b mused

May's Postcard of the Month
Nice weather for geese!

I always get a kick seeing my friend Linda's geese (and other fowl)

when I visit her wonderful garden center* in early May

to get veggies and herbs to plant in my garden.

Oh boy, this month's postcard process was a challenge!

I am operating in a MUCH smaller space,

with many of my tools and materials not handily accessible.

But - albeit 2 weeks late - I did it!

I warmed up by making this little quilt collage:

for my nephew and his fiancee for their baby shower - a facsimile of the real thing,

which I'm planning to have done by the baby's due date - July 2nd.

So then I got down to it with May's design.

Prototype throw-downs:

I liked the sort of gridded patchwork of the quilt design, so that fed into some of the composition:

The Fixin's

Steps: The Movie:

The Steps

(25 this month)

Panels of 10 of May's postcards:

Fin.

* https://www.facebook.com/vtvictorygardens

April's Postcard of the Month
Nice weather for ducks...

Little ducklings of hope; mother-love guiding the way.
A couple of Mallards - a migration respite - in the Hannaford parking lot!

This is an interesting time in my life - a lot changing. Transitioning, transforming. e.g.:
Who am I without Mum?*

And... Good-bye to my light, bright Richmond studio. (see Addendum below)

And... Hello to our newly installed smoothly sliding door to the back deck!

Thank you Jesse and Mule!

Ch-ch-ch-change.

I've haven't taken a lot of photos - none of rain.
So... For your visual delectation I am instead sharing Linda Finkelsteins***gorgeous photos,
which she took a couple of weeks ago whilst visiting The City.

And, yes. I did do a very similar April card just 2 years ago:

Bare-basics prototypes for this month's card!

Prepping the rain - Lake Champlain Chocolates foil:

the rain drops - Winston cigarette pack foil:

and the rubber-stamped mother ducks and ducklings:

The Fixin's

(or most thereof...)

The Steps: The Movie

The Steps

17 again this month

I got to this point:

and realized that it still looked rather naked, unfinished.

So...

a nice vivid little piece of Chartreuse Origami paper!

And just a little black lace (paper) trim.

Panels of 15 of April's postcards

Fin.

*About a week after Mum died, I got an email from Carolyn Smiles, the Co-Coordinator of the local Champlain Valley group of Amnesty International USA, saying that at the recent Annual General Meeting of AIUSA, I had been "recognized, in front of 600 AGM participants, as being the AIUSA member who made the highest number of Urgent Action responses this year!".

So, a few weeks later, I met with Carolyn Smiles and heard about her and her husband's lifetime of dedicated human service - inspiring uplifting, and humbling.

Carolyn (which was my mother's middle name) came for tea, and presented me with a Certificate of Appreciation. :-)

Apparently, last year I sent out 450 emails to Ambassadors, Ministers, Governors, and other high-ranking officials around the world. But I earned this uplifting token of appreciation with so little effort! Writing a few emails every week did not take a lot of time or effort.

So... If anyone reading these notes wants to give me a run for my money... PLEASE! I would be thrilled if others wanted to beat my 450, help keep me humble! SO EASY. AI supplies all the information to be easily reformatted into emails.

https://www.amnesty.org/en/who-we-are/

**These 2 photos (other than my reflection in the new sliding glass door) are the only ones, so far, of me post-Mum (pM). This second one is of my beloved 'twin', Camie, and me in a mirthful moment.

With pix of Mum in the background. :-)