it, too? 🍁

Here in the Midwest, we were blessed with very nice, warm weeks and spectacular Autumn colors. I soaked up Nature’s inspiration and planned a few special Artist Dates in my little Paper Garden studio downstairs. It was time to create some Autumn inspired cards… and scatter a bit of handmade kindness!

Autumn Bliss stamps, Jumbo Curiosity Buckeye Leaf die
(from The Greetery)

Recently, I have begun s-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g my creativity by filling a small basket with a limited number of stamps, dies, and ink colors. Much like the “capsule wardrobe” concept, it has been great fun to use just a few art supplies in several different ways!

Autumn always brings the warmth and joy of cozy sweaters! So, I tried to capture that special feeling with a dry embossed ‘knitted’ background layer. It was such fun to blend inks in the brilliant shades of Nature’s color palette on this Buckeye leaf.

Gingham plaids also add an Autumn vibe, especially when paired with natural hemp fibers. I heat embossed a favorite quote by Emily Brontë with gold embossing powder onto vellum. Blending brushes and Distress Oxide inks made it easy to turn a white cardstock Buckeye leaf into an Autumn treasure!

I couldn’t wait to reach into my basket for a Patchwork die (also from The Greetery)! Cozy, warm, patchwork quilts are a beloved Autumn treasure. This time I stamped falling leaves onto the squares of a tiny paper quilt. Then I die cut and stamped the same leaves to add a bit of dimension to the card front. It’s filled with leafy goodness!

Slowly, carefully, piecing these gingham and solid patches felt like an artful, paper meditation. (If you need me in the coming months, just look for me in the Paper Garden ‘quilting’ my heart away!💕) Windblown leaves are scattered across the card highlighting the heartfelt sentiment.

Imagine an Autumn leaf fluttering down onto a patchwork quilt spread out for a picnic in the warm sunshine. Pure bliss! Oh, how I enjoyed listening to the words of my inner artist: 👩🏻‍🎨 “You could try this!” “What if…?” and “I can’t believe that I never thought of that before!” 😊 Artist Dates are always meant to be joyful, playful times!

For Veterans Day, I wanted to create an extra-special card to honor my favorite hero ~ my sweet dad!! This card celebrates a true love story! My dad (age 20) surprised my sweet mom with a marriage proposal on her 18th birthday during a big, unexpected November snowstorm. Soon Dad was drafted into the Army and sent off to Basic Training just two months later, in the 101st Airborne Division, in Kentucky. My parents were married in May and moved to Texas for more Army training. Just a few months later, Dad was deployed to Korea during wartime.

Mom wrote Dad a letter every single day while he was stationed in Kentucky and serving in Korea! You can see some of her letters in this photo. On each long, wonderful letter, Mom wrote S.W.A.K. (Sealed With A Kiss) inside the envelope flap. She always put the postage stamp upside down (as a token of love). Dad saved every single letter while he was stationed stateside. He wasn’t able to save the letters that Mom sent to Korea because he was on the battlefield. I’m certain that Dad remembers what Mom wrote though. Her words of love and stories from back home helped him make it through terrible times!

Over the years, I have heard many of these stories from my parents. Mom’s daily, heartfelt letters share the stories of a young bride-to-be as she planned their wedding while her beloved sweetheart was far away bravely serving our country. Now these very special letters are in my care. I have tied them with a satin ribbon (from our own wedding day)… and I can’t wait to begin reading them!💕

So, back to the Veterans Day card…. 😊 Dad’s stories are filled with so many examples of his courage, his kindness to others (even in the midst of wartime battles), his strong family ties across a great distance, and a beautiful love story that continued to grow despite the miles between them! I very carefully snipped a postage stamp from one of Mom’s letters and added it to Dad’s card… upside down, of course!💕

Mug of Art stamp, She is an Artist stamp (both by Impression Obsession)

This colorful card was made for a very special, very creative friend in celebration of her 30th birthday. She loves the colors of a beautiful sunset. So, it was fun to play with watercolors on her card, the envelope, and a special bookmark, too! Her gifts included a lovely journal and a very special book. (This book has been so inspiring to me that I have read it five times already!) Perhaps you can guess which book???? ✨

I have promised myself to keep my special Cardmaking Journal (started in 2015) up-to-date. So, before I sealed each envelope, I entered some quick notes: the date, recipient, occasion, supplies used, and sentiment. It’s so heartwarming to look back and remember all of the special people and their one-of-a-kind cards over the years! 💗

It does the heart good to scatter kindness… 🍁🍁🍁

🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁

Thank you so much for visiting today!

