Kidnapped!

I've been missing in action lately and slow visiting and replying to comments but I am trying hard to catch up! I think summer does that to blog world! And besides, I've been having a little bit of fun!

Most recently, it was birthday weekend. It started out enjoying several really good acts at the terrific Great Lakes Folk Festival. We enjoyed the first night with our friend Mark, listening to klezmer while we ate -- then some blues as the sun went down!

 
We heard Canadian fiddle (my favorite), Celtic, Mariachi, Klezmer and more!

This event is funded largely by donations and corporate sponsors and is free to patrons who donate to the creatively dressed bucket brigade. Chicken Man is a fixture!

Then, the day before my birthday, Rick kidnapped me! He took me to a picnic at a mysterious location. Imagine when we drove in and I saw this summer stock theatre! I was thrilled!

We had a lovely picnic in a shady spot on the theatre grounds.

He was a perfect host! And it was fun to be in this lovely spot, knowing even more fun was to come!

After, we did the obligatory selfie!

Someone else came by for this one -- this theatre has a long history in southeastern Michigan. It was great fun to see something here (and I wondered why we had waited!).

Our selection was "Hair" -- definitely a period piece and well done.

After, the "Rehearsal Shed" bar was open with a fun three-act floor show. The theatre company did lots of musical numbers and keeping with the program, many were from the 60s and 70s.


It couldn't be better -- and that was the day before! On the "real" day, it was quiet -- a good time to hang home and gather basil and tomatoes! Rick made dinner, presents and we watched a movie. And then I've been celebrating all week! Indeed -- life is fun.

Mostly, I am so very, very grateful. Last year at this time I was still working and it had been an excruciating year, extremely stressed, in medical limbo. I had no idea if the year to come would be the same or worse. I never imagined it would be so much better. I am truly blessed.

 Many of you have been with the Gypsy since it started in 2008. Now it's more than a thousand posts later. (I'm hoping to have a celebratory drawing once my feet get back on the ground this fall!)

 But if you joined in later or are just happening by and want to know a little more about this blog or its back story, please visit Susan at Must Love Junk! She is featuring me as her "Saturday Spotlight" beginning Saturday, August 16. I'm just delighted because Susan has one of those decorating blogs that makes me swoon! The has an antique shop in Ohio (and was recently featured in Vintage Style magazine!). So, even if you don't look at her spotlight, do check out her blog!

A Pretty-In-Pink Wedding!

I'm a little late on posting this one -- it's almost fall after all, and the wedding was in June! But I couldn't miss talking a bit about the flowers and setting of Kevin and Molly's wedding. It was the ultimate "Pretty In Pink."

They were married at the Grand Ledge Opera House not far from Lansing. The caterers would put on the silver and napkins.
The rest was up to us.

Rick was part of the lantern-hanging brigade. Another crew did the lights!

The favors were chocolate chip cookies made by Kevin's grandmother on his mom's side. She made 33 dozen and packaged them in pink and white.Those were placed on the tables with candles and flowers in the center.

The flowers! Oh, they were gasp-worthy!



Plenty of pink peonies, hydrangeas and roses.



And there were a few white spider mums thrown in!

I wasn't too sure about these tall ones -- I figured they were an accident waiting to happen. I am pleased to report no flowers were tipped during the evening!

There were also flowers for the outside where the ceremony was taking place.

You can see here that the men's ties and bridesmaids' bouquets and shoes were pink, too!

When we left, the ballroom looked like this.

When we came back, pink napkins were placed, the lights were dimmed and it was a magical pink palace.

And it smelled fabulous!

And really, who doesn't look good when surrounded by pink?

This post is part of Beverly's Pink Saturday blog party -- visit her link here to find other posts from lots of bloggers who are "in the pink!"

The Blogland Tour!

Leann at The Old Parsonage recently invited me to participate in a blog tour where you answer several questions and encourage other bloggers to do the same.(Check out her replies HERE) I was delighted to join, partly because I so enjoy Leann's blog! She's a gifted stamping artist and often shows her cards and I love it when she shares her delicious recipes! She's a creative homemaker who loves her "Fireman and his Flame," "Flyboy" and Mr. OP. But she's also a busy public relations professional. I loved it when she was working on an exhibit related to Grace Kelly.

But one of the things that most delights me about Leann is her passion for Christmas. She starts her Christmas prep in July and recently wrote about starting to design her cards. She'll keep us on track every month from now on -- and while I don't always do as she is, I find later that I wish I had kept to her schedule!

Thanks for including me!

These are the questions Leann asked me to answer:

What am I working on: Creatively, I am currently I'm working on several mixed media projects, including some small canvases and cards to add to my inventory.

I sell some at a local shop and others at year-end shows, so I'm trying to get a head start. I'm also working on some gelli-printing and painted deli-pages to use in my work, along with some paper-clay embellishments. And, work has started on things for swaps with Karla at Karla's Cottage and Joanne Huffman at adlibitum. When this post goes live, I will be visiting friends in Ohio and working with the wonderful sixth-grade granddaughter on some fun creativity projects.

Outside of my art projects, I am trying to read as many books as I can this year (not surprisingly, many are mysteries or have a Paris or London focus to them!). I've been participating in the Paris In July blog event -- it's one of my favorite cities! And I'm trying bit by bit to get my house (namely the basement and all the purging required!) in order. That, and teaching my cat Lizzie how to walk on a leash, should occupy me for the better part of my life!

