by

Flowers and Cats, Wild and Domestic: Creating Cards with Postage

Today I’m sharing three of the cards I created using my postage stamp stash. The cards run the gamut from pedestrian to quirky. You can read more about the start of this process here.

Along the way, I tried keeping track of the countries represented as I created the cards. I had so much fun.

This first card took a bit of planning. I used a beautiful new floral die by Hero Arts and 15 stamps from nine countries. I had to cut two stamps to get the colors in the right place, but for the most part, I enjoyed the challenge of placing the whole stamp for maximum color effect.

Here’s how it looked just before running it through my die-cutting machine. Countries represented in this card include China, Germany, Hong Kong, The Netherlands, New Zealand, The Philipines, ROC-Taiwan, Russia, and the US.

Here is the finished card. I placed the floral postage wreath on velum, then added a hand-stamped sentiment to a pink paper scrap.

The next card falls into the quirky category. When sorting my stamps, I set aside images of cats, hoping for inspiration.

I have a set of Sizzix dies featuring cats, something I hoped to use at Halloween. It occurred to me that I could try using the cat dies with the images of the postage cats facing forward. It worked for two of the three cats. Before I knew it, I had “constructed” a cat condo using textured woodgrain paper, various inks, and a sanding block to emulate a well-loved cat tree.

I still needed a face for the middle cat, but the remaining cat postage didn’t work. After pawing through several more stamps and some trial and error, cat number three got a pair of cool glasses courtesy of this stamp from China.

I used coordinating colors for the body of each cat. I finished the card by adding floral paper to the background, reminiscent of kitschy wallpaper. Now that’s quirky. Countries represented in this card include China, Korea, Lithuania or Lietuva, Malaysia, The Netherlands, and the US.

Today’s final card uses a single postage stamp from Russia. My sister loves wildcats, and her favorite color is purple. This over-sized stamp combines both. I used a stitching die to cut two rectangles, added the wild cat stamp to the smaller one, and stamped “thinking of you” in the upper corner. I know she’ll enjoy it.

I’ll be back tomorrow with more cards.

Here is a helpful link if you are new to card making. It’s called The Ultimate Card Making Techniques Glossary

by

Card-making With My Postcrossing Stash

One of my current stress-busters is creating cards from postage stamps. I’ve written about the fun of sending and receiving postcards worldwide via the Postcrossing project. I joined in 2016, and in those eight years, I’ve sent and received over 300 postcards. I have stamps from 41 countries.

What is Postcrossing?

  • The goal of this project is to allow anyone to send and receive postcards from all over the world!
  • The idea is simple: for each postcard you send, you will receive one back from a random postcrosser from somewhere in the world.

Over the years, I’ve thought about alternate ways to use my beautiful stash. With few exceptions, postage stamps are works of art.

A few weeks ago, I took the plunge and removed the postage from my Postcrossing cards by soaking them in warm water. I watched my dad do the same in his basement den in the early sixties. I’m amazed that those memories are so vivid.

It took a few days to complete, and not all stamps were salvageable due to the newer adhesive; however, I ended up with over 600 postage stamps. What a haul!

Sorting is relaxing, too. I initially sorted by color and theme, depending on the volume. There were more blue stamps than any other color, with orange and purple being the most scarce. I had a handful of cartoon stamps, four or five cat stamps, and many flowers.

Once I started making cards, I ended up with stamps everywhere: stuck to my sweater, on the floor, under the cat, and so on. I ended each crafting session by gathering my stash back together for the next time.

It’s interesting that creative pull once you’ve come up with an idea. I looked forward to those hours of crafting time.

Here is a sneak peek of a few of the cards I made.

I’ll share more tomorrow.

by

Cars, Coroners, and Cops: One for the Books

As we slowly work through the fallout since my brother-in-law’s death late last year, I’m sharing a few updates.

The revised coroner’s report determined the cause of death as cardiovascular disease. JJ died alone from cardiac arrest on his bedroom floor, a grim and untimely death. The toxicology reports came back negative, with no indication of foul play. Sadly, he appeared morbidly obese in his recent DMV photo, and he’d taken up smoking cigars. Further, anyone living in squalid conditions like the ones we found in his apartment has a five-year survival rate.

