March 20, 2020 by Born To Organize

A Heart of Teal

Teal postage stamps die-cut into a heart

Kate, as you know has a heart of teal.

Through her blog, Tall Tales From Chiconia, Kate unites bloggers around the world. She is also a champion for Ovarian Cancer Australia.

Kate designs teal quilts with a clever, tongue-in-cheek theme. My current favorite is Signed, Tealed and Delivered, a quilt featuring postage stamps, envelopes, letters, and notes, all cleverly sewn into quilting squares by talented artisans and crafters around the world. Kate gathers, assembles and then quilts the final product. The quilts are auctioned, with the proceeds benefiting Ovarian Cancer Australia.

Kate also co-hosts monthly scrap-happy posts where bloggers share what they’ve created that month made entirely of scraps. I frequently take part and really enjoy seeing the creativity of others.

I’ve wanted to make a card of appreciation for Kate for some time, but it took surgery to slow me down and reset a few priorities. Kate’s away on a long holiday, so I won’t publish this post until she returns and receives her card in person. It’s a paper quilt of sorts, using teal postage stamps, die-cut into a heart and placed on an embossed background. Teal stamps are not easy to come by. I found the Vintage Postage Shop on Etsy and asked her to send a packet of teal or close to teal, stamps. I added one from my Dad’s collection, the 1946 Ceylon stamp at the bottom of the heart. The stamps represent travel, gardening, flowers and, stating the obvious, teal.

Narrow heart border inside the card

I’m a wannabe quilter. I know how to sew, but I lack the precision and the patience to make a quilt. I’m a huge admirer though, of all that goes into making one and I thoroughly enjoy watching the process unfold. I’m impressed by the generosity and the talent of all of the women involved.

Thank you, Kate.

Floral-embossed teal background

T.E.A.L.® stands for both Tell Every Amazing Lady About Ovarian Cancer Louisa M. McGregor Ovarian Cancer Foundation and for Teal, the color that symbolizes ovarian cancer. Founded in 2009 by two sisters from Brooklyn, NY to draw attention to ovarian cancer, T.E.A.L.® has grown to become a national movement. Our goal is to decrease mortality rates by helping women identify signs and symptoms and urging them to seek medical help at the earliest possible stages. We believe that by equipping women with knowledge about the disease and its signs and encouraging them to listen to their bodies, we can save lives.

Note: Kate’s card had an interesting journey thanks to an outdated address (my bad) and the uncertainly in the time of Covid-19. She’s written a post about the card and about letter-writing in general and it’s resonation with a lot of her readers. You can read it in full here.: Neither Snow Nor Rain

March 11, 2020 by Born To Organize

More Projects from the Couch

I have another project in the works for my sister Sharon.

I’m using my surgery recovery time to carefully remove hundreds of postage stamps from one of our dad’s stamp collections. When I’m fully mobile again, I’ll move on to phase two: a stamp-covered table.

Antigua Half Penny Postage Stamp 1916-18

Our dad had many hobbies, but the one we remember the most is stamp-collecting. Mom kept his albums for years after he died. She eventually sold a few and gave each of us the money toward college. It wasn’t much, but it was important for her to turn his collection into something more tangible for our future. Thankfully she hung on to a few albums.

Ascension Postage and Revenue 1935

Dad died when we were 8 and 9 respectively, a short time after immigrating to the United States. Dad started life in Oldham, England, moved to India, twice, immigrated to Canada where he met our mother, and then ended life in California at the age of 54 from lung cancer.

His albums took on a certain status. They were our connection to our beloved father. I don’t remember looking at them individually, but more as a collection and a representation of what to us seemed like an exotic life.

Ceylon Postage and Revenue, over-stamped with War Stamp

Assorted colors postage stamps Chamba State India

Multi-colored India Postage embossed/stamped with Chamba State, 1907

I wrote about the emotions around his stamps back in March of 2015. Here is an excerpt:

Last August, on the anniversary of my father’s death, I was finally able to re-frame my feelings about his stamp collection. I once viewed his stamp albums as life interrupted. They reminded me of my loss instead of the joyful hours he spent pursuing this hobby. The stamp albums sat in a cupboard, revered. Now I see them as a gift to be shared, and as a way to celebrate my father’s kind and curious nature. I hosted a blog giveaway and sent many of Dad’s stamps to friends and acquaintances around the world. It was an extraordinary exercise in letting go. If you would like to read the post in its entirety, you’ll find it here: Vintage Postage: A Daughter’s Love Letter and a Blogging Giveaway.

