Sept 30 --- forward we move

Simply Simple September comes to a close today - My last little bit of simplicity is APPRECIATE ENDINGS.

Why?

Endings lead to new beginnings.

As these flowers hit my desk this morning, they came with the comment that "this is the last of them."

I have loved every single tiny mixed bouquet all spring and summer.

I have shared many of them on facebook and instagram.

I will miss them. But I appreciate every one of them (and the fact that the original bed was planted with the plan to share them with me). And I appreciate that October and the Fall season bring new types of beauty.

And opportunity for new beginnings.

As part of trying to post pretties and inspiration more often here, I'll be doing another series in October.

I've a list of words to choose from ---- I've decided to make and post a tag creation for every day in October.

By tags, I mean gift tags. Sarah Lugg art type tags. Tags that after I get them all made, I hope will have meaning. Tags that I hope will continue to spur on my creative muse. But here is the clencher ----- 100% stash created tags. 

I'll be punching 31 same sized ones tonight from cardstock in the scrap boxes. Then on Tuesday the October 1, I'll start the making ---- (there are a few road trips this month - but I'll make a little box of supplies just for those) 

I do hope some of you will play around -- Just like the September Project - I'll post here - facebook and instagram ----

Here's the instagram fun part....... I'm using a play on the word hashtag for my hashtag. 

All of these will fall under #stashtags (stash busting tags)

Now for a super long list of words to choose from (my choices are in all caps)

Again there are no rules --- it's just for fun - and to spur creative energy. I have NO IDEA what mine will look like -- I'll just respond everyday. I do know that my word will be a part of the creation. 

Please play along --- it will be fun. --- choose your words from the list or add your own. 

But please leave your link info in a comment and let us know where to find your fun stuff. 

Have a great. 

Appreciate Endings - Anticipate Beginnings.

******************************************************************

CONTENT                        friendship                   COMFORT                   humility

serve                                  TRY                           LOVE                           JOY

blessed                               STRONG                  hope                              dream

WONDER                         faith                           thankful                          ENCOURAGE

GRATEFUL                      forgive                        PRAISE                        harmony

home                                 HAPPY                      give                               grace

family                                 PLAY                        dance                            journey

learn                                  BEAUTIFUL              smile                             LAUGH

rest                                    relax                           TOUCH                       believe 

CREATE                          PEACE                       PRAY                          INSPIRE

strength                             BLISS                         respect                         CURIOUS

care                                  BOLD                         read                              KINDNESS

apologize                          TRUTH                       brave                            HEART

focus                                 HELP                         courage                         STILL

special                              sing                              ADVENTURE             SPARKLE

improve                            enjoy                           work                             SHARE

excited                             sweet                           delight                           CALM

wish

******************************************************************

I randomly selected my words and as I was typing this list, I kinda wished I had made deliberate decisions about some of these. Oh well - the muse obviously wants to play. Now to decide which one is first. I may put them in a hat and draw them out for my "random order" list. 

Come on friends - choose - create --- share.

Links to all of mine 

October 1 - PEACE

Sept 29

Serve willingly.

Our church bulletin board is covered with opportunity.

I teach Sunday School.Ernestine plays piano. Molly works with kids. Abby volunteers with Special Olympics. 

Even if you do not have a church connection, there are community opportunities every where.

Helping others is a wonderful way to help yourself. 

Sept 28

Support local business.  These stairs go up to the antiques area over my local small town hardware store. 

My morning errands included hugs at the bank. Questions about my girls. And helping a friend pick out mums for his daughter. 
Oh and a quick tour thru the room at the top of the stairs.

Sept 27

Angel words. Affirming words.

Use them often. 

I am planning a 31 day series for October too. More stash busting.  31 tags.  Each with a lovely word and embellished in my style and 100% stash materials.  The instagram hashtag will be #stashtag - a full pun on tags made from my stash.

Come on play along.
Follow me at instagram.com/maggiegracecreates

Sept 25

There is a difference between irritation and devastation. 

Keep your perspective.

Took me years to learn this.
Come to think about it.....I'm still learning

Gifts from the stash.

I've been steady working in the studio. 

Crocheting and working on all kinds of things. 

Some just could not be shared yet. 

(Trying not to spoil the surprises.)

This was one of them. 

Plus posting everyday for Simply Simple September has been easy and fun. 

And has allowed me to take a bit of a break on working up posts.

Way back here I talked about the babies joining our life. 

I also mentioned nothing would have to be purchased. 

Well - so far so good on that. 