According to NCBI: “Diogenes syndrome is a behavioral disorder characterized by domestic squalor, extreme self-neglect, hoarding, and lack of shame regarding one’s living condition. Patients may present due to a range of reasons. Recognizing these will allow for earlier management of this high-mortality condition.”

Sadly, he never got help, or more accurately, he didn’t realize he needed help. A healthy person would never choose to live this way.

If you’ve read prior posts, you’ll recall that his car disappeared one day after the coroner recovered JJ’s remains. You can catch up here and here. Mike reported the vehicle stolen, and while connecting with the Department of Motor Vehicles or DMV, someone unknown to us had begun transferring ownership of my brother-in-law’s car. We were shocked.

A week later, the sheriff found the car back at the apartment complex, located and identified the suspect, and arrested him for felony burglary, auto theft, and possession of a controlled substance. He told the arresting officer that JJ was like an uncle and had given him the car for his birthday.

The car bounced back and forth between suspect, tow lot, back to suspect, and again back to the tow lot before the sheriff gave us the go-ahead to claim the car, which we did. They emphasized that the vehicle would remain “stolen” in the records until the DMV could finish investigating. We drove home with the car on a Friday and arranged to have it locked in a garage ten days later.

The car sitting in our driveway that week, especially with Mike traveling on business, made me nervous. One night, I saw a car slow in front of our driveway, adding to my fear and dread.

I wasn’t imagining things.

A few weeks later, I stepped onto our deck to get the mail, turned around, and saw three police cruisers pull up and block our driveway. At first, I thought something had happened at a neighbor’s home. Then I thought someone had died. Badly shaken, I approached the officer, and he said that he had a report of a stolen vehicle in our driveway. I explained the circumstances, and he promptly dismissed one of the squad cars, but the other two remained. We spoke to them at length. They understood the delays at the DMV but also said the car would remain stolen in the system until the DMV completed the investigation. It took me several days to shake off the trauma.

Mike promptly contacted the DMV for an update, only to find that they canceled the investigation for “lack of evidence” without bothering to let us know. With the help of Mike’s “leg work,” they reopened the investigation. Now we wait.

It’s good I committed to a sugar-free January, or I would be heading to See’s Candies for a pound of good chocolate. We all desperately want this chapter to end.

by

ScrapHappy Paper Portfolio

It’s time for a monthly scraphappy post; as usual, I’ve made something out of paper. Last month I made a few scraphappy cards for my friend, Mary. Today, I’m sharing the portfolio I made to hold those cards.

Late last year in Florence (Firenze), I enjoyed a fun prowl through a paper store called Il Papiro. The items they sell are created with paper using the same methods and techniques used in traditional 17th-century artistry. I bought one sheet of adorned green paper, thinking I would use it to make Christmas cards.

I used the paper to die-cut Christmas trees for cards and a few bookmarks for the Little Free Library, with enough of a remnant to create a scraphappy portfolio.

After measuring the size of the cards, I folded the paper accordingly, scored the center to create dimension, then glued the center and both sides of the new folder. I folded the top half inward, then covered it with Washi tape for a clean edge. I used my last rub-on decal on the cover.

Click the links below to see what other crafters have shared this month. If you want to join us, please get in touch with Kate. She does a fantastic job keeping this fun and organized.

Kate, Gun, Eva, Sue, Lynda,
Birthe, Turid, Susan, Cathy,  Tracy, 
Jan, Moira, Sandra, Chris, Alys,
Claire, Jean, Dawn, Gwen,
Sunny, Kjerstin, Sue L, Vera, 
 Ann, Dawn 2, Carol, Preeti,
Nóilin, Viv, Karrin, Amo, Alissa, 
Lynn, Tierney and Hannah

by

Rainbows and Dreamers, Gardens and Rain

We’ve had rain, sun, wind, and California cold this month, but nothing compared to Canada and the Midwest. I’m sending warm vibes to folks who are enduring -40 C/F.

My San Jose garden enjoyed the recent rain, a gentler version of last year’s repetitive atmospheric rivers. Slow and steady wins the race where rain is concerned. I’m grateful.