Five years ago I made a round accent table using postage from my album. I created a few cards using his stamps, and then mailed extras to bloggers around the world. Pauline King turned several of them into a wonderful piece of art. It’s a treasure!

Sharon loves my table and asked if I would make one for her using stamps from her album. So here we are.

I’ve removed about 400 stamps so far, each meticulously mounted in the album with gummed labels. If those stamps could talk. I’m sorting by color as I go, with a special pile of multi-colored stamps that I plan to use along the table’s border. I’m thinking a lot about my dad as I go and about my sister too. We’re both excited about the table.

Here are a few more pages from his album.

Trans-Tasmanian New Zealand postage stamps

India Special Issue China Expeditionary Force or C.E.F., 1882 to 1900

Here is a gallery of Pauline King’s art made incorporating some of Dad’s stamps, along with my postage stamp table, and a few greeting cards.

Alys in Wonderland: Art by Pauline King, The Contented Crafter

Mixed Media art using postage stamps by Pauline King

Postage Stamp table using my father’s collection

Postage Stamp table close-up

Postage Stamp table detail

Initial cards made with vintage postage stamps

I’ll let you know how it goes.

March 9, 2020 by Born To Organize

My Orchid Blooms Again

Imagine my surprise when this orchid rebloomed.

Phalaenopsis also is known as a moth plant

Sure, in theory, they re-bloom, but that’s not been my experience. I received this orchid as a gift in November 2016. I’ve been lulled into purchasing one or two over the years, but they’re pricey and usually end the same way.

Orchids are gorgeous when in bloom, and they don’t require much fuss. Eventually, like all flowering plants, the blooms drop away. What’s left is a small set of shiny green leaves. They look nice for a while, but apparently, I neglect them and the leaves fall off one by one. I’m left with compost-filler and a small, empty pot.

Light filtering through the Phalaenopsis bloom

I don’t mind admitting that its a bit guilt-inducing when you lose a house plant. I have my green thumb reputation to uphold! It was ridiculously validating to round the corner behind my couch last November and find my orchid in bloom, three years after the plant moved in. Furthermore, it continued to bloom well into February of this year. February!

Phalaenopsis

Of course, I can’t take all the credit, but after some reading, I’ll let you know what I did right. I moved the orchid close to a window that receives filtered light. There are other plants in the corner, which help create humidity. I stopped watering with my watering can and let a few icecubes melt on the surface instead. Orchids need oxygen at the roots and they don’t like sitting in water.

Those small changes paid off in a big and beautiful way.

My next project will be trying to revive an African Violet. Our foster kitten sat on it. That said, Little Bit went to her permanent home in early January and the violet is still hanging on.

I remain hopeful.

Little Bit lounging as one does

March 2, 2020 by Born To Organize

Memorydex meets Memorex: Archiving Cassette Tape Covers

Sisters, 1980s

Readers of a certain age will remember the Rolodex. Danish engineer Hildaur Neilsen invented the rotating business contact holder for a stationery manufacturer in New York in 1958.

In 2015, American Craft designer Heide Swapp put her own spin on the Rolodex, and the crafting world went wild. She calls it a Memorydex. Instead of rotating boring contacts, you create, store, and rotate memories. Heide Swapp’s Memorydex is taller, and as luck would have it, about the same size as a cassette tape cover.

Packaging photo: copyright Heidi Swapp

You’ll also have to be a reader of a certain age to remember cassette tapes which peaked in the 1980s. My sister Sharon and I spent our twenties in that decade. Music cassette tapes were the thing. You could play them on a cassette player, in your car, or risk arrest by broadcasting your favorite artist on a Boombox.

Cassettes gave way to CD’s and now you can store your entire music collection on a computer hard drive or in the cloud. Nostalgia is another thing. Sharon stopped listening to her cassettes long ago, but the album art had meaning. When Sharon moved last year, she asked me to help her save all the covers.

I took it one step further and created a Memorydex cassette tape album cover archive. I’ve had so much fun. With a few tips from my friend Kelly, a crafter extraordinaire, I bought a punch

Memorydex Dies

and a pair of dies.