How does my work differ from others of this genre: Good question. The art first -- I tend to use lots of elements that others use when making cards or canvases -- vintage images and embellishments. But I try to put my own spin on them, often using ribbon or trims on the cards. I'm also using more of my own hand-created papers.

 

I collect vintage postcards and often use the art in my work. When it comes to painting I am a rank beginner and still trying to find my style. I think I will be trying for a very long time!

When it comes to writing my blog -- well, I just sit down and do it! My blog is a little bit of everything -- art, travel, wine tasting, family, musings. Sometimes the ideas are falling out of my head (I have about eight posts in draft form right now) and sometimes life gets in the way! Key events -- family occasions, like Kevin's June wedding or celebrations tend to find a spot on the Gypsy.

But so do vacations. It's been a good road trip year, with visits to Massachusetts, Niagara Falls, Indiana and the lake with more to come!

And of course you'll find periodic cooking and wine tasting posts on the Gypsy!

I tend to use a lot of photos in my posts with fewer words, but sometimes I get carried away by the topic and I do know how to go on a bit! I have a second book blog, Chopsticks and String, but it has been neglected for so long, I'm rethinking whether it should be there at all!

How do I write or create what I do? I'm a bit of all over the map. My mixed media preferences mirror themselves in my mixed media life -- a little bit of everything. With the gelli prints and handpainted papers, I tend to use deli paper, ever since Kari McKnight Holbrook and Jacqueline Sullivan introduced me to their methods. While I'll still use scrapbooking papers and others I salvage, I really enjoy incorporating more of my own into my work. 

I don't tend to work on a regular schedule. My life is too mixed media for that! I work best at my cottage in Northern Michigan when I can be on the porch -- a good spot for being messy! (Although this summer it has been a little too cold and/or windy to work well on the porch with small bits of cut paper!) At home I do the messy things in the kitchen; the rest is a bit more portable. 

As for writing, I tend to do that now at the computer, though I might make written notes, especially for the poetry. I write one poetry book a year for my partner Rick -- it's sort of a year book with poems focusing on key events we've experienced over the past 12 months.

I've recently started blogging on the Habitation e-zine site, several times a year. It's fun to share ideas and experience there, too -- like a living wreath-making adventure at a nearby farm/garden.

How does my writing/creating process work: Well, that's all over the map, too! Sometimes I just have to put the stuff in  front of me and off I go. Other times, there is a lot of thinking and "auditioning" materials with each other to see how they'll work. In an online Claudine Hellmuth class, she advised to leave your work set up and return to it later to see if you really liked where you placed things. Sometimes I'm certain enough I don't need to do that but other times, that's really saved my work from being OK to being "Wow!"

And I love taking classes -- I learn a lot and have such fun creating in community.

I tend to gather the things I think I'll need -- the right adhesives, papers, embellishments, canvas -- often working in a color scheme of some sort. Then I just start painting or cutting, moving things about. Sometimes the thinking takes the most time. I've tried to time certain processes -- how long does it take to do a card or a piece. I can get some reliable work-time estimates, but the thinking time is a little more difficult to nail. 

I tend to work best under pressure. I suspect this comes from more than 30 years in a deadline-driven publis relations and writing career. When I know I have to turn out a dozen Easter cards, they're there. If I'm not on a deadline, I can tend to overthink it!

Part of the Blogland Tour is to introduce you to several bloggers I enjoy, I would really love to do that and asked a number of people to join in and -- being summer, being busy, being on vacation -- well, I didn't get any takers and finally I gave up!

But I would love to extend the invitation to those who read The Marmelade Gypsy. And I would encourage you to check out the links to blogs on my sidebar. I was going to list who wrote fabulous travel or photography, inspiration or history -- or just plain great writing. But the fact is, I love all these blogs and a few I haven't added yet! So I hope you'll look into them for me.

Meanwhile, if you decide to do the questions (and I hope you do!) let me know!

Postcards from the Lake: Duck Parade

It felt like September at the lake in late July. Cold days, colder nights, rain, purple skies, lots of book-reading, fireplace fires, more rain. If it hadn't been so green, I would have bet that it was nearing October.

This postcard finds me picking up a few moments from our extended weekend like this park bench made of skis in Boyne City. We went to Boyne City because Rick's bike wheel broke and that was the nearest replacement site.

Lizzie caught her first mouse. After seeing one dart across the room earlier, it was nice to find a soft furry carcass in the utility room and not in my bed as Gypsy once offered. She's clearly been working nights.

And when she hasn't, she's been cozying up to Rick. Cozying is something Lizzie Cosette is pretty good at, so long as it's on her terms.

She missed the Duck Parade. They came out of the woodlot next door, mom and three babies, all in formation.

Then they combed the beach for whatever it is ducks comb beaches for.

Mama Duck kept a sharp watch, but they hung out for a rather long time, sometimes swimming next door, then back again.

They're still a bit downy, with a bit of yellow on their heads.

Then off they marched, in formation, once again. We aren't sure where they're hanging out in the woodlot. Or maybe they were on vacation.

I was somewhat productive, too. I finally finished a bunch of paper clay embellishments to use in various projects. It was so damp, I think they're still in drying mode, but I got them painted and ready to use.

I started with backgrounds for pages on Karla's book page swap.

And I finished off a journal (not pictured) and four mini-canvases that don't look nearly as nice here as they do in person!

It's a beginning.