I am one blanket behind. Little Eloise Ruth's blanket is NOT finished and she is here. But it is still warm weather, so I'm not panicked. 

I decided to do some words art for a few of our little ones. 

(the decision was made after "stalking" mommies to be pin boards) 

I have 100's of word art images pinned as well. 

And - I happen to have all the stuff to make these

IMAGINE THAT

So for Miss Kris' next new grand baby. 

I grabbed square canvas and painted it pale blue. 

Then cut my letters for an easily recognizable children's prayer

And because this is me - I used my CRICUT and the basic cartridge to cut these - I trimmed the "tails" off some of the letters. 

Mod Podge it all on the canvas and look at it and decide it needs "SOMETHING"

Go dig in the stash

(yes it is a seriously deep stash) 

And find a star shaped ornament.

Add lots of extra fine glitter to the star.

I also added a layer of metallic ModPodge in silver to the canvas. 

Because I like texture and depth. 

Here it is all glued. 

At this point I let it dry

Then Spray it with clear sealer.

An important part of the process in the humid south. 

The ModPodge can get tacky (sticky) in the heat and humidity and the sealer stops that. 

I just use a clear spray paint  top coat for the sealer.

Then pondered how to attach the star. 

A hole drilled in the edge of the canvas with a skewer glued in turned out to work best.

Then I glued the star to the skewer. 

Voila

Cute little boy artwork. 

(I'm kinda fond of texture of my studio siding too)

I also agreed to swap an ATC with Kim over at ArtJoyStuff.

I have not done one of these swaps in ages. 

I dug into a deck of vintage playing cards

and put this little art together. 

Go here to see what I got in return.

Totally different styles. But I think that is what the swapping of art is all about. 

I hope this finds you enjoying a beautiful life. 

Sept 24

Appreciate the change of seasons. 

It's Fall Ya'll.

Sept 23

Be an enabler. 

But in a positive way.

I'm helping the youth at church get ready for a fundraiser. 

They are great kids to hang out with.

Sept 22 remember

My dad has been gone for many years now.

Today was his birthday. 

I got a really nice message this morning. From someone who remembered. That means so much to me.

I took flowers to his grave. Then spent some time weeding and cleaning. 

And this year. For the first time ever, I am fully at peace with who I am.

I think he might be smiling right about now.

Sept 21

Saturday morning on the porch. Breakfast. Coffee. Porch swing. Crochet.  Current blanket almost done.

Sept 20

Spend some time outside. My lunch hour was spent sitting on a bench in the park.... crochet hook on my hand.

I was quite the happy hooked at that moment. 

Sept 19

Set a goal.

Work at it.

Tonight the goal was 3 miles. 50 setups with weights. 50 weighted squats. And 50 pushups.

1 hour 7 minutes.  Including warm up. 

I'm not fast and at times it was not pretty. 

But I did it.

And yes.

I'M A RUNNER. I'm not sure when that happened.  But it did.

Sept 18

Fresh air. Roll down the windows and enjoy some fresh air. The weather is beautiful in the south.

Sept 17 do something

Do something thoughtful and unexpected for someone. 

Doesn't have to be expensive. 

When I couldn't go to the beach this summer, my friend Maryann sent me a mini beach vacation.  Postcard and such in an envelope.  It was fun and it really made me smile.

She's really good at this kind of thing.

Sept 16 Buy good tools and take care of them.

I started crafting with very basic tools.  And I still do a TON of my creating with those very same tools.

As I have expanded my creative horizons, I have added tools.

(Just so you know - the people at FISKARS  have not one idea who the heck I am. But their products are top notch)

That paper cutter has cut MILES of papers for my creations. I change the blades often and can highly recommend it. Here is what the pretty new ones look like. Also - if you cut a lot of paper like I do - they have a titanium blade for these trimmers.

Scissors  - the ones in the picture are plain old student scissors - again - I've had these for a long time. The colored handle means to all of my crew that these can be used to cut paper - There is also a ribbon tied on.

Now not pictured - because there is to be NO CHANCE of cutting paper with them and i was working with paper are my Fiskars fabric scissors. Those are ONLY used for fabric - and (pardon my language) there will be Hell to pay if I see them near anything other than fabric, thread, or yarn. I've even seen people put a padlock through the handles of their fabric scissors to keep that kind of thing from happening.

Now all of these things look super expensive (and it can be) but I have added and upgraded my tools a bit at a time - I watch fabric stores and Hobby Lobby and Michaels' sales - and coupons in order to buy things very reasonably. Then by taking care of them - I can really feel like I got my money's worth.

