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The Handmade Joy Exchange

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I’ve been following Anne Butera’s blog for some time now. She’s a watercolor artist, and not only do I love her artwork, I love her philosophy of life. Each Monday she posts “Joy List Monday” where she shares the joys of her week: “a reminder to stop and pay attention to the little beauties and graces that make life magical and to set aside time for gratitude each day.” In addition to following her blog, I signed up for her JoyLetter. Early in February, I received an invitation to participate in a Handmade Joy Exchange. Here’s Anne’s description of the project:

The concept is simple. Make something by hand (with joy and love) and send it to the person with whom I’ve matched you up. You can use any medium, any technique… In the past participants created using embroidery, metalsmithing, paper cutting, paper folding, crochet, knitting, sewing, painting, assemblage…

I signed right up, and by the end of the month, I’d received a name. There weren’t any social media links included in my match, so I asked Anne if she had any information that might help me create something appropriate. It turned out I would be creating for a young lady, twelve years old, which definitely influenced my choice of project. I also learned that she was interested in drawing, journaling, and painting so I decided to create a sketchbook for her filled with multi-media paper which would hold up to paint, collage, or whatever she might want to throw at it. I included six divider pages, each with a quote about creativity, and decided to personalize the cover. Since I’m primarily a cardmaker, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to include a set of cards. I decided to create cards that could be colored by Sedona, and included a set of die cut sentiments so she could choose among different occasions if she wanted to turn them into greeting cards. 

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One interesting this about the exchange was that you were not paired with the person you created for. My Handmade Joy gift was waiting for me when we returned from our March road trip. It came from California, and is from another watercolor artist. You can find her beautiful work here on her Instagram account. I love every item in my package:  a notepad, two beautiful handsewn journals, and two watercolor cards. They were packaged beautifully as well.

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This turned out to be a very satisfying and rewarding project. I’d sign up for it again in a flash. Tomorrow you’ll be able to see Anne’s blog post about the project, and a summary of all the wonderful projects that were created. I’m quite sure it will be worth a look!

 
 

Time Out Challenge: A Trio of Butterflies

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It’s been awhile since I’ve participated in a challenge despite my intention to get to at least one each week. This week I have a trio of butterfly cards that I made Sunday night. The pink ones will get entered in the Time Out Challenge #81.

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Every year on our way to Longboat Key, we make a stop in St. Petersburg, Florida for lunch at the Red Mesa Catina, and a shopping trip for me at Whim-so-Doodle. I wish I had access to a store like this in our area, although it’s probably best for my budget that I don’t! One of my purchases this year was a set of paper butterflies by Maggie Holmes for Crate Paper. They were lying on my table, and I pulled out a narrow roll of Washi tape and some card stock, and pretty quickly had three birthday cards ready for May birthdays.

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The “celebrate” die is from Papertrey Ink’s “Good Times.” That and a few sequins and the cards were done.

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I was lucky enough to borrow a few new Papertrey Ink stamps from a friend, so hope to get some more crafting in this week along with the #100DayProject, some Project Life pages, and assignments for two online classes. Both of the agencies for whom I volunteer are closed this week for spring break, so I’ve got some extra time (if I stay home long enough to use it!)

 

 

Memos, Mail, Me: Easter Weekend

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It’s amazing what two beautiful, unusually warm days will do for the view. On Friday, I wrote that there were almost no flowering trees in bloom, and very few trees greening. Last night Tracy and I took a walk after our Easter celebration at his brothers, and the neighborhood has burst into color. 

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We had a pretty quiet weekend until Easter Sunday when we were away nearly the whole day. On Friday and Saturday, I caught up with my online class assignments, and worked on getting my studio back in order. We made our second run to the garden center, and picked up two beautiful pots for our front yard, and some pansies which will withstand the great variation in temperatures expected this week. 

Yesterday we started the day at Matt and Betsy’s with the girls for breakfast and their Easter egg hunt. Skylar and Ella were really into it, and it was so much fun to watch them run about the yard looking for their eggs. The Easter Bunny had left a letter for them, telling them what color eggs they should look for. Skylar’s were light blue, Ella’s were dark blue, and Maddy had green. Then there was one golden egg for everyone. Maddy, of course, was just an observer this year.

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They needed Daddy’s help to reach some of the eggs. The Easter Bunny may have had a drone!

