Meandering 2.11.2017

"Meandering: adjective; the act of following a winding or indirect course. Ramble, roam, zigzag, circuitous. A blog post about a variety of things; a little bit of this and a little bit of that."

After a three-month break, due to the holidays and a sister who had,  not just one, but two surgical procedures in January, we finally got together this weekend for a day of hunting vintage. Last year on one of our Grand Rapids hunting vintage days we visited a place called the Craft Outlet.. The day we found it was their last day of business before moving to a new location. So yesterday we hunted down the new location and were we pleasantly surprised. Not only did we find a lot of great deals but their new location in in a renovated warehouse! Seeing as we who love old buildings, vintage, repurposing and renovation the ambiance of this store made the visit there so much more special for us!

This place was so great! Good thing we found it because we found nothing at the many thrift and vintage stores we visited. Our day would have been a total bust except for the Craft Outlet and simply being together! Oh, and a good visit together to Target!

In the past few weeks I've worked on a few art journaling projects:

I finished my intentions page for my One Little Word journal.

I started journaling odds and ends in one of my Traveler's Notebook inserts, filling it with quotes from books I'm reading, documenting some of my life, and adding in prompts occasionally from groups I belong to. I was really missing The Document Life group and happened upon the rebirth of this group as "Life Documented" through a blog post from one of the former admins.

This quote speaks right to my heart and soul!

Last week a new theme began in the Get Messy Art Journaling community: the Season of Art 101. We're going back to basics and playing with different mediums. The first week's theme was watercolor and I chose the prompt about beginnings.

I'm putting my Season of art pages in the journal I started for December's 30 days of lists. I got too busy at work to do much art so I didn't fill the whole book. It's a great size with 5 x 7" pages.

Well I've meandered enough for one day! Tomorrow my sister and I will be vendors at Kalamazoo's Vintage Market. We're looking forward to a day of hanging out with lots of people who love vintage things. Enjoy your weekend!

Meandering 5.10.2016

"Meandering: adjective; the act of following a winding or indirect course. Ramble, roam, zigzag, circuitous. A blog post about a variety of things; a little bit of this and a little bit of that."

April was a busy month and May is looking to be even more so. I'm aware of this coming into these months each year and I try to manage events and energy well, but each year turns out the same. Busy! So I just go with the flow and fit in what I can. 

I am running a bit behind with The Documented Life Project (DLP) and have just finished photographing my March pages.

Last month I added Found on Brighton Vintage to my Etsy shop and my sister has joined me in this new venture. We're recording our adventures of the thrill of the vintage hunt in an FB group. Recent additions to the vintage section of the shop have been:

Swedish Enamelware Bowls

Vintage Metal Rolodex

Metal Florist Frog

1950's Metal Picnic Basket

Vintage Printer's Tray

1950"s World Atlas from Replogle Globe Co.

Last month my friend Bernice from the UK was in the states and spent a long weekend with me. We stayed in a cottage along Lake Erie and did some local exploring. We wandered through parks and along the beach and visited local landmarks like the Marblehead lighthouse and the historic neighborhood surrounding Thomas Edison's birthplace in Milan.

I did sunrise walks both mornings we were there. The first morning everything was calm and the lake was like a mirror. On day 2 the wind had picked up and totally changed the look of the lake. What a difference a day makes!

During some art time Bernice taught me a technique using patterned napkins by tearing off the backing paper and using a liquid adhesive to glue the tissue portion to the background. I used the technique on this page in my DLP journal.

We saw quite a few birds during our adventure but I'll save those for the next post.  We are just weeks away from the end of the school year and I am ready for the slower pace of summer. Last week I helped the 4th and 8th grade classes put a community garden at the school as part of the health initiative committee I've sat on this year. The kids decorated the boards for the raised beds and started all the plants as seeds in the classroom, 

That's it for today. Have a great week!

Meandering 1.12.2016

"Meandering: adjective; the act of following a winding or indirect course. Ramble, roam, zigzag, circuitous. A blog post about a variety of things; a little bit of this and a little bit of that."

