An Insomniac's Card

Making cards, or in this case a note pad, is my go to reaction to show someone I care. Every once in a while that includes the hunt for "the perfect stamp". With one look at this image you may wonder why I haven't worked up a halloween theme, so let me explain why this drum playing skeleton couldn't be any better.

I have a friend who had major surgery which involved removing a rib to repair a vein. Before the surgery she and her husband hosted a BBQ and served spareribs! She used a life size plastic skeleton (aka halloween decoration) as her profile picture on her Caring Bridge site. In a shop near the hospital she found (and bought) a pale pink plate, of all things, identifying all the thoracic bones. A month before she would have walked on by, but she also has a fabulous sense of humor and knows how important it is to find things to make you laugh to keep the fears at bay. She copes with insomnia, too, and that just stinks. When I found this stamp, I stopped looking and knew, "This is going to make her laugh!" 

Praying for a friend and making her laugh are almost the same thing. 

They are good for the soul – for both of us.  

Stamp Credits: Rubber Hedgehog Rubber Stamps (skeleton); River City Rubber Works (sentiment)

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Sit on a Pumpkin Card

Goldilocks pumpkins. That's what I call these. They are not too big and not too small. They are just right for coloring. I am participating in my second 30 Day Coloring Challenge with The Daily Marker, and it is a daily challenge for me to decide what to do each day. Coloring (well) is still kinda new to me, and I'm learning a lot from the other crafters and artists sharing their work on Instagram at #thedailymarker30day3. I will practice with a variety of techniques using these pumpkins, and I will share some of them here, too. These are done with colored pencils, and I'm tickled with how they turned out.  

Know what I like even better than the pumpkins? The quote! Look what else I discovered on Instagram – #thoreaubackthursday. That's today. Check it out. 

Stamp Credit: Pumpkins by Stampin' Up. 

It Could Have Been a Birthday Card

Today is my mother-n-law's birthday; yesterday it was my first daughter's birthday; three days before that it was my sister-in-law's birthday; day before that, my second daughter and another sis-in-law; two weeks before that, my sister; and in between those it would have been my Grandmother's birthday. And, oh my goodness, I have a lot of Facebook girlfriends with birthdays this month. Lots of dear, wonderful women have birthdays in September. 

I love this image for so many reasons. First and foremost, I have two daughters who (thank the Good Lord) happen to adore one another. They are the reason I bought this stamp. But the reasons go beyond that. Not only did I grow up at the beach, but I lived there a really long time, too, and spent many hours on the sand and in the waves with my sister and with girlfriends. My two September birthday sisters-in-law, and my mother-in-law are talented artists, and my attempts at hand coloring or using watercolor paints always bring them to mind with hopes that their talent will rub off on me just because I married into the family.  

I really can get lost in this card, just imagining the salt air and the sound of the waves. Mostly, though, I think of the women who are in my family or who are my friends, even if their birthday isn't in September. I hope you will, too!

Stamp Credit:  Image by Stampin' Up

Yuzen Dyeing Card

"Yuzen dyeing is one of the traditional extreme art forms in Japan from the 17th century. Yuzen dyeing is named after Miyazaki Yuzensai who was famous for his beautiful fan creations in Kyoto. By the end of the 19th century, a vast range of colorful chemical dyes came into use, and a method of stencil dyeing was developed." This blurb is from the brochure for Kyo-yuzen Workshop Marumasu Nishimuraya in Kyoto. The set up of the studio is very similar to the paint your own pottery places in the U.S. 

During our trip to Japan this summer we spent one very hot afternoon in Kyoto in this delightfully cool (both literally and figuratively) studio trying our hand at this Japanese art form. The afternoon was a testimony to the power of art to bridge cultural and language barriers as the master craftsman, Yoshio Nishimura, and his assistants oversaw our projects. 

Okay, yes, there were cheat sheets in English, but the art on the walls and the demonstration by the artist who worked with us motivated each of us to create a unique and personal souvenir. Actually it might have been the Japanese onomatopoeia our assistant used for a circular brush motion that started our creative juices flowing. 

 Homage to our time in Kyoto. I embossed the fan with a brass stencil and colored it with ink using a small dauber in a circular motion (burraburraburraburra).

A Card of Strength

Asking for help as an adult ought to come naturally, because we must depend on people for so long when we are young. But somewhere in the growing up process we decide that being independent trumps receiving any sort of assistance. The paradox in that thinking is how eager we are to come to the aide of someone else. We find joy in lightening a load, preparing a meal, or driving a friend. We are happy when we help other people; so why is it so hard to ask for help in return? I don't have a good answer to that question, but we should ponder it and consider sharing the love and the load.  

Don't think of it as asking for help, but rather you are giving someone the opportunity to spread their joy. And you might give her a idea for a blog post, too. 

Stamp Credits: 

Background stamps by Impression Obsession; Silhouette Women by Hero Arts; Sentiment by Stampabilities

An Inspired Card

Sometimes you need a break, and then, sometimes, that leads to needing inspiration. I can thank my daughters for both in this case. Summer is such a wonderful time to let go of requirements and deadlines. Those come upon us soon enough when school starts, which it did four weeks ago. It's been during these four weeks, that my one dear daughter has been wondering when I'm going to blog again. She's threatened to unfollow me if I don't do it soon. I just love her for that.  

Summer heat and humidity also make me put off yard work. The yard has needed weeding, and I was waiting for rain to soften the ground so I could pull up a dead bush. Thankfully this happened last week, before my in-laws visited. (Yay!) My other dear daughter doesn't read the blog at all, but she did go to Home Depot with me and picked out flowers. I just love her for that.

So, with the yard work complete, and memories of family time tucked in my heart, I have plenty of inspiration for the season ahead. Thank you, girls. I love you for that. 

Birthday Card and Dinner

When someone asks me about our trip to Japan the first thing that comes to mind is the food.  Everything was delicious and fresh. We looked forward to our meals as much as any other part of our sight seeing day. That is very indicative of our family's nature. We like to cook; we like to eat; and we like to discover local fare wherever we travel. Several of our meals were served "family style" or were simply designed to be shared. We loved eating this way, because it's an added bonus to being with Uncle Mike and Aunt Robin who don't live near us.  

Okana-minyaki dinner. A specialty in Hiroshima. We called it "the fried pancake" dinner. It was so much better than that sounds, because the only thing that makes it a pancake is the shape. Think stir fry cooked in one piece on a hibachi grill. We shared three: veggie, seafood, and pork. Though it is prepared in the kitchen, it is served off a hot grill table. This small restaurant on a side street was recommended in the Lonely Planet travel guide. We might have passed it by otherwise. (Yes, we left our name and date on the wall, too.)

Our Shabu Shabu dinner in Tokyo. It is similar to fondue.  Two broths are served over a flame. Plates of thinly sliced beef and pork are brought to the table, and we helped ourselves to the salad bar to bring our choice of vegetables to cook at the table, too. What makes this different from a fondue restaurant in the U.S.? You select the amount of time you plan to eat, either 90 minutes or two hours, and they keep bringing the food. (Great shot of the girls with Uncle Mike, Aunt Robin, and the food.)

Happy Birthday, Uncle Mike.  We wish we could take you out for Shabu Shabu.