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Then, of course it was time to find out what was hidden in those eggs.

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From there we went to church. I don’t take photos in church, but I wish you could have seen the gorgeous flower arrangements, and heard the amazing music. There was brass and timpani, and a full choir. Absolutely glorious!

Tracy’s brother and sister-in-law hosted Easter dinner. Thunderstorms were predicted, but aside from a brief shower just as we arrived, the day remained sunny and warm. Susan set the table with her grandmother’s china, and we had a wonderful feast of ham, potatoes, broccoli au gratin, salads, and hot cross buns. I’ve been pretty good about watching my portions, but I definitely overate yesterday.

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There wasn’t much in the way of exciting mail this week. Last week, I noticed Melissa had received her copy of Uppercase, and I wondered where mine was. It did arrive this week along with the newest issue of Cloth, Paper, Scissors. The latter subscription was a gift from a friend. Now that I don’t do much multi-media work, there’s not as much that interests me. There’s always one article, though, that attracts my attention. 

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On the ride home last night I finished the novel for our book group, Shadow of the Wind. It was a long book with a very involved plot, but I enjoyed it, and am looking forward to next week’s discussion. I should have time now, to catch up on reading some periodicals. A rather large pile has accumulated since we returned from our trip.

I thought, perhaps, I’d get a Happy Easter post up yesterday, but I was too tired last night, so if you can hang in there just another minute or two, I’ll share the Easter cards I made for the grandchildren. All of them were created with the March Simon Says Card Kit. (Maddy’s card was made earlier and shared here.)

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Ella loves her sunglasses, and I couldn’t resist casing this card from Yana Smakula.

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The inside sentiment continues, “thinks you’re awesome! Happy Easter”

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“Happy Easter!”

And last, but not least, for the newest grandchild:

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Waving to Sian and Monday Memo Makers! Hope you have a great week ahead.

April Five in Five: Looking for Color

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It feels like spring, the sun is shining, the daffodils are blooming, and there are a few crocus popping up, but still no leaves on the trees nor any flowering trees. The tulips aren’t out yet either. But I did know where to find a riot of color just a mile or so from our house. So this afternoon, I walked over to the Highland Conservatory. It’s easy to get five photos in five minutes in the Spring Flower Show room. There was, as I expected, lots of beautiful spring color.

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As always, I rarely get this meme posted on the fifth of the month, but I’m happy to be participating in Sandie’s monthly challenge to get 5 in 5, and grateful for an excuse to get to the Spring Flower Show.

Happy Birthday, Simon Says Wednesday Challenge

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It’s the 8th birthday of the Wednesday Challenge at Simon Says. Not surprisingly, the challenge prompt is Happy Birthday, and I have two (almost matching) cards ready for some April birthdays.

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Both were made with the new “Beautiful Berries: Spring” set released last month by Papertrey Ink. The multiple stamped images were very easy to line up, so I die cut the pieces first and then stamped them. I found the design inspiration from Wanda Guess, one of the new members of the PTI Design Team. Both card bases were made with the A2 Noted dies and Memory Box paper which I love because the inside is white.

Since these are brand new stamps (never used stuff), I can sneak them into the NBUS April Challenge which ends today.

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Memos, Mail, Me: Extremes

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On Friday morning, we awoke to this:

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Yes, several inches of wet, heavy snow. 

By yesterday, it was 70° and we were off to the garden center for some spring flowers.

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Despite the warm temperatures, there is still a bit of snow on the ground. I’m sure it will be gone by noon since temperatures are expected in the 70’s again. It won’t stay this warm, of course, but hopefully we’re done with the snow!

It was a lovely weekend: dinner with friends on Friday night, a shopping trip to a McKenzie-Child warehouse sale with another friend, and dinner with family last night. In between, some appointments, sorting of clothes for the consignment shop, and time at the gym after several months away. McKenzie-Child has an annual Barn Sale which I’ve never attended, and the warehouse sale was something new. A friend texted me right before we left on our trip and asked if I were interested. I was, indeed. Although I have several pieces of their Courtly Check tinware, most of it is beyond my price range. Everything at the sale, however, was 50% off or more. I got this lovely pitcher which retails for $85 for $19. I know I’ll find lots of uses for it; it’s looking lovely in the dining room now. Not only was it a bargain, it was the only piece with this pattern that we saw.