Without further ado, and In rainbow order, here are a few January garden gems:

Red abutilon is starting to reappear. I like to imagine a garden fairy trying on this beautiful dress.

Orange stocks have appeared for the first time on a pair of succulents in a pot on the deck. I transplanted these plants a few years ago, so seeing this new development is exciting.

Like a child at a candy shop, I can’t tell you how exciting it’s been to have a towering yellow sunflower in the middle of January.

Green is everywhere, but I’m featuring geranium leaves below. I love the multi-colored leaves.

Blue is tricky in the garden, so you have to play along here. This hydrangea flower has shades of blue and arrived well past its season’s prime, as evidenced by the faded brown flower by its side.

Violet is a garden favorite. I’m featuring another hydrangea, a Serbian bellflower, and what I thought was a salvia, but I’m no longer sure. Please let me know if you know differently.

Finally, I’m featuring black and white, not “colors/colours” at all, but I can never resist sharing what I refer to as fluff: The spent seeds from last summer’s Anemone. When I trim back the plants in early fall, I like to leave a few for the hummingbirds. They collect the Dandelion-like fluff for their nests. Aren’t they dreamy?

With a hat tip to Kermit the Frog’s Rainbow Connection, “A lover, a dreamer, and me.”

by

More Crafting, Less Stress

There is something about a new year that feels fresh and full of promise, with planned and unplanned opportunities sprinkled with hope and optimism. I acknowledge the privilege that allows me to write that sentence, and if I could be queen for a day, I would wrap the world in a warm blanket with a nice cup of tea.

This year, I plan to spend more time crafting, gardening, working with organizing clients and traveling. It would be nice to worry less, but it’s an unrealistic goal unless I can fit in a months-long Buddhist retreat, which leads me back to more crafting and gardening.

I revamped my crafting area, tweaked it, and then tweaked it again. Our home office/den was the family hub when the boys were young. It’s furnished with long-in-the-tooth IKEA desks and overhead cabinets. I removed the closet doors years ago and created additional space with shelves and a work surface instead of space for hanging clothes.

After a year of inhabiting the two desks the boys once used, I realized I preferred my curved desk and not the two long desks side by side. It also put me closer to the converted closet, so now everything is within arm’s reach, and I can look out the window when I craft.

The side-by-side desks hold our printer and supplies, Mike’s flight simulator, and the assorted detritus that lands on one’s desk. It feels good to have settled on the space, and while it’s often messy, it’s also easy to clean up.

Most of my crafting is paper-related these days. I used to sew, knit, and create scrapbooks, but card-making is an excellent way to relax, and the results are fun to share with friends.

At the end of each season, I gather my scraps and create small crafting kits to put next to our children’s Little Free Library or participate in Kate’s ScrapHappy challenge. That’s good fun, too. Yesterday, I helped my sister organize her crafting area and came home with stickers for more crafting kits. We recalled how, as girls, we loved stickers, so it’s fun to imagine another boy or girl having fun with them. Here we are in a Walgreen’s photo booth, circa 1970 and again about twenty years later.

On the gardening front, the off-season sunflowers continue to grow. It’s so unexpected. I had Mike snap some pics for height comparison, and then he steadied the footstool so I could see if a flower opened. As a bonus, we spotted a ladybug, a brilliant standout against the green foliage. A friend gave me another cyclamen as a new-year’s gift so its featured in the gallery as well.

We’re dreaming about our next travel adventure. Closer to home, we drove to Lexington Reservoir on the first day of the year and enjoyed the sunshine reflecting on the water, the scent of California oak and redwood trees, and simply being out in nature.

I hope the start of your year has you feeling energized and ready to take on the day.

by

Nature is a Balm

As the winter solstice approached earlier this week, I mentally composed a blog post, yet here it is, Christmas Eve and I’m just sitting down to write. December has been a time warp, bending to life’s whim and disregarding my preference for a calm and ordered season.

