Tag Archives: Earth

Thoughtful Thursday Dryer Sheets vs Dryer Balls

Posted on by
Reply
Photo by Sarah Chai on Pexels.com

Laundry is never ending and so is the expense. But if you want your clothes to feel soft, be static free and have a nice scent you need to add a new dryer sheet to every load of laundry and that’s costly.

The majority of dryer sheets are made from a thin polyester material that’s coated with a softening agent and lots of chemicals including fatty acids, fatty alcohols, alcohol ethoxylates, stearic acid plus harsh perfumes. None of which are healthy for your body and the waste isn’t healthy for the planet.

Luckily there’s an alternative to these sheets, dryer balls. The dryer balls work by bouncing around in the dryer, separating clothes and allowing air to circulate more efficiently. As a result they soften your clothes and reduce drying time, wrinkles and static cling. Plus there are no harsh chemicals.

I’ve used dryer balls for years and love them. I started with the plastic kind shown below on the right and they worked great. But eventually they broke down and had to be replaced with new ones that gave off a slight plastic odor which I wasn’t crazy about.

I thought there had to be a better way so I did a bit of research for a natural alternative and found wool dryer balls (shown above on the left). I followed an online tutorial at DIY Natural to make your own set which required roving wool and that can be hard to find in South Florida.

Fortunately, there are quite a few companies that make and sell dryer balls online. This is a link to the set I purchased a year ago on Amazon and they’re still going strong! The best part is you can add your own essential oils to wool dryer balls and freshen your laundry, naturally without harsh chemicals. Plus you’ll save loads of money and reduce waste. It’s a win-win!!

Hope you enjoyed this post today, thanks for stopping by!!

Share the Happy💖

Thoughtful Thursday SPACEX Falcon 9 OVZON-3 Rocket Launch

Posted on by
Reply
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

I hope you enjoyed your holidays. I’m well rested and ready to start creating new fun and interesting art in the studio. I’m also very excited for all the good things to come in this New Year!

Yesterday, January 3, 2024 at 6:04 pm, NASA launched the SPACEX FALCON 9 OVZON-3 Rocket. I happened to be outside with my two furry girls, Rosie and Chanel when I saw the rocket to the north in the dimming night sky.

It was an incredible site!! Especially since Cape Canaveral is a 3 hour drive and approximately 200 miles from my home. The sky was fairly clear and I could see a large amount of what looked like smoke in the sky. Then the rocket separated into 2 pieces. One continued to outer space and the other piece flew in the opposite direction.

On board this launch vehicle was a communication satellite for the Sweden based Ovzon. This was the first privately funded Swedish satellite that was launched. The mission will send the Ovzon-3 satellite to a geostationary orbit which is a circular orbit above the Earth’s equator and is ideal for communication satellites.

Hopefully, by mid 2024 the satellite will be fully operational. The goal is for it to operate without relying on ground segment and therefore it will be resistant to jamming or other intrusive operations.

If you want to see the live coverage of the launch you can find it on YouTube: SPACE FALCON 9 OVZON-3 Rocket Launch.

I know we’ve come a long way from the first lunar launch but I have to say it still amazes me and makes me wonder, what if……

I hope you enjoyed this post today. Wishing you a bright New Year filled with love, good health and prosperity! Thanks for for stopping by!!

Share the Happy💖

“Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.” ~Carl Sagan

Photo by Jaymantri on Pexels.com

Thoughtful Thursday – Earth Day

Posted on by
2

Earth Day is being celebrated this Saturday, April 22, 2023. It’s origins began in 1970 as a way to change the public’s outlook and bring awareness to environmental issues plaguing our beautiful planet.

Almost 7 billion people share this amazing planet with 10 million animal species and 300,000 plant species. That’s a lot of inhabitants when you think about it. Plus the entire surface of the earth is a series of connected ecosystems that provide precious resources that sustain all life here on Earth. So it’s imperative that we take care of our planet.

We live a world of plastic and although it was a great invention because it made so many things possible, it may also be our undoing. Stats show that in 2021 there was 363,762,732,605 pounds of plastic polluting the world’s oceans. Plus microplastics which are tiny pieces of plastic can be found in almost all water systems around the world including rivers, lakes, streams and oceans. It is said that there is more microplastic in the ocean than there are stars in the Milky Way. These are very scary stats because where does that leave us in 10, 20 and even 50 years from now? Will this planet be able to sustain life at all?

We all need to pitch in and do our part to reduce, reuse and recycle. We need to work together to come up with better ideas and solutions to reducing our footprint on this planet. So that life will continue to thrive.

What are some of the things you do to help make a better tomorrow?

Thanks for stopping by!

Share the Happy💖

“We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.” ~Unknown

Source: Earth Day Fact Sheet

All photos in the slide presentation above were taken by Maria Vidaurre

Watercolor Bird Angel Journal Page

Posted on by
4

Creating these watercolor angels is simply magical! This is my latest angel that I created in my Strathmore 5.5″ x 8″ watercolor journal. Like my other angels I started by lightly sketching her and then painted her with bright fun watercolor paints. While the paints were wet, I added sea salt and let it dry, then brushed it off.

The next step was to add some doodles with my white Posca pen. I added more detailing and shading with watercolor paints and colored pencils and of course a little bling with Stickles.

I tried using gold leaf for the halo this time. It didn’t turn out the way I expected. Getting it into the small areas is hard but I like it much better than the gold gilding flakes I used in my last angel. It’s no where near as messy and easier to work with. But this is something I have to tweak a bit.

I hope she inspires you to create your own magical masterpiece. Thanks for stopping by!

Share the Happy!

Earth Angel Journal Page

Posted on by
Reply

I’m truly enjoying making these watercolor angels. This is my latest, earth angel. I created her in my Strathmore 5.5″ x 8″ watercolor journal. I start by lightly sketching her and then painting with bright fun watercolor paints. While the paints were wet, I added sea salt and let it dry, then I brushed off the salt.

Next I added doodles with my white Posca pen. I also added more detailing and shading with watercolor paints and colored pencils. I couldn’t resist adding a little bling to the stars with Stickles.

The last step was her halo. I wanted more gold so I tried using gold gilding flakes but it was really hard to work with. What I disliked most is it would break down into small particles that would become airborne and you could potentially inhale it. I can’t imagine that would be a good thing, so you really should wear a mask, but the instructions don’t say anything about that. It also sticks to everything so you have to clean your surfaces well after you’re done using it. Bottom line is it looks beautiful but isn’t user friendly. I have one more product I’m going to try on my next one and I’ll let you know how that goes.

I hope she inspires you to create your own magical masterpiece. Thanks for stopping by!

Share the Happy!