yard work anyone? my front yard is getting shaggy!
i attached my tunnel vision goggles to my head bright and early and got crackin' on building my label empire. the path was fraught with distractions.
emails! phone calls! cats!
doesn't mama moss look spiffy and up for anything in her new mother's day shirt? 2 birthdays and 1 mother's day within the same week. it was a trifecta of celebration in kansas this weekend. wish i could've been there. i imagine sometimes living in the same town as my sisters. wish they'd hurry up and move here. then they could mow my lawn! and make me dinner! i am the youngest child! i have needs that must be met!
alas and alack i stayed at moss cottage under the big shady umbrella out back and put tape in my old ledger.
don't feel too sorry for me though. it was fun!
i marveled at how the old pages were held together with 90 year old tape. tiny tears patched up. i did the same thing.
with brighter tape.
i hope someone patches me up with bright tape when i get old.
also, because it seemed quite necessary and important, and also because i was curious, i painted on some of the pages. they held up just fine.
this is going to be my Fast Fool Around book. as in do whatever i want and try stuff out. today i tried out some watercolor brush pens on a few of the pages {not seen here}. a few splishy splashies and i was done. super fast. versus my Slow Fool Around book. which is my regular visual journal. FFA & SFA.
it's sunday! i have 2 hours left to fool around on my ipad, make a fruit smoothie, and watch t.v. OH BOY!
p.s. this post has over 10 exclamation marks in it! sorry!
Hey, Mary Ann – I may have missed this in comments (or your blog, but I have to say I read every word quite carefully of the latter) – do you know about Scor-Tape? Available in several widths, it allows the user to make her own tape. Lay tissue paper, plain or decorated, add rubberstamped images, or put down newspaper – or any other thin material on the double sided tape and voila! personalized tape. I’ve made some very fine stuff, if I do say so myself. it’s not exactly like double-sided tape; it seems thinner, allowing it to feel more like the washi type tapes. I get it locally at Impress Rubberstamps (Seattle area) but found it online, also. Just saying!
Mama Moss looks marvelous! I love her new shirt – very stylin’…
I like your label empire you’re working on. I think it must be a fun thing to work on, in spite of all the distractions, and besides, empires usually work out better when they take longer to build!
Love your neighborhood, ledger, and your precious momma, looks like the Moss sisters were pretty easy on her.
I love your comments about the bright tape, growing old, etc. but feel I must point out to you, MA, that while you will certainly age, you will not get old. Of that I am sure!
XO
I love your old journal pages, all your journal pages in fact, and your Mom’s shirt, and especially your yard!
xoxox,
Sheila
Momma Moss looks wonderful in her new get-up…she looks like she is ready to ask her inappropriate questions to the patrons of the next place you all take her for lunch/dinner. Can’t wait to hear all about it.
The front yard looks great. I like the natural look rather the manicured, pristine edged lawns, perfectly trimmed shrubs that look like cupcakes instead of growing things. I also like to cut flowers and bring inside to plunk into “vases” that weren’t made to be vases…jelly jars, medicine bottles, tea pots, etc.
I’d like to know where you’re finding these delicious ledgers???? I covet!
Explanation marks are my favorite punctuation…so exclaim away!!!!
Is this the first of the hand made labels? Is there a whole bevy of them on the way? What are you making them out of? Is there glue on the back or do you add your own? Questions, questions. Are you using markers or paint brushes?
You are to funny!!!!!!!!!!! I tried the youngest sister thingy ….. it doesn’t work. LOL
The super delicious overwhelming abundance of our early Southern California Spring all too soon descends into powdery grey of mildew and shaggy overgrowth in our misty Spring. Ah, May Muck, June Gloom!
This weekend spent pulling out ruined sweet peas – didn’t they last until June last year? The collapsed California poppies such an achingly beautiful orange and green two weeks ago now clashing sadly with the grey and black of their ruined foliage.
Time for the Summer babies to go in. Zinnias, cosmos, rock rose.
Maryann – love your shaggy yard, it looks cool and inviting. But, he, he, he – I too live in L.A. We know what waits for us come July (and August and September, and…)!
P.S. Your Ma looks fabulous in her new duds.
You made me chuckle once again. My family lives away, my kids didn’t make it home but called. I spent my day in my fat pants and worked on a quilt. Fun day. Love you outlook on life, keep it up. Enjoy. Peggy
Hi, Mary Ann:
I just L0VE your blog! It always makes me smile.
My sister lives in LA–until I found you and your sweet little cottage, I
was always worried about her living in LA–it seemed like a big, scary place.
Knowing you and your cottage and animals are there, too, somehow makes it okay.
Thanks! Your work in the world is comforting.
Lynn
Now I am inspired to do something with the ledger I bought a few months ago. Sometimes I find it hard to actually do something to the old books, I love them as they are and I love what you do to them! So maybe I’ll start by adding bits of tape here and there until I feel brave enough to do more! (need to get me some of that turquoise stripe!) Momma Moss looks ready to dance up a storm, in her spiffy new shirt and bare feet! Love the front yard, “au naturel” shaggy or not!! (hmm, only 6 exclamation points here…)
Your Mama, your cottage, your yard: all beautiful.
Just had to say… You made me smile and started my week on the right foot.
Mary Ann, you live an exclamation point life! As I’ve said before, you inspire the rest of us to look for those points in our day!
LOOOOOVE Mama Moss’ new tippity top! The color is GORGE on her! It reminds me of a Liberty of London! Your labels are super!
Happy Birthday and Happy Mother’s Day to the wonderful women in your family! Your garden is NATURAL – not shaggy! I love exclamation points, don’t you?!!!!!
I had to laugh at the exclamation marks, ’cause I put way too many of them in my blogposts too. I just can’t seem to stop. And I wish my sisters would move over here too already so we could see each other more often, but of course they’ll say “You moved away from us, you move back if you want us to live closer”. But I won’t. I love ‘my’ island too much. Oh, the choices we have to live with. 😉
I feel the same way about my sisters living in Belgium and me being in England. On some days a sister next door would be so lovely. Your mama does look spiffy! Get a dorset sheep for your front yard and you will have no more work on it. Of course the yard would be eaten flat too… So then you have to get rid of the sheep…
Ha your the youngest of your family just like me… Yes, another of the many, many reasons I love you!!!! We really should meet sometime! And play in our journals!
Shaggy! Yes, that is the look I am going for in my garden 🙂
I adore exclamation marks – so no worries 😉
Beautiful mama Moss 🙂
Lovely curiosity ledger painting 🙂