Six months later..... Ten Things I Learned in China

I see now that I can't make this blog only about crafting-- since my last blog, I've had a promotion at work that keeps me extra busy, a "cancer scare" that involved major surgery but was, thankfully, not cancer, and a three week trip to Beijing to see my brand-new grandson, third child of my daughter Rebecca and her husband, Dan.  The bottom line:  I just haven't spent as much time as I'd like on crafts, though I do enjoy it. So, while I will still post about my craft projects when they occur, I'm going to open this up to writing about everyday thoughts and activities, and hope that someone finds inspiration or edification, or at least has a good laugh!  Today, I want to include Ten Things I Learned in China:

 1.  I miss my daughter Rebecca and family more than I realized in their 7 years in China, even though I see them at least once a year.
 2.  I never plan to live in a big city again (I spent four years in Brooklyn in the seventies).  I crave peace and quiet, even at the expense of cultural offerings and fine restaurants (although I appreciate both), and I found shopping in Beijing among the crowds in the various markets very difficult.  I did, however, have one of the best dining experiences of my life at the Temple Restaurant in Beijing, at prices one would not imagine in the States.
 3.  We think of China as a "Communist" country, but economically it is a capitalist's dream, and I suspect that a large portion of the city's residents work under the table.  There are a LOT of well-to-do people in Beijing.
 4.  I love Chinese dumplings (jiaozi).
 5.  There are fabulous things to see in the Beijing area- the Great Wall of China, beautiful public parks, 500 year-old temples, modern architecture and art, remnants of the old courtyard (hutong) neighborhoods of old Beijing, and much more-- you just have to be willing to be elbow to elbow with 20 million other people to see them!
 6.  Being a pedestrian in Beijing is an extreme sport.  I doubt there is a place on earth with a worse traffic pattern and driving ethic. The subway, though, was very modern and fairly pleasant, despite the crowds.
 7.  Americans are, as a whole, very much more private than Chinese people, who think nothing of touching your children without permission and telling you the various ways you are not parenting properly. My son-in-law wondered aloud to a Chinese friend how old a woman in a park doing Tai Chi might be. His friend called out to her and asked--and she answered!
 8.  I do not exercise enough.  The steps on the Great Wall almost killed me.  Every morning, thousands of people in Beijing hit the public parks to exercise in groups- Tai Chi, dancing, walking, etc.  I think that Chinese people stay healthy into their later years because of this, and because the elderly go out every day to shop and visit with friends in the parks- one perk of big city living.
 9.   I am still afraid of high open spaces- my experience of the Great Wall was amazing, but brief :-)  I did well until I hit a long, narrow stretch where the wind was blowing briskly, and after a short debate with myself, decided that I was happy with my experience to that point.  I don't have to worry too much about high places in Florida!
10.  I need to eat more fruits and vegetables.  I thought I was doing pretty well in this department, since I don't eat red meat and tend toward vegetarian meals, until I went to Beijing.  Each meal involves multiple vegetable choices, often with a bit of meat for flavoring, and fruit is a common snack/dessert.

One thing I already knew, but was reminded to be thankful for, is that I am a fortunate woman, in more ways than I can count.  Thanks are due to my husband, Greg, for holding down the fort while I was away, and to Becca and Dan for being such gracious hosts, even when I grumbled for my American comforts.  It was more than worth giving up my soft mattress to see them and Olivia, Katherine, and Gabriel!

Hiatus

I could not believe, when I looked at my blog tonight, how long it has been since I last posted.  I had a hectic but fabulous Christmas, and was able to celebrate with my three children, my son-in-law, and their three kids.  With one of the girls living in China, it's a rare treat to have them all here at the same time, and to make it even sweeter, my 88 year old mother made the trip from Kentucky!  After they left, I celebrated my birthday before going back to work.  Getting back into the work routine seemed harder than usual after this vacation, and now that I have two weeks back at work under my belt, it is (way past) time to get back to some arts and crafts.  To be honest, I did spend quite a bit of time making a couple of small accordion- folded photobooks as gifts after the holidays, and have been busy putting together some photo collages, so I haven't exactly been craft-free :-)

Here is my entry for this week's CAS-ual Fridays challenge, which was simply to make a card that was longer and/or narrower than the usual A2 size.  I decided to stamp a simple card, as stamping is the thing that  I feel least confident about when it comes to cardmaking.  I used a leaf stamp from A Stamp In The Hand Co., with pigment inks from Color Box (Chianti) stamped over Tsukineko Brilliance (Galaxy Gold).

I thought it would make the perfect "thinking of you" card to send to a friend, with a lemon verbena teabag inside!

I also plan to make some cards with the photos I took on my birthday trip to the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary (an Audubon Society preserve).  I thought they might make nice gifts in sets of four.  Greg gave my a new, longer lens for my camera after that trip, so now I am anxious to go back and see what I can "catch".