Wishing you a lovely Thanksgiving!

Take extra-good care, friends! 💗

Warm, cozy hugs,

💗 Dawn

Harvest Thyme

Hi Friends!

Our hearts go out to all those whose lives have been affected by Hurricane Ian. The heartbreaking news reports and photos from friends remind us all of the power of nature. This continues to be a heavy time for so much of our world…

A peaceful, little visit among friends will do our hearts good.

Spending extra hours in the garden this week has felt so nurturing! Day by day, I have been noticing the color changes tiptoeing through the trees. Our shorter Autumn days and cooler temperatures are reminding us that change can be beautiful.

Our ‘Autumn Blaze’ Red Maple is showing off it’s ombré colors this week. Soon all of the leaves will turn a beautiful, deep, scarlet red.

It’s Harvest Thyme in the garden… a time that I always look forward to every Autumn! Yesterday I gathered baskets, twine, rubber bands, and my herb snips and happily followed the flagstone path to my Herb & Tea Garden. This raised bed garden, surrounded by a white picket fence, is truly the ‘heart’ of my garden. It always feels like the fragrant plants are nurturing me, as I care for them!

Lemon Balm, German Thyme, Greek Oregano, and Rosemary

I enjoy snipping fresh herbs and mints throughout the growing season for both cooking and steeping cups of herbal ‘tea.’ There is nothing better than fresh, homegrown herbs!

This week, I spent a glorious morning harvesting herbs to dry. I will dry some of them to use for cooking and herbal teas. However, my favorite way to use bundles of dried herbs is for decorating our home over the Winter months. I always feel nurtured by gifts from the garden!

Bundles of dried herbs hang along a wooden pole in our old-fashioned kitchen and tiny bundles of herbs hang in the pantry. I also love to tuck herb bundles into flower arrangements, baskets, and grapevine wreaths. Dried herbs and flowers hang from the ceiling rafters in my little Paper Garden studio downstairs, too!

Greek Oregano, German Thyme, Rosemary, and Lemon Thyme

I tied these bundles of herbs onto a vintage wooden hanger just to save space for drying. When I stepped back, I noticed how sweet it looked! Perhaps I will look for a place to display them right on the hanger.😊

Just recently, I learned about a clever, easy, fast way to dry herbs. So, of course, I couldn’t wait to try it out! I was so curious to see if it would work. Have you ever tried the ‘Subie Method’ for drying herbs?

It was an entertaining experiment…

Step 1 ~ I cut a bundle of fresh Greek Oregano and placed it into a paper bag. Then I folded the top of the bag closed. It’s important to use a paper bag so that the moisture in the herbs can pass through the paper.

Step 2 ~ I placed the bag of fresh herbs on the dashboard of my Subaru parked in the Autumn sunshine! 😊 I let the sun shine through the closed windows to dry the herbs. (Please do not attempt this while driving.😉) Most herbs should dry within one or two hours.

The Results…

It worked quite well. Since our temperature was only 68 degrees, I left the herbs in my Subie for almost four hours. I turned the bag over half way through the experiment. They were definitely drying nicely! The deep green leaves kept their color and shape. My car smelled wonderful, too! 😊

Dark rainclouds from an approaching storm ended my experiment too soon. I brought the bags of herbs in the house and the next morning they were completely dried! (I also tested a bag filled with Lemon Balm during this experiment, with the same good results.)

I look forward to trying the ‘Subie Method’ again on a hot Summer day. Next time, I won’t bundle the herbs with rubber bands for better air circulation. I will also dry individual leaves for tea. I will place a layer of paper or cardboard between the paper bag and the dashboard to help absorb the moisture, too.

