I left the house more this past week than I probably should have. But, I was preparing for another birthday - Pat's (my husband)!! It kept me busy and distracted. And, that's always a good thing. I did take all the necessary precautions: mask, sanitizer, social distancing! I promise.
Sunday was much like Saturday. We lazed around most of the morning, then did a little yard work followed by a float in the pool. (Admittedly, that will likely continue to be our weekend plans until it gets cold again!)
I stayed super busy on Monday with my usual errands (grocery shopping) and chores then spent the afternoon like this.
No, it wasn't for another trip to the store - I was soldering! The re-breather is a bit of overkill, but I like to take precautions.
Once I had tackled the soldering I needed and wanted to get done, I took a little break out on the porch before making dinner.
It's been my habit lately to have a beverage and enjoy the outdoors before it gets dark. It helps me break up the day and decompress. On Monday, I actually grabbed my good camera and my big lens to get some shots of the birds.
We just got a new hummingbird feeder, so those have been my obsession lately.
They're so cool. Most of the time, the birds are actually perching on the feeder. Our previous feeder didn't have a perch, so they would just hover. I'll have to share some of the perched photos later. I was just smitten with this photo. It's the only hovering one I got.
After getting Tuesday's chores started, I went out to try to get some videos uploaded. I started at one of my best friends' houses but the videos ended up stalling out after a while. Then, I drove through a local coffee place and used their WiFi. I was able to get one video up before the next one stalled. DANG! At least the coffee was yummy. In the evening, I got some puppy snuggles to console me.
I'm not even sure what happened to Wednesday. I mostly spent it finishing up my projects, taking pictures, and writing my post for Thursday's reveal for the Art Elements Bee Theme Reveal.
Thursday also included one of my biggest excitements of the week. I discovered my first gardenia bloom of the season!
It's not the prettiest thing, but it smelled spectacular!
Friday is always my main house-cleaning day, but it was also the first day of the month. So, I started it in my bullet journal, getting my monthly tracking set up.
And, before I got the bathrooms cleaned, Zoe got cleaned.
Despite the photo, she was thrilled to be clean. (I was holding her tennis ball to get her to look at me!) I ran a few errands that afternoon to pick up some things for Pat's birthday and try again to get videos uploaded. Again, I had trouble at the coffee place but found another location that worked out great, and I didn't have to interact with anyone or get out of the car. That really made my day!
Saturday was Pat's birthday, and I did my best to make it special with loads of presents and some of his favorite foods. A few friends stopped by but kept their distance as well. We spent the afternoon out by the pool. And, it was really lovely.
We topped it off with a yummy meal and strawberry shortcake. It was low key, but I think he enjoyed it. I'm sure that today will likely be another weekend repeat. And, we have no problem with that.
I've continued to work on my #The100DayProject of #MakeArtDontFakeArt. Though I fell behind a few days, I made sure to catch up. What can I say? It's been a busy week!
I combined days 19 (thin Masking Tape) and 20 (Distress Crayons)
Using a napkin on Day 21 was difficult, but I think I made it work.
I put off using my mounted stamps (Day 22) for a day then ended up just embossing and watercoloring a few of them. They were cut out and added to a page for Day 23 (Master's Touch paint set).
On Day 24, I was to use at least part of a page from one of my vintage timesheet books. The focal (above) worked out great, but the rest of the page...
ehhhhhh......
I fell behind again on Day 25 as I couldn't decide what to do with my StazOn ink. I toyed with the idea of doing a little metal etching but thought about it too long. And, I ended up not getting to them until the next day when I made myself just use some stamps that were sitting next to my desk.
I then incorporated one of those stamps into the page for Day 26. I was to use the ink from ink pads through stencils. I used some Distress Oxides and added them to the art journal both with water added and without in order to see how well they worked. I like how precise the non-watered ones were as compared to paint, which often seeps under the stencils.
Again, I fell behind on finding inspiration as I was staying so busy. But, there were a few links to share.
- Lisa at Wisconsin Magpie totally transformed a few thrift store decorative birds by Decoupaging Newspaper onto them. You really need to see them!
- This roundup of Super Sassy Embroidery Patterns really tickles me to no end. I may have to get a few and test out my embroidery skills again.
- At Jewelry Making Journal, there's a really easy Fabric-wrapped Choker Tutorial.
- If you've got a die-cut machine, check out this free DIY Feather Earrings SVG File at Mad in Crafts.
And, that was my week! How are you hanging in there?
Very interesting journal pages esp the last one - You could christen it "Apocalyptic florescence" :D The rest have a poetic feel. Its great that you go to buy stuff for your husband's birthday. Its only during the lockdown I understand how we have taken certain services for granted.
ReplyDelete