I was a magical place.  Right now, however, my bed is sounding like a pretty good place to go.  Until next time, I hope you have fun with your creativity.  Thanks for stopping by!

Addendum:  Next day, I made another card, this one which meets the long card criteria, and also qualifies for The Friday Mashup http://www.fridaymashup.com/ where the call is for a birthday card with brads, .

Happy cardmaking!

Fall gardening and inspiration

Hi, all!  I hope this week has been as good for you as it has for me.  I enjoyed the company of my youngest sister, her husband and one of her two daughters for several days, and am still relishing a visit from my mom- 88 years young!  Just as the weather is changing in most parts of the country, we are getting our version of autumn in SW Florida-- slightly cooler nights, lower humidity, and fewer rain showers. It makes for a much more pleasant time doing outdoor chores (in summer my favorite outdoor activity involves being in the pool), and I have taken advantage of the change to do a little weeding, trimming, and re-potting.  I always think of these activities in the same way that I do crafting, achieving pleasure from the beauty of the end result.  I'm often bringing plants in- and out-doors, too, so I can enjoy them close up at their most beautiful--orchids and Christmas cacti are prime examples of my seasonal indoor plants-- but some plants just have to stay outdoors.  Here is an example of one of those:

What fun for this former New Yorker to be poking around the garden and come upon this!   Obviously not something I can bring inside (at least until it's ripe and delicious!), but I was inspired to bring this home from a recent trip to HomeGoods:

Isn't it great?  And it was just the color I needed to perk up my reading corner ( see last post).

I love referencing nature in my home and in my crafting.  Next project, though, will be a scary reference to nature- my grandson and I are building a skeleton from toilet tissue and paper towel tubes.... I'll be sure to post the pics!

Michelle

Autumn crafts

Hello, friends!

Unfortunately, between work, a certification exam, and having out-of-town family visiting, my card making has fallen temporarily to the wayside. I was able to get in a little crafting, though, in preparation for company.  Here is one of two wreaths I made, inspired by a Pinterest pin, for my front doors:

Also inspired by Pinterest, I decorated some pumpkins with puffy paint dots, and displayed them on candlesticks that I already owned:

Then, I dressed my favorite reading corner with an autumn floral display (I have since switched out the pillow for one with "seasonal" color):

Autumn in SW Florida is more a state of mind than an actual season, so these little changes put me in that state of mind, and help to remind me that the Christmas season (my favorite!) is only about seven weeks away.  Now that I say that, I had better get back to my crafts!

Happy autumn,
Michelle

Embossing challenge!

Happy Tuesday!  I've been anxious to join in on this week's embossing challenge at CAS-ual Fridays.  Find them at http://cas-ualfridays.blogspot.com/ and get in on the fun!  I use several embossing folders in my cardmaking, but I thought I would try something different and do a heat-embossed image.  I bought a stamp last year that I haven't had much opportunity to use, a walleye fish by Fred B. Mullett (!).  I thought it would be a nice stamp for making a card that would appeal to men, but I glammed it up a little with Recollections' glitter embossing powder.  Then I scored the paper for a little more dimension (with my new scoring board from Martha Stewart Crafts), and backed it with navy blue paper.  I'm still not too good at getting a satisfactory picture, but practice, practice, practice!

I hope you all have a great week.  Thanks for stopping by!

Michelle

School days...

Another week has flown by, and it was a busy one!  Saturday had me running errands and doing some much-needed chores around the house, as well as having dinner with friends, but I couldn't go to sleep without a little time for cardmaking-- and now it's after 3 am!  I'll get to sleep soon, but first I want to post my next entry for this week's challenge at CAS-ual Fridays: find them at
 http://cas-ualfridays.blogspot.com .  The challenge this week is "Top of the Class"- a clean and simple back to school project.  Even though it's been a long while since I was sending my children off to school, this time of year is still exciting, with grandchildren starting the new year and sharing what they are learning.  Many of my friends are teachers, and this card is a way to say "hats off to you, for all you do".  I hope you like  it, and that all of your little ones have a wonderful school year.

 

I downloaded the paper design printable from abcteach.com, used a Stampendous "thank you" stamp, and cut the apple from paper from Heidi Grace Designs.

 

Happy crafting!

Michelle

 



Ahoy, there!

Happy Sunday!  I've been at home today finishing preparations for a tropical storm, so after that was done it was a good day to work on some projects, including this week's CAS-ual Fridays challenge with the theme "Banners and Flags".  See the challenge at http://cas-ualfridays.blogspot.com/    There is lots of inspiration there!,   Here is my entry-- my husband was in the Coast Guard, and has in the past talked about naval alphabet flags, so I thought I would use them to spell L-O-V-E. 

Hope you like it, and good luck to anyone else in the path of Tropical Storm Isaac!

Michelle