My heart felt lighter as I hobbled to and fro in the garden. (I’m still wearing a special orthopedic boot as my fracture begins to heal. It’s feeling a little better this week!😊) Each time I passed my Subie, I giggled a bit as the solar power was drying my herbs!

Yucca seed pods, Rudbeckia seed heads, ‘Anabelle’ Hydrangeas

Next it was time to collect some garden gatherings to decorate our front porch. I filled an antique, wooden box with two tall, sturdy, spikes of dried seed pods from our Yucca plants. These plants grew in our childhood garden for many years. My mom, Darlene, gave me her Yucca plants when my parents retired to Arizona over thirty years ago. The Yuccas have rewarded us with spikes of lovely, cream-colored blossoms every year.

I added tall stems of Rudbeckia ‘Herbstsonne’ seed heads and dried ‘Annabelle’ Hydrangea blossoms next. This Autumn arrangement is not finished yet, though! 😉 Today I will add a few tall stems of Sedum ‘Autumn Joy.’ This rustic arrangement will continue to grow and change throughout the coming weeks. I’m planning to add something new each time I wander through the garden. It will be a mindfulness practice focusing on gratitude for the abundance of peace and beauty that the garden provides us throughout the year!

Yet another reminder from nature

that change can be beautiful…

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I thought you might enjoy two wonderful videos about growing and harvesting herbs. Relax and enjoy… with a cup of tea, of course!💕

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🌻 Please let us know about some of your favorite Autumn traditions!

🌻 What’s happening in your garden this month?

Wishing you healthy, happy Autumn days, sweet friends!🍁

Perennially yours,

💗Dawn

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Inspired by Nature… Created by Hand

Hi Friends!

Happy Autumn! (Happy Spring!) I hope you are feeling well and are safe from all of the wild weather as the seasons change. Our weather suddenly changed from hot and humid to delightfully cool just in time for the equinox!

My Midwest cottage garden is flourishing again after several rainy days. The perennials are showing off their white, yellow, pink, and purple blossoms. The herbs seem to have doubled in size overnight!

For the past week, however, I have only been able to hobble through the garden a few, short times. I fractured a bone in my left foot and will be spending the coming weeks wearing an orthopedic shoe while the broken bone heals. My foot definitely lets me know whenever I have taken a few too many steps! Ouch!😢

Time in the garden has always filled me with creative inspiration while healing my heart and soul. No wonder that the garden is my favorite place to be! Nature’s colors, patterns, and shapes inspire my use of inks, papers, stamps, dies, watercolors, and more…

Bunnies are always welcome to nibble the clover, Creeping Charlie, and wild violets from our ‘meadow’ lawn. Recently, a few bunnies have been visiting my little Paper Garden studio downstairs, too.

Gratitude + Tag dies (Papertrey Ink)
Bunny stamp + die (Colorado Craft Company)

Rudbeckia ‘Herbstsonne’ attracts so many pollinators! I refill the nearby bee bath daily to encourage the busy pollinators to linger in the garden.

The pollinators have been so busy in the garden all Summer long. They have been making an appearance on my handmade cards recently, too.

Honey Bees dies + Honeycomb Corners die (The Greetery)
Sentiment stamp (Papertrey Ink)

What could be sweeter than using a dried ‘Annabelle’ Hydrangea blossom, in place of a bow, on a gift for a dear gardening friend?💕

Oh, how the bees love the blossoms of Obedient Plant and Sedum ‘Autumn Joy.’

Our ‘Hidcote’ Lavender in bloom inspired me to add Lavender stems to handmade cards. I even tucked a few paper stems inside each card!

BotanCuts Lavender + Garden Gear: Gloves dies (The Greetery)
Seed Catalog background stamp (The Greetery)

Do you wear garden gloves? I always wear them while I play in the garden and somehow, I still get muddy hands.😉

These lovely Hollyhocks are blooming along my neighbor’s fence. We look forward to sharing our Hollyhock seeds with one another soon!

BotaniCuts Hollyhocks dies (The Greetery)

I’m really looking forward to harvesting herbs in the coming weeks. I’m going to experiment with an easy, very clever way to dry a few of the herbs. (I’ll report back soon.😊) Herbal inspiration is already on its way to my Paper Garden studio!

