Once upon a time, in Williamsburg, Virginia, there was an attraction called Presidents Park. It featured 15 foot busts of the Presidents of the United States along with interpretive signs and, I’m sure, a gift shop. It only lasted for six years before going bankrupt. The land eventually sold, the sculptures had to be demolished, but the owner of the demolition company couldn’t do it so he moved them to his property on the other side of town. The Presidents Heads have been there for more than a decade, with nature taking its toll. The property is open a few times a years for visitors and may itself soon be sold. So, when I saw tickets available, I jumped at the chance to get access to this very unusual attraction. I had never visited the original attraction.
The tour guide shared lots of information and stories, but the real fun was wandering amongst these decaying colossi.
I love working with paper in all different ways from bookmaking to collage to 3D constructions. Today, I worked with Sarah Trebilcock’s tutorial for making a 3D pop up floating butterfly card. It is for my mother’s 91st birthday at the end of the month.
I am using my Sissix cutter to create the butterflies. The cutter is one of my favorite tools: portable, desktop size, and manual. No software or bluetooth required like the electronic cutter I have. Compact, portable and reliable.
I need to make a few more butterflies, connect the mechanism to the card and decorate the front. But I think it is time to call it a day. When I get tired, I tend to make mistakes and get sloppier than usual. A couple more hours tomorrow, and it will be done. Meanwhile, here’s my current progress:
Two major holidays were celebrated over the weekend:
August 8 is National Sneak Some Zucchini Into Your Neighbor’s Porch Day. It was created by Tom Roy who, with his wife Ruth, has created lots of different holidays. I feel a close connection to them as they lived for many years in Mt. Gretna, Pennsylvania, one of my favorite places on earth. Enjoy this video I made in 2013! I found it when I was searching for blog posts and had long forgotten about it.
August 9 is National Book Lovers Day. I often joke that my husband convinced me to move into our old, sometimes challenging farmhouse, because it had a library where my books could be out for the world to see. I have had a lifelong love affair with books and a few of those on my shelves have been with me for decades. Now, as we consider downsizing, I am considering how to cull what has become a sprawling collection that long ago outgrew the library. There seem to be books everywhere!
Giving away books I have read is no problem. But, it may be time to give away books that I haven’t read. As I sort through piles, I consider the possibility that I will probably never read certain books. It may be time to release them to the wild to find someone who will read them. So far, it hasn’t been as hard as I thought it would be. Some books just don’t speak to me the way they did when I acquired them. And, unlike when I began my book collecting, books are widely available at the click of a button. I don’t have to worry that losing the physical book means never having the opportunity to read it.
The hardest pile to whittle has been the professional books. I have a collection of some classic books about educational technology including manuals for teaching with this new thing called the Internet. I will share some of the titles in a future blog post.
Meanwhile, it is not too late to share some zucchini with your neighbor before curling up with a good book. And, if you are intrigued by these holidays, you can browse the full calendar at National Day Calendar.