Memorydex Dies

I’m off my feet for six weeks after major foot surgery, so it’s been the perfect craft-from-the-couch project.

I created a gallery documenting the various steps. There are three styles of cassette covers including paper, cardboard, and multiple-fold. Here are the various steps (click on individual photos for details):

Classic cover, one sided paper

This is all that gets tossed after the precision-cut

Cardboard cover with seam

Cardboard cover opened

Punched cardboard cover

Another cover

Several cassette covers have multiple folds. These were punched at the bottom and folded to fit

Punched cassette cover

Assorted cassette covers in Memorydex

The collection

Alphabetized

In addition to Sharon’s purchased music library, I included covers from various mix-tapes, her voice lessons, and a few random blank tapes. For a bit of added trivia, Sharon worked at Memorex in Santa Clara while attending college. There are one or two Memorex tapes in the mix as well. Sharon is thrilled with the results and I had a great time making this for her.

Sharon’s Cassette Tape Archive

ScrapHappy December: Wrapping a Starfish

What’s a Scrap Happy post?

It’s an opportunity or an excuse to make something entirely out of scraps. Our host, Kate, of Tall Tales from Chiconia, encourages the use of scraps to make something useful or beautiful or both.

If you would like to join us, please see the details at the end of this post.

Last month I helped put together a volunteer appreciation afternoon for Front Door Communities/Lifted Spirits. My friend Mary came up with the idea of a starfish keyring as a small thank you gift for our volunteers. The keyrings came packaged in a simple black box.

This is where my scraps come in. I had exactly two sheets of this autumn-themed paper, which I won at a scrapbooking event several years ago. I wanted to include “thank you” somewhere on the gift and came up with the idea of hand-stamping “thank you” and a couple of small stars on a band of paper. I needed 30 bands in all and had just enough to wrap 30 boxes, with enough left over for one bookmark!

Two sheets of patterned paper

Patterned paper cut into narrow strips

I used my stamping platform to center the acrylic stamp

Acrylic “thank you” stamp

Stamped in dark, brown ink

Scrap-happy bookmark.

Scraps of paper and twine

Bookmark made with the last scrap

Stamped with “delight in life”

Ready to be tucked into a book

I assembled drawstring bags with the boxed keyring and the thank you band, then added small cinnamon-scented pine cones to help the box stand upright.

Small bag, pine cones, black box and a strip of paper before stamping

This is what they looked like assembled on a tray.

Volunteer Appreciation gifts

Why starfish? Here’s the story:

A young girl was walking along a beach upon which thousands of starfish had been washed up during a storm. When she came to each starfish, she would pick it up, and throw it back into the ocean.

She had been doing this for some time when a man approached her and said, “why are you doing this? You can’t save all these starfish. You can’t begin to make a difference!”

She bent down, picked up another starfish, and tossed it into the ocean. Then she looked up at the man and replied, “Well, I made a difference to that one.”

Boxed starfish keyring with a parable

Our volunteers make a difference

These small crafty projects are about all I have time for of late, but they’re satisfying nonetheless.

If you would like to join us, please let Kate know.

Wishing you a happy, scrappy holiday!

Starfish Keyring: One Person Can Make a Difference

Check out the links below on December 15th to see other scrap-happy posts.

Kate, Gun, Titti, Heléne, Eva, Sue, Nanette, Lynn, Lynda,
Birthe, Turid, Susan, Cathy, Debbierose, Tracy, Jill, Claire, Jan,
Moira, Sandra, Linda, Chris, Nancy, Kerry, Claire, Jean,
Joanne, Jon, Hayley, Dawn, Gwen, Connie, Bekki, Pauline, and Sue L.

November 14, 2019 by Born To Organize

ScrapHappy November: Wall Calendar Bookmarks

I’m joining Kate, of Tall Tales from Chiconia, for her monthly scrap-happy blog post. The challenge is to create something made entirely of scraps, or as Kate put it this month it’s “time to show stuff made from bits of other stuff!”

This month I converted pages from my old wall calendars into bookmarks for our Little Free Library. With a library at the curb, it’s a fun excuse to make several bookmarks at once.