Just the other day, as I hobbled past our ‘Autumn Blaze’ Red Maple tree, I spotted the first red leaf nestled in the grass. Very soon, there will be watercolored leaves in my sketchbook and miniature twig wreaths created with ink and paper in the studio. I’m also dreaming of tiny, paper, patchwork quilts! So cozy!

Nurturing my ‘inner second grader‘ helps my creative spirit to blossom!🌸

Last week, I began my fourth consecutive Creative Cluster book study for The Artist’s Way, by Julia Cameron. Over the next twelve weeks, our large group of artists from all disciplines will continue to grow as we travel along our creative paths. It feels like such a blessing to nurture our creativity in community with so many talented artists seeking joy!

You might enjoy the Artists for Joy podcast, with Merideth Hite Estevez, our very talented facilitator/coach/musician/writer/friend! (You can find it wherever you listen to podcasts. Always inspiring!)

🌻Thank you so much for visiting today!

What excites you most with the change of season?

🌻Hope you will share with all of us in the Comments!

Perennially yours,

💗 Dawn

Creative Growth

Hi Friends!

The month of May has always been my happiest month in the garden. I just love watching the daily growth in my perennial and herb gardens. Last week, I took great delight in planting containers of annuals for our front porch and added a few tender herbs to my Herb & Tea garden. Our abundance of rainy days blessed the garden… and the gardener!

On the days when Mother Nature was watering my garden, I retreated to my little Paper Garden studio downstairs. It has been necessary to intentionally plan small, daily steps to nurture my creative growth for quite a while now. In The Artist’s Way, Julia Cameron stresses the importance of ”filling the well” to help artists who feel creatively blocked. It was most definitely time to fill my creative well. Little-by-little, step-by-step Springtime arrived in the Paper Garden, too!

On the first day of my special project, I spent hours happily die cutting, layered stamping, and adding highlights with Prismacolor pencils. After several hours, colorful tulips filled my art table. Over the following days, baby’s breath, pussy willows, and cherry blossoms emerged. Ahhh, Springtime! With no pressure to design, the pure joy of creating began filling my creative well… and my heart!

All of these stamps and dies are from The Greetery.

With tiny pots full of Springtime blossoms, it felt almost like being in a flower shop choosing stems to create a bouquet for someone very special. Oh, what fun to clip together tiny paper bouquets! No stress, just pure joy!

Then it was time to fill my tender heart in a very special way…

Mother’s Day was coming… and this would be my very first Mother’s Day without my dear, sweet mom, Darlene. I just knew that Mom would love my plan! I could feel her smile.💕 This May, I decided to celebrate three very special young moms who have become such an important part of my life.

Especially for Ada’s mom 💗

I have known Ada’s mom for a very long time!! She was a student in my first grade class and my second grade class so long ago! For several years, she would come back to help me during her recess time. For many Summers, I looked forward to a very special picnic with her family. During her college years, Ada’s mom would drive over to visit us. She enjoyed picking her favorite ‘tea’ leaves from our Herb & Tea garden and sipping tea together on our front porch swing. My husband and I felt so honored to be guests at her wedding! Ada’s mom now works as a speech pathologist and spends her days helping seniors with Alzheimer’s and other speech therapy needs. She is also working on her PhD in clinical speech pathology. This month, Ada’s mom celebrated her first Mother’s Day! I look forward to meeting little Ada very soon.💗

Especially for Elijah’s mom 💗

Elijah’s mom has been a very special part of our family for three years already. In fact, she is in many of our treasured family photos! She works so hard with everyone at the senior living community where my dad lives. She loved my mom and my mom loved her! Elijah’s mom helps everyone living there feel right ‘at home’ each day. She is always so cheery, whether she is busy at her desk, helping serve meals in the dining room, or running to someone’s apartment to help out. I love to hear stories about Elijah’s day in kindergarten, his current favorite activities, and their family celebrations. Elijah’s mom and I have become ‘sisters.’ (I always dreamed of having a sister.) My ‘sister’ always brightens my day… and gives the biggest hugs! 💗

