On making a journal

Well, the whirlwind that is my life is ramping up! And we talked about the "next week" syndrome yesterday. "It'll be quieter next week - I just need to get through this week." Well, that quiet next week never seems to arrive! But it's all fun, and I love what I do, making the chaotic schedule much more doable!

However, I'm at a retreat, yet I'm not at a retreat. I'm at home this morning. I swear DH looks at my calendar and says -- "oh, DW is away this week, so I should go on a trip!" Because I don't know how many times it happens that I'm away, and he needs to be away as well. Since he earns a bit more than I do, I must accommodate! 

Thankfully, he was away just for one day, and my retreat was close. So, I made dinner for the ladies at the retreat and came home. Let's say the girls and the boy were happy to see me when I arrived. And they were pretty upfront that waiting two hours for dinner is NOT ACCEPTABLE. Oh, those silly dogs. 

Chilling out after dinner

But after they were fed and had gone out, and I had dinner, we settled in the living room to enjoy the evening together. It's hard to see, but the little guy is in the big dog bed in the window. Of course, you can see the pretty fluffy dog on the floor and Lexi in the big bed. 

She loved that bed when it was beside the sofa in the family room, but now she prefers the couch. So I moved that bed to the living room, and now she sleeps in it more than on the couch. Oh, Lexi!!!!

Thankfully, the roads were clear and dry last night, and I made good time to get home. The weather should be good today because I'm going back! Even though today is checkout day, I'm still working on my project, and I can get in about 3 hours of work before we have to pack up. Yep -- it's worth it for me. 

I get to spend more time with friends, and everything is laid out with lots of available supplies. It's definitely worth it. Besides, I gave someone a lift, and she needs to come home with me! 

It's all in how you look at it. One must be flexible, and I'm certainly flexible. 

Our instructor is a journal-maker extraordinaire. She has gone above and beyond in making the supplies available to us (we paid a kit fee). I'm not sure I'd want people rooting through my tools and supplies like she has given us the freedom to do. THANK YOU!!!!

If I ever organize this workshop again, you should RUN to sign up because it's been absolutely amazing. We've had so much fun, and making the journals was incredible. It was a pleasure to work on something other than quilting. OK, we did some sewing (on paper) and used fabric in the journals, but it was a fantastic experience. SUPER CREATIVE!!!!

I might just offer it again if there is enough interest. WAIT -- I'll show you some of what we're doing. I don't have any sample pictures, but I'll share my book tomorrow, and then you can decide. I have some retreat days booked for 2025, and I might just play with those dates! 

I love how organized our instructor is --- brushes are labeled! 

Everything is labelled

I'm working on a piece of art to put in the middle of my book. I must confess that this mixed media art will take me many tries. When I do this, I'm very linear. And while there is nothing wrong with linear, I'd like to be a bit more NON-linear. For me, doing this kind of stuff is like learning to quilt all over again. I'm OK at it, but I would like to be better. 

Making mixed-media art

So what does that mean I have to do? PRACTISE. Make MISTAKES and learn by doing. Yep!!! And I'm excited to give it a whirl. 

Playing with fun stuff!

Now, to confess, I have a whole area in Studio B dedicated to scrapbooking stuff -- basically the same supplies we use to make our journals. But I never seem to get to them, even though they are pretty nicely organized. And we talked about having smaller sessions where we could just sit down and paint and make tags, pockets, and all kinds of cool things. 

Someone suggested that I convert Studio U to a scrapbooking area. ACK!!! I never thought of that, but wow -- wouldn't that be cool. I'd love to spend more time in that room since it's got this gorgeous big window, although it doesn't have good Wi-Fi access. That might be a good thing! Well, that's something to contemplate, and I'll look at all the stuff in Studio B to see how I could make that happen. 

Does anyone have this book? I bought mine many years ago when I was taking Home Ec (sewing). The cover was getting pretty crappy. So, with the help of an extra pair of hands, we put Mactac on the cover. It's not perfect by any means, but it works, and now the cover is more protected than it was!!!

My "new" sewing book

I have tried ONE MORE TIME to get those dreaded distribution lists correct. I see that I had people's OLD e-mails on some of the lists, and I have forgotten some people. How did that happen? I swear I checked and rechecked the lists. 

Thank goodness there are only six, or I'd go mad. I'm going mad about it as it is. I resent the TWO UFO groups this morning, so hopefully, everyone on the list got the e-mail. I also updated the Machine Embroidery list, and a confirmation went out this morning. PLEASE let me know (you have all been so patient) if you didn't get any of those and you were supposed to. 

And a gentle reminder to anyone who has a question. I have zero problems answering a question - as a matter of fact, I love questions. And no question is too silly. But I must know what you are talking about! If it's sketchy, take a picture, send it to me, and then ask the question. I can't read minds and figure out what you are doing. This does NOT happen often, but it does, and I just scratch my head! It also requires many back-and-forth e-mails, which would be unnecessary if I got a picture. I'm good with pictures!

And here it is -- according to Google Maps, here are all the places I visited last year. Coast to coast in Canada, with multiple stops along the way. Once down to Florida and then to Europe for a month. 

2023 travel in a nutshell

Who knows what this year will bring? 

Despite the subject, I'm enjoying The Escape Artist (about the concentration camps during the war). What I find fascinating about it is how so many people survived, particularly this young man. When you read it, you can see why he was different. Did he have faith? It wasn't his time? Or did he have a purpose and was determined to live to fulfill his purpose? 

On a smaller and less dramatic scale, that's our lives. Especially people who are retired. What is our purpose EACH DAY? Do we have a goal? If we don't, what drives us? What motivates us to keep going? 

It's also interesting to read this book about how "friends" helped each other. It is hard to succeed on your own; people are usually behind you. That's the same with our lives. Yes, we could live independently, but it makes life more exciting and fun when someone has your back. Someone to talk to and lend a pair of hands (like fixing my book cover). We CANNOT survive alone. 

I think that book would be an excellent read (and discussion) in our schools today. ACK! God forbid we talk about history, but this kind of history is important. Well, all types of history are important, but knowing what happened and how people got the will to survive --- we need those kinds of discussions in our society today. Those prisoners had life-threatening struggles -- what we experience today is nothing. 

For some reason, I think I would like to visit the site. I know that sounds morbid, but the emotions of this event are so strong. I'll always remember my visit to the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam or the exhibits at the Human Rights Museum in Winnipeg. We cannot let history repeat itself - at least not on this one. 

Well, enough about that today. Sorry, I get carried away. I have ZERO connection to this part of history, yet it's a very compelling story. 

I'm off to get the girls and the boy ready for their half-day home alone while I return to the retreat to finish my journal!!

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!!