Sample calendars

The Nature Conservancy calendar and bookmark: photograph Rick Flematti Nature Photography

Bird calendar page into bookmark: photograph Loic Poidevin

Being the animal lover that I am, I’m on mailing lists for the Humane Society Silicon Valley (HSSV) and the Nature Conservancy. Their calendars are too beautiful to toss so I upcycle the pages into an assortment of things.

Time is short, so nothing fancy this month.

I perused my stash, set aside pictures that would work for the scale of a bookmark and then located the most strategic center.

Sweetness overload

A pair of puppy bookmarks

A trio of kitty calendar bookmarks

From our HSSV calendar (the book is a gift from my friend Kelly)

Will you look at those puppy-dog eyes?

More puppies

I cut a 6 x 6-inch focal point from the center of the calendar, then score at the two-inch mark on either side. I fold it into thirds and glue the layers together. These gorgeous calendars get a second life.

It’s surprising how relaxing this simple craft can be. I enjoyed revisiting the beautiful nature photography, and I smiled at the notion of all those cats and dogs going to their forever home.

That’s it for this month. I’m off to see how the rest of the bloggers below are using their scraps.

Check out the links below on November 15th to see other scrap-happy posts.

November 10, 2019 by Born To Organize

Lauren

It’s impossible to reconcile the death of a child. It’s equally challenging not to sound trite when you say to her mother, who’s been cut to the quick, “I’m sorry for your loss.” The loss is unimaginable.

Lauren died from pulmonary edema just a few weeks shy of her 19th birthday. We’re all in shock.

We’ve known Lauren’s family for a decade. She attended our Halloween parties, hung out with my son at the park, and was an occasional passenger in the back seat of my van. No single event stands out as extraordinary, but instead a collection of ordinary memories that can be stored and retrieved and enjoyed.

Of course, I assumed there would be many more ordinary days because that’s the natural order of things.

Lauren had an easy-going nature and a lovely smile. I remember greeting her near the bus when they returned from 5th-grade science camp and I remember the day they all graduated from high school. She was a good friend to my son and a joy to have in our home. I can’t believe she’s gone.

My heart goes out to all who loved her, especially Kimmy, Amy, and Bill. xo

November 9, 2019 by Born To Organize

I Miss My Blog: A Haiku

I miss my dear blog
A yearning, hard to describe
Another sun sets.

Gardening Nirvana feels like a cozy little place on the internet. It’s not quite a room, or for that matter, a garden.

In internet lingo, it’s simply a URL. That said, it’s uniquely mine. I share through words and pictures. Kind strangers stop by from around the globe. Kindred spirits become friends. It’s magical.

Even in my absence, I feel the pull. It’s the strangest thing for a place that didn’t exist several years ago. Gardening Nirvana is my blogging home.

Since you’ve stopped in for a visit, I’ll briefly share what’s new.

In early October I turned 60. The lead up to what my friend Laura calls a “zero birthday” was strange. Sixty! Good grief that sounds old, yet here I am. It all amounted to a hill of beans. I have absolutely nothing unique to say about crossing into another decade. (I have plenty to say about the abysmal state of this country, but I’ll spare you that drama).

Our beautiful state caught fire once again. Autumn used to be a favorite time of year when temperatures finally cooled and the possibility of rain stirred the air. Instead, temperatures remain hot and dry, as fierce winds and low humidity whip into a frenzy. We just passed the one-year mark of the Camp Fire, the worst in our state’s history. It claimed 85 lives and destroyed a community.

This year, everyone has been on edge.

I get first-hand updates from my friend Laura who moved to Paradise six months before it burned. The Camp Fire destroyed her fence and several trees and left heat and soot damage throughout her home. Miraculously, the fire stopped there. Her home is one of the five percent to have been spared. Her friend, Christine wasn’t as lucky. She fled her home with four children and two dogs packed into the car, with forty-foot flames on both sides of the road. I’ll never forget the video she shared as they fled.

This season’s fires started later. We felt a collective relief. Then the predicted “wind events” came to pass, and just before I headed to bed, there was news of the Kincaide Fire. Several more followed, and once again it seemed our beautiful state burned.

We live in a bubble here in San Jose. We’re in a valley, so we avoid the heavy winds that swoop across the hills. We have friends up and down the state that lost power for days, endured forced evacuations and the worry of what they might return to. I should, of course, feel lucky, but instead, I feel dread. We desperately need rain.