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Good things in the mail were rather sparse this week, but we did get one very nice package from The Great Courses. They were having a big sale, and Tracy wanted a course on genealogy. I picked up two sets of DVDs on the Bible. The New Testament is taught by Bart Erhman, and I was fortunate to hear him speak on Thursday evening at the University of Rochester’s Phi Beta Kappa lecture. He spoke about some of his findings while researching his latest book, Jesus Before the Gospels: How the Earliest Christians Remembered, Changed, and Invented Their Stories of the Savior.  Amazon describes him as a “renowned and controversial scholar,” and I understand why some might think his conclusions are controversial. I thought the research on memory was fascinating, and I have the book on hold at the library. 

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This week’s calendar is pretty packed with appointments, volunteer commitments, and lots of social events. I’ll have to work hard to find time for my daily reading, #The100DayProject, and my online class assignments. 

Waving to Sian and the Monday Memo Makers. Hope you have a great week!

#The100DayProject

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I’m quite sure I do not need another project, but it’s been over a year since I have sketched on a daily basis. During an online class on visual journaling, I came across a book called The Zen of Seeing/Drawing: Seeing/Drawing as a Meditation. The class focused on contemplative photography, but I enjoyed the book not only as a new way to approach photography, but also as a new way of approaching drawing. So when the #The100DayProject appeared in my email, I decided to make a go of it. While we were in Florida, I ordered two books, and I’ve read parts of both. I’ll be using them as a resource during the project. I decided to limit both time (20 minutes max), and materials: a small Moleskin Sketch book, a pencil, a Micron pen, and a waterbrush. If I have time, I’ll add some watercolor to the sketch. 

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With some encouragement from Honoré, I’m going to attempt a daily posting on Instagram as well. We’ll see how that goes. I started The 100 Day Project last year, but didn’t get very far. I thought, perhaps, a public commitment might improve my odds of success. 

Here’s Day 1. I’ve decided to lay out my materials each night before I go to bed, and to be sure to finish the sketch before noon. If I’m going to draw an object, I’ll find it the night before and lay it on the desk. I chose a little Easter decoration for the first one.

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Memos, Mail, Me: The Road Home

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It’s rare that I’m writing a Mondaly Memo post after dinner, but the truth is I find it hard to get back into my usual routines after we’ve been away for over two weeks. In January, it took several weeks until I felt I had things under control again. This time it seems a bit better, but I’m still not quite “on it.” I hope you’ll forgive a longer than usual post, as I thought I’d do a recap of our trip home, even though most of it happened before the weekend.

When we left Florida, we headed to Macon, Georgia. Tracy had long wanted to visit the Indian mounds there at the Ocmulgee National Monument.

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It was a beautiful day for a visit, and I was much more interested in it than I expected. The park is a prehistoric Indian site, having been occupied for over 17,000 years. The Earth Lodge is a reconstructed ceremonial building, but the floor has been carbon dated to nearly 1,000 years old.

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The Temple Mound is the highest, and largest Mississippian mound. If you look closely, you can see people climbing the stairs as well as some people on top of the mound which gives you some perspective. The original mounds were, needless to say, constructed basket by basket of dirt carried by individuals. It must have taken a very long time.

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From Macon, we drove to Atlanta to have brunch at our favorite restaurant, Canoe. We discovered it when Sarah was in seminary, and it never disappoints. It’s a beautiful place, with impeccable service, and outstanding food. It sits on the bank of the Chattahoochee River.

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I needed a self-portrait for my CY365 project that day, but I cheated and let Tracy take on. It’s not often I’m willing to share photos of myself, but the setting was pretty wonderful.

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Our next stop was Chattanooga, Tennessee. It was a good distance between Atlanta and Nashville, so we planned an afternoon and evening there. Good choice. There was a wonderful art museum,

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and an even more wonderful aquarium.

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It housed a butterfly/bird garden on the roof,

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a touchstation, “Stingray Bay,” where you can touch stingrays as they swim by,

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and two buildings of exhibits, one the Ocean Journey, and the other The River Journey. Both are excellent. The exhibit of seahorses was absolutely fascinating although I have no photos from it.

There’s a wonderful pedestrian bridge that crosses the Tennessee River that links the downtown art district with a delightful area of restaurants and shops on the other side. After dinner at The Brewhaus, we walked across half the bridge, and then down to the park below. Chattanooga has done a wonderful job of revitalizing the river district. I wish Rochester would come up with a good plan.