Nature is a balm, a lovely escape from the daily grind, a place to be in mind, body, and soul when all you have to do is step outside. Migrating birds are passing through, singing in the now-barren trees. I can’t help but look up, pause, and enjoy the chatter. The squirrels are active along the fences, dropping into the garden and scratching at the earth to bury their stash. Anna’s hummingbirds stay year-round and are chasing each other away from one of the feeders as I write this post.

I startled this little critter in the compost bin.

We had a few days of rain this week, clearing away the trapped valley smog and refreshing the air while providing moisture for the garden.

To my amazement, an unseasonable sunflower crop thrives even after a few days of frost. The plants are seven feet tall, with one promising to flower by Christmas. I’ve never grown sunflowers in winter and assumed the seeds dropped by the summer crop or planted by the squirrels would remain dormant till next spring. I’m always learning.

There are signs of life everywhere with the promise of a cheerful spring. I had naively been pulling up California poppies when they died back, but further reading advised cutting the plant back without disturbing the root system. I’m reaping the benefits of that advice with lacy green foliage throughout the front garden. My beloved hyacinth is sprouting, along with freesia and an unexpected single paperwhite Narcissus tazetta.

Our recent storm ended my leaf-raking for the year, which I will miss, believe it or not. That same storm invited weeds to sprout, and the violets are again trying to take over, so there will be plenty to keep me engaged.

I hope you have a lovely holiday season, a Merry Christmas, and all good things in the coming year.

A small gallery from two of my fairy miniature gardens:

by

ScrapHappy December: Covered Booze Box and a Few Scrappy Cards

It’s the middle of December, or in Kate-speak, it’s time to show off our monthly ScrapHappy challenge as we wind down the year.

I have a few things to share this month, starting with a Christmas card made from a damaged gift bag.

After removing the striped paper from the sides and bottom of the bag, I selected the lower corner of the bag facade featuring a panda plushy. Those eyes melt my heart. Once cut to size, I used a dry embossing folder to add texture to the card, then cut it with a stitching die from my stash.

I created a mat for the card using the paper from the side of the gift bag and then added a thin border of gold paper for contrast. I used my glitter gel pen to add highlights where the original artist used them on the bag. A small greeting embossed on a heavy vellum finished the card.

Next, I created a series of cards using leaf skeletons gifted by my friend Mary. She said, “I thought you could use these to make cards,” so I did. The leaves came in an assortment of sizes and colors.

My last share is a wooden box gifted to Mike with a bottle of long-forgotten alcohol. I claimed the box for storage on my crafting table as it is sturdy and the perfect size for the various plates I use for my die and embossing machine.

It sat unadorned for a year before I gave it the Washi tape treatment. The wooden box has a slot for the lid, so one of the four sides needed leveling. I settled on take-out wooden chopsticks, building the edge in layers till even.

All three of these projects were a lot of fun. On that note, please look at some of the other fun ScrapHappy projects at the sites linked below.

Thanks, Kate, for inspiring us to put our scraps to use.

Kate, Gun, Eva, Sue, Lynda,
Birthe, Turid, Susan, Cathy,  Tracy, 
Jan, Moira, Sandra, Chris, Alys,
Claire, Jean, Dawn, Gwen,
Sunny, Kjerstin, Sue L, Vera, 
 Ann, Dawn 2, Carol, Preeti,
Nóilin, Viv, Karrin, Amo, Alissa, 
Lynn, Tierney and Hannah

by

Misty Morning Musings

A misty morning fog settled over San Jose on Monday, a nice change of pace for this time of year and a gift to the otherwise dry garden. Autumn arrives in slow motion here in the Bay Area, so it’s strange to think that our winter solstice is just a few weeks away. The beautiful oranges, yellows, and reds of autumn are everywhere.

Mike has fully recovered from COVID-19 and is on a business trip again. Fortunately, his trip to Las Vegas is only three days long, just an hour away, and in the same time zone. I flew to Vegas with him Saturday morning, and our youngest son joined us for a 24-hour visit. We attended Cirque du Soleil, something we all enjoy, and a walk-through of the Conservatory & Botanical Gardens at the Bellagio Hotel.

