Saturday is for Sharing!

Hello hello, Grace here.

It is HOT in NYC. Yesterday was 86 degrees! (that’s 30 degrees celcius). Very grateful for air conditioning. I know England doesn’t really mess about with air conditioning, but I think that may have to change soon. It seems to be getting warmer and warmer over there, compared to my school days.

I will never forget my second year living in New York City. It was easily the hardest year here struggle & money-wise. I lived in Spanish Harlem with no AC. It would get up to the late 90’s temp wise for months at a time. In fact, I think that summer we hit 100 degrees. No air conditioning.

Not to be dramatic but I’m pretty sure your internal organs start shutting down after a certain amount of time in that heat. I would often go sit in the nearby fast food joint a couple of blocks away, just to cool down (and opportunistically eat some fries). I only stayed in that apartment for 1 year because I had to. THE MOMENT the lease was up I moved over to Astoria Queens, where I stayed in my tiny studio apartment for 5 years hugging my little AC machine in the window.

And now I live in an apartment in Brooklyn with ‘central air’. Fancy. But I have never forgotten that summer. So many people, just in New York alone, will be stuck in their apartments under those circumstances. So I’m praying for them. And I’m feeling extra grateful today for something as simple as air conditioning. You don’t know how blessed & lucky you are, until you don’t have it!

I won’t tell you about when the AC broke last summer for a week though… Not the most graceful Grace.

Anyway! Here are my wonderful craft picks of the week! Gathered from Groovi Worldwide & Clarity Worldwide.

Ann Laing
Stephanie Cunningham
Sue Froud
Annette Mercer
Gwyneth Mohon
Dee Paramour
Emma Biggs

Pretty special, right? A few of them I spotted earlier in the week and thought ‘Oh that is DEFINITELY going in Saturdays blog! Wow!’. And then on Friday afternoons I go a-searching through both Facebook pages and select my absolute faves.

It’s a bit of a work-treat for me. I stop doing all the other things, make a cup of tea and go on a hunt for inspiration. You lot make it incredibly easy to find inspiration… But very difficult to select cards! They’re all so wonderful.

One of these days, perhaps when life is less up in the air, I will get my crafty mojo back! It left me a while back. But that’s okay. It comes and goes! At the moment I’m on a right health/exercise kick! And I am going to ride that wave for as long as possible. It’s a wave that RARELY comes to my beach. So I better make the most of it 😉

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Lotsa love, Grace xoxo

Clarity – The Home of Art, Craft and Well-being.

12 thoughts on “Saturday is for Sharing!

  • 13th June 2020 at 11:17 am
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    What a beautiful selection of artwork – congratulations to all on such magnificent pieces. I think most of us empathise that when things go wrong we can be the worst version of ourselves. You make me chuckle and sound so ‘British’ – getting your cup of tea! It’s not a beverage I’ve ever taken to and I’ve lived in the UK all my life – give me a strong black freshly ground coffee slightly sweetened any day. A health/exercise stint is great news as you will be ‘fit’ when life gets back to normality and ready to hit the beaches (even if its only the local ones in NYC).

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  • 13th June 2020 at 11:32 am
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    What an an amazing set of artwork, so much love and patience gone into those creations. Well done everyone. I can’t say that the fitness bug has hit me but I am trying to eat healthy. Lots of summer fruit around now so loving that. I could not cope with your high temperatures, maybe when I was younger but not now so I would need the AC. Stay cool and enjoy your weekend. xx

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  • 13th June 2020 at 12:34 pm
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    Heat is definitely out for me where ever I am. I try to retreat indoors and use ice packs to cool me. No AC.
    Lovely selection of peoples work, so much effort.
    Keep cool and keep safe.

