Happy Mail

Finding My Way

~ Patty Radish ~ 10 Comments

There have been so many life changes over the last few years, and I have to admit not all of them have been welcome. But that’s the way of the world, right? As I have been navigating the ups and downs, some things have had to fall to the wayside, due to time, but mostly due to energy required. I feel as if I have been spending most of my time figuring out what is worth my energy lately…so here I am back on my blog. (this poor blog has been very neglected and taken for granted)

I needed some time to reevaluate how and why to stay on social media. But when it comes down to it, I’m the boss here on my little blog, and all I really want is to keep in touch with you…my friends! So, I thought a bit of a catch up was in order…

I am proud and happy to say that I have been making time to read an actual book or two. I love the quiet of not having someone’s voice in my ears (audio books). This is a small thing, but I have noticed my level of nervous energy has dropped quite a bit since I have been intentional about what I let grab my attention, if that makes sense.

I have also kept my promise to myself that I would work on decluttering and decorating our house. We still have so much more to do, but we’re slowly checking things off the list.

We have also been doing a bit of landscaping. I left my gardening days behind me for now, it’s way too hot here in central Washington to get out and garden in the summer. Raised beds may be in our future, but I’m taking a break for now.

This is what I have been spending the bulk of my creativity on over the last couple years. I’ve pieced about 7 or 8 quilt tops. This year I have hand quilted 5 of them. I love sitting in front of a YouTube video and stitching away. The goal was to use up fabric I have had for decades, then what do I do? Yep, I BUY MORE FABRIC! Oh well, the one thing my husband will never complain about is more quilts. He keeps saying “Let’s keep that one too” Lol!

The blanket at the top was made from small bits of cotton yarn I had tied together to make cotton coasters for the “home decor” shop I had for a minute. This was another thing I have worked on to downsize my obligations, closing shops.

I keep hoping that downsizing my projects and obligations will free up some energy, but I think I’m spending all that ‘extra’ energy on the downsizing! I’m still waiting for that energy boost to kick in.

Another thing I want to get back into is Happy Mail. I still have a lot of paper crafting supplies, but not a lot of desire to art journal right now. So some friends may be receiving a card or two soon. I’ve already made up my “Send List”. Feel free to email me if you want a Happy Mail Card at some point at: eclecticartjournals@gmail.com

This is a project I’m working on to use up some embroideries I made way back when my children were little. I’m hand stitching them onto cotton pillowcases. I just wanted some decorative pillows on our guest bed and thought these would work. I’d like to write a blog post of the process, if you’re interested please let me know in the comments. 🙂

And now to this!

One of the unwelcome changes over the last few years was losing our little angel Lily. I struggled over the years as to whether bringing another dog into our home was a good fit. So, after all the family visits were over in the last few months, I gave myself some time to consider it…turns out it took 2 days! My plan was to start dipping my toe in the water so to speak. I knew I wanted a shelter dog, so I drove over without any expectations. They brought out a couple of candidates, I even took one for a walk. I have to admit I was little disappointed because I didn’t think I was going to be that particular, but they just didn’t “fit”.

I told them I didn’t really want a puppy, but after they spoke to me for a while they asked if I would be open to see one more. Then they brought out this little bundle of energy…it was love at first site (at least for me) She kept looking at me like who is this strange person? She was looking at the attendants with absolute love and excitement, then gave me “Who’s that strange lady?” vibes. All I said is “Wrap her up, I’ll take her!” Because she was a bit skittish around me, they wondered if it was going to be a good match. I told them my last dog (Lily) barked at me non stop for 40 minutes when I met her (which is why she needed to be re-homed), and she got over it.

Long story longer, she’s perfect! Her name is Mattie (hubby’s idea which I loved!) She’s 6 months old, give or take, and she absolutely loves my husband! She is a Min Pin mix, like my last 2 dogs, so her energy and temperament is a perfect fit for us. We love her so much! Getting a dog isn’t about reclaiming my old life, I had to be absolutely sure that wasn’t my motivation before adopting her.

Neither is this blog for that matter. I didn’t want to come back on here for any other reason than to have a way to touch base with friends that have been supporting me for almost 16 years. This is where I started, actually on my old blogspot blog, but this is where I feel most comfortable social media wise, and I miss my friends.

I’m slowly feeling my way around paper crafting again and have joined the iHanna PCS (twice accidentally!) and will be making 20 postcards I hope to share here soon. I’d like to share my process here, so let me know if you’re interested in seeing that.

Until next time

Thank you for stopping by,

Hugs,

~Patty

It’s That Time of Year Again

~ Patty Radish ~ 6 Comments

Time for the iHanna Post Card Swap!