“Each season, the enormously talented Horticulture and Engineering teams transform the 14,000-square-foot Botanical Gardens into a showcase of inspiring sights, sounds, scents and colors. Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter are all featured—along with a special display for Lunar New Year. When the seasons change so do the displays. The talented Conservatory team changes out the design and also replants and repurposes as much of the living plant material as possible, further celebrating Mother Nature and our commitment to sustainability.” –Bellagio Website

This year’s holiday theme is the Nutcracker. It opened the day before we arrived.

The designer creates a magical display with real trees, plants, and flowers. A model train ran through the brightly lit and inviting displays, and though crowded, I enjoyed the Christmas magic and time with my family. Las Vegas isn’t my scene, but it allowed us to be together.

We walked five miles on Saturday in between meals and the show. We had a strange incident at dinner, which put a damper on the meal, and we’re still unclear what happened. A few seconds after they served our meal, a security officer walked up to the side of our table and stood within a shoulder-tapping distance of my 23-year-old son. We expected the guard to say something, but he just stood there. A second security guard arrived, and we finally understood that they were “back up” for an incident playing out at a nearby table. Everyone fell silent, knowing something was amiss but not knowing what. My son overheard the security detail threaten a misdemeanor arrest if the party of four didn’t leave the restaurant. After some fanfare, they finally complied, but everyone felt unsettled.

I’m glad to be back home doing mundane things like raking leaves and laundry. Dorothy had it right; there is no place like home.

We’ve decked our Christmas tree with baubles from our travels, gifts from friends, and hand-made treasures from the boy’s grammar school years. New this season is a pair of marbled paper ornaments from our time in Florence and a funny cat decoration from my friend, Mary.

I bought branches of Christmas greenery from a nearby garden center and mixed in lavender from our garden, filling vases and glass jars for maximum effect. Soon, my family of four will be home. The nest is ready.

by

A Bit of This and Oh No, Not That

I’ve been catching up on garden chores involving autumn pruning, raking, and winterizing the garden furniture. When I covered the patio table and chairs, Tessa got very excited. She thinks I assembled a fort just for her.

The curb garden is awash in color, thanks to an early autumn planting just before we left for Italy. One oddity is a new crop of sunflower plants. I had hoped the squirrels would bury the seeds for a summer crop. I never dreamed that the sunflowers would produce a crop this time of year.

Cheerful pink cosmos continue to bloom and should last till the first frost. Lucky me! I thought they would’ve been spent by now. The tomato plant in the garden’s center is still producing, but the late-season produce lacks the sweet flavor of summer. Sweet peas have sent out lots of green shoots, and the freesia have multiplied once again. My first successfully grown zinnia is a day-brightener.

It’s nice to have the bees stop by the salvia and lavender. I cut sprigs of the scented herbs for the house. They do well in water and can be left to dry in place, equally fragrant and shapely.

I’ve added some seasonal color this year, planting red and white cyclamen along the garden near the sidewalk. Cyclamen were among my mum’s favorites.

I also have a few more to get in the ground in the back garden, including two richly colored pink varieties. I ran out of daylight, then it rained. We need every drop, so there are no complaints here. It’s cool enough now that the roots should remain moist until I get them into the ground. I need a bit of energy to complete this simple task and the willpower to stay away from the garden center for the balance of the year. It’s time for the garden and the gardener to rest.

I’m happy to have Mike home from his long business trip through South America. Unfortunately, he came home with COVID. We were both vaccinated last month, so he felt sure it was a bad cold. As he felt worse, he finally tested Sunday night. We’re sleeping in separate rooms now, wearing masks, etc. I remain healthy, and I dearly hope I stay this way.

We were due to host six for Thanksgiving this Thursday, so sadly, we’ve had to let that go. I have a case of the blues. Realizing that my oldest son would be home alone on Thursday hasn’t helped. I’ve decided to prepare a small meal of favorites for three, and two of us will eat outdoors while Mike joins from the house. The weather experts predict warm and dry, so it should be okay. My youngest son is celebrating with friends in Southern California, and my sister prefers staying put.


Holidays arrive loaded with memories and expectations that often fall short. Social media amplifies and distorts. I look forward to what Katrina Kenison calls “the gift of an ordinary day.”