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Our primary destination for the trip home was Nashville. My main reason for wanting to visit was a bookstore, Parnassus Books, co-owned by Ann Patchett, one of my favorite authors. I was so engrossed in looking at books and reading the review cards, I never took one photo. I always try to buy one book whenever I visit an independent book store in order to support them. This time, both Tracy and I left with our own bag of books. I’m all set for reading material for the next several months! I did stick to my self-inflicted rule: you may only buy books you’ve never heard of (based, of course, on those marvelous little review cards taped to the shelves.)

But, I must admit that the highlight of our visit was not books, after all, but music. Thanks to the B&B owners we had tickets to see the Time Jumpers the first night. We ended up sitting with a couple who drive 1 ½ hours every week to hear the Time Jumpers. (Donny has seen them over 90 times!) It’s a 10 man “country swing” band, but I only have photos of a few of them since we were sitting right in front. Watching the band members interact with one another was such a treat, and the music was great!

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The next night, we went to the Grand Ole Opry, and it was much better than I expected. It’s in a lovely auditorium, built specifically for the Opry, and it was a lot of fun.

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That’s Charlie Daniels, if you’re a country music fan.

So that’s a long recap for a Monday. What about the mail? As you might imagine, we had a big stack of it. There were a couple great packages. One from California which I can’t share until later this month, and a package from Papertrey Ink. I spent most of yesterday, working on cards for April. Most of those I can’t share either, since the recipients do read the blog. This one, however, is for a friend who doesn’t read my blog.

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Everything on this card came in my box of goodies. The diecuts, preprinted flowers and pot, and patterned paper are all from a mini kit, “Bloom and Grow.” The open frame die is one of three pieces in a new die set called “Mix and Mat: Flourishes.”

The flowers pull out to include a message, but there’s another sentiment inside as well.

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I’m entering this in the NBUS Challenge #11, for “never before used stuff.” 

Waving to Sian and the Monday Memo crew! It’s good to be back, and hopefully next week, I’ll be on track again.

5 in 5: Shore Birds

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This has turned out to be a last minute post. Entries to Sandi’s 5 in 5 meme are due by tomorrow. Not that I don’t have photos from our road trip, but 5 in 5 minutes hadn’t happened. Yesterday as we took our daily walk down the beach there were an unusual number of birds on the beach

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We spotted a bird we’ve never seen in all our trips to Florida. It’s a Black Skimmer—identified with Tracy’s iBird app. They’re the ones with the two-tone beaks–black and orange.

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I rarely manage to catch the birds in flight, but yesterday I did. All these were taken with my iPhone 6.

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And finally a photo of a bird we knew as a Pilot Tern (black heads), but we’re now not sure since we can’t find a bird with that name in our bird library. Our friend thought it was a Royal Tern, but a Royal Tern doesn’t have as much black on their head. 

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This is our last full day at the beach. We’re meeting friends of ours for lunch who are also on Longbeach. Tuesday night we had dinner with another couple who are also here. Amazing that we can have such a nice social life here as well as the wonderful weather! You can click on any of the photos to enlarge them.

Memos, No Mail, Me: A Road Trip

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Saturday evening we arrived on Longboat Key, Florida to spend a week with friends. We took a road trip on our way, and there will be another road trip on the way home. We left just in time to escape the biggest winter storm of the season—and one that dumped more snow on Rochester than we’ve seen in a long time—30 inches. I’m not sorry to have missed it!

We made a stop in Asheville, NC where it was bitter cold, but sunny. There we got to have lunch with a friend and explore a bit more of the city than we’ve had time to do in the past. We’ve come to the conclusion, though, that we need to schedule a trip in the late spring or early summer when the weather is more conducive to hiking and sightseeing.

We arrived in Savannah, GA on Thursday afternoon, took a trolley tour of the city, visited the SCAD Museum of Art, and had dinner at one of our favorite restaurants. Saturday was St. Patrick’s Day as well as Tracy’s birthday.

The parade for St. Patrick’s Day in Savannah is the second largest in the country. Only New York City’s is larger. We weren’t quite sure what to expect so decided to purchase seats on one of the bleachers set up on the parade route. We arrived well before the beginning of the parade, but despite the fact that the bleacher seats were sold out, ours was never filled, and quite comfortable. Good thing, since the parade is very long.