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  • 13th June 2020 at 12:50 pm
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    Couldn’t take that heat all the time. There was a time we used to visit New York at May half term most years. I think it was the first year, we were so hot we got on a bus all the way down to Battery Park just for the air con. Another year, same time, I had to go to Macy’s and buy a wool cardigan to put under my jacket, I was so chilled. Not as cold as February mine. We were there for a wedding of an ex-pupil of mine. There wasn’t much snow on the ground but I remember it was too cold to standstill! Love, love New York! Keep cool Grace. X

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  • 13th June 2020 at 1:46 pm
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    Thank you Grace for choosing my card, this was the first time I have posted. My sister was delighted with it , although she had not discovered the secret message of ‘70th birthday’. she said that she would never have thought to interfere with the design!

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  • 13th June 2020 at 2:41 pm
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    Thank you Grace for picking my card, I don’t know how you choose from all the amazing work on show. We do have a head start with all the wonderful things Clarity brings us.

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  • 13th June 2020 at 2:43 pm
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    Beautiful artwork.
    No AC here, we just swelter, got to 126F in our conservatory last year!!!!!
    Stay safe.

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  • 13th June 2020 at 3:10 pm
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    Ooh what a shock seeing my little summer PTC up at the top there, glad you like it, , thanks for highlighting it.

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  • 13th June 2020 at 4:03 pm
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    Thanks for showcasing some more lovely cards this week. Warm & sunny here today although heavy rain is forecast for Monday onwards so I have made the most of it & got the washing up to date, trouble is that means there will be ironing later !! Have been making some cards to take over to my Mom tomorrow as she has run out. She likes to keep in contact with all her friends & family for birthdays & anniversaries & as I have told her several times going to the shops is not an option at the moment for her or me. At 91 she is one of the vulnerable ones although thankfully she has no illnesses to deal with as well.
    Enjoy your sunshine & hopefully the Air con will behave itself

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  • 13th June 2020 at 4:49 pm
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    Beautiful artwork as always. The day the Commonwealth Games opened in London, I had a group of folk here for a Knit and Natter Group and to watch the Opening Ceremony. It was so hot in my living room, that we had to sit outside till 9 p.m. adn only came in for the ceremony. We could hardly breathe inside so I had a fan on to try and cool things down. A few weeks later (!) when I decided to dust I discovered that a box of paper tissues was stuck to a table. The varnish had actually melted! That is how hot it gets in my house when the sun shines so I go around closing curtains to make it bearable! Not complaining though. I love the sun and we have had so much of it during lockdown. It has been fantastic. Yesterday I got some of the grass cut and thirty plug begonias planted up. They arrived yesterday by post. I had forgotten I had even ordered them. It was ages ago but they weren’t to be delivered till now so they were in good nick! Anyway, today there is a bit of rain which is great because I have work to do and I I don’t need to water the garden. All good. Enjoy the sunshine and your air con! Stay safe. Hx

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  • 13th June 2020 at 5:12 pm
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    Hello Grace and thank you for including me in your gallery. It is such an honour, as there are some beautiful cards there.
    I lived in Johannesburg for over 20 years, so got used to heat, but as it was 6000feet above sea level, we didn’t get high humidity. I find that the hardest to deal with here.
    Air con is one of the best things to be invented, in cars too!
    Have a lovely weekend. X

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  • 15th June 2020 at 7:50 pm
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    What a lovely selection of cards -thanks for picking them out for us. FB goes by so quickly it’s often hard to find a card once seen and then vanished!!
    I grew up in Australia from the ages of 6 and the only AC we had was a wet sheet hung over the kitchen door for any breeze to find and cool down the house (with corrugated iron roof). My siblings and I often slept in a tent outside as our top bunk beds were just inches from a red-hot roof!! We never seemed to notice the heat when out playing with friends, though at school, we fought for our daily 1/3 pint from the back of the crates as the front ones were like hot milk -yuk!! The milkmen who put them in the shade at 6 am didn’t remember the sun would be full on them by 11am!! I’ve been back in the UK since 1972 and don’t miss the heat and hate the hot summers here, so if AC becomes cheap enough, I’ll be going for it.

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