See good tools mean a happy crafter and that is a simple simple thing.

This looks like a late post, but I originally posted this from my phone and the posting failed.  Sorry about that.

Sept 15 encourage children

Encourage children to be their best.

Encourage discipline with love.

Encourage creativity by NOT insisting they do things your way.

Encourage love by exposing them to you loving others.

Encourage self control by hanging onto your own.

Encourage children.

Teaching Sunday School for 3-4 year olds has taught me so much. I adore these kids.

Some of the first ones I taught now have kids of their own. I'll soon get to teach those kids.

Does this make me feel old. NOPE.

THIS MAKES ME BE BLESSED.

This looks as if it is posted late. Sorry - I used my phone to post this originally and the posting failed. 

Sept 14. Plan ahead

I don't have a lot of extra money this year. But I do have a huge amount of love.  I'm making wish packages for a few friends who will appreciate vintage thrifty things with blessings and love. Snippets for them.  Made with love.  And its clearing a stack I've been hoarding. 

Enjoying the cool morning on my porch with scissors and coffee. 

Beautiful.

Sept 13 - look for something unusual

I took the dog out for a stroll this morning. 

He has to sniff EVERY SINGLE BLADE OF GRASS.

EVERY SINGLE LEAF THAT FELL TO THE GROUND LAST NIGHT. 

Anyway. 

We were headed back to the house afterward and I spotted these unusual fungi under my pecan tree. 

Using my size 8.5 foot as a measure. 

The smaller one near my toes, is the size I normally see of these. 

There are several of these HUGE ones.

They're like fun little clusters of mushrooms.

See how big they've grown.

I posted an edit of this one on my instagram with the comment that the fairies really threw a party. 

Simply Simple September is all about living in the moment. 

About being aware. 

I hope you are playing along.

Sept 12 LAUGH

Laugh --- it's good for you.

Giggle - touch your inner child

An old picture, but I love to laugh.

and this...... 

Well -- there is that too. 

Sept 11

We Remember. 

We still Pray.

In God we trust.

Sept 10

Use available technology to make someone's day.

My buddy MaryAnn randomly sends both fun and serious texts often.

I consider her one of my very best friends and we take seriously the fun and important bits of life. And we share them too.

From random babble like the above - to OMG I have cancer (again) - we support each other through the good and the bad of life.

I love that lady so much.

NOTE - neither of have cancer right now - but she certainly was there for me when I was diagnosed. And like me she understood that sending me a replacement kidney would be appreciated. Take off here to see my replacement --- it's a cute kidney.

Are you playing along? ---- I'm having fun. ---- jump on in, the water is just fine.

September 9

Sept 9. Pick something you''ve "been meaning to do" and DO IT. I've been looking at this dead flower bed in front if my house for way too long. I spent my weekend digging and planting it. Really happy with it.

That was my instagram post for today's Simple Simple September entry.

It also says - more information at the blog. Here's the reality of this project.

It was all accomplished without spending any money. 

I had everything I needed to get to this point in the process. 

And I was armed with these images. And we all know if you see it on the internet it's true.

LIES ----- THE ABOVE IMAGES ARE FALSE ADVERTISING. 

Upper left - she is clean - long dark hair flowing - white shirt still pristine. New gardening gloves. Quite obviously, she is just sitting there think about what to do in this case.

Upper right - well at least her hair is out of the way. but she's knelling down and those are clean knees and hands. 

Lower left - closer - he has at least just hit his knees --- easier on your whole body. And he does have some dirt on his hands. But check out that dark t-shirt - NOT ONE SWEAT STAIN - he ain't been there long.  

Oh - that last image - SHE IS SMILING - shirt still white - hands clean - not a hair out of place. 

Remember these images. I'll come back to this discussion. 

I've been looking at the barren plot of dirt below for WAY too long. 

And it is time to DO something about it. 

Remember DO is my word for the year. 

And contrary to a quote made by the Man at My Address - there is plenty to DO around here. But most of it is disguised as hard work. 

I gathered gloves - a shovel - a towel - a big cup of water - and dug in (pun fully intended)

That white panel covers an opening in the foundation. The foundation of the house is built of solid granite blocks and those openings were vents - of a very strange size. In addition to venting the space, they allow critters to get under the house, so we have to cover them. (the last critter mommy had all her babies under there and she was of the 

black and white and smelly variety) 

I'm not sure what that bootcamp instructor (me) is good for. 

She certainly has not prepared us for this kind of labor. 