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As you can see from the photo above, many people dress up for the day. I had a bright green vest on and purchased some of the shiny green beads from the vendors selling up and down the parade route. (No photos of me, however. What else is new?)

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Of all the outfits, this was my favorite:

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Mother, daughter, and dog were all decked out in tulle.

The parade included:

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Marching bands from several states; some as far away as Indiana.

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Floats; some very professionally done, others not so much.

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Bagpipers, and drum corps.

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Many military groups. Check out the cheeks of the soldiers. It is, evidently, customary for woman and girls to rush out and kiss their cheeks as they march by. It happened regularly where we were sitting, and the soldiers took to it quite well.

All in all, it was a fun time, and probably the biggest birthday celebration Tracy’s had. Before we left I got his birthday card made. I took a page from Sian’s playbook, and used some scrapbook ephemera to create a travel inspired card.

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Because it was an odd size, I needed to make the envelope as well. It had been ages since I pulled out my envelope punch board, and I’d forgotten how easy it is to make an envelope of almost any size.

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Sunday was rest and relax at the beach. Bill and Tina have rented a lovely condo with a long screened in porch overlooking the gulf. Just the sound of the surf is relaxing, and keeping the door to the porch ajar last night probably contributed to the best night’s sleep I’ve had in a long time. I read, uploaded some photos, and we took a long walk on the beach.

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We’ll need to rest up here for the fun trip planned for the trip home. Waving to Sian and all the Monday Memo Makers. Hope all is well with you.

 

Final Four: Winter Photo Scavenger Hunt

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By the end of February, I had just four items left on Eileen’s Winter Photo Scavenger Hunt. In the end, one of my final entries is a bit questionable, and there’s no excuse for it. Number 4 on the list reads “a signpost with an image of an animal.” I’m quite sure I’ve driven by a minimum of 100 deer crossing signs since the beginning of the scavenger hunt, but not once did I stop to take a photo. Now I’m in Florida, and there are none to be seen. This is the closest I could get:

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I must admit, there are tons of these here! 

Number 9 is “a diamond.” My diamond is pretty small, but one of the women in our bridge group has quite a big diamond and willingly posed for my photo.

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Number 12 is a “market or market stall.” This one I found on our road trip here, at the Western North Carolina Farmer’s Market in Asheville, NC.

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And last, but not least, Number 16 is “a memory from your childhood.”

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I chose several items: my first edition copy of Charlotte’s Web. The binding has almost fallen apart, and I need to find someone who can restore. Although I loved Stuart Little, as well, it was clearly not as beloved as Charlotte’s Web. I have no idea where my little piggy bank came from, but it sat on my dresser as long as I can remember. The Bill Ding’s are the originals from my childhood, and the grandchildren now play with them. We’ve also purchased new ones for them. Some toys just don’t go out of style.

Thanks, Eileen, for a great list. I love working on these photographic projects.

Masculine Birthdays

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Creating cards for guys isn’t as easy as it is for my female friends or even for the kids. It’s even worse when you’ve missed someone’s birthday. Admittedly, I don’t miss many. I keep a birthday calendar on the bulletin board over my desk and each month can easily see the events for which I want to create a card. When Papertrey Ink released “Blue Skies,” I grabbed it right away with a card like this in mind. I’ve had it for a couple of years, but this year I needed a belated greeting for my brother-in-law (of all people!)

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The first (or was it the first two or three?) attempts at this card ended up in the circular file, but I learned a lot in the attempts. In the end, finding patterned paper from the My Favorite Things “Watercolor Wash” pad was the key to success. I die cut clouds inside the stitched circle, then backed it with Hawaiian Shores cardstock which I overlaid with smaller cloud dies. The plane was stamped with Hawaiian Shores and then die cut and bumped out with some foam tape.

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The next card came together in no time, which made up for the first one. When Papertrey had their January sale of patterned papers, I picked up one called “3 Piece Suit,” clearly designed for masculine cards.

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I cut a narrow piece from the patterned paper and adhered it to a gray card after stamping the sentiment from one of my all time favorite sets:  “Stylish Sentiments: Birthday.” I found the perfect embellishment in my sticker collection. Within the week, I needed two more masculine birthday cards. One for an older gentleman, and one for my niece’s husband. I’ll let you guess which one goes to him! Same design; different papers.