Especially for Emerson’s mom 💗

I have only known Emerson’s mom for a few short months, yet she has become a true blessing in my life! We are most definitely creative, kindred spirits. Emerson’s mom is the Bereavement Coordinator for the hospice that helped my mom so much last September. When I reached out for grief counseling for my tender heart following the sudden loss both of my brothers to Covid and my sweet mom to an unexpected medical issue, Emerson’s mom entered my life. Her extensive education, experience as a chaplain, and work in the fields of bereavement and spirituality enable her to help children through seniors who are grieving the loss of loved ones. We both enjoy sharing our thoughts and creativity with one another. When I asked her for homework assignments, she began suggesting truly meaningful activities that tap into my creativity in so many ways. I love hearing about her family life and seeing photos of Emerson! She just celebrated her second Mother’s Day! Emerson’s mom and I have been meeting together via Zoom, but we are both looking forward to meeting in person in June. I truly look forward to our growing friendship in the years to come! 💗

How do you fill your creative well when you have difficulty getting started on a project or hobby that you love?

Hope you will share with us!

Wishing you healthy, happy Springtime (or Autumn) days!

Take time to nurture your tender heart, too.💗

Perennially yours,

💗Dawn

Gifts of Nature

Hi Friends!

I bundled up warmly at sunrise on that February morning. My heart told me that there was something very important that I must do… and I always listen to my heart! 💗

I hugged a tree… two trees, in fact.

It was a day to thank our towering pines for the many gifts they have bestowed upon us for over one hundred years ~ homes for the cardinals and other birds, a playground for the squirrels, and cool shade for the hostas, ferns, and mature perennials that thrived beneath them. Such an important gift for our climate, as well. Every few years, an arborist would come to check our pine trees and trim a few branches. He always shared the happy news that our pines were in good health.

As I hugged the trees, gratitude filled my heart! Our pine trees have provided a magnificent background for many of our treasured family photos over the past thirty five years. They provided welcome shade on our deck for quiet mornings, yoga practice, family Fourth of July celebrations, and tea parties with friends. They shaded teacher curriculum-planning sessions on so many summer mornings. The beautiful pines were always appreciated as we talked late into the night with family and friends, from near and far. The neighbors enjoyed the far-reaching branches that shaded their family gatherings, too. What fun to hang a piñata from the lowest pine branches for their birthday parties! Every year in early December, I loved to snip a few pine greens and gather fallen pine cones to fill an antique wooden box and to mix with dried garden gatherings to decorate an antique sled for our front porch.

Our towering pines watched over many life changing moments, too. My husband and I spent many hours getting to know one another while relaxing on my shady deck. A truly heartwarming part of our first date, on a Sunday afternoon in July nearly twenty years ago, was spent talking on my shady deck. The pines cooled our deck and entire backyard for the special picnic where both of our families had fun getting to know one another following our engagement! The following summer, my mom and I spent a lovely June afternoon on our shady deck tying bundles of flowers from my garden with satin ribbons, to hang from the chairs for our Victorian-style wedding ceremony. Ten years ago, the pines shaded our wonderful family celebration in honor of my dad’s 80th birthday.

If those trees could talk, they would tell so many stories of the single woman who dreamed of owning a home of her own to put down roots so long ago. The moment she saw the cozy, little 1922 bungalow, with a swing on the front porch, a big garden, and two towering pine trees… it was love at first sight!💗

Alas, there are BIG changes happening nearby! A very large, new home will be built next door. Half of the branches and half of the root systems would soon be destroyed. Our towering pines couldn’t safely survive the construction next door. So, my hugs and thanks that February morning were also a heartbroken ‘goodbye’ to our beloved pine trees.

Just a few hours later, the heavy equipment arrived…

A week earlier, I met with Matt, the tree man. I had two very important requests! He must be sure to protect my mom’s beautiful Rhododendron that grew on the edge of my Shade Garden, beneath the long reaching pine branches. This large plant grew in my childhood garden and is almost as old as I am. It was a gift to my garden many years ago when my parents moved to Arizona. Every summer, its large, pink blossoms warm my heart! My second wish was to have several slices of the tree trunks to use in a future garden project. Matt promised that he would make my wishes come true!

