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Day By Day
The new normal? Stay at Home......

I miss all my pals!
Remember when you could hang out with your friends?
Zoom doesn't cut it...

The Gorgeous Dahlia Garden in Golden Gate Park
Nature can still give us gifts...and did you know the dahlia is the official flower of San Francisco?
No wonder GG Park has a big Dahlia garden.
 

NO Eating Out
Restaurants in San Francisco have no dining in since March....and (in my opinion) SF isn't the greatest place to sit outside....fog, wind,  chill and cars...so hard on the restaurants, workers, etc
I hope they can manage to stay in business.
Doesn't this guy look like a chef? or line cook? or waiter?

City Girls
These two look like city girls to me. One with a bag of take out and the other wearings pants probably before it was common... 

What is going on here???
Wouldn't you love to know? I know I would... 

Summertime
And this one, perfect for August. I can't tell what kind of fruit that is. Peaches? I have been hitting every farm stand and farmers market I possibly can.....two words...
Summer Tomatoes
(And no, that is not me)

Zucchini blossoms
Another summer favorite.....it is so cool to eat flowers...

Girls just wanna have fun...
even now...
I found these great old snapshots at ScrapSF (which just recently reopened) . I've always loved old photos. So many ways to play with them.

Like this one...it is going in one of my altered passports. I wonder where those two are... 

Garden Photos
I always love a good garden photo... 

And, I love a good garden too...this is my little city backyard and it has been an oasis of peace since all this started. I am so happy to have a place to sit that is green and pretty.

Pull up a chair...
and have a seat. We can sit six feet apart and visit and catch up. You can tell me what you've been doing. Wouldn't that be lovely?
So come on over and sit.
Or, you can leave me a comment and tell me.
I'd love to hear from you and I am hoping everyone is well.

Since I've been away from posting, Blogger has changed everything and I don't know what has happened. Favorite posts and search and all the sidebars have just vanished (does anyone know where the sidebars went?)....I should set up a blog on another platform but I'd need a whole lot of help to figure that out.. 

Hello Friends...hope you're all well and safe.

SAVE THE USPS

 

And Here We Are....

Well, best intensions aside, I haven't been keeping up with posting more frequently. Like many of you, I am struggling with the world situation we have found ourselves in.
I try to keep a positive attitude but there are days....

What's helping me?

I've been working on a Corona Collage Journal for the 30 days in April. I've always found tearing and cutting and arranging and pasting a comforting thing to be doing and it still is.
And, since the shelter-in-place law has been extended for ANOTHER 31 DAYS I guess I will be working on the May version of the corona collage journal. Art is my way of dealing with things.

Looking for beauty is another way I deal....

And, I am finding cooking quite comforting. As you can see, I have been doing a whole lot of cooking and my husband is very pleased.
Usually I am complaining that cooking takes too much time but I seem to suddenly have a lot more time than I used to....

Sometimes you've just got to get OUT.
A drive along the CA coast pretty close to SF was very soothing...

In San Francisco, when you get an actual warm day, you better go for it. It is almost always too cold to sit outside but last week we hit 75 degrees and had lunch out in the garden.
So fun.

Speaking of the garden, it has been giving me great pleasure. Watching buds form and flowers and blossoms bloom and everything coming to life......
Life goes on.

Friends have been giving me pleasure too. My little city front "porch" had two special deliveries today.....this first one from my pal Pam (on IG @dogearedjournals).....still warm scones and homemade lemon curd and a tiny little wonderful book she made. What a great start to the day.

Later, my neighbor dropped off a bag of zucchini flowers from the farmers market. What a terrific treat and I am making my special Greek recipe with them...

We have been driving around SF once a week on the nearly empty streets. Spotted this mailman and we had to STOP so I could jump out and take a photo. Luckily there is no traffic. We also drove down Lombard Street The World's Crookedest Street (ahem) a number of times. It is never without cars and tourists and we took adventure of it now...very fun.

Yes, I have been sending out mail...slowly.....and cleaning my studio....even more slowly.....I found an old 8x10 photo of flowers and folded it in half to make an envelope. Kind of a fun idea. I can see  using different photos and making more of these...

I hope you are all staying well and safe out there.
Remember to keep six feet away and wear your masks (which are hopefully arty).
We will get through this.
And maybe we are all learning things somehow.....

So, I continue to glue things in my glue book...
cook and drink a little wine...and make a few things and write a few letters and do a bit of slow stitching...
Sometimes I just lie on the couch.
That's OK too.
Please check in and tell me how you are all doing. And WHAT you are doing?
I miss everyone.
Remember to clear your cookies from your browser before trying to comment.

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Working on Finding My Muse Again

These are strange times, aren't they? Things keep changing day by day. So much to take in.
And, I am having trouble keeping my spirts up as I bet a lot of you are as well.
I started gathering things together to get inspired to make things.
It kinda works.

My bank closed. The streetcars have sopped running. The parking lots by the ocean are closed.
Strange times.

I am organizing pages for various altered books.....These photos fit perfectly with the book pages...