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For this one, I couldn’t find an embellishment in my stash, so die cut multiple starts with Simon Says “Large Holiday Shapes.”

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Once I found the right patterned paper, this card came together quickly as well. (I have to admit, though, the paper search took awhile.) I finally found it in one of the loose packs of papers in my stash, so I’m not sure where it came from.

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Several months ago, I picked up some pack of birthday stickers with the idea of using them in my Project Life pages. These balloons were just the right colors, so onto a card they went!

I’ll be returning to this design again. Quick and easy—especially when you need a card quickly.

Mail, Memos, Me: The Weekend Edition

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Our weekend started with a lovely birthday dinner on Friday night with Tracy’s sister and brother-in-law at a new Italian restaurant. Delicious food; good conversation!

Saturday I spent most of the day working on a project I’ll be able to share next month. I also spent some time watching a webinar hosted by Capture Your 365 in celebration of their 6th birthday. One of my favorite sessions was on creating flat lays. Afterwards, I created one to post in the Facebook group for their birthday bash.

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I’m so glad I rejoined CY365 this year. I’m picking up my camera every day, and being inspired by the photographs shared in the gallery. I also worked on the assignments for an online class on photography and visual journaling that started last week. More on that soon.

We were busy yesterday. Both Tracy and I were communion servers at the early church service. Although bitter cold (it was 6° when we left for church,) it was a bright sunny day, good for a drive to Buffalo for lunch and discussion with our book group. I spent the evening watching women’s college basketball games on television. I’ve been following the University of Connecticut team for at least 15 years, and now that we’re closing in on the big NCAA tournament, I’m interested in watching all their possible competition as well.

What about the mail? Well, like Melissa, I’m not in the need for any more books, but that’s what arrived in the mail this week.

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Although I love my Kindle, reading a paper-bound book is still my preference, especially if I think I might want to underline or make margin notes. These all fit that category, and at least two of them will be accompanying me on our upcoming road trip.

I also ordered an inexpensive, but clever, pencil sharpener.You can see the numbers on the dial—choose the number and you will get a different kind of point as shown in the diagram. I bought it for my colored pencils hoping that choosing #1 will extend the life of the pencils.

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Waving to Sian at From High in the Sky and other memo makers! Here’s to a great week!

 

 

Happy Birthday!

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Here are two birthday cards in the same color scheme–teal and white. 

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This card has a lot of color and texture but came together in a hurry. The background paper is from Papertrey Ink’s “Winter Woods” paper pack, covered with the “Dainty Scallop Cover-up” from My Favorite Things cut from white. All it needed was the “happy” die from a free set from Papertrey with the accompanying sentiment white embossed on a black strip of paper. I ended up adding three little pearls as a final embellishment.

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This one makes me happy–bright colors and CAS design. I used a piece of Washi tape down the left side of the white card and added a thin strip of True Black cardstock for an accent. The sentiment, from “Scribbled Sentiments” (PTI) was stamped in Hawaiian Shores to match the card base and black as a repeat of the black accent. Three enamel dots finished it off. 

I’m linking these up to the newest Less is More Challenge: Mostly Teal.

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Quick and EasyThanks!

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If I think about the number of cards I make each year, Christmas cards would be #1, followed by birthday cards, and then thank you cards. Even when I’m creating cards for a challenge, I have a recipient in mind, so I never really have a backlog of cards to draw from. The few I have never seem to match the person I’m sending the card to and end up in the file for way too long. So here are a few thank you cards that have gone out, but never gotten shared on the blog. 

The first two use the same die fro Papertrey Ink. Add it to some patterned paper, and you’ve got a quick and easy thank you note.

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Can’t be much easier than that. Although this one might have been even easier:

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I found a cute set of tags at a shop in St. Petersburg last year, and saved them for times when I need a card pronto. I added it to a piece of striped vellum cut with a stitched rectangle die and adhered them both to a bright yellow card.

And one last that required only one die cut. I started with one of the papers from a Papertrey Ink card set (no longer available) and added a Wet Paint sentiment cut from metallic gold paper. 

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This gives a better idea of the flashy metallic of the card:

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After nearly a week of spring-like weather, winter has returned. I’ll miss the daily walks outside, but the weekend is a busy one with lots of creating that needs to happen as well, so the weather shouldn’t be much of a factor. Hope your weekend is a good one!