Oh my! It was a sight to behold! As I safely watched from the door of our deck, Matt worked from high in the air with pinpoint accuracy, cutting long branches, dropping them in the space between my white picket fence Herb & Tea Garden, our deck, and our roof. Mountains of branches were chipped into pine mulch. His team of four worked with guide ropes, chain saws, helmets, and ear protection.

As I watched the crew from the window, they were also watching me! It must have been entertaining to watch the little lady alternating between covering her eyes, giving thumbs up, and prayer hands of thanks as they worked. The four, strong men on the ground performed a ballet of twirls, turns, and leaps to quickly guide the falling limbs away from Mom’s Rhododendron.

Our century old pines towered over 75 feet tall. Our little house shook and my teacup collection rattled as each thirty foot section of trunk plummeted to the ground, landing in an ever-growing pile of branches in the neighbor’s yard.

The white sheet marks my mom’s Rhododendron surrounded by fallen pine branches.

When there was a safe path through the yard, I walked out to carefully uncover Mom’s special plant. It was perfect! Only two flower buds had fallen to the ground.

(You can see my beautiful mom and her Rhododendron in bloom

last summer here. Such a treasured photo.💗)

I walked over to thank the crew for their very careful work and to take a closer look at the fallen tree trunks. That’s when I discovered it…

a final gift from our towering pines!

A huge heart!

None of the crew noticed it… but I saw it right away!

It felt like a final gift of love from our pines.

We will find a way to use the carefully cut wood slices in our new, sunny garden design in the coming months. Although our towering pines are no longer with us, they will always be a huge part of our story!

We cherish their lovely memories…

and ALL of the gifts they gave us over the years!

🌸 🌸 🌸

Wishing you many Springtime blessings!

Stay safe and healthy!

Warmest hugs,

💗 Dawn

Small Moments

Hi Friends!

Happy International Women’s Day! I’m so glad that YOU stopped to visit with us today. The nicest people, from across the globe, always seem to find their way here. Yesterday, we had visitors from the U.S., UK, Ireland, Nigeria, the Netherlands, Germany, Norway, France, South Africa, Canada, and Brazil. It fills my heart with joy to know that you spend a few moments of your busy day in this little corner of the internet! Whether you are a longtime friend or this is your very first visit, I hope you feel ‘at home’ here. ♥

I have been contemplating some small moments that I want to remember as the weeks pass. Today, in my Midwest garden, there are only a few small snowpiles remaining. In January, we had 22 inches (56cm) of snow. February brought us 22 more inches (56cm) of snow! Shoveling snow became my regular ‘workout’ for a few weeks. With a desire to play in all that snow, I couldn’t wait to build a snowman (actually, a snowlady!).  😉

Meet Rosemary, the snow gardener! 🙂 She was named for my favorite herb and enjoyed wearing my straw, garden hat over her dried Hydrangea tresses. Each time I peeked out the window, Rosie was smiling back at me! To her good fortune, an Arctic plunge kept temperatures below 0 degrees for days on end.

With several more inches of glittery snow, Mother Nature dressed Rosemary in a flowing wedding gown. We will always remember her nice, long visit and all of the joy she brought us!

Last week, I gratefully put away my warmest, woolen mittens. As the snow melted, I happily noticed a most welcome sign of Spring during my daily walk through the neighborhood. It definitely put a smile in my heart and a spring in my step!

It just amazes me how these delicate Snowdrops can withstand the weight of so much snow cover! In our garden, the Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’ is showing its foliage. The Daffodils are already three inches tall. The buds on the Lilac, and Rhododendron are swelling. True signs that Spring is just around the corner!

The Magnolia buds have me dreaming my garden dreams as I wait. In fact, I have been thinking about mulch this week as I ponder a few changes to the garden. 😉

This is already my tenth year of choosing ‘One Little Word’ to guide me throughout the year. This year’s word  reminds me of the many ways to add S P A C E to my life. On the first page of my 2021 Self-Care bullet journal, my new word is surrounded by all of my previous ‘words.’ I continue to call upon all of these ‘words’ day after day!

As I continue to work through The Artist’s Way, by Julia Cameron, I have been reflecting on Creative Space and the ways that I incorporate creative rituals, inspiration, nature, and sensory experiences into my little Paper Garden studio downstairs.