I think I began participating in the iHanna Post Card Swap in 2014…or maybe 2013. I’m not sure how many years it’s been, I only know it was two blogs ago. My original plan was to repurpose an index card journal to make the postcards…boring! I was feeling much more creative today.

And this is what I came up with…

Painted dictionary pages on cardstock.

This is an experiment that I had zero plans for, until today. I had made these several weeks ago and stuck them on a shelf in hopes I would actually find a use for them…and I did. I will be making a video of how I make these soon, it’s a bit of a process. So, look for that soon if you are interested.

The ephemera bits.

I came across a container with loads of quote cards and such that I’ve been poking around from place to place hoping for inspiration. Nice to finally find a fun project to use them in…on, whatever. These beautiful butterflies are from one of my newest favorite Etsy shops: TheJunkJournalStudio

Olde paper bits.

Again, too much of a good thing. My love for variety gets me into a lot of trouble.

Handmade decorative tape.

These are from a video I made last week, so much fun! If you would like to see how I made these, here’s the link to my channel: EclecticArtJournals

The cards.

As you can see I only made four, I actually need to make 10…unless you would like one!

My plan is to make a video of my postcard making process sometime soon. I may decide to embellish these with a little paint if I get inspired. I really just wanted to get this blog post out there in time in case you were interested in joining up. The deadline to sign up is November 19th, the link to sign up is here: iHanna PCS

Did you catch that little hint up there about sending you a postcard? I think it would be so much fun to make more of these for my friends here, (international mail is more than welcome too). All you have to do is send me an email with your name and address, the button is at the top right of this page.

Sending a card to me is completely optional, I’ll put my address on all the cards I send out.

Until next time,

Thanks so much for stopping in,

Talk to you soon,

~Patty

My Latest Obsession: Mood Boards

~ Patty Radish ~ 10 Comments

And it all started out of frustration!

Sometimes there are so may moving parts to my projects, I have a hard time remembering all of them…so I make lists. That’s great, but even then, I’ll loose my place on the checklist. And really, how inspiring is a list?!

“Happy Mail Mood Board”

As you can see this combines elements with lists, and even some room for detailed notes…game changer. There is so much more to this than words and ephemera, it’s also a springboard for more ideas (and probably a new mood board)

“In the Garden” ephemera pack.

It started with this page spread. I got flustered with constantly referring to my notes and thought instead of making a “memory page” when I was finished making an ephemera pack for my shoppe, I decided to make the page spread ahead of time to remind myself what “goes” into it as opposed to what “went” into it.

“Art Journaling” page.

Now, you’re probably going to think it’s a bit silly after all these years to need a reminder of the elements that go into one of my page spreads, but it’s not. When I decide to create a page spread I’ll usually go through some of my old favorite art journals for ideas, especially if things aren’t clicking.

Now I have an idea book to refer to when (not if!) I get stuck!

If you look up “Mood Board” on the internet, you will see these used for home decor  and fashion ideas, I think you can use them for just about anything creative you are working on, like cards, a quilt, or even a crochet project.

The beauty of this is there’s no more hunting around for the perfect art journal for inspiration, it’s always where I can find it, right above (or on) my desk.

I made this journal by printing “dot grid” onto white card stock and  binding it with the covers of a large vintage book, but you can make something like this in a binder, an art journal, or something to hang on your wall.

I have quite a few more ideas for ephemera packs and other projects, so this may become a series, so I hope you are as excited about my new obsession as I am! 🙂

As always,

Thank you so much for stopping by,

Have a great day!

~Patty

 

It’s That Time of Year Again!

~ Patty Radish ~ 2 Comments

Time for the iHanna Postcard Swap!

I love this time of year, I get to go through all the great happy mail ephemera that has been sent to me over the years, and make art with it!

But best of all, I get to make a keepsake page for my Happy Mail Journal!

And for some reason I decided to up my game and post three videos per week on my YouTube channel, so if you’re interested in seeing a video on my postcard process, go HERE.

…and if you’d like to see the process video on my keepsake page, head on over HERE.

Please let me know if you have any ideas for videos in the comments, I need all the help I can get!

Much Love,

Thank you so much for visiting,

Have a great day,

~Patty

 

Shoppe News! Kitschy Ephemera Packs!

~ Patty Radish ~ 2 Comments

By now you probably know how I feel about kitsch…kinda awesome!

In January I made some pretty kitschy art journals, so I thought it would be fun to put some ephemera packs together too.

Filled with all manner of kitschy goodness, cards, game pieces, images, postage stamps, the usual suspects.

Of course with all the orange and green goodness that befits the 60’s and 70’s.

50+ pieces in each pack, including some pretty cool paperclips to decorate your project.

I made eight of these, and each one is totally unique. Please pop over to my Etsy shoppe to see the full line.

…and as always,

Thank you for the visit,

Have a great week,

~Patty