On a brighter note, we flew to Mississauga, Ontario mid-month to attend a traditional Indian Wedding. The events were full of joy and laughter, beautiful color, dance, and wonderful food. Both families embraced us, helping us navigate the unknown and making us feel welcome. A local shop helped us select the proper attire for each event. We’re so honored to have been a part of the celebrations.

Haldi and Mendhi

With Mike before the morning events

Beautifully decorated hall in Mississagua, Ontario

Gorgeous parasols decorated the hall

New friends, henna’d hands

Henna artist

The bride

Sangeet

Dressed for Sangeet

Drumming as the couple enters the room

The couple enters dancing

More dancing

Aunties dancing

Posing with a new friend

The bride dancing

Everyone dances

Bride Baraat, Groom Baraat, and Pheras

Dressed for the Barrat and Pheras

Wearing a sari was a treat

The groom and his twin sister

Family and friends

Mike

More family

The bride and her family

An injured foot kept me off the dance floor. It’s also reduced my time in the garden.

A torn tendon kept me from dancing

Recent events remind me, however, that I’m lucky to be alive, and lucky to see another day. For this I’m grateful. If you’ve read this far, I’m grateful for you, too.

September 23, 2019 by Born To Organize

Autumn Days and Anniversaries

It’s the autumn equinox here in the northern hemisphere, or in simpler terms, the first day of fall. It’s also our wedding anniversary.

Today (September 23) sees the 2019 autumn equinox, the moment when the planet’s northern hemisphere swaps with the southern hemisphere to become the one furthest from the sun.

Autumn is a good time to reflect, especially in the garden. While the perennials remain robust year-round, summer annuals are closing up shop.

We had a second year of disappointing tomatoes. Despite my best efforts planting the EarthBoxes with fresh soil and fertilizer, moving them to a new location and ensuring they got full sun, production was blah. My garden mojo took a hit.

This stripey variety took months to set fruit. While they look interesting, I didn’t care for the thicker texture. All in all, one plant produced half a dozen tomatoes. Sigh.

This was also my first season without pumpkins. We’ve relied entirely on the squirrels to plant them each year, even if their planting methods are unconventional. By the time I fully noticed, it was too late to plant on my own.

I had brief hope. After amending the mix in a planting box with heavy, sandy soil, a few pumpkin plants appeared. It seemed unlikely that they would amount to much, but while I was traveling in July they took hold. Alas, they didn’t establish in time. Although the plants became vines and proffered a few blooms, there was no time for setting fruit.

On a brighter note, I received this gorgeous yellow calla lily in a pot last year. Mike transplanted it for me in the front garden and it’s spreading its proverbial wings.

It’s flowered twice and is now showing off its interesting seed pods as the plant goes dormant.

Our garden is densely planted now, requiring careful thought when a new plant joins the mix. This calla lives in the shadow of the Magnolia tree, not far from the deck. I love the cheerful display.

Nepeta, also known as catnip or catmint reseeds every year. It’s an herb, pleasing to cats, and humans alike. It produces a subtle scent in the garden unless of course, you’re a cat.

Our cats become quite possessive of the plant near the patio, though Mouse likes to visit the plant in the side yard as well. We all have our favorites.

As the temperatures change, the nasturtiums return

End of season for the pink hydrangea

Succulents and nasturtium

Anemone in full bloom and really tall this year

The path is passable once again

As for anniversaries, I married this wonderful man 24 years ago today.

It was the first day of autumn that year as we wed on the grounds of Wente Brother’s winery in Livermore. The day went by in a blur, so I’m grateful for the photographs that help solidify the memories. I’m grateful for Mike every day and for our life together.

I’m grateful for you, too, dear reader, for continuing to show up and read my posts.

August 20, 2019 by Born To Organize

Pine Needles and Paper Wasps

Pine needles and paper wasps were not in the weekend plans.

Raked pine needles

Paper wasps

We were just sitting down to dinner when one of our regular Little Free Library patrons knocked on the door. She’d mentioned once before that she thought she saw yellow jackets, a more aggressive type of wasp, on the top of our Little Free Library (LFL).

I inspected the library and the surrounding areas at the time and didn’t see any activity. Perhaps they were just passing through.