I just stop to appreciate the beauty in the old and worn....like this.

These book pages are exactly the size of vintage postcards...

I KNOW I will be going to Paris again....may as well make a Paris book..

Have you been getting these notices? For two days people are going around and taping these to front doors.
I've never seen anything like this before.

Since we aren't supposed to go out, I started putting my outgoing mail  clipped to my front gate and my wonderful mail man takes them.
Every day Jose, my mailman, delivers mail and smiles and waves to everyone.
An everyday hero.

I have really been enjoying Roxanne Evans Stout's  book Dancing on Raindrops. Such beautiful photos in her book...so peaceful and comforting...

Marie Kondo Lovers may want to avert their eyes and not look at this next photo.

After looking at Roxanne's book several mornings with my coffee I decided to CLEAN MY STUDIO. Go figure.
I am inspired by the beauty in the book and also I am having a rough time feeling really creative.
I have made a huge mess and things are going to get worse before they get better.
My biggest problem is lack of storage space....I took everything off my work table and put it on the floor....but now what?
to be continued....

I am always trying to find beauty in every day life, now more than ever.

I woke up to this on my birthday. My husband is the best. He planted a lilac tree in the yard years ago just because I love lilacs so much. The tree squeezes out about two bouquets every year around my birthday.
They make me so happy.
And, so do all the lovely folks who sent me cards and letters and surprises and emails for my birthday.
Thank you all very much.
There are loads of free or reduced online classes going on. Anyone taking any?
What are you all doing to get through this? Feeling creative? Or wanting to lay down on the couch?
I am cooking a lot and cleaning.
I guess that gives me some sense of control.

Stay safe and sane, everyone.

SEND GOOD MAIL (it will cheer people up)!

Locked Down but Not Locked Out

Who is that sassy girl?
I love this envelope made by my pal Missy Millie....seeing her in my mailbox really cheered me up, especially since I can't really go out.....
She had the wrong zip code so it took a while to get to me but get to me it did...

Well, this was sure a surprise....life as we know it isn't the same....San Francisco is  locked down and rumor has it, things may get worse. So far I have only gone out for food and I am going stir crazy, even with the multitude of projects I have to work on....
So, what am I doing?

Drinking a lot of tea. I love the Smith Tea Company in Portland and treated myself to a new box. This is turmeric tea and pretty good. Just look at that tea bag -- so pretty. You KNOW I will have to do something with that tea bag....I love their Meadow Tea too....I'm just sayin' incase you are browsing their website for some tea you might like....

Besides drinking tea (and some wine) I have been reading books. I don't like to recommend books because we all have wildly different tastes in books (& movies...I hated Parasite and everyone else loved it) but I really, really enjoyed this book. And, you might too. And if you're really lucky, your library may be opened so you can get it from the library. It is a feel good-book and I need to feel better!

Happily I have a BIG stash of arty/crafty/mixed media/textile books and I have had ample time to sit and page through them and get ideas for projects. I hope you have some good books in your stash too.

This charming sewn folder was inside the Sassy Girl envelope (above).

All the way from OZ and my birthday buddy Vizma.
(Happy Birthday Aries pal!)

A delightful birthday surprise from my Portland buddy Miss Polly. My birthday is next week but what the heck....I opened it early. The PDXCC has their own pencil cases!
I really think the SF Correspondence Co-Op needs our own too.

I actually SET UP my unused sewing machine and I tried stitching on paper but the thread jammed. Or something. Now I am VERY cranky and I can't even ask anyone to come over and help me.
Damn.

When the walls start closing in, at least I can go out on my deck for some fresh air and some Meyer lemons....

And, I can go out in the garden and smell the jasmine vines. They are all blooming like crazy and small so good. I also have been watching the little buds come to life. Nature is such a balm.

This plant is old and has lots of beautiful flowers.....

Lilacs!!!
My favorite flowers and I actually have some blooming. They don't seem to do well here in San Francisco but my old lilac bush squeezes out a few every year right around my birthday.
I have lots of projects -- altered books, gelli printing, hand sewing and embroidery, etc -- but I only seem to want to sit and read. I guess I am trying to get used to the new and hopefully temporary reality.
I love Instagram and have been trolling through IG for inspiration. There is some wonderful art on there and lots of good mail ideas. You can sign up and make your account totally locked up (like SF!) and private but then you can see some great stuff. I can recommend some beautiful feeds if there is any interest.

So, I was thinking....
Maybe we could ALL make something "together"? want to try? I was thinking  Altered Altoid Tins or maybe Pocket Books....
Do you all have an Altoid tin? Some double stick tape? Gel Medium?
Want to play?
Clear those cookies and comment below if you do and I will try to set something up. It would be kind of fun to all work on the same basic project....I wish you could all come over but we know that can't happen right now.

Tell me what you think. And, tell me how you are all doing out there...How are YOU coping with things? Are you all under the Shelter In Place rule??
Stay safe and take care of yourselves.
And do something nice for someone else.

Remember,
ART SAVES LIVES