 

For my Artist Date last week, I added touches of Springtime to my Self-Care bullet journal. The dot grid pages are filling up with creative affirmations, studio rules, and my creativity contract. Little-by-little, step-by-step, I can feel tiny, meaningful changes happening in my creative soul. I always look forward to our Tuesday Creative Cluster gatherings, via Zoom. Creativity is such an important part of my healthy lifestyle!

This year’s valentine for my sweet husband used non-traditional colors for a more natural look.

I never remember to photograph the inside of my handmade cards before I write in them! (So, I used a few seashells to hide the personal words here. 🙂 ) My cards are always embellished on the inside as a special treat for the recipient.

Distress inks and more stamps and dies from The Greetery helped me to create a collection of winter sprigs.

It was such fun to fill a tiny, stoneware pitcher with winter berries and greens for my parents. It won’t be long until things start to ‘bloom’ in my Paper Garden studio. Springtime usually arrives a bit early there! 🙂

Last week, I was blessed with the BEST small moment of all! It truly felt like a Red-Letter Day!!

After weeks and weeks of searching unsuccessfully for a vaccine appointment, a wonderful, unexpected opportunity arose! Our suburb worked to provide vaccines for 970 Seniors (65+ years old). With support from the police and fire departments, city officials, several pharmacists, and many volunteers, they set up a one-day vaccine clinic to administer our first dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine. Everything went so smoothly. We will all return in three weeks for our second dose of the vaccine!

As I headed home, my heart was overflowing with gratitude. ♥ My vaccine felt like a very big deal!! Each precious vial of ‘hope’ will help to lead us out of this pandemic if we all continue to do our part, by wearing masks, social distancing, and washing our hands! We cannot let our guard down yet… This week marks one whole year since we went on lockdown and began staying at home. Like so many of us, I long for the day that my whole family can gather together again!

I continue to be so very grateful for the diligent work of the scientists across the globe and those who volunteered in clinical trials, the dedicated doctors, nurses, and lab technicians (true unsung heroes), the first responders and the essential front-line workers whose personal sacrifices every day make a difference for us all.  I see you. ♥ I appreciate you. ♥ I honor you all! ♥

Very often, the small moments take up the most room in our hearts!

♥ ♥ ♥

I’m thinking of you all

on this

International Women’s Day!

Stay safe and healthy!

With much hope,

♡ Dawn

P.S. Please let us know what small moments are bringing YOU hope right now. If this is your first visit, please say “Hi.”  We would love to meet you! 🙂

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Artist Date ~ A Walk Down Memory Lane

Hi Friends!

Warmhearted greetings! I hope that you are healthy, safe, and cozy today in your little corner of the world. I am still feeling wrapped in the warmth of last week’s Artist Date. It truly was a walk down memory lane, in the sweetest of ways!

One of the joys of my Renaissance (the ‘R’ word that I use for retirement) is creating one-of-a-kind, handmade cards. It’s always such fun to surprise family and friends with these tiny pieces of my heart. My joy was doubled each time I mailed off a handmade card to my parents in Arizona. They felt like tiny, ‘paper hugs’ and kept us close in spite of the miles between us.

Every time I visited my parents in their lovely, desert home, I noticed my cards on display in places of honor ~ on the fireplace mantel, on top of my mom’s oak, rolltop desk, and in my dad’s Lionel train room. I often stopped to peek at my little works of ‘heart.’

Two years ago, when the time came to help my parents move back to our area, they surprised me with a very special gift. My mom filled a package with all of my handmade cards. What a treasure! I carried this very special package in my backpack on our flight back home to Illinois. Then I gently placed the package in a sunny, yellow, archival box on a shelf in my little Paper Garden studio downstairs. I looked forward to opening it when the right moment came along…

My first Artist Date of The Artist’s Way Creative Cluster felt like the perfect time! I gently carried the yellow box upstairs and enjoyed a sentimental walk down memory lane, as I carefully spread all of the cards on our dining room table. Although the sun was streaming in through the lace curtains, I’m certain that it was these ‘paper hugs’ that warmed my soul. There were so many handmade cards of all kinds created over six years. The insides of the cards were also decorated and filled with sweet sentiments and notes with news of the week.