Like digging rocks. 

It was HARD HARD work.

And as a self proclaimed shovelaphobic - yes I made up that word - this tested all of my mental toughness and determination to accomplish this task. 

I kept saying - ALMOST DONE - I did stop at my rose bush at the corner. I carefully dug out around it and then filled back in after adding some bricks around it. 

When all the breaking rock  initial shoveling work was done, I still had some MAJOR work to break up all those chunks and smooth this mess out. 

Again - HARD - HARD - HARD work. 

And there is a "drip line" below my tin roofs that has to be addressed. 

There are other places around the house with rows of stone or brick that serve no purpose but to keep the water from eroding the soil below. 

And I happened to have two chimneys' worth of salvaged brick in a pile under the pecan tree out back. (don't ask why). 

So now this project has grown to include cleaning mortar off of bricks. WhooHoo. 

And laying it in the drip line.

An added benefit - This is a deep bed and that will give me a place to step as it fills in (hopefully) with green growing things. 

I got the brick in some 6 hours after I started this project and I called it a day for Saturday. 

At this point I looked NOTHING like those pictures at the beginning of this post. 

Nope - not smiling.

Dirt all over me.

Smeared on my face because the dirty gloves were repeatedly use to wipe the sweat out of my eyes.

Sweat stained my shirt and pants and for that matter my damned underwear too.

Despite the gloves my nails were grungy too. 

I had a sock line around my ankles, but it was not sunburn --- hell no --- seems dirt is AN EXCELLENT SUNSCREEN. 

And my hair --- twisted and bedraggled does not even begin to describe - I had tucked and twisted and added a pin here and a hairbow there. 

I looked like I had been mud wrestling and lost. 

But oh my I slept GOOOOOOD Saturday night. 

Church on Sunday.

Lunch at our favorite Sunday spot.

Softball Princess joined us. (that was a treat)

Then a nap.

Then,  I dug some wayward clumps of monkey grass from another bed. 

Note - as thick as this stuff is around those beds there is enough to plant all the way to Danielsville and back. 

I cut those down and planted the divisions. 

I left a spot for a hydrangea to go in.

And for two clematis. 

I spread a late summer meadow seed mix in and through here to provide some greening until I get more of my plants going. 

And watered it all in. 

I like it. 

Now about that white panel. I hated it - always have, but until I can get some custom vents/screens made, this will have to work. 

I cleaned it really well.

Scuffed it with a metal brush.

Attacked it with several grey, black, nickle, gold, brown spray paints and kinda blended it with the granite foundation.

It helps.

I also had this wonderful piece of metal. 

Gifted to me.

We used it in the wedding decor. 

And I've been trying to decide where it will live permanently.

Here it is. I'll plant the clematis so they will climb it.

There will be updates as this bed fills in.

Anyway, back to that image at the top. 

Having proven that not all you see on the internet is true, I went searching for a more realistic image of my day.

I did find this one. 

It's close --- but she's still smiling. 

Not me. 

Not yet. 

Have a great Day. 

Sept 8

Find moments to do something you enjoy. I carry a crochet project everywhere.  I can grab it and get a few stitches done.
You may read.  Crossword puzzles. Write a few notes.  Even colored pencils and paper for a quick sketch.

Sept 7

Share something fun with a child.  A little girl and I giggled together this morning as we tried to catch a grasshopper off this car.

Sept 6

Look for signs that the season is changing.

One of the first signs around us is the hay baling begins.

The pretty fence and pasture across the road from my house. If you follow my instagram you will see this pasture in many sunset pictures.  If I'm in the studio about that time, I almost always step out and watch the sunset.

This picture is from my morning stroll thru the front yard.

Are you enjoying slowing down for simply simple September?

Sept 5.

Turn the volume up and sing along.

I do this in the car. In the studio. At work.

A coworker ad libs as he sings along.

Its good for you.

Sept 4

Surprise someone. 

I promise that the note in the picture will be a surprise when it arrives. 

Maybe there will be a big smile. And I will almost bet that it will remind that person of how they make a difference to me.

Try it.

Sept 3.

Have a meal with someone you love.

I got this sweet girl up this morning and got her to school. Her baby sister is coming today, so mommy had to go to the hospital. 

This was such a treat for me.

Sept 2

Today's simple thing. FINISH SOMETHING.

I have had this project in a work tray for weeks. It feels good to have it done and all the bits put away.

Simply simple September.

Sept 1. Worship.

Where ever you are, you can worship.

(Baby Roman's blanket in my church's sanctuary)