Today my meandering is about recent discoveries.

I discovered 2015bestnine.com, a website that will generate a collage of your nine most popular pictures on Instagram for 2015.

Last month I discovered a way to continue my bird watching/photography hobby in the cold winter months. We have an incredible Metropark system in the Toledo area and six of our parks have Window on Wildlife locations. A Window on Wildlife is an indoor room lined with windows that overlook an area that has been set-up as a bird refuge with feeders, water and plenty of trees for shelter. The glass in these rooms are tinted so that the birds don't see you watching them. I discovered the first one on Christmas day. The weather here was 50 degrees. Highly unusual for late December in the upper Midwest! So I decided that day to go to the park closest to my home and take a photo walk. At the end of that walk I peeked my head into the Window on Wildlife and was pleasantly surprised to see so many birds visiting the feeders. I discovered this to be a great way to continue my weekly commitment of getting outside and taking pictures as a way of nourishing my emotional and creative energy. I plan on visiting all six locations over the next few months. So far I have been to two.

Female Downy Woodpecker

I discovered that the male Goldfinch changes color in the fall and winter.

Tufted Titmouse - my first sighting!

White-breasted Nuthatch - I can watch these little guys for hours!

This past weekend one of my god-grandsons asked me if I would help him with a writing and art project he was working on for school. Sai'Vion just turned nine and loves animals and nature so I decided that before we dug into the project I would take him over to the Window on Wildlife at Wildwood Park. We discovered that he really enjoys watching the birds also. He made a list of the birds we saw as I took pictures. He even worked a bird into his report and drew an impressive picture of a Blue Jay. I printed out some of the pictures I took, made a binder with drawing paper in it and place to keep his photos and gave him a bird book to use as a guide for drawing birds. I discovered a nine-year-old who now can share interests in birding and art with me! His story for his writing report was about encouragement. He made up a saying for it that said, "Keep calm and believe in yourself."

Sai'Vion's picture

His model

My birding and art buddy, Sai"Vion

I discovered my word for 2016: REST. I was originally thinking my word would be solitude, as it is a spiritual practice that I want to embrace more. But the more I thought about it I felt like solitude was a part of a bigger picture of a rhythm of life and rest encompasses that picture more fully. I'm not using the word rest as in "I just need some more sleep", but rather as a mindset of developing a rhythm of life that works to better balance all areas of my life: physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, and relational. My job in full time ministry can get overly busy and stress-filled at times and I have been trying for years to find ways to rest in the midst of the busyness in order to keep burn-out at bay. I've discovered in the past few years that the busyness and resulting fatigue and burnout rob me of energy in all areas of my life and I have been developing practices that help refill that depleted energy. So this year that is my focus.Last year I added to my already busy life by taking on being a part of the founding team of the His Kingdom Come faithart community. It was a great experience and one I totally enjoyed and am happy that I participated in. But it didn't help me build a healthier rhythm of life, in fact it just added more to the busyness and that was pivotal in my hard decision to step down form the foundation team. So this year I am slowing down as much as is possible. I am re-engaging in two practices from prior years that I gave up last year in order to make time for my HKC responsibilities. I am once again participating in Ali Edward's One Little Word project which helps me stay focused on my word throughout the year. And I am joining in on the Documented Life Project again this year. I missed being a part of these projects last year and am looking forward to engaging in them in the year ahead. I'll give just a glimpse of what I've done in each so far.

My One Little Word (OLW) binder:

The quote I found about fatigue really sums up well why I need to embrace rest this year!

My Documented Life (DLP) binder:

January divider

Week 1 calendar page

Week 1 mementos 

What I missed about DLP last year was how the practice of keeping memories about my days and weeks kept me more present to the happenings of daily life. It is also an easy art practice that keeps me creative without having to do a lot of planning.

Well, that's it for my discoveries recently. I'm looking forward to the journey ahead this year and what I will discover as I dig into my word for the year and as I document my daily life.

What discoveries have you made recently?