My earliest cards were created right here at our dining room table using a Big Shot and a few embossing folders and dies. I can still remember the joy I felt as a brand new card maker! ♥

My passion for patterned paper, dry embossing, buttons, and twine grew with each tiny creation. I only had black ink and blended chalk for a bit of soft color. With a lifelong love of lettering, I was so excited to collect sentiment stamps!

Early on, I adored dry embossing on patterned paper creating the feel of vintage, patchwork quilts. As my collection of stamps and dies grew, I was so grateful to set up a dedicated, creative space downstairs in our unfinished basement. Oh, how I loved carrying a big cup of tea (to warm my hands) down to my new Paper Garden studio! ♥

I hung dried Hydrangeas and herbs from the ceiling rafters, added task lighting, tables, a rag rug, and music. Antique wooden boxes held many of my supplies. I felt so blessed to have a space to be messy and play for hours and hours. Newly retired, it was so nice to have ‘a place to go’ each day! Eight years later, my little Paper Garden studio is still a very special blessing in my life. ♥

Wreaths, wreaths, and more wreaths! You will find a wreath on our front door, in the dining room, in the guest room, in the kitchen, on the deck, and on our garden gate. Simple, grapevine wreaths are my favorite. Soon they began appearing on my cards, embellished with die cuts and stamping. Die cut sentiments on my cards became a new passion. As my ink collection slowly grew, I loved to match ink and paper colors.

I was so inspired by Art Impressions Watercolor stamps. Oh my! Separate stamps for each tiny bit of foliage, flower, branch, container, tuft of grass, and creature provided endless possibilities. Watercolor markers, watercolor paper, and a No. 4 round brush let me create tiny vignettes to my heart’s desire. I grew more interested in light and shadow and composition. I will always remember sitting in my parents’ desert garden watercoloring tiny, desert scenes. I was inspired by Nature’s color palette, as we hiked in the Sonoran desert, and the colors of my Midwest perennial gardens for so many cards. I could feel my creative heart expanding as I stretched my skills. That year, I began packing a few art supplies whenever I traveled. There was always space for this precious cargo in my backpack… and I needed it with me! 🙂

Pure Innocence stamps and dies melted my heart and are still such fun to create with! They bring back memories of playing with paper dolls as a child. Creativity should feel like play! I began to pack die cut images, watercolors, Distress inks, and patterned paper for paper piecing whenever I gathered with creative friends for our monthly   paper crafting ‘Crops.’

Creating tiny cards and tags using die cuts, watercolors, dye inks, and Prismacolor pencils always makes my heart smile! They add the perfect touch tied onto a bouquet of garden flowers or fresh, baked treats for friends and neighbors.

My mom shared her passion for gardening with me so long ago. So, naturally, I love to add florals to her cards! Watercolors, layered stamping, and ink blending brought these colorful blossoms to life.

It is always fun to include my dad’s favorite things on his cards! Tools, antique telephones, classic cars, toy trains, and vintage motor scooters make him smile. I love the way he studies each card to figure out the techniques I used. 🙂

Over the past two years, I have taken great delight in hand-delivering so many handmade cards to my parents. It’s such a blessing to actually watch them open each card and smile! Their apartment has a growing display of my latest little works of ‘heart.’ ♥

This Artist Date brought back so many wonderful memories of the early years of my creative journey! It was a chance to reflect on the ways I have grown as a maker and a creative over the past several years. As I carefully tucked all of the cards back into the yellow box, I knew that a tiny bit of my heart remained in each card. It excites me to think of all of the new skills that lie ahead… just waiting to be explored!  🙂

I am so very grateful to be a part of The Artist’s Way Creative Cluster. It feels like one of the very best gifts that I have ever given myself! I wonder where this incredible journey will lead me next?

What are you busy creating at the moment?

Are you curious to explore any new creative skills?

♥ ♥ ♥

Hope you’ll share with us!

Thank you for stopping by today!

Our hearts are with all those affected by the terrible winter storms.🙏🏼❤️

 

Sending inky hugs!

♡ Dawn

 

 

 

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