Little Free Library, 2018

She spotted them again this weekend, hence the knock on the door. About a dozen wasps decided to hunker down on the roof of the LFL.

Paper wasp cluster on roof of LFL

We had an unusually windy day, but the sun was warm. They gathered in a cluster, barely moving, perhaps enjoying the sun. One or two flew out of the birdhouse portion of the library, but I had no way of seeing inside.

Our LFL is a work of art by artist Donna Pierre. I was reluctant to dismantle the birdhouse which is artfully attached to the larger library. That said, dozens of neighbors visit the library daily. I didn’t want anyone getting stung, least of all a small child.

After a brief debate on our plan of attack (ours, not the wasps) we trudged out to the garage in search of the auguring tool. Mike usually welcomes the chance to use his power tools, but it was the end of a busy weekend, after a week-long business trip to Mexico.

I said I would do it.

Moral support for the job at hand

Great for mosquitos and wasps, not so much for ants

Mike shouted encouragement and Chris took pictures (because I’m a blogger after all) while I donned a heavy leather jacket and gloves, drill at the ready. I wore my son’s mosquito hood from his back-packing days in case they all flew out at once. I drilled a large round hole in the back of the birdhouse, hoping they would fly out and be on their way. Once they exited, we could put a small screen over the front, return the removed piece from the back, and then call it a day.

As the augured piece fell into the birdhouse, imagine my surprise when a stream of ants came racing out of the birdhouse and down the back of the library. It was so unexpected.

Ants swarm out of the back of the LFL

Mike produced a flashlight so we could look up into the birdhouse through the larger hole. There it was: a nest filled with grey, honeycomb-like cells, with a few ants dotting the nest. That birdhouse had to go, at least for now.

Paper wasp nest inside birdhouse of LFL

Mike pried a few supports loose and we gingerly inched what is now a nesting box, out of it’s home.

The gathered cluster of wasps sat undisturbed on the roof as I carried the nest to the back garden and hung it high in a tree.

The augured hole

So how do pine needles factor in the title? After all that activity I was a bundle of energy and nerves. As I mentioned, the winds were fierce, knocking pine needles from our roof and the neighbor’s tree. I raked and swept and gathered them into a pile, occasionally checking on the relocated nest. Eventually the adrenaline wore off and we called it a day.

Pine needles rained down all day

Ready for compost pick-up

I would like to say, “Problem solved” but the wasps are back. They’re sitting in the same spot on the library roof, even though the nest is no longer there. I’m relieved to know via my search that our wasps are the docile kind, but when I look out the window and see people flailing their arms, it’s a worry.

After researching here: The difference between a yellow jacket wasp and a paper wasp

I decided to post a couple of signs saying:

Our flying visitors are European Paper Wasps (non-aggressive) vs Yellow Jacket wasps (which are aggressive). We relocated their nest, but a few of the adults are still hanging around.

These wasps are beneficial for the garden, which is probably why they are here.

If you’re concerned, please visit another Little Free Library in the neighborhood until they move along.

Thank you! Alys, Little Free Library Steward

Yellow Jacket vs Paper Wasp

What, then, is the difference between a yellow jacket and a paper wasp?

When it comes to appearance, both look similar. Both are black with yellow bands. A paper wasp, however, has a longer body than a yellow jacket, which has a shorter and fatter body. If you look closely, a paper wasp also has an orange-tipped antennae while a yellow jacket does not.

A yellow jacket is more aggressive and can sting repeatedly, while a paper wasp only attacks when threatened. Both feed on garden insects, but a yellow jacket scavenges for food and even feeds on food found in the trash or on picnic tables. A paper wasp, on the other hand, feeds on pollen and nectar as well.

Moreover, a yellow jacket builds its covered nest underground or in hollows, while a paper wasp build its coverless nests in a tree, eaves or spouts.

Source: DifferenceGuru

The research I did for this post also solved a mystery. I’ve mentioned wasps in the past, and noted that they never bother me. They make paper nests in the eaves, come and go without a fuss, and of course they do wonders for the garden. Yellow jackets and paper wasps look nearly identical unless you view them up close.

What I thought was a “pass” from the yellow jackets for providing an appealing garden smorgasbord was mere smugness on my part. It turns out that our garden visitors are their more docile cousins. May it always be so.